6 Insufficiency of the Safety Lamp to prevent ing at a rope, as six men will evidently with this apparatus do the work of twelve who employ their force by pulling with their hands, and with perfect security. On the first introduction of this invention, I have been informed that some mechanists publicly asserted that the winch was the best motion with which man's force could be employed to work rotatory machinery. This assertion is now proved to be rashly made, either from cavious motives, or for the want of true mechanical knowledge; as a given number of men can raise a much greater weight with the convertor than they can even move with the winches, notwithstanding only half of them exert their power at once, with this most important difference, that the weight is always locked; but if it overcomes them at the winches they are liable to be killed or severely wounded by the handles. It has now become self-evident that this invention will produce a complete revolution in the mechanical world, particularly with regard to hydraulic machines for raising water; for united to two fluted rollers it will supersede the use of pumps of every kind, of the very first importance to all mining concerns,as it works by two pulling lines at any indefinite distance; and it has already been demonstrated by Captain Brown's machine for proving iron cables, that a rod of iron one inch and a half in diameter, will support the enormous weight of eighty tons before it will break. Thus two rods of that diameter will support and raise a column of water from seventy to eighty tons weight, without the aid of piston rods, buckets, and valves of any kind. I need not describe to your philosophical readers the importance this will be of to the Cornish mine-owners, by doing away the great expense of power they now exhaust by friction with their ponderous engines, besides the wear and tear of buckets, valves, &c. The Convertor is also as applicable to raise coals and minerals of all descriptions, as no rope or chain is necessary from the top of the shaft to the whimsey from the wear of which many fatal accidents occur; two lines of iron rods pulling to and from are all that is required, and will last many years. The Convertor and barrel placed immediately over the shaft will always render the ascent from and the descent into the pit perfectly secure, with this further great saving to the owner, that one powerful steam-engine upon one square mile of mine will be quite sufficient to raise the water, and [Feb. 1, draw up the coal, &c.; by which means the erection of a number of whimseys will be saved. It is also capable of another great advantage; two iron rods may be worked up the side of the shaft, giving motion to a Convertor in the mine, that would draw the coal, &c. to the bottom of the shaft, and entirely do away the necessity of using horses in the mine. This alone will give a vast saving to the workers of coal-mines, by which coal may be raised at much less expence, and consequently come cheaper to market. Many more important and new purposes will be accomplished by this interesting discovery too numerous for me even to surmise; but as they come into use I will transmit an account of them to be recorded in your truly valuable work which is so laudably adapted to the promotion of science. Yours, &c. A PHILOSOPHER. "An explosion of fire-damp took place on Friday last, in the Plain Pit, at Rainton Colliery in the county of Durham, by which six men, and twenty-one boys lost their lives."-Morning Chronicle, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 1817. I feel it a duty on this melancholy occasion to endeavour to call the attention of your readers to the present imperfect system of ventilating coal mines; and it is the more necessary, on account of the unwarrantable and improper degree of confidence that is placed in the safety lamp, which appears to be considered rather as a substitute for ventilation, than as the means of improving it. The importance of the discovery of this instrument is certainly great: it is simple in its construction, and easy of application, and is highly creditable to the talents and industry of the inventor. But its value has been very much over-rated -it has been ranked as one of "the most valuable presents which philosophy has conferred upon the arts," and cona perfect security from ac sidered as Its security in an explosive mixture of gas, however, I do not pretend to question; as it is this very security that renders its use, or rather abuse, pregnant with danger. It is this security that increases the risk by tempting the proprietor to neglect ventilation, and the workman to pursue his labours in the midst of an explosive inixture of gas, where many unforeseen occurrences may happen to cause an explosion, the consequences of 1818.] the Dangerous Effects of Imperfect Ventilation. which would be dreadful in proportion to the apparent security. These occurrences may be of such a nature that it would be almost impossible to guard against them. The thoughtless indiscretion of a single individual, may often render abortive every precaution that has been adopted by his companions—and that there are among miners, as well as others, men who are unfit to be left under their own thought less guidance is too well known, and particularly where the lives of so many are at stake. What would avail the boasted security of the miner's Davy if one individual should think it unnecessary? However strange or inconsistent such conduct might appear, it is a fact, that more lives have been lost by such fool-hardy or madly adventurous conduct than any other cause. To reason with such men is impossible, and to watch every motion of every miner is equally so. Besides, is it not enough that an industrious class of men should, from the nature of their occupation, be brought to a premature old age, without obliging them, in addition to their other sufferings, to labour in an atmosphere of noxious gas; and that because it has been discovered that it is possible to work in such an explosive compound, and