French l^ational Inst'iliUe, 371 



On May 7th was read a paper by Everard Home, Esq. on 

 the grinding teeth of the wild boar. 



On the 14th, additional observations on the emission of 

 light and heat from the sun ; being a continuation of the 

 observations on the nature of the sun; read April 16, 23, 

 and 30 : by Dr. Herschel. These additional remarks are the 

 result of observations made from the 2d of March to the 3d of 

 May, and during the late mild weather; and tend to confirm 

 the Doctor's former conjecture, as on some of the days there 

 were no less than sixty openings. The Doctor supposes that 

 one side of the sun has the power of sending forth more heat 

 than the other. As great inconvenience resulted from the 

 heat transmitted through coloured glasses, he viewed the sun 

 through fluids. Alcohol, Port wine, ink diluted with water, 

 which gave an image of the sun as white as snow ; and even 

 common water, answered the purpose of stopping the heat 

 remarkably well. 



A paper by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. on the ascent 

 of sap in vegetables, was partly read the same evening, and 

 was concluded at the following meeting. It contains a vast 

 assemblage of curious facts, observations, and experiments, 

 on the physiology of vegetables. 



FRENCH NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 



The following is an account of the labours of the Class of 

 the Mathematical and Physical Sciences during the second 

 quarter of the year 9 : 



Mathematical Part read ly Lalande. 



Lalande read a memoir on the longitude of Alexandria in 

 Egypt, which he determined by an emersion of the star 

 Antares, compared with a complete observation of the same 

 eclipse made at Marseilles by Thulis, associate of the Insti- 

 tute. It results from this calculation that the difference of 

 the meridians is 1° 50' 26", which varies a little from that 

 established by Nouet and Qucnot. The position, therefore, 

 of this point seems now to be well known. 



Prony read a notice on the grand decimal trigonometrica 

 tables, calculated under the direction of Lalande, by a me- 

 thod entirely new, and which is attended with this advantage, 



that 



