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the Literary and Philosophical Society will welcome as a 

 fitting tribute to the life-long and far-reaching scientific 

 labours of their eminent townsman and friend. Wren's 

 great work of St. Paul's cathedral was said to be his fittest 

 monument, and so of this volume we may add "Si monu- 

 mentum queeris inspice," for it contains the whole of the 

 experimental work accomplished by Joule alone from his 

 first paper on an electro-magnetic engine, published in Stur- 

 geon's " Annals of Electricity," and dated January 8, 1838, 

 to the last of his researches summing up the most important 

 of his life's work, viz. " A new Determination of the Me- 

 chanical Equivalent of Heat," from the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society exactly 40 years afterwards. 

 Between these two communications this volume contains 

 no less than 102 original papers, some long and some short, 

 and some of course of greater interest and importance than 

 others, but all exhibiting that clear insight into the phe- 

 nomena of nature, that original habit of thought, that power 

 of careful and exact experimentation, and withal that 

 modesty of style and expression, which characterise our 

 distinguished friend. Many of these papers, and some of 

 the most important of them, have been communicated to 

 this Society, and are simple reprints from our memoirs ; and 

 in this fact the Society has just ground for congratulation. 

 This volume ends most appropriately with a simple num- 

 ber — Joule's most accurate determination of the mechanical 

 equivalent of heat, viz., 772 "5 5. No words could be so 

 eloquent to those who can appreciate the value of these few 

 figures, and who understand the difficulty of their experi- 

 mental determination. 



On the motion of the President, seconded by Professor 

 Reynolds, it was resolved that a letter of congratulation be 

 addressed to Dr. Joule on the publication of the first volume 

 of his Memoirs by the Physical Society of London. 



