Socifhj of Aiifhjucntcs. 91 



June IS. The prcsidtut in ihe chair. — A small quantitv 

 of the waters of the Dead Sea and tlie River Jurdan, in 

 Syria, which are known lo be so noxious to animal life, 

 having beeu brou2;ht to Sir J. Banks, Dr. Marcet procured 

 about a pint, which he analysed, and laid the rcsultd l)cfore 

 the society. From the sniallness of the quantity (and the 

 change the water must have experienced in the carriage) it 

 was acknowledged that little confidence could be placed in 

 such experiments. It appeared that these waters coiitain 

 muriate of lini.e and magnesia in a very unusual quantity, 

 besides sulphats, and other substances which could not be 

 very accurately ascertained. The analysis adds nothing to 

 (;ur knowledge respecting the formation of asphalluui or 

 bitumen in these waters. 



After readinn: this paper, the Society adjourned, on ac- 

 count of the long vacation, till Thursday the 5th of Novem- 

 ber next. 



SOCir.TY OF ANTiaUARIES. 



On the 11th, the light honourable the earl of Leicester, 

 president, pronounced a feeling and well -merited eulogy on 

 the very acute and profound talents of the late ri>2,ht reverend 

 Dr. Douglas, bishop of Salisbury, many years a distinguish- 

 ed fellow and member of the council of the Society of An- 

 tiquaries. His loru.-hip dwelt particularly on the national 

 services of this most woiihy and learned prelate in delect- 

 ing falsehood, in vindicating the originality of English 

 writers, and in laying down such clear, precise, and com- 

 plete principles for separating historical facts, and im'uctive 

 truth Irom desiirned fabrications or imaginary fables, as 

 must in future either prevent literary fraud, or tend to detect 

 it as soon as it may appear. Dr. Douglas was a Scots 

 episcopalian, equally pure and rigid in his own moral ceco- 

 nomv as liberal and pious in ins religious or political senti- 

 ments. His inquiry nito tlie credibility of miracles, al- 

 though not inaptly denominated the " Criterion," wants 

 only to be divided into chapters and sections to be a much 

 more useful investigation of the " Nature and lunnuiability 

 of Truth," than the work which bears that name. 



After his lordship had expressed his sentiments of t!ie 



virtues 



