ACTA CARSOLOGICA XXVI/2 21 225-247 LJUBLJANA 1997 ROBERT TOWNSON, TRAVELLER IN HUNGARY IN 1793 - HIS LIFE AND WORK ROBERT TOWNSON, POPOTNIK PO MADŽARSKEM LETA 1793 - NJEGOVO ŽIVLJENJE IN DELO TREVOR R. SHAW Izvleček UDK 55(439)(091):929 Townson R. IVevor R. Shaw: Robert Townson, popotnik po Madžarskem leta 1793 - njegovo življenje in delo Robert Townson (1762 - 1827) je študiral medicino, kemijo in naravoslovje na univerzah v Edinburgu, Parizu, Dunaju in Göttingenu in bil imenovan za častnega doktorja prava v Edinburgu leta 1796. Bil je na petmesečnem potovanju po Madžarski in Slovaški ter leta 1797 objavil knjigo Travels in Hungary. V tem delu opisuje jame pri Aggteleku, na Silicki planini ter brezna v Alsö-hegy. Dodana je tudi geološka karta, sestavljena na podlagi Townsonovih lastnih opazovanj. 1798 in 1799 je izdal še deli geološke in naravoslovne vsebine. 1807 se je izselil v Avstralijo. Ključne besede: Townson, speologija, geologija, zgodovina, biografija, objave, Madžarska, Slovaška, Baradla, helektit. Abstract UDC 55(439)(091):929 Townson R. Trevor R. Shaw: Robert Townson, traveller in Hungary in 1793 - his life and work Robert Townson (1762 - 1827) studied medicine, chemistry and natural history at the universities of Edinburgh, Paris, Vienna and Göttingen and he was made an honorary Doctor of Laws by Edinburgh in 1796. He made the 5-month journey in Hungary and Slovakia which resulted in his Travels in Hungary (1797). Besides describing the caves at Aggtelek and Silica, and mentioning the Also-hegy shafts, this book contained a very early geological map, prepared by Townson from his own observations of rocks. Other books on geology (1798) and natural history (1799) followed. Then in 1807 he emigrated to Australia. Key words: Townson, speleology, geology, history, biography, publications, Hungary, Slovakia, Baradla cave, helictite. ' Old Rectory, Shoscombe, BATH BA2 8NB, U. K. INTRODUCTION Robert Townson's book Travels in Hungary... (1797a) is well known in Central Europe for its account of his visits to caves in Hungary and Slovakia. The extracts containing the descriptions of Baradla cave at Aggtelek, the Silica ice cave and the open shafts in the Also-hegy plateau have frequently been reprinted (e. g. in Denes 1972; and Hadobas 1991; 1992) with topographical and speleological comment. For convenience, and to make Townson's text more widely accessible, they are reprinted here as Appendix I. There has previously been little written on Townson's geological background, and much of the biographical information provided has been incorrect. Indeed, Townson's life has hitherto remained something of a mystery. What has been published about him in Europe has been largely wrong and seriously incomplete. His place of birth, for example, is recorded in The Dictionary of National Biography (Carlyle 1899) as "probably... Yorkshire", with no year given. Britten & Boulger (1914; 1931), Desmond (1977) state that he was born in Shropshire, again with no year. Goodin (1967) has him born in 1763; Hadobas (1992) states "He died in 1799". None of these 'facts' is true. This paper therefore concentrates on his hfe, work and travels. In so doing it adds 28 years to the hfe previously recorded in European biographical dictionaries, takes him to a successful new career in another continent, and provides a portrait. A further intention is to provide a fuller picture of Townson himself - his interests, abilities and achievements - so as to throw more light on the man that travelled in Hungary, the quahty of his observations there and the authority with which he wrote on geological matters. BIRTH AND YOUTH, 1762-1782 The clue to new sources of information on Townson's life came to the present author when he was using the much revised second edition of A Biographical Index of deceased British and Irish Botanists (Britten & Boulger 1931). Here, unhke the entry in the first edition of 1893 (one of the sources of the erroneous entry in the Dictionary of National Biography), is the key phrase "d[ied] Australia". No date of birth was given and much of the other information was incorrect but that one simple statement led to the examination of Australian pubhcations and other sources in Australia. In the course of this, I learned that my friend Dr Hugh Torrens, geologist and historian of science at the University of Keele, was already aware of Townson's Australian existence and had done extensive research in the course of preparing a revised entry for The Dictionary of National Biography (as yet unpubhshed). Much of the biographical information in this paper is derived from his published work. Robert Townson was born, not in Yorkshire or in Shropshire, but in Richmond near London. Vallance & Torrens (1984) have investigated parish registers of baptisms, an act of parliament and family divorce papers, and establish that: Robert Townson was born between January and March 1762 at Spring Grove, Marshgate, Richmond, Surrey and baptised there on 4 April 1762. His parents were married well over four years later at Richmond on 23 December 1766. His father John (c. 1720-1773) was a London merchant and insurer; his mother Sarah Shewell (1731-1805) came from a family with... connections with London brewing and publishing companies. Robert's father died when he was only ten years old. He served an apprenticeship in Manchester and then, from 1777, lived with his brother-in-law, the Rev. John Witts (1750-1816), at Cardington near Church Stretton in Shropshire. UNIVERSITIES AND EUROPEAN TRAVEL, 1783-1795 From 1783 to 1787 Townson travelled on foot through France and Italy to Sicily, and on his return from there he attended lectures in Paris on chemistry and probably on mineralogy also. In December 1789 he enrolled as a medical student at the University of Edinburgh, where he remained for two years without taking a medical degree. Later, however, on 11 April 1796, he was made an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL. D.) by that University (Jo Currie, pers. comm. 1994, quoting the Senate Minutes). This is likely to have been in recognition also of his achievements elsewhere in Europe by the university of what had then become his 'home' town. This LL. D. degree was printed after his name on the title pages of all his books. While at the University he joined the student Natural History Society, appearing on the membership list of 7 January 1790 and presenting two papers on local geology which will be referred to again later, along with his other publications. In 1791 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, an honour he also used on his title pages. The influence on Townson of his friends and teachers at Edinburgh will be referred to at the end of this paper. In 1791 they recommended that he be appointed as naturahst to accompany a new Lieutenant-Governor to Canada. This did not happen so he travelled in Europe again, via Uppsala (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark) to Göttingen (Germany). There he enrolled as a student in the Department of Natural History on 19 December 1791 (Seile 1937, and Ulrich Hunger, pers. comm. 1994). Although The Dictionary of National Biography (Carlyle 1899, Desmond 1977) credit him with becoming a Doctor of Medicine there in 1795, and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (Goodin 1967) states that he was made a Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) there in the same year, Hunger (pers. comm. 1994) says that there is no