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obliquely, towards one point, in or near the centre of the becalmed region aforefaid; the obliquities of which currents will depend upon the velocities and directions of the winds, or currents of air, which might previously have taken place in the furrounding regions. When thefe currents arrive at the centre of their mutual convergency, all the ftagnated and rarefied air which was before incumbent upon the calm furface of the fea, will have been expelled and forced higher up into the atmosphere, upon which thefe currents, by their mutual concourfe in one place, will exceffively crowd each other, as obferved above, wherever it happens, driving the central air upwards with a violent blaft; which, thould the currents fet in obliquely, and fo converge with a fpiral motion towards the centre of their mutual concourfe, would afcend as through the fcrew of Archimedes, or the worm of a cork-fcrew, to both of which, navigators have likened thefe fpouts; otherwife it would afcend through a ftrait narrow funnel, which, if filled with any opaque matter would become vifible, and at a distance would refemble a fpeaking trumpet with the small end downwards, in which form the waterfpout frequently appears. In the former cafe, a whirlwind round about the centre would undoubtedly be the confequence; and in either, a waterfpout would probably be produced.'

Such is the account which Mr. Oliver gives of the phenomenon in question; but as the defcriptions of waterfpouts are, in general, fuch only as are handed to us by mariners, who have the most frequent opportunities of feeing them, and who cannot be expected to obferve them with that circumftantial accuracy which may be neceffary for the foundation of a phyfical folution of fo extraordinary an appearance, we are under the neceffity of fufpending our judgment of thefe phenomena until they have been obferved by men of fcience.

Conjectures concerning Wind and Waterspouts, Tornados, and Hurricanes. By Dr. John Perkins.

Contrary to the opinion delivered in the former paper, Dr. Perkins afferts the defcent of the water in waterfpouts, and he fupports his affertion by a number of undeniable evidences. Having established this fact, he next proceeds to explain the va rious forms which thefe phenomena affume, and the concomitant appearances with which they are accompanied. Our Author then offers fome remarks on Mr. Stuart's accounts and figures of waterfpouts, as given in the Philofophical Transactions, which ferve to corroborate his theory of defcent: he first confiders the great rear that attends a complete spout; it is the fame as that in Cataracts or falls of water from great eminences; this kind of roar could not exist if the waters afcended. Mr. Stuart's figures of great fpouts are drawn with the appearance of a bush round their bafe; this, Dr. Perkins fays, is a neceflary confequence of the water's falling; it rifes up from the foot of the fpout, and falls back in a parabolic manner into the fea. As was faid of the sar juft now, fo it may be faid of this, that it could not have exifted

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in

any conceivable way of afcent; while, on the contrary, it is per fectly agreeable to nature, on the principle of defcent.

The appearance of a break, or partition, in the trunk of the fpout, at the top of the bufh, is a very curious phenomenon: it is not real, but only apparent, and could not have happened without the bufh; it being caufed by the refraction of the rays through the drops of water which conftitute the top of the bush, whence a divergency, and fo much lofs of vifion.

In great spouts there is alfo a pillar-like appearance, being a part of the trunk within the bush; by another refraction through the fides of the bush it appears much larger than the trunk, and is limited in altitude by the bush.'

In this manner our Author proceeds, explaining, on philofophical principles, the appearances with which waterfpouts are attended; and, confining himself wholly to facts, he ad. vances no hypothesis which the phenomenon itself does not war

rant.

Tornados and hurricanes, Dr. Perkins thinks, are of the fame general nature, although differing in fome circumftances and appearances. The tornado, whirlwind, or, as our Author calls it, windfpout, begins fuddenly; more or lefs of clouds being drawn together, a spout of wind comes from them, and ftrikes the ground, in a round fpot of a few perches diameter, with a prone direction in the courfe of the wind of the day, and proceeds thus half a mile, or a mile. The proneness of its defcent makes it rebound from the earth, throwing fuch things as are moveable before it, but fome fideways. A vapour, mift, or rain, defcends with it, by which its path is marked.

