1775 Anecdotes of Sir Ifaac Newton. never failed to eat oyfters, both dinner and fupper-time, all feafons: the neighbouring town of Poole supplied him with them. The upper part of the room had two small tables, and a desk, on the one fide of which was a Church-Bible, and 'on the other fide, the Book of Martyrs: on the tables were hawkes hoods, bells, and fuch like; two or three old green hats, with their crowns thruft in, fo as to hold ten or a dozen eggs, which were of the pheafant kind of poultry; thefe he took much care of, and fed himself. Tables, dice, cards, and books, were not wanting. In the hole of the defk were store of tobacco pipes that had been ufed. On one fide of this end of the room was the door of a clofet, wherein ftood the ftrong beer and the wine, which never came from thence but in fingle glaffes, that being the rule of the houfe, exactly obferved, for he never exceeded in drink, or permitted it. On the other fide was the door of an old chapel, not used for devotion; the pulpit, as the fafeft place, was never wanting of a cold chine of beef, venifon-pafty, gammon of bacon, or a 29 great apple-pye, with thick crust, extremely baked. His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His fports fupplied all but beef or mutton, except Fridays, when he had the best of falt-fish, as well as other fifh he could get ; and this was the day his neighbours of best quality vifited him. He never wanted a London pudding, and always fung it in, " With my part lyes therein a. He drank a glafs or two of wine at meals; very often put fyrup of gilly-flowers in his fack, and had always a tun-glafs without feet, ftood by him, holding a pint of small beer, which he often stirred with rosemary. He was well-natured, but foon angry, calling his fervants bastards and cuckoldry knaves, in one of which he often fpoke truth, to his own knowledge, and fometimes in both, though of the fame man. He lived to be an hundred, and never loft his eye-fight, but always wrote and read without fpectacles, and got on horfe back without help. Until past fourfcore, he rode to the death of a stag as well as any." For the LONDON MAGAZINE. Some ANECDOTES of Sir ISAAC NEWTON. HE truth of the following parwriting of my mother, whofe grandfather was brother to Sir Ifaac Newton's mother, may be depended on. -She made these memorandums for the information of her children: her words are thefe : "Hannah Afcough was younger fifter of the late Mr. Afcough, my father's father. She married a Mr. Newton of Colfworth, not far from Grantham in Lincolnshire, who had an estate of about 120l. per ann. which he kept in his own bands and occupied himfelf. She had by him one fon called Ifaac; her brother, my grandfather, who lived near her, directed her in all affairs, (after the death of Mr. Grantham, to a very good mafter, Mr. Stokes. When he had finished his fchool learning, his mother took him home, intending, as he had no other child, to have the pleature of his company, and that he, as his father had done, fhould occupy his own eftate; but his mind was to bent upon his improving in learning, that my grandfather prevailed upon her to part from him, and the fent him to Trinity College in Cambridge, where her brother, having himself been a member of it, had till many friends. Ifaac was foon taken notice of by Dr. Ifaac Barrow, who obferving his bright genius, It does not appear to me, that what has been afferted of Sir Ifaac having been fen t to the univerfity by the pecuniary aid of some neighbouring gentlemen is at all true, It certainly was not neceffary. His mother had fufficient; jo bad bis uncle. I therefore fufpect there must have been some mifinformation as to this cint: a point, how, ever, of no importance. 2 genius, contracted a great friendship for him: indeed he became fo emihent for his learning, joined with his fingular modefty, that he was courted to accept the honours afterwards conferred upon him, on the calling in of the coin, and the neceffity of a new coinage. He was unwillingly brought from the university into the bufy part of the world-his great averfion but by his great judg. ment, and ftrict integrity, he faved the nation at that time, on that occafion, 80,000l. as I have had related by those who well knew the affair, and alfo from himself. "Sir Ifaac's mother, after her fon went to Cambridge, was courted by a rich old bachelor, who had a good eftate and living near her, the Rev. Mr. Benjamin Smith, but he fettled fome land upon Ifaac before marriage. She had by this