evidence for either degree; furthermore the absence of any leaving certificate suggests that he did not take any degree there at all. It is significant that neither MD nor DCL degrees are printed on the title pages of his books. During his three and a half years at Göttingen University, Townson spent the winter of 1792-93 in Vienna, where he studied the respiration of amphibia. A paper written there on that subject, and another completed later in Göttingen, where later published. Leaving Vienna on 5 May 1793, he set off on his Hungarian travels, returning in the middle of October. The Hungarian tour, his geological observations there, and the resulting book, are considered separately. WRITING, 1795-1806 In May 1795 Townson returned home from Göttingen to Edinburgh. He worked there on his Hungarian book and attempted, unsuccessfully, to get himself appointed by the East India Company to study the physical geography, mineralogy and natural history of India (Townson 1797a, p. vi; 1799, p. 150). It was at this time, as already mentioned, that his honorary LL. D. was awarded by the University of Edinburgh. His Travels in Hungary... was published in 1797 and two other books, also discussed later, in 1798 and 1799. After this he started preparing a "County History of Yorkshire", but it was never published. AUSTRALIA, 1807-1827 When his mother died in May 1805 Townson decided to emigrate to Australia. His elder brother John (1760-1835) had served in New South Wales as a military officer from 1790 (Austin 1967) and returned there as a settler in 1806. Robert followed him, arriving in July 1807. As a naturalist and scholar, and known to the influential Sir Joseph Banks who had accompanied Captain Cook's expedition round the world in 1768-71, he was promised grants of land and also given a sum of money to buy books and laboratory equipment for use in the still young colony (where the first settlers had landed only 18 years before). Strangely, the then Governor of New South Wales (WiDiam Bligh, who had been on Cook's third voyage and is known as victim of the Bounty mutiny at Tahiti in 1789) seemed opposed to Townson. The promised grants of land were not made and his scientific work was hindered (Goodin 1967). Thus alienated, he joined other influential and dissatisfied settlers in forcing the deposition of Governor Bligh. Bligh's replacement, Lachlan Mac-quarie was governor from 1808 to 1821 and his name is remembered in the Macquarie River and Macquarie Island. The grants of land were at last made in 1810, and Townson established a farm at Varroville, near Sydney, as described later. Perhaps still affected by the treatment he had received from Bligh, Townson seemed to lose almost all interest in scientific matters, and became discontented and unsociable. Many letters of this period are in the Mitchell Library in Sydney. He devoted himself almost exclusively to developing his farm, where he raised cattle and sheep, planted experimental crops and established a thriving vineyard (Anon. 1827; 1963: Leister, pers. comm. 1995). He was associated with the Philosophical Society in Sydney about 1820 (Finney 1993) but this was more a social club for those opposed to Governor Macquarie than a learned society. When Macquarie left in 1821, Townson became a more norm.al member of the community. He was vice-president of the Agricultural Society of New South Wales (Goodin 1967) and worked on its committees, he supported the foundation of a Sydney Dispensary to provide free medical attention for the poor, gave dinners at his home, and in 1826 was appointed a magistrate. He died at Varroville on 27 June 1827, aged 65, and was buried on 2 July at Parramatta. PORTRAIT An oil painting of Robert Townson in his later years (Fig. 1) was made by Augustus Earle (1793-1838), who a few years later was the artist in HMS Beagle during her South American voyage with Darwin. The picture is undated but must have been painted between 1825, when Earle arrived in Australia, and 1827 when Townson died. It was presented to the Australian Museum in 1873 and transferred to the Mitchell Library, in the National Library of New South Wales, in 1961. Although untitled, the recorded identity of the sitter is supported by the lettering on the spines of the books on the table by his right hand, all of which were written by him. Fig. 1: Robert Townson between 1825 and 1827, a portrait by Augustus Earle. Oil painting 81,3 x 64,5 cm. Reproduced by permission of the Mitchell Library in Sydney. VARROVILLE, HIS HOME IN AUSTRALIA The delayed grants of land near Sydney were made by Governor Macquarie in 1810 (Anon. 1963), but there still was some further administrative delay after that. The area granted, on which Varroville was built and the farm created in the present-day district of Minto on the south-west outskirts of Sydney, was 1000 acres (404,7 hectares) and there was more land near Botany Bay. Macquarie visited the place in 1810 and remarked in his diary that Townson's land and some more nearby "are by far the finest soil and best pasturage I have yet seen in the Colony" (Anon. 1963). Townson named his property Varroville after the Roman agricultural writer Marcus Terrentius Varro. Just what remains of Townson's house is not completely clear. There is no documentary evidence to prove that he built the [present] house at Varroville, but the two owners after Dr. Townson were not long in occupation, and it is reasonable to assume that Townson, a wealthy man, erected a comfortable house for himself on his land (Anon. 1963, p. 25) Recent information received from Campbelltown City Council (1995) is accompanied by a map (Fig. 2) in which one building is labelled "House, c. 1816 (Robert Town-son's)" and there is also, nearby, "Approx. site of house, c. 1810". A wooden 'slab hut' of about 1810 does exist but whether it was already on the land when it was granted to Town-son, or whether he had it built as temporary accommodation, is not known. The house of c. 1816 (Fig. 3) also survives and is still occupied. The main house, "Varroville" (Fig. 4), a little to the north, was formerly thought to have been built, or at least much modified, in 1859. Its main cha-Fig. 2: The buildings at Varroville. A recent map sup- racter, including the plied by the Campbelltown City Council cast iron columns on Fig. 3: The house of c. 1816-1820 at Varroville, which Townson probably occupied while the larger house was under construction. Photographed in 1950. Fig. 4: Part of the south side of the main house at Varroville. The cast iron veranda columns on the right were added in 1859, but at least part of the house was built in the 1820s. Photograph by Ian Leister 17 Sept. 1995. the east side (Fig. 4), are of that period. The present owners, Kenneth and Virginia Pearson-Smith, who bought the property from the National Trust, are both architects and they beheve that the basic building is older. The original wooden roof tiles exist under parts of the iron roof and that the practice of using these was discontinued in the 1830s. The two west wings, at least, therefore date from some time in the 1820s. Although the front section was probably modernised in 1859, Varroville was one of the houses in the area that was used for entertaining before that, so a sizeable house must have already existed (Ian Leister, pers. comm. 21 Sept. 1995). So, to what extent the present house was known to Townson, and whether he lived in succession in the c. 1816 building and then the present building