(formed from ζυμωσις, fermentation, and μέτρον, measure), an instrument propofed by Swammerdam, in his book De Respiratione, with which to measure the degree of fermentation occasioned by the mixture of different matters, and the degree of heat which those matters acquire in fermenting; the same instrument is employed to ascertain the heat of temperament of the blood of animals. DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES OF VOLUME XX.
PART I.
<table> <tr> <th>Plate</th> <th>to face</th> <th>page</th> <th>Plate DXXXVII. & DXXXVIII. to face</th> <th>page</th> </tr> <tr> <td>DXIII.—DXXIV.</td> <td></td> <td>112</td> <td>DXXXIX.</td> <td>496</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXV.—DXXXVII.</td> <td></td> <td>120</td> <td>DXL.</td> <td>512</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXVIII.</td> <td></td> <td>232</td> <td>DXLI.—DXLIII.</td> <td>542</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXIX.—DXXXI.</td> <td></td> <td>272</td> <td>DLXIV.—DLXX.</td> <td>632</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXXII.</td> <td></td> <td>280</td> <td>DLXXI. & DLXXII.</td> <td>646</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXXIII. & DXXXXIV.</td> <td></td> <td>400</td> <td>DLXXIII. & DLXXIV.</td> <td>680</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>DLXXV. & DLXXVI.</td> <td>686</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>DLXXVII.</td> <td>700</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>DLXXVIII.</td> <td>792</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>DLXXIX.—DLXXXI.</td> <td>804</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXV.</td> <td></td> <td>410</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>DXXXVI.</td> <td></td> <td>432</td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> </table>
PART II.
ERRATA.
N. B b added to the number of the line signifies "from the bottom of the page."
<table> <tr> <th>VOL.</th> <th>page. col. line.</th> <th></th> </tr> <tr> <td>I.</td> <td>7 1 59</td> <td>for retrenchment, read intrenchment.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>10 1 9</td> <td>for meal, read meat.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>42 1 8</td> <td>for gift, read gifts.<br>(For the errata in ALGEBRA, see the end of this volume.)</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>790 2 15</td> <td>for כ , read דנ.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>II.</td> <td></td> <td>In Plate XXI. fig. 6. letter E omitted.<br>fig. 4. F omitted.<br>fig. 3. FF omitted.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>In Plate XXII. fig. 15. G omitted.<br>XXIX. fig. 1. d d and e omitted.<br>fig. 5. h h omitted.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>320 margin,</td> <td>for No 1. read fig. 1.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>374 margin,</td> <td>In Plate XXXIV. fig. 1. a omitted.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>44 margin,</td> <td>for Plate XXXII. read XXXVI.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>48 2 20</td> <td>for fig. 20. read fig. 18.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>290</td> <td>for emersion, read immersion.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>613</td> <td>AYRSHIRE; for correcting error in the boundaries of, see KYLE.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>639</td> <td>BILLS; for the duty on, see EXCHANGE, Bills of; vol. viii. 369.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>BLACK, Life of; fee error with regard to M. de Luc's plagiarism, corrected in note at p. 706, of vol. xiii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>IV.</td> <td>44 3 49</td> <td>for micrometrical, read micrometrical.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>477</td> <td>in some copies, for 1783, read 1683.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>680 2 6</td> <td>in some copies, for feces, read succels; and for 1793, read 1794.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>V.</td> <td>116 1 b.</td> <td>insert is.<br>for lochs, read locks.<br>in some copies, for Delphinus, read Delphinus.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>340</td> <td>for extraordinary, read extraordinary.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>356</td> <td>for 1002, read 912.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>VI.</td> <td>169 2</td> <td>DEMERARY omitted. See SURINAM.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>VII.</td> <td>155</td> <td>for gules, read gulls.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>230 1 12</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>VIII.</td> <td>9 2 30 & 33 for יי read יי</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>291 1</td> <td>silde note, for Trav. vol. iii. read vol. ii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>304 2 29</td> <td>for larva, read larvae.</td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <th>Vol.</th> <th>page.</th> <th>col.</th> <th>line.</th> <th></th> </tr> <tr> <td>IX.</td> <td>332</td> <td>1</td> <td>19</td> <td>for iron wire, read zinc wire.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>31</td> <td>for iron wire, read zinc wire.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2</td> <td>40</td> <td>for fig. 2, read fig. 3.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>42</td> <td>for bodies, read body.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>44</td> <td>for fig. 3, read fig. 4.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>554</td> <td>1</td> <td>56</td> <td>for Barrand, read Barrow.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>570</td> <td>42</td> <td></td> <td>for gallium, read galium.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>571</td> <td>36</td> <td></td> <td>for glofoptra, read glofopetra.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>629</td> <td>13 b.</td> <td></td> <td>for was, read is.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>630</td> <td>16 b.</td> <td></td> <td>for of, read on.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>631</td> <td>6 b.</td> <td></td> <td>for angle, read angles.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>for Legrande, read Legendre.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>638</td> <td>1</td> <td>8 b.</td> <td>for AH, read CH.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>640</td> <td>1</td> <td>28</td> <td>for ABD+CBD, read ABC+ADC.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>8</td> <td></td> <td>for then as m A, read then m A.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>646</td> <td>2</td> <td>18</td> <td>for AH, read BH.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>652</td> <td>13 b.</td> <td></td> <td>for \( \frac{1}{2} B \), read \( \frac{1}{2} BC \).</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>655</td> <td>1</td> <td>21</td> <td>for DEE, read DEF.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>656</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>between lines 21 and 22, insert 2048</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2</td> <td>8</td> <td>for or half, read half.