in its ftructure, and admits but of few notes; the fifth and the key being the prevailing ones; and which are now and then alternated by the fourth and note below the key. The inftrument can only properly play upon one key, the fundamental note to which the drones are tuned this forms the key-note of every bagpipe piece, and from which there hardly can be any depar ture. The inftrument, however, being provided with an additional note a full tone below the drones, that note is fome. times founded in connection with the second and fourth, which are refpectively the third and fifth above the additional note itfelf; and hence the mufic may be faid to pass into a new key; although the tranfition be incomplete; the paffages being but fhort, and the drones all the while continuing to found the principal key-note; giving hence birth, for a fhort time, to a inoft horrible difcord. From this ftate the mufic is relieved by rifing up again to the principal key; and the effect has been compared to a gleam of bright fun-fhine, fuddenly bursting from a dark cloud. The key note and the note below being made to fucceed one another, is a paffage in common with a great many reels, and particularly offenfive to the Italians: a paffage which almost never occurs in the vocal mufic, except in fome airs of the minor mode, and where it is admissible, in a certain degree, even in regular mufic. The meafure, especially of the flow parts, is often irregular, the performer frequently lengthening notes for the fake of effect, and alfo fometimes fufpending the measure, to introduce certain flourishes and graces peculiar to the inftrument, which it is very difficult, if at all poffible, to reduce to notes; and in the performance of which the Highland pipers can vie in execution with the molt corrupted of the Italian fiddlers. The contraft in measures, it is only to be farther remarked, which would difguft a regular mufician, gives rapture to a Highlander: a notable fact, and which countenances what we read of concerning the effects of ancient mufic.

Bagpipe mufic should seem thus to be the mufic rather of real nature, and of rude paflion, than the mufic of a fine art. It is the voice of uproar and of mifrule. The mournful may ap pear, but it is the mournful of wrath and terror. The effect of fuch mufic-feems to be much owing to the inftrument itself, for it is lott upon fofter ones, as the violin and fute. The boileroufness of the performance, the peculiar tone of the pipe and drone, the rapidity of the variations, we are able to conceive, may excite all that rage of ardour and impetuofity which have been afcribed to them.

Probably the bagpipe, or at least pipe and pulfatile inftruments, prevailed in the very first times in the Highlands of Scotland, as appears from Ariftides Quintilianus, who speaks. of the Celtic mufic as fit only for fierceness and fury, the mufic of war. Yet it is to be conjectured, notwithstanding his authority, that fuch kind of music as he describes, and no other

only,

only, for the most part, would be known to ftrangers, who would fee thofe people chiefly in times of diforder and arms; and hence this is no fufficient proof that a pacific, gay, or tender mufic, befitting the times of tranquillity, was a wanting. At the fame time, however, most probably the Highland mufic was at first, as in all rude nations, chiefly of a warlike kind; and the harp may have only been introduced in the courfe of a barbarous civilization.'

In the fucceeding volumes, we may probably meet with more entertainment and greater information; but we would recommend to the author a more exact difcrimination of what is really important, in the works from which he must neceffarily collect.

Philofophical Tranfactions of the Royal Society of London. Vol. For the Year 1784. Part 11: (Concluded, from

LXXIV.

vol. lix. p. 417.)

ART. XXVIII. On the Summation of

Series whofe gene

ral Term is a determinate, Function of z the Distance from the first Term of the Series. By Edward Waring, M. D. &c.-Dr. Waring, in this paper, extends and elucidates fome parts of the Meditationes Analyticæ; of course the principles of many of the rules are to be found in that work. Papers of this kind are incapable of abridgement, and we shall only add, that, in the conclufion, our author endeavours to establish his own claim to algebraical inventions, in the work juft mentioned. While his arguments on this fubject are fatisfactory, his observations deserve applaufe, for their extreme candour and liberality. We are glad to find, that the author has carried his improvements into geometry,' and discovered many new properties of conic sections. It were to be defired, that he would not confine them to the narrow sphere of his particular acquaintance.

