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a Mature has made choice of several expedients for lessening the power of cold , ¦ and moderating" the rigour of severe winters . The snow which ^ generally covers the earth at this season is one of these , and it is very * fficacious in preserving" the earth at one
uniform temperature , however cold may be the surrounding atmosphere . In like manner the atmosphere itself , being- a had conductor of heat , is a great preserver of the earth ' s temperature . Were it not for the atmosphere , the caloric inherent in the globe , would soon pass off and be dissipated in
unbounded space . " The temperature of the human body is uniformly preserved in the same manner . The air which is infolded with our garments prevents ; the animal heat from passing off , and hence it is that loose clothing is generally warmer than that which is fitted closer to the body . There seems to be a
livings principle in vegetables , in the seeds of vegetables , and in fish , which enables these to resist the effects of cold , and of hecoming frozen in temperatures lower than that at which water congeals . For , in rivers aud other great bodies of water , when the
water freezes , the rapidity of the process is moderated by the water itself giving out a large portion of caloric , during the act of freezing . This circumstance is , in a variety of instances , of incalculable benefit to the world , besides shortening * the duration of winter , and lessening * its severity . ' * I .
272—275 . Mr . Parkes rendershis Essays lively and entertaining by the perpetual introduction , in the text or notes , of historical or biographical anecdotes . The following interesting account of a character little known is given in the Essay on Earthenware and Porcelain .
white enamel ware was brought to its present state of perfection by Bernard de Paiissy , a native of the diocese of Agen , in the province of Guyenue in France ; a * pt celebrated for being the birth-place of the memorable Joseph Scaliger . * Paiissy was in alow station of life , but he was emi-Jjent for his knowledge , industry and talents . There were indeed so many interest ! ngtorts in his character , that I trust I shall be excused if I recite a few of the chief
circumstances of liis life . He is said to have been a skilful painter «]> ou g ! ass , f hut more generally known as « ocalig-er is called memorable ^ because ewas not only well versed in all the sci-• Bces , but understood thirteen different jan £ Uages It has been sai < j that he was
* < most Ifiirni ^ ri ivi <) n iK » i «» ,, .-,, ^^ ^« r ^> . most learned man that any age ever produced . The variety of subject ? on which e «? I ° " i W ** k a Pl 3 'au 8 e ™ truly astonishing . T In the time of Paiissy the art of paint-S « pon g- ] ass W £ w aeariy [ ost > j n tM jg
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a chemist . Originally he was a land surveyor and draughtsman but his taste for natural history led him to abandon this employment , and induced him to travel for instruction over the whole of France and
Lower Germany . An accidental circumstance threw into his hands a cup of enameled pottery ; and , from that time , his whole attention and fortune were taken up in experiments on enamels . J Nothing * can be more interesting- than the narrative which he himself has given of his labours .
"He exhibits himself as building * and rebuilding his furnaces , always on the eve of success ; worn out by labour and misfortune 5 the derision of the public , the object of the angry remonstrances of his wife ; and then as being reduced to such an extremity as to burn his furniture , and even some of the wood-work of his house , to keep his
furnaces going . His workman presses him for money , he strips himself , and gives him part of his clothes . But at length , by dint of indefatigable labour , constancy , and genius , he arrived at the desired degree of perfection , which gained him the esteem and consideration of the greatest men of bis ao-e .
"He was the first who formed a collection of natural history at Paris , ^ and even gave lectures on that science } receiving a moderate subscription from each of his auditors , under the obligation of returning it
four-fold if any thing he taught should prove false . He was the author of many singular books on subjects of agriculture , fire , earths , salts , & , c . that are now very difficult to be found , and it is to him especially that Buffoa is indebted for many useful hints . " Paiissy was the first who ventured to affirm that fossil shells and calcareous
country it was classed with the artes perditje ; but Mr . Walpole has shown by a regular series of artists and their performances that this secret was never entirely lost . Walpole ^ s Anecdotes of Painting . "
u John Petitot of Geneva was the inventor of the modern enamel painting-. An account of his experiments and discoveries may be seen it * the 12 th vol . of tbe Biographical Dictionary , p . 173 ; and also in Granger ' s Biographical History , vol . li . i > . 288 . "
" § Mr . Stillingfleet in his " Calendar of Flora , " , has shown very satisfactorily the importance of the study of natural history . The ingenious Mr . Martini of Berlin , who died in 1778 , liad undertaken an immense work on this science . It was entitled" An
Universal Dictionary of Natural History . ' He lived to finish only 4 volumes ; and though they contained nearly 700 page * each , be did not get through the second letter of the alphabet . I am not informed whether this work haa been continued /'
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Review . ' —Parkess Chemical Essays . 587
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 587, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/55/
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