lOO Literacy and Philosophical Society. 



depth of insight or deep classical knowledge ; and we are 

 led to wonder much why such a university, with centuries 

 of life and superabundant wealth, should have cared so little 

 for the advance of knowledge in directions so distinctly 

 pointed out by Nature as leading to the greatest regions ; 

 and how different is Dr. Wall's knowledge of all that is done 

 in chemistry from that of his contemporary, John Friedrich 

 Gmelin, the author of ' Geschichte der Chemie.' 



Classical knowledge comes more suitably from Dr. 

 Falconer when he speaks of the ' influence of the scenery 

 of a country on its inhabitants/ or on the ' style and taste 

 of gardening among the ancients,' and in vol. ii. * On the 

 knowledge of the ancients respecting glass,' but on these 

 matters later inquiries have attained what could not have 

 been anticipated even by genius. 



Mr. Bew on Blindness. 



The discovery of colour blindness has hitherto been given 

 to Dalton, and unquestionably he first raised it into the 

 region of science ; but it has not been observed, so far as 

 the writer knows, that Mr. Bew or anyone else had observed 

 the peculiarity. Here we seem to have the true beginning, 

 on p. 182. 



An essay by Mr. Bew, read April 17, 1782, is entitled 

 ' Observations on blindness, and on the employment of the 

 other Senses to supply the Loss of Sight.' The Society 

 unfortunately employs the term Mr. without the Christian 

 name so frequently that it is not easy, even when possible, 

 to identify the person alluded to. This essay has two re- 

 markable descriptions in it, one is of Dr. Henry Moyes, who 

 is worthy of being remembered, as he lectured on chemistry 



