that which was left on the preceding year; but the council has felt itself at liberty to transfer 2001. to the fund now forming for the erection of a house for the society and it is proposed annually to appropriate a like sum to that purpose, till the building (for which a grant of land has been assigned by the Crown) shall be completed. Nearly two thousand pounds had already been subscribed among a very small portion of the members; and therefore, as the society declines all competition, both in respect to splendour and extent of accommodation, with such public bodies as have provided, or are providing themselves with establishments upon a magnificent scale, there was little reason to doubt that their object would be accomplished, with ease, by inviting a subscription from the members at large. The report then gave an epitome of the various literary communications, thirteen in number, which have been read since last year's anniversary meeting. A volume of Transactions was announced as in the press; but the nature of the subjects and typography is such, that some time must elapse before the publication can be ready for delivery.

African Expedition.-Letters have been received from Captains Clapperton and Pearce, dated Badagry, in the Bight of Benin, 29th November. A merchant there, of the name of Houston, was to proceed with them, in palanquins, through the King of Badagry's territories (about 125 miles), and into those of the King of Hio. Beyond Hio is Nyffé of Nyffoo, to which the route lies through Tassa, and these places are represented to lie, Tassa about 225 miles from Hio, and Nyffé as much from Tassa. Nyffé is to the south of Bello's dominions, and his capital Sackatoo. It is stated that no obstacles are feared after reaching Hio. At Whydah our countrymen had met a de Souza, a Portuguese, and also Mr. James, who is so much spoken of in Bowdich's Travels: both these persons recommended them to proceed to Dahomey, and to visit the king of that country at his capital Abomey. Later accounts mention the death of Captain Pearce and others of the expedition.

Uses of the Mustachial Bristles of Cats. -Mr. Vroolick, a philosopher of Amsterdam, has recently ascertained by satisfactory experiments, that the mustachial bristles about the mouth and eyes of cats, rabbits, &c. are peculiar organs of touch, designed to guide them in the dark, when they can make no use of their eyes. We believe it is commonly supposed that they are connected with the sense of smelling. This appears in the London papers; though we certainly do not look on the

Dutchman's discovery as particularly wonderful; for it is common in this country to call the bristles alluded to by the name of feelers.

Account of the Discovery of an inhabited Island in the Pacific. By Captain Eeg, of the Pollux Sloop of War, in the Service of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands. In a Letter to Dr. Brewster from G. Moll, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Utrecht.-My Dear Sir-Two vessels in the service of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, have lately crossed the Pacific. After leaving Washington's Island, it was deemed expedient to keep in the seventh parallel of south latitude, sailing to the westward, being the track in which Captain Eeg, com. manding the Pollux sloop of war, thought some islands might probably be discover ed. The coral islands in those seas being generally small and low, it was reckoned prudent to proceed at night under easy sail, and thus to leave de Peyster's and Sherson's Islands one degree to the north and south. On the 14th July 1825, at five o'clock A.M., after a very hazy and rainy night, it was presumed that land was to be seen a-head, but very indistinctly; and shortly after the breakers were distinctly heard. The vessel was brought to, and the signal made for the Maria Reygersberch frigate to do the same. After sunrise, they discovered a very low island, bearing W. by S., two miles distant (miles of 60 to a degree.) The land appeared well stocked with cocoa and other trees. About noon they had the north point of the island, S. 60 deg. E. The longitude of this island and its latitude being ascertained, with as much accuracy as circumstances would allow, and no other island being found in the same position in any of the charts on board, this was deemed a new discovery. The nearest land was de Peyster's group, but it was 50 min. different in latitude. Though the sky was very clear, no other islands were seen at the same time. The name of Nederlandich island was given to this new land. Its north point is in lat. 7 deg. 10 min. S. and the centre of it in long. 177 deg. 33 min. 16 sec. E. from Greenwich; the variation of the magnetic needle being 7 deg. to the east. The longitude was determined by three chronometers. One of these, made by Thomson, was reckoned the most accurate; its rate had been ascertained seventeen days before at Nukahiwa, and its differences from the other two were very regular. A few days before coming in sight with the island, the longitude was ascertained by lunar observations, agreeing remarkably well with the chronometers. This island has a form resembling a horse-shoe; its

