158 Miscellanies. 



serving at the spring in October, 1827, I should think it decidedly of 

 the same class with the Buffalo water, and from the geological struc- 

 ture of the country in that region, it is highly probable that the springs 

 have a similar origin. 



At Avon, I observed that the silver watches of the attendants were 

 rendered almost perfectly black, by the influence of the fetid gas, 

 pervading the apparel and filling the air around, for a considerable 

 distance, with the characteristic odor. 



7. Loss of vessels in the Gulf Stream. — In noticing frequently the 

 loss of vessels coming from sea, by their running on shore before the 

 captain supposed he was near it, it appears to me that such loss might 

 easily be avoided, by the use of the thermometer to get the tempera- 

 ture of the water, which is always colder on soundings than off sound- 

 ings. I came upon our coast last April, from the West Indies, with 

 dull hazy weather ; and the captain told by the thermometer, very 

 accurately, when he got upon soundings. 



We crossed the Gulf Stream on the 19th, in lat. 36°; the tem- 

 perature of the ocean to the eastward had been 66° to 68°, in the 

 Gulf Stream it was up to 75° ; the air at the same time was 61° ; as 

 soon as we had crossed the Gulf Stream, the temperature of the wa- 

 ter was down to 62° ; air 62°. Lat. 38°, next day, the water was 

 down to 58°; air 59°. Lat. 39°, the water continued near 58° 

 through the day, until at eight in the evening we found it to be only 

 42° ; the captain immediately said he was on soundings ; he ordered 

 the lead to be thrown and found bottom accordingly, at the depth of 

 forty three fathoms. He threw the lead every two hours during the 

 night, until at three in the morning he had twenty two fathoms, and 

 at four he had only seven fathoms, which placed him upon Nan- 

 tucket South Shoal. He immediately tacked ship and in fifteen 

 minutes run out into deep water, and the next day arrived in Boston. 

 The temperature of the ocean from Nantucket to Boston, taken 

 every hour, was 41° to 44°. A passenger on hoard. 



New York, Dec. 8, 1830. 



8. Improvement in the Reflecting Goniometer ; by A. Eaton. — 

 Whoever has used the reflecting goniometer, has experienced 

 considerable inconvenience in adapting some crystals to the instru- 

 ment, by the use of the common crank, Sic. Four years ago, I di- 

 r€cted an artist in this city to make a reflecting goniometer, with an 



