HYDROMETERS.

323

In some circumstances of the preceding relation, allhistorians are not agreed, but they generally unite in be-stowing deserved praises upon Hypatia , whose memoryw r as long honoured by her grateful and affectionate scholarsamong whom was Synesius, of a noble Pagan family, whohad cultivated philosophy and the mathematics with theutmost ardour, and who had been one of her most in-timate friends and followers. On account of his learningand virtue, many eminent talents, and open disposition, theinhabitants of Ptolemais were desirous he should be theirbishop, having been previously employed on many public andimportant concerns with success. After modestly desiring,for a long period, that they would fix their choice upon a moreworthy object, they still persisting he assented, upon con-dition that he was not to be expected to believe in theresurrection, to which he could not, at that time, bring hisinternal conviction ; he suffered himself to be baptized, andbecame their bishop ; he was confirmed by the orthodoxpatriarch Theophilus, the predecessor of Cyrill, to whosejurisdiction Ptolemais belonged : he afterwards renounced hiserror respecting the resurrection. This learned man evincedhis gratitude to Hypatia , by the honourable mention whichhe made of her in some of his writings still preserved . 1 *

In his fifteenth letter to her, he tells Hypatia , that hewas so unfortunate, or found himself so ill, that he wishedto use a kydroscopium, and he requests that she wouldcause one to be constructed for him. He says, “ It is acylindrical tube, of the size of a reed or pipe; a line isdrawn upon it lengthwise, which is intersected by others,and these point out the weight of water. At the end of thetube is a cone, the base of which is joined to that of thetube, so that both have only one base. This part of theinstrument is called barijUion. If it be placed in water, itremains in a perpendicular direction, so that one can readilydiscover by it the weight of the fluid .” 3

1 A more circumstantial account may be found iniEgid. Menagii Histor. Mulier.Philosophic. Lugduni, 1690, 8vo. p. 52 : Bruckeri Hist. Critica Philosoph. ii.p. 351 ; and J. G. Wolfii Fragmenta Mulierum Gnecarura, Gotting®, 1739, 4to.p. 368.

1 With respect to Synesius , see Bruckeri Hist. Philos, iii. p. 511; and FabrictiBiblioth. Gr®ca, viii. p. 219, 221. He died anno 43!.

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