NINTH MEETING. 



ROYAL INSTITUTION, February 24th, 184A. 



JOS. B. YATES, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



The President adverted to the Hydropathic method of 

 treatment, and quoted from Dio Cassius, an account of 

 Augustus having heen so treated with success, by Antonius 

 Musa, who was consequently honoured by the Senate. 

 Musa tried the same method with Marccllus, but not with 

 the same success. 



THE PAPER FOR THE EVENING WAS, 



ON THE CREDIBILITY OF THE EXISTENCE, OF THE KRAKEN, 

 SEA SERPENT, AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS By Mr. Heath. 



The writer commenced by intimating, that there are 

 many inhabitants of the sea, respecting which, our know- 

 ledge is very limited ; and where information is scanty, 

 or statements conflicting, we are to be guided by the pro- 

 babilities, — arising either from analogy or from the general 

 circumstances of the case. The constantly recurring dis- 

 putes respecting rocks, shoals, and new lands, among 

 modem as well as among the more ancient geographers, 

 afford us an illustration, the effect of which is both positive 

 and negative. On the one hand, we are bound to infer 

 from the " Vigia," (or places requiring a careful look out) 

 which changed their positions so frequently on our charts, 

 that there are peculiar circumstances at sea, which tend to 

 mislead the ordinary and even the accurate observer. On 

 the other hand, the identity of some of the most recent of 



