FLA 
Servatory, between the years 1 675 and 
1689. The second volume contains his ob- 
servations, made with a mural arch of near 
7 feet radius, and 140 degrees on the limb, 
of the meridional zenith, distances of the 
fixed stars, sun, moon, and planets, with 
their transits over the meridian ; also obser- 
vations of the diameters of the sun and 
moon, with their eclipses, and those of Ju- 
piter's satellites, and variations of the com- 
pass from 1689 to 1719, with tables shew- 
ing how to render the calculation of the 
places of the stars and planets easy and ex- 
peditious ; to which are added, the moon’s 
place at her oppositions, quadratures, &c. ; 
also the planets’ places, derived from the 
observations. The third volume contains a 
catalogue of the right ascensions, polar dis- 
tances, longitudes, and magnitudes of near 
3,000 fixed stars, with the corresponding va- 
riations of the same : to this volume is pre- 
fixed a large preface, containing an account 
of all the astronomical observations made 
before his time, with a description of the 
instruments employed, as also of his own 
observations and instruments, with a new 
Latin version of Ptolemy’s “ Catalogue 
of 1026 fixed stars,” and Ulegh-beig’s 
“ Places ” annexed on the Latin page, with 
the corrections; a small catalogue of the 
Arabs ; Tycho Brahe’s of about 780 fixed 
stars; the Landgrave of Hesse’s of 386; 
Helvetius’s 1 of 1534; and a catalogue of 
some of the southern fixed stars, not visible 
in our hemisphere, calculated from the ob- 
servations made by Dr. Halley at St. Hele- 
na, adapted to the year 1726. 
This work he prepared in a great mea- 
sure for the press, with much care and ac- 
curacy ; but through a natural weakness of 
constitution, and the decline of age, he 
died of a stranguary before he had finished 
it, December the 19th, 1719, at 73 years of 
age, leaving the care of finishing and pub- 
lishing his work to his friend Mr. Hodgson; 
A less perfect edition of the Historia Cce- 
lestis had before been published without his 
consent, viz. in 1712, in one volume folio, 
containing his observations to the year 
1705. 
Thus then, as Dr. Keil observed, our au- 
thor for more, than forty years watched the 
motion of the stars, and has given us innu- 
merable observations of the sun, moon, and 
planets, which he made with very large in- 
struments, accurately divided, and fitted 
with telescopic sights ; whence we may re- 
ly much more on the observations he has 
made than on those of former astronomers, 
FLA 
who made their observations with the naked 
eye, and without the like assistance of te- 
lescopes. 
FLANKS of an army, are the troops en- 
camped on the right and left, as the flanks 
of a battalion are the files on the right and 
left. 
FtANK of a bastion, in fortification, that 
part which joins the face to the curtain. 
FLANNEL, a kind of woollen stuff, com- 
posed of a woof and warp, and woven after 
the manner of baise. Various theories have 
been adopted to prove the utility of flanne 
as an article of dress : it is unquestionably a 
bad conductor of heat, and on that account 
very useful in cold weather ; this is account- 
ed for from the structure of the stuff; the 
fibres touch each other very slightly, so that 
the heat moves slowly through the inter- 
stices, which being already filled with air, 
give little assistance in carrying off the 
heat. On this subject Count Rumford has 
made many experiments, from which it 
should seem, that though linen, from the 
apparent ease with which it receives damp- 
ness from the atmosphere, appears to have 
a much greater attraction for Water than 
any other, yet that those bodies which re- 
ceive water in its unelastic form with the 
greatest ease, or are most easily wet, are 
not those which in all Oases attract the 
moisture of the atmosphere with the greatest 
avidity. « Perhaps,” says he, “ the appa- 
rent dampness of linen to the touch arises 
more from the ease with which that sub- 
stance parts with the water it contains, 
than from the quantity of water it actually 
holds; in the same manner as a body ap- 
pears hot to the touch in consequence of its 
parting freely with its heat, while another 
body, which is really at the same tempera- 
ture, but which withholds its heat with great 
obstinacy, affects the sense of feeling much 
less violently. It is well known that wool- 
len clothes, such as flannels, &c. worn next 
the skin, greatly promote insensible perspi- 
ration. May not this arise principally from 
the strong attraction which subsists between 
wool and the watery vapour which is conti- 
nually issuing from the human body? That 
it does not depend entirely on the warmth 
of that covering is clear ; for the same de- 
gree of warmth produced by wearing more 
clothing of a different kind does not produce 
the same effect. The perspiration of the 
human body being absorbed by a covering 
of flannel, it is immediately distributed 
through the whole thickness of that sub- 
stance, and by that means exposed by a 
M 2 
