WHISTON. 
the voice, &c. being applied to one end of 
an arch, easily passes by repeated reflec- 
tions to the other. 
Hence sotuid is conveyed from one side 
of a whispering-gallery to the opposite one, 
without being perceived by those who stand 
in the middle. The form of a whispering- 
gallery is that of a segment of a sphere, or 
tlie like arched figure ; and the progress of 
the sound througli it may be illustrated in 
the following nnmner : Let ABC (Plate 
XVI. Misoel. fig. 12.) represent the seg- 
ment of a sphere ; and suppose a low voice 
uttered at A, the vibrations extending them- 
selves every way, some of them will im- 
pinge upon the points E, E, &c. ; and 
thence be reflected to the points F, F, &c.; 
thence to G, G, &c. ; till at last they meet 
in C; where by their union they cause a 
much stronger sound than in any part of 
the segment whatever, even at A, the point 
from whence they came. Accordingly, all 
the contrivance in whispering-places is, that 
near the person who whispers there may be 
a smooth wall, arched either cylindrically 
or elliptically. A circular arch will do, but 
not so well. 
The most considerable whispering-places 
in England are, the whispering-gallery in 
the dome of St. Paul’s, London, where the 
ticking of a watch may be heard from side 
to side, and a very easy whisper be sent all 
round the dome. The famous whispering 
place in Gloucester Cathedral, is no other 
than a gallery above the east end of the 
choir, leading from one side thereof to the 
other. It consists of five angles and six 
sides, the middlemost of which is a naked 
window, yet two whisperers hear each other 
at the distance of twenty-five yards, 
WHISTON, (William), an English di- 
vine, philosopher, and mathematician, of 
uncommon parts, learning, and extraordi- 
nary character, was born the 9th of Decem- 
ber 1C67, at Norton in the county of 
Leicester, where his father was rector. He 
was educated under his father till he was 
seventeen years of age, when he was sent 
to Tamworth school, and two years after 
admitted of Clare-hall, Cambridge, where 
he pursued his studies, and particularly the 
mathematics, with great diligence. 
In 1693, he was made Master of Arts, 
and Fellow of the College, and soon after 
commenced one of the tutors ; but his ill 
state of health soon after obliged him to re- 
linquish this profession. Having entered 
into orders, in 1694, he became chap- 
lain to Dr. More, Bishop of Norwich ; 
and while in this station he published hi* 
first work, entitled, “ A New Theory of 
the Earth, &c.” in which he undertook 
to prove that the Mosaic doctrine of the 
earth was perfectly agreeable to reason 
and philosophy : which work, having much 
ingenuity, brought considerable reputation 
to the author. 
In the year 1698, Bishop More gave him 
the living of Lowestotf in Suflblk, where he 
immediately went to reside, and devoted 
himself with great diligence to the discharge 
of that trust. In the begining of the last cen- 
tury he was made Sir Isaac Newton’s de- 
puty, and afterwards his successor in the 
Lucasian professorship of mathematics, 
when he resigned his living at LowestolF, 
and went to reside at Cambridge. From 
this time his publications became very fre- 
quent, both in theology and mathematics. 
By his researches into the writings of the 
Fathers, he was led to embrace the Arian 
hypothesis respecting the person of Christ ; 
on account of which he was, in October 
1710, deprived of his professorship, and ex- 
pelled the University of Cambridge, after 
he had been formally convened and inter- 
rogated for some days together. At the 
conclusion of this year he wrote his “Histo- 
rical Preface,” afterwards prefixed to his 
“ Primitive Christianity Revived,” contain- 
ing the reasons for his dissent from the com- 
monly received notions of the Trinity, which 
work he published the next year, in 4 vols. 
8vo. for which the Convocation fell upon 
him most vehemently. 
In 1713, he and Mr. Ditton composed 
their scheme for finding the longitude, 
which they published the year following, a 
method which consisted in measuring dis- 
tances by means of the velocity of sound. 
On Mr. Whiston’s expulsion from Cam- 
bridge, he went to London, where he con- 
ferred with Doctors Clarke, Hoadly, and 
other learned men, who endeavoured to 
moderate his zeal, but he was not to be in- 
timidated, he continued to write, and to 
propagate his opinions with as much ardour 
as if he had been in the most flourishing 
circumstances; which, however, were so 
bad that, in 1721, a subscription was made 
for the support of his family, which amount- 
ed to 470Z. For though he drew some pro- 
fits from reading astronomical and philoso- 
phical lectures, and also from his publica- 
tions, which were very numerous, yet these 
of themselves were very insufficient: nor, 
when joined with the benevolence and cha- 
rity of those who loved and esteemed him 
