Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 155 



destroyed will be preserved : on the other side of the question it 

 may be conjectured, that many letters which would probably have 

 been sold as waste paper will be looked over before they are parted 

 with for this proposed Repository ; and those which are found to be 

 improper to be sent to it, will be destroyed by the families to whom 

 they belong, to prevent their being made public. Those persons who 

 now willingly sell old letters and other writings for waste paper, pro- 

 bably rest satisfied that they will really become such, and then be de- 

 stroyed : but those who collect manuscripts from waste-paper shops, 

 must well know that private letters are bought and preserved j some 

 containing family anecdotes, which, if made public, might give great 

 uneasiness to tii'e descendants of the writers of them. The effects of 

 such a Repository appear to be two-fold, the preservation of many 

 valuable papers from the flames, and the destruction of papers which 

 would have been preserved by private collectors. Should this propo- 

 sition be thought by you worth noticing, you will oblige the writer of 

 it by giving it an early insertion in your Magazine. If such a Repo- 

 sitory should be established, there can be little doubt but many pre- 

 sents will be made to the managers of it by private individuals. 



ClIIROGRAPHILOS. 



18th December, 1828. 



SUGGESTIONS TO B.\ROMETRICAL OBSERVERS. 



If it would not be too much trouble to your correspondents who 

 favour your readers with their registers of tlie barometer, I would beg 

 of them information on one or two points, without which they can- 

 not be compared with one another, or with other registers. 1 wish 

 to know, 



1st, The height of the basin of the barometer above the level of 

 the sea at mean tide. 



2nd, The temperature of the barometer : for which purpose there 

 should be a thermometer attached, which should be registered each 

 time the barometer is registered ; or if this is found inconvenient, at 

 least the mean temperature of the room in which the barometer 

 hangs should be obtained as accurately as may be. 



3rd, The particulars of the instrument : viz. 



§ 1. Whether an open-cistern barometer or not. 



§ 2. The proportion between the surfaces of mercury in the basin 

 and in the tube. 



§ 3. The diameter of the inside of the tube. 



§ 4. Since only one point of the graduated scale can be correctly 

 measured from the varying surface in the basin ; Which is that point ? 

 and At what temperature is it correct ? 



This information would add much to the value of the copious regis- 

 ters reported in the Philosophical Magazine and Annals, and oblige 



Canonbury, 17th Jan. 1829. S. S. 



X 2 oiuri ARY : — 



