Hoy al Academy rj" Sciences, Berlin, 85 



IT. The Clafs of the Belles Letlrcs has again propofctl the 

 fjueftioti refpecting the Goths and Gothicilm, with the tbllou'- 

 ing variations and definitions, and offers a double prize. ; 

 ifl. Did the northern tribes, the Goths, Vandals, Snevi, 

 Longobardi, Franks, Burgundians, Anglo-Saxons, &c., who 

 divided the weftern poflelhons among them, bring with them 

 from their own country any thing peculiar in their arts and 

 fciences ? or, Cannot it be rather proved that every kind of 

 mental culture which thefe people acquired was obtained 

 from their inlercourfe wiih the old inhabitants of the Roman 

 empire, and from their being mixed with them by their 

 conqucfts ? 



2d. Ought we therefore to alcribe to thefe people a peculiar 

 ftyle in their literature and arts? or, Are the fpecimens of 

 thefe arts which occur in the middle ages only modifications 

 of the antient Greek Ityle, produced after the decline of the 

 Roman empire by the new political, religious, and moral fitu- 

 ation of thefe people ? 



^ 3d. And, if the latter be the cafe, what are the diftlnguifli- 

 mg marks of the produilions of the middle a<res in literature 

 and the fine arts ? What is the proper ordcr^in which thev 

 follow each other ? AVhat influence had the cultivation of 

 the fine arts among the Arabs on thofe of the weltern part 

 of Europe ? When and through what channels was this in- 

 fluence perceptible, and by what figns was it diftinouidicd ? 



-Papers on this fubjtdl will be received till the Tit of May 

 1804. 



II r. The following Is the queftion propofcd by the Phyfical 

 Clafs : — flas clcftricity any influence on matters in a (late of 

 fermentation ? Does it contribute to, or impede, fermenta- 

 tion ? Does it produce any change in the produfts of fer- 

 mentation ? What advantage can be derived from callino- 

 forth this matter in order to iniprove the art of prcpariu<? 

 wine, beer, vinegar, and brandv ? ° 



Papers on this'fubjea will be received till the ift of May 

 1803. ^ 



IV, The following is the queflion propofed bv the Philo- 

 fophical Clafs :-r-Is the moral worth of an action' to he taken 

 into coijlideralion in the application of a criminal law ? And 

 if this be the cafe, how far can it be done? 



Papers on this fubjett will be received till the jfl of May 

 J803. ^ 



1^3 ACADEMY 



