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XiX. Notices respecting Neiv Books. 



IV'Ir. Donovan is preparing for the press, "An Essay on the 

 Origin, Progress, and present State of Cialvanism ; containing 

 Investigations experimental and speculative of the principal Doc- 

 trines offered for the Explanation t>f its Phtenomena, and a State- 

 ment of a nfw Theory." This essay was honoured with the. 

 prize by the Royal Irish Academy. 



Optical Outlines; or, A new Theory of Fiiion, Light, and Co- 

 lours, tvilh Experiments on radiant Caloric. By Joseph 

 Reade, M.D. of Cork. 



This work amongst others will embrace the following sub- 

 jects: The present theory of vision; — retina not the seat of vi- 

 sion ;• — the real seat pointed out, and confirmed by conclusive 

 experiments ; — blackness a real colour caused by the condensed 

 reflection of blue, red, and yellow ; — primary colours ; — the 

 composition of blackness hliown by analysis and syntheses of 

 opaque paints, and also by analysis and syntheses of the prisma- 

 tic rays themselves; — absurdity of visual angles taken from re- 

 fracted foci ; — a new theory of refraction^ — yellow rays shown 

 to be the most refrangible, and blue the least ; — a new rationale 

 of reflecting and refracting telescopes, &c. &:c.; — incident light 

 never yet decomposed ; — reflected light alone capable of decom- 

 position ; — spcctric phasnomena ; — spectrum not an image of 

 the sun ; — rationale of the prism, lens, &:c. ; — Sir Isaac New- 

 ton's theory of colours shown to be fallacious ; — concentric rings, 

 with the colours of thick and thin plates, soap bubbles, &;c. in- 

 vestigated, and their real causes ascertained by numerous new 

 arid interesting experiments ;—^a new theory of the rain-bow, 

 &c. ; — colour of the clouds ; — apparent distance of objects ; — 

 double vision; — radiant caloric; — observations and experi- 

 ments on Dr. Herschel's investigation of the solar ray ;• — identity 

 of heat and light. 



Some copies will be published vvitli coloured plates. 



Dr. Spurzheim has just published a second edition of his 

 work on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain, v.ith consi- 

 derable additions. The science of the organology of the braii]i 

 is rapidly advancing, and every month some nevv cases of corro- 

 boration, or some new discovery, have engaged the Doctor's at- 

 tention. The medical gentlemen who have given their time io 

 this subject have many of them become very zealous pupils, and 

 on the whole the ecience is rapidly gaining ground in Great 

 Britain. Several Reviews have mentioned the work ; but no 

 arguments, according to the opinion of the craniologists, have 

 vet been able to set aside the proofs of the truth of the theory. 



XX. In- 



