1 8 2 Royal Society of London . 



that of the farina, the incinerated charcoal of which furnished 

 phosphates of lime and magnesia, quicklime and iron. 



According to these experiments barley contains, 1st, fat 

 oil, capable of concreting, weighing one hundredth ; 2dly, 

 sugar, forming about seven hundredths; 3dly, starch ; 4thly, 

 an animal matter, partly soluble in the acetic acid and partly 

 consisting of glutinous flakes; 5thly, phosphates of lime and 

 magnesia ; 6thly, silex and iron ; and, 7thly, acetic acid, 

 which, however, is not in all barleys, but which is often 

 enough found to deserve notice. 



[To be continued.] 



XXX. Proceedings, of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



J une 26. The Right Honourable Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. 

 President, in the chair. — A paper by Mr. Gilpin, the register 

 of the society, was read, containing very interesting and cu- 

 rious observations on the dip and variation of the magnetic 

 needle, made at his apartments in Somerset-house, under the 

 direction of Mr. Cavendish, from the year 17S6 to 1806, 

 and reduced to five analytical tables, of which Dr. Gray, 

 the secretary, made a very complete and perspicuous sum- 

 mary. 



An account of an analysis, by Mr. Smithson Tennant, of 

 a kind of native iron found at the Cape of Good Hope, was 

 read. This metal consisted of an alloy of nickel and iron in 

 the proportion of one of the former to ten of the latter. It 

 yielded plumbago when treated with acid. The specimen 

 subjected ,to our author's experience was about six inches 

 long, four and a half broad, and two thick, and was sup- 

 posed, like the stones lately discovered, to have fallen from 

 the clouds. 



A letter from a gentleman in Somersetshire to Mr. Ten- 

 nant, on the latitude of certain stars, was likewise read. 

 Dr. Herschel furnished a paper as a summary of, and 

 2 sequel 



