366 Report of Chemistry and 



parts of Europe, cometh no one knows 

 Mliunce ; goetli no one knows wliere j 

 and is composed of no one knows nhat. 



The writer has been asked by a 

 Correspondent wlietiier malt-liquor or 

 uine-and-water be tlie best beverage 

 for young persons ? To this question, it 

 is not easy to give a satisfactory reply 

 in (he abstract, since so much depends 

 upon individual peculiarities and consti- 

 tutional propensities. In the general way, 

 he would say, that beer is better than 

 wine for British youth. Indeed, the 

 latter, in any shape, unless as a tempo- 



Experimental Philosophy. [May 1, 



rary medicinal, he wonld ever withhold 

 from young persons; and even where it 

 would seem to be called for, by occa- 

 sional debility, steel drops administered 

 for the same purpose, would, for the most 

 part, be more advantageous, and in every 

 respect less objectionable. But, at any 

 rate, let youth be kept from the habitual 

 nse both of wine and tea, if we wish 

 to ensure their physical comfort and moral 

 well-being. 



BetWordrow; D. UwiNS, M.D. 



April 20, 1823. 



REPORT OF CHEMISTRY AND EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY. 



THE Chamber of Commerce, of Glas- 

 gow, having taken into consideration 

 the Bill which is now before the House of 

 Commons, " for ascertaining and esta- 

 blishing iniiformity of weigiiis and mea- 

 sures," have seen reason to disapprove en- 

 tirely of what is proposed to be enacted, 

 with regard to measmes of capacity, by 

 raising from the bulk of ten avoirdnpoise 

 pounds of water, as an imperial gallon, 

 (such pound being previously assumed in 

 the Bill to weigh 7000 Troy grains,) in- 

 stead of the more natural principle of 

 assigning to the new gallon, the nearest 

 convenient and applicable number of 

 cubic inches, to the content of the present 

 Exchequer gallon; which. Dr. Rotlicrham 

 and Professor I'layfair have ascertained, 

 Lolds 270.4 inches. 



By dropping only these four-tenth inches, 

 and tixing the imperial gallon at 270 inches, 

 (which equals ten times a cube whose side 

 is three inches,) the imperial bushel will 

 be ij ciiliic feet, (or ten times a cube 

 whose side is six inches;) and the imperial 

 quarter of corn, whose measurement is the 

 most important of all things to the public, 

 will, in such case, be just ten cubic feet, 

 and diti'er only four-huiulredths of a cubic 

 loot in excess from its present established 

 quantity. As to the smaller measures, the 

 imperial pint woiihl i)e .So J inches, (or ten 

 times a cube whose side is 1^ inches,) and 

 the imperial half-quartern, or half-gill, 

 would be 4j^ inches, (or ten times a cube 

 whose side is | of an inch.) 



Very properly, the present Bill pro- 

 poses, along with the present toot and 

 inch, to maintain the Troy pound, of 6760 

 grains, on account of the important pur- 

 poses of the coinage, &c. to which it has 

 been applied ; but, instead of assuming 

 the avoirdupoisc pound to be 7000 grains 

 Troy, the chamber are of opinion, that 

 6980 grains ought to constitute the new 

 imperial pound, for the general purposes 

 of trade : in which case, the imperial 

 ounce, or one-sixteenth pound, would be 

 •136j grains, (almost exactly the same as 

 the crown, or five shillings, of the new 



silver coinage, being in defect only eleven- 

 hundrcdths of a grain,) and the imperial 

 drachm, or one-sixteenth ounce, would be 

 27J grains. 



A most useful coincidence and obvious 

 analogy would at the same time exist, be- 

 tween the new measures of capacity and 

 the weights : the imperial ounce equalling 

 just the one-hundredth part of a cubic foot 

 of rain-water, at about 62° by Fahren- 

 heit's thermometer ; the imperial bushel 

 would equal 78|lbs. of rain-water; and 

 the imperial quarter, equal 625 imperial 

 pounds of such water. 



The specific gravities of bodies, or sub- 

 stances of all sorts, which have with great 

 labour and care been ascertained and 

 arranged in Tables, that are in almost 

 every one's possession, would, in such 

 case, come to be almost generally useful, 

 because the numbers in Tables of sp. 

 grav. would correctly express the weights 

 in imperial ounces of a cubic foot of each 

 of the substances. 



A paper, entitled " Observations on 

 the Bill," &c. explaining more at large the 

 above suggestions, was lately drawn up 

 by Mr. John Wilson, one of the members 

 of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, 

 which being approved by tliat body, the 

 same was ordered to be printed at their ex- 

 pence, and copies thereof to be forwarded 

 to the members of parliament, and to men 

 distinguished by their applications of sci- 

 ence to the useful arts, throughout the 

 kingdom: thereby hoping, as we under- 

 stand, that the present Bill might be 

 stopped, and another be prepared in its 

 stead, and be well considered, in the in- 

 terval between this and the next session, 

 by a union of the talent and experience of 

 men of business, as widely spread as pos- 

 sible, in order to embrace the circum- 

 stances and meet the wants of every 

 active bianch of the British community. 

 We gladly second these views, and hope 

 to see all other Chambers of Commerce, 

 and like bodies of men, come forward 

 with zeal and spirit in promoting them. 



Mr, Menke, of Berlin, has invented a 

 process 



