Star.
London, England, 1802-10-05 00:00:00

TEMPLE BAR.

It gives us pleafure to notice the progrefs of the
noble improvements carrying on on the weft fide
of Temple-Bar. Several ancient fewers croffed
the fcite of the intended improvements in their
way to the Thames, and were all of them fo fhal
low, as to caufe the cellars of the adjoining houfes
to be damp and noifome in the extreme, by the
foaking in (through the open gravel which here
abounds) of the filth from the fewers, inftead of
the (ewers draining them. An entire new fewer,
fpacious and deep. has therefore been conftruaed,
communicating at about the middle of the narrow
part of Effex-ftreet, with the old fewer leading to
the Thames, and proceeding northward it crofres
the Strand, and in the centre of the ftreet, intend.
ed to lead on the north fide of at. Clement's
Church, it divides, and one branch has been car-
ried weftward along the intended ftreet, almoft to
the beginning of Wych-flreet, where for the pre-
fent it terminates ; the other branch proceeds
eaftward, along the fame ftreet, to near the Bar,
where it alfo for the prefent terminates ; .thefe
branches in their courfe interfeft and take in all the
waters of the old fewers. Where the new fewer
croffed the Strand, a very ancient (tone bridge of
one arch, about t t feet long, was difcovered, co-
vered ups or .6 feet with rubbifh and moved foil,
and from the hardnefs of the (tone and mortar,
was with the greateft difficulty removed: it appears
to have concluded paffengers over, the Brook or
Gully, which here paired to thi Thames, before
fewer: were conftrueed, and the ftreet railed, and
was formerly called Strand-bridge.—Oppofite
nearly to Twiritag's Tea-warehoufe, a capital
new ftreet is intended to line with Searle-fireet,
and open (by the lower fide of Lincoln's-inn-fields)
the long and much-wanted communication be-
tween the Strand add Holborn. A branch of
the new fewer is now conftruaed along part of
this intended new ftreet, and the prefent open-
ings, prepared for the fame, and the houfes behind
the church,prefent the naturalift with a fine oppor-
tunity of examining (as he lately might have done
at Snow•hill) the fine firatum of clay, which, with
a few exceptions by patches of gravel, forms the
furface of the immenfe and famous- vale of Lon-
don, whole &net's for the purpofes of the brick
maker, no doubt, in a great meafure, determined
the firft choice of this fpot for a town, and has,
p..rhaps, not a lit:le contributed to its amazing
extcniwn.

The top of this aratum, for about 21 feet deep,
is of a tedd'allt yellow colour,and contains here and
there the Ludqs firlinontiaotfoffils called clay.balls.
In tl.e remaining depth of 5 feet, which is at pre.
font open, the clay is of a dark lead colour, and
cr,nt.tins a few Mania! P mitt:, or heavy it regular
I.l.ick lumps, compiled of iron and fulphur, having
a Wining laver-like appearance when froth broken.

Six new alms-houtes have been built at the back
of St. Clement's-chinch, near to Clement's-inn,
and are nearly ready for occupation ; when the old
ainii.houies and verity-room, on the call of St.
Ckmeut's Chttrch-yard, uow fo much in the way,
will he immediately taken down. The ground
between the new almshoufes and the lbw, (now
tv.ll:-dTd.in) is intended for a burying-ground, in
hen of part of the churcklard on the well end,
which has been lately new paved and laid into the
tlreet.—The chin eh will, when compleated, be
furrounded 1);.. a dwarf wall, and iron pallifadoes,
as the New .church in the Strand is,bitt in fome places
it null be nearer to the church than in other:, to
(nit the lirects on each fide ; the foundation cl the
new hunks oppotitc to Mr. Twisiimo's, are (lug
0;:t and begun, and we hope that It. winter
not yet come on, before feveral honks are crated.
parith of St. Duntlas adjoining, have been
'Nepal ing to add to the pleating eeca of this noble
imnrovement, by repairing and beautifying: the
outude of their church, near the Bar, and the
church of St. Mary-le Strand, on the other fide, is
at vrefent nittiergoing a thorough repair, and will,

THE DirRACHUTE.

London,.Sept..3o.

