Erasmus Darwin, philosopher, poet, and physician : a lecture to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Whitby / by John Dowson.

  • Dowson, John, 1820-1881.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Erasmus Darwin, philosopher, poet, and physician : a lecture to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Whitby / by John Dowson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ‘Page 24. Cotton Spinning. “ The mills erected by Sir Richard Ark» Wright are most interesting buildings at the present day. The sites chosen, doubtless on account of the sufficiency of the fall of the streams to move the machinery, are nevertheless situated in spots of great beauty in Derbyshire, on the Derwent and other streams. The mill at Cromford, or Matlock, is still occupied by the descendants of Sir R. Arkwright and lower down the same river, the Derwent, we meet with two other cotton-spinning mills, the spindles of which are moved by the “ watery God,”—the Belper and Milford mills, belonging to the Messrs. Strutt. The systematic cleanliness and order which pervade these mills are beyond praise. The machinery is kept scrupulously clean, the floors rival the polished wainscot of a library, the walls are bright with the whiteness of lime-wash, the air is clear and free from dust, and those whom the poet calls “ emerging naiads,” and we in the vulgar tongue “ factory girls,” have some claim, perhaps, to the ethereal character of the poet, in that they are happy, smiling, prosperous creatures, cleanly to a degree of perfection, tidily clad, healthy and robust.” Redgkave on the progress of Textile Manufactures in Great Britain.—Journal of the Society of Arts, March 8, 1861. Page 25. The Loves of the Triangles. “ Of all modern parodies, ‘ the Loves of the Triangles,’ in the Antijacobin is by far the best: it combines science, invention, and the charms of beautiful poetry, so as to give an air of originality that would please the reader were he totally unacquainted ^with Dr. Darwin’s poem. One of the authors of this book read the [Loves of the Triangles to Dr. Darwin, when this number of the Antijacobin first appeared. It was impossible that the Doctor should not feel some pain at the recital, but he most certainly felt high admiration for the talents of the writer.” R. L. and M. Edgewoetu’s Readings on Poetry. 1816. p. 207. Page 31. Phytologia. “Among the cas al discoveries which this in- genious work had the merit of bringing forward, was the use of bone dust as a manure. Having mentioned phosphorus as an element under different forms, existing universally in vegetables, and not before sufficiently attended to, the Doctor specifies the different substances from which this essential food of plants may be obtained, and which therefore might be advantageously employed as manure; he then proceeds—’1 and, lastly, the use of recent shells, or bones ground into powder, or of bone-ashes spread on land may be deduced, as they consist almost entirely of phosphorus and calcareous earth. The fertilizing properties of this manure had been previously noticed by Hunter, (Georgical