368 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



lished in Boston, as we have long appreciated its excellence. The 

 various scientific and literary addresses and lecturers of Boston and its 

 vicinity are reported by it in full, and by stenographers that rarely 

 miss a word that falls from the speaker's mouth. We are indebted 

 to the editors in this way for the publication of Agassiz's lectures on 

 embryology, which we have been assured, by those who know, are 

 given with remarkable accuracy. The Lowell Lectures, of Boston, 

 by men of the highest standing in their departments, may, through 

 this paper, be enjoyed in distant portions of our country. We may 

 hope, therefore, that the Boston Evening Traveller will widely travel, 

 for it is one of the most important means in our country of disseminate 

 ing scientific and literary information." 



A similar praise to that awarded to the publishers of the Evening 

 Traveller should also be given to the proprietors of the New York 

 Tribune, which also reported the proceedings of the Association, but 

 at less length. Editors. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



THE British Association for the Advancement of Science held its 

 19th annual meeting at Birmingham, on the 13th of September, 1849. 

 The weather was extremely unpropitious, and not more than one 

 thousand persons, including strangers and members of the Association, 

 were present. The Marquis of Northampton made a few opening 

 remarks, after which Professor Robinson delivered an address, in the 

 course of which he referred to some of the works which the Associa- 

 tion has accomplished since its establishment, eighteen years ago. 

 They have published a Catalogue of 8,400 stars, of which work no 

 one can form an adequate conception, without reflecting that the deter- 

 mination of each star involved upwards of 400 figures and above 50 

 arithmetical operations. This great work cost $10,000, and was com- 

 pleted with the aid of such men as Herschel, Bailey, and others, 

 whose labor is above all price. The Association has expended about 

 $75,000, and in all cases the members have rendered their services 

 gratuitously. 



