When Lord Napier (of Merchiston) first published his _Logarithms_, Mr. Briggs, Professor of Mathematics at Gresham College, London, was so surprised with admiration, that he could not rest till he had seen the noble inventor, and actually went to Scotland for that purpose in 1615. Lilly, the astrologer, thus describes the interview:--"Mr. Briggs appointed a certain day when to meet at Edinburgh; but, failing thereof, Merchiston was afraid he would not come. It happened one day, as John Marr and the Lord Napier were speaking of Mr. Briggs: 'Ah! John,' said Merchiston, 'Mr. Briggs will not come.' At the very instant, one knocks at the gate; John Marr hastens down, and it proved to be Mr. Briggs, to his great contentment; he brings Mr. Briggs up into my Lord's chamber, where almost one quarter of an hour was spent, each beholding the other with admiration before one word was spoken. At last, Mr. Briggs began, 'My Lord, I have undertaken this long journey purposely to see your person, and to know by what engine of wit or ingenuity you came first to think of this most excellent help unto astronomy, viz. the logarithms; but, my Lord, being by you found out, I wonder nobody else found it out before, when now, being known, it appears so easy.'" Briggs was nobly entertained by Lord Napier; and every summer after, during his lordship's life, this venerable man went to Scotland purposely to see him. ------------------ THE BURNING MIRRORS OF ARCHIMEDES. Many have questioned the facts recorded by several historians, concerning the surprising effects of the burning mirrors of Archimedes, by means of which the Roman galleys besieging Syracuse were consumed to ashes. Descartes, in particular, discredited the story as fabulous; but Kircher made many experiments with a view of testing its credibility. He tried the effect of a number of plane mirrors; and, with five mirrors of the same size, placed in a frame, he contrived to throw the rays reflected from them to the same spot, at the distance of more than 100 feet; and by this means he produced such a degree of heat, as led him to conclude that, by increasing their number, he could have set fire to inflammable substances at a greater distance. He likewise made a voyage to Syracuse, in company with his pupil Schottius, in order to examine the place of the alleged transaction; and they were both of opinion, that the galleys of Marcellus could not have been more than thirty paces from Archimedes' mirrors.