ReJleHion of Light — Oil from tU Beech-nut. 229 



was fimply the moft natural fuppofuion he could make. And if it had been pretended, that 

 all the angles of refle£tion are fmaller, or all greater than thofe of incidence ; or that the 

 limit of equality falls on any other divifion of the fpe£lrum, the fuppofition would have been 

 gratuitous, but againft which the obferver could oppofe no dire6t hSX. For there is np con- 

 ceivable means by which the angle of incidence can be meafured in thefe experiments, di- 

 redlly and apart from that of reflexion. 



Seflion 11. Since, therefore, by fuppofing (with Mr. Brougham) j that the red ray is 

 more repulfive than the violet, we perfedlly reconcile the phenomenon obferved with the law 

 of refle6tion acknowledged to prevail in plane furfeces, there is no reafon to depart from it 

 in the prefent cafe. 



And I conclude, from all that has been faid, that the homogeneous rays are not unequally 

 rejlexible in the Broughamian fenfe; or, in other terms, that the law of refledlion, admitted 

 by Newton, is the true law of nature. 



( To be concluded in our next.) 



X. 



On the ManufaHure sf Beech Oil, hy Aaron Hill, and other Projells of Improvement. 



By a Corrcfpondent, 

 Sir, 



We have an old Englifli proverb, which affirms, that it is much eafier to afk queftions than 

 to anfwer them. I have lately met with a pamphlet, which has tempted me to propofe a 

 number to your correfpondents j but have been fomewhat intimidated by the above con- 

 fideration, which might, perhaps, prevent your favouring me with their infertion in your 

 excellent work. It has, however, occurred to me, that a kind of middle way may be devifed, 

 to render the bufmefs more fair and reafonable. — If the account I now fend you fhould be 

 thought to contain information enough to render it acceptable to your readers, it will be but 

 fair to place it in the balance againft the queftions 1 may hope to have refolved. 



The pamphlet I allude to, is Aaron Hill's Account of the Rife and Progrefs of the Beech 

 Oil Invention (8vo. 112 pages), which bears date in the year 1715 : and, as it appears. Was 

 given away. This ingenious man, equally known for his works of imagination, his proje£ls> 

 and the tried reftitude of his principles, pafied the latter part, of an adtive life, of fixty-five 

 years, in a ftate of poverty. His projedt of making oil. from the beech-nut was, therefore, 

 either unfuccefsful, or, what is more probable, it failed from circumftances dependant either 

 on himfelf perfonaJly, or thofe who were engaged with him. The elucidation of this objcft, 

 which is of no fmall importance to our woollen and other manufadures, cannotfurely be^ 

 foreign to the purpofes of your Journal ; and even if any o your correfpondents fliould favour 

 us with' hiftorical fadls, tending to (hew the inutility of the fcheme, the public would, no doubt, 



Vol. III. — August 1799. Hh receive 



