Virginia Argus — Richmond, Va., 1810-02-27 00:00:00, page 1

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XVIlT I YEAR.] V A FREE PRESS MAINTAINS TUB SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEcT"^ ’ ” ~~ -r_ . T~-“*
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CASH.'
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Tobacco, - - • 5 00
Wheat, new, - - 1 17
Flour, sutctJine, - - 6 50
Flow, fiat, - - - 6 00
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Iron, . - - 110 10
Jiacon - - - 00 00
A Whiskey - 00 66
Extract from Mr. J. Wood’s in
genious ifooi, lately published in thi * |
city, entitled “ A new Theory of the
D'rur ial Rotation oj the Earth," &c.
According to the theory of Sir I
: sane Newton, the tides ought to be
i higher in the torrid zone than in the
• J Temperate zincs ; but according to the
observation of Dampier, which l have
related, the water* onlv rise in the
torrid zo-*e, betveen oie and two
feet. Sir Isaac Newton attempts to'
; account for the tides not being so high
between Africa and America, because
the ocean is narrower tUun in the tem
perate zones on either side ; and he
farther adds, that in the Pacific ocean,
between the tropics, tvhich i* of agrea
ter depth, as well as of a larger extent,
the tides arc greater tha t in the At
lantic ocean without the tropics. In
this, however, he is mistaken, and he
has dnubil-ss been misinformed with
respect to the 'ides in the Pacific ocean,
for the principal navigitors agree,
that every -,vhere in the torrid zone the
tides are remarkably low, between A
sia and America as wAl as between
Africa and America.
Sir liaac Newton sivs, in the begin
ning of Prop. 24, h, Book 3d, 11 that
the greatest height of the wafers in the
open and deep seas ought to follow the
up,mdse of the 1 omit) ivies to the meri
dian of the’place by a less interval than
six hours j as happens in *11 that eas
tern tract of the Atlantic and Ethiopic
seas between France and the Cape of
Good Hope, and on the coasts of Chili
arid pt-ru in the south sea.” But those
ol servav.ij.ns in different places, which
I have copied from Robertson, prove '
that Sir Isaac Newton’s thtorv, in this j
—_ d__ i X?
' ' ''j'vw > i • s-44- -vu3« x vi tu *iv~ in 1 /.v ;
*f Norway, which is quite exposed to !
the open ocean, high water happens e-j
leveu hours and filteen minutes after
theappube of the moon to he meridi
an. At Cape Clear, IrelanJ, it takes'
place nine hours and fifty minutes af
ter he moon’s p -ssage ; and in like
manner with many of the ether places
which I have quoted, nil exposed to
the open sea, where the time of high
water neither corresponds with the
theory, and what is stiil more cx.raor
dinary, there appears *o be no regular
difference between the hour of high
water at one place, and that at ano
ther, according to the degree of lati
tude.
The most positive proof that the
moon does not influence the tides, is
the second proposition of the 2d book
of this essay, where I have demonstra
ted, that the effect produced by the cy
cloidal motion of the earth is 30G times
| greater than that of the moon ; where
f love, allowing this motion to be the
solr caiise of raising the tides, and that
the highest tide, according to the ob
servaiitm of Samuel Sturmv at Bristol,
is 45 feet or 540 inches, the increase
produced by the moon cannot exceed
1 - 4 inch, which in lower tides would
not be discernable.
A very obvious corollary presents
Itself from a knowledge of this fart,
which may lead to discoveries of the
gmrest importance in the s-.veral
branches of physics. It is this, that
the density-of the earth is 250 times
that of the moon. ForSir Isaac New
ton has demonstrated in Cor. 3, Prop.
Book 11 Id, lh.it supposing the
force of the moon to be such as to
raise the tide 4.5 feet at Bristol, her/
density would be to that of the earth
as 11 to 9. But [ have shewn that
the waters of the op«in are acted upon
h>r a force 306 times greater than that
of the moon ; therefore the density of
the moon is 1-303 of what Sir Iiaac
Newton .supposed ; or the density of
the earth is to that of the moon as 9
to 11-306 or as 250 to 1
e This immense dill rence between
the density of the earth and that of her
satellite, naturally draws us to ano«J
ther conclusion, viz ; that the density
of the interior parts the globe i£
tnuch greater than those near the sur
face, and that probablv towards the]
centre of the earth, there is matter
whose specific gravity as far exceeds
the heaviest metal known as that of
the latter does the lightest gas. For
if the whole globe was composed of
platina, whose specific gravity is 20 .