therefore to save the expense of ventilation? It appears possible to ventilate mines so as to render them safe, only it is an expensive process, and requires that the work should be conducted with much care and regularity; and that a more limited extent of ground should be wrought from one shaft. It has been asserted, that it is not practicable to ventilate mines so as to prevent an accumulation of fire-damp; but this assertion must be understood to apply only to the extensive works that are carried on at present from a single shaft. The present system of mining, followed in the Tyne and Wear collieries appears to be radically defective, as the old wastes and hollows must become filled with either fire-damp or water, and a large proportion of coal unavoidably left in the mine. The danger arising from these accumulations of water or fire-damp is well known, but might be in a great measure remedied by adopting a different method of working. The method I allude to has been in use time immemorial in Derbyshire, and has been lately introduced in Scotland. By this method the whole of the coal is obtained, and the cavity eloses by the sinking of the superior strata. It is called the "long way of working," and is recommended by Mr. Farey, whose extensive practice as a mineral surveyor must render him a competent judge. By this method no spaces would be left where fire-damp or water could accumulate, and consequently new pits would not be liable to be inundated with either from the old wastes, besides the advantage of getting the whole of the coal and of saving most of the props used for supporting the roof. The "long method" certainly merits a trial, and nothing more could be required to put it in practice than the direction of an experienced viewer or overman, who had seen the methods of the miners where the "long way" is practised. In the hands of the viewer, the overman, or a select set of men for the purpose of effecting a free ventilation, the safety-lamp is an invaluable instrument: it gives the means of examining and of removing any obstruction to the ventilation in safety, when no other means could be resorted to. Let it be used as the means of improving the ventilation, instead of being used as a substitute; for neglect of ventilation must ultimately be attended with such serious consequences as to call for the interference of the legislature. When we call to mind the shocking scenes which the explosion of a coal mine presents, it is scarcely possible to be too earnest in the recommendation of any thing that would be likely to prevent such accidents. Men who had, perhaps, not one short hour before risen from their wives and little-ones in peace and quict to begin the labours of the day, and these operations scarce begun, when one dread moment hurries them into eternity; at the same time rousing, with the voice of thunder, their sleeping families to witness the sad scene of desolation and horror, and in the wild agony of despair to seek for fathers, for husbands, for childrendear relations, that are either buried in the bowels of the earth, or ejected in tattered fragments from the dreadful pit! And if the present be dreadful, the future is scarcely less so to their unfortunate wives and helpless children, left without the means of existence, except from the dilatory hand of charity, or a scanty pit tance from a parish. Let the comforts of a cheerful fire sometimes recall the recollection of these desolating scenes, and stimulate the *Philosophical Mag. vol. 49, p. 60. Biographical Anecdotes of the late John Carter. powers of genius to soften or remove the miseries of these industrious men. Already has Sir H. Davy contributed an important step towards this desirable object; but inuch yet remains to he done. London. Jan. 3, 1818. D-T. YOUR account of the late JonN CARTER is incorrect in some particulars, and not true in others: he certainly was not a Roman Catholic, if his own assertions repeatedly made to me when that imputation was the subject of conversation between us are to be credited; and he certainly was not an Irishman: he had a foolish and inveterate dislike to Ireland and every thing belonging to it; some of those with whom he was engaged in controversy knew this, and annoyed him by asserting that he was an Irishman who chose to deny his country. This greatly mortified him, for he certainly was born in his father's house in Piccadilly, and passed the early part of his life there; nor was he ever out of England, except once or twice that he went, professionally, into South Wales. In the Gentleman's Magazine for the present month are two memoirs of Carter, both of which are true: but, like the Eloges de l'Academie Francoise, they are merely panegyrical and confined to his public works; but while I subscribe to the truth of those accounts I shall add such particulars from my own knowledge as it may be useful to make known, and which, I believe, the writers of those accounts were not acquainted with. His education was very inferior, even to what, in the time that he was educated, might have been given to qualify him for those pursuits in which he subsequently engaged. He knew no language but his own, and never could read or explain any inscription or epitaph that was not written in English. This threw him into a very unpleasant state of dependence in his subsequent pursuits, and was the cause of much uncasmess to him in the course of his life; yet, he never had resolution enough to extricate himself from these inconveniences, by acquiring a competent knowledge of Latin at least, which it is reasonable to suppose that he might have done without much difficulty. He was not acquainted with the common rules of arithmetic, or those principles of mechanics or mathematics which were necessary to, and now are thought indispensable by, inferior persons of that business; and as he never was, during the last thirty-five years, regularly em [Feb. 1, ployed as an architect on his own account, it was difficult to see on what he founded his claim to the title of architect, which he signed to his