[ 33 ] 



V. jimwer of Mr. P, NicHQtsoN to Mr. Holdred on Mr. N.'s 

 IFbrk on Involution and Bvobiliofi. 



To Mr. Tilloch. 



Sir, — X^ERMiT me to offer a few observations in my own de- 

 fence in reply to what appear to nie the verv illiberal and invi- 

 dious insinuations of your correspondent, Mr. Holdred, in the 

 Philosophical Magazine for November 1820, upon my recent 

 work on Involution and Evolution, published about the middle 

 of April 1820, and 



You will oblige your most obedient servant, 

 Gower-PIace, Euston-Square, P NiCHOLSON 



Jan. \2, 1821. 



It is not my intention to review Mr. Holdred's work, or to an- 

 swer his calumnies, in any other way than by contradicting some 

 ot his principal assertions, which might otherwise have a ten- 

 dency to prejudice the reader, Vho might not have had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining the Essay which I have published, and his 

 recent tract on the Resolution of Equations ; and by placing the 

 points in dispute, in such a light that the candid and ingenuous 

 reader may be able to judge for himself of the merits of the case. 

 I shall therefore confine myself to the two following points: 



1st. He says the article which I put into the Philosophical 

 Magazine for October 1818, was taken from his method of ex- 

 tracting the cube root, and that this has been the means by 

 which Mr. Horner has become acquainted with the principle. 



2d. He says also that the Essay on Involution and Evolution 

 published by me about the middle of April 1820, was, exclusivelv, 

 his and Mr. Horner's. I am under no necessity to prove it is 

 not Mr. Horner's, but I can make it appear sufficiently evident 

 that the nonfigurate method first published by the above gentle- 

 man did not originate with Mr. Holdred. 



The following quotation from your correspondent will evi- 

 dently show his unfair disposition towards me, excited bv my 

 having published my own improvements of his method of ex- 

 tracting the roots of equation, the principle of which he had at 

 first but very rudely suggested. 



** After Mr. Nicholson had discovered another manner of de- 

 monstration, he requested me to annex it to my tract by way of 

 Supplement, lest any one should discover the same ivui/ of de- 

 monstrating Ike rule after it should be pvblished as quickly as 

 he had done before." 



I shall here observe, that the words put in italics are fabri- 

 Vol. 57. No.273. J«/i. 1S2I. E cated 



