Ph ilosoph ical Transact ions . 121 



leisure and retirement which declining years necessarily bring 

 with them. This part of the Transactions contains two com- 

 munications from Sir Everard upon physiological subjects ; 

 under the same head we may class an account of the urinary 

 organs of two species of frogs, by Dr. Davy ; and two letters 

 addressed to the President, showing a singular influence of the 

 male upon tlie progeny of the female. 



Geology has not of late years constituted any prominent fea- 

 ture in the Transactions of this Society ; this is partly to be 

 attributed to the speculative tone of much that has been 

 written upon this subject, and which renders it unfit for the 

 Transactions of a society for the -promotion of natural know- 

 ledge ; and partly to the magnificent publications of the Geo- 

 logical Society ; in which, with much that is light and trifling, 

 there are many papers of standard excellence and laborious 

 research. How far this and other similar philosophical asso- 

 ciations affect the general interests of British science, is a 

 question of such pith and moment, as to require extended and 

 serious consideration. In our opinion, (which has certainly 

 not been hastily, and we trust not superficially formed) with 

 much good, they have been productive of more harm ; they 

 have in some instances perhaps brought talents into the field 

 which might otherwise have lain dormant; they have also 

 excited a temporary interest in the welfare and pursuit of 

 science among a class of persons whose names are only known 

 as contributors to the funds of the establishments ; but then, 

 they have created petty dissensions and paltry jealousies among 

 those who once were friends and colleagues, and have 

 tended to scatter and subdivide the forces of science in a way 

 most unpropitious to its true welfare. We remember when 

 all that was eminent in philosophy and excellent in art was 

 to be found at the weekly meeting of the Royal Society in 

 Somerset-Place ; he who wanted information sought and 

 found it there ; strangers assembled to converse with the 

 learned of the landj and, though a hostile breeze now and 

 then ruffled the good understanding and friendly intercourse 

 of the members, it soon subsided into a prosperous calm. But 

 now, the forces of science are not merely scattered but dis- 

 united, and among philosophers as among politicians, we 

 have, under other names, tories, whigs, and radicals. He who 

 wants to consult the learned and examine the records of 

 science, is driven from the east to the west, and from the 

 north to the south ; up stairs, down stairs, and even some- 

 times into my lady's chamber, before he can find the object of 

 his search and inquiry ; losing that time which might be occu- 

 pied in digesting and extending his information, in traversing 

 the most opposite quarters of the metropolis, mounting into 

 back-rooms up two pair, calling in Moor-fiolds for what is 



