669 



WATT, JAMES HENRY. 



WATTS, ALARIC ALEXANDER. 



to which in fact they are opposed, but to which it must in fairness be 

 admitted his own inferences have led. He did not himself recognise the 

 full force of the experimental facts he had obtained, with respect to the 

 reproduction of tho stony texture by the gradual cooling of the melted 

 basalt, and subsequent geologists iu general have committed the 

 cardinal error of interpreting them as proving that the stony substance 

 which the fused matter thus became, was identical with the original 

 rock ; an error which has involved the chemico-geological history of 

 the trap-rocks and the lavas in an obscurity hitherto impenetrable ; 

 and which has also introduced an unreal difficulty in the consideration 

 of Mr. Poulett Scrope's discovery of the true nature of the fluidity of 

 those lavas which are in fact aggregate rocks. Sir H. Davy, it is true, 

 in the lecture cited above, and referring apparently to the results of 

 Sir James Hall as well as those of Gregory Watt, had said, that "in the 

 specimens of re-produced crystalline basalt" that he had seen, "the 

 crystals were only of one species ; whereas, in the original, they were 

 of two distinct kinds," which was equivalent to the assertion that the 

 original rock had not been re-produced. But this valuable observation 

 was confined to his audience at the time, and remained unpublished 

 for thirty years. Mr. Brayley, in a discussion at a late meeting (1856) 

 of the Geological Society of London, not then knowing what Davy had 

 said, asserted the same fact from his own observation, adding the 

 correlative fact, not before pointed out, that the stony substance pro- 

 duced in Mr. Watt's experiments, and in the recent manufacturing opera- 

 tions of Messrs. Chance upon the same rock (the basalt of Rowley), on 

 a large scale, was iu reality nothing more than the crystalline form of 

 the glass that would have resulted had the same fluid mass been 

 rapidly cooled, was essentially a homogeneous chemical combination 

 or mineral species (analogous to the stony condition of the vitreous 

 lavas), and not an aggregate rock. Mr. Scrope however had affirmed, 

 in a paper read at a previous meeting of the same year, that in the 

 product of Messrs. Chance's process, the true crystalline aspect of the 

 basaltic rock was not restored. It should always be remembered 

 in the discussion of this subject, that while Mr. Watt regarded his 

 experiments as affording a synthetical demonstration that basalt may 

 be formed by fire, he expressly discriminates between the regenerated 

 stone which was their ultimate result, and the original rock, stating 

 that in it the arrangement of the molecules was much more perfect 

 than in the latter, evidently implying, as his context shows, its more 

 homogeneous crystalline character. 



Mr. Gregory Watt, after a lingering illness, died at the age of 

 twenty-seven, on the 16th of October 1804, six months only after the 

 production of his essay. 



* WATT, JAMES HENRY, one of the most distinguished living 

 line-engravers, was born iu London about the close of the 18th century. 

 He received bis professional education in the workshop of Mr. Charles 

 Heath, but he had from his earliest years been fond of art, and he 

 owes the better part of his skill to his own devoted study and steady 

 perseverance. The first of Mr. Watt's larger productions we believe, 

 was the well-known engraving,of Stothard's ' Procession of the Flitch of 

 Bacon,' a work, the firmness and facility of line, clearness, the precision 

 and brilliancy of which, at once secured him a high position in his 

 profession. Among his principal works of a later date, perhaps the 

 best known is his admirable rendering of Landseer's 'Highland 

 Drover's Departure,' as a whole undoubtedly the finest line-engraving 

 yet executed from any of Landseer's pictures. He has besides engraved 

 ' Horses at the Fountain,' and ' A Court-Yard,' after Landseer ; ' May 

 Day in the reign of Elizabeth,' after Leslie a rich and singularly happy 

 translation of that painter's peculiar manner ; ' Christ blessing little 

 Children,' and ' La Sveglarina,' after Eastlake ; and ' Susannah and the 

 .Elders,' from Caracci's picture in the National Gallery. He has also 

 executed a few portraits and book plates. 



WATT, ROBERT, M.D., is the author of a well-known work, 

 entitled ' Bibliotheca Britannica, or a General Index to British and 

 Foreign Literature,' Glasgow, 4 vols. 4 to, 1819-1820; Edinburgh, 1821- 

 1824. The account given of him in that work (sent to the press after 

 his death) is that he was born in Ayrshire in 1774, that he died at 

 Glasgow March 12th, 1819, that he was president of the Faculty 

 of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and lecturer on the theory 

 and practice of medicine, and that he had published the following 

 works during his lifetime : ' Cases of Diabetes, Consumption, &c.,' 

 Paisley, 8vo, 1808; ' Catalogue of Medical Books,' Glasgow, 8vo, 1812; 

 'Treatise on the History, Nature, and Treatment of Chincough,' 

 Glasgow, 8vo, 1813; 'Rules of Life, with Reflections on the Manners 

 and Dispositions of Mankind,' Edinb., 12mo, 1813 (anonymous) ; 

 besides a few papers in the ' Transactions ' of the Medico-Chirurgical 

 and one or two other societies. 



The ' Bibliotheca Britannica ' is in two parts : the first containing 

 an alphabetical arrangement of authors, with the published works of 

 each in chronological order : the second, a similar arrangement of 

 subjects, with an enumeration of the books treating of them, and re- 

 ferences to the entry of each work under the author's name in the first 

 part. The compilation, prepared amid the calls of a professional life 

 and without access to any extensive library, and carried through the 

 press without having the advantage of the author's revision, is no 

 doubt chargeable with many positive errors, as well as with important 

 deficiencies ; but it is notwithstanding both a remarkable performance 

 for an. individual and an aid of very considerable utility in many 



literary investigations. It cannot be relied upon as an authority, but 

 it is serviceable as a guide or indicator. 



