Admiral Krusenstern on the Local Attraction of Vessels. 283 



whom he has lately spoken, and from whose judgement con- 

 cerning them he has most reluctantly been compelled to dis- 

 sent. 

 Rome, March 30, 1822. Arthur Taylor. 



XL VII. On the Local Attraction of Vessels. — In a Letter from 

 Admiral Krusenstern of the Imperial Russian Navy to 

 Peter Barlow, Esq. F.R.S. 



Dear Sir, St. Petersburgh, July 8, 1824. 



J" HAVE had the honour to receive the letter you have done 

 me the favour to address, dated April 22d, with a copy of 

 your work to be presented to the Academy of Sciences, and 

 six copies of your Appendix ; three of which I have sent ac- 

 cording to your desire to Admiral Greig, commander in chief 

 of the Russian marine station in the Black Sea, who has re- 

 quested me to return you his obliging thanks for your kind 

 attention; and he is very anxious to have a compass made by 

 Messrs. Gilbert with one of your correcting plates, tables, &c. 

 Since I have had your letter, I am happy to learn by the 

 public papers, that the Board of Longitude and Trinity Board 

 have rewarded you for the ingenious discovery you have made. 

 After the many experiments by such skilful officers as Captains 

 Basil Hall, Owen, and others, published in your work with 

 their highly satisfactory results, the value of your discovery so 

 highly important to the interest of navigation does not stand 

 in need of any other testimony. It has, however, been long 

 my wish to have these experiments made here also, being 

 firmly convinced since what I read in the part of the work you 

 sent me last year, that no ship should go to sea without this 

 excellent method of neutralizing the deviation. It may perhaps 

 be no where of so great use as in the narrow seas of the Baltic, 

 where the navigation, late in the season, notwithstanding the 

 excellence of our light-houses, is extremely dangerous, and 

 where an error of some degrees in the course steered during a 

 night of 14 or 15 hours' duration, must frequently bring the 

 ships into danger. It is of equal importance for ships coming 

 from Archangel, steering almost all the way a course which 

 is known generally to be affected considerably by the iron in 

 the vessel. 



I had ordered last year a compass from Messrs. Gilbert, 

 but it arrived during my absence, and on my return to Peters- 

 burg!] it was too late to have the observations made. Ill health 

 prevented nie from going to C'roiistadt early in the summer, 

 ■so that it was not till the 1st of July that I went down with 

 N n 2 Admiral 



