Charles Hntlon, L. L. D. F. R. S. Gi 



«na for the execution at" some new works which he had 

 projected. 



The first publication which he engaged in after this 

 period was the Ladies' Diary, to which for many years 

 tie had been an ii&eful contn!)utor. On his arrival in Lon- 

 <ion, he was informed of the death of the last compiler, 

 and a few days after the future juanagcinent of this ja- 

 vourite work was confided to his judirmerit xnd industry, by 

 the Stationers' Company, with increased emoluments/ 



For several years after his settling at Woolwich, Mr. 

 Ilutton employed part of his time in writing accounts of 

 niathematical and phiiosophical books for the review? pub- 

 lished monthly in London. Tiie same year that he removed 

 to Woolwich he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, 

 to the Transactions of which he was afterwards a valuable 

 contributor. The first ot his papers published in that work 

 was " A new and general method of finding simpk-, ahd 

 quickly converging series, by which the proportion of the 

 diameter of the cucle to its circunifcrence rna/ be easilv 

 computed to a great number of figures," printed in the 

 Transactions for T/zO. 'i'he second was " Ademrnstration 

 ot two remarkable theorems mentioned in a r ./nner article 

 f)t the'J'ransactions," published also in the same year, 177tj. 

 The next was a paper, in the year 1778, " On the force of 

 lired gun-pov.der, and the initial velocities of cannon-balls, 

 determined by' experiments; from which is also deduced the 

 relation of the initial velocity to the weight of the shot, and 

 the quantity of the charge of the powder." This papet 

 contains the account and calculation of a great number of 

 ■curious experiments with cannon-balls, made at Woolwich, 

 in the year 1/75, by the author ant! other ingenious gen- 

 tlemen ; and i^o sensible were the Society of the value of 

 tins communication, that JSlr. Hutton was honoured with 

 the prize medal of that year. Soon after, he was elected 

 one of the council, and appointed Latin secretary for con- 

 ducting the foreign correspondence, vacated by the election 

 (jf Mr. Maty to the reading secretaryship. 



In the Transactions of the same year appeared " An ac- 

 cotmt of the calculations made from the survey and mea- 

 sures taken at vSchthallien, in order to ascertain the mean 

 density of the earth." The determination of the mean 

 density of the earth was an important prol)leni proposed 

 by the Sociely, and the survey and measurements for this 

 ])urpose were taken at the hill of Scheliallien, in Perth- 

 shire, in the years 1774, 1775? and 177C, bv the direc>- 

 tion, and partly under the inspection, of Dr. Maskelyne, 



Vol. i; J . No.' bi . Ftl'. I fcjOj. E the 