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>658</td> <td>1</td> <td>3</td> <td>for EEG=H, read EF=GH.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>660</td> <td>2</td> <td>23</td> <td>for here, read there.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>662</td> <td>1</td> <td>6</td> <td>for if space P and Q, read if P and Q.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>663</td> <td>2</td> <td>12 b.</td> <td>for ADE, read ABE.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>780</td> <td>1</td> <td></td> <td>GOODWIN Sands omitted; for description of, see KENT.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>X.</td> <td>427</td> <td>2</td> <td>29</td> <td>for Hebbelot, read Herbelot.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XI.</td> <td>81</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>for Black, read Bloch.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>88</td> <td>2</td> <td>20</td> <td>for Macrocerus, read Macrourus.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>92</td> <td>1</td> <td>11</td> <td>fide notes, for amata, read aurata.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XII.</td> <td>66</td> <td>1</td> <td>15</td> <td>for legitima, read legitima.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>67</td> <td>1</td> <td>18, 19b.</td> <td>for Vlack, read Vlacq.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>70</td> <td>1</td> <td>last line,</td> <td>for λεγίμη ἀπολιθισμένη, read λεγίμη ἀπολιθισμένη.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>71</td> <td>2</td> <td>10 b.</td> <td>for r N read rN</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>72</td> <td>1</td> <td>10 b.</td> <td>for ω, read ω.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>74</td> <td>2</td> <td>25, 27</td> <td>for Napierian, read Napierean.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>79</td> <td>1</td> <td>1</td> <td>for n × 1, read n + 1.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>80</td> <td>1</td> <td></td> <td>the reference to the plate and figure is wanting.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XIV.</td> <td>75, 76</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>under Explanation of Plates, for Plates CCC, CCCI, CCCII, CCCIII, and CCCIV.<br>read CCCXLVI, CCCXLVII, CCCXLVIII, CCCXLIX, and CCCL.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>Errata in MIDWIFERY, see the end of the article.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XVI.</td> <td>520</td> <td>1</td> <td>5</td> <td>for chrysolites, read chrysalids.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XVII.</td> <td>242</td> <td>2</td> <td></td> <td>fide note, for Plate CCCCXXXVIII. read CCCCXXXIX.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>265</td> <td>2</td> <td>24, 26</td> <td>for M'EM', read M'EM".</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>Under PRUSIA, fide note, for Plate CCCCXLIV. read CCCCXXXIV.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>226</td> <td>1</td> <td>20 b.</td> <td>for D, read K.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>428</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>for u, read n.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XVIII.</td> <td>89</td> <td>2</td> <td>12 b.</td> <td>for last, read 17th in note on RUSSIA. See end of vol. xviii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XIX.</td> <td>737</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>STOVE. In the description of the stove, fig. 5, it is not mentioned as a patent stove, the patent not having been announced till a few days after the description was printed.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>XX.</td> <td>599</td> <td></td> <td>10 note,</td> <td>for 30, read 100 beads.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>25</td> <td>2</td> <td>43</td> <td>for broken, read broke.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>33</td> <td></td> <td>48</td> <td>for ployment, read employment</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>45</td> <td></td> <td>27</td> <td>for furunculus, read furunculus.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>47</td> <td></td> <td>9</td> <td>for labiae, read labia.</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>56</td> <td></td> <td>8</td> <td>for bladner, read bladder.</td> </tr> </table> HISTORICAL CHART. Representing at one view the rise and progress of the Principal States & Empires of the known World.
<table> <tr> <th>GERMANY</th> <th>BRITISH ISLANDS.</th> <th>GAUL.</th> <th>ITALY.</th> <th>SPAIN.</th> <th>CARTHAGE.</th> <th>GREECE.</th> <th>ASIA.</th> <th>AFRICA</th> <th>BRAZIL</th> <th>JAMAICA</th> <th>AMERICA</th> </tr> <tr> <td>AM<br>1650 DELUGE.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>AM<br>3656</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2704</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2704</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2804</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2804</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1904</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>1904</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2104</td> <td>IRELAND</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2104</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2204</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2204</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2304</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2304</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2404</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2404</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2504</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2504</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2604</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2604</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2704</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2704</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2804</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2804</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2904</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>2904</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3004</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3004</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3104</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3104</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3204</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3204</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3304</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3304</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3404</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3404</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3504</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3504</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3604</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td>3604</td> </tr> </table>
Period of 1650 Years Before the Flood.