writings in the Gentleman's Magazine, and which his opponents in that work commonly denied his right to; some of them in all probability knowing the real extent of his claim to it. I was told by himself, that in early life he had been occasionally employed by Dixon and Holland; and since his death I have information from a person who knew him, forty years ago, in the employment of Mr. Wyatt, superintending the workmen in the buildings upon which that gentleman was engaged. At that time Carter was reckoned an odd, close man, and supposed to have saved some money. There can be no doubt that this was the occupation by which he supported himself; and I know, from his own mouth, that all his leisure time was employed in examining and drawing Westminster Abbey and all its parts, under every point of view. For many years he cultivated the acquaintance of every person who was employed about that building; was intimate with all the inferior officers, and respectfully attentive to the superiors and dignitaries, who, seeing him continually about the place, investigated his talents, and finally, introduced him into the world of antiquaries by whom he was afterwards employed and patronized. I learned from himself, that the first money he earned as a draughtsman, was by making drawings for booksellers: besides other things he made all the designs for the Builder's Magazine,of which work he told me the following anecdote: When it was determined to build a new Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green instead of the old Hicks's Hall, the persons in authority advertised for designs and promised to adopt that which should be approved of. Carter sent in a design which was rejected for reasons which were to him the cause of singular mortification. He had, in the Builder's Magazine, inserted a design for a Sessions House; this design was copied by some person from the magazine, offered to the county,accepted, and is the design for that building which is now standing on Clerkenwell Green. Those who possess the book mayascertain their identitybycomparison: the magazine was published before the house was built, so that there is compleat evidence that an artist of talents had his design for a building of consequence rejected in favour of a design that was, 18 18.] Biographical Anecdotes of the late John Carter. likewise, his own, but which had been either artfully or luckily borrowed from an existing publication, without acknowledgment, by some person who thus obtained all the credit and emolument, while the real inventor never received more than two or three guineas for his design. As the evidence is compleat, and the fact incontrovertible, I have much pleasure in mentioning the Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green as a further proof of Carter's talents as an architect. As booksellers in those days were not accustomed to pay such sums for the works of artists as are now paid by their successors, I shall mention the circumstance which Carter told me first induced him to project his "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture, Architecture," &c. which was the first public step he made towards that eminence he afterwards acquired in his peculiar department. He was employed to make a drawing or drawings for a bookseller, for which he expected to receive five or six guineas: he carried it home, the man examined, approved, and laid it aside; but threw him down a single guinea and told him that was all he could give him for it. This treatment enraged poor Carter so much that he vowed he would never do any thing more for a bookseller, and get into something that would set him above the power of such people. He then projected his "Specimens of Ancient Sculpture, Painting," &c. and as it did not consist with his finances to employ engravers, he applied himself to etching, and acquired so much power as enabled him to execute that work. His talents as a draughtsman were quite equal to that part of the work, but he could not draw up the descriptions to his own satisfaction, and therefore solicited the assistance of gentlemen whose knowledge enabled them to perform the task in a way that greatly enhanced the value of the works. This placed him in situations that first converted some of his friends into enemies, and procured for him the character of a quarrelsome man; and as a knowledge of the facts may afford useful cautions to others, I shall mention some of them. In the choir of Westminster Abbey was, at that time, a whole length portrait of Richard II. which is believed to be authentic. Carter made a finished drawing from this picture and engraved it to be inserted in his work. A gentleman agreed to purchase this drawing, and in consequence the plate was inscribed to •, esq. from the drawing in his NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 49. 9 possession. Whether this honour satisfied the gentleman, or whether inore money was asked for the drawing than he chose to give, I know not; but, after the plate was published, he refused to take the drawing, which remained in Carter's hands. Soon afterwards Harding, a printseller, undertook to publish a collection of the mos authentic portraits that he could procure of Shakspeare's characters, or of persons mentioned in, or connected with, Shakspeare's plays. The inscription upon Carter's plate led him to ask Mr. permission to engrave the head of Richard II. from the drowing in his possession. The permission was graciously granted; but he was told it would answer the samne purpose, and save the trouble of bringing the drawing to town, if he made his drawing from the book, which was lent him for that purpose. Carter, seeing his plate so unceremoniously copied, sued Harding for the piracy: this led to an explanation from which it evidently appeared that Harding was not to blame, because the gentleman, when applied to, did not choose to acknowledge that he had not a right to grant what was asked of him: and when the fact was discovered very dictatorially required that, because he had chosen to do this, and in