336, the moon must necessarily con
sist of some substance, the specific
gravity of which would only be the-l
12 of water. But as it is not probable,
the specific gravity of the moon is
less than that of 'water, the interior
parts of the earth must have a speci
fic gravity of at least twelve times that
of platina.
With respect to the theory of Ber
nardin de Saint Pierre, although it has
been much ridiculed, yet the waters of
the ocean are ufF"cted in a greater de
gree, by the causes which he assigns,
than by any of the celestial bodies.
Part of de 6nint Pierre’s theory is
founded up>n facts, and not upon hy
pothesis. It.is established by the tes
timony of the most respectable navi
gators, and by thousands of seamen,
that the p ,lar regions are frozen for
six m -mbs in the year to the TO.h de
gr of la!itude, and during the sum
mer months a diurnal melting of the
ice takes place. It is also known, that
the nearer we approach the poles the
more jthe ice is elevated above the
water. 1 he effusions from the poles
in this season, will therefore, increase
the w iters of the ocean. -
. Di S lint Pierre has not calculated
or given us any data to calculate the
daily increase arising from this cause,
cr the time necessary for the water
proreed ng from the ice to arrive a the
equator. He only supposes that a suf
ficixi t quan icy of water flows from the
polar regions to produce the phenome
na of the tides.
' Sir Isaac Newton erred prec:scly
| in the same respect. He assumed as
a truth, that the moon was of such a
density as to cause the tides, and then
from the* height of the tides he cal
culated the density of the moon.
1 his mode of reasoning ought always,
if Dossihle. to be nvnirierl. 'I'be rt»»
gree of power which the cause posses
ses, ought first to be known and then
the eff cr may be calculated ; unless
it can be demon stated, that the effect
in question is alone produced bv the
supposed cause. If Sir Isaac N-wton
had previously demonstrated, that the
tides were the sole consequence" of the
attractive forces of the sun and the
moon, then his theory would have
been correct, and he would have been
justified io the conclusion which he has
drawn cf the density of the moon.
In like manner, if De Ssint Pierre had
shewn us, that the effusions of water
from the polar ice w'ere the sole agents
in raising the tides, he Would have
been warranted in all the conclusions
which he has made; but as this is not
done, we are not to receive his theory
in its full extent or to believe that these
diurnal effusions are the sole cause of
raising the waters of the ocean.
But as it is evident they constitute
one of thecauses{ let us endeavor, if
possible, to ascertain in a direct man
ner the quantity of ice melted eve rv
twenty-four hours, and the velocity of
the water thence arising towards the
equator. Then it may be possible to
calculate with some degree of accura*
cv, the effect produced upon the
tides.
I am well aware, that this is a pro
blem of the jgreatest difficulty, and one
the solution of which, we can o Iv hope
for in the most distant approximation.
Yet it may be sufficient to assist the
present investigation and to satisfy us
of the impossibility of the tides being
solely produced by the water flowing
from the poles.
From a mean of the several account*
of the most respectable navigators, the
maximum of the frozen part of the
polar region extends to 7()3 of
latitude, and the minimum to 80°
that is, in the northern hemis
phere about the 21st of March, the o
ce*n round the north pole is frozen to
the 70* of latitude, and aboui
the 21st of September, the :rr»zen par*
only extends to the 80m degree of lati
tude. Wherefore a zone of 10 de
grees in breaddi of ice between the 70
and 80 degrees-*<7118180 square
inilea, is mrlted from tf e2lst of A1 arch
until the 22d of September. , There-'
ore, the surface of ice melted every
twenty-four hours (supposing an equal r
portion to be melted every dav) is^=
149057 square miles. JJut an' equal
portion is not melted every day is
manifest, for rhe quantity melted dai
ley increases, because the heat of the
sun fs proportional to its light, and its
light to the density of its rays. The
density of the sua’a rays not only daily.
var’»es, but differ* ■according to the par
allel of latitude. The nearer the sun
approaches the zenith, the more per
pendicular are his rays, and conse
quently the more intense his heat.
