4

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF Till! LATE

by Mr. De Jongh, merchant of Edinburgh , (he is now dead,) written twoyears ago. It gives an account of the Spanish manner of managing sheep,and reprobates the tarring of sheep in a very excellent and ludicrous man-ner. Had I seen this tract sooner, I should have mentioned it with respect,and given a hint to the Duke of Buceleueh, to whom it was addressed, andothers who might have read it, of the small profit which they and the publicderived from the useful communications contained in such works as Mr.De Jongh’s, by reason of their carelessness and supineness. However, I donot despair of seeing the woollen manufacture succeeding in a few years,and the staple of wool considerably improved.

“ I wish you success in making indigo, or any other colours, from veget-ables. Go, and try. Perhaps something may be discovered from the com-mon ragweed, Kettle Dock, or, in Scotland called the stinking Willie,(Senecio Jacobcea, Lightfoot). I would only make experiments on such ascould be easily got, or could be produced at a small expense by culture.

“ Your jaunt to the continent, if you go to the south of France , will beill-timed,—the heat of summer is great till November, and I have found ittroublesome early in March. In Ireland they are doing great things in thecotton branch. It is strange, you succeed in general * * in spinning

cotton, the operation is * * and all depends if proper carding and good

* * without which no good thread can * * any fineness, even

though you had * * cotton from Bengal. People in * * are gen.erally jealous of * * . But they ought not; they should * * assist,

and instruct one another * * state of perfection.*

“ If they were to join, and have a man from here, who thoroughly under-stood spinning, give him a good handsome salary, to instruct every personthey recommend, they would find an advantage in it. To erect an academyfor spinning cotton, would be of more use to Glasgow than a college of artsand sciences to Manchester. Compliments to Dr. Irvine .

“ Yours ever,

“A. Eason.

“ p.s.—Tell Dr. Irvine I have got a great curiosity— a petrified nut.The architect had three of them ; the saw went through one, and the otherhas a bit of stone adhering to one side. Mine is perfect, about the size ofa hazel nut, with three ridges ending in a point. Ask him if he knows anytree a native of this country which bears such shaped nuts. The stonequarry where it was found is about eleven miles from this place. Mr.M'Nevin, a good sensible botanist, is entirely at a loss what to make ofthem. If they are the product of a warm climate, how came they here?Yet shells have been found on the summits of mountains, which are nowonly found in the East Indies. Noah’s flood is generally the grand solventof all such difficulties, but to me not satisfactory.”f

* The asterisks denote the original MS. writing having been torn off.f At the time that Dr. Eason wrote, the science of geology was as yet in itsinfancy, and had scarcely begun to attract attention.—E d.