299 | EUCLID. | i 
foci. must have been guided in his studies in a great mea- cient. To such prejadices has been ascribed, and we ‘Euctid 
—\1—" sure by accident—interrupted at-every step of his pro- believe justly, the bondage in which the human mind oa - 
gress, and obliged’to go out of his way for the purpose was long held by the metaphysics of Aristotle. But . 
of investigating a ition of which he was not at to ascribe the reputation of Euclid to a similar cause, 
first aware, bat which wes necessary for the demon- is to place him infinitely lower than he was ever ‘les- 
etration of a more important truth. The length of tined to stand, and to asi to prejudice an authori- 
time thus necessary, in the most favourable citcum- ty over mankind, which it never possessed. Bi 
< 
Stanees, for iring a knowledge of the fundamen- and superstition may retard or suppress a spirit of ma- 
tie preyotions ‘the difficulty of bringing them, thematical inquiry ; but we cannet admit the possibi- 
60 as to Leah tet tie sea of new truths, as to suppose that any thing but intrinsic excellence 
must ‘have ‘obstacles ordinary magni- could secure to an elementary system of geometry, the 
tude even to the most skilful geometer, and rendered almost unanimous a ion of mai ians for 
the future progress of mathematical discovery both two thousand years. 
slow and uncertain. Every person who has studied - The other work to which Euclid is in any d in- 
Tair intemans attention to the nature of ma- debted for his reputation with posterity, is his Book of 
investigation, will be ready to admit the Data. This treatise, like his Elements, had suffered 
trath of these remarks, and to acknowledge the extent much from the ignorance of commentators, as well as 
of the obligations which he owes to Euclid; nor have the depredations of time ; but, like the latter, revived 
the admirers of that distinguished mathematician any with fresh vi under the renovating hand of Dr 
reason to lament his being denied, in some instances, Sinem of ‘Glingow: It is still perhaps unnecessaril 
of original invention, while it is admitted prolix, and not at all entitled to the estimation in whi 
that, by the | arrangement of the discoveries of it was held by the ancients. At the same time it is 
others, he has put into the hands of his successors an certainly valuable, as containing the rudiments of the 
instrument which, at a comparatively trifling expence geometrical analysis. —~ ; ; 
’ ‘of time and labour, has enabled them to reap not alittle — Of Euclid’s books on Porisms, ing can be col- 
_ of what is most valuable in the field of mathematical ee eee rewind 
discovery. such propositions, an ey were regarded 
oh wes ot bree started with re to the ancients, as fee eres rye fan 
author of the Elements, so the merit of the work has _ lysis. were , or rather di anew, 
likewise been a subject of discussion. While some by Dr Simson Panay servo after his death by the 
maintain that it is not only the most perfect system of late Earl Stan Anacysis, Porisms, &c. 
elementary , either of ancient or modern times, Besides the subjects already mentioned, Euclid is 
but as se Mags tp thease Rosie abe m8 known to have studied various other branches of the = 
to it from the blunders of igno- pecranarmscenyd nivmrers M2 anche My ih 
i astronomy. Conic Sections. ; k 
prolix, frequently - It w be impossible to enumerate all the editions 
and indirect, and ill adapted to the purposes through which the Elements have passed, and the com- 4 
in this di both par- mentaries that have been written upon them since the } 
‘ties are wide of the truth. It must be acknowledged, days of Proclus. Those of Commandini in 1572, and H 
sation, pospicahy of lnguage So cod Geeny chun. wie calvary attchtes, ate taser sor Gla : 
stration, i an ar- to be uni ly admitted, ‘imson’s of “7 
oe wee Elements of Euclid stand unrivalled, is superior to every other. f 
ind that modern writers have excelled in these quali- those who have written on geometry, with the v 
ties, exactly in mrt dearth apy mere view of accommodating it to the present state of the ' 
Greek geometer. It must also be admitted, however, mathinastical stGences, Legentiees Sigotbbe, Ae yfair, 88 ~ | 
ren teed ap of the mathematical sciences, and Mr Leslie, may be mentioned as the most es: 
even these ents are susceptible of improvement. ful. Mr West too, deserves to be noticed as the author ¥ 
Though they are equally necessary as the foundation of an elementary treatise of mathematics, which has not 3 
‘of all mathematical investigation in which magnitude is hitherto enjoyed the celebrity to which it is so justly i 
NS ae ae entitled. 
which they once did to the whole science. They still | See Trans. of the Royal Soc. of Edin. vol. iii. part ii. 
deserve, as much as ever, to be studied on their own ace p. 154. Simson’s Euclid, Hutton’s Math. 
count ; but as the field to which they open a way has ict. articles Euclid, Elements, &c. Bossut Essai sur 
vastly increased, and still continues to increase, it has [Histoire Generale des Mathematiques, Paris 1802. De 
become a matter of no inconsiderable moment to abridge, a Caille, Legons Elementaires des Mathematiques, Paris 
as much as Seep ete eration met tha acquirea 1811. P ir's Geometry, Preface. Leslie's Geometry, 
knowledge of the elementary truths whi con- _ Notes. in. Rev. vol. xx. p. 79, &e. (R.G.) ~ 
tain. On this account we are disposed to some™ EUCORNIS. See Botany, p. 188. 
modern treatises of geometry, as possessing advantages  EUDIOMETRY. See Cuemistry, p. 104. — 
unknown even to Euclid; not that they excel, or even © EUDOXUS. See Astronomy, vol. ii. p. 588. 
equal him, in elegance and correctness of demonstra- _ EVECTION. See Astronomy, vol. ii. p. 703. 
tion, but because they conduct the learner with great- | EVESHAM, Vate or. See Groucesrersuire and 
‘ to the ulterior and more i objects of Warwicksutre. 
inquiry. ‘With all these concessions, however, we are | EVESHAM, is a borough and market town of Eng- 
not prepared to admit an insimuation that has been land, in the county of Worcester, pleasantly situated on 
sometimes thrownrout, as if Euclid owed the continu- a rising ground upon the river Avon, over which there 
ance of his celebrity to an unreasonable and pertinaci- is a stone bridge of seven arches, and where there is a ‘ ; 
ous adherence to a system, merely because it is ans convenient harbour for barges. The streets are in ge- | 
