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Article HISTORY OF THE SCIENCES FOR 1797. ← Page 3 of 3 Article ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. Page 1 of 2 →
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History Of The Sciences For 1797.
Kingston upon Hull , in the county of York , engine-maker , for a new hy draulic punip . May 23 d , Mr . Richard Varley , of Damside , Bolton-Ie-mooif 111 the county of Lancaster , cotton-manufacturer , received letters patent for a machine to produce perpetual motion . This cannot be exlained without late
p a p . July 4 th , letters patent were granted to Mr . J . Richardson , optician , of St . Giles , in the county of Middlesex , for a method to increase the magnifying powers of spectacles , and of all other visual glasses . . Also to Mr . J . Slater , of Sharpies , Bolton-le-moor , Lancashire , merchant , for an improvement in the loom used for bleaching and
dy ing linens , muslins , cottons , & c . " July 7 th , letters patent were granted to Mr . H . Johnson , ot London , for a water proof compound , which being applied to linens , woollens , & c . renders them capable of resisting water . •July 14 th , also to Mr . W . L . Dix , of Exeter , in Devonshire , for a machine to clear grain from the straw instead of threshing . [ JO EE CONTINUED . ]
On The Present State Of The Royal Society.
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY .
TO THE EDITOR . OF THE SCIENTIFIC MAGAZINE .
sin , \\ TE have heard much of late years of the great improvement « ^ which the Arts and Sciences have received by the industry and application of the moderns . I will not pretend to say but that this may be very much the case with respect to many ofthe mechanical and polite arts ; vet I cannot help thinking , that in respect to the rather than otherwise
sf-ite of scieuce in general we have retrograded . Let lis look , forlnstar . ce , to the Royal Society ; an insritution ' oiiuinally established for a long series of years , and consisting of the ablest men that ever appeared in the world . What is it now—nay what has it been f r half a century past but a mere society of virtuosos?—Since the immortal NEWTON filled the chairthis great society has
, evidently dwindled away , till at length it has become a meeting of a few butterflv-merchants , or at best of botanists and shell-gatherers . There are , undoubtedly , men of the first eminence in the scientific world " who are Fellows of this Society ; but I pray you , what proportion do they bear to the number of those whose literary pursuits are confined within the sphere of general knowledge , or perhaps no observation of the
knowledge at all ? Let us take but a cursory laVt . 'i volumes of the Philosophical Transactions , and compare them with the earlier numbers . From the time that Lowthorpe and Jones ' s abridgment ceased , the labour of completing this valuable undertaking has been unnecessary , owing to the paucity , of ' good papers . The last President , Sir John Pringle , was undoubtedly
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
History Of The Sciences For 1797.
Kingston upon Hull , in the county of York , engine-maker , for a new hy draulic punip . May 23 d , Mr . Richard Varley , of Damside , Bolton-Ie-mooif 111 the county of Lancaster , cotton-manufacturer , received letters patent for a machine to produce perpetual motion . This cannot be exlained without late
p a p . July 4 th , letters patent were granted to Mr . J . Richardson , optician , of St . Giles , in the county of Middlesex , for a method to increase the magnifying powers of spectacles , and of all other visual glasses . . Also to Mr . J . Slater , of Sharpies , Bolton-le-moor , Lancashire , merchant , for an improvement in the loom used for bleaching and
dy ing linens , muslins , cottons , & c . " July 7 th , letters patent were granted to Mr . H . Johnson , ot London , for a water proof compound , which being applied to linens , woollens , & c . renders them capable of resisting water . •July 14 th , also to Mr . W . L . Dix , of Exeter , in Devonshire , for a machine to clear grain from the straw instead of threshing . [ JO EE CONTINUED . ]
On The Present State Of The Royal Society.
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY .
TO THE EDITOR . OF THE SCIENTIFIC MAGAZINE .
sin , \\ TE have heard much of late years of the great improvement « ^ which the Arts and Sciences have received by the industry and application of the moderns . I will not pretend to say but that this may be very much the case with respect to many ofthe mechanical and polite arts ; vet I cannot help thinking , that in respect to the rather than otherwise
sf-ite of scieuce in general we have retrograded . Let lis look , forlnstar . ce , to the Royal Society ; an insritution ' oiiuinally established for a long series of years , and consisting of the ablest men that ever appeared in the world . What is it now—nay what has it been f r half a century past but a mere society of virtuosos?—Since the immortal NEWTON filled the chairthis great society has
, evidently dwindled away , till at length it has become a meeting of a few butterflv-merchants , or at best of botanists and shell-gatherers . There are , undoubtedly , men of the first eminence in the scientific world " who are Fellows of this Society ; but I pray you , what proportion do they bear to the number of those whose literary pursuits are confined within the sphere of general knowledge , or perhaps no observation of the
knowledge at all ? Let us take but a cursory laVt . 'i volumes of the Philosophical Transactions , and compare them with the earlier numbers . From the time that Lowthorpe and Jones ' s abridgment ceased , the labour of completing this valuable undertaking has been unnecessary , owing to the paucity , of ' good papers . The last President , Sir John Pringle , was undoubtedly