Art. XXIX. Account of a remarkable Froft on the 23d of June, 1783. By the Rev. Sir John Cullum, Bart. F. R. S. S. A.

-We have feen fevere frofts in this month; but the severity of that, which happened in 1783, was indeed remarkable. Even the hardy Scotch fir fuffered from its attack; but it is more remarkable, that the dry haze, fo general in that year, disappeared on the 22d of June, and immediately the thermometer funk to 50°: on the 23d, it must have been far below 32 On the 24th the haze returned; and, the following day, the leaves of many vegetables were covered with a clammy sweetnefs.' Thefe remarks may contribute to illuftrate this hitherto inexplicable phenomenon.

Art.

Art. XXX. On a new Method of preparing a Teft Liquor to fhew the Prefence of Acids and Alkalies in chemical Mixtures. By Mr. James Watt, Engineer. Every perfon has, in their turn, been deceived by the tefts for alkalies, though the changes, from the prefence of acids, have been fufficiently decifive. Phlogisticated nitrous acid, with an alkali, by the test of litmus, will appear acid, when other tefts determine it to be alkaline. This ambiguity may lead the chemist into many errors; and it is of use, therefore, to be informed, that an infufion of the leaves of the common red cabbage,' was very fenfible in the changes of colour, both from alkalies and acids; and not liable to be influenced by the presence of phlogiston. Mr. Watt advises chemifts, to preserve them by means of acids, and, when they are used, to neutralize the acid by means of chalk or fixed alkali. He afterwards found, that, in hot weather, fpirits of wine were neceffary to prevent moulding. Since reading this paper, we have found cloves equally ufeful; and they have preferved the liquor, without any other addition, in the late warm weather; but perhaps the heat has not yet been great enough, to give this method a fair trial.

Art. XXXI. An Account of a new Plant of the Order of Fungi. By Thomas Woodward, Efq.-We should prefer forming a new genus for this peculiar plant, at least till it has been more accurately examined: it is however nearly allied to the lycoperdon. It has not been before noticed, because its growth is very rapid, and its volva generally buried from fix to eight inches in the earth. Plants have been found in a decaying state, where, the day before, there had been no appearance of any; and it has fince appeared probable, that they fometimes come to perfection, before they rife above the surface.

Art. XXXII. Experiments to investigate the Variation of Local Heat. By James Six, Efq.-In our fifty-fifth volume, page 361, we explained the contruction of Mr. Six's thermometer, and then objected to it, that the refiftance of the index, with the neceffary bulk of the fpirits, would diminish its fenfibility. It must be owned, however, that the force of thefe objections is leffened when it is ufed in comparative experiments; we do not think that they are entirely removed. Mr. Six, as ufual, found, that the heat diminished as the thermometers were raised from the earth during the day time; but, in the night, the order was frequently reverfed. The ftate of the atmosphere was found to influence this change; for when the sky, during the night, was dark and cloudy, all the thermometers agreed very nearly with each other. In the day time, the variation, at different heights, feemed not to be VOL. LX. July, 1785. affected

C

affected by the state of the air, except as it was cold or hot. In the cold weather it was lefs obfervable. It is not allowable to enter on long difcuffions; but if Mr. Six reflects on the folvent power of the air, or rather, to avoid disputes, on the effects of evaporation, combined with those of the heat reflected from the earth, the greater number of appearances will be explained. He should confider too, that air is a bad conductor of heat, and that his thermometers are not fo eafily affected as the smaller inftruments; confequently, a little varięty will arife from their being fixed to a large body, or fufpended in the open air.