The hurricanes of the Weft Indies are perhaps the most violent convulfions to which the atmosphere is fubject. Dr. Perkins believes, that they are owing to fome occafional obftruction in the usual and natural procedure of the equatorial trade winds; but he acknowledges, that to account fatisfactorily for them, requires more (and more circumftantial) obfervations, than those with which we are furnished; fo that, at prefent, all that can be faid of their origin and caufes must be merely conjectural. Experiments on Evaporation, and Meteorological Obfervations made at Bradford in New England. By the Rev. Sam. Williams, A. M.

These experiments on evaporation were made to ascertain the quantity of moisture exhaled from a given furface in a given time. Mr. Williams allows their infufficiency, and the uncertainty of their refults.

The meteorological obfervations form a complete diary of the barometer, thermometer, winds, rain, &c. for the year 1772.

Meteorological Obfervations. By J. Maddison, Esq.

A diary of the barometer, thermometer, winds, and weather, from July 3, 1777, to Aug. 17, 1778, with occafional remarks.

The

The moft material phenomenon in this diary is the very fmall variation of the barometer, which was not more than 1

during the whole time.

inches

Account of a remarkable Meteor feen at Williamsburg, O&. 31, 1779. By John Page, Efq.

6

This meteor was feen about ten minutes paft fix in the evening, on the horizon, at about 4 degrees weftward of the north it was vifible for near 15 minutes, as bright,' fays our Author, as fhining filver, and as broad as the enlightened part of the new moon when first visible, and about 7° in length.'

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Account of the fame, feen at Philadelphia. By David Rittenhoufe, Efq.

According to thefe obfervations, the meteor fell at Philadelphia, S. 70° W. Comparing this with the former account, Mr. R. concludes that it must have fallen on or near the Ouafiota mountains, about 480 miles from Philadelphia, and 365 from Williamsburg. The breadth of the luminous vapour, our Author eftimated at a quarter of a degree, which, at the distance of 480 miles, muft have been upwards of two miles.

Obfervations on the Aurora Borealis. By the Reverend Jeremy
Belknap.

As this curious account cannot be abridged, we fhall give it in the Author's own words:

• About ten o'clock on Saturday laft [the paper is dated March 31, 183], the hemifphere was all in a glow; the vapours afcended from all points and met in a central one in the zenith: all the difference between the fouth and north part of the heavens was, that the vapour did not begin to rife fo near the horizon in the fouth as in the north. There had been a fmall fhower with a few thunder claps, and a bright rainbow in the afternoon; and there was a gentle weftern breeze in the evening, which came in flaws, with intervals of two or three minutes; in thefe intervals I could plainly perceive a rustling noife, which was easily diftinguished from the found of the wind, and could not be heard till the flaw had fubfided. The flashing of the vapour was extremely quick; whether accelerated by the wind I cannot fay; but from that quarter where the greatest quantity of vapour feemed to be in motion, the found was the plaineft; and this, during my obfervation, was the eaftern. The fcene lafted about half an hour.'

: We do not remember to have seen any account where a rustling noife, like the brushing of filk, as Mr. B. expreffes it, is mentioned as an attendant on the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis.

[To be concluded in our next.]

R

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ART.

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ART. V. A Defence of the Conftitution of Government of the United
States of America. By John Adams, LL. D. and Member of the
Academy of Arts and Sciences at Bofton. 8vo.
Dilly. 1787.

WE

5s. Boards.

