1821.] 



Literary and Philosophical Inlelltgcnce. 



353 



spheric air. When this mixture has 

 very nearly filled the whole cylinder, 

 the motion of the piston opens a small 

 aperture, through whicli the flame of a 

 lamp is drawn in, so as to produce an 

 explosion, followed i)y an instantaneous 

 condensation. Tlie rvpiinsion of the 

 gas during the explosion (hy which it is 

 dilated to ahout three times its original 

 hulk,) is provided for by two other cy- 

 linders comraunicatinjT with the one 



already mentioned ; and the vacuum 

 produced under the piston continues 

 the motion by means of atmospheric 

 pressure. The author also examined 

 the advantages of this contrivance, the 

 best proportion of the gases, the force 

 of the explosion, and the extent of the 

 expansion, together with some curious 

 irregularities in the working of the 

 machine when the velocity is increased 

 beyond certain limits. 



VARIETIES, LITERARY 



Jniindiiig Notices of Works in 



SEVERAL prosecutions against the 

 Newspaper-press hare been com- 

 menc~i within this month at tlie insti- 

 gation, as is announced, of a society 

 of partizans, calling themselves the 

 Constitutional Society or Association. 

 We doubt the legality of sucli a con- 

 federacy for such purposes ; for the use 

 of tl»e press is not a crime per se like 

 larceny a»d felony, which are prosecu- 

 ted by associations. But tlie impolicy 

 of (he attempt will be manifest when 

 it is considered that a counter-associa- 

 tion might by parity of reasoning be 

 formed to prosecute other agents of the 

 press in the same political interest as 

 this very association. A species of 

 civil war might thus be raised in the 

 name of law, and the courts be filled 

 by appeals of impassioned zealots in 

 opposite political inteiests; but if the 

 whole of society were to be thus divided 

 wliere should we find impartial Grand, 

 and Petit Juries? The crown-lawyers 

 are the sufficient constitutional execu- 

 tive whenever the intervention of law 

 becomes requisite ; but if this new as- 

 sociation were allowed to proceed, then 

 it may be necessary to demonstrate the 

 magnitude of the evil by instituting a 

 corresponding association to protect, 

 by similar means, the free iind popular 

 branches of the constitution and the 

 characters of their assertors. A public 

 association against the Freedom of the 

 press is what we never expected to wit- 

 ness; yet this association, which de- 

 nounces before hand, and which tlirea- 

 teus to prosecute by means of a com- 

 mon purse, guided by inquisitorial, 

 narrow, and parti/an feelings, can 

 be regarded in no better light. We 

 trust, ho>vever, that these friends, 

 par excellence, of the Constitution, will 

 not be permitted, bj' the courts of law 

 or parliament, to assail it in its most 

 vital part, the uncontroli.kd li- 

 berty OK THE PKESS, subject to no 



AND PHILOSOPHICAL, 



Hitnd, Domestic and Foreign. 



restraint except ultimate responsibility 

 in matters of public libel, to the execu- 

 tive government as by law established, 

 and in matters of ])rivafe libel to the 

 parties assailed. 



Memoirs of the last nine Years of 

 the reign of George II. are announced, 

 by Horace Walpole, EarlofOrford. 

 They are printed from the original 

 MSS., found in the chest left by his 

 Lordship's Will, to be opened by the 

 first Earl of Waldegrave who should 

 attain the age of 21 after the year 1800, 

 and will speedily appear in two volumes 

 quarto, forming also vols. 6 and 7 of 

 Lord Orford's collected works. 



Letters of Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey, 

 with a memoir, and illustrative notes, 

 are in the press. 



Mr. Brande's Manual of Chemistiy, 

 enlarged to 3 vols. 8vo. : and Mr. Mac- 

 kenzie's Thousand Experiments in 

 Chemistry and the useful Arts, will 

 appear in a few days. 



The fii-st volume (dedicated, by per- 

 mission, to his Majesty) of a General 

 History of Birds, by John Latham, 

 M.D. IF.R.S. author of The Synopsis 

 of Birds, Index Oruithologicus, &c.&c. 

 to be completed in ten vols, demy 4to. 

 with at least 180 coloured plates, is 

 intended to be publislied by the end of 

 June, and the succeeding ones at in- 

 tervals of about three montlis. 



The Principles and Doctrines of As- 

 surances, Annuities on Lives, and of 

 Contingent Reversions, slated and ex- 

 plained, by AVilliam Morgan, Esq, 

 F.R.S. Actuary of the Equitable Life 

 Insurance Office, will shortly be pub- 

 lished. 



A History of Parga, containing an 

 account of the vicissitudes of that part 

 of Greece, during the French Revolu- 

 tion: supported by authentic docu- 

 ments, translated from the Italian MS. 

 of U«o Fo.scoiiO, will soon be pub- 

 lished. 



Mr. 



