436 . . Proceedings of the 



effects of specific stimuli; these are all evidences of design, yet of 

 design exterior to the individual ; but it vj^ould seem that the chief 

 evidence in favour of a nervous system, or something analogous to 

 it, being present in plants, may be drawn from the circumstances, 

 1. of their being destroyed by the same poisons which cause death 

 in animals, by action on the brain and nerves ; — 2. by certain cor- 

 puscles discovered by Dutrochet, being concrescible and soluble 

 by the action of acids and alkalies, in the same manner as the ner- 

 vous substance in animals ] and — 3. by plants maintaining a tem- 

 perature different from that of the surrounding medium, as shown 

 by numerous experiments. It may also be added, that plants (espe- 

 cially when a little faded) are revived by certain stimuli, such as 

 camphor, ammonia, &c.> which, it is believed,, stimulate animals 

 through the medium of their nerves. 



June \2th. 



Mr. Faraday gave an account of the recent and present state of 

 the Thames Tunnel, including a particular account of the circum- 

 stances which have so far influenced its progress; of the irruptions 

 of water ; of the perfection of the finished work ; and the means by 

 which it is intended to be completed. XI a^iTx >a > 



These evening meetings were then adjourned to next'^^J^' ' ' 



The following Courses of Lectures have been delivered in the 

 Amphitheatre of the Royal Institution during the present session : 



On the Chemistry of the Metals, by W. T. Brand e, Esq., F.R.S. 

 -London and Edinburgh, Professor of Chemistry in the Royal 

 Institution. ,,0, Vi 



Lecture I. Saturday, February 2nd, General Remarks on the importance 

 and uses of the Metals, with an Outline of their Natural and Chemical History. 

 Metals known to the earliest Inhabitants of the Earth — Native Metals — Rude Pio- 

 cesses by which some of their Ores are reduced. Metals discovered by the Alche- 

 mists, and in the dark ages. Speculations concerning their Nature — Discoveries of 

 the Metallurgical Chemists of the 16th and 17th Centuries — Influence of more re- 

 fined Chemical processes upon these discoveries — New Views in relation to the sub- 

 ject developed by Sir H. Davy's Electro-Chemical Researches. 



Lecture II. Saturday, February 9th. Geological History of the Metals. Allu- 

 vial deposits containing them — Structure and Situation of Metallic Veins — Modes of 

 discovering and working them — Average produce of the principal British Mines. 

 Peculiarities in respect to Iron Works, Difficulties and uncertainties attendant on 

 all Mining Speculations. 



Lecture III. Saturday, February \6(k. Chemical History of the principal Me- 

 tallic Ores. Arrangement of them in reference to their Composition — Alloys-^ 



