Various D'tfcoveries and FrcjeEls. - 231 



couraged. He refers to Stow, and other authors, for accounts of the calumnies and 

 oppofition which were made to the projedl of the New-River, and occafioned the ruin of 

 the proje£lor of that noble work. The burning of bricks with pit-coal, which was firft done 

 at the beginning of the feventeenth century; the improvement ofglafs, introduced by the 

 Duke of Buckingham ; the pioje61: of James the P'irft, to introduce the growth of filk ; the 

 eftablifliment of the woollen manufafture from Flanders; and the manufa£lure of rape oil, arc 

 among the inftances he offers in favour of projeiSts : and to thefe he adds three fpeculations 

 of difcoveries of his own, which are little more than hinted at. Speaking of the firft, he 

 affirms, that there is a common vegetable, almoft the growth of every hedge, which yields a 

 was, finer than that ufed for candles, and at an expence fo inconfiderable, that he is very fure, 

 that in the pradlicc of the thing, a pound of fuch wax candles would not coft three halfpence. 

 I will not annex a formal query what this vegetable may be : but fimply obferve, that an en- 

 quiry into the combuftibility and. other properties of vegetable products, with regard to this 

 great objedt of affording light, appears to deferve the attention of curious men. 



Another difcovery, which he fays he has lately bellowed upon an honeft gentleman, is that 

 by the charge of a fingle penny, exclufive of the price of coals, he can produce a gallon of 

 aqua-vitas, much fitter fjr all common ufes than the thrice-redlified fpirit of malt. Query: 

 What is the date of the general practice of dillilling fpirit from molalTts ? Much earlier, I 

 fuppofe than this period. I am difpofed to think, that the project of Aaron Hill may have 

 confifted in the ufe of fome faccharine produfl:, which was cheap, bat not plentiful; and, confe- 

 quently, could not be procured in fufficient quantity, or fuddenly rofe in price as foon as a 

 flemand was felt. 



Another obje£t of information is, that acorns, dried and ground, are a much better and 

 cheaper tanning material than oak-bark, and that it is ufed in Italy, and all over the Archipe- 

 lago, by the name oi vdania. Is this true in point of fa£t ? 



The laftproje(51: is a fcheme of fimnce, which is relat-ed, or alluded to, in terms of the higheft 

 promife ; but as there is no hint of the nature ai the plan, and as political arithmetic is a fcience 

 ' in which miftakes arc not only poffiblc, but very likely to be made, I fhall pafs it over without 

 further remarlc. 



The reft of the book contains an hif.ory of the difcovery and pradlice of the afl of making 

 oil from beech-maft. The author firft ftates, that the raw material is very plentiful, and that 

 every buftiel is found to yield two gallons of much better oil than that of olives, called Seville 

 or Gallipoli oil. He informs us, that he made the difcovery at Naples, in 1699 ; but being at 

 that time only fifteen years of age, he thought no more of it till 17 12, when he was induced 

 to enquire into the demand for oil, by the foap makers, clothiers and others, and ajfo from the 

 dealers and the entrances at the Cuftom-houfe. He was furprifedat the extent of tlie con- 

 fumption, and immediately undertook to afcertain the praiElfcabiljty of procuring the beech- 

 nut in fufficient plenty, as well as the fourees from which he fnight derive the neceffary 

 iifliftance for eftablifhing the bufinefs. He met with no encouragement in his guarded 

 applications to men of capital, till after he had taken out a patent, at which period he found ' 



H h 2 no 



