Hoyal Society, London. egg 



John Townley, esq.; William Charles Wells, M.D.: Tho- 

 mas Young, M.D. 



And the officers were, — The right honourable sir Joseph 

 Banks, K.iS. president; WilliaurMarsden, esq. treasurer- 

 Edward Whitaker Gray, M.D., William Hyde WoUas- 

 ton, M.D., secretaries. 



Aiterwards the members of the society dined tocrether 

 as usual, at the Crown and Anchor Tarern', in the Sti-and. * 



^" Thursday the l-Jth of December, the right honoura- 

 ble Charles Gre.ville in the chair, minutes of the transac- 

 tions of the council were read, with the above lists of offi- 

 cers, and a state of the funds of the society. 



Letters were read from Drs. Maskelyne and Herschel 

 mentioning their having observed a comet on the evening 

 of the 6th instant, about six o'clock. It appeared like a 

 star of the third or fourth magnitude, with a large coma, 

 but no tail. It was not visible the succeeding cvenino-. 



A paper was also read on the dissection o1" a pecidiarlv 

 formed heart, by Mr. Wyatt. It belonged to the body of 

 a young woman who died of a mortification in her feet at 

 the age of twenty. For fortv davs before her death, a chlo- 

 rotic paleness pervaded her whole frame ; her feet and legs 

 were somewhat swelled, and painful ; and her appetite con- 

 tinued good till the day she expired. When her body was 

 opened liy Mr. Wyatt, he found the heart nearly divided 

 by a callous substance that obstructed its functions in re- 

 ceiving and discharging the blood through the aortas. To 

 'this cause, the obstructed or imperfect circulation, he 

 ascribed the mortification of the extremities. The paper was 

 illustrated by a draN.ving of the sincjular appearance of the 

 heart. 



Thursday, December ]o, the right honourable Charles 

 Oreville lu the chair, commenced Ihe reading of a paper 

 on guiacum, by Mr. Brande, communicated by Mr. Hat- 

 chett, who has placed an accurate knowledge of this sub- 

 ject among the chemical desiderata, where, we fear, it 

 must yet remain. Mr. Brande agrees with Mr. Hatchett 

 that guiacum is a peculiar substanc'e, which he chooses, for 

 the present, to denominate an extracto-resin, differing, as 

 he says, from the otlicr resins in having an extradrc'mary 

 quantity of what is i.«5ually denominated extractive matter. 

 Its peculiarities seem to consist principally in its different 

 solutions in the acids being of very different colours, all of 

 whicli arc ascribed by Mr. Brande to the presence of oxygen. 

 Some, however, may be inclined to believe thnt diflcTcn,t 

 combinations of matter must present different surfaces or 



powers 



