Star.
London, England, 1812-02-17 00:00:00

70 TBE EDITOR OF THE ST4R.

Mn. Eynon—Raving heard a complaint that the 1
institution of the Bible Society had decreased the
funds and lessened the number of the members of
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, I
was at the tremble of computing the nun4er of sub-
scribe's admitted in the latter before and after the
establishment of the latter. The Bible Society was
insttuteci in 1804 : the members admitted in the So-
ciety for Promoting Chtistian Knowledge during the
years 1801 and 18c5, amounted to 280. To this we
may add one-seventh for the deaths during the last
seven years, the sum will be 320. But the number
.received into the Society from January to November,
•
1811, amounts to 780 !
Had the establishment of the Bible Society no ct!ier
effect drat that of producing these renewed exertions.
in the sitter, I cannot call it rival, Society, it would
corrmand the support of every Member of the

CIIVECiI Of ENGLAND.

February 1, 1812.

ROTAL INaTITUTION.

MR. DAVY'S LECTURES ON THE ELEMENTS OF
CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Mr. Davy delivered his fourth Lecture on Satur-
day last. He considered and illustrated the principles
of Electrical Science, as developed by the various
combinations ot human ingenuity, and exhibited in
die phenomena taking place in the external world.
When resin, glass, acc. are rubbed by woollen,
they first attract, and after contact repel light sub-
stances. Bodies in such a state are said to be elecoi-
cal. This property was first observed in amber, called
electron by the Greeks, from which the term elec-
tricity is derived.
In the 16th century, the researches of Gilbert
awakened the attention of philosophers. He consider.
ed electricity as exhibiting the attractive and repel-
lant powers of matter. The sagacity of Newton
pointed out these powers as peculiar forces.
Otto de Guericke, Boyle, Hawksbete, &c. observed
that luminous appearances were exhibited by elect. i=
pied bodies, and for a series of years these novel exhi.
bitions served rather to amuse scientific men, than to
direct them to the fundamental principles of elec-
tricity.
The discovery of Franklin, that lightning depends
on the electrical state of the atmosphere, gave a new
impulse to this department of knowledge ; and the
novel facts observed by Galvani, led to the noble in-
ventions of Volta. 44 The discoveries to which they
led," says Mr. Davy, 66 have produced a new order
and arrangement of facts, and have to a certain ex-
tent, connected together mechanical and chemical
science, and exhibited new and unexpected properties
of material bodies."
The Professor said, that in treating of the subject
he should offer views different from any that have
been developed by elementary writers on electricity,
but no apology was necessary—the progressive na-
ture of science is one of its noblest characters. As
the facts of electricity have multiplied, the theory is
more capable of being simplified, a number ot effects
formerly supposed to be insulated, may be attributed
to the same cause.
Mr. Davy described the different modes in which
electricity is excited, by the contact of bodies, by fric-
tion, by heat and changes of their form, ; and this
property seems to belong to all material substances.
in the mineral kingdom there are several stones
tehich exhibit electrical effects by being heated, as the
tourmaline, boracite, &c. Dry vegetable substances,
and most chrystallized bodies produce these pheno-
mena by friction, and the metals by contact. Thus
zinc made to touch mercury, becomes positive, the
mercury is negative. Tne case is the same with other
metals, as gold.and mercury, copper and mercury,
&c. Even fluids and metals produce similar effects,
as in the case of liver of sulphur and copper.
The electrical effects produced by the contact of
different metals, are less obvious than those connected
v. ith luminous appearances, but they may be perceiv-
ed by the wnsations, or by the effects produced on
the limbs of cold-blooded animels recently deprived
of life, as in the celebrated experiment of Gehrani,
'who conceived that the effect was produced by a spe-
cific subtile fluid, but the Genius of Volta, said Mr.
Davy, proved that it was electrical, and gave the de-
monstration of its principles in one of the noblest in-
ventions ever produced by human sagacity.
Very slight circumstances," said the Professor,
di are sufficient to develope these important powers of
matter, and they must be continually iu operation ie
exteinal nature ; their grandeur and sublimity are ex-
-I.ibited in the thunder-storm, and in their more tran-
ouil agencies they minister to the order of the terres-
trial system, and perform slowly and•silently, impor-•
tent functions in the economy of things."
Electricity, by influence or induction, is different
fr different substances, and the phenomena of elec.
tticity, by influence, exhibit the difference between
conductors, imperfect conductors, and non-cunduc-
tors. It is also on the principle of induction, com-
bined in some cases with that of primary excitation,
that the powers of the instruments fer accumulating
electricity depend, as hi the Leyden jar and. Voltaic'
apparatus.
Mr. Davy exhibited the powers of the Voltaic in-
strument, by some brilliant expel iments—medals were
fused upon the surface of water and oil of turpentine,
and blunt in contact with them. He stated, that the
maximum of heat Was at the positive electrical sur-
face, and he exhibited an experiment in which, though
tile most brilliant light w .s at the negative surface,
- yet the ignition was infinitely greater at the positie
The Professor pointed out the analogy between the
Voltaic bettery and the organs of the torpedo and
gymnotus. 4, These mean animals," said he, in
the bosom of the waters, are found armed with the
power that produces lightning and thunder. The
more the resources of art are extended, the more ana-
logies to them are found in Nature, which offers, as
it were, the archetypes of even our happiest and most
extraordinary invention."
In speaking of lightning, the Professor said, that
rods intended to preserve buildings from its effects,
should be at least a half of an inch thick, and coated
at top and bottom with plarina, to prevent the effects
of the weather. They should also terminate, if pos-
sible, in a moist stratum of earth.
In considering the applications of Electrical Science
to explain natural phe.nomenap Mr. Davy said; that