before its later modification, is uncertain. A plan of the present house, and drawings of its appearance from all four sides, are printed in Anon. (1963). Later owners, after Townson's time, included Charles Sturt the explorer who in 1828 had been almost certainly the first person to explore the caves at Wellington, in New South Wales. THE 1793 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL EUROPE Townson's travels in Hungary and Slovakia during 1793 resulted not only in his classic descriptions of the Baradla and Silica caves, but also, and probably more importantly for the historian of geology, the very early geological map which accompanies the book and the observations on rocks which occur throughout. There are also accounts of towns and the people he met, travels over mountains, visits to mines and remarks on vine growing and wild plants. His route, described below, is marked in red on his map. Where the spelling of place names differs between those on the map and in the text, the latter are used here. The equivalent modern names are given in brackets. From Vienna he crossed the border into Hungary and passed through Oedinburgh (Sopron), Komorn (Komarom) and St. Andree (Szentendre) to Bude and Pest (Budapest). After a spell there he travelled east to Gyongyes (Gyöngyös) and through Debretzin (Debrecen) to Gross Wardein (Oradea in Transylvania). Turning back there, he passed through Debrecen and went on to Tokay (Tokaj) before crossing the present-day frontier to Caschau (Košice) in Slovakia (which was then a part of Hungary). It was while he was at Košice that he was told of the caves and consequently visited those at Akteleg (Aggtelek) and Szihtze (the ice cave at Silica, now in Slovakia). He also saw, near Nadaska (Tornanadaska), the entrances of some of the deep shafts on Also-hegy (not named in the book or on the map). From Rosenau (Rožnava) he travelled north to Poprad and across the High Tatra to visit the Wieliczka salt mine and the nearby city of Krakow in Poland. Returning south again across the Tatra, he was unable to make his planned visit to the Demänova ice cave and went on south to the mining towns of Schemnitz (Banska Stiavnica) and Kremnitz (Kremnica) which interested him particularly. On through Neitra (Nitra) to Presburg (Bratislava) and back to Vienna. THE BOOK "TRAVELS IN HUNGARY" AND ITS GEOLOGICAL MAP The resulting book, Travels in Hungary... (Fig. 5), is a substantial volume of xix + 506 pages, measuring about 27 cm by 21 cm. Besides the map, with the areas containing different rock types outlined in colours, there are 16 engravings, of hills, the entrance to the Silica ice cave, a section through the Wieliczka salt mine, minerals, insects and plants. The text provides not only a general account of his travels, including the visits to mines and an alum works, but throughout he is constantly describing rocks, soils, "pseudo-volcanic craters", etc. The cave descriptions (see Appendix I) show no particular geological insights. He remarks that they are "like all that I have seen, in a primitive or unstrati-fied compact lime-stone... I think they arise from the rock, whatever that might be, giving way which supports them." On another page he writes that the individual chambers in the Barad-la cave "have been formed by the falhng in of the rock"; so probably he means no more than that caves are enlarged by roof breakdown. When going into the Silica ice cave (Fig. 6), he is concerned to counter the common view, held by Bel (1739) and others, that ice caves are colder in summer than in winter and that it is therefore in summer that the ice is formed. Townson pointed out that the apparent cold of such caves in summer was due to the contrast with the warm air outside. When he visited the Sihca cave on 16 July the air temperature inside was 0° C and, TRAVELS H U N G A R Y, A SHORT ACCOUNT Ol» VIENNA IN THE YEAR 1793v ROBERT TOWNSON, L. L. D. ■ r. R. S. EDIXB. BTC. BTC, ETC. ILU!S.T&A.TEI> WITH A MAP AHD SIXTEEN OTHEt!, CQPPSR.fl.ATEÄ. LONDON^ PRINTSI) POR O, O. AND 3. ROBlJfSON, PATaaNOSTEIt-RO\r^ Fig. 5: The title page of the book describing Townson's tour in Hungary and Slovakia, Fig. 6: The entrance of the Silica ice cave, opp. p. 319 of Townson's book of 1797. although there were large masses of ice, they were wet and dripping as they very slowly melted. He believed that the ice is definitely formed in winter, though there is some delay before the low outside temperatures have an effect in the cave. Thus ice formation does not commence immediately with the beginning of winter, and the same slow reaction of the cave to external temperatures allows the ice to persist into the following summer. He held this common-sense and largely correct view fifty years before the theory of summer freezing was finally overcome. His idea had been put forward a century and a quarter earlier by Steno (1969) in 1671, but only in unpublished letters which Townson could not have seen. It is the map, with "Petrography... added by the Author" (Fig. 7), which makes the book of wider significance than just a regional description. On the map are distinguished 13 kinds of rock types, including 'granit', volcanic tufa, stratified and unstratified sandstone, 'shistus', sahne hmestone, unstratified compact limestone, stratified limestone, and calcareous tufa. It appears to be the first such map published in England. The somewhat similar "Mineralogical H N er K ' T, l>y tlie A TJ t h o B. . . ■ : Fig. 7: The title block of the map in Townson's 1797 book. map, of the western counties of England" was published later in the same year (Maton 1797) with the different rocks distinguished by cross-hatching instead of colour. In fact, Maton's whole book is rather similar to Townson's in that the text includes many geological observations made in the course of his journeys in south-west England in 1794 and 1796. Vallance & Torrens (1984) point out that an earlier German example of such a map occurs in a book by Charpentier (1778), which Townson had seen in 1792 in Göttingen. The arrangement of rock types in the key does not show any particular stratigraphic order, but some indications of this are given in the text where certain rock types are described as occurring between two others. Presciently he wrote: When mineralogy and physical geography shall be more cultivated, which one day they certainly will, these maps will become common, and their union will give an easy and visible representation of the coating of our globe, that is, of its rocks and strata and their relative situations. (Townson 1797, p. xii) He went on to say that this would be of practical use when particular minerals were recognized as occurring in certain strata. The basic map from which Townson prepared his modified version and then added to it the geological information, was pubhshed by Johann Matthias Korabinsky in 1791. This original Korabinsky map showed the location of more caves than the one produced by Townson (Plihal 1992), who had presumably decided to simphfy his in places so that it was able to receive his additional information without becoming overcrowded. His intention was evidently to produce a good 'petrographic' map from his observations throughout the tour, rather than a location map for the places he had visited. Thus, although the map in the 1797 book does have a cave symbol at "Szilitze", there is neither symbol nor name at Aggtelek. The influence of Townson's Travels in Hungary..., which in English appeared