CON 



55 



CON 



forte, (see Phil. Mag. xxxix. p. 423.) the forks should 

 'be adjusted to 237.032 for C\ 



In the tuning of organs and piano-fortes by tables of 

 heats, it will be improper to trust to a tuning-fork, or 

 even to a standard pipe, perhaps, for adjusting C for 

 tempered scales : but the second, third, or fourth of 

 the methods laid down by Dr Robert Smith, in his 

 II n-mo tics, 2d edit. p. 195, or his fifth method, p. 220. 

 should some one or more of them be repeated, and the 

 pipe slightly altered each time, if necessary, in order to 

 bring it exactly to the proper pitch of C, or of C, ac- 

 cording as may be wanted. 



On euharmonic organs of Mr Liston's construction, 

 there are a number of concords that are ready tuned, a 

 comma sharpened or flattened, then after being re-tu- 

 ned or examined, may be conveniently used in Dr 

 Smith's second method : so those which are a schisma 

 sharpened or flattened on such instruments, stand rea- 

 dy for proving the truth of the pitch, by counting the 

 beats of such schisma-imperfect concords, and compa- 

 ring them with a calculation previously made (see our 

 article Beats,) of the proper number per 1", or any 

 other period, as Mr Farey has shewn with respect to 

 CE'|; which fourth should beat 1.0836 times per se- 

 cond. See Phil. Mag. vol. xxxvii. p. 278. 



The same gentleman has also derived a ready me- 

 thod of reducing an organ-pipe to 240 vibrations, by 

 those who are furnished with a pocket- watch that beats 

 or ticks 5 in a second, or 10 half-ticks, as those for ex- 

 perimental purposes always should be made to do, from 

 considering the equal-beating system proposed some 

 years ago by Earl Stanhope, (see Stanhope's Temper 

 omenta,) viz. Tune the notes C, A b and C, in the oc- 

 tave below the tenor-cliff C (CC being a true octave) 

 such, that the minor sixth C A b may beat flat 10 in a 

 second, or agree exactly with the half-ticks of the watch, 

 and then tiy the major third above, A b C, and if this 

 also agrees, but beats sharp, exactly with the ticks of 

 the watch, the upper C vibrates just 240 times per 1", 

 as it should do. If the third beats $ faster than the 

 watch, the C's must each be lowered, until, by repeat- 

 ing the operation, they are found to agree ; and the re- 

 verse, if it beats slower than the watch. With C, A \), 

 and f, when C/is a perfect 1 1th, C A b beats 10 \>, and 

 A b/10 $ : with C, E, and A b, when C E is perfect, 

 C -A \) is 10 h, and E A b is 10*. 



The complete table of the beats in the octave above 

 the tenor-cliff C (240), in the system above mention- 



ed, shews other whole numbers of beats in a second they 

 may also be useful, with 10-beat, or with other watch- 

 es ; which beats, therefore, it may be right to set down 

 here, viz. with C, E b, and G, when C G is perfect, or 

 without beats, CEb beats 15 Jlat,. and E[)G beats 15 

 sharp ; with C, E b, and C, C E b is 1 5 , and E C is 

 15 #. ; with C, E [), and B, when C B=V-fIII perfect 

 (by help of G between them), C E _, is 1 5 b, and E b B 

 is 30 b ; with C, A ]), and B, (C B as before) C A \ j is 

 20 b, and A b B is 30 $ ; with C, A b, and e, when C e 

 is a perfect Xth, CA b is 20 b, and Abe is 40 b ; with 

 C, E, D b 3 and e, when CE is a perfect III, and E e an 

 octave, ED b is 20 A , and D b e is 20 b ; with C, E b, 

 B, and e\>, when CB is V-f-III perfect, and CE b is 

 15 b, E b B is 30 b, and B e b is 30 #, then E b e b is a 

 a true octave ; with C, F, A b and/ when CF is per- 

 fect, FA b is 20 b, and A b fis 20 *, then F and/ is a 

 true VIII : and lastly, with C, A \), B, and a \>, when 

 CA b is 20 b, A p B is 30 b, and B a b is 30 $, then CB 

 is V-j-III, and Ab a\> is VIII, both perfect; which 

 many curious definite proportions between the beats 

 (to the pitch 240) are of far more importance to the 

 tuner, than any thing else belonging to this irregular 

 douzeave, which Mr Farey has calculated, from his 

 lordship's suggestions ; and among them, proportions 

 will be found, either in this or the inferior octaves, 

 (where these beat only half as fast in succession as we 

 descend,) that will watch the ticks of many watches, 

 the same as those with 10 or 20 beats per second do a 

 1 0-beat watch, as above shewn : and it can scarcely 

 happen with any watch, if the number of its beats or 

 ticks in a second be calculated to decimals, when ne- 

 cessary, that the same, or some number of beats 

 sufficiently near, and properly related as complements 

 of VIII. or some other uerfect interval,) will not be 

 found, by a search into the several tables of beats that 

 have been published, and if not, such can easily be con- 

 trived and calculated, by which the isochronism of the 

 watch and the beats may be applied to examining, and 

 in the most ready way correcting, the pitch of an organ. • 

 After, however, this mode has been applied, it will be 

 right, if great accuracy is required, to try one of Dr 

 Smith's methods above referred to, by way of check on 

 the pitch, (g) 



CONCHIUM, a genus of plants of the class Tetran- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Hakea, Botany, 

 p. 129. 



CONCHOID. See Curves. 



Concert 



II .. 

 Condr.ml. 



GONCHOLOGY. 



oncliolo- (^onchology is that braach of natural history which 



g v ' treats of shells, distributes them into genera and species, 



'fiiiition. anc * d escr ibes the character and economy of the animals 



which inhabit them. 

 . t- To some, the examination of this department of sci- 



ce of the ence has appeared useless, and unworthy to occupy the 

 iente via- time and talent of an informed mind. Reasoning, with 

 persons of this description, is seldom attended with any 

 good effect. Ignorant of the advantages which have 

 resulted to mankind, from an intimate acquaintance with 

 natural objects, they overlook the steps by which they 

 have been gained : and likewise seem to forget, that the 

 examination of those objects, which an all-perfect Being 

 has created, can never be degrading to man, who was sent 

 into this world in order to examine, admire, and adore. 

 Besides, if we attend to the variety of forms which 



ate<). 



shells exhibit, and to the richness of their colouring, Concholc 

 we will not be surprised that they have obtained a con- SY' 

 spicuous place in public collections, and have attracted * v "" T~"* 

 the notice of the curious observer. But to view shells 

 merely as objects of beauty, without attending to the 

 animals of which they form only a part, would be to 

 overlook by far the most important branch of the sci- 

 ence ; and, like the florist, to take notice of colour and 

 shape, and neglect to attend to those functions which, 

 while they excite our astonishment, exhibit marks of 

 design. The examination of the contained inhabitants, 

 enlarges our knowledge of the laws of animal life, and 

 teaches us that each shell, however insignificant it 

 may seem to be, possesses faculties suited to the sup- 

 ply of its wants, and to the situation Avhich it is desti- 

 ned to occupy. 



