1813.] in the Hall Pit at Fatfield. 355 



and industrious people, who know not how soon they may be 

 " gathered to their forefathers," by a sudden and violent death ! 

 How long are such frequent catastrophes to be permitted ? The 

 Slave Trade, when at its acme, did not carry such horror to the 

 feeling mind as these shocking explosions. 



Sept. 30, 1813. •kstoiwk. 



Article VII. 



Experiments on the Stability of Vessels containing a Well on 

 Board. By Col. Mark Beaufoy. 



(To Dr. Thomson.) 



MY DEAR SIR, Hackney Wick, Oct. 9, 1813. 



Having often heard of the fishing-vessels employed in the 

 North Seas being lost, and that no part of the vessels came on 

 shore, it was concluded they must have foundered in the Ocean; 

 and having paid some attention to naval architecture, 1 was led 

 to consider, if the cause of the sinking of vessels occupied in the 

 fisheries might not be partly attributed to the faulty construction, 

 of the wells in which the fish are preserved. As the surest road 

 to come at facts is by the test of experiment, I have taken the 

 liberty of troubling you with the result of my inquiries on this 

 subject, which I hope may be useful in saving the lives and pro- 

 perties of our countrymen. 



Having caused a hollow parallelopipedon to be made, which 

 measured in length very nearly 24 inches, in breadth 9 inches, 

 and in depth 7 inches; it was loaded until it was immersed in 

 water 4 > s inches, or exactly one-half of its breadth ; and the 

 ballast was so adjusted that the centre of gravity of the figure 

 was precisely, in each experiment, 2\ above the bottom, or in 

 the same point at the centre of gravity of the displaced fluid. 

 This concave parallelopipedon had likewise two partitions, dis- 

 tant from each other 1357 inches, for the purpose of forming a 

 well ; this well had also a deck, the under side of which was 

 even with the surrounding fluid; when the figure flouted in an 

 upright position, the breadth of the well was 8}, and the depth 

 A\ inches. 



By comparing these experiments together, it is evident that 

 the first and second experiments very nearly coincide : the 

 variation may justly be attributed to the unavoidable inaccuracy 

 in making the experiments; and the conclusion to be drawn 

 from the near coincidence is, that the water in the well, when 



z 2 