only in a single edition, was greatly extended by its translation into French and Dutch. Editions in French were published in Paris in 1799 (Voyage en Hongrie, 3 vols.) and 1803, and at Leipzig in 1800; Dutch editions (Reize in Hongarijen) were issued in 1800 and 1801 at Den Haag (Darvas 1964). It was the French language editions which made the book known in Hungary where little English was then spoken (Hadobas 1992). The description of the Baradla cave at Aggtelek, only, was translated into Hungarian and included in Almasi Balogh's (1820) study of the cave. It may have been from this that Imre Vass (1831a; b), who wrote an entire book about the cave, learned about Townson's visit. Contemporary reviews of Travels in Hungary... do not add to our knowledge of the book. Certainly, as was their purpose, they made it known to potential readers. They assess it from the point of view of the general reader, and not that of a geologist, speleologist or historian of science. The lengthy review by Thomas Beddoes (1797) in The Monthly Review is mainly descriptive of the journey, with many quotations; and a single-paragraph review elsewhere (Anon. 1798) laments that although the book covers "ground untrodden by any of our late tourists", its author has "unclassical taste" and was presumably considered at fault for examining rocks rather than the classical architecture of the Grand Tour. TOWNSON'S OTHER PUBLICATIONS All Townson's publications, both before and after his Travels in Hungary..., reflect his interest in natural history and especially mineralogy and the wider subject of geology. His lectures to the student Natural History Society at Edinburgh in 1790 were not printed until 1799, so his earliest pubhcation was a botanical paper read to the Linnean Society in London in 1792 and printed in their Transactions two years later (Townson 1794). It was reprinted in his book of 1799, but otherwise his interest in botany diminished with time, though there was a botanical appendix of 18 pages in the Travels..., as well as a slightly longer one on entomology. These publications justified his inclusion in the book, A Biographical Index of deceased British and Irish Botanists (Britten & Boulger 1931), which led to the writing of the present paper. Townson's papers on the physiology of amphibia, already mentioned as being written at Vienna and at Göttingen in 1793 and 1795 respectively, were published separately in Göttingen (Townson 1794, 1795). An English reviewer (Anon. 1796) comments that "These tracts contain, in a small bulk, a very interesting series of curious and accurate observations". Both were reprinted, in Enghsh, in Townson's book of 1799. An extract from his 1797 Travels in Hungary, describing a method of bread-making at Debrecen, was pubhshed separately as a short paper in the same year (Townson 1797b). The Philosophy of Mineralogy (Townson 1798) (Fig. 8) is a book of 233 pages overall and covers some aspects of what would now be called geology, as well as mineralogy. The 1790s were a particularly interesting time for anyone PHILOSOPHY OP - MINERALOGY. nr ROBERT TUfr'NsoN, I.L.I>. E. 2. S, E4iitl!. (H!.-—Auilitjf it Tr-Iiili tiirajjK ilaug^y. to study and write about these subjects. There were two conflicting schools of thought about how rocks had originally been formed. The Neptunists accepted Werner's belief, published in 1787, that all rocks had been formed by deposition from the primaeval ocean. The Plutonists, on the other hand, followed Hutton (1795) in thinking that the earliest rocks were the result of volcanic action, and that only later were fragments eroded from these laid down as sedimentary rocks in the sea. Townson was mainly a Neptunist, though with some reservations. The 1790s were also a period in which oxygen was being recognized and phlogiston rejected, and the significance of carbonic acid in dissolving limestone was being reahsed. Townson himself (1798, p. 114) wrote: Chemistry of late years has made a most rapid progress, and every branch of human knowledge within its reach has been advanced by it. Mineralogy should be the first to speak its eulogium... Chemistry has done much for mineralogy: it has raised it from a frivolous amusement to a sublime science... On page 26 of the same book he speaks of carbonic acid "being a constituent of limestones... and acidulous waters". He does not comment on its role in the formation of speleothems. In his Hungarian travels (1797) he was more concerned with description than explanation, and The Philosophy of Mineralogy is an outline of the subject rather than a treatise. A reviewer (Anon. 1799a) criticised it for just this, but its author explains (p. ix) that this was because there was insufficient support for the larger work, to be called "Elements of Mineralogy", that he had announced the year before (Townson 1797a, between pages 494 and 495). Stalactites are mentioned in The Philosophy... but only as examples of minerals of a particular colour (p. 122) and of one of the shapes in which minerals occur (p. 140). Tracts and Observations in Natural History (Townson 1799) (Fig. 9) is a collection of papers of various lengths. The first two parts of his "Physiological Observations on the Amphibia", already published in Latin in 1794 and 1795, LOXOOlV! puiy fRii jto 'rili: AyriiOK. soL!> My jeitx wHj-rr.j f[.iet-si-ttssT. im. Fig. 8: Townson's 1798 book on mineralogy and geology. Tracts and Observations NATURAL HISTORY PHYSIOLOGY. liV ROÜEST TOWNSON^ L.L.I). grrirtüfortbtSCiilliati S8tB 3V J. Klll/E, FLfII-iTRlI-T, are printed here in English together with a third part, previously unpublished. "Memorandums on the rocks in the immediate vicinity of the City of Edinburgh" is based on the two papers he read to the student Natural History Society at Edinburgh in 1790. The Linnean Society paper on the growth of plants is also reprinted. Besides these, the book contains 21 original papers of which the most important is "A sketch of the Mineralogy of Shropshire". There is also the short "Remarks on the Flos-ferri", reprinted here as Appendix II, to make it available to karst researches. Flos ferri is normally a fine quill-like form of ant-hodite occurring in clusters, but Town-son's description suggests that he is thinking of helictites. He is unable to explain their formation, though stalactites, he thinks, result from simple evaporation of water. A reviewer (Anon. 1799b) may have found most of the book too technical: the Shropshire mineralogy is appreciated, but the papers on amphibian respiration are considered too lengthy, and the rest is "unimportant matter". After this, Townson planned to write a three-volume "County History of Yorkshire" (Anon. 1802). He worked at it until 1805, when it was seen that there was insufficient demand to cover the cost of publication (Vallance & Torrens 1984). By then, too, he was planning to emigrate. A few years later it was recorded as having been an "unsuccessful attempt" (Anon. 1809). At the end of his mineralogy book Townson (1798, p. [220]) announced as žpreparing for the Press' a book to be called "Benevolence, considered as a source of happiness" but this too seems never to have appeared. It has been stated (Vallance & Torrens 1984) that "The Poor Man's Moralist", which reached a 3rd edition in 1799, was written by Robert Townson. The British Museum General Catalogue of Printed Books firmly attributes this to the Rev. Thomas Townson (1715-1792), but in view of the previous paragraph it might be questioned whether its identification of the "Dr. T." of the title page is correct. ICWDON. 