220 Royal Society. 



thus : " the other wire was inserted into a disc of copper, in a 

 similar manner." It should be read, " the other wire was in- 

 serted into a disc of cork, in a similar manner." 



I hope that such readers of your Magazine as have copies, will 

 take the trouble to correct the error. 



I am, sir, with respect, &;c. 

 Dublin, March 13, 1817. M. DoNOVAN. 



LX. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETV. 



Feb. 27. xXt the instance of the President, Sir E. Home fur- 

 nished some descriptive observations on the fossil bones found 

 by Mr. Whitb_y, the superintendant of the works, in the quarry 

 whence the stoue for the Plymouth Break-water is extracted. 

 These bones were found about 70 feet below the surface of the 

 ground, and four above high-water mark, in a cavern wiiich i» 

 nearly opposite to, and at a little distance from, the works now 

 carrying on at Plymouth. The bones are more perfect, and freer 

 from extraneous matter, than any other fossil bones hitherto 

 found. The cavern has no incrustations on its sides, no exter- 

 nal communication, and no appearance of infiltration : its bot- 

 tom, in whicii the bones were fleposited, is filled with chiv, three 

 feet of wliich covered them. The bones found bv Mr. \V l)itbv, 

 and sent by liim to .Sir Joseph P)anks, belonged to three different 

 animals of tb.e rhinoceros species, and are larger than tliose in 

 Mr. Brooks's Museum. According to Mr. Brande's analysis, 

 they contain little but the usual contents of bones, and have very 

 little earthy or extraneous matter. It appears that there are 

 V-\'0 kinds of stone used in constructing the Break-water, and 

 that the one being much harder than the other, a ditTerent price 

 is paid for raising it ; but the part in which the bones were 

 found is of the harder kind, and for which the greatest price is 

 paid for quarrying. 



March 6. The Rev. Mr. Hyde Wollaston gave the Soeiety a 

 descrijjtion of an instrument wliicli he has lately invented for 

 mciisuring altitudes, and wiiicli he calls a thermometrical baro- 

 meter. Every one who has attem])ted to use the connnon mounr 

 tain barometer has experienced the difficulty, and almost impos- 

 sibility, of preserving it without fracture. To remedy this, Mr. 

 Wollaston, observing the staking difference in the temperature 

 of water according to the atmospheric pressure, instituted a 

 series of experiments, in order to construct a thermometer which 

 should answer all the purposes of measuring heiglits with ex* 



treme 