Smith, one fon and two daughters; thefe married and had defcendants, to all or many of whom Sir Ifaac, when his fortune increased, was kind and munificent : giving to one 500l. to another an estate of the value of 4000l. or thereabouts, to make up a lofs, occafioned by the imprudent marriage of one of them, and to prevent a law-fuit among themfelves. This was done many years before his death. He had a half-fifter, who had a daughter, to whom he gave the best of educations, the famous witty Mifs Barton, who married Mr. Conduit †, of the mint, who fucceeded Sir Ifaac in the mint, and is buried at the weft door of Weftminster-Abbey, leaving only one daughter, married to the eldest fon of Lord Lymington. Sir Ifaac bought an eftate of about feventy or eighty pounds a year, and gave it Mifs Conduit (then very young) before he died. He was kind to all the Af coughs, and generous and munificent to fuch (of them) whofe imprudence had made his affiftance neceffary: to one of them he gave 800l. to another 200l. to another fool. and many other fums; and other engagements did he enter into alfo for them. He was the ready affiftant of all who were any way related to him, to their children and grand children. He made no will; his paternal eftate of 120l. a year went to a distant relation of his grand father Newton; he had no relations on that fide, his father nor himself had no brother nor fifter. He is faid never to have fold the copies of any (of his) books, published in his lifetime, but gave them freely to the bookfeller. He was generous to his fervants, and had no love of riches, though he died worth 30,000l. which fell to three of his half-brother Smith's children, three of his half-fifter Pilkington's, and his half-fifter Barton's two daughters: all thefe furvived Sir Ifaac. "He was a perfon of very little expence upon himself; kept a handfome, genteel, conftant table, never above three men and three women fervants; toward his latter end, when he could not ufe a chariot, only a chair, he kept but two men fervants; he was exceedingly bountiful and cha ritable (not only) to relations but to acquaintance, or persons well recommended, and to ingenious perfons in any ufeful art or science." Thus far the extract of the family papers. It does not appear to be true that he ever became embecille; he did not, or would not recollect the folution of many of his problems of former years; and perhaps the ill treatment he had met with from fome foreigners, made him rather shy towards the last, of entering into the discussion of any matters about which a difpute might arife; but I know that h conve ersed with my aunt, in whofe arms he died, and with others, like any other reafonable man, to the last day of his death, and on that day read the newspaper: but I lately met with a letter of the late Dr. Pearce, bishop of Rochefter, to Dr. Hunt, Hebrew profeffor at Oxford, wrote in 1754, and published in 1770, in Cadell's edition of Sir Ifaac Newton's Chronology, page 10, which puts this imputation of Sir Ifaac Newton's imbecillity to fhame. "It appears that Dr. Pearce was with Sir Ifaac Newton a few days before his death, where he was writing without fpectacles by but an indifferent light. That he was then preparing his Chronology for the prefs, and had written the greatest part of it over again for that purpofe. He read to the doctor fome part of the work, on occafion of † Author of a treatise on the gold and filver coin. fome 1775. Mathematical Correspondence. fome points in chronology which had been mentioned in the converfation. He continued near an hour reading to him, and talking about what he had read, before the dinner was brought up and what was particular, fpeaking of fome fact, he could not recollect the name of the king in whofe reign it had happened, and therefore complained of his memory beginning to fail him; but he added immediately, that it was in fuch a year of fuch an Olympiad, naming them both very exactly. The ready mention of fuch chronological dates feemed, fays the doctor, a greater proof of his memory's not failing him, than the naming of the king would have been." What coxcomb therefore was it that first published to the world the filly ftory of the decay of Sir Ifaac New ton's faculties before his death? This has been feveral times repeated. His faculties may, indeed, in fome degree, have been impaired, as he had employed them intenfely for, perhaps, feventy years: but if any ruins there were in this great man's powers, there remained till far too much ftrength