Designed by Adam Ferguson L.L.D. Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. A.B. H. Sculpt. Historical Chart, showing the steady rise & progress of the navigable Lake Erie, from the opening of Manchester & Buffalo.
Period of Last Flood shown in red. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA.
Le Clerc invenit. E. Mitchell sculpit. ENCYCLOPÆDIV BRITANNICV. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. EUCALYPOBÆDIV BELLVNNICV ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. DICTIONARY
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. I.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. GREAT BRITAIN:
OR A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS' SCIENCES' AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE:
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
THIRD EDITION.
LAURISTON CASTLE LIBRARY SCOTLAND
1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. II.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. III.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. GREAT BRITAIN; SCOTLAND; OR A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE;
EDINBURGH: 1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. IV.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. 1810
CHURCHILL:
INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCHES OF
VI. JOS.
SIGNIFICANT AND USEFUL WORKS AND DOCUMENTS
UNIVERSITY OF SCOTLAND LIBRARY ACCESSION NORTHERN DIVISION
NORTHUMBERLAND
ELECTED AT THE
1940
18 UU
NATIONAL LIBRARY
DICLIONIKA
A. BO
Cithetofhacir Pecumner? Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. V.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. AUGUST V. JOY
MetamuresTheory of the binomial expansion as applied by analysis and to trignometry.
FEBRUARY BOBBYBATH - ARION IDIARY EPAIDATA A SEATHIF LAC, IOWA
APPLESCIENCE, RANZA, AND REHE留给DVIGATIONS
After an MPENTHIPA
to V. Joy ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. VI.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. GEOGRAPHY
DICTIONARY
ARTS, SCIENCES AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
THE FOURTH EDITION
FOR AV
INDOCTI DISCUNT; VITAE MENTIS HABIT.
AGE FOR LEARNING, GOOD AND TRUE,
FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND COUNTRY DESIGNERS;
PRINTING BY JAMES TAYLOR OF EDINBURGH.
EDINBURGH:
1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. VII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. VIII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. IX.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. DICTIONARY
OF
VIRI RICINCIUS AND MERCURIANUS
LITERATURE
THE LIONHEARTED
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND B 18 JU 1940 Lauriston Castle Library Accession Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. X.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Gunchological Dictionaries
OF V.
DICTIONARY
ON
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCERLVNIONS
LITERATURE:
THE FOURTH EDITION.
NOV. 27
INDIGO! DIGITAL: A PRINT MINIATURE TANK
EDINBURGH:
1810. ENCYCLOPÆDIÆ BELLIUMICÆ ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA POLONICA ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XI.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XIII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XIV.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XV.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XVI.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. DICTIONARY
ON
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND LITERATURE.
THE FOURTH EDITION
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XVII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCERATIVE
LITERATURE
EDINBURGH: LAURISTON CASTLE LIBRARY ACCESSION Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XVIII.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH: AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. DICTIONARY
OF A
VIRUS SCIENCE AND MICROBIOLOGY Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XIX.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. DICTIONARY
ON
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED
THIRD EDITION.
VOL. XX.
EDINBURGH: LAURISTON CASTLE LIBRARY ACCESSION Encyclopaedia Britannica;
OR, A
DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS
LITERATURE;
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Illustrated with nearly six hundred Engravings.
VOL. XX.
INDOCTI DISCANT; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI.
EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810. TO
THE KING.
In requesting permission to inscribe to your Majesty the present Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Proprietor hopes, that this humble testimony of his loyalty and duty will be graciously received. In this expectation he is the more encouraged, when he considers the zeal which your Majesty has uniformly shown for the improvement of Arts and Sciences, and the known benevolence of your Majesty's disposition, which has long made you revered as the Father of your People, and which has always secured a favourable reception to the requests of your subjects.
That, by the wisdom of your Councils, and the vigour of your Fleets and Armies, your Majesty may be enabled soon to restore peace to Europe; that you may again have leisure to direct direct your undivided attention to the improvement of Arts, and the advancement of Knowledge; that you may long reign over a free, a happy, and a loyal people; and that the Sceptre of the British Empire may be swayed by your Majesty's descendants to the latest posterity, is the earnest prayer of
Your MAJESTY's
Most dutiful Subject,
And devoted Servant,
ANDREW BELL.
Lauristoun, Edinburgh, 1809. PREFACE.
