The first was, that, as a general
      rule, the larger the bodies were, the more rapid their
      descent—the second, that, between two masses of equal extent, the
      one spherical, and the other _of any other shape_, the
      superiority in speed of descent was with the sphere—the third,
      that, between two masses of equal size, the one cylindrical, and
      the other of any other shape, the cylinder was absorbed the more
      slowly. Since my escape, I have had several conversations on this
      subject with an old school-master of the district; and it was
      from him that I learned the use of the words ‘cylinder’ and
      ‘sphere.’ He explained to me—although I have forgotten the
      explanation—how what I observed was, in fact, the natural
      consequence of the forms of the floating fragments—and showed me
      how it happened that a cylinder, swimming in a vortex, offered
      more resistance to its suction, and was drawn in with greater
      difficulty than an equally bulky body, of any form whatever. (*1)

      “There was one startling circumstance which went a great way in
      enforcing these observations, and rendering me anxious to turn
      them to account, and this was that, at every revolution, we
      passed something like a barrel, or else the yard or the mast of a
      vessel, while many of these things, which had been on our level
      when I first opened my eyes upon the wonders of the whirlpool,
      were now high up above us, and seemed to have moved but little
      from their original station. “I no longer hesitated what to do. I resolved to lash myself
      securely to the water cask upon which I now held, to cut it loose
      from the counter, and to throw myself with it into the water. I
      attracted my brother’s attention by signs, pointed to the
      floating barrels that came near us, and did everything in my
      power to make him understand what I was about to do. I thought at
      length that he comprehended my design—but, whether this was the
      case or not, he shook his head despairingly, and refused to move
      from his station by the ring-bolt. It was impossible to reach
      him; the emergency admitted of no delay; and so, with a bitter
      struggle, I resigned him to his fate, fastened myself to the cask
      by means of the lashings which secured it to the counter, and
      precipitated myself with it into the sea, without another
      moment’s hesitation. “The result was precisely what I had hoped it might be. As it is
      myself who now tell you this tale—as you see that I _did_
      escape—and as you are already in possession of the mode in which
      this escape was effected, and must therefore anticipate all that
      I have farther to say—I will bring my story quickly to
      conclusion. It might have been an hour, or thereabout, after my
      quitting the smack, when, having descended to a vast distance
      beneath me, it made three or four wild gyrations in rapid
      succession, and, bearing my loved brother with it, plunged
      headlong, at once and forever, into the chaos of foam below. The
      barrel to which I was attached sunk very little farther than half
      the distance between the bottom of the gulf and the spot at which
      I leaped overboard, before a great change took place in the
      character of the whirlpool. The slope of the sides of the vast
      funnel became momently less and less steep. The gyrations of the
      whirl grew, gradually, less and less violent. By degrees, the
      froth and the rainbow disappeared, and the bottom of the gulf
      seemed slowly to uprise. The sky was clear, the winds had gone
      down, and the full moon was setting radiantly in the west, when I
      found myself on the surface of the ocean, in full view of the
      shores of Lofoden, and above the spot where the pool of the
      Moskoe-ström _had been_. It was the hour of the slack—but the sea
      still heaved in mountainous waves from the effects of the
      hurricane. I was borne violently into the channel of the Ström,
      and in a few minutes was hurried down the coast into the
      ‘grounds’ of the fishermen. A boat picked me up—exhausted from
      fatigue—and (now that the danger was removed) speechless from the
      memory of its horror. Those who drew me on board were my old
      mates and daily companions—but they knew me no more than they
      would have known a traveller from the spirit-land. My hair which
      had been raven-black the day before, was as white as you see it
      now. They say too that the whole expression of my countenance had
      changed. I told them my story—they did not believe it. I now tell
      it to _you_—and I can scarcely expect you to put more faith in it
      than did the merry fishermen of Lofoden.”




VON KEMPELEN AND HIS DISCOVERY


      After the very minute and elaborate paper by Arago, to say
      nothing of the summary in ‘Silliman’s Journal,’ with the detailed
      statement just published by Lieutenant Maury, it will not be
      supposed, of course, that in offering a few hurried remarks in
      reference to Von Kempelen’s discovery, I have any design to look
      at the subject in a scientific point of view. My object is
      simply, in the first place, to say a few words of Von Kempelen
      himself (with whom, some years ago, I had the honor of a slight
      personal acquaintance), since every thing which concerns him must
      necessarily, at this moment, be of interest; and, in the second
      place, to look in a general way, and speculatively, at the
      results of the discovery. It may be as well, however, to premise the cursory observations
      which I have to offer, by denying, very decidedly, what seems to
      be a general impression (gleaned, as usual in a case of this
      kind, from the newspapers), viz. : that this discovery, astounding
      as it unquestionably is, is unanticipated. By reference to the ‘Diary of Sir Humphrey Davy’ (Cottle and
      Munroe, London, pp. 150), it will be seen at pp. 53 and 82, that
      this illustrious chemist had not only conceived the idea now in
      question, but had actually made no inconsiderable progress,
      experimentally, in the very identical analysis now so
      triumphantly brought to an issue by Von Kempelen, who although he
      makes not the slightest allusion to it, is, without doubt (I say
      it unhesitatingly, and can prove it, if required), indebted to
      the ‘Diary’ for at least the first hint of his own undertaking. The paragraph from the ‘Courier and Enquirer,’ which is now going
      the rounds of the press, and which purports to claim the
      invention for a Mr. Kissam, of Brunswick, Maine, appears to me, I
      confess, a little apocryphal, for several reasons; although there
      is nothing either impossible or very improbable in the statement
      made.