of mind to be called imbecillity. A perfifting application, and fuch a maftery over his imagination, as to keep it up to the point he had in view for a very long time, without fnapping, was his peculiar talent; and the inftrument with which he did fuch great things, and which his temperance and conftitution,fingularly formed for fuch purposes, enabled him to practice through a long life. His candour and modefty, even to bashful 31 nefs, were the graces which made fuch fuperior knowledge not disgusting to his inferiors. He was not only the mathematician, but the hiftorian, the chronologist, the chymist, and the critic: I have never met with any of his chymical manufcripts, but they certainly exist fomewhere. I remember to have heard from the late learned Dr. Kidby, a gentleman well known to many learned men, perhaps ftill alive, that Sir Ifaac Newton was as great in chemiftry as in any other fcience. It might therefore be an acquifition if those chemical papers of his could be found. William Jones, Efq; if I remember right, was fuppofed to have had feveral manufcripts of Sir Ifaac Newton's in his poffeffion; how he came by them, or why he kept them to himfelf, if he had fuch, I could never rightly learn: I remember to have heard him blamed on that account forty years ago; this is perhaps a groundless charge, I only mention it, that inquiry may be made of Mr. Jones's heirs, or the perfons into whofe hands his papers came after his deceafe, whether any manufcripts of Sir Ifaac Newton's worth notice exift? and furely if any exist they must have their worth. I. H. N. B. We are authorized by the fon of W. Jones, Efq. author of the Synopfis Mathefeos, to affure the public, that no fuch papers have been found in his father's library and that the ftory of his having made an improper ufe of any papers belonging to Sir Ifaac Newton, is wholly groundless. MATHEMATICAL CORRESPONDENCE. Answers to the Mathematical Questions in our Magazine for November. O folve this queftion accurately, it is neceffary to know the nature, &c. mofphere, which feems a difficulty that cannot be furmounted; indeed, was the state of the atmosphere fuch, that fome known law obtained with regard to heat, cold, vapours, &c. at any given height above the earth's furface, there might be fome probability of fuccefs in attempting it; but as this is not the cafe, and as it is well known that experiments cannot give us fuch a law, on account of the impracticability of making them, and the continual variations in the air, &c. we may reasonably conclude, that no exact rule can be given to apply the refraction tables for the purpose required: however, I shall attempt the folution by two methods. Firkt, First. The mean ftate of the barometer being 30 and thermometer 55, according to Dr. Bradley and others, we have by Dr. Bradley's rule 5 min. 8 fec. 7 the correct refraction, answering to 19 deg. 30 min. altitude, when the barometer is 29.90 and thermometer 42. Now did we know the exact state of a barometer and thermometer placed on the top of the mountain at the time of obfervation, we could find the refraction there answering to the fame altitude, which deducted from 5 min. 8 fec. 7 would evidently give what must be allowed in the observed altitude of the mountain. To find the state of the barometer nearly, fay, as cof. ro deg. 30 min. : 3 miles :: fine 10 deg. 30 min. 2935.74 feet, the mountain's height, the altitude of the mercury in the barometer, according to the best tables, anfwering to this height is 26.87; and by several accounts that I have feen concerning the ftate of the air on the tops of mountains, I can fafely fuppofe the thermometer to be at the freezing point, or 32; hence the refraction will be 4 min. 44 fec. 2, which taken from 5 min. 8 fec. 7 gives 24 fec. 5 to be allowed in the angular altitude of the mountain. Here I fuppofe the air to be very clear at the time of observation, otherwife it will be wide of the truth. W Secondly. Let DNA be a portion of the earth AB, the mountain D BD, the curve which a ray of light defcribes in its paffage from the top to the obferver at D, DC a tangent to DB, then the point B will come in the direction CD, and the angle BDC will be the refraction. Let BQ be perpendicular to BD: now if we fuppofe DB to be a right line, (on account of the small distance) the As BDQ, BDC will be nearly fimilar, and fo the angle BQD BDC, taking BQ to the radius of the earth, as 7 to 1, according to Mr. Lambert, (vide Prieftley's Optics, p. 489) we have as 27870 (BQ) radius 