Natural Philosophy . —Meteorology . 
397 
MAGNETISM. 
16 . Improved Ship's Compass . — Lieutenant Littlewort, has 
contrived a method, by which the ordinary hanging compass 
may be converted into an azimuth compass, so that the masters 
of merchant vessels may have the benefit of this last instrument, 
with which they are seldom supplied. The handle by which 
the compass is suspended to the roof of the cabin, is capable of 
being inverted, and of supporting the compass, by sliding in a 
groove made in a box, which box is capable of motion on a cen- 
tral pin fixed in the board on which the box stands ; moveable 
sights and a stop are also annexed, to enable it to act when re- 
quired as an azimuth compass. A drawing and description of 
this compass, will be found in the Transactions of the Society of 
Arts , vol. xl. p. 70. 
MECHANICS. 
17. Mr Babbage's Calculating Machinery.— -We have much 
pleasure in informing our readers, '‘that Government have, in the 
handsomest manner, advanced L. 1500 to Mr Babbage, to com- 
plete one of his calculating machines on a large scale. 
METEOROLOGY. 
18. Remarkable Balls of Snow at Brunswick.— On the 1st of 
April 1815, Professor Cleveland observed a great number of 
balls of snow, from 1 to 15 inches in diameter, the small ones 
being nearly spherical, and the larger ones somewhat oval. Their 
texture was homogeneous, and they were extremely light, con- 
sisting of minute prisms of snow, irregularly aggregated. These 
balls were formed by having been rolled a considerable distance 
by the wind, their paths being in general distinctly visible. The 
smaller balls, however, were decidedly formed in the atmo- 
sphere, as they occurred in woods and in small inclosures.— Pro- 
fessor Silliman’s Journal , vol. vi. p. 169. 
19- Quantity of Rain in America.— The following observa- 
tion on the quantity of rain which fell in West Chester, Penn- 
sylvania, were made by Dr Darlington. 
