ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XVII 



by Messrs. Black, of Edinburgh. This edition, constituting the eighth of 

 this celebrated work, is to be entirely revised and brought up to the times. 

 From the commencement of this work, in 1771, over six hundred thousand 

 dollars have been expended upon it ; in the same time, also, thirty-five 

 thousand copies have been sold. 



A second volume of Astronomical Observations has been issued during the 

 past year, from the National Observatory. The Wind and Current Charts, 

 planned by Lieut. Maury, the Superintendent of the Observatory, and 

 prosecuted under his direction, are being extended to the Pacific and Indian 

 Oceans. Vessels sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of the United 

 States, with the instructions afforded by these charts, make the voyage in 

 forty days less, upon the average, than those sailing without them ; and 

 there is reason to hope the time may be still further reduced. The Bom- 

 bay Geographical Society, some time since, contemplated the formation of a 

 set of wind and current charts, and collected, for this purpose, a vast 

 amount of information relative to the Indian Ocean. The plan, however, 

 having been given up, the society generously gave to Lieut. Maury all the 

 information collected, embracing a large number of log-books, charts, man- 

 uscripts, &c. Lieut. Maury has, also, in the process of construction, a set 

 of "whale charts," or charts whereon the places and seasons wherever 

 whales have been seen are noted down. These charts, while they promise 

 to be of great service to this branch of American fisheries, seem to show 

 that the whales possess much more knowledge than we have usually given 

 them credit for, and know a great deal more about the warm and cold cur- 

 rents of the ocean waters than we do, or have done. 



The expedition, for astronomical observations, to Chili, appears, from 

 the reports of Lieut. Gillis, to have been actively conducted, and will prob- 

 ably be brought to a close during the year 1852. It is expected that the 

 first publication of the American Nautical Almanac, under the superintend- 

 ence of Lieut. Davis, will be made within the present year. 



The Swedish Government have determined to send out a scientific explor- 

 ing expedition, for a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe. Eminent 

 scientific men have been appointed to accompany it. 



The perseverance and courage of American seamen, engaged in private 

 enterprises, has been strikingly exemplified during the past year, in the 

 fact, that the American whale-ship Saratoga, Capt. Harding, while cruising 

 in the Arctic Sea, in the vicinity of Bhering's Straits, penetrated to a 

 higher latitude, in this portion of the Arctic Sea, than had previously been 

 reached. This vessel, Sept, 21, 1851, reached lat. 71 50', a point further 

 to the north than the British Expedition, under Beechy, in 1826, was 

 able to make. 



The American Grinnell Exploring Expedition, sent out in the spring of 

 1851, has returned unsuccessful. Traces of Sir John Franklin, in 1815, 



