On a remarkable Flood at Chipping in Lancashire, 209 



viously dissolved in a sufficiency of water : mix, and let the pre- 

 cipitate subside. Pour off the supernatant liquor; dry and 

 wash the precipitate as already directed : mix it with one-sixth 

 of charcoal powder or lampblack, and distil as before. 



The charcoal powder or lampblack will in all cases afford a 

 better product if previously well calcined in a crucible covered 

 with sand, or in any close vessel. The waste of phosphorus, by 

 solution in the gas evolved during the subsequent distillation, 

 will thus be much lessened; and the same end will be further 

 promoted by a previous exposure of the phosphate of lead to an 

 obscure red heat, which will also cause a reduction of bulk to 

 one-half. 



These processes appear to ceconomise time, trouble, fuel, and 

 cost of large vessels. On the whole, they are probably the best 

 when bones or horns are to be the source. In the Province of 

 Estremadura, the hills contain considerable quantities of phos- 

 phate of lime, and houses are built of it in the district of 

 Truxillo. This stone, when thrown on the fire, emits a beautiful 

 green light. I know not whether phosphorus can be profitably 

 extracted from it. 



XXXI. An Account of a remarhahle Flood at Chipping in Lanca- 

 shire, By the Rev. Alfred Weld, B.A., F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S. 



- To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal. 



Gentlemen, 



I TAKE the liberty of presenting you with some details of a 

 very remarkable flood with which this neighbourhood was 

 visited during the afternoon of July the 1st. The accounts 

 which reached us of its effects, as well as the subsequent appear- 

 ance of the river into which the waters were poured, were of so 

 unusual a character, that I thought it worth while to visit the 

 site, and satisfy myself as far as possible, from my own observa- 

 tion and the facts I could collect from eye-witnesses, as to the 

 nature and extent of a storm that had committed such terrible 

 ravages, and spread such alarm amongst the unsuspecting in- 

 habitants of Chipping. , 



It would be useless here to enter into all the particulars of the 

 devastation j such details would possess no general interest, and 

 are to be found at length in all the local journals ; but the traces 

 which I witnessed, relating principally to the origin and extra- 

 ordinary force of the inundation, and the information I gained 

 regarding the distribution of the storm in the neighbourhood, 

 will, I think, afford points of scientific interest ; and it is with 

 this view I have determined to offer this little account to you, 