the brtlliant and astonishing discoveries made known
in this ftience in the middle of last century, attracted
the attention of speculative as well as of experimentpl
philosophers ; and attempts were made to explain all
the great and extraordinary phenomenaof nature, by
electrical agencies. New principles, said he, when
when first discovered, are always extended too far ;
lthe imagination, like the eye, is dazzled by novel
and brilliant lights, and time is required before ob-
li,,cts re seen in their true relations of proper colours.
The natural appearances which may with probabi-
lity be attributed to, or supposed to be connected
with electrical effects, Mr.leavy considers are water-
spouts, some earthquakes, the luminous phenomena
in storms, and the Aurora Borealis, or Northern
lights. Lightning and the thunder-bolt, said he,
regarded by the Ancients as the re] rible instru-
ments of the Divine vengeance of Heaven. The
' M ,derns, in developing their causes, have not only
.fisarnied them of their powers, but have removed
much of the superstitious fears which they occasion.
ed, and have shewn their uses in the economy of
things. In the system of nature, the obvious effect
is often the least important, and that which seems
evil, when distinctly considered, is found only to
exalt the good and render it more impressive. Poets
have given malevolent spirits to direct the storm, and
have made it an instrument of vengeance and destruc-
tion—the philosopher, on the contrary, finds it guid-
ed by the ministrations of wisdom, goodness, and in-
telligence.

A Genealogical Tree of the Royal Family of Great
Britain, beginning with Fergus, the first King of Scots,
lby Mr. Bnows, Genealogist to his Royal Highness
Ithe PRINCE REciesr, having been lately presented, to
. the QUEEY, her Majesty was graciously pleased to
send Mr. BROWN a very handsome donation. He is
now occupied with a genealogical Table, exhibiting
the Descent of all the Dukes of Brunswick for above
six hundred years past, from Henry the Second, King
of England, as likewise their descent through that
Monarch from Malcolm the Third, King of Scots, and
his consort Saint Margaret, the heiress of the Saxon,
Kings of England. This Table is to exhibit the
Pedigree of the Sovereign Dukes of Brunswick, in
the male line, from Auteliut Actius, who was Prince
hf Este in the year 410, when Mitt ;c, King of the
West Goths, took and plundered Rome ; which.shews
the antiquity of the present Royal Family, and of
their CaHy connection with the Royal Families both
of Scotland and England.
Bow STltsar.—lleary Gawler, the Lite Clerk in the
Navy Office, after undergoing a private examination
on Thursday, was fully committed, on six charges of
forgery, and one charge of obtaining money under
false pretences. At was abject poverty, we' are told,.
drove him to these practices, his salary being only
from £75 to £BO per annum, one half of which
was placed in trust for the benefit of his creditors.—
When he landed at Shields he had only one pound in
his pocket. His intention in going thither, he said,
was to establish a school either in that place or iii
Newcastle.

Saturday Thorley underwent another examination
on a charge of being at large before the expiration
of his time ; when Captain Read, of the Prudentia
hulk, identified him as having escaped therefrom in
March, 1805. He was fully committed.
H. Ruuell, alias C. Chalmers, was charged with Va-
rious acts of swindling while living at the Bath Ho-
tel, when he kept a carriage, and while he -lodged at
a china-shop in Mortimer-street, in the same
He has also lived as an upper servant in families by
false characters, for the purpose of learning their con-
nections, in which he was detected at Gen. Cuppage's,
at Shooter's-hill. He was committed for trial.

CONFESSION OF A MURDER 1N LANCASIIIRE.—A
man of the name of Melling, who formerly kept a
public house in Wigan, but who lately removed to
Liverpool, being on his death-bed, last week, sent for
a clergyman, and told him " he could no: die" till he
had confessed a murder committed by his son (since
dead) and himself, on two recruits quartered in his
house, one nights about ten years ago, when his son
returned from robbing a mail. Fearing they might
lead to discovery, they determined to murder them,
which they did, and buried them in the garden. This
confession was sent to the Magistrates at Wigan, who
on Monday caused a snatch to be made, and on Tues-
day the remains were found near the place described
by the murderer.

