a well-known disaster, by which numbers of lives are yearly lost. In that valuable miscellany entitled, The Philosophical Magazine, we have an account of means for preventing that loss, when the ship is in danger within two or three hundred fathoms of the shore; and as the anonymous author (a Frenchman) says that he has by experiment ascertained the efficiency of these means, we shall state them to our readers.

The only certain means of saving the crew of a vessel in such a state is, to establish a rope of communication from the shore to the ship. But how is this to be done? The author says, by fixing the end of the rope to a bomb or cannon ball, and extending the rope afterwards, in a zig-zag direction, before the matter or cannon, or suspending it on a piece of wood raised several feet. A rope, so placed, will not break (he says) by the greatest velocity which can be given to the bomb or ball; and thus the end of it can be sent ashore by a discharge of artillery. He prefers the bomb to the cannon ball, for reasons which he does not assign. He proposes, however, other means to effect his benevolent purpose.

"It ought to be remembered (says he), that a vessel is never cast away, or perishes on the coast, but because it is driven thither against the will of the captain, and by the violence of the waves and the wind, which almost always blows from the sea towards the shore, without which there would be no danger to be apprehended; consequently, in these circumstances, the wind comes always from the sea, either directly or obliquely, and blows towards the shore.

"A common paper kite, therefore, launched from the vessel and driven by the wind to the shore, would be sufficient to save a crew consisting of 1500 seamen, if such were the number of a ship of war. This kite would convey to the shore, a strong pack-thread, to the end of which might be affixed a cord, to be drawn on board by means of the string of the kite; and with this cord a rope, or as many as should be necessary, might be conveyed to the ship.

"2d. A small balloon, of five or seven feet in diameter, and raised by rarified air, would be also an excellent means for the like purpose; being driven by the wind from the vessel to the shore, it would carry thither a string capable of drawing a cord with which several ropes might be afterwards conveyed to the vessel. Had not the discovery of Montgolfier produced any other benefit, it would be entitled on this account to be considered as of great importance.

"3d. A fire-rocket, of a large diameter, would be of equal service. It would also carry, from the vessel to the shore, a string capable of drawing a rope after it.

"Lighthouses. A fourth plan for saving the crew of a shipwrecked vessel, is that of throwing from the vessel into the sea an empty cask with a cord attached to it. The wind and the waves would drive the cask to the shore, and afford the means of establishing that rope of communication already mentioned."