Imperial Academy of the Searchers into Nature. 369 



number of the umbelliferous plants growing wild in Germany 

 may be reckoned to be about X15 : of thefe, Ehrhart, in the 

 feventh volume of his Colleftions, names forty-four as offi- 

 cinal, which he has extratled from different difpenfatories : 

 but there arc many of them the virtue and cfleds of which 

 are not futficiently or accurately determined, which were 

 adopted in the old difpenfatorics, but which are no longer 

 confidered as medicinal. Murray, on this account, makes 

 the number of thofe which ought to be retained twenty- 

 eight; a number liill IclVened in the difpenfatorics of other 

 countries, but which comprehends fpecies which, in general, 

 may be accounted medicinal. The academy wi flies, there- 

 fore, to have determined — Whether there are any of the 

 German umbelliferous plants not yet admitted into the Ma- 

 teria JSledica which polfefs confiderable virtue in medicine? 

 What thefe virtues are ? In what difcafes, and in wliat man- 

 ner, thefe plants, or individual parts of them, can be ufed > 

 Thofe who employ themlelves on thefe queliions mull feleft 

 at Icaft five fpecies befides thofe mentioned by Murray, 

 in order to afcertain, by chemical and medical experiments, 

 the ufes and purpofes to which they can be applied. It will 

 be agreeable to the academy, if thofe authors who have fur- 

 niflied any hints towards thefe refearches be pointed out 5 

 but the writers mull not content themfelves with mere quota- 

 tions. 



II. The phaenomena which have been obferved in the ef- 

 fects produced by the Voltaic pile aflbrd the mod plcafmo- 

 prolpeft of future difcovcries in chemillry, phvfiolofrv, ana 

 medicine, and even give reafon to e.xpeil fome conclufions 

 in regard to the obicuie fecret of life and organization. 

 Though we are flill too far from having difcovercd the 

 grounds of thefe phaenomena to entertain a hope that fuch 

 conclufions can be foon obtained — as an attempt to arranoe 

 and to reduce into a iyftematic jorm the many and various 

 obfcrvatious which have been m;ide fince the invention of 

 the above apparatus by the indullry and fpirit of releareh, 

 and particularly of the German chemills, might contribute 

 to bring us nearer to the objed in view, the S(K;iety jiropofcs 

 as the uibjcift of a prize a treaiife on this difcovery, and re- 

 quires : 



id," That the author will collect all the obfcrvatious made 

 before the beginning <A the year 1803, and deduce from 

 them a feries of principles lyfUniaticaliv arranged, quoting 

 the names of the obfcrvers, and alio the works which con- 

 lain an account of their oblirvations. 



ad, Thai he will make new experiments in regard to thofe 



Vol. XII. No. 48. A a principles 



