veffel, who had been hailed, by the fhip in which her fon failed, by whom he was informed, that her fon died on his paffage of a disorder which then raged in the ship. Mrs. Hume funk under the weight of such a complication of misfortunes, and foon died of a broken heart. Mifs Hume about a month after the death of her mother, was in company with a phyfician, who looking fteadily at her obferved, "Madam you take opium; I know it by your eyes, and I am afraid you have put it out of my power to recover you." She confeffed that the misfortune of the family had fo entirely deprived her of reft, that she had taken laudanum to obtain a little repofe. The phyfician then advised her to take a table-spoonful of jalap he had preferved for her, whenever he found herself to be fick. A few days after this fhe defired the fervant to bring her a spoonful of the jalap the fervant mistaking the bottle of laudanum for the jalap, brought her a fpoonful, which fhe drank, and fell afleep in the arms of death. : MR. GRANGER, If the following fingular Account of the first Invention of Stocking Frames, will deferve a place in your Mufeum, I here infert it. Nottingham. I am, Your's, &c. W. L. THE inventor of the Stocking Frame was one William Lee, M. A. of St. John's College, in Cambridge, born at Woodborough, a village in Nottinghamshire, about seven miles from the town of Nottingham. He was heir to a pretty freehold eftate; of whom the traditional story says, that he was deeply in love with a young townfwoman of hus, whom he courted for a wife, but the whenever he went to visit her, feemed always more mindful of her knitting than the addreffes of her admirer; this flight created fuch fuch an averfion in Mr. Lee, against knitting by hand, that he determined to contrive a machine, that fhould turn out work enough to render the common knitting a gainless employment: accordingly he fet about it, and having an excellent mechanical head, he brought his defign to bear in the year 1589; after he had worked awhile, he taught his brother and several relations to work under him. Having for fome years practifed this new art, at Calverton, a village about five miles from Nottingham; either himself or his brother James, worked before queen Elizabeth, in order to fhew an experiment of this kind of workmanship, offering at the fame time this difcovery of his to his countrymen, who instead of accepting the offer, defpifed him, and difcouraged his invention: being thus difcountenanced by his native country, and foon after invited over to France, with promife of great rewards, privileges and honour, by king Henry IV. he embraced the feeming fair opportunity, and went himself, with nine workmen his fervants, and as many frames, to the city of Rouen in Normandy, where they wrought with so great applause from the French, that in all likelihood the trade was to have been fettled in that country for ever, had not the fudden murder of that monarch difappointed Mr. Lee of his expected grant of privelege, and the fucceeding inteftine troubles of that kingdom, delay'd his renew'd fuit, and at laft fruftrated all his hopes, at which feized with grief, he ended his life at Paris. After his death seven of his workmen, (being left to shift for themselves) returned with their frames to England, two only remaining behind. These feven with one Afton, who had been an apprentice to Mr. Lee, and by him was before left at home, and who alfo added fomething to his master's invention, did lay the foundation of this manufacture in England, and in the fpace of fifty years, this art was fo improved, and the num ber ber of able workmen became fo great, that the heads among them thought it neceffary for the better regulating their members, and keeping this valuable business from fpreading abroad, to petition Oliver Cromwell, to conftitute them a Body Corporate, which however, for what reason I cannot tell, they did not obtain at that time. King Charles II. after the restoration, granted them at laft a charter, by which their jurifdiction extended to ten miles round London. In process of time, when the trade spread farther into the country, they alfo, in proportion, ftretched their authority, and established commiffioners in the feveral principal towns in the county where this trade was exercised; they there held courts, at which they obliged the country framework knitters, to bind and make free, &c. whereby they (for many years) drew great fums of money, till fome perfon of more fpirit than others in Nottingham, brought their authority in question, and a trial ensuing, the company was caft, fince that time the stocking-manufactory has continued entirely open in the country. Nor did these large fums do the company any fervice as a body, for as they got the money illegally, fo they spent it as lavishly, and inftead of growing rich, the company became very poor; and many of their heads having got a taste of high-living, and neglecting their bufinefs, alfo dwindled to nothing. Vide Deering's Hift. of Nottingham. Remarkable RocKY SUBSTANCES, which, it is pretended, have fallen on the Earth. It is afferted, that certain rocky and metallic fubftances have fallen from the air upon the earth, at different periods, and in different places. We fhall relate the principal teftimonies on which this opinion is founded. And REMARKABLE ROCKY SUBSTANCES. 369 And first, in a letter written from Benares, in the Eaft Indies, by Mr. John Williams, and addreffed to the Prefi-: dent of the Royal Society of London, it is related, that on the 19th of December, 1798, towards eight o'clock in the evening, the weather being perfectly calm, the inhabitants of Benares, and the circumjacent places, perceived a meteor of a dazzling brightnefs, and which refembled a large ball of fire. It was accompanied with a great noife like that of thunder. A great number of ftones fell foon after on the ground, near the village of Krakut, to the north-east of the river Goanity, about eleven miles diftant from Benares. Authentic documents in reference to this fact were taken on the spot, by order of the magiftrate; they perfectly accord. Several specimens of thefe stones have been fent to Europe; they have been described and analysed by Meffrs. Bournon and Howard. Here follows the result of their chemical labours. . The ftones are covered, through the whole extent of their furface, by a very thin cruft, of a dark black, ftrewed with little afperities, which produce, when touched, an impreffion like that of a skin when lightly fhagreened. The interior is of a grey colour, of a coarse texture, pretty much refembling free-ftone. We can eafily diftinguish in it iron in the metallic ftate. The analysis gives likewife filex, magnefia, oxyde of iron, and oxyde of nickel. The fecond example is taken from a letter, dated at Sienna, in Italy, by Sir William Hamilton. It announces, that on the 12th of July, 1794, in the height of a very violent ftorm, there fell at Sienna, ftones of different magnitude. Their fall took place about eighteen hours after a fierce eruption of Mount Vefuvius, diftant 250 miles. This letter was accompanied with a fpecimen of one of thofe ftones. It exhibited the fame, exterior characters as VOL. I. No. 8. 3 B thofe those of Benares, and the analyfis traced in it the fame fubftances, although in proportions fomewhat different. The third example is that of a fimilar fall, which took place in Yorkshire. On the 13th of December, 1795, a ftone weighing 56lbs. fell with a great number of explofions, like discharges of artillery. The ftone, when taken from the earth, was hot and fmoking. It presented the fame exterior and interior characters as the two preceding. A fourth example is that of a ftone which fell in Bohemia, on the 3d of July, 1753. It yielded the fame results. -Its fpecific weight was 4281b. We shall confine ourselves to thefe facts, because they are announced in fuch a manner as to acquire much probability. "We have feen," says the reporter," fpecimens of these stones; they all prefent the characters included in the preceding defcription." We could find, in the writings of the antients, a great number of recitals, which perfectly agree well with the foregoing, but, without going fo far back, we shall quote a remarkable paffage found in fome obfervations of Freret, on the Prodigies reported by the Antients. "The famous Gaflendi, whofe accuracy and knowledge are both well known, relates, that on the 27th of November, 1617, the sky being very clear, he faw fall, about ten o'clock in the morning, on Mount Vaifien, between the towns of Guillaume, and Pefuc, in Provence, an inflamed ftone, which appeared about four feet in diameter. It was bordered with a luminous circle of different colours, pretty much like the rainbow. Its fall was accompanied with a noife like that of many cannons firing at once. This ftone weighed fifty-nine pounds; it was of a dark and metallic colour, and extremely hard." This description of Gaffendi is perfectly conformable to that of Mr. Howard, and gives a great probability to the fact we are examining. But |