IS^ Rev. P. Keith on the Conditiotis of Life. 



10-inch globe, partially heated, to a much greater angle than 

 any that has ever been ascribed to diurnal variation. This re- 

 sult, insignificant as it may appear, and far from answering my 

 expectations as to the extent of magnetic power developed by 

 the sphere, sufficiently warrants the prosecution of the inquiry. 

 The experiment has demonstrated the existence of the mag- 

 netic power in a homogeneous sphere of zinc, and the deve- 

 lopment of that power by heat. The field of inquiry is thus 

 successfully penetrated, and future investigations may possibly 

 lead to the most interesting results. 



119. A sphere of 10 inches diameter, which is the largest 

 I can at present command, is much too small for experiments 

 of this character. With a globe 30 or 40 inches in diameter, 

 experiments might be made on a magnificent scale, and I ap- 

 prehend with the most satisfactory results. A metallic sphere 

 of such dimensions, with the necessary machinery for experi- 

 ment, would require a sum, which perhaps but few indivi- 

 duals would be found willing to lay out on an inquiry which of 

 is more of a national than of an individual interest. Researches 

 of this nature would be the most likely to be successful were 

 they pursued under the patronage of governments, or of 

 wealthy scientific associations. The experiments might then 

 be carried on under advantages the most favourable to insure 

 regularity and uniformity in the results, provided they were 

 conducted under the superintendance of persons who have 

 proved themselves competent to the task. They might also 

 be pursued to an extent which no individual could hope to ar- 

 rive at, and with a success that probably might at once set 

 this sublime philosophical problem completely at rest. 

 Artillery Place, Woolwich. 



N.B. I have succeeded in magnetizing an iron sphere by 

 means of a thermo-electric combination. The same sphere 

 becomes very highly magnetic when under the influence of 

 the electricity excited by a small galvanic pair immersed in salt 

 water; giving direction and incli?iation to a magnetic needle, 

 highly imitative of those phaenomena as exhibited by the ac- 

 tion of the earth. A description of the apparatus and mode 

 of experimenting will be given in my next communication. 



XIV. Of the Cojiditions of Life. By the Rev. Patrick Keith, 



F.L.S. 



[Conc'uded from page 40.] 



Aliment. — A LL substances capable of affording nourishment 



'^■- to living beings are aliments; and no living 



being can subsist any great length of time without the use of 



them. 



