86 REPORT—1845. 
the ribs and part of the pelvis, and also in the bones of the face. Retaining these 
divisions of each vertebra, the author described the cranial vertebra as three pairs 
arising from the spine: first, the occipital; secondly, the sphenoidal; thirdly, the in- 
grasioethmo-frontal; by attentively examining the component lamine of these verte- 
brz, he identified all the usually described portions of the cranium. The facial bones he 
resolved. into two pairs of vertebre: first, the superciliary ; secondly, the adnasal. By 
‘a minute demonstration the author endeavoured to establish the details of his system 
which he contended was applicable to all the zoological classes, and as well-marked, 
in the insect tribe as in the mammalia. 
Notice of an Instrument to assist in the discovery of Foreign Bodies by Aus- 
cultation. By Dr. Brooke. 
It consisted of a catheter or sound, with a circular sounding-board, six inches in 
diameter, attached perpendicularly at its extremity, which increases the sensation 
derived from the contact of its other end against a small calculus or fragment after 
lithotripsy, which might otherwise escape detection, and lay the foundation of future 
disease. The effect of the sounding-board was demonstrated. A sound produced by 
the contact of a small fragment in a small bag, which could scarcely be heard by the 
holder of the instrument without the sounding-board, became perfectly audible on its 
application. 
Dr. Leeson presented and described an apparatus for minute injection. 
Dr. Thurnam gave a short notice of a case of Spina bifida, the preparation of which 
he exhibited to the Section; it demonstrated the exact condition of the bones and 
ligaments of that portion of the vertebral column where the deficiency from arrest of 
development occurred. 
STATISTICS. 
On the University Statistics of Germany. By J. Hexwoon, F.R.S, 
Tne details of these statistics were collected by Dr. Perry, who resided in the Uni- 
versity town of Bonn on the Rhine, and who has taken the degree of Dr. of Philo- 
sophy at Gottingen. He stated, that in round numbers, there are 1500 professors 
in the German universities, and about 15,000 students. Dr. Perry ascribes the origin 
of duelling among the German students to their being permitted to wear swords as a 
badge of gentility; but the duels are generally of a harmless nature. Large num- 
bers of students are attracted to particular universities in Germany by the lectures 
of eminent professors, and when a vacancy occurs in a chair of importance, the new 
teacher is often chosen on account of his reputation and success in some other uni- 
versity, so that he owes his fresh appointment to his own merit, independent of local 
influence. 
_—— 
On the Comparative Number of Degrees taken at Cambridge in the Seventeenth 
and Nineteenth Centuries. By J. Heyvwoop, F.R.S. 
The comparison showed, that notwithstanding the general increase of wealth and 
population in Great Britain during the last 200 years, the number of degrees taken 
at Cambridge had not increased in a corresponding proportion. Thus, in 1620 there 
were 270 B.A. degrees conferred, and in 1820 only 183; in 1630 there were 291 
B.A. degrees taken, and in 1830, 324; in 1640 there were 240, and in 1840, only 
339. Nearly one-third of the students leave the university without taking a degree. 
Conversation ensued, and it was suggested that the more mature age at which stu- 
dents now enter was one cause why graduations have not increased in proportion to 
the population. Prof, Pryme observed that this might also arise from the compa- 
