1826.] [ 405 ] 



PHILOSOPHICAL, CHEMICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANIES. 



Logarithms. — Extreme accuracy in ma- 

 thematical tables being indispensable, we 

 have seen with regret that the later editions 

 of those by Hiitton have uniformly been in- 

 ferior to all which preceded them. The 

 reverse is the case with the tables by Callet, 

 published in France ; any errors, as soon as 

 discovered, being eflfaced from the stereo- 

 tyiie plates, and the correct figures inserted, 

 have rendered the last impressions almost 

 peiiect ; still, unfortunately, eleven new 

 errata have been recently met with. We 

 regret that these have not as yet been ge- 

 n- nerally communicated to the public ; and 

 ^ to contribute as far as in us lies to the cause 

 of science, we avail ourselves of this oppor- 

 tunity to mention the following erratii 

 which have been found very lately in Tay- 

 lor's Tables : 



Cot 32-59 for 10-178 read 10187. 



Sin 84° 42' is printed 84° 1-2'. 



Sin 6-45 -52— 11001. 



Tan 23° 48' 19" 9 6445987. 



Cot 23-48 19 10-3554013. 



Cos37-29-2-5603. 



The four last have been already specified 

 in one of the scientific journals, but deserve 

 to be more extensively known. While on 

 the subject of logarithms we may add, that 

 much inconvenience has arisen from the use 

 of tables in \vhich the change of the first 

 tliree figures is not pointed out by a break 

 in the line ; and it has been discovered 

 within a short time, that ]M. Delaplace, 

 from having thus inadvertently been misled, 

 has vitiated calculations which pervade an 

 elaborate ^vork. 



Lauf/ufu/e. — The facility with which the 

 inhabitants of Russia acquire a knowledge 

 of foreign languages has been frequently re- 

 marked; and we think it worthy ofobser- 

 \ation that, of all strangers who visit Russia, 

 the English cultivate the language of that 

 country ^^■ith the greatest success, which 

 has occasioned the publication at St. Pe- 

 tersburg of " A Manual of an English and 

 Russian Grammar," — a work extremely 

 useful to all travellers in the North, enabling 

 them to acquire a practical knowledge of a 

 tongue s]ioken or understood over a wider 

 extent of territory than any of those on 

 vsliich greater attention is bestowed. 



Radesyge. — A disease which bears this 

 title, and which is unknown except in Nor- 

 way, where its ravages are most destmc- 

 tive, has lately engaged the attention of the 

 medical profession abroad. Tliis malady 

 it is said never extends beyond the coasts, 

 and there is almost exclusively confined to 

 the most barren districts, the inhabitants of 

 which subsist entirely upon fish, and a sort 

 of very thin gruel made from oatmeal, which 

 is substituted for bread, a luxury that is 

 almost unknown. As in these places the 



cattle are obliged to be supported during the 

 winter season upon the offal of fish mace- 

 rated over the fire, it is probable that the 

 milk is of a bad quality, and this milk form- 

 ing part of the food of the inhabitants, seems 

 necessarily to contribute towards diffusing 

 this horrible species of leprosy ; to this dis- 

 ease at least it seems to bear affinity. 



Cicero de Repuhlicd Professor Mun- 



nich, of Cracow, has been endeavouring to 

 restore this valuable work, and has commu- 

 nicated the following interesting informa- 

 tion. That in the time of Gerbert, in the 

 tenth century, this precious treatise was 

 in existence, and, in the twelfth century, 

 John of Salisbury made several extracts 

 from it ; but, from this period to the revival 

 of letters, every tiling is obscure. Petrarca, 

 the most enthusiastic admirer of Cicero, 

 sought for it in vain ; had it been in any 

 private library, who could liave refused it to 

 the admirer of Laura ? Poggius, by whom 

 Quintilian was recovered, made various en- 

 deavours, but without effect, to regain this 

 treasure. He mentions however in a letter, 

 that a credible person had informed him 

 where the Republic "might be found." 

 He adds, that he shall immediately go in 

 pursuit of this object -. but, from that time 

 nothing more has been heard of it. This 

 a])pears strange, and M. Munnich concludes 

 that some rich man wished to be the sole 

 possessor of this literary treasure; and as a 

 Polish manuscript has been mentioned, he 

 inquires what celebrated Poles visited Italy. 

 Among many others he names Zamosk-y, the 

 person who came to offer Henry of Valois 

 the crown of Poland. Proceeding still fur- 

 ther, he discovers that it was precisely at 

 the period that one of them, Goslicius, was 

 on a mission to the Prince of Brunswick, 

 that a report was in circulation, both in Ger- 

 many and England, of a manuscript of Ci- 

 cero de Republica being in existence ; it 

 also appears that in 1.557 one was seen in a 

 convent in Poland, but that it suddenly dis- 

 appeared. Mr. M. likewise shows that 

 Petrus Blesensis and Petrus Pictaviensis 

 had read, one the fourth, the other the fifth 

 book. It is then proved that the manu- 

 script was carried into Turkey, then brought 

 back and given to Vo'inusk-y, so that a hope 

 may be entertained of its future recovery. 

 At all events, the work of Goslicius de per- 

 fecto senatore, is so exact an imitation of the 

 Republic of Cicero, that at least it may 

 serve to point out his ideas. Goslicius was 

 a native of Posen, and distinguished him- 

 self in 1561 in the university of Cracow ; he 

 was afterwards raised to the prelacy. His 

 work was published in Italy, with a view, as 

 Mr. Munnich believes, of more effectually 

 concealing his plagiarism. 



Astronomy. — While the labours of the 

 continental astronomers arc every day re- 



