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Titel

Académie des Sciences (Paris)

Jahr

1831

Ort

Paris

Nachweis

in: The London and Paris Observer; or, Chronicle of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts 338 (6. November 1831), S. 719–720.

Sprache

Englisch

Typografischer Befund

Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung.

Identifikation

Textnummer Druckausgabe: V.10
Dateiname: 1831-Academie_des_Sciences-1-neu

Statistiken

Seitenanzahl:	2
Zeichenanzahl:	4319

Weitere Fassungen
	Académie des Sciences (Paris) (Paris, 1831, Englisch)
	Rücksichtlich seiner Forschungen über den Erdmagnetismus (Erfurt; Weimar; Leipzig, 1832, Deutsch)

|719| M. de Humboldt stated that he had established at Berlin, at thebottom of the mines of Freyberg in Saxony, at St. Petersburgh,at Casan, at Archangel, at Irkutsk, on the borders of Lake Baikalin Siberia, and at Pekin, magnetic houses in imitation of the mag-netic observatory established at Paris in one of the apartments ofthe Observatoire Royal. Ever since the reign of Peter the Great,the Russian Government has maintained a mission at Pekin,which is renewed every ten years; but there had never been anymen of science attached to this mission until M. Fuss, the bro-ther of the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of St. Peters-burgh, made a voyage to China last year, and commenced a seriesof meteorological, magnetic, and astronomical observations,which will be continued by M. Kowanko, a young officer of themines, who is to pass ten years at Pekin. M. Fuss, on the 22dApril last, wrote a letter from that city, which has been commu-nicated by M. Kuppfer to M. Arago and M. de Humboldt, andof which the following is the substance: — M. Fuss made magneticobservations in 17 stations during his progress through the celes-tial empire to Pekin; but he was afraid to take any astronomicalmeasures, on account of the jealousy of the Chinese. A tower inmasonry has been constructed at Pekin, surmounted by a tent,as a protection against the inclemency of the atmosphere. Thisobservatory is surrounded by houses; but, happily for magneticexperiments, no iron is used in the Chinese buildings. The crosson the top of the edifice, belonging to the Russian Mission, whichis only a short distance off, serves as a point de mïre for the azi-muthal directions. On the 30th December, 1830, the magneticinclination was found to be 54° 32′; and the declination observedon the 10th January, 1831, at three o’clock in the afternoon, was1° 42′ 57″ West. The longitude of the observatory is about 114°East of Paris; the latitude has been ascertained with precisionto be 39° 54′ 9″. 5. This observation differs only by 5′ from thatmade by Father Hyacinth. The magnetic observations are made |720| at the same hour as in the European observatories above-men-tioned. Barometrical and thermometrical notes are taken fourtimes every day. From the winter solstice to the date of theletter, the maximum height of the barometer was 345.7 lines ofParis; this was at midnight, on the 10th of March, at whichtime a slight shock of an earthquake was felt towards the North;—the minimum was 330.9 lines, difference 14.8 lines. Thehighest temperature during the same period was 25° centigrade,at four o’clock in the afternoon of the 20th April; and the lowest,13°.5 below zero, at six in the morning of the 5th February: themean temperature was 12°. M. Kuppfer, in forwarding the above letter, announced that hehad also recently received a letter from the celebrated Norwegiannatural philosopher M. Hansteen, in which he abandons his hypo-thesis of two linear magnets, by which he had imagined he couldaccount for the magnetic phenomena of the globe. M. Kuppferannounces that he is employed in examining the various observa-tions which have been made on the magnetic needle. It has ge-nerally been supposed that the magnetic power could only belost by heat; but M. Kuppfer has ascertained that it may beequally affected by cold. Thence, in order to compare needlesproperly, they should be exposed to the two extremes of tempe-rature, by plunging them first into boiling water, and then into afrigorific liquid, at 20° below zero. It has, however, been al-ready observed, that magnets sustaining a great weight have letit fall when the temperature has suddenly fallen. M. de Humboldt then presented a Chinese Almanack for 1832,calculated by the Astronomical Tribunal of Pekin, in which thedifferent days are placed under the protection of 34 genii. Parti-cular days are designated for giving entertainments; others arepointed out as propitious for feeding on dogs; others for mar-rying, for building, for pulling down, etc. M. de Humboldtadded, that when the Chinese authorities were asked whetherthey should take any precautions against the cholera, they re-plied, that fear alone was the cause of people being attacked byit, and that therefore no preventive measure ought to be adopted.

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