E have not met with a greater difappointment, in the courfe of our literary labours, than we have experienced with respect to the work now before us. The character of Dr. Adams, as a man of fagacity and talents, ftands very high in the world, and the experience he has had in the adminiftration of American affairs, naturally made us hope for much ufeful information on the fubject of legiflation and government, from a performance written by him exprefsly on, that fubject. We therefore opened the book with eager expectation, but, to our great regret, we found in it nothing answerable to our prepoffeffions in its favour. On reading the Preface, we thought we difcovered an oftentatious difplay of extenfive reading, and a general knowledge of arts and fciences, that would have been natural enough in a very young writer, eager to impress his readers with a high idea of his acquirements; and we obferved fomewhat of an embarraffed affectation of elocution, which perfectly correfponded with that idea. But we were difpofed to pafs over little defects, and to confider them merely as common inftances of human imperfection, fuch as frequently ferve to lower the character of the most exalted among mankind. We therefore proceeded to the body of the work itfelf, not doubting but that we should there find abundant compenfation for the flight check we had met with at the outfet. Accordingly, we proceeded, from page to page, with increafing defire to discover the pearl that we thought was undoubtedly concealed among fuch a quantity of pebbles, till we arrived at the very end of the work, without being able to find the treasure we had been fo anxiously fearching for; and, in courfe, we clofed the book with difappointment.

We fhould here have clofed alfo our review of this article, did we not think ourselves under an obligation, from the nature of our office, and the refpect which we owe to the Public, to give fome farther account of a work offered to the world by a character fo refpectable as that of the American Ambaffador. This, we hope, will be admitted as an apology for our extending this article to a greater length than we think its own intrinsic merit could authorife.

The divifions of this performance are called letters, but they bear no mark of epiftolary correfpondence, except that every chapter begins with "My dear Sir," and at the end are addreffed "William Stephens Smith Efq. ;" and in one place, the hiftorian, Smith, is called his correfpondent's namefake,

The

The letters themselves contain a general sketch of the hiftory and conftitution of moft of thofe republics which have existed on the earth, from the earliest records to the prefent time; with fome account of the opinions of certain eminent men, on the subject of legislation and government. The profeffed intention of all thefe detached hiftorical, paffages, is to combat an opinion of M. Turgot's; who, in his letter to Dr. Price, confeff:s" that he is not fatisfied with the conftitutions which have hitherto been formed for the different States of America." Obferving, that by moft of them the cuftoms of England are imitated without any motive, inflead of collecting all authority into one centre, that of the nation," they have established different bodies, a body of Reprefentatives, a Council, and a Governor, because there is in England, a Houfe of Commons, a Houfe of Lords, and a King. They endeavour to balance thefe different powers, as if this equilibrium, which in England may be a neceffary check to the enormous influence of royalty, could be of any use in republics founded upon the equality of all the citizens, and as if establishing different orders of men was not a fource of divifions and difputes." This loofe, indigefted paffage, the abfurdity of which might have been as fufficiently expofed in three pages as in three thoufand, has given our Author a pretext for paffing in review the various political inftitutions of the different republics mentioned in hiftory, with a view to fhow, that certain balances of power must be established, or confufion and divifions must be the confe quence; and that wherever an attempt has been made to throw all power into the hands of any one body of men, oppreffion and political diftrefs has been the inevitable confequence, inftead of tranquillity and good order.' This is the fubftance of the whole volume, and it doubtless contains a truth that few perfons who have turned their thoughts to fubjects of this kind will be difpofed to difpute. But if they were to fay, "we readily admit all this; we have long known that certain checks of power are neceffary to infure liberty to the people, and establish a tranquillity of government; but what we wish to be accurately informed of, is-what are those checks that will moft effectually anfwer thefe purposes, and how thall a government be conftituted to obtain them in the most perfect manner, for people fo circumftanced as the Americans ?" For an answer to this queftion, the reader will fearch this volume in vain; for, unless it be a few vague and indifcriminate praises of the British constitution (not the conftitution of the American States), he will meet with nothing that feems to have a tendency that way. We are indeed repeatedly told, that no government can exift, but where a balance, confifting of three parts, is preferved. Upon this point, like Lord Chesterfield with the Graces, Dr. Adams dwells for ever. It occurs in almost every page of the book; but always in general terms, which convey no defi

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