3.050, &c. miles (DB the distance of the obferver from the top of the mountain nearly): the fine of 23 fec. the angle BDC the refraction which is nearly the fame as before. This fuppofes the air to be in a mean ftate, and therefore can only be near the truth when the obfervation is made in clear weather; for it is well known, that the elevations of terrestrial objects, when taken with a quadrant, &c. are greatly augmented by a foggy air. Thefe folutions fhew, that about fix feet must be deducted from the observed height to give the true. QUESTION II. anfwered by the Propofer. CONST. Let m be to n in the given ratio; draw DE m, and EF per. pendicular, draw GDHP || EF, make the angle EFH = 1-half the given angle, with HF as radius defcribe the arch AFB, to cut DE produced in A and B, join AH and BH, make the angle BAC BHF, produce HF to meet AC in C, join BC and the ▲ ABC fhall be fimilar to that required. Dem. Circumfcribe the ▲ ABC with the circle ACBH and draw TF and IF perpendicular to AC and AB. As the angle BAC = BHF (by conft.) the circle paffes through the points A, C, B, H; but AH = BH = HF, and the angle ACH = BCH = HAB = HBA, and the angle HFB = HBF = HCB + FBC, confequently ABF FBC.. BF bifects the angle ABC and the point F is the center and FE = - FI - FT the radius of the inscribed circle, but AT = AE, TC = CI, and IB BE, confequently ATTC - CI + IB = AC CB AEBE 2DE .. DE half the difference of the fides, but AHD BHD half the fum, and DHF the difference of the angles at the base lines to EFH half the given angle, half by Mr. 1775. Mathematical Correspondence. 33 Mr. Ogle, Mr. Bonnycastle, Mr. Keech, and Mr. Robbins, conftructed the preceding queftion. QUESTION III. anfwered by the Propofer. LET L reprefent the given place on the sphere, and the fame on the fpheroid, AE the equatorial, and PS the polar diameter of the earth, then the angle leE LÕE = latitude in the fphere, and by the property of the eclipfe SP2: AE :: BO: BM and (by similar ▲s) :: Aa : Ac, i, e. tang. angle AOa tang, angle AOc, and the angle AOc AOa aOc= O/M to the diminution of the latitude. : P B M S E e no E C Now to find the quantity by which the moon's horizontal parallax is diminished, we want the ratio of Og (OA) : 0, which are in the ratio of the fecants of the angles doo and 10 or reciprocally as their cofines, i. e. as the fines of the angles AOb and BOc, for Og: 01:: tang. gDO (the moon's horizontal parallax in the sphere): tang. I DO (the moon's horizontal parallax in the fpheroid.) THEOREM. Subtract the log. of the leffer from that of the greater axis of the earth, (or of any numbers expreffing their ratie) the remainder added to the cotang. of the latitude in the fphere, gives the tang. of an arc, to which add again the remainder, the fum is the cotang..of the latitude in the fpheroid. From the fine of the faid arc, fubtract the cofine of the latitude in the fpheroid, and to the remainder add the log. of the number of seconds contained in the moon's horizontal parallax in the fphere, the fum will be the log. of the feconds in the moon's horizontal parallax in the spheroid. Corollary. By this means the effect of the earth's fpheroidal figure may be applied to any method of computation, by making ufe of the diminished latitude and parallax. Mr. Todd, Mr. Ogle, Mr. Bonnycastle, Caput Mortuum, and Mr. Robbins, fent elegant answers to this question. NEW MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS. QUESTION I. By Mr. John Rivett, of Eaft-Dereham, Norfolk. OBSERVING a cloud, whofe fhadow extended over an inacceffible morafs, and reached within 4600 yards of the place where I found the altitude of the fame to be 30 deg. which happened on the 4th of July laft, in the latitude of 52 deg. 53 min. north, the altitude of the fun at the fame time being 50 deg. 42 min. What was the perpendicular height of the cloud, and the hour of the day when the obfervation was made? QUESTION II. By PELETARIUS. HAVING given the fum of the hypothenufe, and the perpendicular from the right angle thereon, together with the ratio of the faid perpendicular to the difference of the fegments of the bafe made thereby,to construct the triangle. QUESTION III. By Mr. THOMAS Moss. ABOUT a given trapezium to circumfcribe another trapezium fimilar to a given one, by an algebraical process. We have made a mistake in propofing Mr. Todd's question in our last Magazine, page 605. It should have been thus: The fpecies of a parabola, with the pofition of the ordinate to its diameter, Jan. 1775 E being |