In the present improved state of science, of literature, and of all those arts which are connected with the progress and improvement of society, it is surely unnecessary to dwell on the importance of a work, the chief object of which is to exhibit a view of those great and interesting subjects. If science, while its beneficial influence is felt in all the common pursuits of life, affords scope at the same time to the greatest exertions of human genius; if literature is both the delight and ornament of those by whom it is cultivated; and if history, by bringing under our review the great course of human affairs, enables us to draw lessons for our future conduct from the unerring experience of the past, there can be no question as to the importance of a work comprising so many objects of deep and general interest to mankind. It deserves also to be remarked, that many of those great discoveries which have effected a revolution in science, and which have gradually introduced the most striking changes into the affairs of the world, have been the fruit not of accident, but of the most painful and abstruse inquiries; and that the great powers of invention and genius necessary to explore those intricate paths, do not by any means imply the same capacity of plain and familiar illustration;—those who possess those rare endowments being, on the contrary, rather averse to waste their precious talents on what appears to them to be the natural employment of more ordinary minds. It is hardly necessary, however, to point out to the reader how greatly the cause of philosophy must be promoted, when its important truths, in place of being confined to the speculative few, are expounded in popular works, and in this manner diffused among all classes of the community, so as to be the common topics of men's discourse,—thus adding to their innocent and laudable recreations, and setting to work at the same time, in the cause of literature and science, an additional stock of talent and exertion. Such being the obvious advantages arising from a well-digested account of Science, of Literature, and of General History, we shall not enlarge farther on the utility of the present work. As in such an undertaking, however, the execution is of as much importance as the plan, we shall endeavour, as shortly as possible, to satisfy the reader that, in that particular, no pains nor ex- pence have been spared to render the present edition as perfect as possible, and to give it a fair claim to that share of popularity and reputation, so amply enjoyed by the Encyclopædia Britannica from the first moment of its publication.
In so complicated a work, it is obviously of infinite importance to preserve a clear and accurate arrangement, so as to give unity and consistency to its various parts; for it is evident that, without constant attention to method and order, such a work may be rendered in a great measure useless: and though it may still be an immense and valuable register of knowledge, the reader may search through its pages without any clue to guide him to the object of his inquiries. It is in this particular that the first rude essays towards a compilation of this kind are so extremely defective. The alphabet, in place of being employed in the humble function of an index to the matter contained in the work, was made supreme arbiter of the whole arrangement; and the different sciences, instead of following their natural order, were cut down into detached parts, out of which no great whole could possibly be formed. In this view the alphabet, far from conducing to clearness, became an instrument of disorder; and its only use appeared to be, to save the writers to whom we allude from the trouble of a more accurate or philosophical arrangement. Those obvious defects in all the most popular dictionaries of arts and sciences were observed by Mr Chambers, the compiler of a very valuable work of this kind himself; and, in speaking of the labours of his predecessors, he particularly censures the inattention to method, so visible in every part of their performances. "Former lexicographers (he observes) scarce attempted any thing like structure in their works; they seem not to have been aware that a dictionary is in some measure capable of the advantages of a continued discourse; and hence it is, that we see nothing like a whole in what they have done." For the purpose of remedying this defect in his own work, he informs his readers, that "his view was to consider the several matters, not only in themselves, but relatively, or as they respect each other; both to treat them as so many wholes, and as so many parts of some greater whole; and to point out their connection with each other, and with that whole, by reference: so that by a course of references from generals to particulars, from premises to conclusions, from cause to effect, and vice versa, a communication might be opened between the several parts of the work, and the detached articles be in some measure replaced in the natural order of science, out of which the alphabetical order had removed them." With a view of exhibiting a connected connected view of the various articles scattered through his dictionary, Mr Chambers has accordingly prefixed to it an analysis, from which may be seen, at one view, the mutual connection and dependence of its various parts.
But although the arrangement of the Cyclopaedia of Mr Chambers is much preferable to that of any former work of the kind, it is still liable to many of those objections for which he censures his predecessors. Even if his original plan had been carried into effect with complete success, and all the articles in different parts of his work had been so managed, as, when reunited, to have made so many complete systems, the number of references was still so great that no reader could possibly have submitted to the trouble of combining them (A).
(A) To be convinced of the truth of this assertion, one needs but to cast his eye over the author's table of arrangement. It is as follows.
