368 
Price of Grain in Bengal. 
[Dec. 
VI. Omission in the Remarks on “ Arnott’s "Elements of Physics.” 
Page 63, Arnott says, that, “ The reason why a spinning top stands, will be un- 
derstood here. While the top is perfectly upright, its point, being directly under 
its centre, supports it steadily, and although turning so rapidly, has no tendency to 
move from the place; hut if the top incline at all, the side of the peg, instead of the 
very point, comes in contact with the floor, and the peg then becomes a little wheel or 
roller, advancing quickly, and with its touching edge, describing a curve somewhat 
as a skaiter does, until it come directly under the body of the top as before. It thus 
appears, tliat the very fact of the top inclining, causes the point to shut its place, and 
so that it cannot rest until it come again directly under the centre of the top. It is 
remarkable that even in philosophical treatises ol authority, the standing ot a top is 
still vaguely attributed to centrifugal force.” 
What makes the point “ comer* The author has described the phenomenon in- 
stead of assigning the cause: and the fact itself is so obvious a corollary from the 
doctrine of centrifugal force, that the authors of the treatises in question have pro- 
bably thought it unnecessary to illustrate the subject by any detail. 
It may be explained by the analogy of planetary movements. Suppose a planet 
A moving in a circle round the common ..... B 
centre of gravity of itself, and of the two .. 
suns B aud C, and in an orbit, the plane C*' • : ' 
of which is at right angles to that of the jfr;.* ^ 
small orbit described by the two suns, (in 
the capacity of a double star) : then tak- , , 
ing the sun C when at its greatest distance from the plane of the planet s orbit, the 
planet A will have to the sun C the same relation as any atom in the substance 
of a spinning top has to the centre of attraction in that part of the earth where the 
top is standing; in- other words, the top’s axis of rotation will take the plumb-line 
direction. , . 
For, supposing the top’s velocity of rotation to be gradually increased, and its 
particles gradually to yield to the centrifugal force thus engendered, and to separate 
from each other, they would describe special orbits in a plane parallel to the rati- 
onal horizon, but for the earth’s attraction, which would gradually draw them into a 
plane passing through its own centre of gravity; but as the cohesion ot the atoms 
composing the top’s substance is stronger than the centrifugal force, part only 
of the above consequence follows, and each individual atom performs a circle, the 
plane of which is perpendicular to the direction of the plumb-line, the mutual 
cohesion of its atoms effecting in the instance of llic top what the sun B docs in the 
case of the planet, i. e. causing the moving bodies to describe circles perpendicular 
to the line of gravitation, which, therefore, coincides with the axes of their respec- 
tive orbits- Therefore the axes of rotation in a top will always be vertical when 
no extraneous force is applied to it, such as originally setting it in motion with 
its axis inclined to the horizon, or inclined to the plane on which it whirls, so much 
as to bring that into contact with the side of the peg ; and even when such force is 
applied, the centrifugal force gradually brings the axis of rotation into 
cal position. The subject does not deserve such a detail. 
VIII. Table shewing the market price of Grain in lower Bengal 
from the year 1700 to 1813, extracted from authentic documents of 
one month in each year , for which, generally , the month of August 
was selected. Drawn up by G. Herklots, Esq. Fiscal of Chinsur ah. 
The following Table will, we doubt not, be received with interest by all who take 
pleasure in statistic enquiries. We trust it will be follow'ed by many similar com- 
munications. The two papers in our last number, with this and some others we 
have by us, will, we hope, excite those who have the means, to place more of such 
materials at our disposal. Tbe subject of Indian statistics is untouched. — It is an 
extensive one, and its importance is equal to its extent. 
