2D2 Natural History in Irelaiid, 



mouth was long and narrow; the palate smooth; the roof of the mouth 

 high and arched ; the tongue according with the shape of the cavity it had 

 to fill ; the stomach simple; the heart about 3ft. across ; and the aorta, of 

 which a section is preserved at the Zoological Society, 15 in. in diameter. 



From these dimensions of the parts composing the fountain of life, we 

 can feel no difficulty in giving credence to the apparently extraordinary 

 calculations that have been made respecting the circulation of the whale. 

 Dr. Hunter tells us (in the Phil. Trans,) that " ten or fifteen gallons of blood 

 are thrown out of the heart at a stroke with an immense velocity :" upon 

 which Paley observes, " the aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the 

 main pipe of the water-works at London Bridge ; and the water roaring in 

 its passage through that pipe is inferior in impetus and velocity to the blood 

 gushing from the whale's heart.'* 



We must now take leave of the subject, trusting that, should such 

 another visitor approach our coasts, care will be taken to obtain at least a 

 good figure, which, from the insuperable difficulties that surround those 

 who seek them in their native haunts, perhaps does not exist of any of the 

 larger cetaceous animals. — Henry Woods, A.L.S. ^c. J^?n7 9. 1829. 



Art. IV. Natural History in Ireland. 



Natural History in Belfast. — ^The town of Belfast, though containing 

 little more than 40,000 inhabitants, possesses two literary establishments 

 of public foundation : the " Academy," founded in 1786, and the "Aca- 

 demical Institution," founded in 1810. From the similarity of the names, 

 the constitutions, and the original objects of these two seminaries, they 

 are frequently confounded by persons living at a distance. Mr. James 

 Bryce, who is at the head of the mathematical department of the Academy, 

 has lately introduced into his course of geography a series of lectures 

 on mineralogy and geology. His pupils, lads from eighteen to twelve 

 years of age, became exceedingly interested in the subject; some of them 

 attended, as visitors, the meetings of the Belfast Natural History Society, an 

 institution mentioned in a former Number of your work (Vol.1, p. 85.), and at 

 ■length, one morning at the close of a lecture, they astonished their teacher 

 by a proposal that they should form a Natural History Society for the 

 Academy. The idea was cordially taken up by Mr. Bryce, and the consent 

 •of the Principal of the Seminary being joyfully given, the Society was insti- 

 tuted. Its objects are, to give mutual instruction in the various branches 

 of natural history, and to form a museum for the Academy. Its consti- 

 tution is almost a copy of that of the Belfast Natural History Society. 

 Its meetings are held on alternate Wednesdays in the Academy library, 

 where the specimens are kept ; a separate apartment not having been as 

 yet provided for the museum. Mr. Bryce, himself a very young man, is 



E resident of the Society, and an ordinary member; and reads his paper in 

 is turn. The writer of this article was present at one meeting of this 

 juvenile association, when, Mr. Bryce being to read, the chair was occupied 

 by one of the vice-presidents, a very manly, gentleman-like, yet modest 

 lad of about fifteen, and the whole business was carried on with as much 

 decoruin and propriety as could have been observed by the gravest assem- 

 bly in the land. Mr. Bryce intends soon to enlarge his lectures, and 

 instead of confining them to his own geographical pupils, to give the in- 

 habitants of Belfast generally an opportunity of attending them.—/. MA, 

 Belfast, April 9. 1829. 



