502 



Digits eclipfed.^—Tour in America, 



[Jan. 1, 



coach pifTengers. The regular charge is 

 cne fen?2y for each perfon ; but they in- 

 fift on one JhilUng, and one or two more 

 are exafted from each perfon by thofe who 

 pretend to take care of the baggage to 

 and from the boat. I do not exailly 

 know by what authority thefe ferries are 

 regulated, but I hope fuch impofitions 

 will not be permitted to continue. The 

 fervants of the coach are certainly bound 

 to take care of all the packages in the 

 coach, yet by this connivance of the 

 guards the public are cheated out of from 

 5s. to los. per day at each ferry for each 

 coaeh ; amounting to feveial hundred 

 pounds per annum more than is due to the 

 ftiry. I am, &c. 



An old Traveller. 

 Dec. nth, 180^. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



IT would be obliging, if any of your 

 nitmerous CorrefponHents could point 

 cut where any account may be found of 

 the once celebrated Lady Vane; and if 

 any portrait of her i-, known to eviff. 

 Can the Memoirs in Peregrine Pickle be 

 depended on as authentic ? No mention 

 jr. mr.de of her in any of the Biographical 

 Dictionaries which I have examined. 



What more particularly wanted i.s, 

 fonie account of her life f'ubiequent to 

 Smollefs, and any information refpefling 

 her parents. I am, &c. 



Inverary, A. C. R. 



i"*"^. z6th, 1805. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



THE anfwer to your Coirefpondent's 

 qucftion is this : A digit is a nth 

 part of the diameter of the Sun or Moon j 

 and theie(o!c the Sun and Moon being 

 nearly equal in apparent diameter, the Sun 

 is never laid 10 be more than la digits 

 eclipil'd ; fince the Moon's greateft appa- 

 rent diameter by which he can be eclipfed 

 little exceeds the Sun's lenft. 



But the Moon may be fimply eclipfed 

 without duration, and thus the eclipfe 

 may be fimply total : or fhe may be edipU 

 ed centrally as well as totally ; that is, 

 the Earth's (hacicw being conical, (he 

 may either in her orbit pafs through a 

 part of the Ea\ tli's (hwdow juft equal to her 

 ciiaratter, and no more, or file may pafs 



through a part of it which is much broad- 

 er, and very greatly exceeds her diameter ; 

 as if fhe be in her node and perige at tl e 

 time of the ecliple. And by how m.nny 

 parts of the diameter of the Moon the fha- 

 dow of the Earth on that fide of it to 

 which flie is neareft when totally eclipfed 

 exceeds the Moon's diameter, of fo many 

 digits the eclipfe is faid to be; 14., 16, 

 so, or even, by pofTibility, 24. 



The principle and explanation may be 

 feen in Fergufon's Aftronomy. 



Thus, it an eclipfe be faid to be 20 di- 

 gits, it means, that, after the Moon is 

 totally eclipfed, it will yet have a portion 

 of the Earth's fhadow to pafs through, 

 while the eclipfe continues total, equal to 

 8 parts out of 12, or | of the Moon's dia- 

 meter. And this is well denoted by the 

 improper fraftion ^-§, or 20 digits. 



Your',-, &c., Capel LoFFr. 



Dec. 6. 1805. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



THE tafk of the tourift who journeys 

 from the Atlantic to the interior of 

 the United St;ites, and who propufes faith- 

 fully to rtcoid his oblervations, will, I 

 fear, in many inftances, be dry and unin- 

 terefting to your readers. Lofty moun- 

 tains, wide and rapid rivers, bad roads, 

 and immenfe woods, are by no means as 

 aiiraclive as fplendid palaces, whole highly 

 cultivated domains beipeak at once the 

 (tyle and grandeur of their propijetor and 

 the curiofity of the reader. To fuch of 

 your readers, Sir, as may indulge thi* 

 ienfatiun, I beg toremark, that the Unit- 

 ed Slates of America aie pfogreffing be- 

 yond all former example in population, 

 wealth, and power, and that to record the 

 llatiftic faiSls of the prefent day will give 

 to the tuture hiiiorian and politician va- 

 luable data, on which they may hereafter 

 build their rifpeftive theories, andeflablifh 

 the relative importance polleffed by each 

 diftrifl of the Union. With this view. 

 Sir, I (hall proceed with my journey. 



If my memory ferves me, in my laft 

 [See Monthly Mag. for Dec. 1805, p. 415, 

 £ff.] I (fated our arrival at Frederic- 

 town, which is the county town of Fre- 

 deric-county in Maryland. This coimty 

 contains between 5 and 600,000 acres of 

 land, much of which is produ6iive, lime- 

 ftone being very generally found in the 

 foil. The town confiils of about eight 

 hundnd 



