Miscellanies. 307 
lished or destroyed. This condition is fully proved by the following 
singular experiment. A long copper wire covered with cotton was 
wound tightly into a flat spiral. After making forty turns, the whole 
was firmly fixed by a smearing of common cement, and mounted 
vertically between two upright supports. The ends of the wire 
were then brought down into mercury cups, which were connected 
by copper wires with the cups on the battery, which was a single pair 
of zinc and lead plates, excited by sulphate of copper. When one 
of the connecting wires was lifted from its cup a bright spark and 
loud snap were produced. When one or both poles of a large horse. 
shoe magnet, are brought by the side or put astride the spiral, but not 
touching it, a distinct ringing is heard in the magnet, as often as the 
battery connexion with the spiral is made or broken by one of the 
wires. Thinking that the ringing sound might be produced by agita-. 
tion or reverberation from the snap, I had the battery contact broken 
in a cup, at considerable distance from the field of experiment; the 
effect was the same as before. The ringing is heard both when 
the contact is made and broken; when the contact is made, the 
sound emitted is very feeble; when broken it may be heard at two 
or three feet distance. The experiment will hardly succeed with 
small magnets. The first used in the experiment, consisted of three 
horse shoes, supporting ten pounds. The next one tried was com- 
posed of six magnets, supporting fifteen pounds by the armature. 
The third supported two pounds. In each of these trials the sounds 
produced differed from each other, and were the notes or pitches 
peculiar to the several magnets. If a large magnet supported by 
the bend be struck with the knuckle, it gives a musical note ; if it be 
slightly tapped with the fingernail, it returns two sounds, one, its 
proper musical pitch, and another an octave above this, which last 
is the note given in the experiment. 
18. The American edition of Dr. Buckland’s late Work on Ge- 
ology and Mineralogy, considered with reference to Natural The- 
ology. Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 2 vols. Svo. Phil. : 
We are happy to see this admirable work laid before the Ameri- 
can public. We have already recorded our favorable opinion of it, 
and a reiterated perusal and study only confirm the conviction of 
its high claims to the attention of the scientific and religious world. 
Both its physical and moral demonstrations are of the highest order, 
and it has settled forever (if it had not been settled before,) the great 
