516 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 135. 



do not deny that there is a piece bearing the title 

 in existence ; but upon it the name of " William 

 Bunyan" figures as the author. A copy of this 

 was in the Theological Portion of the late Mr. 

 Rodd's books, sold by Sotheby & Co. in 1850, and 

 bears the imprint of " London, 1768." This, I am 

 inclined to think, is the only Shove Mr. Clakk is 

 likely to meet with ; and although I can give no 

 further account of it, I am disposed to consider it 

 the spurious catchpenny of some ignorant scoffer, 

 who, taking his cue from Graves, or rather from 

 some earlier writer who has noticed it, thought it 

 would be a good spec, and therefore launched into 

 the world his " Effectual Shove." J. O. 



GBODND ICE. 



(Vol. v., p. 370.) 



Your Querist J. C. E. is informed that the sin- 

 gular phenomenon of the formation of ice in the 

 beds of running rivers has not escaped the notice 

 of scientific observers. M. Arago has devoted a 

 paper to its investigation in the Annuaire du Bu- 

 reau des Longitudes for 1832 or 1833, in which he 

 specifies the rivers in which it has been observed. 

 Indeed, although from its nature it is likely to 

 escape notice, it is probably of not infrequent oc- 

 currence. Ireland, in his Picturesque Views of the 

 Thames, quoting Dr. Plot, speaks of the sub- 

 aqueous ice of that river. Colonel Jackson, in 

 the fifth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society, alludes to its formation in the 

 iKeva, in a paper on the congelation of that river ; 

 and in the following volume of the same Journal 

 is an article by Mr. Weitz, especially devoted to 

 the ground ice of the rivers of Siberia. More re- 

 cently, INIr. Eisdale has contributed the result of 

 his researches upon the same subject to the Edin- 

 burgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xvii. ; and, 

 finally. Dr. Farquharson has made public his ob- 

 servations upon the ground-gru of the rivers Don 

 and Leochal, in Lincolnshire, in the Philosophical 

 Transactions for 1835. There is also an article on 

 the subject in one of the later volumes of the 

 Penny or Saturday Magazines. 



That bodies of running water, the surface of 

 which solidifies when exposed to a diminished 

 temperature, should have a tendency to congelate 

 in their sheltered depths, seems an anomaly which 

 demands inquiry and explanation ; and accord- 

 ingly each of the above-mentioned writers has 

 raised an hypothesis more or less probable, to 

 account for the phenomenon. Dr. Farquharson 

 would attribute it to the radiation of heat from 

 the bottom, as dew is formed by radiation from 

 the surface of the earth; but a consideration of 

 the supervening obstacles to radiation — a body of 

 moving water thickly coated with ice and even 

 snow — destroys the plausibility of his theory. 

 'That of Mr. Eisdale, that the frozen spicvlce of 



the atmosphere falling into the water become nu- 

 clei, around which the water at the bottom freezes, 

 seems merely frivolous. The explanation of M. 

 Arago is more satisfactory, viz. that the lower 

 currents of water being less rapid in motion than 

 those intermediate, or at the surface, congelation 

 may be expected at a lower temperature (say 32° 

 Fahr.), the process of crystallisation being fa- 

 voured by the pebbles, fragments of wood, and 

 the uneven surface of the river's bed. After all, 

 however, the phenomenon has been but imperfectly 

 investigated under its various manifestations, and 

 its real cause probably remains yet to be dis- 

 covered. William Bates. 

 Birmingham. 



For an explanation of this occurrence, I would 

 refer J. C. E. to Whewell's Astronomy, Bridgewater 

 Treatise. Unicors. 



CHARACTER OF ALGERNON SYDNEY. 



. (Vol. v., pp. 426. 447.); 



Your two correspondents C. E. D. (p. 426.) and 

 C. (p. 447.) appear to have read Mr. Hepwortk 

 Dixon's Query about Algernon Sydney either very 

 hastily or very carelessly. Yet it seems to me' 

 plain enough. There is not one word in it about 

 Barillon or Dalrymple ; no inquiry about the 

 home life of Sydney. As every one knows a 

 great part of his time was spent abroad, it is pro- 

 bable Mr. Dixon thinks that anecdotes and allu- 

 sions to so conspicuous a person may occur in the 

 cotemporary letters and memoirs of France, Ger- 

 many, Italy, &c., and he asks for references to any 

 such anecdotes or allusions as may have fallen iu 

 the way of readers of " N. & Q." Surely this is 

 explicit. But what has Dalrymple or Mr. Croker 

 to say in answer to a question about Sydney's way 

 of life when abroad ? That, as I take it, was the 

 point, and a general discussion as to the character 

 of the author of the Discourses on Govei-nment is 

 d-propos of nothing. As the subject has been 

 opened, and as I know of none more interesting in 

 the whole range of English history, I cannot refrain 

 from at least entering one protest against C.'s de- 

 scription of the "illustrious patriot" as a "corrupt 

 traitor of the worst class." 



That Mr. Dixon is not single in his admiration 

 of the character of Sydney I could quote many 

 " instances," from our late prime minister down- 

 wards. But the title "illustrious" can scarcely 

 be denied to a man who, besides being of the best 

 blood in England, played a leading part in the 

 Revolution, and was one of the closest thinkers 

 and most masculine writers our language hns to 

 show. What makes a man illustrious? Birth, 

 commanding position, intellect, learning, literary 

 genius? Sydney had them all. But C. thinks 



