T E M 



fhull have a tempcmment known by tlie modenis under the 

 name of Huvgcns's tniipiranunt. Dr. Pepufch, in I'hil. 



Tranf. N^ 4«i. p- 273- S''"-' ^^^'^ '"■'"^''-' I^'e-"'*''- 



Such was the hiftorv and theory of temperament about 

 half a cenlurv ago. But as our k. yed and « md inftruments 

 kave extended their compafs and powers, and all the ancient 

 Jaws of relative modulation ai-e difrepjarded by modern com- 

 pofcrrs, moft practicul muficians inclme to equal harmony, 

 in which .-ill the keys participate of the impcrfeftion of the 

 fcale when the oftave is confined to twelve fcmitones, ot 

 which every one occafioiiallv ferves for two or three dif- 

 ferent purpofes. As the note A natural, for inftance, is 

 fometimcs B double fiat, and fometimes G double fhaip, 

 E natuml is oblij^ed to officiate for D double (harp, and 

 fometimcs for F flat. 



There' are, however, theorifts who calculate, but never 

 liften, and who think temperament an abomination, a deadly 

 fin againft Pythagoras and his triple progrejfion. Now as 

 it is generally agreed that tlie ancients had no fimultaneous 

 harmonv, or muiic in parts, and allowed of no confonances 

 but the unifon, oftave, 4th, and 5th, they did wifely to 

 make them as perfcd as poffible ; but fince the invention 

 of counterpoint, and new inlhuments of fixt tones by 

 keys, frets, and additional ventages, which furnifh but 

 tT\-elve femitoiies, wliereas thirty-one different founds are 

 wanting to fupply two diftinft founds for fynonimous notes, 

 fuch as A « and B b, C « D b, D « E b, &c. tempera- 

 ment, though it a little diminifhes the perfeftlon of certain 

 notes, the whole inftrument is bettered by it, and rendered 

 equally fit for all keys. Every concord, except the unifon 

 and oftave, has a latitude, and allows of bearings without 

 offending the ear. A perfeft 5th makes an intolerable 

 major 3d below it. And as the 3d, though called an 

 imperfeCl concord, is the mofl grateful and pleafing of all 

 the concords when pcrfeft ; contrapuntifls do wifely to 

 allow tuners to rob 4ths and 5tlis of a little of that perfec- 

 tion which they can fpare without injury, for the good of 

 the whole. If the learned harmonift, the abbe Rouffier, is 

 living, this relaxation of Pythagorean difcipline, and \vant 

 of due refpeft for the triple progrejfion, will, we fear, diilurb 

 and render him fomewhat intemperate in cenfuring our 

 aljurdiiy. 



We have always regarded mufic as an objeft for the ear, 

 and wifh to make it as pleafing to that fenfe as poffible ; and 

 have been fo long accuftomed to tempered fcales, as to re- 

 ceive more pain than pleafure from inufic performed on an 

 inftrument tuned by perfcft 5ths throughout, that is, by 

 the triple progrejfion. We fhall, however, prcfcribe no ex- 

 clufive methocT of tempering the fcale ; as almoft every 

 man who tunes his own inftrument has a fyftem of his own : 

 we fliall only obferve, that the greateft muficians in the 

 courfe of their lives have often changed their method. In 

 our cathedrals and parifti-churches in general, where the 

 natural keys are made as perfeft as poffible, at the expence 

 of A b, D b, F*, and C*, keys that have never been 

 admitted within the pale of the church, organifts that hear 

 little other mufic, are extremely offended by equal parti- 

 cipation of the fcales, when the pure harmony of their 

 favourite keys is deformed by temperament : and thofe ac- 

 cuftomed to the levelling fyftem of equal harmony, on the 

 contrary, hold the ivolf in as much abhorrence, as they 

 would the deftruftive wolf in the Gevauden. At prefent, 

 our tuners mitigate the extremes of equal and unequal 

 temperament, by favouring the natural keys, and making 

 the extraneous or tranfpofed keys fomewhat lefs perfeft ; 

 but devoting the wolf to total deftruftion. 



