446 Annual Meeting of the 



that of cold air, in the production of other substances besides 

 iron, where it is not yet employed ? 



VII. — Geologists agree that the fossil remains of animals 

 and plants found in the different beds composing the crust of 

 the earth, contribute very much to characterise these beds. — 

 There exists, however, one great difficulty in this respect, 

 which is, that some of these beds, composed of the fragments 

 of more ancient ones, contain many fossil species of the lat- 

 ter mingled with the remains of animals and vegetables which 

 existed at the time of the deposition of the former. This 

 mixture may easily lead to erroneous conclusions ; and the 

 Society enquires, What are the beds in which this intermin- 

 gling takes place ? And by what means may we guard against 

 erroneous conclusions in consequence? 



VIII. — Dr. Prevost, a celebrated Genevese naturalist, has 

 for a long time, and particularly recently, been endeavouring 

 to prove, by highly ingenious experiments, that muscular con- 

 traction, and consequently all the movements of animals, are 

 in immediate connexion with galvanic or magnetic currents, 

 which direct themselves along the nerves extending to the 

 muscular fibres. The Society, convinced that this opinion, 

 though not without some appearance of probability, is yet far 

 from being proved, desires that it be further examined ; that 

 the observations and experiments of Dr. Prevost be repeated, 

 and fresh experiments made, which may either put its cor- 

 rectness beyond doubt, or disprove its accuracy. 



IX. — It has been proved by the experiments of the cele- 

 brated French naturalists, Brechet and Becquerel, that it is 

 possible not only to introduce metallic wires through the skin, 

 and the organs situated beneath it, into the interior of the hu- 

 man body, which fact had long before been ascertained ; but 

 farther, that we may direct along these wires a galvanic or 

 magnetic current, towards any one of the interior organs. — 

 The Society enquires, In what case can such a current, di- 

 rected against one of the diseased organs of the human body 

 contribute to its cure ? It is desired that by fresh and direct 

 experiments, this action may be studied, applying it imme- 

 diately to unhealthy organs in the human frame. 



X. — Since the time of Celsius it has been believed that a 

 gradual elevation of the soil above the level of the Baltic sea 

 has been observable in some territories of Scandinavia. This 

 belief has recently been confirmed by the researches of the 

 celebrated English geologist, Lyell. In other countries, as 

 in England, and in France, we remark, not far from the coast, 

 the remains of marine animals, which prove that the soil in 

 which they repose, and which is now dry, was formerly co- 



