Cmgreve's Conical Balls.— Enormous Bird. 75 



SIR WILLIAM CONGREVe's CONICAL BALLS. 



To Mr. Tilioch. 

 Sir, — In some of your late num')ers, it appears, a patent has 

 been taken by Sir William Congreve for a coiiical ball. Below 

 are extracts so far back as ISOS, on tlie same subject, which I 

 beg you will insert in the Philosophical Magazine :— The Essay- 

 ist^has been dead several years. Your obedient, 



Glasgow, 17th Jan. 182U, James BoaZ, 



Surgeons'-hall, Glasorow, 21 Nov. 1S08. 

 Mr. Robertson read an essay upon the different forms of mus- 

 ket and other balls, exhibited paternsof various- shapes; amongst 

 these, he most p.pproved of the long egg-shaped-ball, haying one 

 end thick, the other tapered small to a point : he maintained 

 that this, containing as nnich matter as a spherical ball, will re- 

 ceive much less resistance in passing through the air ; conse- 

 quentlv, will not only go further with the sarre charge of powder, 

 but hit an oliject with greater force and precision, as its devia- 

 tion will be less, especially, by making spiral grooves in it, to give 

 it a whirling motion in its jirogrcss through the 'air. — Mr. Ro- 

 bertson is to so more fully into this subject at next meeting. 



* ' 28 Nov. 1808. 



Mr. Robertson read further an essay upon projectiles, and the 

 resistance balls receive in passiiijj through the atmosphere, com- 

 pared with what bodies of different kinds receive in passing 

 through water. He exhibited some drawings and a diagram il- 

 lustrative of his subject. 



5 Dec. 1808. 

 Mr. Robertson brought to the Society some further models of 

 balls of an oblong shape, hexagonally fluted in such a manner, 

 that in their passage through tiie air they revolve on their own 

 axis, while their heavy end goes foremost, being exactly upon t,lie 

 principle of an arrow shot from a bow. Mr. R. is to read an 

 essay upon those exhibited this evening at some future period. 



James Roaz, Secretary. 

 [Bxtracted from the Minute Book of the Glasgow Philosophical Society, by 

 Jamks Boaz, Secretary. Glasgow, 17th Jan. 1820.] 



ENORMOUS BIRD. 



Mr. Henderson has discovered, in New Siberia, the claws of a 

 bird measuring each a yard in length ; and the Yakuts assured 

 him, that they had freiiuently in their hunting excursions met 

 with skeletons and feathers of this bird ; the quills of which \yere 

 large enough to admit a min's arm. Captain Cook mentions 

 having seen an immense bird's nest in New Holland, on a low 

 sandy island, in Endeavour river, with trees upon it, and an in- 

 credible number of sea-fowls: he found an eagle's nest with 

 young ones, which he killcrl ; and the nest of some other bird 

 of a mo-st enormous size, built with large sticks on the ground, 

 'iKj less than twenty feet in circumference and 2 feet 8 inches high. 



