DIV 



DIV 



fire to the powder. This apparatus was 

 so pinioaed that it could not possibly 

 move, till by casting 1 off the magazine 

 from the vessel it was set in motion. 



The skilful operator could swim so low 

 on the surface of the water, as to ap- 

 proach very near a ship in the night with- 

 out fear of discovery, and might, if he 

 chose, approach the stem or stern above 

 water with very little danger. He could 

 sink very quickly, keep at any depth he 

 pleased, and row a great distance in any 

 direction he desired, without coming to 

 the surface ; and when he rose to the 

 surface, he could soon obtain a fresh sup- 

 ply of air, when, if necessary, he might 

 descend again and pursue his course. 



The projector found some time and at- 

 tention to be requisite for the gradual in- 

 struction of this operator, and after va- 

 rious attempts he found one on whom he 

 thought he could depend. He sent this 

 man from New York tote 50 gun ship, 

 lying not far from Governor's Island. He 

 went under the ship and attempted to fix 

 the wood screw in her bottom, but struck, 

 as he supposed, a bar of iron, which 

 passes from the rudder-hinge, and is spik- 

 ed under the ship's quarter. Had he re- 

 moved afew mches, which he might have 

 done without rowing, the projector has 

 no doubt but he might, have found wood, 

 where he might have fixed the screw ; or, 

 if the ship were sheathed with copper, he 

 might easily have pierced it; but not be- 

 ing well skilled in the management of the 

 vessel, in attempting to row to another 

 place he lost the ship : after seeking her 

 in vain some time, he rowed to some dis- 

 tance, and rose to the surface of the wa- 

 ter, but found day-light had advanced so 

 far that he durst not renew the attempt. 

 He says he could easily have fastened 

 the magazine under the stern of the ship 

 above the water, as he rowed up to the 

 stern, and touched it before he descend- 

 ed. Had he fixed it there, the explosion 

 of 1 50 pounds of powder (the quantity 

 contained in the magazine) must have 

 been fatal to the ship. In his return 

 from the ship to New York, he passed 

 near Governor's island, and thought he 

 was discovered by the enemy on the 

 island ; being in haste to avoid the danger 

 he feared, he cast off the magazine, as 

 he imagined it retarded him in the swell, 

 which was very considerable. After the 

 magazine had been cast off an nour, the 

 time the internal apparatus was set to run, 

 it blew up with great violence. 



Mr. Bushnell made some other trials, 

 which may be seen on consulting the ori- 



ginal, or Nicholson's Journal, quarto, iv, 

 229. 



DIVINITY, properly signifies the na- 

 ture, quality, and essence of the true 

 God. 



DIVISIBILITY, that property by which 

 the particles of matter in all bodies are 

 capable of a separation, or disunion from 

 each other. 



As it is evident that body is extended, 

 so it is no less evident that it is divisi- 

 ble ; for since no two particles of matter 

 can exist in the same place, it follows, 

 that they are really distinct from each 

 other, which is all that is meant by being 

 divisible. In this sense the least con- 

 ceivable particle must still be divisible, 

 since it will consist of parts which will 

 be really distinct. To illustrate this by 

 a familiar instance, let the least imagi- 

 nable piece of matter be conceived lying 

 on a smooth plain surface, it is evident 

 the surface will not touch it every 

 where : those parts, therefore, which it 

 does not touch, may be supposed se- 

 parable from the others, and so on, as 

 far as we please ; and this is all that is 

 meant, when we say matter is infinitely 

 divisible. 



The infinite divisibility of mathema- 

 tical quantity is demonstrated thus geo- 

 metrically. Suppose the line A D (Plate 

 Miscel. fig. 7) perpendicular to B F, and 

 another, as G H, at a small distance 

 from it also perpendicular to the same 

 line : with the centres C, C, C, &c. de- 

 scribe circles cutting the line G H in 

 the points e, e, e, &c. Now, the greater 

 the radius A C is, the less is the part 

 e H. But the radius may be augmented 

 in infim'tum ; so long, therefore, the part 

 e H may be divided into still less por- 

 tions, consequently it maybe divided in 

 infinitum. 



All that is supposed in strict geome- 

 try (says Mr. Maclaurin) concerning the 

 divisibility of magnitude, amounts to no 

 more than that a given magnitude may 

 be conceived to be divided into a number 

 of parts, equal to any given or proposed 

 number. It is true, that the number of 

 parts into which a given magnitude may 

 be conceived to be divided is not to be 

 fixed or limited, because no given num- 

 ber is so great but a greater may be con- 

 ceived and assigned: but there is not, 

 therefore, any necessity of supposing the 

 number of parts actually infinite ; and if 

 some have drawn very absurd conse- 

 quences from such a supposition, yet 

 geometry ought not to be loaded with 

 them. 





