In consequence of a paper having been published in the Philosophzcal Transactions against some opinions of our author, he was• led to submit to that learned body several dissertations on the resistance of the air, and to exhibit the experiments on which they were founded, in the year 1746 and 1747, for which he was presented with the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley. When Lord Anson returned from his voyage round the world, the Reverend Richard Walter, the chaplain of the Centurion, had proceeded a considerable length ;n drawing up an account of it. It was, however, de' nr-cl advisable to have the whole of it. re-written by Robins. It accordingly appeared in 1748, but what was very unaccountable, the name of Mr. Walter was put in the title-page. This work underwent several editions, and the 5th was corrected by Robins himself, in 1749.
The next work of Robins was an apology for the unfortunate battle of Prestonpans, in Scotland. This apology formed a preface to " the Report of the pro ceedings and opinion of the Board of General Officers, on the examination into the conduct of Lieutenant-Ge neral Sir John Cope," which appeared in London in 1749.
Mr. Robins, through the influence of Lord Anson, had opportunities, of which he availed himself, of mak ing farther experiments on his favourite subject of gun nery; and, by the same influence, he procured for the Royal Observatory of Greenwich a second mural quad rant, and other instruments.
The services of our author had now become so nu merous, and his reputation was so high, that the go vernment was desirous of appointing him to some lucra tive situation. It was accordingly put in his choice either to go to Paris as one of the commissioners for adjusting the limits of Acadia, or to be Engineer gene ral to the East India Company, the ruinous condition of whose hats required an able engineer to put them in a state of defence.
He accepted of the last of these situations, and set out for India at Christmas, 1749, provided witli a com plete set of astronomical and other instruments for making scientific observations and experiments in the Last. After a hazardous voyage, he arrived on the 13th July, 1750, and he immediately prepared complete plans for fort St. David and Madras. His constitu tion, however, was not fitted for the climate. He had an attack of fever in September, and though he re covered from its immediate effects, yet he afterwards fell into a languishing condition, which continued till his death, on the 29th July, 1751. By his will, he left the publication of his Mathematical works to Martin Folkes, Esq. and Dr. James Wilson. From the ill health of Mr. Folkes, this duty devolved upon Dr. Wilson, who published the Mathematical and Philoso phical works of his friend, in two vols. 8vo. in 1761, and prefixed to these an interesting memoir of his life.
Robins's " New Principles of Gunnery" was trans lated into several foreign languages. They were trans lated into German by the illustrious Euler, and accom panied with a copious commentary. This work was after translated into English, in 1719, by Mr. Hugh Brown, with notes, in one volume 44o. Besides the tvorks already mentioned, Mr. Rubins wrote a paper on the height to which rockets will ascend, which is published in the Philosophical Transactions, for 1749, p. 131. See our articles GUNNERY and PYROTEERNY, for an account of his principal labours.