Royal Astronomical Society. 241 



At the time I wrote, I believed myself the first who had observed 

 the vesicle alluded to ; but by a reference to the manuscript in the 

 archives of the Society, it will be seen, from a postscript, that before 

 sending it to be communicated, I had become aware that M. Coste 

 of Paris had some time before announced that he had made a similar 

 observation, as far as concerns the rabbit. Those who are conver- 

 sant in such matters are doubtless aware that I was anticipated also 

 by Professor Valentin : but of this circumstance I was not informed 

 till some considerable time after. 



It thus appears that, though I was an independent discoverer of 

 the germinal vesicle of the mammiferous ovum, all the share in the 

 discovery I can lay claim to historically is that of being the first who 

 pointed it out in this country. 



There is one point, however, in the anatomy of the germinal ve- 

 sicle of the mammiferous ovum, of which I feel myself entitled to be 

 recognized, especially by the Royal Society, as contemporaneous dis- 

 coverer, and that is, the spot on the side of the vesicle. Feeling 

 this, and having heard at the last meeting of the Royal Society the 

 discovery of this spot attributed solely to the distinguished German 

 physiologist, Professor Rudolph Wagner, I consider it due to the 

 Royal Society and to myself to call to the Society's remembrance the 

 fact, that, in the memoir above referred to as having been laid before 

 them in 1835, the spot in question is not only pointed out and par- 

 ticularly delineated, but its physiological importance hinted at. 



The laying of a paper before a Society is an act of publication. 

 With the communication of my paper to the Royal Society in 1835, 

 the publication of Professor Wagner's paper in M tiller's Archiv was 

 contemporaneous merely. 



It is true, that though Professor Wagner's observations were only 

 first published in Midler's Archiv for 1835, there is a note by the 

 editor, saying that the paper was received by him in 1 834 ; but it is 

 also true, — and of this, were it necessary, proof could be easily ad- 

 duced, — that my paper was written also in 1834. 



In conclusion, I beg to apologize to the Royal Society for obtru- 

 ding on their notice what may appear matter rather of personal than 

 general interest. 



ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 

 [Continued from vol. xviii. p. 604.] 



Nov. 13, 1840. — The following communications were read: — 



A Letter from Mr. Dawes on the subject of a new Binary Star 

 recently observed. 



" I beg to call the attention of the Society to the star registered 

 by Sir William Herschel as the 16th of his third class of double 

 stars. Its ^R- is 20" 23 m 6, and N.P.D. 79° 17'. This star was 

 measured by Herschel and South in 1822 with the five-foot achro- 

 matic. It was again observed by Struve on two nights in 1829, 

 and also on two in 1832 ; and though powers of 320 and 480 were 

 employed in the measurements, nothing remarkable was noticed by 



Phil. Mag. S. 3. Vol. 19. No. 123. Sept. 1841. R 



