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J.B. iterum 8. New METAL.
Fordyce called on me yesterday & shewed me a piece of a
new Metalick Composition invented he says by Heir of
Birmingham who is in partnership I believe or under
some sort of engagement with Bolton, either he or his
Brother who reads Lectures in London is author of the
English Edition of Macquer's Dictionary; it is yellow
but the beauty of it, as it was Candle-light when I saw
it I could not judge of; Fordyce says it is malleable
both hot & cold; it possesses all the properties to be wished
for in the yellow metals in greater perfection than any
that has yet appeared & it will come cheaper than Copper.
I had heard of it the same morning from Sweede who together
with Fontana had either seen or heard of it at Ramsden's.
He spoke of it only as adapted to the arc of Mathematical
Instrument Makers; Fordyce spoke of it as applicable
with particular advantage to Ships Parts; it is so on
to come into use. Heir had thoughts of getting a patent
for it, but doubts whether a Patent will serve effectually
to secure the property of the invention; I tried to beg a
piece of Fordyce to send you as a specimen, but he excused
himself saying that if it should come to be analysed he
Should be very sorry to have it known that he had let
any go out of his hands; I shall hope however to be able
to get a bit for you be hook or crook since the piece which
would be too small to be analysed might serve very well
as a specimen.
9.
Against FIRE
A paper of L.d Mahon's containing an account of his method
of preserving Buildings against Fire is published in this
last Vol. of the Phil. Transactions & has been reprinted
in a news Paper. It exhibits the process, but the principles
are to come afterwards; the principle as you may well imagine
consists in nothing but the covering the combustible materials
of the Building compleatly with such as are incombustible.
10
Airs Ingenhouse,
Ingenhouse has come out with an 8vo. volume upon
Airs. I have had it in my hand, and as you imagine have
not read it yet. From the glance I could take of it
and from Swede's account as far as I can collect it
contains nothing but an account of the change undergone
by respirable air in consequence of its having been absorbed
or emitted by various plants, possibly I may send it you in the next Packet.
11
Scheel
Sweede at the recommendation of Fontana has been translating
out of German into French a Book of Scheel's a
Swedish Chemist on Fire. Swede says it contains
an account of a good many experiments but I believe
it contains as much Metaphysical matter as Physical
turning probably upon the question whether Fire be a real
or fictitious entity. Swede in his precipitate and enthusiastic
way went about to persuade himself that it contained
prodigious discoveries and had exhibited the analysis of Fire
into its constituent parts; but I believe these constitutive
parts are no other than Light and Warmth which he seems
to be for ranking alike under the class of real entities.
I believe the Book touches likewise on some other subjects
it is but a moderate sized duodecimo. the original has been
printed these five years. Sweede's translation is now
printing at Paris. It may be worth your while perhaps
to look out for it. I lost the opportunity of seeing the MSS
by my blindness.
12
Eudiometer
As to the method taken by Fontana to prevent the water
from adhering to the Inside of a Glass Tube I believe it is
no other than that of getting it ground with emery. this will
at least prevent the water from adhering unequally that
is collecting itself into drops. Sweede is getting a Tube prepared
under the direction of Fontana.
13
Fontana
Fontana is on the point of leaving England, he waits only
for the ship which is expected to sail every day; he was to go to
Holland; and in consequence of what I have told him by means
of Sweede, for I have not yet been at leisure to see him
myself, intends to visit Troestwick. I think Fontana's
books have to go all of them to Murray, for whom you have his
letter. He tells Murray, I suppose, whom to send them to.
14
Court Calendar
Court Calendar you shall have by the next Packet cum notis
Wilsoni, but as to news Wilson says it will be less trouble
for you to look over News Papers than for him to be at the
plague of copying them. I am of the same opinion.
15
Letters from S.B.
What Letters I have received from you I can hardly reckon
considering that there are some that I have not yet read with my own
eyes, and that my Father has impounded the whole stock of them: From Hamburgh
one dated October 9th; another Octob. 12th, &
I believe a third without any date that any body has been
able to find, this you deserve to be whipped for! In one of
them half a sheet written at Groeningen; relative to your Journey
over Land from thence to Hamburgh nothing but hiatus
valde deflebilis, this you deserve to be whipped for also.
16
Parcel to S.B.
About the latter end of September I sent you a Box to
Hamburgh, the contents of it I believe I gave you an account
of in the last of the two Letters you received there. I hope
you have had the νους to establish an Entrepot at Hamburgh
and to keep informing Hanbury of your motions that he may
forward Boxes and Parcels to wheresoever fortune leads you.
I should hope that by this means they might reach you at Petersburgh
even during the Winter. Whether I put any thing of
a Letter into this last Packet I cannot perfectly remember possibly
not as I wrote you by the Post much about the time of sending it.
17
S.B. Answers not full
I doubt you did not make very exact answer to every
Paragraph in my last, nothing about Mears's Mast Book
nor about the Curvators from Mrs. Ramsden's. your Letter
to Lindegren was sent off by my Father the day it came:
I did not see it: I was then at Thorpe; it was he who
opened that as well as all the other Hamburgh Letters. I
sent Lindegren his Curvators by Davis. I have neither
seen nor heard from him.
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Identifier: | JB/538/408/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 538.
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1779-11-09 |
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538 |
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408 |
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002 |
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Correspondence |
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Jeremy Bentham; Charles Abbot |
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