WATTEAU, ANTOINE, a celebrated French painter, was born at 

 Valenciennes in 1684. He went to Paris in 1702, with a scene-painter, 

 with whom he had placed himself, and for some time was occupied in 

 that branch of painting. But after some time his master left Paris, 

 and Watteau was obliged to seek another employer : he for a short 

 time found occupation as a copyist, and painted pictures by the dozen. 

 From this employment however he was rescued by Claude Gillot, 

 a painter of some ability, who having perceived the peculiar genius of 

 Watteau, took him into his house and employed him to assist him in 

 his works. Gillot painted landscapes with grotesque figures, fauns, 

 satyrs, &c., and confirmed Watteau in the same style ; but the pupil 

 soon surpassed the master in his own style, and this was so evident 

 even to Gillot himself, that he forsook painting and took to engraving. 

 Watteau now acquired reputation rapidly : he was appointed peintre 

 de fetes galantes du Roi, and was elected a member of the French 

 Academy of Painting. In 1718 he came to England, where he re- 

 mained a year ; but he painted only two pictures during his stay, for 

 Dr. Meade, whom he came to consult, says Walpole. He returned to 

 Paris in a very weak state of health, and died at Nogent, in the neigh- 

 bourhood, in 1721, aged thirty-seven. 



Watteau's colouring was rich, and his design, though peculiar, was 

 correct ; Rubens was his model for colouring. His pictures are chiefly 

 theatrical scenes, or fetes champetres, and were remarkably popular in 

 his time : nearly all the French engravers of his period were occupied, 

 with the works of Watteau. The prints after his works amount to 

 563, making three large folio volumes. Few painters in so short a 

 life have done so much as Watteau. As regards the particular style 

 of his works, Watteau is generally allowed to have had an injurious 

 effect upon the taste of the French artists of his time ; his pictures 

 generally represent balls, masquerades, garden parties, marches, and 

 encampments, and his style prevailed in France for some time after 

 his death. His principal imitators were Peter and Lancret. His 

 style is not ill described by Walpole, who says, "The genius of 

 Watteau resembled that of his countryman D'Urfe; the one drew and 

 the other wrote of imaginary nymphs and swains, and described a kind 

 of impossible pastoral or rural life led by those opposites of rural 

 simplicity, people of fashion and rank. Watteau's shepherdesses, nay, 

 his very sheep are coquet ; yet he avoided the glare and clinquant of 

 his countrymen ; and though he fell short of the dignified grace of the 

 Italians, there is an easy air in his figures, and that more familiar 

 species of the graceful which we call genteel. His nymphs are as 

 much below the forbidden majesty of goddesses, as they are above the 

 hoyden awkwardness of country girls. In his halts and marches of 

 armies, the careless slouch of his soldiers still retain the air of a 

 nation that aspires to be agreeable as well as victorious." 



* WATTS, ALARIC ALEXANDER, was born in London on 

 March 16, 1799, and was educated at the grammar-school called Wye 

 College, in Kent, of which one of his brothers was master. He was 

 subsequently removed to another school at Ashford, and then acted 

 as teacher in the school of his brother at Putney. He next became 

 the literary assistant of G. Crabbe, the author of the ' Technological 

 Dictionary,' and afterwards tutor in a private family at Manchester. In 

 1822 he published a small volume of poems containing several pieces 

 of genuine poetical merit which was favourably received by the public 

 and of which five editions have been published. In this little volume 

 he also displayed that taste for the fine arts which has distinguished 

 many of his subsequent publications, as it was embellished with en- 

 gravings by Heath after designs by Stothard. In the latter part of 

 the same year he became editor of the 'Leeds Intelligencer* news- 

 paper, in which he strenuously advocated an amelioration of the 

 factory system. His recommendations however were not popular 

 among the manufacturers, and, after editing the paper for three years, 

 he removed to Manchester, where he edited the ' Manchester Courier.' 

 While at Leeds a proposal had been made to him to take the editor- 

 ship of an annual, in which literature and the fine arts were both 

 to be prominent objects. He agreed, and 'The Literary Souvenir, 

 a Cabinet of Poetry and Romance,' was commenced. It was con- 

 tinued from 1825 to 1835, and at first was highly popular, as it 

 deserved to be from the style of literature and of art he introduced 

 into it. The contributors to the literature were himself, Campbell, 

 Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Montgomery, and others ; among 

 the artists who furnished the designs were Turner, Leslie, Stothard, 

 Roberts, Lawrence, Collins, Dauby, and Martin, and among the en- 

 gravers were Heath, Finden, Goodall, Watt, and Pye. But the public 

 favour declined, and after 1836 it ceased to appear. In 1825 he left the 

 'Manchester Courier,' and in 1828 published the 'Poetical Album, or 

 Register of Modern Fugitive Poetry.' It was intended to be an annual, 

 but only lived for two years. In 1827 he was engaged on the 

 ' Standard ' London evening newspaper, and in 1833 he started the 

 ' United Service Gazette.' In 1843 disputes with his partners led to 

 a Chancery suit, and to the paper being sold : it is still continued 

 as a valuable class paper. From 1841 to 1847 he was again engaged 

 on the ' Standard,' but since then has ceased to have any connection 

 with the newspaper press. In 1851 he published an edition of his 

 select poetical writings under the title of ' Lyrics of the Heart, 

 with other Poems,' some of them being by his wife, illustrated by 



