Mechanical Philosophy. ?T 



very able work on the subject of projectiles, which 

 threw much new light on this part of philosophy, 

 and advanced a theory much nearer to perfect ac- 

 curacy than had ever been given before. Robins 

 was followed by his countryman Mr. C. Hutton, 

 who contributed to a further elucidation of the 

 subject by a number of new and interesting expe- 

 rim.ents. After him, Mr. Benjamin Thompson, 

 and Mr. Love;.l Edgeworth,^' corrected some of 

 t)[\t errors into which Robins had fallen, and consi-. 

 derably extended and hnproved his theory. In 

 addition to the inquiries of these British Philoso- 

 phers, several ingenious m.en on the continent of 

 EuYope contributed to the extension and confir- 

 mation of RoBiNs's theory. Of this list M. D'An- 

 TONi, of Italy, and Messrs. D'Arcy, and Le Roy, 

 of France, are entitled to particular distinction.* 

 Besides these, many experiments have been made, 

 and valuable ideas suggested, respecting motion in 

 resisting mediums, by Gravesande, by J. Ber- 

 noulli, by EuLER, by Simpson, byM. Bouguer, 

 and by M. CoNDORCET, Abbe Bossut, Chevaliers 

 BuAT and BoRDA, and other members of the 

 Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. And al- 

 though this part of mechanical philosophy can 

 scarcely be said yet to have received satisfac- 

 tory elucidation; still much has been done toward 

 the attainment of this object by the mathemati- 

 cians and artists of the last age; and especially by 

 those of France, who, in the various parts of sci-- 

 ence immediately subservient to the business of the 

 Engineer, have certainly, in modern times, ex- 

 ceeded all the rest of the world. 



The discoveries and improvements miade, in the 

 course of the last century, with respect to the con- 



a Philosophical Transactions y vols. 7I and 73, and GleNIE's History of 

 Qunnery, 



b Hutton 's Mathematical Dictionary. 