Art. XXXIII. Account of fome Obfervations tending to inveftigate the Confiruction of the Heavens. By William Herfchel, Efq. F. R. S.-Mr. Herschel has now applied a new telescope of confiderable powers, though weaker than one he defigned to conftruct, to the more diftant fixed ftars. It was always prefumed that the nebulæ and milky-way were clusters of ftars, because the better our inftruments were, the more clearly we perceived the bodies of which fome of the nebulæ were compofed. This powerful telescope has feparated many of these clusters into their component ftars; and the milkyway appears, through it, to be of the fame kind. From an actual enumeration of fome fields of view, Mr. Herfchel com- putes that a belt of 15° long and 2° broad cannot contain less than fifty thoufand ftars, which may be diftinctly counted. Befides this aftonishing number, our author has difcovered four hundred and fixty-fix new nebulæ, which, fo far as we know, have not yet been feen by any other perfon.

The attempt to investigate the conftruction of the heavens. is of an aftonishing magnitude. We entered on it with doubt and hesitation, and we now follow our author's steps with refpectful timidity. It is the privilege of genius to express its fublime conceptions in a clear, comprehenfive, and peculiar language; fo that, from the difficulty of the fubject, and the want of diagrams, we almost defpair of conveying any accurate idea of Mr. Herfchel's obfervations. But we fhall make the attempt. A flight reflection will convince us, that the fpherical appearance of the heavens is an optical deception; and that the stars are more properly fcattered indifcriminately, or arranged in an order very different from that in which we perceive them. Mr. Herfchel feems to affume it as a pofition, that they are arranged in ftrata, and then examines how far this opinion agrees with the appearances. If a number of stars

are arranged between two parallel planes indefinitely extended, but at a given confiderable distance from each other, an eye placed any where within it, will fee the ftars in the direction

of

of its length and height, with all thofe in the intermediate fituations projected into a great circle. This exactly agrees with the appearance of the milky-way, and Mr. Herschel thinks it highly probable that the fun is in the fame ftratum., But, if a fmaller ftratum interfect the great one, the eye, at no great distance from the point of interfection, will fee the smaller ftratum as a lucid branch; fo that it is probable this great ftratum is interfected by another, and that our fun is in a part of it not far diftant from the point of interfection. This is confirmed by what our author calls a ftar-gage; for he, who talks of collecting bundles of ftars of two or three hundred at a time, and offering them to the Royal Society,' may be allowed to affume the rule, and gage the heavens. In the parallel from 92° to 94 north polar diftance, and 15h 10' right afcenfion, the ftar-gage runs up from 9.4 ftars in a field of view to 18.6. But in the parallel from 780 to 80°, and right afcenfion 11, 12, 13, and 14", from 3.1 it seldom rifes above 4. We just now obferved, that, in this ftratum, thofe ftars which are in the direction of the length and height of the plane, with those in the intermediate fituations, appear in the form of a great circle; thofe in the direction of its fides neceffarily appear to be scattered without any particular arrangement. From this it feems to follow, that the milky-way, and the diftinct ftars of different magnitudes belong to the ftratum, or perhaps more properly speaking, the groupe to which the fun belongs. We are by no means clear refpe&ting Mr. Herfchel's opinion of the other ftrata; in one paffage he feems to confider each nebula as a diftinct ftratum.

If the eye were placed fomewhere without the ftratum, at no very great diftance, the appearance of the ftars within it would affume the form of one of the lefs circles of the fphere, which would be more or lefs contracted to the distance of the eye; and if this diftance were exceedingly increased, the whole ftratum might at last be drawn together into a lucid spot of any fhape, according to the pofition, length and height of the ftra

tum.'

In another paffage, he is rather inclined to think the ftrata formed of groupes of nebule; and this feems by much the moft probable opinion.

6

A very remarkable circumftance, attending the nebulæ and clusters of stars is, that they are arranged into ftrata, which seem to run on to a great length; and fome of them I have already been able to purfue, fo as to guefs pretty well at their form and direction. It is probable enough, that they may furround the whole apparent fphere of the heavens, not unlike the milky-way, which undoubtedly is nothing but a ftratum of

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fixed