ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 5 



grapher of the Admiralty. It was Voted to hold the next meeting of the 

 Association at Liverpool, the Earl of Harrowby having been elected Presi- 

 dent for the ensuing year. 



The annual meeting of the German Association for the Promotion of 

 Science, was held at Tubingen, on the 18th of September. It was attend- 

 ed by about 580 members, including a moderate sprinkling of French and 

 Russians, two Americans, and a few English. 



The President, Prof. Von Mohl, having for some reason absented himself, 

 the chair was taken by M. Bruhns, Professor of Medicine at Tubingen. 

 Receptions by the various neighboring towns and cities were given to the 

 Association, and public and private hospitality was displayed to an unlim- 

 ited extent. The scientific part of the meeting was equally satisfactory. 

 In the three general or public sittings none but subjects treated in a pop- 

 ular manner were this time admitted, and all papers that could in the least 

 offend the ear of ladies had been strictly rejected, a laudable restriction, 

 probably adopted in consequence of the complaints made by the press that 

 medical subjects, not intended for any but medical men, had been brought 

 forward. 



M. Schultz read an interesting paper "On the Development of the Natu- 

 ral Sciences from the Middle of the Sixteenth Century until the Middle of 

 the Nineteenth." He assumed three periods : 1st, The period when knowl- 

 edge was handed down by oral tradition. 2nd, When it was propagated 

 by writing; and, 3rd, When perpetuated by printing. The present time 

 he looks upon as the commencement of a fourth period, when, by the inti- 

 mate international intercourse and the power of steam, knowledge is rap- 

 idly diffused. Dove, of Berlin, gave a comprehensive account of the pres- 

 ent state of meteorology, and a very clear explanation of the causes which 

 determine the weather of Europe. Carnal spoke on the importance of 

 salt, gold, and coal, three monosyllables playing an important part in 

 the affairs of the world. He complained of the ignorance prevailing in 

 England on the subject of German coal, and quoted a conversation he had 

 with an Englishman of some scientific standing, who asked him whether 

 ihere were any coal in Germany ? a question he answered by stating that 

 not only had Germany enough coal for its own demand, but it could supply 

 England and all the world, at the rate coal is now used, for 500 years to 

 come. Fraas gave an account of the oldest inhabitants of the Swabian 

 Alps. It appears that a few years ago, fossil teeth were found, which some 

 at once declared to be those of man. This determination, however, was 

 called in question, as no human teeth of the mammoth period had ever 

 been found in any part of the globe. Again, these teeth were exhibited 

 last year in Wiesbaden, by Jaeger, when they were generally admitted to 

 be human teeth; one was even sent to Owen, who agreed with the Wiesba- 



1* 