consequence of occasionally purchasing some of Cart r's works, called himself his patron, he should abandon his suit. This he refused; Harding made the best compromise that he could, and Carter lost his patron, who, to save his own credit, told the story as much to the artist's disadvantage as he could make it appear. A needy author collected some scraps of information upon a particular subject from various books, and by the help of wide printing, large paper, and, without leave, copying one of Carter's most curious plates, constructed a book which he chose to sell for a guinea, although the original matter it contained would not have produced the odd shilling. Our artist, knowing that the author was not worth powder, sued the bookseller, who, having no defence, suffered judgment to go by defanit, and was compelled to pay such damages as compensated for the injury sustained. These and some other circumstances of less notoriety, induced persons who found they could not make free with his property with impunity, to misrepresent his motives and his actions, when his only object was to enjoy, unmolested, that which his industry bad acquired. Of the trouble and expense it cost him 10 Biographical Anecdotes of the late John Carter. to execute this work, none but his confidential acquaintance can judge: I shall mention one fact among others that I know, and which will convey some idea of them. He learned that the Corporation of Lynn-Regis, in Norfolk, possessed a valuable cup that was given to them by King John, at the same time that he granted their charter: conceiving that this would be a desirable article for his work, he procured some introductions and went down to make a drawing from it. The Corporation at that time could not comprehend the motives which should induce a stranger to go so far only to take a picture, as they called it; they probably suspected that he intended to steal, or otherwise injure their palladium, and abruptly refused the permission required. After repeated applications, however, they consented, but on condition that he should be confined to a room in company with a person chosen by themselves, but paid by him, whose business was to see that no improper liberties were taken with the valuable cup; and under these circumstances he actually made that drawing from which he engraved the plate that is in the "Specimens of Sculp. ture," &c. He expended considerable sums on other occasions to obtain materials for this work, the value of which was greatly increased by the written contributions of Iris antiquarian friends: but as these (except what he received from one person) were gratuitous, it was necessary to wait their leisure before he could receive them. This and other circumstances not necessary to mention, induced him to terminate that work when two volumes were compleat, and begin the "Specimens of Ancient Architecture," which is entirely his own. [Feb. 1, without credulity upon subjects of which he had no knowledge, when they happened to fall in with his own prejudices: of this I shall relate one whimsical example. A friend gave me an odd-looking brass coin, which he said he found in walking round the remains of Old Sarum. I know nothing of coins, and handed it over to Carter, who knew no more than myself, but was struck with the fact of its being found at Old Sarum; he therefore supposed it to be an antique of great curiosity, and drew up an account of it, with the name of the finder, and all circumstances, to be laid in form before the Society of Antiquaries. In consequence of dissentions ainong them he was not at that time on speaking terms with Brand, the secretary,but cheerfully stifled his own resentment for the sake of introducing this important discovery. Brand, the moment he saw it, reproved Carter in most indignant terms for his impudence, as he called it, in attempting to hoax the Society with a tale that a paltry Chinese coin was a Saxon antique. In fact, it turned out to be a Chinese coin of the lowest denomination, cast in brass, with a square hole in the middle, through which that people pass a string to tie numbers of them together. After I had ascertained this fact, I began to make an apology to my friend; but that was not necessary, as all his resentiment was levelled at Brand, who, he said, ought to have laid the coin before the Society, though it was Chinese; because, he remarked, that in the time of Alfred the Great some British merchants made voyages to India, and the finding of this Chinese coin at Old Sarum proved, that even in those days there was commercial intercourse between Britain and China! The same pertinacity pervaded all his actions; particularly where his professional pursuits were concerned. Those who remember the stage when Garrick and Smith performed Macbeth, and Barry Othello, dressed in the laced scarlet uniforms of the generals of that day, may justly estimate the extent of the improvements that have been made in every de By this time his reputation for correctly drawing those objects to which he directed his attention was firmly established by investigating those objects sometimes in conjunction with, and sometimes in opposition to, persons eminent for their skill in British antiquities, he acquired much knowledge in other department of the dresses and decorations partments, as well as those to which he first directed his attention. He now formed opinions of his own upon these subjects which in general were correct; but when he was mistaken it was very seldom that he could be brought to acknowledge his mistake; and having contracted a liking for all subjects of antiquity that were connected with the people whose buildings he admired, he was not that are now used in theatrical repre. sentations, and for the greater part of which we are indebted to the exertions of Mr. Kemble. When that gentleman was engaged upon those subjects he consulted Carter, who readily gave the information that was asked of him; and if it had been possible to comply with his suggestions, he would have willingly dedicated his whole time gratuitously to |