extent is about eight miles. In the west side an indentation, closed by low reefs, and terminating in a lagoon. The natives, some of whom were armed with long sticks, were very numerous, sitting or running along the shore, as the vessel sailed along. An armed boat was despatched towards the shore. The island appeared iron-bound: for, at a boat's length from the shore, the depth was six fathoms, and rough coral ground. A ship's length from shore there was fifteen fathoms depth. At the N.W. point they found a coral reef, projecting far in the sea, and on which there was a heavy surf. It was supposed that these were the breakers heard previous to the discovery of the island. The land had a pleasing aspect, and appeared fertile. The number of natives assembled on shore was estimated at about 300. They were of a dark copper hue, tall and well-made. Few were less than six feet Rhinland measure, or 6,166 English. The women were also very stout. Some of the people were tatooed, but not so much as at Nukahiwa. They were naked, except some covering made of leaves. A few others had some cloth of cocoa bark wrapped round the waist. The heads of some were adorned with feathers. Their conduct appeared very fierce and wild, and they contrived to steal whatever they thought within their

reach. The boat-hooks soon disappeared, and they even attempted to tear the oars from the hands of the boat's crew. An old man, with a white beard, and of respectable appearance, carrying a green bough in his hand, was at their head. He continually kept singing some monotonous song, in a melancholy tune. They bartered some cocoa-nuts, and some of their tools, against some old handkerchiefs and empty bottles; and it appeared that their language had some resemblance with that spoken at Nukahiwa. When the boat again put to sea, they tried the effect of firing a few musket shots in the air, but the natives did not show symptoms of fear, and thus appeared unconscious of the effects of European arms. No canoes were seen in the possession of these people, nor did they attempt to approach the ships, although the weather was excellent, and the sea very calm. The commanders of the two vessels regretted very much that their large complement, and the small quantity of water, obliged them to make every possible despatch. They accordingly pursued their journey to Sourabaya in Java, where they found other work at hand than the discovery of new countries.

"I am, dear sir, with very great esteem, your humble servant, G. MOIL." "Utrecht, Feb. 9th 1826."

French Institute.-The Institute of France held its annual meeting of the four Academies. Messrs. Cuvier and D. de la Malle were the only two members who distinguished themselves. The latter is the son of the celebrated author of the same name, who has given the excellent translations of Tacitus and Sallust. The son's genius seems to be of a lighter order; he published Travels in the Alps, some fugitive Poetry, and a highly curious Memoir, in which he proves that the Roman guides have for ages mistaken the position of the Tarpeian Rock. He discovered its precise situation, hidden as it is by buildings in front of it. His Poliorcelique, or art of war amongst the Ancients, changed public opinion in his favour the work is full of curious researches, in which he has made the knowledge of natural history serve to ascertain very important points in the history of ancient wars. The triumphs were often sculptured on the walls of the city or palace of the conqueror. The artists frequently, to designate the people, sculptured a tree or a plant peculiar to the country; and M. D. de la M. is, we believe, the first who availed himself of

this fact, to penetrate into the labyrinth of events anterior to this period of history. The discourse lately pronounced, is extracted from a work he is preparing for the press, on the population and products of Italy, from the remotest periods to the present time.

Academy of Sciences. - The French Academy of Sciences having last year proposed, as a prize subject, to determine, by a series of chemical and physiological experiments, what are the phenomena which succeed one another in the digestive organs during the act of digestion, granted to Messrs. Leuret and Lesseige the sum of 1,500 francs, in consideration of the numerous and expensive experiments made by them, and of the remarkable results obtained. The principal conclusion to be drawn from the researches of these gentlemen is, that digestion, in warm-blooded animals, consists in the transformation of the food into organical or chyleous molecules, after it has been diluted and divided to infinity by the juices of the intestinal canal. These molecules, of a globulous shape, they consider analogous to monads, or microscopic animalcula of the simplest