A laughable circumstance occurred at the Opera-
House a few evenings since. The Hon. Mrs. H
C---, in the confusion that takes place in the lobby
on quitting the Theatre, drnrped her ridicule, and was
some, minutes before she regained it, when, in looking
at its contents, she exclaimed, " I have lost my Du/di-
cases/'j . This created surprise, not that the company'
had any doubt when the Lady ided,ged her word, but
they thought she had pledzed her jewels. However, on
enquiry, it turned nut that the lost Duplicates were
two Tickets of one Number ( which she had purchased
that evening) In the Lottery to be drawn tne Next
Tuesday—luckily she soon after found them, and an-
ticipates getting £40,000 by them.
Beautiful White Teeth may be regarded as one of,
the greatest blessings Providence can bestow, without
which the finest famed face is imperfect; inattention
to the teeth and gums is the principal cause of an
offensive breath. —Bt. 'CLEWS V WETA SLR RESTORA-
TIVF. 'loons POWDER is a most elegant and certain
remedy fur all diseases of the teeth and gums • its
particular qualities are not simply confined to clean-
sing the teeth, but will preserve than in the highest
state of perfection it will render them beautifully
white, fasten such as mar be loose, and restore them
11 to their original purity, entirely eradicate the scurvy
lin the runs, cause them to adhere close and firm to,
the teeth, render them of a healthful red, and the
breath delicately sweet, relieve and cure the most
excruciating tooth.ach, gum-biles, and swelled face.
—Sold wholesale and retail at Mr. Butler's, 4, Cheap-
side, corner of Paternoster-row; and retail by Bdain
and Sharp, Portsmouth; Hall and Johnson, Gospmt
Allnutt, Weston. Mallory and Jones, Pottiest; Trew,
man, Exeter ; Cookworthy, Glenville. Gilbert and
Hoxland, Plymouth ; Newbury, Dublin; Batter-sod
M'Donald, Glasgow ; Smith, Manderston, Scott and
Cargil, Edinburgh ; Crutwell, Bath ; Ross and Peck,
Hull • Gregsoo and Billinge, Liverpool ; Stains and
Lynch, Manchester ; Bowen, Norwich ; Knott and
Lloyd, Birmingham ; Gregory, Brighton ; Edwards
'and Penny,.Liverpool ; and of most respectable Me-
dicine Venders in. the United Kingdom, is Dozes at
25.. 9+ each.

CHALLENGR.

MESSRS. CURIVE Co. late in his
Majesty's Service, challenge the wnole world to prove a
single instance where their Medicine and method of cure have
failed of the desired effect. The practice of many years in this
particulat branch of their profession has not given rise to oee
unsuccessful case. _

They continue to direct their studies to the treatment and cure
of Venereal Complaints, and that derangement of the system,
which Is the consequence of the pereicious and wasteful effects of a
habit long and most unhappily pursued bytbe youths of both sexes
In the one it will be tumid to be the unfailing source of barren-
ness ; the other have its ravages fatally developed to them by a dis-
tressing state of debility, which, if not timely remedied, terminates
In Impotence. These are its rentote and uhi mate effects, while con-
sumptions,loss of muscular power, and various nervous complaints
usually characterise the earlier ewes of this solitary vice. Of per-
sons languishing under the disorders incident to such a habit, their
treatment is simple and has never proved unsuccessful, in the
course of a long, laborious and much extended practice. in tine
most obstinate and complicated cases of venereal infection, such
as obstruction. in the urethra, spongy excrescences, bard ru-
moues, callous ulcers, eruptious, seminal weakneu, sleets, as al n
STRICIVRES,
Whether recent or of long duration, and which have baffled the
skill of other Practitioners ; are by their present improved plan of
acumen t, effectuallyand permanently cured, without the packet
suffering the excruciating pain and alarming hemorrhage which
often follows the application of the lunar caustic. In the course of
40 years extensive practice in this metropolis, numerous eases of
Strictures have been and are daily under their are, the total
eradication of which are effected by a safe. certain, and expedi-
tious mode of practice, superior to any other yet adopted. Tl.e
weakness, relaxation, and debility proceeding tram this complaint,
is speedily removed, and the patient reatored to sound and vl
gorous health. But where the debility las for years reined, a
proper perseverance in their restorative remedies, after the Stric-
ture has been destroyed, Is indispensably requisite to revive the
alundaering sparks able and to reanimate the Constitution.
Several Noblemen and Gentlemen, of the first respectability,
hue been ander the care of Musrs.Lturrie and Co. for the re-
moval of complaints of the Urethra. Strictures, Ake. and, having
received a radical and permanent cure, request that reference,
may be made to than as satisfactory evidences of the decided su-
periority of Messrs. Currie and Co.'e plan of treatment: Many
of these Gentlemen have had Strictures from tan to *amity years
and bad been under the care of Messrs. Homo and Heaviside'
and other surgeons of equal eminence, who attempted the cute
by the Ipplicatloo of the lunar caustic, *khan success.
Messrs. Currie and Co. may be consulted by either see with tie
greatest delicacy, secrecy, and honour, at their house, No. 107,
Hatton-Garden. Patients ice the country ar °requested to stye
the particuhrs of tbeirease, age, and general habit of living, Ike.
enclosing a reniittance for advice and medicines, when tr.' same
tie'~U he gic ea or lent IS any part of at kiopivou