THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE. 



AVGVST 1799. 



L Ohfe'rvat'ions on the Property afcr'ih-ed to Oil, of calming thi 

 Waves of the Sea. By I. F. W. Otto *, 



A> 



>.N idea was entertained, in the earlieft ages, that there 

 ^vere means capable of cahning the waves of the reftlefs 

 ocean, and of rendering its furface tranquil and even. Arif- 

 totle fays, that every body thrown into the fea when agi- 

 tated, fuch as anchors, &c. tends to leflen the waves ; be- 

 caufe a kind of eddy is thereby created, which exerts itfelf iri 

 a dirc6lion contrary to their movement, and confequently 

 v/eakens them. Pkitarch f and Pliny J afcribe this power 

 to oil ; as they afl'ert that it poflefl'ea a property by which it 

 reftrains the reftlefs movement of waier, renders its llirface 

 even, and thereby caufes the rays of the fun, which are re- 

 fracted through the waves in diH'erent direftions, to pafs to 

 the bottom free and uninterrupted. W^hal the ancients have 

 faid on this fubjeft is exceedingly vague and obfcure. It 



* From Von Zach's Ccographifche E^'bemniden, Vol. II. Part 6. 

 t Qoaeft. Nat. 



X Ea natura cfl. olei, ut lucem adfcrat et tranquillet omnia, ctiam marc, 

 quo non aliiid clementum eft implacabilius. Hiji, Nai. lib. ii. c. ioj. 



Vol. IV. Q does 