'm- Fig. 9: Townson's 1799 book on natural history and geology, which includes his paper on flos ferri. CONCLUSION This paper provides information, not hitherto pubhshed in the field of karst studies, describing Robert Townson's hfe after he apparently "disappeared" from European view in 1799. He emigrated to Australia, became a successful vine-grower and farmer, and died in 1827. By drawing heavily on a paper published by Vallance & Torrens in 1984, together with other sources, it has been possible to provide more information about his earlier life in Europe, and to resolve some of the anomalies in the standard biographies. Throughout the whole of his life up to his emigration in 1807, it will have been seen that Townson's main and continuing interest was in natural history and especially in mineralogy and geology: a) 1789-91. The friends who influenced him when he was studying at the University of Edinburgh included Joseph Black (Professor of Chemistry), James Hutton (geologist), Alexander Monro (Professor of Anatomy), Daniel Rutherford (Professor of Botany) and John Walker (Professor of Natural History). Later he came to know Sir Joseph Banks, for 45 years President of the Royal Society. b) 1790. The two papers he presented as a student at Edinburgh were on local geology. c) 1791. He was recommended for a post as naturalist in Canada. d) 1791-95. He studied in the Department of Natural History at Göttingen. e) 1793. Geological observations were an important part of his travels in Hungary. f) 1795. The studies he proposed to carry out in India were to be on its mineralogy, geology and physical geography. g) 1797. Publication of Travels in Hungary... with its petrographic map. h) 1798. Pubhcation of The Philosophy of Mineralogy. j) 1799. Pubhcation of his "Mineralogy of Shropshire", for which much of the research had been done some ten years earlier, with a collection of other natural history papers including "Remarks on the Flos-ferri". k) 1802. Intention to publish on the geology of Yorkshire. The 1790s were a particularly active time in the development of geology, both because advances in chemistry were making it possible to understand more about rocks and minerals and because the fundamentally opposed ideas of the Neptunists (including Townson) and the Vulcanists explained their origin in totally different ways. So it was an exciting time to be a naturalist and geologist. Whether or not his geological background made Townson any better an observer or recorder of caves is open to question. His view that caves "arise from the rock... giving way..." certainly did not advance knowledge of speleogenesis. On the other hand, he measured temperatures deep inside the cave at Aggtelek "with a view to a scertain the medium temperature of this part of Hungary". And in the Sihca ice cave his observations and temperature measurements enabled him to refute Bel's (1739) statement, sent to the Royal Society, that the ice formed there during the summer. Nevertheless his purpose in the Travels in Hungary... was mainly to describe these caves and not to conjecture how they had been formed. It was in his observation of the different kinds of rock in the country he visited, showing them on his žpetrographic' map and occasionally noting their relative positions, that his geological experience was of benefit. At least the caves were seen by someone who was familiar with geological phenomena, and it may be that this was why he visited several during a relatively short visit. The shafts on the Also-hegy plateau would have been unlikely to attract the attention of a more conventional tourist. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am particularly grateful to Dr Hugh Torrens of the University of Keele, who has been working on Townson's life for many years, for sending me copies of his publications. Kenneth and Virginia Pearson-Smith, the owners of Town-son's land at Varroville, Sydney, shared some of their historical knowledge and allowed photographs to be taken; they also sent me prints from some old photographs. Ian Leister of Canberra located more historical material and made contact with the Pearson-Smiths, visiting Varroville and photographing it. Biographical information came from Miss Broughton archivist of the Shropshire Record Office, Mrs Jo Currie of Edinburgh University Library, Dr Ulrich Hunger archivist of the Georg August University in Göttingen, and the staff of the Mitchell Library in Sydney who also arranged for the portrait of Townson to be copied. Chris Howes, FRPS, made the copy photographs for publication. I thank them all. REFERENCES Almasi Balogh, P. A., 1820: Baradla utazas 1818-dik esztendöben.- Tudomanyos Gyüjtemeny 1820 (1), 63-90, Pest (cited by Hadobas 1991). Anon. 1796: [Review of] Roberti Townson Observationes physiologicae, &c.- The Monthly Review [2nd ser.], 20, Appendix 494-495, London. Anon. 1798: Literary memoirs of living authors of Great Britain...- London, R. Faulder, 2 vols. (2 : 325). Anon. 1799a: [Review of] Philosophy of mineralogy. By Robert Townson.- The Monthly Review [2nd ser.], 30, 326-328, London. Anon. 1799b: [Review of] Tracts and observations in natural history and physiology... By Robert Townson.- The Monthly Review [2nd ser.], 30, 409-410, London. Anon. 1802: The Monthly Magazine, 14 (2), Sept., 162, London. Anon. 1809: [Review oi^ The history of Cleveland... by John Graves.- The Gentleman's Magazine 79 [2] Feb., 138-141, London (p. 138). Anon. 1827: Doctor Townson [obituary].- The Sydney Gazette, 2 July. Anon. 1963: Historic buildings 3. Liverpool and Campbelltown.- Cumberland County Council, 25-29. Austin, M., 1967: Townson, John (1760-1835). Pp. 536-537 in Australian dictionary of biography 1788-1850 2, Melbourne University Press. [Beddoes, T], 1797: [Review of] Travels in Hungary... By Robert Townson.- The Monthly Review, [2nd ser.], 24, Sept., 1-9; Oct., 169-176, London (author identified by H. S. Torrens, pers. comm. 1995). Bel, M., 1739: Dias antrorum mirabilis naturae, glacialis alterius, alterius halitus noxios eructantis.- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 41 (i) no 452, 41-56, London. Britten, J. & Boulger, G. S., 1893: A biographical index of British and Irish botanists.- London, West & Newman, xv, 222 p. (p. 170). Britten, J. & Boulger, G. S., 1914: Jonathan Stokes and his commentaries.-Journal of Botany 1914, 317-323, London (p. 323). Britten, J. & Boulger, G. S., 1931: A biographical index of deceased British and Irish botanists.- 2nd edn. London, Taylor & Francis, xxii, 342 p. (p. 303). Campbelltown City Council. [1995?]. Varroville. Unpublished, 2 p. C[arlyle], E. I., 1899: Townson, Robert (fl. 1792-1799). E 133 in The dictionary of national biography 57, London, Smith, Elder. Charpentier, J. F. W., 1778: Mineralogische Geographie der chursächsischen Lande.- Leipzig, xliv, xvi, 432 p. (cited by Vallance & Torrens 1984, p. 393). Darvas, I, 1964: Adalekok az Aggteleki (Baradla) barlang bejäräsa es felterke-pezese törtenetehez, irodalmähoz es bibhogräfiäjahoz.- Karszt es Barlang, 1964 pt. 1, 1-11, Budapest. Denes, G., 1972: Az elsö irodalmi adat a tornai-Alsö-hegy zsombolyairöl.-Karszt es Barlang, 1970 pt. 1, 19-20, Budapest. Desmond, R., 1977: Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticultura-lists." London, Taylor & Francis, xxvi, 747 p. (p. 615). Finney, C., 1993: Paradise revealed Natural history in nineteenth century Austraha.