<table> <tr> <th rowspan="2">Natural and Scientific; which is either —</th> <th>Sensible; consisting in the perception of phenomena or external objects—called Physiology or Natural History; and which, according to the different kinds of such objects, divides into —</th> <th>Meteorology.<br>Hydrology.<br>Mineralogy.<br>Phytology.<br>Zoology.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Or,</td> <td>Powers, and Properties—called Physics, and Natural Philosophy.<br>Abstracts—called Metaphysics, which subdivides into —<br>Quantities—called Pure Mathematics—which divides, according to the subject of the quantity, into —<br>Relations to our happiness—called Ethics, or Natural Politics, Religion, or the doctrine of Offices, which subdivides into —</td> <td>Ontology.<br>Pneumatology.<br>Analytics.<br>Algebra.<br>Trigonometry.<br>Statics—Conics.<br>Spherics.</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Rational; consisting in the perception of the intrinsic characters or habitudes of sensible objects—either their —</th> <td></td> <td>Ethics, or Natural Politics.<br>Religion—whence Law.<br>Theology, or Revelation.</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Or,</th> <td>Internal; employed in discovering their agreement and disagreement; or their relations in respect of truth—called Logic.</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2">Artificial and Technical; (consisting in the application of natural notices to farther purposes), which is either —</th> <th>Latent powers and properties of bodies—called Chemistry—whence Optics, Catoptrics, Dioptrics, Phonics—whence Music, Hydrostatics, Hydraulics, Pneumatics.</th> <th>Alchemy.<br>Natural Magic, &c.<br>Perpective—whence Painting.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Quantities of bodies—called Mixed Mathematics; which according to the different subjects, resolves into —</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Or,</td> <td>Real, employed in discovering and applying the</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2">External; which is either</th> <th>Structure and economy of organical bodies, called Anatomy.</th> <th>Architecture.<br>Sculpture.<br>Trades and Manufactures.<br>The Military Art.<br>Fortification.<br>Chronology.<br>Dialling.<br>Navigation.<br>Commerce.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Relations thereof to the preservation and improvement—either of —</td> <td>Animals—called Medicine.<br>Vegetables—called Pharmacy.<br>Gardening.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Or,</td> <td>Brutes—called Hunting.<br>Manege—whence Falconry.<br>Fishing, &c.</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <th>Symbolical, employed in framing and applying</th> <th>Words, or articulate signs of ideas—called Grammar.<br>Arms—called Heraldry.<br>Tropes and Figures—called Rhetoric.<br>Fables—called Poetry.</th> <th></th> </tr> </table> Of this inconvenience, inseparable from a mere dictionary of arts and sciences, the original compilers of the Encyclopaedia Britannica were fully aware; and they resolved, in the conduct of their work, to adopt such a plan as should completely free it from this objection. They were as fully convinced as their predecessors of the utility of a separate explanation of every technical term, and of the necessity also of noticing, in detail, many topics which it would be proper more fully to illustrate in the general account of the respective sciences to which they belonged. They were sensible, however, at the same time, how greatly the progress of useful knowledge is facilitated by systematical arrangement, and how necessary it is for those to think methodically who expect to benefit mankind by their labours. They have accordingly endeavoured, in place of the awkward expedient of a prefatory analysis, adopted by Mr Chambers, to exhibit a clear and satisfactory account of the several arts and sciences under their proper denominations, and to explain at the same time the subordinate articles under their technical terms. These articles may be divided into three kinds. The first consists of such as, not depending very closely on particular systems, admit of a complete explanation under their proper names; the second of such as require to be considered in the general account of the sciences with which they are connected, and also under their own denominations; and the third, of such as belong to a great whole, from which they cannot be separated, so as to be explained in detail. Articles of the first kind admit, of course, of no references; those of the second sort, being only partially explained under their own denominations, the reader is referred for more complete information to the article where the subject is more fully illustrated; and in articles of the third description, no attempt is made to explain them, except in connection with the subjects to which they severally belong, and to which the reader is therefore always referred.
Such is that great and general analysis of knowledge, which has by some of our correspondents been recommended to us in terms of the highest praise, and to which elegance and accuracy cannot perhaps be refused. Its utility, however, as prefixed to a dictionary of arts and sciences, is not very apparent. From each word, which in this table is printed in capitals, many branches are made to spring, which in the dictionary are all treated as separate articles. Thus, from Meteorology we are referred, in a subordinate analysis, to Air and the Atmosphere; including, 1st, The history of its contents, Ether, Fire, Vapour, Exhalation, &c. 2d, Meteors formed therein; as Cloud, Rain, Shower, Drop, Snow, Hail, Dew, Damp, &c. Rainbow, Parhelion, Halo, Thunder, Waterspout, &c. Winds, Monsoon, Hurricane, and the like. As every word printed in capitals, as well in this subordinate division as in the general table, is the title of an article treated separately in the Cyclopædia, we must turn backwards and forwards through more than 24 references before we come at the detached topics, which we are directed to unite into a system of Meteorology. The number of articles which must be united in the same manner to constitute the Compiler's system of Metaphysics is upwards of 48; and those which are referred to Theology above 300! Such is the arrangement adopted in every edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica; and there appears to be no other, by which the great object of such a work would be so easily and so completely attained. The necessary effect of such a plan must be, to give to readers of every description the most easy access to the objects of their various pursuits; for, whilst the philosopher or artist may procure whatever information he is in search of, by turning to the general name of the science to which his attention is directed, those who are desirous of information on particular topics will find them explained with sufficient accuracy under their respective denominations. Considered in this point of view, the Encyclopædia Britannica may vie in the accuracy of its arrangement with the Encyclopédie Methodique; for though that voluminous work undoubtedly has an imposing appearance, yet we, who, in the course of our labours, have had to consult it frequently, have never found our object the more readily, for having been obliged to travel in quest of it through different alphabets.