Dela iVIetherie in his theory of the,
earth (vol. 3, paeje 391) has investiga
ted at some length, the different causes
which affect the heat of the sun. Accor
ding to this writer, the four principal
are. Is:, The sun’s altitude above the
horizon. 2 1. The intensity of rays,
which varies with his altitude, on ac
count of the extent of the atmosphere
through which they have to pass. 3d.
His distance from the earth. 4th. The
period of time which the sun remains
aoove the horizon.
With respect to the variation of the
sun’s heat according to his altitude,
Dr. Halley and Fatio differed in opini
on.^ 1 he former contended, that the
sun’s heat increased in the simple ra
tio of the sinks of hU altitude-; the lat
ter maintained, that his heat increased
in the proportion of the squares of the
sine3. Mairan endeavored to ascer
tain the fact by experiment ; he took
mirrors cf an equal size, from which
he reflected the rays of the sun upon
the bulb of a thermometer ; one mir
ror raised the fluid to three degrees,
t-vo mirrors caused it to rise to s*x de
grees, and from the reflection of tiiree
mirrors it rose to nine degrees, from
which simple experiment Mairan con
cluded, that the heat produced bv the
ray3 of the sun increased in the simple
ratio of the altitudes.
1 he intensity ol the sun’s rays evi
dently varies with his al:ituue ; but it
is extremely difficult tj? ascertiin the
law of this variation. The Intensity
here meant, is the intensity of the rav's
___ _ i _ }
*%.**.• I'^vu uuuu^u U2C U.STl'JS'
sphere. liouguer has furnished us
with a table in which he gives this in
tensity for the several altitudes of the
sun. He supposes the intensity of the
rays of the sun in leaving the body ot
the luminary to be -10,000, he th n
finds that il the sun was in the zenith,
the force of his rays at the surface
ofthi earth would be diminished to
£>13G. At the altituJc of so degrees,
he calculates it Would be reduced to
7624, and at the altitude of 25 degrees,
it would=G136* 'In the latituJe ol
l/aris, he finds in the summer solstice
it would be 7944 94-100 but in the
winter solstice 509488-100.
The third cause of the variation of
the h*-at of the sun, viz; the change of
instance from the earth,is also noticed
jy Bouguer.. In winter his distance '
from the ea*th is 33780210 French)
leagues, in summer, 34934726 leagues,!
but as he is longer in the northern
hemisphere thap in the southern, an
allowance for this ought to be made.
Taking both the causes into consider
ation, Bouguer finds that the force of
Che sun’s rays at the same altitude in
the summer solstice, it t-» their force
in the winter solstice, as 3 It to 900, or
nearly as 14 to 15.
1 he fourth cause affects considera
bly the heat of the sun ; for the longer
the sun remains above the horizon,
the more his action is prolonged.
Mairan supposes it to be in the ratio
of the square of the time, al hough
| from theory we might suppose it to be
only in the simple ratio of the times,
for a cause which acts two hours,
•vould seem cap tble of only producing
double the effect of the action of one
hour.
Combining together the effect* pro
duced upon the solar heat from the->e
several causes, we may be warcuatecl
in saying, that the qmndty of pol »r ice
melted every day from the 2lst of
March until tiie sum ner solstice, in-1
creases at least in the ratio of the
squares of the sun’s altitude, and from!
he summ.-r s dstice until the autum
nal equinox, in the ratio of the squ.ttc*
of the times.
Therefore, if 27118130, the number
of square miles ol ice melted from the
21st of A!arch until the 23d ol Sep
tember, be divided into 182 parts in
«■
:he proportion of the above ratios, we|
nay approximate to the surface mel
ted every twenty-four hours. |
Do Saint Pierre is of opinion, that
'he heat of the moon also assists in the
melting of the ice. • To ascertain the
degree of the moon’s influence in this
operation, it is necessary to discover,
the ratio between the heat of the sartj
and that of the inooa. j
Bouguer, (Traite d’Opt. surla gradit.j
4e la lumirre in 4"' 1766.) makes the heat
of the mn.m only the 1.300003 of that of
the sun. Therefore^ the moon, if this pro-i
par1 ion be correfi^ ctn only melt the]
1.300000 quantify of ice which the son
dies; and if we astume 1*90*7 as the
mean quantum mel etl by^the sun everv i
lay, we shall have , 476 o: a square mile!
he quantify mel-'ed by the mam. winch'
compared wi h that me! etl by the sun,!
ca .no: pa?sibly affeil the tides.