- Melbourne, Museum of Victoria (p. 18). Goodin, V. W. E., 1967: Townson, Robert (1763-1827). Pp. 537-538 in Australian dictionary of biography 1788-1850 2, Melbourne University Press. Hadobas, S., 1991: The first detailed description of Baradla Cave in Robert Townson's book pubhshed in 1797.- The International Caver Magazine (1), 32-35, Swindon. Hadobas, S., 1992: Passages concerning caves from Robert Townson's Hungarian travelbook.- Proceedings of the ALCADI '92 International Confe- rence on Speleo History, Budapest, 1992, Karszt es Barlang, 33-36, Budapest. Hutton, J., 1795: Theory of the earth, with proofs and illustrations.- Edinburgh, Cadell, Junior & Davies, 2 vols. Maton, W. G., 1797: Observations relative chiefly to the natural history, picturesque scenery, and antiquities, of the western counties of England, made in the years 1794 and 1796.- Salisbury, J. Easton, 2 vols. Plihal, K., 1992: Caves of the Carpathian basin on old maps.- Proceedings of the ALCADI '92 International Conference on Speleo History, Budapest, 1992, Karszt es Barlang, 95-98, Budapest. Seile, G. von, 1937: Die Matrikel der Georg=August=Universität zu Göttingen 1734-1837.- Hildesheim & Leipzig, A. Lax, [vi], 935, [vii], 176, [i] p. (p. 335) [Veröffentlichungen der historischen Kommission für Hannover, 9]. Steno, N., 1969: Geological papers.- Ed. G. Scherz. Odense University Press, 370 p. (pp. 235-248). Townson, R., 1794: Objections against the perceptivity of plants, so far as is evinced by their external motions...- Transactions of the Linnean Society 2, 267-272, London, (also reprinted in Townson 1799, p. 137-146.) Townson, R., 1794, 1795: Observationes physiologicae de amphibiis.- Parts 1, 2. Göttingen, 68 p. Townson, R., 1797a: Travels in Hungary, with a short account of Vienna in the year 1793.- London, G. G. & J. Robinson, xviii, [i], 506 p. Townson, R., 1797b: The method of making excellent bread without yeast; as practised at Debretzin in Hungary.- A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the arts, London, 1. Sept., 267-268. Townson, R., 1798: Philosophy of mineralogy.- London, for the author, sold by J. White, xiv, 219, [iv] p. Townson, R., 1799: Tracts and observations in natural history and physiology.-London, printed for the author and sold by J. White, ix, 232 p. Vallance, T. G. & Torrens, H. S., 1984: The Anglo-Australian traveller Robert Townson and his map of Hungarian "petrography" (1797). Contributions to the history of geological mapping.- Proceedings of the 10th INHIGEO Symposium 16-22 August 1982, Budapest, 391-398. Vass, L, 1831a: Az Agteleki barlang...- Pest, Landerer, [vi], 82 p. Vass, L, 1831b: Neue Beschreibung der Aggteleker Höhle Gömörer Comitats in Ungarn...- Pest, Landerer, 88 p. Werner, A. G., 1787: Kurze Klassifikation und Beschreibung der verschiedenen Gebirgsarten.- Dresden, 28 p. ROBERT TOWNSON, POPOTNIK PO MADŽARSKEM LETA 1793 - NJEGOVO ŽIVLJENJE IN DELO Povzetek Robert Townson (rodil se je v bližini Londona leta 1762, umrl leta 1827 v Avstraliji) je študiral medicino, kemijo in naravoslovje na univerzah v Edinbur-gu, Parizu, Dunaju in Göttingenu. Čeprav ni dokončal študija na nobeni od univerz, so ga imenovali za častnega doktorja prava v Edinburgu leta 1796. Potoval je po Italiji in Skandinaviji, nato pa je odšel na petmesečno potovanje po Madžarski in Slovaški. Rezultat tega potovanja je leta 1797 objavljena knjiga Travels in Hungary. V tem delu opisuje jame pri Aggteleku, na Silicki planini ter brezno Alsö-hegy. Delu je dodana tudi geološka karta, sestavljena na podlagi Townsonovih lastnih opazovanj. Strani, ki vsebujejo njegove opise jam so ponatisnjene v dodatku. 1798 in 1799 je izdal še deli geološke in naravoslovne vsebine. 1807 se je izselil v Avstralijo, kjer je nameraval nadaljevati z znanstvenim delom. Zaradi nesporazuma z guvernerjem države New South Wales je to opustil, nato pa se je preselil v bližino Sydneya, kjer je kmetoval in se ukvarjal z vinogradništvom. V prispevku je tudi reprodukcija njegovega portreta iz šestdesetih let in ocena njegovih knjig. APPENDIX I THE CAVE DESCRIPTIONS IN TOWNSON (1797) SAturday, Jit'y la Ih. I left Cr.r.hnv 1 i but I ngnii, left t!.e dlroil road to the Carpathi an Alps, an J nre: :t oiT to 1 :i.c wed. I V, ■a, iii- iii;ccd to this from hearing Ca rdiau, and r.rt t roin tile vtii^^a r, intr from learned doitors r.nd profciTcrs, th at at tlic dillancc of ni iiont a day's journey there ■Tere tv.-o gr cat C.11 'erns; iti otic of wlsicit water frnz" dnrirg ti.e !\:nr ■„cr, nnd k e tlmx ■cd dtirips tl,e winter: witiitl rhe other was fo v^Al thst one ni :q!it V I'at.'Jcr about in it for a n-ceia wiiho-.it finding an niJ. Sson after : leaving C, afciiaii, I cr.nu : to a r-.iarry c: the Camera •fßKi of V( •alleiio !. At Cfc ■C!, ivlicrc I cii; injed horfes, the read beg r.n to draw itcarc T tit= aod t!,c CO untry hcca:r,c :r.orc plcafa:- tl.U is cl' i-lly.! cor.l ror ntry, indian'^ ;vlie.at gcod deal cuhi' Mtcd. in til = evening I reached Nat i»=tr, the fc^it of nctir-tc's Ci'.:la;s. T1 'le iiiii s here, \vi 'licl. are very iiivr. arc of iinflrcitillfd'cc mpa^t • iilioiit at ly ptttrifaclion! but 'n is full of JjoJes ; feme of rhcfe are To čecp, and at riie iame drac lb round, that they icok. as if they had been formed by arf. I p^lTed the evening in a vtry duil iiiunner ; a rciigli gloomy pricft was come liere to be rendy to perfcnn divir.e icrvku the ncx: cay ; and though he ate copioi iHy hunfclf, he aüoyvcd none o:" the family to do fo J and tiic Countcfs, ar.d her niece, .who was a very nice girl, and fpoke very good French, who were ali ilia.t fa: down to fupper,' fafted. I was a dreadful thorn in the fide of this fellow, and vexed hitn grievoully by eating a hefuty fupper, the whole of which he fceincd to wißi to poiTcfs. Next morning I fet out again for the caverns. I travelled at t])e foot of the fame chain of hills; now and then fome Schlßus made its appearance, but in general the lately mentioned limeftone prevailed. About half way I changed my horfcs fur oxen ; but as they were only to draw me, or rather niy bsggage, over a high hill, where horfes could have gone no fafter, I did not fuficr as in the lafl horned cattle expedirion. About one o'clock I reached Aktdcg, and I took up my quarters with the Calvinift parifli minifter: he Jcnew not a word of German, much lefs French or Englifii, only the Hungarian and the Latin. Though this was Sunday, and the villagers were Calvinifts, they were dancing and making meny. I procured a guide, and ihs iäme. evening I entered the cave j but it was chiefly vnth a view to afcenain the medium temperature of llis part of Hungary. The thermometer in the /hade, in the open air, flood at 15 al)0ve 0 of Re.