kind. In support of this supposition they adduce the great quantity of these animalcula which are found in the intestines of frogs, and which they also regard as the produce of digestion. If, on the one hand, it may be objected to them that the stagnant water, which these reptiles inhabit, contain numbers of these minute beings, which they may probably swallow, it must on the other hand be acknowledged, that learned naturalists have expressed a similar opinion, and have considered these animalcula as being rather the elementary molecules of animals, and perhaps of vegetables, than real animals. In order to show their sense of the obstacles in the way of the complete solution of the question proposed by the Academy, Messrs. Leuret and Lasseigne conclude their memoir as follows: "It is impossible, in the existing state of knowledge, to determine the chemical alterations which food undergoes in the digestive canal, because the means of analysis are insufficient, and because the mixture of the food with the juices in the digestive canal, renders the results of any experiment exceedingly complicated."

Canal of the Pyrenees.-The royal canal of the Pyrenees, a plan of which has been presented to the French government, is to continue that of Languedoc, from Thoulouse to Bayonne. The surveys are all finished, and extend over more than seventy leagues, in the whole of which line there is not a single obstacle of importance. This canal will pass through five fertile departments, the produce of which it will be the means of spreading. A free navigation from one sea to the other, from the Mediterranean to the Western Ocean, will be the immediate consequence of this great undertaking.

The Société Royale Académique des Sciences is dissolved by the Government. The society taught any thing but science: it was an absolute nullity in literature, even though M. Viennet sometimes essayed his talents there.

Asiatic Society of Paris.-The following persons were admitted members of the Society lately :-M. Adrian Dupré, French Consul at Salonica; M. P. A, Kunkell, of Aschaffenbourg, in Bavaria; M. de Torcy, chief in the office of the minister for foreign affairs. Mr. Huttmann transmitted to the Society six Chinese coins of the reigning dynasty of Tsing. M. Chézy announced that the transcription of the death of Yadjnadatta, was completed. M. Jambert communicated a letter from M. Fontanier, announcing that this traveller is employing himself in the researches pointed out to him by the council. The same member

likewise communicated some parts of a letter from M. Desbassyns de Richemont, which intimate the intentions of the writer to concur in the execution of the objects of the Society during his stay in the East. M. Dureau de la Malle, in the name of M. Guaymard the naturalist, who is to accompany Captain Durville in his voyage round the world, proposed to remit to this traveller an intimation of the points on which the Society may desire to obtain information. M. de Comte Lanjuinais, in the name of the committee nominated at the last meeting, read a report on the proposal for printing the text of the Hindu drama of Sacortala. The conclusions were adopted by the Society, and the printing of this work is stopped. The inscription in Sanscrit characters, referred to at the last meeting, was returned by M. Chézy, with a note pointing out the date. M. Gragerat de Lagrange read some observations on Oriental literature.

GERMANY.

Hieroglyphics.-These characters have lately found another expositor in Professor Seyfarth of Leipsic. From the celebrated inscription on the Rosetta stone, and from examining many rolls of papyrus, this laborious inquirer is of opinion, that the hieroglyphics in general are simply hieratic letters, ornamented agreeably to a calligraphic principle. He also infers, that both the bieratic and demotic letters had their origin in the most ancient Phoenician alphabet. The Leipsic Literary Journal, which contains a notice of this theory, mentions farther, that the learned professor reckons the hieroglyphic signs or characters to amount to about 6000, as four or more figures are frequently conjoined in the formation of one of them. By arranging and comparing the multitude of ancient Egyptian records, inscriptions on stones and monuments, sarcophaguses, papyri, mummy cases, &c. &c. which now abound in Europe, it is probable we shall at length be enabled to decypher this language of the early world.

THE NETHERLANDS.

Surgery. In the scientific part of the first number of a medical journal published at Delft, called "Geneeskundige Bydragen," it is said that M. Van Haas, a surgeon at Rotterdam, lately effected the ligature of the iliac artery in the pelvis, in a case of aneurism; and that the operation succeeded so well, that the patient completely recovered in the course of a few weeks.