A dictionary, in which the several arts and sciences are digested into distinct treatises or systems, whilst the various detached parts of knowledge are explained in the order of the alphabet, seems indeed to have received the best form of which such a work is susceptible; and may certainly be made to answer one end, which more philosophical arrangements never can accomplish. Under the various letters of the alphabet, it is obvious that the whole circle of the sciences may be completely exhausted; and that every discovery, ancient or recent, may be referred to the particular system which it tends to confute or to confirm, without having recourse to the awkward expedient of employing several alphabets, or the still more inconvenient arrangement by which the systems themselves are broken into fragments.
The truth of these observations is confirmed beyond the possibility of doubt, by the favourable reception which every edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica has hitherto met with; by the still greater encouragement which has been given to the present; and by the circumstance of its plan having been invariably adopted by the editors of all similar works. On this subject, the proprietors of the present edition express themselves with the greater ease and confidence, as they cannot be accused of flattering their own vanity, or of being the publishers of their own praise. The merit of the arrangement, as well as of various other improvements suggested in the course of the work, belongs not so much to them, as to the compilers of the first edition. To a work which proposes as its main object to exhibit a view of the Arts and Sciences, the private history of those eminent persons by whose ingenuity the progress of science has been promoted, seems to be a proper accompaniment. Those who formed the plan of the Encyclopædia Britannica resolved accordingly to improve it, by the addition of one department, not to be found in any former compilation of the kind, with the exception of the French Encyclopédie.
Of all the various sorts of narrative-writing, it is acknowledged that none is more worthy of cultivation than Biography, since none can be more delightful or more useful; none can more certainly enchain the heart by irresistible interest, or more widely diffuse instruction to every diversity of condition. Its tendency to illustrate particular passages in general history, and to diffuse new light through such arts and sciences as were cultivated by the persons whose lives are related, are facts too obvious to require proof. It exhibits likewise the human character in every possible form and situation. It not only attends the hero through all the bustle of public life, but pursues him to his most sequestered retirements. It shows how distinguished characters have been involved in misfortunes and difficulties; by what means they were extricated; or with what degree of fortitude and dignity they discharged the various functions, or sustained the vicissitudes, sometimes prosperous and sometimes adverse, of a chequered and a fluctuating life. In such narratives, men of all ranks must feel themselves interested; for the high and the low, as they have the same faculties and the same senses, have no less similitude in their pains and pleasures; and, therefore, in the page of honest biography, those whom fortune or nature has placed at the greatest distance, may mutually afford instruction to each other. For these reasons it is, that every man of learning and taste has esteemed the biographical labours of Plutarch among the most valuable and interesting remains of antiquity.
The lives and characters, therefore, of such persons as have excelled in the arts either of war or of peace, of such as have distinguished themselves either on the theatre of action, or in the recess of contemplation, will be found in the Encyclopædia Britannica alphabetically disposed under their proper names. In former editions of this work, many names are omitted for which the reader will naturally look; some because the work had advanced beyond the initial letters of their names before the editor received intelligence of their deaths; others through inadvertency, and from various mistakes, against which it is difficult to provide in so extensive an undertaking, taking; and several from the confusion occasioned by the death of the first editor in the midst of his labours. In the present edition, all these defects have been carefully rectified; and the proprietor may safely venture to assert, that it contains a more perfect biographical register than any which has hitherto been offered to the public. Some, indeed, may be disposed to remark, that this department of their work is executed with too great minuteness, and that the names of many persons are dragged from obscurity, who are not proper objects of public regard. To this we shall only reply, with the greatest biographer of modern times, that, in our apprehension, there has rarely passed a life of which a faithful narrative would not be useful; and that, in the lives of the most obscure persons of whom we have given any account, something will be found either connected with recent discoveries and public affairs, or capable of affording a useful lesson to those who may be placed in similar circumstances.
