226 flisTOio OF 



Those who are willing to augment the catalogue of the bene, 

 fits we receive from this element, assert also, that tastes them- 

 Belves would be insipid, were it not that the air presses their parts 

 upon the nerves of the tongue and palate, so as to produce their 

 gi-ateful effects. Thus, continue they, upon the tops of high 

 mountains, as on the Peak of Teneriffe, the most poignant 

 bodies, as pepper, ginger, salt, and spice, have no sensible taste, 

 for want of their particles being thus sent home to the sensory. 

 But we owe the air sufficient obligationsj not to be studious of 

 admitting this among the number ; in fact, all substances have 

 tlieir taste, as well on the tops of mountains, as in the bottom of 

 the valley; and I have been one of many, who have ate a vei-y 

 savoury dinner on the Alps. 



It is sufficient, therefore, that we regard the air as the parent 

 of health and vegetation; as a kind dispenser of light and 

 ivarmth ; and as the conveyer of sounds and odours. This is an 

 element of which avarice will not deprive us ; and which power 

 cannot monopolize. The treasures of the earth, the verdure of 

 the fields, and even the refreshments of the stream, are too often 

 seen going only to assist the luxuries of the great ; while the 

 less fortunate part of mankind stand humble spectators of their 

 encroachments. But the air no limitations can bound, nor any 

 landmarks restrain. In this benign element, all mankind can 

 boast an equal possession ; and for this we all have equal obli- 

 gations to Heaven. We consume a part of it, for our own sus 

 tcnance, while we live ; and, when we die, our putrefying bodies 

 give back the supply, which, during life, v.'e had accumulated 

 from the general mass. 



In a stnall degree ; but then the repetition was extremely quick in its pur- 

 suit, and tlie sounds, when heard, were therefore heard distinctly. Doi^o 

 Use, the great musical composer, used to say, tliat an echo was the hest 

 school-mistress ; for let a man's own music be ever so good, by playing to an 

 echo she would teach him to improve it. 



Reflected sounds may be magnified by much the same contrivances as are 

 used in optics respectiiifj light : hence it follows, that sounds uttered at one 

 focus of an elliptical cavity, are heard much magnified in t'le other focus. 

 The whispering gallery at St Paul's Cathedral, in London, is of this descrip. 

 tion ; a whisper uttered at one side of the dome is reflected to the other, and 

 may be very distinctly heard. The speaking and ear trumpets are constnn t- 

 ed on this principle The best form for these instruments is a liollow pnrK- 

 holic conoid, with a pmalt orifice at the top or apex, to whii-li the nioutli is 

 applied when the sound is to be magnified, or the ear when the hearing is lo 

 be facilitated. 