-uumir, but in the cave, a good way from the mouth,-immerfcd in a running flreani in different places, it flood at feven degrees; yet out of tlie water by the fide of the rock it flood at feven and an half. Shall we fuppofe that nil, or part of this water, came from mcJting fnow, which, hid in fome deep hole or cavern, had now only begun to thaw ? this would render every experiment fallacious; or Hiall we fuppofe thai the rock, however thick, was nevertheiefs afle£ted by the heat of the atmo-fphcre? As I left my thermometer an hour, it certainly, asithadbiit -a fmai; bulb, had time to take the true temperature of the medium vl'.icli -.t was in. The water in the wells in the village was eiglit degrees. The above obfcrvations, though rendered Icfs declfive by this diiVerence, agree pretty well with thofe made by Mr. Haquet on tlie jnc'dlcinaJ warm of Banfcld ; he Cays, " .if fis. o'clock In ihe morning, the water was ten degrees of Reaumur colder than the atniofphere, wliich was then 16 degrees." This brings the temperature of the waters to fix degrees, which is a degree colder than that of this cavern ; but Banfeld is about half a degree of latitude further norih, and in a more elevated fituaUon. In the morning I returned to the cavenn, to fee how far I could pcneirate into it, and to repeat my'experiment with the thermometer, but by accident this was left behind. The report here is, that this cavern extends feveral miles under the hills, and that it would rerjuire fv'vera! days to fee the whole of it. The mouth of it is at the bottom of a precipice about 150 feet high, at the wefl end of a-compact unflratified llmeßonc hill, which ruas cail and weft. Th.is entrance is about two yards broad, but fo low that I was obliged to bend conftderably to get in. I defccndcd rapidly foirafhort diflanca, and then I found myfelf in an immenfe cave, with a very lofty vault; this lias in dilTerent parts communication with other caves and paflages, and tlieie again with others. Some of thefe caverns are-cver one another ; in fome places I came to confiderable flreams of water ; in one great cave my guide conduöed me over a hill- formed-of great blocks of ftone, which moft probably had fallen down from, the roof: in one placc I had to get down a hole like the funnel of a chimney; then 1 was led into a «ave where large ftalatJ^ites, as thick as.my body, hung pendent from the roof, and I was fiiowii others where (he iides were ornamenfod la the ef tk* meat' curious Gotliic wcrkmanfcip. In fome the (lalaililes were fo thick and clofe together, that we were in danger of lofing one another if" we feparated but a few yard?. Here aged Ralač^ites, overloaded with, tl'.eir own weight, had fallen down, and lay proflrate; and there an embryo ftalaöite was juft fhooting into exigence. The moft curious cavern was one apparently of modern date; the fides, and particularly the roof, feemed as if recently feparated : and it was probably fo, fur I think moft of chefe caverns have b^en fanned hy thcr falling in of the rock:, very white and flcnder ftalaÖites were only, found here. Auoc 1 had wandered about for three cr four hours m d-.U s.'^'^fvil g^oom, and liad reached die er^d of the caverns in one diredlon, I thought it time to come out, and I dcllred my guide to return. After we had returned, as we thought, ferne way, we found no palTage further ; yet the guide was fure he was right. I thought I re-c.-gnlfed the fame rocks we had juft left, and which had prevented our pi-occeding farther, but the guide was pofitive he was in a right dh-eaicn. ' Luckily forus I had written my name cn the foft clay of iioaoin of the c , whkh had been xIm irney; hi . the guide was as and knew not wh .0 be frightened, fci .nderftn :ahi us from tl\is h>!T),r» WU8 n OF the guide, wood could I to the people cavcra,' who As ih ot get L 3f the ' ao dou had our t. way out ; we by 01 c.\rncat!n .hauaesl. and wc had left a !own the far .dllnge being .bt would ha our afTiilance had wc 1 deal alarmed for o; ■ches gone out, we'fl: nor, had any accide ■felves, though we h re he to gf •ood which M I never i )Ove, who b ne'.-like hoh icquaiotcd % ,-e taken ev. c -Aayed much h fufety, and there xtent of our joi :k, and ran this way or what to do. I de- ly to ^ •e burn: verted aU; being cl-.a g 10 ne; th our being in the •y.poffible meaiis of igcr than ulual, I ^^•as good reafon ; aid never liave been a!)ie to nnd our have happened to our guide, could •had lights, have had any hopes of jrfclvss. ARci- inderi about ciil all our wood ' ily exiiaufled, we found a great ftalactite froTi which, on. a [fs, I had been indut recolleSed how I il and after walking c e, from w!ic te' homcwan to knock off a fpe-)cd, when^ nruck it :. litile further we made-n we gotfreui torches,; s without further difH.- cf its remarkable wh cirr.cn as I came by I this at once fet us right; ourfcives heard to the othi and we then continued c culty.' So complete a labyrinth as thefe caverns arc in feme piaces, is not l iVA fure to bd 'found buc ia fimilac caverns-, iarge open parages ' proved, citl dc facs, whihl our road was over and under, througii and. amongft grotto-work of th.e moft intricate nature.. I firmly believe,, tliat though a man iliould have lights and food enough to iaft him.a-mor.th, he would not be able to find his way cut. On the foil at the bottoai of the cavern, my imprclTions which, they faid, were from the whe thought immediately to have detečied the erro chftance of the marks of. the two wheels at differ was miilaken j the marks were througho.ut paral were really the marks of a carriage I cannot fay; I only obferved; them in the firft part of the caverns. ]f the foil at the bottom at ;he inouth of the cave was taken away, Ldo not fee any impofTibiiity,. through the affiftance of men, to -get fuch a-.thing irv thus far. It. is. known to have ferved as a hidfng-place ro the weak and l in time of war, and a fitter hiding-place there cannot be: guides llicwed mc-els of a carriage,. .(■ r by meafuring the. ;nt diüances: but I, lei. Whether thefe- infortiinace r thought it probable that I was the firft EngliOi traveller who had-e.xamined this iramenfe cavern; but Mr, Korabinfky fays that it is of fuch. aftoniiliing dtmenfions in length-, that two members of the RoyalSociety of London,,who were fent fomc years ago into Hungary by the Society,'to examine this and other curioficies, after-remaining in it three days^, could never get to. the end of ir, nor find an; opening-." ... After dining;-with tKe paftor, who feemed to poffefs but a fmall. poition of the good-things of this- world, I fct out for the other famous cavern near SzihTze. I traveled by a bye road through a-pleafanr, hilly, and woody country, chiefly ^vith paP^ure land. There 1 law again my favourite Utile animal tlie Earlefs Marmot, which 1 had not feen fince I left the great plain. I reached Sziiitze early m .the evening, and as before, 1 alked hofpicality of the Calvinift. mini 3 er, wlio likevijife. only knew his own language, the Hungarian, and the Latin. He feemed to. be in. more eaiy circumftances than> the Iaft, and:to be.a confiderable farmer? all this diftriil Is inhabited, by CaKiniils.. As the cavern is a mile from the village, I deferred: •feeing it till the next morning, wten my hoft,.who hadincthing-, of the four Calvinift about him, accompanied me. •• •Ti-.e. immenfe. vaults, and- the glittering, ftalaiflites-arranged, in-f Lexicon von Ungarn; p^g« Gothic ftyle, of the Iaft cavern, a; is only famed for poffeffing the i colder in fummer than in wintc winter blows, and tlie whole cou Tl-.ii 2 not tobe fought for liere. ;markable nature -of being rca. ; fo that when the north caft ury is defaced with ice and fno- then the ice within this cavern begins to thaw; but when the parching heat of the canicule rcignsj then its dripping rocks begin to be adorned with pellucid icicles. This is not the opinion of the vulgar alon of the learned llkewife ; it has even reached i its way into our Philofophical Tran factions, garian hiftorian Matthew Eell fent the followi Royal Society, who have inferced it in the tui-a Ahtri id liabeE pro.dlgll, yuod cum" ch riget, tepido fit intus "aei funt fervidüTmii fo'es. • N inire ca;pit, interior antri i objicit, aquanr limpidai: frigoris vi, in pellucidar tiuin dolioruin moiein miris illuCos fpeciebus.'' irgeni'jm, totum xftivi augefcit enitn cum inci hibernus il!e tepor cefTa tanti bur, in this country, ir country, and found The- celebrated Ilun-; account of it to. the volum«.