Royal Society. ^73 



Certain in its effects. It has, however, now arrived at that 

 point; an. I this Essay contains a collection of the facts 

 wliich have been ascertained, for the use of those who may 

 wish to put in jsractice the warming of buildings by steam. 



Besides the advantages of this application of steam for 

 ordinary purposes of warming buildings, it is of in)port- 

 ance iu a national point of view, as it may prevent accidents 

 in all situations where there is much combustible matter, 

 such as iu arrjcnals and dock -yards. 



An Ei-^ay on Symbols, u-'ith a View to suggesting a new 



System of Gcilur^-signs for the Deafly-Damh. By 



J. M. Weinbergkr. 



This tract is in the German language, and M. Weinber" 

 ger, as far as we know, is the first of his countryn)en who 

 lias devoted his attention to the study of that science, by 

 which INIessrs. Sicard and L'Epee have rendered their names 

 sacred to every friend of humanity. M. Weinberger's 

 labours, however, deserve a higher title than that of im- 

 provements upon the systems of his predecessors. lid 

 first sets out with an attempt to simplify the mode of con- 

 veying ideas and language between the deafly-dumb. He 

 discusses the most remarkable methods that have been pro- 

 posed for gesture, language, and eiTiblematical writintr, and 

 concludes by giving a hand alphabet of his own invention. 

 This new system greatly excels the finger talk at present 

 adopted, in so far as it requires the use of one hand alone j 

 and the characters are so contrived as to be capable of suc- 

 ceeding each other with great rapidity. 



M. Weinberger seems to have been extremely successful 

 in his practice as a teacher of the deafly-dun)b in Germany ; 

 and in his work he has detailed the results of some public 

 examinations of his pupils, who displayed great proficiency, 



XLII. Pi'occedivgs of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



iNov.26. The President in the chair. Continuation of 



Mr. Home's pap-jr on the Functions of the Spleen. A de- 



Vol. 29. No. W^.Dcc, IS07. S coctiwu 



