refusal to give them up again._"

In 1780 Colonel Watson was recalled to India, and took out with him one
of the most remarkable English mathematicians of that day, Reuben
Burrow. This gentleman had been assistant to Dr. Maskelyne at the Royal
Observatory; and to his care was, in fact, committed the celebrated
Schehallien experiments and observations. He died in India, and, I
believe, all his papers which reached England, as well as several of his
letters, are in my possession. This, however, is no further of
consequence in the present matter, than to give authority to a remark I
am about to quote from one of his letters to his most intimate friend,
Isaac Dalby. In this he says:--"Colonel Watson has out here a work of
Simpson's on bridges, very _complete_ and _original_."

It was no doubt by his dread of the sleepless watch of Hutton, that so
unscrupulous a person as Colonel Watson is proved to be, was deterred
from publishing Simpson's work as his own.

The desideratum here is, of course, to find what became of Colonel
Watson's papers; and then to ascertain whether this and what other
writings of Simpson's are amongst them. A _really good_ work on the
mathematical theory of bridges, if such is ever to exist, has yet to be
published. It is, at the same time, very likely that his great
originality, and his wonderful sagacity in all his investigations, would
not fail him in this; and possibly a better work on the subject was
composed ninety years ago than has yet seen the light--involving,
perhaps, the germs of a totally new and more effective method of
investigation.

I have, I fear, already trespassed too far upon your space for a single