- " Na-uüd cum otcii« i»iuiiib u>i«»nmt«s gido contra, imn\o gJaciaU, cura 1, funul dilTugientibus nivibus vcr i concameratio, qua ea nieridiano foli dorfo et paiTum dillilhintcm e.vfudat: c^ix, interni glacicm concrefcens, ftirias efficit, ad ingen-craiTas, ac pendulas, inque ramos abeuhtes And further adds, " Glaciale iftud fpecus n eft: qucd ideo admirationis habet plurium; ;fcenre folis ardore. Primo>. nimln:m, -s'ere, ;; mox, ubi id adolevit, intcndifrigus occipir. i acceflionibus, ut quo magis aer incalcfcit, eo r.i'.'.fuius. Ac ubi a^ilis ir.iir, jamq-je fsrvec canicula, in. glaclale;n l.-^main intua abcun: omnia." Tliis accoum agrees pci-fctil^ witli t;ic infonnation I received'ar Cülchau, and with whafl heard on the fpot likewife. Yet f know I ihall have no- di:T;cuky to 'pci-faadc Natural Philofophers of the pre-feat that there i> a iJlac)- in tlic obicrvaticns, and that this 'has arilcn ironi depjndhig too much on our fcehngs, ar.d negUd-ing'tho only proper gage of heat, and cold, the tiicrmomcter. TLib cavcni is about a hundred'feet broad, a hundred'and fifty deep or long, and twenty or thirty feet high at the ar.outh or entrance which f.ices the north : The deicent is pretty rapid, the lafi. third part of the hctton^ or fioor was covered' -wkh' ice j but this was fo thin tliat I could fee the rock under It. From the I'ool'ac the ftirther end, wliich -was here much lower than at the entrance, hung an Inimenfe icicle, or rather a congeries of icicles j and in a corner to the right, wliich was noc only depvivx-d of the influence of the fun, as the whole cavern is, but iikcwiis of light,'there was a-great mafs'of icc. It-was a'fine forenoon when I-vifited this natur?.! ice-houfe; and the air was heated by a -July fun ; -as - foon -as I approached the mouth cf the cave, I .felt a chill, which'-increaied tlie-further I. went ill, and which rendered'my continuance there, to obferve- the ftate of the theviv.omctiiv, very dlfagvssable.. ; -..-''':' ^ . '...'.. Icc I truly found here in abundance, and I: was ncir niidfamn-.cr, but ui a llatc of thaw: the bed of ice, which covered the noorof tlie cavcrn, was thinly cove.'ed wich water, and the icicles dropped : every thi;',g announced a thaw. I had no need co u/b :ny c]ivnno-meter; however, I placed it in the kc, and it fell to o of Reaunuir ; I then wiped it and placcd it in a niche in the rock, at the further part cf tire cavern, a yard above the ice, and here it remained near ati hour; when I returned I found it at o. Thinking i: Tnight not have h.ad time to take the reai degree of heat of the insdiiun in which it was in ; I tried this by breathing upon it till it rofe one degree above o ; I then left it for a quarter of an Iiour only, and when I returned I fo'und it again at o. Every thing liere, therefore, ice, water, and the atinofphere in the neigl'ibourhood of tl'.efe, ♦had the temperature, and that was the umperature of meeting ice, q of Reaumur. When the'n.b the ice which is found here, and in fuch qaantitics tl'.atthis cavei'nferves the few opulent nobihty in the neighbourhood .as an ice-houfe, formed? Surely ir. winter, tiioi^gh not by the firft frofr, not fo foon as icc is formed in the open air. No doubt, from the liüie communication tiiis cavcrn has with the atmofphcre, it will be hut httle and Howiy affedted by its changes. ShoulJ, therefore, Mr. Bell, or any of his.friends, have come here to verify the common report at the commenceraent of a fevere frofi:, when the whole country was covered with ice and fnow, they might ftiil have found here norhing but water, or the ice of the preceding winter in a ftate of thaw, and the cavern relatively warm ; and lifcewife, f?ioufd they have vifitcd it in a warm fpring, which had fucceedcd to a fevere winter, they jr,ight Iiave found nothing here but froft and ice ; and even the frefh nu-hcd fnow", percolating through the roof of this cavern, miglu again have been congealed to ice.-1 obferved frequently in Germany, in the fevere winter of 1794-5, ^ fudden thaw, that the walls of churches and other puhlic buildings, on the outfide were white, and covered with a boar froft., atid their windows on the fame f.de covcrcd with a rime. I cejtainly Hiould not have faid fo mucli on this fub-jefl, were not the opinion I have been combating fo very genera!. Tills cavern is like all that I have ieen, in a primitive or unllratified ijompaCt lime-ftone; and it is curious to obferve, that the moft fa. anov,s in the world arc^ in this kind of rock. I think tliey arlfe from the rock, 'whatever that maybe, giving way^ which fupports, APPENDIX II TOWNSON'S PAPER ON FLOS FERRI, FROM HIS 1799 BOOK Remarks on the Flos-ferri. The manner in which stalactites are formed, is, I believe, well understood. It is easy to conceive that by the gradual difsipa-tion of a solvent t!ie matter held in solution may be deposited, and afsume all the various forms that the solution at one or different times had been in. Thus we can account for the form of any stalactite wliicti has such a one as the dripping fluid can have existed in, either through its own natural gravitation or through the joint powers of gravitation and the attraction of some body in contact, but by no means of those forms in which we know a fluid body could not in any circumstanccs have been. Reasoning thus, I am unable to account for tlie formation of that beautiful fofsil the Flos-ferri, found in its greatest perfection in the iron mines of Eisen'artz in Styria, which not only differs from all other stalactites in its forms but in its texture. In regard to its form it is generally branched, but wiiether simple or branclied the parts are by no means straight but curvcd, and in the same specimen curved in very different directions. Wliere tlie branches shoot out, tliat is at tlie axillae., it is no thicker than in other parts, and frequently a simple tnidivided shoot, three inches long, is no thicker towards its base than towards its point. In the direction of its growth, tho Flos-ferri differs not lefs from the common stalactites, whose long cylindrical forms are never found in a horizontal situation, and in which direction we know they never can be formed. Yet in the great mine of spatous iron ore of Styria, I have seen both the sides of a vertical fifsurc covered W;ith the flos-ferri. The texture of this fofsil likewise greatly differs from the common stalactites. It is not compact, nor is it composed of concentric cylindrical plates, but of oblic^uely divergent fibres. These peculiarities lead ,mc to think that it is formed in a different manner from conunon stalactites, and I offer these remarks to those who have an opportunity of observing this fofsil in its birth-placc, that they may investigate its formation.—It is not foreign to tlic jircsent subjcct to mention that a few years ago I found on tlie side of a chalk rock on the turnpike road,sinncwhere between Portsmouth and Guildford, a fine white light body refem-filing very much in its sfrii< lurc, tlic aswa; being in haste I put a small specimen be-tweeft the afs-skin leaves of my pocket book, which,, where I went to examine, I found re-ducerf to powder. It was^ iBsoluble in water, bat soluble with effervescence in nitrous aci