JOURNAL 



O F 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, 



AND 



THE ARTS. 



MJr 1799. 



ARTICLE I. 



On the philofophical Ufes of a common Pocket Watch. — By the Rev. W. PeaRSOS. 



H E theoretic philofopher, who ranges through the variegated fields of fcience, may gather 

 the fweets as he pafles along, and gratify his tafte with fruits that he has had no fhare in 

 rearing, at a very inconfiderable expence ; but the pleafure which the pradical man of fcience 

 derives from the refults of his fuccefsful experiments is much more exquifite : the previous 

 impreiEon made by contemplating the harmony that appears in the laws of nature ; the fatif- 

 faftion of proving the agreement or difcrepancy between theory and pradtice ; the profpeft of 

 benefiting fociety in fome fliape, and, perhaps, alfo the gratification of a certain degree of vanity, 

 all concur in flimulating his exertions. If he fhould labour under any inconvenience in pro- 

 curing the beft means of profecuting his labours, be will naturally avail himfelf of the beft 

 fubftitutes that the circumftances of his fituation will allow. From this confideration it 

 becomes a matter of furprize that a more general attention is not paid to the philofophical 

 ufes that may be made of a common Pocket Watch. There are many obfervations and ex- 

 periments in different departments of fcience, the accuracy of which depend greatly, and fome 

 of them entirely, on the accurate meafurement of minute portions of time ; fuch, for inftancc, 

 as the determination of the velocity of found, the nature of the defccnt of falling bodies, the 

 meafure of the fun's diameter, the diftance of two contiguous, or at lead apparently contiguous. 



Vol. III.— May 1799. H heavenly 



