lancholy contrast is observable & Angamalee, and many other formerly opunt christian towns and villages.”

The new or Portugueze christians have suffered the same lamentable reverse of fortune. When the own empire fell the Dutch protected hem; the rajah of Cochin has now turnd a great part of them out of his domnions, by compelling them to accept sone trifling consideration for their landed esates, and the rest he treats, if possible, nore se verely than his own Hindoo subjects.

We are glad to find that Mr.Wredé designs to publish a translation of the Annals of Malabar, known by the name of Kerol Oodputtee.

14. Account of an Hereditary 'iving Deity, to whom devotion is paid ly the Bramins of Poona and its neighbour hood. By Captain Edward Moor.

"Mooraba Gosseyn was a Bramit of Poona, who, by abstinence, mortification, and prayer, merited above others the favourable regards of the Almighty. Gunputy, the most common name in this country, among the many hundreds of Sree Ganesa, accordingly vouchsafed to appear to him, at Chinchoor, in a vision by night; desired him to arise and bathe; and, while in the act of ablution, to seize, and hold sacred to the godhead, the first tangible substance that his hand encountered. The god covenanted that a portion of his holy spirit should pervade the person thus favoured, and be continued as far as the seventh generation, to bis seed, who were to become successively hereditary guardians of this sacred substance, which proved to be a stone, in which the god was to be understood as mystically typified. This type is duly reverenced, is carefully preserved, and hath ever been the constant companion of the sanctified person inheriting with it the divine patrimony.

"This annunciation happened about the year A. D. 1640, and six generations have since passed away.

"It doth not now appear what was the precise extent of the divine energy originally conceded; but it is inferred to have been a limited power of working miracles :--such as healing sickly uncleanliness, granting to a certain degree the desires of pious supplicants, and the faculty of foretelling, under some restrictions, the events of futurity.

These gifts appear, indeed, avowedly to have been enjoyed in a more extensive degree by the first possessors, than by the latThe Bramins admit that the farther the remove from the favoured man, in whom

ter.

the god became incarnate, the greater is the chance of degeneracy; although such degeneracy might not have been inevitable. It is therefore presurable that the early inheritors

worked more conspicuous miracles than have of late been manifested.

“The Deo is, ex officio, what is called a lewanna-but the term fool may not, in this instance, as in most others, give the best translation of the word. He is totally unmindful and ignorant of worldly affairsunable, they say, to hold conversation be yond the proposition, reply, and rejoinder, To some questions, on points of futurity, he and then in a childish, blubbering manner, replies, accordingly as he is inspired, in pointed negatives or affirmatives; to others enigmatically, or by benignant and indiguant gesture; sometimes he is totally silent, and apparently absorbed in abstract cogitation, doth not recognize the suppliant. From such data is deduced how propitious or otherwise is the Almighty will on the pursuits of the petitioner.

not differ materially from those of other holy The ordinary occupations of the Deo do men-he eats, takes wives to himself, &c. &c. like other Bramins, but by some is said subject to bodily infirmities. So regular a to be exempt from illness; others say he is life, however, in point of regimen, unruf fled by worldly cares, may well ensure a continuance of health, and, in general, prolon gation of existence,

"As the elder son inherits the spark of divinity, it is necessary that he also be a fool, as he hath ever proved. To the ques tion Whether the second son being sane, and the other dying without male issue, the second, to whom the patrimony then descends, would become demanna on his accession?' the Bramins demur: it hath never, nant, and the means of fulfilling it are not they say, happened. God made the cove for man to point out."

Captain Moor visited the Deo. He asked him, what would the result of the war be between England and France, and when it would terminate. This was in January 1801. The Deo prophesied that it would end triumphantly and advantageously for the English within six moons; and he gave the Englishman to understand, that his favours and prayers had not been without their effect in rais ing England to its present power and prosperity. The Deo has not so much the appearance of an idiot as he ought to have; his eyes are keen, and his counte nance expressive and not unpleasant; his son, however, is as stupid as beseems the heir-apparent to be.

15. Upon the Religion and Manners of the People of Ceylon. By Mr. Join

ville.