. -
There is a chafm in the report which I have
given of my delcent in a parachute, upon w‘..ich
I have bad I,:veral queftions put to me ; it is the
explanation of the caufe which gave rife to tlic
great olcillation which my parachute experienced,
and which was never fo great in the former ex-
periments I made at Paris, in weather equally fea-
tonable with that which-I had on the 2111 itiliant.
Several perfons imagined that an accident bad
happened to the Parachute; others, and the greater
number, thought that I had not ballaft enough hi
my car, which would have preferved the equili-
brium, and have made the-cor gravitate better.—
I was myfelf ofthis latter opinion during the fief
part of my defeent ; but a thing may be probable
and yet not true. I will endeavour to throw fume
li ht upon the flibia
We mull confider, in the experiment of the Pa-
rachute, the caufe whicli'aes upon th.: fluid which
refills. The experiment of the Parachute is found-
ed upon the elatlicity of the air, whole relation is
always in a (lite& ratio with the weight that com-
prelfes it : when once the. air has been condenfed
relative to the weight that comprelfes ft, it main-
tains itfelf confiantly in that fituation, and cannot
depart from it without an addition to, or fubtrac-
tion from, the compreffincy force. Hence it fol-
lows tha. a Parachute, which fhould be perfeCt in
its coral rau9 ion, and which thould prefer ve its Oat e
of equilibrium (a thing phyfically
would remain for eve, Itationary, upon the column
of air which it compreffed, without ever afcend-
ing or defcending. A Parachute therefore cannot
defcend, but by the evaporation of the air.
The flightell caufe may give the firli impulfe to
thefe evaporations, which, once having taken place,
continue in torrents, and with a gieatet degree of
rapidity in proportion as the comPrefting weight
is more confiderable.. The wind which ads upon
the furface of the Parachute, or the flighteft
movement of poftere of the perfon in the car, or
both thefe caufes at once (without fpeaking of
the imperfeftion of the Parachute itr:lo, mull
produce a firft inclination, which is loon followed
by a fecond, in an oppolite direCtion, by the effort
made by the weight contained in the car, to retyi n
to the centre of gravity. This firtt olcillation,
once ellablithed, is inceffantly kept up by the eva.
poration of the air, and increafes as the comprtff-
ing force, or the weight fulpended to the Para-
chute, excites it to do it with rapidity. The fol-
lowing is the proof which jellifies this zeafuning
When I made my former experiments of de.
fcending in a Parachute, I always made rife of a
Balloon proportioned to the weight which I was to
carry up; and I took with me a lack of ballaft of
only twenty pounds, which I threw out with one
hand, whilft I cut the cord of feparation with the
other. The Balloon being this time much larger,
I wllhed to make ufe of its fize and energies to
found the capacity of my Parachute. Inflead of
twenty pounds of ballad, I carried upwards of one
hundred ; I drew out only a fmall part the mo
merit I was feparated from the Balloon, and the
ofcillations having commenced almoft immediately
with very great rapidity, I thought that my Pa-
rachute was tolled about by a fudden breeze. I
then erroneoufly ieafoned, that the more ballaft I
threw out, the more I fhould diminifh the pdwer
that tended to reftore the equilibrium. I did not
at all imagine that the air beingcomprefted by a
weight twice greater almoft than in my former ex-
periments, the evaporation would take place with a
relative reaction. When I was no more than a few
hundred feet high, I law clearly that I fhould be
dallied to pieces,if I touched the ground during the
operation of an ofcillation. Immediately threw out
all that was in the car, even to my barometer,
which, by the way, has never been reftored to me.
The die& juftified my expeltations, all the violent
ofcillations ceafed in a moment ; and thofe which
fucceetled were much lefs rapid, and their extent
comparatively trifling. I then felt that fenfation
in the ftomach which produced the vomiting I
experienced when I got out of the car, after a
flight (hock.
I infer, from what I have Rated above, that the
greater the furface of the Parachute is, and the
lefs it is loaded, the lighter the defcent will he ;.
and the more uniform, and free from chore 0161-
latioits. caufed by the evaporation of the comprelf-
ed air ; the cotinterpoife caufed by a fre(h wind,
which fhould aCt upon the furface of the Para-
chute, would be little to be feared. We are fur-
nifhed with daily proofs by the little parachutes
that are made of a fheet of paper, which children
launch in the streets with wonderful addrefs.—
The weight they fupport is nothing annuli, 'when
compared with the extent of the forface of the
(beet of paper. Hence thefe little Parachutes take
a horizontal courfe, fometirnes for a long time,
without ofcillation. though the wind even be
high, or at leaft the ofcillations they do experi-
ence are flow and not violent, and only become
confiderable when gufts of wind blow at the cor-
ners of greets.

I think the refleltions I have kill math. are im-
portant to the fcience of Parachutes, and I confi•
der my tali experiment as the molt ufeful of any I
have made, and as the one which will render the
art more perfeel, though it was not certainly the
molt agreeable one in which I have been engaged.
CARNFRIN.

MEDICINE ACT, Which took place on Sept. 1,
1802.—As by the new ad of Parliament every
Medicine of the-value of 4s. and as hi,,oh as 9s. t id.
is obliged to have a Stamp of is. value, the fmall
bottle of SP I LSBUR Y'S DROPS moll be advanced to
gs. 6d. therefore, to make it lets burthenfotne to
Inch people whofe cr4nplaint renders it necelfary
for them to take more than one bottle, the proprie-
tors have procured a new bottle, which contains
the quantity,of two of the finall onec, the price of
which will not exceed 9s. and with Is. (lamp make
it los. the bottle, the fame as two frnall bottles al.
ways were; of courfe, will five ts. as the two
fmall ones will in future het tc—N. B. The finall
bottles will be continued as ufual fur filch as do
,not choofe to purchafe the lamer.