82 Mr. R. Taylor 071 the Publication 



lessen the support which in this country is ah-eady scarcely sufficient to 

 keep them in existence. I have thought it better therefore to try the ex- 

 periment of a separate work devoted entirely to the publication of the 

 more important memoirs and communications, translated from foreign 

 transactions and journals, to appear at intervals sufficiently distant to 

 avoid the disadvantage of haste in the execution, and yet frequent enough 

 to keep pace with the progress of discovery and the wants of the student. 



" My present intention is, that the quarterly parts should form an an- 

 nual volume, which may possess a permanent value, as a depository of 

 those memoirs in which philosophers of other countries have fully deve- 

 loped and carefully recorded their views and their discoveries. With re- 

 gard to the class or arrangement of subjects, I have thought it best not to 

 confine myself at the outset within any fixed plan of selection ; but to en- 

 deavour from time to time, with the advice and assistance of men of sci- 

 ence in our own country, to make it subsidiary to their pursuits, and il- 

 lustrative of the objects of inquiry which most engage their attention. 



" I have been greatly encouraged by the opinions which have been ex- 

 pressed to me as to the probable usefulness of a work of this kind, as well 

 as by the valuable suggestions and assistance with which I have been 

 favoured ; and, should the patronage of the public be sufficient to enable 

 me to persevere, I may have the satisfaction of making my occupations 

 conducive to the interests of science." 



How far the execution of the design may have hitherto 

 been generally satisfactory I know not. The approbation and 

 patronage of many distinguished persons of the highest sci- 

 entific eminence greatly encourage me to persevere j but, 

 as yet, the number of purchasers has not been nearly suffi- 

 cient to defray the cost of publication. I do not hesitate, 

 therefore, to make an appeal to all who may participate in 

 the wish for the continuance of the work, trusting that 

 they will lend their active aid in promoting its success. With 

 a demand sufficient to cover the expenses, I should determine 

 to proceed, being more than ever convinced of the need of 

 such a work, and having made various arrangements for its 

 improvement. 



The following are the Memoirs contained in the First and 

 Second Part : 



M. Melloni, On the Free Transmission of Radiant Heat through different 

 Solid and Liquid Bodies ; 



New Researches relative to the Immediate Transmission of Radiant 

 Heat through different Solid and Liquid Bodies ; and. 



Memoir on the Polarization of Heat. (From the Jnnales de Chimie et 

 de Physique.) 



Prof. H. W. Dove, Experiments on the Circular Polarization of Light ; and, 

 Description of an Apparatus for exhibiting the Phsenomena of the 

 Rectilinear, Elliptic andCircular Polarization of Light. (From Poggen- 

 dorff's Annalen der Physik und Chemip.) 



M. NoBiLi, A Memoir on Colours in general, and particularly on a new 

 Chromatic Scale deduced from Metal lochromy for Scientific and Prac- 

 tical Purposes. (From the Bihliothhque Universelle des Sciences, &c.) 



M. PoissoN, On the Mathematical Theory of Heat. (From the Annales 

 de Chimie et de Physique.) 



M. Savart, Researches on the Elasticity of Bodies which crystallize 

 regularly. (From the Annales de Chimie et de Physique.) 



