1826.] 



Domestic and Forei"n. 



69 



the JvCCtures of Barry, Opie, and Fuseli, 

 for tlie best drawin;,' from the hfe. Mr. 

 Stour, a silver medal, for the second best 

 drawing. Mr. Deare, a silver medal, with 

 the Lectures of Barry, Opie, and Fuseli, 

 for the best model from the life. Mr. Lote, 

 a silver medal, for an architectural <lrawins 

 of St. Stephen's cluu-cli. 3Ir. Williams, a 

 silver medal, with the Lectures of Barry, 

 Opie, and Fuseli, for the best drawing from 

 the Laoeoon, a work equally correct and 

 energetic. Mr. Smith, a silver medal, for 

 the second best dra\Aing. 'Sit. Presbury, 

 a silver medal, for the thinl best. Mr. 

 Gallaghan, a silver medal, and the Lectures 

 of Barry, Opie, and Fuseli, for the best 

 model of the same group. Mr. Paiiormo, 

 a silver medal, for the second best model. 

 After Sir Thomas Lawrence had delivered 

 the medals, he made a few observations on 

 the subject of the distribution. I ti speak- 

 ing of the historical ])aintings, he alluded to 

 the case of one of the candidates (3Ir. 

 John Hayter),' whose ])icture far sur- 

 passed every other, and had been re- 

 jected solely in consequence of some in- 

 formality in regard to the regulations of 

 the Academy : the President spoke in high 

 terms of this picture, and said that the 

 Academy were sorry to be compelled to 

 reject a work which they would otherwise 

 have been proud of. Sir Thomas regretted 

 his inability on the present occasion to de- 

 liver a discourse on the Fine Arts. He 

 had returned from the continent only the 

 day before, and was wholly unprepared. 



exact bisection of an image ; but a circum- 

 stance occurs in the formation of the image 

 in the telescope, which in some measure 

 compensates the inconvenience. The vi- 

 brations of the mercury in a longitudinal 

 trough occasion an elongated image of the 

 star in the direction of the wire, appearing 

 like a succession of stars, which become 

 smaller as they recede from the central un- 

 defined mass, exhibiting an ajtpearance like 

 beads threaded on the wire, which is ex- 

 tremely favourable to bisection." A letter 

 was read from Mr. II. Cornfield, a member 

 of the society, to Dr. Gregory, describing 

 an appearance noticed by him with a Gre- 

 gorian reflector, power 350 ; and by Mr. 

 J. Wallis, the lecturer on astronomy, with 

 a Newtonian telescope, power 100, in re- 

 ference to the occultation of .Saturn Oct. 

 .'iOth. A paper was next read, " On the 

 Determination. of Latitudes by Observa- 

 tions of .Azimuths and Altitudes alone," 

 by M. Lattrow, Assoc. Ast. S<jc. Lastly, 

 tlierc was exhibited to the society a model 

 of one of the large refiecting telescopes, 

 made by .Mr. John Uamage, of Aberdeen ; 

 the reading of a descriptive i)aper, by Mr. 

 llamage, was also commenced. 



LONDON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIF.TV. 



On the 11th of November the society re- 

 sumed its sittings, when the President 

 called the attention of the members to the 

 remarkable circumstance of tlie appearance 

 of four comets during the recess, an oc- 

 currence unparalleled in the history of 

 astronomy. The last, M-hich had been the 

 object of anxious solicitude at every obser- 

 vatory, was discovered about July or Au- 

 gust last. This comet, better known by 

 the name of the Comet of Encke, the 

 President remarked, has now made thirteen 

 revolutions within the last forty years ; si.x 

 of which liave been observed by astrono- 

 mers. It was first seen in 1786, afterwards 

 in 1795, 1805, 1819, 1822, and in the pre- 

 sent year. It makes a complete revolution 

 in about 1207 days, or about tliree and a 

 half years. A paper was read, " On the 

 Latitude of the Royal Observatory at 

 Greenwich,'' by the Astronomer Royal: 

 the same paper includes some remarks on 

 observations upon the pole-star, and an 

 interesting circumstance, which is this : — 

 " The undulation to which a mass of mer- 

 cury is liable, even with the greatest care, 

 is in itself considered unfavourable to the 



• Mr. John Hayter did not attend, being seriously 

 ill, and has since tendered a certificate sipned by his 

 Medical Attendant, but which was presented too 

 late — EaUor. 



HORTICIILTIRAL SOCIETY. 



On the 16tli August the large silver me- 

 dal was presented to Mr. William Green- 

 shields, a corresponding member, for a roin- 

 munication " On the Culture of the Pine- 

 Apple," which is |)rinted in the Transac- 

 tions of the Society ; a paper was also read, 

 " On the Management of the Amaryllis 

 Vittata," by ^Nlr. John Brown, gardener to 

 Chandos Leigh, Es(i., F.ll.s. On the 4-th 

 October a paper was read, " On the Culti- 

 vation of the Pa«.-itlora Quadmngularis," 

 by Mr. John Mitchelson ; and another, 

 " On the Means of obtaining an abundant 

 second Crop of Melons," by Mr. Charles 

 Harrison, f.h.s. ; and on November 1st 

 an account was read, of " An easy and 

 successful Method of destroying Wasps," 

 also by Mr. Harrison. 



LINN^EAN SOCIETY. 



This society met on the 1st and 15th of 

 November, when the following paper wa<j 

 read: " Observations on the Unimi>reg- 

 nated Vegetable Ovulum ;' ' and on the 

 " Nature of the Female Flower in Coni- 

 fene and Cyadeae," by Robert Brown, 



Esq., F.R.S,, F.L.9., &C. 



F O R K I G N. 



IRANCE. 



Paris. — Proceedings of the Institute. 

 Among the innumerable communications to 

 the Academy of Sciences, the following 

 appear the most remarkable. M. Magen- 

 die, who has been travelling in the Pyrenees, 

 remarked, that cases of goitre and imbecility 

 are more rare than formerly, which he as- 

 cribes to the ameliorated condition of the 



