1825.] 
either of wood or pasteboard lackered ; pre- 
sented by Messrs. Bazett and Colville, of 
Calcutta. By Mr. Anderson, a Burmese 
book, consisting of several oblong leaves, 
enclosed in external boards of the same 
form; the leayes are ornamented with 
gilding, &c.: the subject is supposed to be 
religious, as the characters are of the sacred 
kind. It is but a fragment of a larger 
work, which endeavours have been made, 
at Rangoon, to obtain—thanks were voted. 
The secretary concluded the reading of 
Mr: Ross’s “ Essay on the Life and His- 
tory of Firdousi;”’ after which Colin Camp- 
bell, Esq., and E. Parratt, Esq. were 
elected members, and M. Saint Martin a 
foreign member.— Adjourned till June 4th. 
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, 
On the 23d of April, George Earl of 
Aberdeen; T. Amyot, Esq. ;. N. Carlisle, 
Esq. : T. Coombe, Esq.; H. Ellis, Esq. ; 
H. Gurney, Esq.; H. Hallam, Esq. ; Sir 
G. Nayler, Knight; H. Petrie, Esq.; M. 
Raper, Esq. ; Right Hon. C.W.W. Wynn, 
eleven of the council, were rechosen, and W. 
Ayrton, Esq. ; the Lord Bishop of Ely; D. 
Gilbert, G. Gwilt, W. Hamilton, J. H. 
Markland, J. H. Merrivale, F. Palgrave, 
Esgqs. ; the Duke of Somerset, and Col. B. 
C. Stephenson, ten of the other members of 
the society, were chosen of the new council. 
The Earl of Aberdeen was elected presi- 
dent; Mr. Amyot, treasurer; Mr. Taylor 
Coombe, director; Mr. Carlisle and Mr. 
H. Ellis, secretaries for the ensuing year. 
LITERARY FUND SOCIETY. 
The anniversary, which took place last 
month at Freemasons’-hall, was attended 
by several distinguished persons, and a 
subscription of £440 was made at the table. 
Mr. Saville Onley, one of the vice-presi- 
dents, was in the chair—Sir J. Mackintosh 
being prevented by indisposition from tak- 
ing it. ; , 
—— 
FOREIGN SOCIETIES. 
FRANCE, 
Paris Institute.—Academy of Sciences.— 
The usual weekly sittings were held in 
March ; among other business, on the 7th, 
an instrument, called a panorographe, in- 
vented by M. Putssan7, was reported on; it 
is especially meant for designing panoramas, 
Was particularly described, and was thought 
well adapted to the object in view. Onthe 
14th, M. Dresyeux made a report on M. 
Ovorx’s “ Method of preserving Butter 
fresh.” This method was disapproved ; but 
other researches, on the subject, are insti- 
tuted.—Baron Cuyier read a second mes 
moir on the subject of certain species of fish 
found in the Equatorial Regions, and which 
have the singular property of living for a 
considerable time out of water. These fish 
are found in fresh water, and their flesh has 
a very agreeable favour. When cut up into 
small pieces, each fragment continues to 
palpitate for a considerable time after it 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
539 
has been separated from the rest of the 
body ; and this quality renders them very 
useful to the Indian jugglers, who exhibit 
them as curiosities: some of them have 
been found at the height of ten feet from 
the ground, on palm-trees, on the borders 
of certain ponds and lakes. —The various 
academies held their usual sittings in April, 
but without eliciting much of general in- 
terest; we trust, therefore, that our readers 
will again accept our oft-repeated plea of 
‘* want of space,” as a sufficient excuse for 
the very brief and cursory manner in which | 
we pass over this part of our periodical 
labour. : 
Academy of Sciences.— On the 4th April, 
MM. Portal and Duméril reported “ On 
the Ingenious Anatomical Figure,’’ pre- 
sented by M. Auzoux; saying, ‘‘ Every 
one knows how great is the repugnance 
generally felt to the study of anatomy, and 
yet how desirable that many of its first 
principles should be early inculeated on the 
minds of liberally-educated youth.’’ Many 
preparations have been made, with this 
view; “but the inconveniences resulting 
from their composition, and their expen- 
siveness,”’ have conspired to render them 
futile ; it was thought, ‘that the labours of 
M. Auzoux had just claims to encourage- 
ment’’—which was fully accorded. 
On the 11th, M. Cordier requested that 
one or.more members might be deputed 
to examine his moving globe, representing 
the increase and decrease of days, as well 
as eclipses of the sun and moon. And 
M. Arago communicated “ Observations on 
the Celestial Phenomena, called Hales ; 
announcing, that as he, with an instrument 
of his own inyention, was observing the 
sun’s morning “halo,” he perceived un- 
equivocal signs “ of polarization by refrac- 
tion ;” which he had also witnessed some 
years before. It excludes all explication 
on the hypothesis of reflection ; and appears 
to favour that of the theory of Mari- 
otti, that these phenomena are produced 
by frozen water, carried along by the clouds, 
and refracting the light of the sun. By 
means of an apparatus of his own invention, 
he is able to distinguish polarized light 
from that which is not so, and that the light 
of these halos is a refracted and not a re- 
flected light ; as must be supposed by those 
who refuse to allow the explanation given 
by M. M.—M. Arago seems to think that 
his instrument will also assist in deter- 
mining the laws of increase and decrease 
in the warmth of the atmosphere.—M. 
Partie read a memoir on the geography of 
plants; the principal object of this memoir 
is to establish the opinion, that to acquire 
a knowledge of the medicinal properties of 
plants, it is much more necessary to direct 
the attention to the nature of the soil, in 
which they grow, than to the genus to which 
they belong, or even to the chemical prin- 
ciples that enter into their composition—he 
remarks, that/all plants which grow on high 
3Z 2 grounds, 