At hough l have supposed the q ianti. I
:y of ice round both piles to be »qti',!
v-t there is the best grounds for believ J
ing, that the portion of the g'obeovenr
w i.i ice towards the south pule is much
grea'er than that towards the no-ih
Piloting ic s have besn found in vast'baan.
lities in ihe 48° a d 50" «f -,ou<h
latitude ; and Dav)3 found solid i-» j , 65s*
and 66° degrees opposite to Cape H rn.
Men eile, in his chart of th- smith p 1 ir
region, m ikes the islands of ic<*. fiom long.
10 E of Paris to long, “l E* . extend in
'he 5.3th degree of l.ui ude, and between
long. 83 E to long. 140 E. he island, o»
ice extend to the 60 h degiec of latitude
l .vo pri-icipil causes may lie given to
this d R* iCiic.'. ’Is'.. I he Min b-.iig se
veral d «_> s.jlinger on the no> h $;deofih
equa o than 01 th ? south 3 de -2d. Torre
be ; g much m ire laud in he northern
hemisphere than in the sou hem.
The nex* cirs imsta'hce to be aken in
:o consideration, is ibe height of th.- ic .
in ihe polar regions above lie hmiann
r»i s is a que J ion, for the solu iqn uf which
we have the most uncertain data. Up..n
comparing oge her the -accoun s of th '
seve al r.avig» ms of «he heigli.s of ;h J
islands of ce, and the fields of ice which
hey nav« .net, ii appears to me iha. we
cannot place the mean h -ight at mote
than.20 lert» Therefore, as we assumed.]
149057 fcq'iare miles as the mean q ian.
turn of ice mel.eueveiy twen y faurb^urs,
1490j7
we have —— — = 74528 square m’.Iei of
2
ice, 'wentv feet in thickness to affeA
ry tide. Tha 8U face of the globe is =»
148,510,627 squue miles, and according
to Dsfclor Lingj the proportion of land
and water is as 124 to 349. Therefore,
the surface of land = 38,93 3,018 square
miles, and that of water = 109,577,639
square mlct. Wherefore a a i>> six montns
109 577,609
we may reckon 365 tides ; ——
365X74528
= 4 gives us the number of time'* the
surface of water on the globe is greater
than the sur ace of meiud ice. 1 nere
fore 20-4 = 5 = number of feet which the
diurnal inching .if icc in the polar regionf
increases the waters of the ocean.
I am sensible tha. several objefVuns
may be s aued to this calculat on ; but i
do not believe that the inc case of tides
by the polar ice can d ffsr more than two
or three feet fr >m llii sia’ement I have
given. For ih^ ex'en of smfa e of inch
ted ice utj have the best da a and all »w
mg its height above ihe horizon to be on.
iy ten feet, it wauld increase the tides
2 I 2 feet- V/e have no reason for sup
posing that its mean height can exceed
30 tee , which would incrca.e the waters
by 7 1*2 feet ; therefore it seemi to me,
we miVj without commit ing any gro?.s
error, fix uuon fiv; leet as thj ntean by
which the ikies are increased by the mel
ting nf the polar iee.
It remains now io ascertain the tims
which each effusion from the polar regi
ons is later than its preceding m arriving
tiie equator. For this purpose^ i; is ne
cessary to calculate the velocity wi<h which
ihr.se eflusiont move towards the equa. ,
tar.
Sirlsacc Newton has calculated (Cor. 1 j
P op 46, Book II.1) that wjves, whose!
breadth is equal to 3 1.18 French feet,
will advance through a spree equal .0 their
!>readlh in one second of time ; and there |
fore in one minute will go over a »pac- j
»f 183 and a third feet | bi»>1 in an h-.ur a J
space of ll.ooo feet, neatly ; that is about I
>3 miles in 2* hours. And it it evident,!
