1 54 Koyal Society, 



The stories here all u Jed to, although apparently pos- 

 sessing all the properties just described, are not inso- 

 luble : they were prevented from acquiring that state, as 

 they would then be useless. But as this composition, witlj 

 the exception ot its insolubility, has all the external cha- 

 racters of the hardest stones, it possesses^ some claim to 

 atteniion. Might it not, after having been softened by a heat 

 superior to that of boiling water, he employed with much 

 advantage as a cement, or to cast into models of statues or 

 vases, &c. ? Bodies formed of this artificial stone must 

 be protected, however, from the influence of water or 

 moisture. 



What also contributes to the inlcrcst excited by this com- 

 position is, that its analogy wiih the stones of solfaierra, 

 and the peculiar theory of its formation, will not require 

 lis to recur to the hypothesis of subterranean fires, to ac- 

 count for volcanic eruptions. 



In short, as water, by merely passing in an instant from 

 the liquid to a solid state, develops sucli a considerable de- 

 gree of heat, may it not be the inunediate cause of volca- 

 nic eruptions ? May it not also be to the slow and progres- 

 sive passage of water to the solid state, that the heat found 

 at great depths in the interior parts of the jzlobe is owing ? 

 Lastly, Mav not the heat developed in the animal and vege- 

 table organs be also owing to water? 



The above suggestions are thrown out with a view to call 

 the attention of chemists, mineralogists, natural philoso- 

 phers, and physiologists, to a subject which cannot fail to 

 derive much lio;ht from their concurrent observations. 



XXI 11. Proceedings of Learned Societies, 



ROYAL. SOCIKTY. 



X HIS society on the 1st and 8th of February was occu- 

 pied with reading a letter from Mr. Gibson of Manchester 

 to Mr. Thomas, describing an extraordinary foetus, having 

 two heads, only one body, two arms, two legs, and of 

 both sexes. There was nothing in the physical organiza- 

 tion of this monster which could apparently have impeded 

 the vital functions; its two heads were perfectly formed 

 and joined side by side, that on the right being masculine 

 and that on the left feminine ; both were united to one 

 gpine 3 and' although it had two hearts, only one stomach 



was 



