[ 452 J [Jure 1, 



SPIRIT OF PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOVERY, AND OF THE 

 VARIOUS SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



THE disease in wlioat, calletl ear- 

 coclile. Las been ascertained, liy 

 Mr. F. Bauer, to l>c dccasioncd by great 

 iiiitnbcrs of a niimito uorin, called by 

 imltiralists the Vibrio tritica, li;tvii)g 

 taken possession of the grair»s, and eat 

 np tlicir farinaceous contents. The 

 disease he finds to he propagated 

 thron^li tlio seed-corn : perfect small 

 worms appeared tliroiJC!,h liio niicro- 

 scopo, Oil dissection, asceridiiig wilii the 

 sap tlirongb the stalk of the plant, in 

 tlie often-repeated microscopic obser- 

 vations to wiiicii ti)e stalks of wheat 

 from diseased seed have been subjected, 

 initil at iengtli tiic worms have fixed 

 their abode in the grains of the new 

 cars. 'I'hcsc worms are in a singular 

 degree tenacious of life; for, after being 

 kept in a dry and dormant state for two 

 or tllree y<'ars, on inmicrsion in water 

 tliey quickly revive, and, on the water 

 evaporating friiin them, again become 

 dormant; bnt they revive again in 

 water several successive times, until at 

 length they die. A full account of 

 these worms, and of iVIr. Bauer's expe- 

 riments U|)on them, have recently ap- 

 peared in the "Philosophical Trans- 

 actions." 



A Mathematical Question. — Mr. J. 

 Hambtt, in a lato "I'iiilosophical Ma- 

 gazine," page 236, has re-|)roposcd, as 

 a new one, tlie proposition demonstrated 

 in [)ago420 of our 42d volume, relating 

 to the common intersection of one per- 

 jii-ndicular line and two drawn diagonal- 

 wise, within the diagram usually drawn, 

 for demonstrating the 47tli proposition 

 of the 1st Book of Euclid ; but Mr. H. 

 in the present instance, rcqnire<t that no 

 proposition be used in the said demon- 

 s'lration but those of Euclid, preceding 

 tliis 47lh proposition itself. Perhaps 

 souic of our mathematical readers may 

 deem the proposition thus restricted 

 worthy their re-consideration. 



Dr. FoRSTER has discovered a pecu- 

 linr property in original light, whereby 

 it is distinguishable from reflected light, 

 namely, the properly of the former, of 

 beins separated into the |)rimitivc co- 

 lours, by suffering it to pass through a 

 vibrating lens. He promises to describe 

 this method in some future Number of 

 the Monthly Magazine. 



xVmong other discoveries wliii'h che- 

 iniatry is rapidly giving birth to, is a 



recent one of M. Breton, professor of 

 chemistry at Paris, in restoring wines 

 that have lost their colour and jiavour. 

 In Trance this is called tournure. The 

 colouring matter becoHK's violet, or 

 almost black ; takes a disagreeable 

 taste and scent, an I is no longer trans- 

 parent ; and the froth emi(tcd in shaking 

 loses its redness. It appears from ana- 

 lysis, that this is formed of the sub- 

 carbonato of potash overpowering the 

 cream-of-tartar, and the colouring mai- 

 ler that is natural to wine. If a little 

 tartaric acid be added to this liquid, in a 

 slate of decomposition, it will over- 

 power the potash, separate from the- 

 cream-of-tartar at the bottom of the 

 vessel, and the wine will resume its 

 former scent and flavour. Half an 

 ounce of tartaric acid goes to every lico- 

 tolitre of wine. 



The meteoric stone of Nohhlorouf/h, 

 which fell on the 7ih of August, 1823, 

 in the stale of Maine, United Slates, ' 

 appears, from the analysis of Dr. 

 Webster, to be composed as follows, 

 viz. — 



Silex ...29-5 



Magnesia 24'8 



Sulphur t8-3 



Iron Mi) 



Alnmine 4*7 



Chrome 4-0 



Nickel 2'3 



Liine a trace, & loss 1*5 ^ 



The Triyonoimtrical Survey of Eur/' 

 land appears not to have settled the lon- 

 gitudes of places with so much precision 

 as might have been expected from it, 

 considciing the excellency of the instru- 

 ments, and the talents of the surveyors 

 employed thereon. Dr. TrARKs having 

 in the sunmicr of 1822 ascertained, by 

 the coinpaiison of sixteen excellent 

 chronometers, carried backwards and 

 forwards between Greenwich and Fal- 

 mouth, that the western longitude of the 

 latter important naval station has been 

 stated at 4"4 seconds of time, or 1' G" 

 too little, by the Trig. Survey ! In 

 consequence of this discovery, twenty- 

 nine of the best chronometers belonging 

 to the Admiralty were committed to 

 the care of tiie doctor, and a vessel was 

 api)ointed, wherein he was to sail back- 

 wards and forwards between Dover and 

 Falniontii, until tlie longitude, in time, 

 between these stations, and between 

 theui and Portsmouth as au iutcrmeiliate 

 station, 