Southern Brabant.-In the last volume of the proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Brussels, there is a curi

ous paper by M. Kickz, one of the members. This gentleman has communicated the result of above twenty years' observation on the atmospheric constitution of the province of South Brabant, and on the meteors which have caused its variations. It appears, that, on the average, winds from south to west have prevailed for 166 days in the year; winds from west to north, for 84 days; winds from north to east, for 92 days; and winds from east to south for only 23 days. On the average there have been in the 365 days, 245 of common wind, 81 of strong wind, 29 of violent wind, and 10 of hurricane. With respect to rain, it has fallen, on the average, on 149 in the 365 days; viz. 69 days of gentle rain, 48 of showers, 10 of heavy showers, and 22 of tempestuous rain.

ITALY.

Ancient Greek Inscription. — In the neighbourhood of Rome an ancient tomb has recently been discovered, with a Greek inscription in such tolerable preservation as to allow of the following fragments of translation :-" My country is the immortal Rome; my father is its emperor and king."-"My name is Allicilla, the beloved name of my mother.""Destined for my husband from infancy, I leave him, in dying, four sons approaching to manhood.""It is by their pious hands that I have been placed, still young, in this tomb."

The French Opera.-The French opera was established in Paris in 1645, by Cardinal Mazarin, In order to render this new kind of entertainment successful, his excellency at the commencement employed Italian performers. The "Andromède of Pierre Corneille was the first French work which was represented in Paris in 1650 or 11652. The machinery, of which the French had not at that time any idea, was the production of the Sieur Torelli; and its magnificence was such that it eclipsed that of the Venetian opera, celebrated for the expense bestowed upon it. In the following years were represented "La Pastorale," "Ariane," "Ercole Amante," "La Toison d'Or," and "Pomone." New machinery was invented for "La Toison d'Or," by the Marquis de Sourdeac, Torelli's rival. This opera, which was originally represented in the Chateau de Neubourg, in Normandy, on the occasion of the marriage of Louis XIV. and the peace with Spain, was afterwards performed at Paris. From that epoch, Pierre Perrin, the manager of the opera, being unable alone to support the expense of such an establishment, entered into partnership with the Marquis de Sourdeac and Cambert,

June-VOL. XVIII. NO. LXVI.

and a new theatre was built in the Tennis Court in the Rue Mazarin. In 1672, Lulli having obtained permission to establish a royal academy of music, built a theatre in the Rue de Vaugirard, of which Vigarini was the architect and the machinist. Lulli therefore was the first recognised manager of the French opera. It is to him that France is indebted for that description of entertainment; and he imparted to it the magnificence which distinguishes it from all other dramatic representations in France. The poet Quinault having united his talents to those of Lulli, from that association sprang the French opera, properly so called. Before their time it consisted merely of ballets, interspersed with recitative. They added songs, chorussos, dances, gave it a plot, and, in fact, converted it into a lyric drama. At no period, however, has the French opera been able to maintain itself without the aid of government.

RUSSIA.

Russian Canals.-The Government of Russia has given orders for the immediate construction of canals, to unite the following rivers, viz. the Moskwa and the Volga; the Scheksna and the Northern Dwina, (which will make a direct communication between the ports of Archangel and St. Petersburgh, and open a conveyance for indigenous productions towards the Baltic); and, lastly, the Niemen and the Weichsel, across the kingdom of Poland.

M. Schabelski, an eminent Russian traveller, communicates the following instance of the conveyance of finely divided matter by the wind. On the morning of January 22, 1822, at 275 nautical miles from the coast of Africa, (lat. 23 deg. N., long. 21 deg. 20 min. W.) they perceived that all the cordage of the vessel was covered on the windward side with a pulverulent matter, resembling ochre in its reddish colour. The powder was very soft to the touch, and coloured the skin red. When the cords were examined by the microscope, it appeared like long rows of globules, touching one another. It was a north-cast wind which caused the phenomenon, and only the parts exposed to the wind were covered, there being no trace of the powder on the opposite ones.

DENMARK.

Copenhagen. Several successful experiments have been made to macadamize the roads in the neighbourhood of Copenhagen, especially that which leads to the citadel. Several of the Danish journals speak of this process with great praise. The editor of the Zealand Gazette goes

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