( 360 ) 



Account of an Apparatits for Maintaining an Uniform Tern- 

 perattire. By Geoege Mkrryweather, Esq. Commu- 

 nicated by the Author. 



X HAVE the honour this evening of presenting to the Royal So- 

 ciety an apparatus which I hope will be the means of solving an 

 important problem, that has long remained an insurmountable 

 obstacle in the path of science. 



When the French chemists promulgated their nomenclature 

 to the world, Fourcroy published the following : — 



' Heat is now regarded only as an auxiliary agent, by which 

 combinations are forwarded. As it is employed in different de- 

 grees, it would be a valuable acquisition if we knew how to ap- 

 ply it with uniform intensity. A furnace of this kind has long 

 been a desideratum among chemists, and the manipulations of 

 artists have hitherto been the only guide to the chemist, but it 

 is impossible by this means to have the degree of precision so 

 much to be desired.' 



It is nearly half a century since Fourcroy wrote the above, 

 since which time the most gigantic progress has been made in 

 science ; yet this important point appears to have been lost sight 

 of, or has been considered, like perpetual motion, an object never 

 to be attained. Indeed, when we reflect that fires and furnaces 

 are constantly consuming, and must be constantly renovated 

 with fuel, and when we consider that flame must ever be in agi- 

 tation, from the very atmosphere from which it derives its exist- 

 ence, it is not astonishing that all attempts should have proved 

 futile, to arrive at a steady temperature, for a length of time, by 

 these means. 



The mode which I have made use of to arrive at the solution 

 of the difficulty is quite novel, and will be best understood when 

 the apparatus is before the Royal Society, when all the minutiae 

 can be explained. 



In a philosophical point of view, I trust this apparatus will 

 be considered interesting, as proving the fact, that a uniform 

 temperature can be steadily maintained in despite of external in- 



• Read before the Itoval Society of Edinburgh. 



