]38 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



on certain notions of antiquity derived from the ancients. In the 

 course of it he said, that from the waters of the Nile spring into life 

 myriads of insects, and with annual fertility the Egyptians were 

 plagued with flies. It was curious that five out of the ten plagues 

 of Egypt were from insects, viz. the plague of the waters of the 

 sects contained in it — of lice (from the soil) of hail, of frogs, and of 

 Nile heing turned to blood — which might have arisen from the in- 

 flies, probably generated from the heaps of putrid frogs. Cleanli- 

 ness not being much esteemed in Egypt, flies multiplied exceedingly, 

 which led the people to erect and worship gods, who might be able 

 to rid them of their tormentors. It was the general opinion in 

 ancient times, that spontaneous generation was caused by fire, earth, 

 and water; this opinion was prevalent so late as the 10th century, 

 and was still held in Africa and Asia, and also by one class of 

 naturalists in Europe. He should say that reasoning from analogy, 

 there was no such thing as spontaneous generation. Mr. Hope also 

 referred to the transmigration of souls; the belief in this bethought 

 originated from the changes in the animal kingdom, which in con- 

 clusion he described. 



Mr. G. W. Hall then made some observations on the effects of 

 lime variously applied to different soils and different crops, and the 

 quantity and modes most beneficial to vegetation. 



Wednesday. — Col. Sykes read a highly interesting communica- 

 tion on the fruits of the Deccan. 



Mr. Mackay read the Report which he had been last year re- 

 quested to prepare, " On the Geographical Distribution of the Plants 

 of Ireland." This contained a catalogue of 195 of the more remark- 

 able species, with a comparative view of such as were common to 

 the neighbourhoods of Dublin, Edinburgh, and the south coast of 

 Scotland. 



J)r. Hancock read a paper "On the Cow-fish, Manatusjluviatilis, 

 of the inland waters of Guiana " This is now rarely met with, ex- 

 cept in districts far remote from European settlements. Two 

 specimens which he had examined were less than nine feet in length, 

 and might weigh about 8001bs. each. The female bears one young 

 at a birth, rarely two, and this she carries under one arm hugged to 

 her breast. He considered that it would be both easy and profit- 

 able to domesticate this animal in the shoal lakes of Guiana. 



Dr. Macartney made some observations on the preservation of 

 animal and vegetable substances from the attacks of insects. He 

 employed a concentrated solution of equal parts of alum, nitre, and 

 salt, mixed with an equal quantity of proof spirits and a little oil of 

 lavender or rosemary. A forcible injection of this liquid into the 

 arterial system would perfectly preserve a dead body for three or four 

 months fit for dissection, and portions of one which had been thus 

 injected, if rubbed over with pyroligneous acid, might be preserved 

 for any length of time. He recommended a coat of Plaster of Paris 

 to be daubed over succulent plants as a mode of preserving them, 

 and, when dry, this might easily be removed. He noticed the en- 

 tire preservation of some bodies found in the bogs of Ireland. 