This is a well-written and curious pa per. We will extract from it an amus

ing specimen of Asiatic computation, which will also explain the length of time required to ripen a deity into a boudhou,

"According to the old Singalese authors, particularly Nimi Giateke, and the Boudhou Gunukatave, Boudhou transmigrated during four asanks, and one hundred thousand mahakalpes of years, from the time he took the resolution to become Boudhou, till that when he was born for the last time according to some, or, as others will have it, till he became Nivani. To form an idea of this period, the meaning of the words asanke and mahakalpe must be explained. There are two ways of explaining mahakalpe: the first supposes a cubic stone of nine cubits on each side; a goddess of great beauty dressed in robes of the finest muslin, passes once in every thousand years near the stone, at each time the zephyr gently blowing the muslin on it, till in this way it is worn down to the size of a grain of mustard: the space of time necessary for this is called antakalpe; eighty antakalpes make one mahakalpe. According to the second way of explaining the term, it is said, that the earth increases seven yoduns in one antakalpe; but a thousand years only increase it the thickness of one finger, in the opinion of the boudhists. It then remains to be seen how many fingers there are in one yodun. The calcution is as follows:

1 gaoué

4 gaoues 1 yodun.--About 14 English miles. One vodun is, consequently 1075200 fingers-7 yoduns 7526400 fingers, which, multiplied by 1000, the number of years, makes 7526400000, the amount of an antakalpe, which, multiplied by 80, produces 602112000000 years, or one mahakalpe. The first computation, involving in it a cal. culation beyond the power of the human imagination to reach, leaves us nothing to say on the subject, except to express our total disbelief of it. The second is at least intelligible, and, it will be seen, bears a sinaller proportion to an asanke, than a second does to a thousand centuries."

One asanké is a number of years amounting to an unit with sixty-three zeros after it!

The system of casts which prevails in Ceylon is different from that upon the continent. The vellales, goi-vanses or lord labourers, are the first, for here the cultivators have triumphed. No ragia or royal cast exists, for no Singalese, that is, no person born of a Singalese father or mother can succeed to the throne, because no Singalese can prostrate him

self before one of his own nation. If the king therefore dies, leaving no issue male or male relation, the crown is offered to some prince on the continent who professes the boudhou religion.

Neither have they a military cast, for all are obliged to fight on receiving the king's order. This is a great and manifest improvement. There exists one instance in Hindoo history of an army in the moment of success taking flight, because a few poor wretches of an impure cast attacked them in despair. Nothing can be more false and groundless than the opinions of those reasoners, who represent the system of casts as indestructible. No human institution would so soon crumble if it were wisely attacked.

"The Rodi, or Rodias, are the last and vilest of all the casts. If one should touch a Rodias even unintentionally, one is rendered impure. These wretches are obliged to throw themselves on the ground, on their bellies, whenever they see a vellala passing, who gravely walks over them. But nature

seems to have come to the relief of these un

fortunate beings, by giving to them more beautiful women than to any of the other casts. But many of them are forced into the harams of the great, who have laid it down as a rule, that a Rodias woman is not impure for the men of superior casts, but only for their wives."

When will the East India company be convinced that it is their ultimate interest, as well as their immediate duty, to convert their subjects?

16. A Chronological Table of the Moghul Emperors, from Umeer Tymoor to Alumgeer II. the father of the present Emperor Shah Alum, being from A. H. 736 to 1173, or A. D. 1335 to 1760. By Lewis Ferdinand Smith, Esq. 17. Demonstration of the Twelfth Axion of the First Book of Euclid. By the Rev. Paul Limrick.

18. Dagoberti Caroli de Daldorff Scarabæorum (i. e. Insectorum quæ sub nomine generis superioris Scarabæus militaverunt in Fabricii Entomologia Systematica emend. & auct:) distributio in genera proxima (id est naturalia) divisiones, subdivisionesque, instrumentis cibariis, larvorum imaginumque victu & oeconomia, aliisque insecti perfecti partibus consultis, No. I.

19. An Account of the Bazeegurs, a Sect commonly denominated Nuts. By Captain David Richardson.

These vagabonds Captain Richardson, by cogent proofs, identifies with the gip

sies. The name Bazee-gur may be literally rendered a juggler; and juggling, singing, dancing, and tumbling, form their trade, to which the women add palmistry and the practice of physic, or rather quackery among their own sex. They call themselves Mohammedans, but they have blended Hindoo superstitions with the religion of Mohammed, and also added others peculiar to themselves; for they consider Tansyn, a famous musician, who flourished under Akbar. as their tutelary deity. The writer suspects that they occasionally eat human flesh, and one of their tribes, if we may eredit very respectable testimonies of the fact, are frequently guilty of sacrificing human victims to Kalee, under circumstances of horror and atrocity scarcely credible. Among such a people it is remarkable that the pantheistic faith should be found, that one spirit pervades all nature, and that their souls being each a particle of that universal spirit, will of course rejoin it when released from its corporeal shackles.

We shall copy one of the notes to this paper, containing a singular account of the poet Kubeer.

