550 The Italian Scientific Association. 



THE ITALIAN SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION: MEETING AT PISA, 



OCTOBER 1st to 15th, 1839. 



All the members of the Italian Scientific Association are admitted 

 to the privileges of membership without any pecuniary payment. 

 An open field is granted to them in the sectional meetings of the 

 Association for the communication of their discoveries and observa- 

 tions ; constant opportunities are afforded for the encouragement of 

 conversation, and a tribute of respect is paid to a large portion of 

 the members, by the formation of a select society, within the Asso- 

 ciation, consisting of those individuals who have worked for the ad- 

 vancement of science, and including, at the same time, the members 

 of distinguished scientific societies. 



Great praise is due to Prince Charles Bonaparte, aided by several 

 eminent Professors of Pisa and Florence, for their exertions in ori- 

 ginating the Italian Scientific Association. These philosophers were 

 fortunate in obtaining the zealous cooperation of Leopold II., the 

 Grand Duke of Tuscany, in the preliminary arrangements for the 

 meeting ; and the attendance of that sovereign at the sectional meet- 

 ings of the Association, and his willing attention bestowed on the 

 scientific papers which were read in the various sections, plainly 

 demonstrated the interest which he felt in the proceedings of this 

 society. 



On the 1st October, 1839, a religious service was performed in 

 the cathedral at Pisa, to which the Catholic members of the Asso- 

 ciation were invited. After this service, an introductory meeting 

 of the scientific members was held in the university. On the follow- 

 ing day, a beautiful marble statue of Galileo, which had been re- 

 cently erected in the centre of the court of the university, was ex- 

 hibited to the members of the Association, and a formal oration was 

 delivered by Professor Rosini of Pisa in honour of Galileo. 



The first general meeting of the Italian Association took place on 

 the 3rd of October, and Professor Gerbi, the aged President of the 

 Association, read a long address on this occasion, in which he ex- 

 patiated largely on the praises of Galileo, and detailed some of the 

 principal advantages of the six sections of the Association. Several 

 letters from the absent friends of the Association were also read at 

 the same meeting, and among these letters, one of the most interest- 

 ing was from, Sir John Herschel. 



Sectional meetings commenced on the 4th October ; early hours 

 were adopted, and the sections of agriculture and zoology com- 

 menced their labours at eight o'clock in the morning. Only two 

 hours were allowed for each sectional meeting, and at ten o'clock 

 the first two sections concluded their business for the day, and the 

 sections of geology and chemistry were allowed to commence their 

 sittings, which ended at twelve o'clock. 



Between twelve o'clock and two, the sections of medicine and 

 botany were at work, but the popularity of the medical section, and 

 the large number of contributors to its stores, often rendered a longer 

 period than two hours requisite for the discussion of the various sub- 

 jects brought before its notice. 



