LEIBNITZ LEICESTERSHIRE. 



433 



with untiring activity, to make improvements in his 

 method. The differential calculus, together with its 

 converse, which Leibnitz called summatory, but to 

 which John Bernoulli gave the name of integral 

 calculus, was in high esteem on the continent, and 

 had been much used and extended, both by Bernoulli 

 and the marquis de 1'Hopital, when, in 1699, twenty- 

 two years after the letter of Leibnitz to Newton, 

 which was dated June 21, 1G77, and fifteen years 

 after the publication of the theory in the manner 

 already mentioned, in the October (1684) number of 

 the Acta Eruditorum, it was contended, for the first 

 time, by Patio de Duillier, that Newton was the 

 discoverer of this mode of reckoning. This article 

 was written in an offensive tone, and Leibnitz an- 

 swered it in the Acta Eruditorum. Mis reply 

 for a time put an end to the dispute ; but five years 

 afterwards (1704), Newton, having published his 

 Optics, at the close of which he appended an expo- 

 sition of his method of fluxions, which he claimed to 

 have invented as early as 1666, the Acta Eruditorum 

 gave an extract from this work in the next year, and, 

 by making a comparison between the method of 

 fluxions and the system of differential calculus, to 

 the disadvantage of the former, awakened anew the 

 dispute between the parties. Keill, professor of 

 astronomy at Oxford, declared, in the Philosophical 

 Transactions for 1708, not only that Newton was the 

 original inventor of the new system, but that Leib- 

 nitz had formed his upon Newton's merely by chang- 

 ing the expressions and the signs. Leibnitz, there- 

 fore, wrote to Ilans Sloane, secretary to the royal 

 society, to request the society to decide between 

 him and Keill. The society immediately named a 

 committee, who came to the following conclusion, 

 that, in reality, there was no difference between the 

 differential calculus and fluxions, and that the ques- 

 tion did not turn on the invention of the one or the 

 other, but on priority, with respect to which there 

 was strong proof that Newton had possessed the sys- 

 tem fifteen years before the publication of Leibnitz's 

 article in the Acta Eruditorum, and that, therefore, 

 KeilPs assertion concerning Leibnitz could not be 

 considered as a calumny. This decision of the 

 society only rendered the schism between the parties 

 wider ; and Leibnitz rendered the quarrel irreconcil- 

 able, by sending a letter to the abbe Conti, who was 

 then in England, and acted the part of a mediator 

 between the parties. In this letter, which was 

 intended to be shown to Newton, among other offen- 

 sive expressions, he gave him to understand, that it 

 was impossible that he should have invented the 

 algorithm of infinitely small magnitudes before him- 

 self. Newton replied through Conti ; and the dis- 

 pute continued till the death of Leibnitz. 



Lewis Dutens, secretary of legation in the Eng- 

 lish service, published the most complete and 

 accurate edition of the works of Leibnitz Go. 

 Guil. Leibnitii Opera omnia (Geneva, 1768, six 

 volumes, 4to). In Dutens' edition, however, all 

 those philosophical works are omitted which Raspe 

 had published (Amsterdam, 1760, 4to), under the 

 title CEuvres philosophiques de M. Leibnitz. Both 

 collections should be united. Dutens did not accom- 

 plish his undertaking without great difficulty, and he 

 describes, in a very interesting manner, the obstacles 

 he encountered in collecting writings so numerous 

 and so widely scattered, and his correspondence on 

 the subject with Voltaire, in his Memoires d'un 

 Voyageur qui sc repose (volume i. p. 248). Eccard, 

 Iris intimate friend, and, after his death, librarian at 

 Hanover, first wrote the life of this extraordinary 

 man, who liad surveyed the whole field of science 

 with a penetrating eye. We have also eulogies on 

 him, by Kastner (1769), by Bailly and Fontenelle. 



LEICESTER ; a town of England, the capital of 

 Leicestershire, situated on the Soar, in the centre of 

 the finest wool district in the kingdom, ninety-six 

 miles N. N. \V. of London. The chief manufacture 

 is that of combing and spinning wool, and making it 

 into stockings ; and, in this business, it is, except 

 Nottingham, the principal town in the kingdom. 

 Population, in 1841, 48,107. 



LEICESTER, EARL OF. See Dudley, Robert. 



LEICESTERSHIRE ; an inland county of Eng- 

 land, bounded on the north by Derbyshire and Not- 

 tinghamshire ; on the south by Northamptonshire ; 

 on the east by Lincolnshire and Rutlandshire ; and 

 on the west by Warwickshire and Derbyshire. It 

 extends from north to south about thirty miles, and 

 from east to west about twenty-five. The greater 

 part of this county presents nearly a level surface, 

 and the land is chiefly appropriated to the purpose 

 of grazing. The soil consists generally of a fine 

 mixture of sand and clay. The rivers of Leicester- 

 shire are, the Soar, the Wreak, a branch of the Soar, 

 the Swift, the Welland, the Avon, and the Anchor. 

 With the Soar, the Wreak, and other streams, are 

 connected various navigable canals, which have been 

 constructed for the benefit of commerce. The prin- 

 cipal mineral products of the county are coal and 

 limestone ; the mines are situated near the borders 

 of Derbyshire. In some parts the limestone is 

 blended with rich lead-ore. At Swithland, on the 

 east side of Charnwood Forest, are raised large 

 quantities of slate ; and freestone and clay for bricks 

 may be found in most parts of the county. The hill 

 of Mountsorrel is composed of a reddish kind of 

 granite, which hardens on exposure to the atmo- 

 sphere, and forms an admirable article for street 

 pavements. In digging for coal on Ashby Wolds, 

 saline springs were discovered 200 yards below 

 the surface, and baths have since been erected on 

 the spot. 



Leicestershire is famous as a grazing country, for 

 breeding and feeding cattle and sheep. The Leices- 

 tershire sheep are particularly noted, and the Leices- 

 tershire kine are also greatly esteemed in most parts 

 of the kingdom. The principal object of the graziers 

 is to fatten their cattle for the butcher ; but in some 

 parts of the county, as Hinckley, Bosworth, along 

 the Trent, on the borders of Derbyshire, and in the 

 vale of Belvoir, the dairy is much attended to. In 

 the neighbourhood of Melton Mowbray is now made 

 the peculiar kind of cheese called Stilton, deservedly 

 styled for its excellence the Parmasan of England. 

 Leicestershire has long been noted for a useful and 

 beautiful breed of black horses, comprising varieties 

 for the plough and the wagon, or for the race-course 

 and the chaise. It is, indeed, one of the first sport- 

 ing counties in England ; several noblemen and 

 gentlemen keep hounds, and the meetings during 

 the hunting season are numerously and well attended. 

 To provide food for the horses and stock of the 

 farmer, more than half the land is constantly kept in 

 pasture, and the remaining part is chiefly appropri- 

 ated to the production of grain and other food for 

 cattle. The staple manufacture of Leicestershire 

 consists in the combing, spinning, and making of 

 wool into stockings, either by knitting or weaving. 

 The principal articles of commerce are cheese, 

 worsted hose, hats, lace, and wool ; besides great 

 numbers of cattle and sheep, which are sent to Lon- 

 don, Birmingham, and other places. The market- 

 towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Billasdon, Market 

 Bosworth, Castle Donnington, Hallston, Market 

 Harborough, Hiuckley, Loughborough, Lutterworth, 

 Melton Mowbray, and Mountsorrel ; besides the 

 borough of Leicester. Population of the county in 

 1841, 215, 867. 



2s. 