"He was a weaver by trade, and flou rished in the reign of Sher Shah, the Cromwell of Indian history. There are, however, various and contradictory traditions relative to our humble philosopher, as

some ac

counts bring him down to the time of Ukbur. All, however, agree as to his being a soofee or deist, of the most exalted sentiments, and of the most unbounded benevolence. He reprobated with severity the religious intolerance and worship of both Hindoos and Moosulmans, in such a pleasing poetic strain of rustic wit, humour, and sound reasoning, that to this day both nations contend for the honour of his birth, in their respective sects or tribes. He published a book of poems that are still universally esteemed, as they inculcate the purest morality, and the greatest good-will and hospitality to all the children of man. From the disinterested, yet alluring doctrines they con

tain, a sect has sprung up in Hindoosta under the name of Kubeer-punt-hee, wha are so universally esteemed for veracity and other virtues, among both Hindoos and Moosulmans, that they may be with prosphere. They resemble that respectable body priety considered the Quakers of this hemiin the neatness of their dress and simplicity of their manners, which are neither strictly Moohummudan nor Hinduwee; being rather a mixture of the best parts of both. A translation of Kubeer's works, with the life of that sage, and an account of his followers, relative to their tenets and societies, India. The time of Kubeer's death seems remain still as desiderata in the history of involved in equal obscurity with the manner of his decease and burial. They relate that he lived a long time at Kasee, near Gya, and sojourned also at Jugurnath: he gave great offence to the Buckmuns, by his conduct and tolerant doctrines. When stricken in years, he departed this life among a conand Hindoos. They quarrelled about the course of his disciples, both Moosulmas mode of disposing of his remains, which were placed in another apartment during the dispute. The Moosulmans were, it is alledged, victors, and buried him accordingly. The Hindoos affirm, however, that his body, during the altercation, disappeared, and a lotos flower was found in its stead, which they have carefully preserved. Be this as it may, it is certain that his name is held in great veneration by those two very different people; those called Kubeer-punt-hee seem, nevertheless, to have rather more of the Hindoo than Moosulman in their composi tion, which so far decides the contest in their favour."

20. On the Burmha Game of Chess compared with the Indian, Chinese, and Persian Game of the same Denomination. By the late Captain Hiram Cox.

These comparative descriptions cannot be understood without referring to the annexed tables or plans of the game.

volume. As in the collections of every These are the contents of this seventh society, there is the chaff and the wheat together, but we have reason to be thankful for the labours of the Asiatic society.

THE first volume of this important undertaking has been already noticed by us (Ann. Rev. v. I. p. 859), and it gives us pleasure to be able to announce that the present volume is equal in merit to its predecessor. On account of the magnitude of the work, and the abundance of

excellent matter which it contains, we feel peculiarly anxious that it should be rendered as perfect as the plan of a general dictionary can admit of: we shall, therefore, in the rapid enumeration of its contents, to which we are restrained by the limits of our own work, insist princi

1

2

pally on the errors and deficiencies which have suggested themselves to us in the perusal, in order that they may be corrected and supplied in the succeeding

volumes.

Among the mathematical articles, the first of importance that occurs is Analysis, in which we approve highly of the discrimination made between the ancient and modern analysis, and the recommendation to adopt "the method of the ancients in the commencement of our studies, as it serves to form the mind, and to fix proper habits, to which the method of the moderns should succeed, as it is best suited to extend our views beyond the present limits, and to assist us in making new discoveries and improvements." It is justly observed also in this article, I that Newton himself investigated his theorems in a different manner from that in which he has delivered them; as they are commonly "analytical calculations, disguised by substituting the name of lines for their algebraical value." We may add, that the generally believed report at Cambridge is probably true, that the last proposition of the seventh section was one of the first discovered by him, and that he was led by it to expand his system in the manner in which it now appears. We need not add, that the investigation was made by the method of fluxions, and the fluents were afterwards converted into areas, to be visible to the eye.

In the account of the Angle of contact, we regretted that the demonstration was not given of the ratios of the evanescent subtenses in curves of different orders. It would not have occupied the space of more than four lines, and the article would have been complete. This defect may be remedied under the article Con

tact.

Anomaly is very well explained; but in this, as in several other articles, we do not find sufficient attention paid to the labours of the present generation. The problem of Kepler is of great importance, and has employed the talents of the first mathematicians. Their methods are mentioned, and Keill's is given at length; but no notice is taken of Mr. Ivory, whose very able paper upon this subject, pointed out in our first volume, deserved the consideration of, and ought not to have been unknown to the writer of this article.

