.opposition to tlie generally received opinion, that th^^OMejyi^^^), the 

 '/barometer lifis always a tendency to fall when ithfe -wijia-j* atrp^g. 

 ."'During a period of fifteen years passed iu the Gulf and River St. 

 * Lawrence, he found that the barometer as frequently risers as,^i^lls 

 'under the prevalence of a strong wind ; and that the winds often 

 ,'l)lo\v with gi-eater force with a rising than with a falling barometer, 

 lie gives a circumstantial account of the progress and course of va- 

 rious gales which fell under his observation during that period, and 

 ' I'roni which he infers the existence of a steady connexion between 

 "'■'ihe jirevailing winds of this region and the movements of the baro- 

 "iineter,and enters into an inquiry into the mode in which that in- 

 ' 'jstrument is affected b}' them. The extensive valley of the St. Law- 

 '';i'ence is hounded at its lower part, for a distance of nearly 500 

 '"'miles, by ranges of hills, rising on each side to a considerable cleva- 

 ' tion. Within this space, the ordinary winds follow the couree of the 

 '"river; and in almost every instance when they approach from wind- 

 jWard, the barometer rises with theni; and when, on the other hand, 

 ' the wind approaches from leeward, the barometer not only falls be- 

 . fore the arrival of the vvindj bi^t p^^ni^jnu^s to fall until it has sub- 



[.^^ "a^" t • ,.-vo /d baruud emy ^ „ .i ^ i i 



, An ajipendix is subjoineo'qontaining extracts ironi the tabular re- 

 gister of the barometer and winds at various points in the valley of 

 "the lliver St. Lawrence, during the years 1834 and 1835, acconipa- 



' nied by remarks on different, points deserving notice in particular 



1^' cases. 



^ '' On tlic Elliptic Polarization of Light by reflexion from Metallic 



'' Surfaces." By the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S., Savilian Pro- 

 fessor of Geometry in the University of Oxford. 



hL ^P ^ former paper, published in the Philosophical Transactions 

 .rop^i8i3, the author gave an account of the observations he had 



7 'ma^o on the phainomena of eUiptic polarization by reflexion from 

 certain metallic surfaces, but with reference only to one class of 



"comparative results. He has since pursued the inquiry into other 



relations besides those at first contemplated, and the present paper 



; is devoted to the details of these new observations, obtained by va- 



ryiiig tlie inclination of the incident rays, and the position of the 



plane of analysation, and by employing different metals as the re- 



^' fleeting surfaces. By the application of the undulatoiy theory of 

 light to the circumstances of the experiments and the resulting phaa- 



" nomena, the law of metallic retardation is made the subject of ana- 



'^■'Jytic investigation. A polariscoi)e of peculiar construction, of which 

 " a description is given at the conclusion of the paper, was employed 

 in tlie experiments : and tables are subjoined of the numerical re- 

 sults of the observations. 



" On the Gas Voltaic Battery. Voltaic Action of Phosphorus, 

 Sulphur, and Plydrocarbons." By William Robert Grove, Esq., 

 M.A., F.R.S., V.P.R.L, Professor of Experimental Philosophy at 



"the London Institution. 



', The author, referring to a paper of his published in the Philoso- 



^'"^hical Transactions for 1843, states, that in repeating and verifying 



