262 On the Causes, Laws, &c. of Heat, &'e. 
I can assure Mr. H. that the rejection of his papers by the 
Royal Society had no influence with me; if they had been re- 
ceived and printed in the Transactions, I should have equally op- 
posed them. As far however as my opinion goes, the Royal So- 
ciety do perfectly right in rejecting speculation in physico-mathe- 
matical subjects. 
I believe Mr. H. when he says he has thought much on the 
subject : he has not however been happy in finding a correct so- 
lution of its difficulties ; and if he be guided by the axiom he has 
laid down at the close of his Reply, 1 am afraid he will long con- 
tinue in error. This axiom is, ‘* that it is impossible, by correct 
reasoning from false principles to bring out true conclusions.” 
The history of science affords too many examples of the evil ten- 
dency of a rule like this, even pure mathematics is not an excep- 
tion. Contemplate the doctrine of a second fluxion passing 
through infinity in the regression of curve lines; examine the 
mode of calculating the radius curvature; review the principle 
of ultimate ratios, and the mathematical doctrine of infinity. 
Mr. H. must for the present dispense with demonstration ; in- 
deed to one that attempts to instruct his brethren in “ the phy- 
sical constitution of the universe,” they ought to be unnecessary ; 
I did expect that the bare reference of the laws of collision to a 
well known dynamical principle would be sufficient ; expecting 
that “a word to the wise is enough ;”’ but should not the expla- 
nation I have now given satisfy Mr. H. it will be best to try ex- 
periments, or assume, which his axiom will allow him to do, that 
the atoms are perfectly elastic; and accordingly make the world 
of elastic particles. 
Iam, sir, your most obedient servant, 
No. 2, Grove Terrace, Lisson Grove. Tuomas TREDGOLD. 
P. S.—It certainly, would have been as well if Mr. Herapath 
had not published the extracts of letters he has thought proper 
to do.: Private grievances, whether they be real or imaginary, 
should not be brought forward in the discussions of science. If 
Mr. H. were desirous of weighing me down with authority, a few 
extracts from the Chemical Philosophy of Sir H. Davy, from 
Count Rumford’s works, or from Sir Isaac Newton’s works, would 
have been more to the purpose. The existence of an opinion, 
sanctioned by such names, rendered it necessary to prove, that 
there cannot be continued intestine motion in bodies consisting 
of absolutely hard particles —T. T. 
LVIII. True apparent Right Ascension of Dr. MAsKELYNE’s 
36 Stars for every Day in the Year (821. By the Rev. 
J. Groosy, 
[Continued from p. 197.] 