Between eminent achievements and the scenes where they were performed, there is a natural and necessary connexion. The character of the warrior is connected with the fields of his battles; that of the legislator, with the countries which he civilized; and that of the traveller and navigator, with the regions which they explored. Even when we read of the persons by whom, and the occasions on which, any particular branch of knowledge has been improved, we naturally wish to know something of the places where such improvements were made. This curiosity, so natural and so laudable, has been frequently felt by ourselves during the compilation of this work; and to gratify it in others, we have subjoined to the name of every considerable place an account of its situation, its climate, its soil, its peculiarities, its inhabitants, with the manners, customs, and arts; its revolutions, laws, and government, with whatever else appeared necessary for the reader's information, and at the same time admissible into a work of such variety and extent. It is indeed probable, that by many of our readers we shall be thought to have done too much rather than too little in this department; and to have filled our pages with accounts of towns and villages not of sufficient importance to demand general attention. But were it known how many of such places we have excluded from our work, though recommended to us by some of our most obliging correspondents, those who reflect upon the different tastes of mankind, and consider that we wrote for the public at large, would forgive us for having occasionally employed a few sentences in the description of others, which, whatever be their real importance, could not have been omitted without disappointing a very numerous class of readers. The knowledge of history is so important, not only to the statesman and the legislator, to whom indeed it is absolutely necessary, but likewise to every man who moves in a sphere above that of the lowest vulgar, that a work professing to be a general repository of arts, sciences, and literature, would be exceedingly defective, if it did not contain some information of the transactions of those who have been in possession of the world before us; of the various revolutions of states and empires; and of all the other means which have contributed to bring every thing into the state in which we behold it. Fully aware of this, the compilers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, besides giving a general view of universal history and chronology, have enriched this edition with a short, though they hope luminous, detail of the progress of each particular nation, which from the remotest period to the present time, has acted a conspicuous part on the theatre of the world. The reader therefore will here find a very comprehensive view of Civil History, ancient and modern, in all its branches. Nor have the histories of Nature and Religion been neglected. Of the former, it is not perhaps too much to say, that in all the subdivisions of its three great kingdoms, it will be found more fully, more accurately, and more scientifically, detailed in this work, than in any other dictionary which has yet been published. Of the latter, a brief view is given under the general article History; the unavoidable defects of which are in a great measure supplied by the accounts that will be found, under their proper denominations, of all the considerable sects and opinions which have prevailed in the religious world, from the earliest periods to the present day.
From the original plan of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which hardly seems capable of any improvement, the compilers of the present edition have, except in a very few instances, never deviated; and they can honestly assure their readers, that notwithstanding their adherence to this resolution, they have found ample scope for the exercise both of learning, and diligence in every sort of laborious research. This must necessarily be the case, indeed, in every succeeding edition of such a work as the present, which professes to follow the sciences and the arts through all their changes and refinements, and to present the most accurate view of the state of the world and of all its concerns at the period of each successive publication. This part of their duty, those concerned with the present edition have neither spared labour nor expence faithfully to discharge. Literary journals; the memoirs and transactions of philosophic societies; and all the most valuable dictionaries of arts and sciences, both in our own and in other languages, guages, have been constantly consulted. The works of the most eminent authors, as well ancient as modern, who have written on any particular art or science, have been collected and compared. Such of them as treat of topics, about which there is no room for controversy, and are at the same time susceptible of abridgement, have been abridged with the greatest care; whilst others, more concise and tenacious of their subjects, have been more closely pursued and more faithfully retained. Upon those branches of science on which the works of other authors furnished nothing fit for the purpose of the Editors, original essays and treatises are inserted, which were composed either by themselves, or by such of their friends as they knew to be intimately acquainted with the subject. On disputed points, whether in the physical or moral sciences, arguments and objections have been displayed in their full force; and of each of the various sects into which the Christian church is divided, the account is generally given by the most eminent clergymen of that sect to whom the Editors could find access.
In executing this part of their task, there were various circumstances connected with the history of the third edition, which greatly added to its difficulties. In so extensive and multifarious a collection, a few mistakes, repetitions, and omissions might naturally be looked for; although the publication were, from the beginning to the end, in the hands of a single individual. When it is known, however, that after the third and last edition of this work was considerably advanced, it was committed to the care of a new editor, ignorant of the contents of what had been already finished and printed, and without any directions from his predecessor to guide him accurately through the remaining part of his task; it will not, perhaps, appear very surprising that inaccuracies, omissions, and repetitions should have occurred. For these defects, the want of an intelligible index to the materials left by the first editor is the best apology, and it was owing to the want of such a necessary guide that Dr Gleig, the second editor, was perpetually liable, notwithstanding the utmost circumspection, to give, under one title, an explanation of subjects which had before been explained under another; and to omit articles altogether, from a persuasion, sufficiently natural in the circumstance in which he was placed, that they had been discussed in some preceding volume under the general system to which they belong.
We are far from wondering at, or from censuring these imperfections in the last edition. At the same time we may be permitted to observe, that they they contributed greatly to add to the difficulties of the present editor; since it was absolutely necessary, in order to preserve the unity and consistency of the work, diligently to examine and to compare all those parts of the former edition in which there was any thing unsuitable to the general plan, or in which any interesting information was omitted.
In executing this part of his task, the Editor has encountered many difficulties; but he can truly say he has spared no pains, whether by addition or arrangement, to overcome them, and to present to the public a finished work. For this purpose, he has also availed himself of the valuable information contained in the two supplementary volumes to the third edition, conducted under the inspection of Dr Gleig, which, joined to the more recent improvements of science, he has new-modelled and arranged for the present work.
As it may be satisfactory to the reader to learn by whose assistance the Encyclopædia Britannica has been brought to its present state of perfection, the following list is subjoined, which the Editor flatters himself will be found to contain the names of various writers eminent for their proficiency in different departments of literature and science.