It is imagined by many, that the charafter of keys, par- 



T E M 



ticularly the minor, depends on the imperfeftion of the 

 fcales, occafioned by unequal temperament : as F minor h 

 plaintive, E b folemn, and E * brilliant. But though the 

 difference between the pitch of E b and E*, D* and E b, 

 is but half a note, whatever may be the general pitch of the 

 inftrument, whether lialf a note too high, or half a note too 

 low, tliefc keys ftill retain their character, it fliould feem 

 not from the tuning or elevation of the general fyftem, but 

 from fomething for which we are unable to account. See 

 Music, and Sound. 



TEMPERATE Zon-e. See Zone. 



TEMPERATURE, in general, denotes the degree of 

 free caloric which a body appears to poffefs when com- 

 pared with other bodies ; or, in other words, the ftate of a 

 body in relation to its capability of producing in other 

 bodies the elTefts arifing from the prefence of free caloric. 

 Sir Humphrey Davy defines temperature to be " the 

 power bodies poffefs of communicating or receiving heat, 

 or the energy of repulfion." But this definition appeai-s 

 to us to be a little ambiguous, for temperature is not a 

 term indicative of a pofitive faculty in bodies, as this defi- 

 nition may be underilood to mean ; but, as before obferved, 

 is merely a relative term, expreffive of the degree in which 

 bodies, in conformity to the grand law of the equal dif- 

 tribution of free caloric, can affeft, or be affefted by 

 other bodies of a lower or higher temperature, that is, 

 potreifing more or lefs free caloric than themfelves. 



There are two means of meafuriiig the temperature of 

 bodies, namely, by our fenfations, or by the different degrees 

 of expanfion produced in bodies on being fubjefted to dit- 

 ferent degrees of free caloric. The firft of tliefe, from 

 various obvious caufes, is fo imperfeft and limited, that no 

 dependence can be placed upon it as a meafure of tem- 

 perature. The fecond is much more regular and extenfive, 

 and is, therefore, always at prefent employed. " When 

 two bodies produce the fame increafe or diminution of 

 volume in a third body, to which they are equally applied, 

 they are faid to be of the fame temperature ; and any body 

 is faid to be at a higher or lower temperature, as it produces 

 a greater or lefs expanfion in another body with which it is 

 in contaft." Inftruments founded upon the principle of 

 the expanfion of bodies by heat, and deftined to meafure 

 degrees of temperatm-e, are called thermometers, or, when 

 the temperature is very high, pyrometers; which fee. 

 Under the fame heads alfo the important queftion is dil- 

 cuffed, how far the expanfion of bodies by heat is to be 

 confidered as an indication of their real temperature. See 

 alfo Caloric. 



TempEiIATURE of the Atmnfphere. See ATMOSPHERE. 



Temperature of Climate. See Climate. 



Temperature of the Earth, is that degree of fenfible 

 heat which exifts on the furfape, or in the interior of the 

 folid part of the globe. The temperature of the atmo- 

 fphere is frequently defcribed as the fame with the tem- 

 perature of the eai-th, from which it is effentially diftinft. 

 The fenfible heat of the atmofphere varies with the latitude, 

 the feafon, and the elevation of the place in which the obfer- 

 vation is made. The fuperficial temperature of the earth varies 

 alfo with the latitude and the feaion, and in a ftill greater 

 degree if the land be dry ; but the internal temperature of the 

 earth appears to be permanent in each place throughout the 

 whole year. At a certain depth under the furface, the 

 thermometer always indicates the fame degree of heat ; and 

 the difference between the permanent internal temperature 

 in different latitudes, is much lefs than that which exifts at 

 the furface. The depth at which the thermometer remains 

 ftationary about latitude 52°, is 80 feet : nearer to the 



equator. 



