‘S14 Scientific -ntelligence: {Ocr. 
lished in No. 31 of the dnnals. There is doubtless no branch of 
zoology so much involved as that which is now entitled Cetology. 
'To the world at large several genera of this class of animals bear the 
general name of whales: and from the circumstance of many of the 
species being rarely, if ever, caught, they are in a great measure 
unknown. ‘Thus it is that the mysticetus physalis, and musculus, 
of Linneus, are generally confounded. The first is probably the 
most bulky animal of the creation, but the second is undoubtedly 
the longest. The balzna physalis, or razor-Lack of the whale- 
fishers, is often seen apparently of the length of a ship; that is, 
from 90 to NO feet: and of this species, most probably, was the 
skeleton alluded to by Capt. Clarke. From the quantity of mysti- 
ceti which I have seen caught, and the immense number which I 
have seen at liberty in the Greenland seas, I feel the greatest confi- 
dence in asserting that the northern whale fishery has not afforded, 
during the last 15 years at least, a single individual of the species 
of the length of 80 feet. 
~ Lam, Sir, your humble obedient servant, 
WILLIAM ScoREsSBY, jun. 
X. On Spring Carriages. 
(To Dr. Thomson.) 
SIR, Edgeworthstown. 
In your Annals of Philosophy, No. 32, for August, 1815, there 
js an account of some experiments which were shown by me before 
a Committee of the Dublin Society, on the 22d of last April. 
I beg that you will have the goodness to notice at your leisure a 
mistake which occurred in that Report. In the experiment No. 1, 
tried with two furniture carts that were sustained on grasshopper 
springs, the result is stated to be in favour of the spring carriage, 
viz. as one-fourth of the weight that was laid upon it. ‘This state- 
ment was inaccurate, because the experiments were exhibited before 
500 spectators, whose remarks and inquiries prevented a minute 
attention to the summing up the results with accuracy. The weight of 
the furniture carts was forgotten, which should have been included in 
the comparison which was made of their drafts. These experiments, 
however, were announced as the means of making a general im- 
ression upon the public to remove the mistaken predilection for 
high and short carriages, anc to recommend the use of springs for 
carriages of burden, but not with a view of establishing the exact 
ratio of advantage that might be gained by different constructions of 
carriages. 
The Dublin Society had most handsomely appropriated 100/. for 
trying, hefore the Committee of Natural Philosophy, experiments 
upon wheel carriages under my conduct. } have ever since that 
time been employed unremittingly in preparing a sect of accurate 
experiments to be submitted to them, when | have satisfied myself 
of their being worthy their attention. When they have been com- 
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