1805.] 



New Patents lately enrolled. 



151 



the oxide was found to be reduced into a 

 metallic button of caft-iron. Another 

 portion of the oxide of iron ufed in this 

 experiment, when placed in the lame cir- 

 cumftances without the diamond, was not 

 reduced. 



The Rev. Dr. William Richard- 

 son having fent to Dr. Hope a colieftion 

 of fpecimens from the northern coaft of 

 Antrim, with a catalogue an I obferva- 

 Hons, the fpecimens were exhibited to the ■ 

 Society, and the obfervations read. Of 

 the latter, the firft part relates to a fpecies 

 of bafalt difcovered by Dr. Richardfon 

 in the peninfida of Portrufli, about fix 

 miles to the well of the Giant's Caufeway, 

 to which Mr. Piftet, of Geneva, in a 

 tour through Ireland, in 1801, gave the 

 name of filicious bafalt. It is found to 

 contain a greater proportion of filica than 

 ufuaJ. It is arranged in parallel ftrata, 

 from ten to twenty inches thick, conftru6l. 

 ed of large prifms, generally pentagonal, 

 which, when broken, divide into fm.iller 

 prifms. It contains marine exuvia; in 

 great abundance, on which account fome 

 mineralogifts deny that this folTil is of the 

 fpecies of bafalt. The next part of the 

 obfervations relates to the conftruftion of 

 the whin-ftone dykes on the coall of An- 

 trim. They are formed of lirge maflive 

 prifms, laid horizontally, which are al- 

 ways divifible into fmailer prilins, that are 

 like wife horizontal. 



Mr. RiJssEL gave tnthe Society an ac- 

 count of a fingular variety <-f hernia, which 

 is a fpecies of inguinal hernia, and in 

 which the vifcera burft through the com- 

 mon parities of the abdomen, exaftly op- 

 pofite to the lower and external orifice of 

 the ring, where they come into coutadl 



with the fpermatlc-cord, and defcenii 

 along it direflly into the fcrotum. 



The Rev. Dr. FjNlayson laid hefm^ 

 the Society an account of an Aurora Bo- 

 realis, as feen by Dr. Patrick Graham.— 

 This happened after a period of intense 

 colli, during which much fnow hadfalkt^. 

 It had begun to thaw ; the temperatui-e 

 of the air was mild, and the afpejl of the 

 fky ferene. The Sun was yet a full hoar 

 above the horizon, when the heavens l>e- 

 came covered with a light paliHi vapour, 

 extending in longitudinal (freaks from wt-ft 

 to eaft. On a minuter examination it 

 proved to exhibit all the charaSers of a 

 true Aurora Borealis. It continued for % 

 fpacc of more than twenty minutes, anil 

 then gradually vanifiied. Perhaps tiie 

 piitnomenon appears mare frequently thaa 

 is fufpefted, an account of one feen hj 

 day-light in Ireland, by Dr. H. Uflier, is 

 recorded in the *' Annual Regilkr"" {at 

 1789. 



The Royal Society of Elinburgh ha«e 

 alfo thought worthy of riiltinilion two Pa- 

 pers on antiquities. The one is a kt!«r 

 from the Abbe Mann, concerning the 

 Chartreufeoi Perth, from which it appeal's, 

 that it wns erei5itd duiing ihe feign, and 

 by the diredion, cf James 1. of Sco:lar,('', 

 about 1430. The firft prior was OiWriJd 

 de Corda i the laft, Adam Formin. Ti»« 

 demolition of the religious howfes at 

 Perth began in '559. Thi other is a dil- 

 fer.ation on the term Jiull, or IkoU, ufcd 

 in eld writings, by Dr. Jimielo ■. 



Tliey have alio prcfentui) 10 the publico 

 Biographical Memoir of Dr. James Hut- 

 ton, by Mr. Playfair ; and one of Di. 

 Black, by Mr. Adam Ferguloa. 



NEW PATENTS LATELY ENROLLED. 



MR. MALCOLM COWAN's, for Sails for 

 Ships that may be reefed in afezv Mi- 

 nutes, 11 the mojl tempeflmus IViather, 

 by very ftuo Seamen, &c. 



1"^HE advantages propofed by this in- 

 vention are as follow : — Po enable 

 ftiips to r(cf their courfes in a few mi- 

 nutes j id, on a lee (hore, in fturmy wea- 

 ther, when it may be nectfl-iry to reduce 

 the fails, though at the fame time it may 

 be dangerous to take their effeft of!' the 

 fliip by hauling them up to reef them on 

 the yard : 2dly, Wlitii the flfip's crews 

 arc reduced by fickncfs, by pau of them 



being i.i prizes, or employed on (here, or 

 weakened by labour or fatigue ; 3dJy, la 

 gales < f wind in hofty weather, w'len it is 

 dilh ult to handle the l.iil ; <-thly, la 

 nieichant-lliips with ie^ feamen, bccauic 

 the fails can be hauled up and fet again in 

 Id's time, as one part ot the fail is taken 

 off or let again at a time, and conlequent- 

 iy receives lefs of the lorce i)f the wind. 



We are alfo alTured by the patentee, 

 that wh-.n rtiips are obliged to carry a 

 prels of fiil in fqually wca'.her, in chace, 

 &c. the fails may be reefed and kt again 

 in a minute, without ftaiting tack or flieet. 



