272 Miscellaneous Intelligence, 



exist as to the utility of such a measure ; but, were the franchise liberal, and 

 the dangers of the close system guarded against, we are inclined to think that 

 very much advantage would be gained by the universities individually, and 

 by the cause of education generally. At all events, there seems to be no 

 good reason why one university should have a representative and another 

 not ; or why the divinity of Oxford and Cambridge should differ in this 

 respect from the medicine of Edinburgh and Glasgow. 



Bridgewater Prize. — The late Earl of Bridgewater left, by will, the sum 

 of L.8U00, at the disposal of the President of the Royal Society, for the 

 purpose of " some person or persons being nominated and appointed by the 

 said President to write and publish a work on the Power, Wisdom, and 

 Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation ; illustrating such work by 

 all reasonable arguments ; as, for instance, the variety and formation of God's 

 creatures in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; the effect of 

 digestion, and, thereby, of conversion ; the construction of the hand of man ; 

 and an infinite variety of other arguments ; as also by discoveries, ancient 

 and modern, in arts, sciences, and the whole extent of literature." But, be 

 it observed, the said Earl did not say, that this sum, being left to promote 

 the increase of knowledge and advancement of science, should be given to 

 him or them who produced the best Essay ; but left the mode of employing 

 the money to the judgment of the President of the Royal Society for the 

 time being. Under these circumstances, Mr D. Gilbert, the late President, 

 felt sufficiently the weakness of his own judgment ; and " in order to place 

 the whole transaction above even the suspicion of favouritism or partiality," 

 he called in the aid of two distinguished prelates, the Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury and the Bishop of London. The success of his measures is now 

 apparent in the result ; for, " after much deliberation," they determined, not 

 that the munificent legacy should be offered as a prize for the competition of 

 Europe, but that the following eight gentlemen should be appointed to write 

 the work : — 



The Rev. William Whewell, M.A. F.R.S. Fellow of Trinity College, 

 and Professor of Mineralogy in the University of Cambridge. 



The Rev. John Thomas Chalmers, Professor of Divinity at Edinburgh. 



John Kidd, Esq. M.D. F.R.S. Regius Professor of Medicine in^he 

 University of Oxford. 



The Rev. William Buckland, D.D. F.R.S. Canon of Christ Church, 

 and Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford. 



Peter Mark Roget, Esq. M.D. Sec. R.S. 



Charles Bell, Esq. F.R.S. Surgeon. 



The Rev. William Kirby, M.A. F.R.S. 



William Prout, Esq. M.D. F.R.S. 



Whether the leisure of these gentlemen will give full play to their pre- 

 eminent talents, we know not ; but time will shew. In the interim, the 

 President has the power of advancing ^800 on the expectancy. 



Collection of Insects to Sell. — This collection comprises all the Linnsean 

 insects, that is to say, Crustacea, Arachnida, and insects proper. It is the 

 fruit of twenty-three years' labour and expense. It is composed of about 

 fifteen thousand species, comprizing nearly 32,000 individuals. More than 

 one-third are foreign to France. Address to M. Polydore Roux, Conser- 

 vator of the Cabinet of Nat. Hist, at Marseilles. 



EDINBURGH: 

 Priutedby Anorew Shoktreed, Tliistlc Lane. 



