# Scientific Memoirs/1

SCIENTIFIC MEMOIRS,
SELECTED FROM
THE TRANSACTIONS OF
FOREIGN ACADEMIES OF SCIENCE
AND LEARNED SOCIETIES,
AND FROM
FOREIGN JOURNALS.
EDITED BY
RICHARD TAYLOR, F.S.A.,
FELLOW OF THE LINNÆAN, GEOLOGICAL, ASTRONOMICAL, ASIATIC, STATISTICAL,
AND GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MOSCOW.
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE LINNÆAN SOCIETY.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR,
SOLD BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN; BALDWIN AND CRADOCK; CADELL; RIDGWAY AND SONS; SHWERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL; B. FELLOWES; S. HIGHLEY; WHITTAKER AND CO.; AND J. B. BAILLIÈRE, LONDON:—AND BY A. AND C. BLACK, AND THOMAS CLARK, EDINBURGH; SMITH AND SON, GLASGOW:—MILLIKEN AND SON, AND HODGES AND M'ARTHUR DUBLIN:—DOBSON, PHILADELPHIA:—AND GOODHUGH, NEW YORK.
1837.
PREFACE.
In the publication of the four parts which complete the present volume of the Scientific Memoirs, I have ventured to make the experiment how far I might be able to succeed in supplying an auxiliary which, as was stated in the Advertisement prefixt to the First Part, appeared to be much needed for the progress and advancement of science in this country.
My own conviction of the utility of such a work has been much strengthened since I have been engaged in it, both by the importance of the materials that present themselves, and by the expressed opinions of persons most competent to judge. How great indeed the disadvantage must be, under which those are placed who are engaged in any branch of scientific inquiry, from being uninformed as to what is doing, or has been done, by our active and laborious neighbours on the Continent, must be obvious to every one: and the cases are numerous to which the remark of Lenz, p. 312, speaking of Ohm's theory of the galvanic battery, will apply,—that, although given to the world several years ago, yet, “being only published in the German language, it is unknown both in France and in England.”
With regard to the execution of the work, I must submit it to the candid judgement of those who are aware of the difficulty of the task,—having availed myself of the valuable suggestions with which I have been favoured in the selection of memoirs, and of the best assistance within my reach for their translation. I shall be satisfied if what has been done should render the present volume useful to science, and if what there is still to do should induce the public to enable me to continue the work. Hitherto, as I can hardly yet boast of the sale of 250 copies, I am very far from having been repaid the cost of publication, to say nothing of the care and labour which have been required: nor could I be expected, having now finished a volume, which, from the nature of its materials, may be considered a complete work in itself, to proceed further unaided, until I have ​ascertained whether I may calculate upon adequate support. This, however, I cannot yet think it improbable that I shall obtain, when the plan and contents of the present volume shall have become better known; and with this view, I shall gladly receive the names of those who may be disposed to uphold the work by purchasing what has been published, and forming the list of my future subscribers.
I should hardly have been disposed to persevere further, had it not been for repeated expressions of strong interest in the success of the work, which have reached me from persons of the highest scientific eminence; among whom I may perhaps without impropriety mention the names of Ivory, of Babbage, Powell, Forbes, Lloyd, Challis, Owen, Wheatstone, Phillips, Talbot, Hamilton, Faraday, and others in this country, and of Hare, Henry, and Bache in the United States. To several of them I have been indebted for very important suggestions; and to Professor Wheatstone especially, for his valuable contributions.
From the kind assistance of men of science, and from an increased acquaintance with the sources whence the best materials are to be derived, I think I may fairly hold out to the public the prospect of some considerable improvements in the work: and I shall be thankful for any suggestion for this purpose. I may perhaps give the titles or early notices of such foreign scientific papers as shall not be adopted for immediate translation: and as our first volume may be said to have cleared off some arrears, we may now come nearer to the present time, and endeavour to supply what is of the latest date and of intrinsic value.
However, this, as I have already stated, must depend upon my prospect of future support, and the success of the present volume;—and, glad to have finished my humble but laborious task in completing it, I shall be able at my leisure to decide as to the future.
RICHARD TAYLOR.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PART I.
PART II.
Page.
PART III.
PART IV.