[ 67 1 

 XI. tntelli^ence and Miscellaneous ylr tides. 



yJa Monday the 15th January, a meeting took place at Hull, 

 to consider of the propriety of lighting the town with gas. Con- 

 siderable discussion occurred as to the comparative merits of gas 

 from oil and gas from coal. It was stated, that the oil gas threw 

 a better light than that from coal, that it required " smaller ap- 

 paratus, that it was free from the offensive smell, so injurious to 

 breath and destructive of comfort, by which coal gas was accom- 

 panied; that it did not corrode the pipes, nor tarnish nor dis- 

 colour polished metals, silks, 'v'c. as coal gas did, and that it 

 was used in Covent-Garden Theatre, in the Argyle Rooms, in 

 Whitbread's brewery, and some other places. One of the speakers 

 alleged on the contrary, that he procured 417 gallons of gas from 

 1 1 lbs. of coal, which cost a penny. The coke produced was 

 worth a penny, and the tar wortli a penny more, so that he had 

 a profit of 200 per cent, and the gas for nothing. Besides, his 

 gas had produced no offensive smell, and he had not perceived 

 that his pipes (which were of lead) had been corroded. — A letter 

 was read, which observed, that 1000 feet of oil gas would pro- 

 duce a light equal to 3333 feet of coal gas. It appears that the 

 Emperor Alexander is Hghting up his palace at St. Petersburgh 

 with oil gas. The meeting unanimously agreed to resolutions in 

 favour of gas from oil. 



ON THE SOLAR SPOTS*. 



In the 49t;h volume of 'the Philosophical Magazine, p. 182, I 

 find an article upon the solar spots of 1816, by Mr. Mosely, of 

 Winterdvne House, Worcestershire, upon which, and his metiiod 

 of observing them, I have to make a few remarks. 



He states that the sun's image was received upon a paper 

 screen, on wliich was drawn a circle of the same diameter as that 

 j)roduced by the sun's rays, when falling upon it with the focus 

 of the eye-glass properly adjusted ; and that across the circle 

 were drawn three lines, one. exactly perpendicular to the horizon, 

 another inclining H dc^. westward, representing the axis oj the 

 su?i, and a third at right angles to the axis, representing the 

 ef/nalnr, Sec. &c. Now, as the sun's axis, when he is on the 

 meridian, will only coincide with that meridian twice a year, 

 viz. about the beginning of Scpteml)er, when his king, is from 

 .") sec. 8 cleg, to 5 sec. 12 dcg. and in the latter end of February 

 and beginning of March, when his long, is from 1 1 sec. S deg^ 



* From New Moiitlily Ma^'izim; for Jnmutry 1S21. 



I 2 tu 