A very good account is given of Apol

lonius of Perga and his work, which of course led to the notice of various writers on conic sections: and due praise is given to the very ingenious attempt of Mr. Walker to deduce all the properties of the curves, commonly called conic sections, from the 24th proposition of Sir Isaac Newton's universal arithmetic. It is rather singular, however, that the writer of this article should not have been acquainted with two other treatises of conic sections, upon a similar principle with Mr. Walker's. A gentleman of Cambridge, about sixteen years ago, brought with him from the continent the conic sections of Boscovich, with which he was so much pleased, that he drew up a course of lectures from them for the use of his pupils, which, with the work itself, he afterwards put into the hands of Mr. Newton, of Jesus College. Mr. Newton' was equally pleased with the system, which he improved very much, by rejecting the musical proportion, and giving demonstrations of his own wherever they were requisite. His system was published by the university; and it is remarkable, that just as it was going to the press the manuscript of Mr. Walker was sent to Cambridge, and put into the hands of the gentleman who had brought the treatise of Boscovich from the continent, and who was struck with this remarkable coincidence in demonstrations between two writers who had no intercourse with each other. The merit of Mr. Walker is universally acknowledged, and it cannot be depreciated by this account; but it will afford to mathematicians some pleasure to compare together the different processes used by two eminent writers, from the same hypothesis, and the improvements made in these processes.

The article of Approximation is more defective than we could well have expected. Baron Maseres has treated this subject with his usual accuracy; but his name is not mentioned in the article; nor is the least notice taken of his tracts on the resolution of affected algebraic equations, in which the methods of approximation by Dr. Halley, Mr. Raphson, and Sir Isaac Newton are compared together, and the advantages and disadvantages of each balanced with the utmost degree of precision. Dr. Hutton is represented as being the discoverer of a peculiarly con venient method of approximating to the roots of pure powers; and thus De Laguy is deprived of the honour due to him.

For De Laguy gave first to the world the N-n' expression n +

r +1. n' + r−1. N x 2 n for a near value to the root of the number N, where r is the index of the root, and n a near approach to it. By bringing this term to a common denomi nator, we have it equal to rti

r+l.n +r—1. Nn + 2N n-2n

r + 1. n2 + r-1. N
r+s

which is equal to r—1. n

+r+1.Nn,

r− 1. N + r + 1. n′

or r=1. n2+r+1. N

X it. This late

ra 1. N+a+1 ter expression is that which Dr. Hutton has given in his tracts, but by no means supposing that he had made any great discovery, for it is merely the reduction of a fraction to a common denominator; and as, in many cases of this kind, an expression is supposed to be simplified by such an operation, this change is declared to be peculiarly recommended for practice. We apprehend that upon trial De Laguy's will be found to have the superiority. Several other methods of approximation might have been mentioned, which are to be found in the books of algebra, as that from Raphson, by which having found the small difference nearly between the root and the number assumed, this small number is used in the second power, and thus a new figure is gained with little or no trouble; and by applying the whole number found, instead of the unknown number, in the given equation, and dividing the known number by the unk..own side, the powers of the unknown number being diminished by unity, a still nearer approach may be frequently made. An opportunity for introducing these improvements will occur under the article Equation.

Under the article Apsides, it is properly observed, that Sir Isaac Newton has shewn that when the force varies in versely as the square of the distance, the line of the apsides is stationary.; but as the equation to the apsides is easily deduced for any law of the force, we would rather have seen it introduced in this place, whence the truth of Newton's position might easily and satisfactorily have been derived. From the conjecture thrown out, that Sir I. Newton was led by Kepler's observation, that equal areas were

described in equal times at the apsides, to discover that the same held in every part of the orbit; we trust that due jus tice will be done to Kepler in this work. His merits are not sufficiently known in this country; and from their little acquaintance with him, many lose the pleasure that is derived from tracing the progress in science in different ages.

The article Arch gives us the nature of circular arcs in geometry, and arches in architecture: for the former, some expressions are given without this theory; for the latter, the deficiency of this ar ticle is most deplorable. One would suppose that the writer of this article had never heard any thing of arches since Dr. Hutton had written his treatise upen bridges; that he had never been in company where the plan of a bridge with one arch over the Thames in London was mentioned; nor knew any thing of the various proposals delivered into the house of commons; or of the elegant experiments made by Mr. Atwood; or his scientific treatise, which has explained the whole of the difficulties once enter tained on this subject in the clearest and most satisfactory manner. Mr. Atwood has published a treatise on the equilibration of arches, known to every mathema. tician probably in Europe, except the writer of this article. In this treatise he has shewn that the source of equilibration is to be found in the properties of the wedge, and has calculated the force of each wedge in the arch, as also the weight of any section of the arch. His theory also he has reduced to practice in the most elegant experiment that ever was made. A bridge of one arch is constructed of small polished brass wedges: the span is, we believe, less than a yard: the weight and form of each wedge is con structed according to the principles of his treatise, and thus an arch of equilibration is presented to the eye. To confirm the truth of it, a segment of the arch is removed, the remaining segment being supported by its abutment, and a hold fixed to a string which goes round a pul ley, and at the other end of the string a weight is fixed, which keeps the segment of the arch in equilibrio. This weight agrees with, and confirms the truth of the principles derived from the properties of the wedge. But though the treatise has been published a considerable time, has been noticed in the Reviews and monthly publications, and the experiment has been seen and admired by numbers, bol