that a constant succession of elf.i ,1011s from
melted ice Will occasion a constant tucces
sun of wave*, whose velocity, accordiu;
to Sr Isaac Newton, (Cor. 3.) will br
im 'man cd or diminished in the vubdupii I
cate ratio of their breadths. But at Ih
breadth ot waves in the open me 1 <» always
mme than 3 113 feetj the velocity of ih
waves from the p">lur region* must b»
likewise greater than 53 mile* per day.—
Taking for granted the cucu us’unce re*
iated by De ba n Pierre from the Journa
01 Kiimetm, i.itir velocity would be tun
y fiur leagues per dey, o- about
|wh eh would give to the vts
i he northern ocean a bread h cf,!? 4 ^
Tee’j »n ex ent-which is f-ond to agtes
| with general obsrrva ion, ’Mi ?relo c v.iip~
posing this to be the veloci'y r-f tbr'pol-r
effusions, we may ascertain ilis.periei tiutt
each polar eff*.ion will be !a*er ihaf^i-s p>e
ceding, owing to the extent ofihohocm*... \\
round the pule,"gradually drereavn- l>v
-he heat of the sun and co;.scquer>tlv thr
distance from the equator increasing, ft
has been sia ed, that the "bread h oF the
zone of melted tee Irom she 31st of March,
untd :he 33d ol Sepnmbrr is about It)
degrees of latitude or 692 ftigtisti rniies.
.Therefore, dividing this number by
fhe days in the above period, we have Sale
mdes at the distance every |». tar effusion V
‘3 more removed than lie prec ding from
the equal >r ; that is, the poa* effusion of
one day has ad stance =* 3 8,10 miles fa -
ther to nine over than the pol r eft iMou
ol the preceding day ; upon the aupp J.
uou tha an equ.l quantity of ,Ce i* md.
ted each -lay tro.n the 21st of March utu
til ibe 22 J of September. Wheiefoee, rf
ihese eR taions f om the polar regions
move w, h 1 he veloci-y of 102 m les m
24 hours, they will ia‘te.51 12 um>u es t.»
How the distance of 3 8 It) miles, wiudi
tsodyab u l >*o nrrm «s mo e than the
| tune which eacii diurnal ride at-the tarn-*
| P ace 15 later thin he tide of the puc;'
d ng day, a coinc,deoc“ tha is c plainly
remarkable I may be contend ihat
the hyp > liesi* of an equ I q.ian utn of ice
being m .l ed eve y 1 ay is erroneous, on
acc'uin ol the heat *if me suu b ing
pu«rd o increase in the ratio ef 'he quare-s
-l the sines of his al i.ude. Bu , .$ to
be rernembeied, that the ice in .he south
ern herm.phtre does not ce i e <0 melt op
the effusion i Irom the southern p Je ceat,c
>0 fl.wupomhe W,c'm
toe no the 11 hem.sphe*, beg us o melt
“ ,d the '*»» ol the noiihero region
c mmer.ee ofl w. rh- e«\j ions f ,u
the northern po:.- m«y We Mippotcd to com .
an.;nce wb n .h sun appeals ,n .tu ium
'Pbee afer the 21st of March ; but h
cuus.jiis from he sou hern hem pu.:ic
31111 continue, alh u;li daily decreasing
* ! e l^e o he s are daily increasing, and
tlii iirni of both will be equal 10 he menu
elusion f'< m h,*r pole
AN ACT
To extend certain privilege therein
mentioaed to Joseph JosOua uls
ter.
liE it enacted by the Senate an 1
House of Representatives of the Uni
ted States ©t America, in Congress
assembled, That two years re« dence
ny 411 act, .entitle i « An
act to ex.end the pri ilege of obu n
ing paten s tor u.etul discoveries and
inventions, to certa n persons the<i i.j
mentioned : and to enlarge a ltl deime
the penalties for violating the r g a >F
entrag- ,” shall not he require j r
Joseph Josiua Hyster, to enable hinx
o obtain a patent tor any discove
ry he has made in constructing inm
Bridges, and applicable to other archi
tectural purposes, but he chj 1 obtain
a atent therefor on his conforming to
other requisitions on said foot. J
J. » VARNUM.
Speaker of the House*/ Representatives.
GEO.* CLUMTUJJ,
Vice-President of the Uni'cdSSta’rs trttf
President lofthc dciia”..
February
Approved,
'JAMES MADISON.
Pocket Almanack for
1810.
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M l /1SE5SES,
Ot' A LI. SI/.E3 A.V.l JUjvfjfi,
yjA Da. and repaired,agrct.,^r x.o,-a . o *
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