118 
ease, whereof there is no fuch certaine de- 
terminate bigneffe tnat can be fet downe, 
but that they may he fomething greater in 
ene eare than another ; ncither can there 
be any certaine rule or reafon given how 
to know which eate to chufe rather then 
ther fer this purpofe. And if an enor 
be committed herein, though inijentible 
which cannot be avoided), yet in going 
about to make other greater mealures, by 
efien taking this lealt, and fo proceeding 
2 minimis ad maxima, fo often as you 
take your fir or leat meafure, fo often 
vos you increafe aud multiplie your error ; 
which, though at the firit it feeme very 
fmall, and fcarcely perceivable, yet com- 
eth at the laft to be Very notorious and in- 
tolerable. But the other way i here 
fpeake of, taking the length of all Eng- 
land, or of the whole ifland, for our 
fi: ft meatfure, and out of it by fubdivifion 
dividing all the reft, although wee may 
erre femething in taking the length hereof 
(which, notwithftanding, I dare under- 
take may be fo handled, that it fhall not 
be fo much as the thoufand part of the 
whole diftance betweene the two places 
befcre-mentioned) yet becaufle we proceed 
a maximis ad minima, {fo fill dividing, 
and the more diminifning, this error the 
farther we proceed, it will in the end, 
when we come to our ordinarie meafures 
moit in ufe, become very infenfible, ard 
not worth the regarding.”’ 
From which curious extraét we may 
perceive how extenfive and accurate tie 
ideas of this great man were on this inte- 
retting national (ubje&t, and cf which it is 
to be wifhed we may one day profit, al- 
though the French have had the honeur of 
firlt adopting it. 
Befides the above, for the honour of 
our country I wou!d juft meation ano. her 
iterary project of a learned count: yman of 
our’s, namely, Mr. Henry Briggs, who 
Aourifhed about the year 1600, concerning 
a continued decimal civifion and fubdivi- 
fion of the circumference of the circles, in- 
fiead of dividing the quadrant into go and 
into 6oths, fir the purpofes of trigonome- 
trical calculations, an idea which the 
French have alfo lately adopted in the re- 
torm of their trigonometry tables, a {peci- 
men of which has been printed in their 
method of ftereotypes. This ufeful im- 
provement it feems was fully propofed by 
Mr. Briggs, in the fourteenth chapter of 
hs Trigonometria Britannica, compofed 
foon after the year 1600, of which an 
am,.e Account is given in the Introduc- 
tion to Dr. Hutton’s Mathematical 
Tables, in the 76th page of which the 
2 wtation from E. Wright ona general Meafure. (Sept. 1, 
new divifion of the circle is thus mention- 
ed :—‘‘ But befide this method, by a de- 
cimal diviiion of the old degrees, of which 
the whole circle contains 360, cr the qua- 
drant go, in the 14th chapter he (Briggs) 
remaiks, that fome other perfons were in- 
clined rather to adopt a complete decimal 
divition of the whole circle, firft into 100 
parts, and each of thefe into 1000 parts,” 
&c. : : 
Thus it would feem that the Englith 
are no ways deficient in genius to devife 
uieful inventions and imp:ovements, how- 
ever they may want the means of national 
encouragement to carry them into execu- 
tion and praétice. R. H. 
Durham, July 19. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
HAVE frequently noticed your exce!- 
lent Mifcellany to have been made the 
vehicle of ufeful infermation, by the very 
ready anfwers which have been given to 
queries relating to arts and manufaétures, 
and Iam thereby induced to requeft of any 
of your readers who may be informed up- 
on the fubjeét, an anfwer to the following 
queftion: —-By what procefs is horn 
brought into that ftate in which it is ufed 
as a fubftitute for giafs, as in lanterns, 
&e. ? M. N. 
Zune t9, 1800. 
ae SEAS 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SiR, 
iG is much to be wifhed that amongt 
the ufeful difeuffions and inquiries that 
originate in your very ufeful work, fome 
of your Correfpondents would endeavour 
to find acritcrion by which the value of 
money might be compared at this time 
with what it was at the Revolution, at the 
end of Queen Anne's Wars, and at the ac- 
ceflion of his prefent Majefty to the 
throne. 
Could fuch a fcale of depreciation be 
ellablifhed, it would lead to the folving a 
number of impcrtaut problems in trade, 
politics, and finance. 
I limit the inquiry to the time of the 
Revolution, becaufe it is not as an anti 
quarian that I wifh to know, and therefore 
wifh to go no farther than is ufeful; for 
to go back many centuries, though curious 
and entertaining, can be but of little uti- 
lity, and may occupy thole talents that 
might be employed in throwing great light 
on what is here requefted. 
Should any of your readers agree with 
me in opinion, and have any means of elu- 
cidating 