For whatever instruction may be contained under the articles Anatomy, the public is indebted to the late Andrew Bell, F. S. S. A., the proprietor, who had devoted a great portion of his time and attention to the study of anatomy, and to the ingenious Mr Fife, who has practised for many years under Dr Monro, as dissector in the anatomical school of the University; and the whole article Surgery has been written anew by Mr James Wardrope, surgeon in London.
The articles Aerology, Aerostation, Chemistry, Electricity, Gunnery, Hydrostatics, Mechanics, Meteorology, Mineralogy, with most of the separate articles in the various branches of Natural History, we have reason to believe were originally compiled by the late Mr James Tytler, chemist, but many of them have been entirely re-written, and the others accommodated to the present improved state of these sciences, by Dr James Millar, who superintended the editing of the present work, Dr Kirby, and Dr Brewster of Edinburgh, and Professor Muirhead of Glasgow.
The article Blind was furnished by the late Dr Blacklock and Dr Moyes, both men of superior attainments, the former in elegant literature, and the latter in the physical sciences.
Astronomy and Navigation were compiled, the one by Dr Thomas Thomson, and the other by Dr Andrew Mackay; and the articles Algebra, Conic Sections, Sections; Trigonometry, and several others in the mathematical and physical sciences were furnished by Mr William Wallace of the Royal Military College, Great Marlow.
The lives of Johnson and Mary Queen of Scots, with the articles Instinct, Love, Metaphysics, Miracle, the history of Ethics under Moral Philosophy, Oath, Passion, Plastic Nature, Polytheism, Prayer, Slavery, and Supper of the Lord, were contributed by the Right Reverend Bishop Gleig of Stirling, editor of the last six volumes of the former edition; Grammar and Theology by Dr Gleig and the Reverend James Bruce, A. B. late of Emanuel College, Cambridge; and Motion by Dr Gleig. The system of Medicine, which was published in the former edition, was revised and improved for the present by Andrew Duncan, M. D. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Professor of the Institutes of Physic in the University.
The article Music was furnished by Dr Blacklock for the third edition, and has been considerably improved for the present by Mr George Sandy, writer to the signet, and William Maxwell Morison, Esq. advocate, to the latter of whom the Editor is also indebted for what we have published on the science of Physiognomy. The articles Mysteries, Mythology, and Philology, we owe to the erudition of the late Dr David Doig, master of the grammar school of Stirling, and author of two very ingenious Letters on the Savage State, addressed to the late Lord Kames.
Navigation, Parallax, Pendulum, Projection of the Sphere, and Ship-Building, were furnished by the late Andrew Mackay, L.L.D. long known to the public as an able mathematician; and the article War, including Naval Tactics, by Dr Kirby.
In the former edition, the valuable articles Physics, Pneumatics, Precession of the Equinoxes, Projectiles, Pumps, Resistance of Fluids, River, Rotation, Seamanship, Signals, Sound, Specific Gravity, Statics, Steam and Steam Engine, Strength of Materials, Telescope, Tide, Articulating Trumpet, Variation of the Compass, and Water-Works, were originally written by Professor John Robison. These articles have not been materially altered in the present edition; and to those who are at all acquainted with the various and original acquirements of that author, it is altogether unnecessary to enter particularly into their merits.
Philosophy is the joint production of Professor Robison and Dr Gleig. Physiology was furnished by John Barclay, M. D. of Edinburgh, and Midwifery by Dr James Hamilton, junior. For a continuation of the History of India, the editor is indebted to Dr William Tennant, who resided long in that country. The articles Political Economy and Taxation are written by Mr Hugh Murray; Gardening by Mr James Williamson; and an account of Boscovich's system of Natural Philosophy by Dr Poole. We know that much useful information had been communicated by Dr Latham of Dartford in Kent, the celebrated ornithologist; by Dr William Wright, physician-general to the forces in the West Indies under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby; by the Reverend J. Hawkins, vicar of Halsted in Essex; by the late Mr Adams, mathematical instrument maker to his Majesty; and by Mr William Jones, optician in Holborn, London.
With every disposition to acknowledge the very able assistance with which we have been favoured in the prosecution of this important undertaking, we are still sensible, that it is wholly out of our power to particularize every one to whom we are indebted. To enter into any detail of the reasons which prevent us from making this particular acknowledgment is wholly unnecessary. We may mention, however, one circumstance, which would of itself have prevented us from being so minute in this particular as we might have wished, namely, the death of Mr Bell, the late proprietor, before the work was finished; to whose great exertions in forwarding this publication, as well as to his zeal in the general cause of science, all those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance can bear witness. While delicacy, however, prevents us from enlarging on this topic, we hope the reader will excuse this tribute of respect to the memory of an estimable character; and that the apology we have made will, at the same time, be deemed satisfactory by those, whose assistance, in the course of the publication, we are in this manner prevented from properly acknowledging.
Edinburgh, July 1810.