1825.] 
valves are common. Gyrogonites appear 
nov to have been noticed before in the 
fresh-water strata on the east side of the 
Isle of Wight. An extract of a letter was 
réad from Jer. Van Rausselaer, Esq., “ On 
the Discovery of the Skeleton of a Mas- 
todon, nearly perfect, at New York ;” and 
of the “ Tertiary Formation in New Jer- 
sey.” A paper was read, entitled, ‘ An 
Account of a Fossil Crocodile recently 
discovered in the Alum Shale, near Whit- 
by,” by the Rev. G. Young. The osteo- 
logy of this fossil animal, which has been 
deposited in the museum at Whitby, is 
described, and a drawing of it accompanies 
the communication; its length exceeds 
fourteen feet, and when perfect must have 
reached eighteen feet. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
April 5th.—His Majesty the King of 
France, and His Imperial Highness the 
Archduke John of Austria, were elected 
Fellows of the Society. The silver medal 
was presented to John Dickson, Esq., of 
Rio Janeiro, corresponding member of the 
Society, for the services he had rendered te 
it by the transmission of plants, and by the 
assistance afforded to its collecters, &c. A 
paper was then read “ Onthe Result of 
Experiments with Lime, used in improy- 
ing the Fruit-tree Borders of an old Gar- 
den,” by Mr. W. Balfour, corresponding 
member of the society. 19th, His Royal 
Highness Frederick William, Crown Prince 
ef Prussia, was elected a Fellow of the 
Society; and Raimond Louis Desfon- 
taines, M.D., Professor of Botany in the 
Museum of Natural History at Paris, was 
elected a foreign member. A paper was 
thenread, “‘ On the Cultivation of the Pine- 
apple,” by Mr. W. Greenshields, c.M.1s. 
ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY. 
April 8th.—A paper was read “ On the 
Results of Computations on Astronomical 
Observations made at Paramatta, in New 
South Wales, under the direction of Sir 
T. Brisbane, kK.c:B.; and the application 
thereof to investigating the exactness of 
Observations made in the Northern Hemi- 
sphere,” by the Rey. J. Brinkley, p.p. 
F-B.S., Anxious to throw new light 
on the subjeet of the discordance between 
the north polar distances of the principal 
fixed stars, as determined by Continental 
and English astronomers, Dr. Brinkley 
wrote to Sir T. Brisbane, to. request his 
Excellency to make some observations at 
Paramatta; and on aseries of three months’ 
observations, from Noy. 1823 to Feb. 
1824, the computations and comparisons 
‘communicated in this paper, are founded. 
The reading of Mr. Atkinson’s paper 
“On Refraction,’ was also resumed. A 
communication was read from Colonel 
Beaufoy, enclosing a series of ‘* Observa- 
tions of Jupiter’s Satellites, at Bushey- 
heath, near Stanmore, between April 
1816 and 1824; and of Solar and Lu- 
nar Eclipses, and Occultations of Stars 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
443 
by the Moon.” ‘The eclipses of Jupiter’s 
satellites are so recorded as to shew the 
mean time at Bushey, at Greenwich, and 
as exhihited in the Nautical Almanack. 
The discrepancies between the results of 
observation and the Nautical Almanack, are 
in some eases very considerable. 
SOCIETY FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF PRISON 
“i DISCIPLINE, &c. 
The committee, at an anniversary meeting, 
held at the Freemason’s-hall, on the 28th 
of May 1824, at which the Right Hon. 
Earl Grosvenor presided, presented their 
sixth eloquent and interesting report, which 
has recently been published. Considerable 
attention has been accorded to the con- 
sideration of the use of the Tread-mill, and 
also of the advantageous formation of In- 
fant-schools, inasmuch as the morals and 
habits of the lower classes materially de- 
pend thereon. A copious Appendix is 
added, containing much foreign and do- 
mestie detail. 
—zg 
FOREIGN SOCIETIES. 
FRANCE, 
Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris — 
The Academy met on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 
and 28th of February. At the first meeting, 
M. Oliévier transmitted from Stockholm 
some theorems on cog-wheels; and M. 
Majendie stated, that a man in whom the 
anterior part ef the brain and the olfactory 
nerve had been altered or destroyed, still 
retained the sense of smell; in confirma- 
tion of his opinion, that this nerve, called 
olfactory, is not the nerve of smell. At 
the second meeting, M. Bailly communi- 
cated several results of an investigation for 
the purpose of determining whether the 
births of males and females indicate any 
coincidence with physical causes that can 
be appreciated by our means of observa- 
tion ; and announced a detailed memoir on 
the subject. IM. Cauchy communicated a 
note on the “ Calculus of Remainders, and 
on the Definite Integrals.” At the third 
meeting, M. Dumeril presented, in the 
name of the author, ‘“ Some Prophylactic 
and Curative Views on the Yellow Fever,” 
extracted from a memoir, by M. Fourreau 
de Beaunegand, on the Physical and Medi- 
cal Topography of Florence. M. Latreille 
reported, verbally, relative to a memoir, by 
M. Loiseleur Deslonchamps, ‘‘ On the 
Means of obtaining several Crops of Silk 
ina Year.” MM. Desfontaines and Mir~ 
bell made a favourable report on a mwe- 
moir, by M. Lamouroux, relative to “ The 
Geography of Hydrophytes:” as did MM. 
Brongniant and Beaudant, on M. Baste- 
rot’s memoir respecting ‘‘ ‘the ‘Tertiary 
Basin of the South of France.” At the 
fourth meeting, M. Opoix, inventor of a 
method of preserving butter fresh, pre- 
sented a sealed vessel, containing butter 
six months old; the examination of it was 
referred to. M, Deyeux, M. J. Lowry 
3L 2 presented 
