Helvetic and Utrecht Societies. 307 



the moon and the sun, as may be conformable to the experi- 

 ments made on light and the constitution of the atmosphere, 

 and also in accordance with observations as precise as the nature 

 of the phenomena will admit." 



Memoirs to be given in before the 31st March 1822. — Prize 

 50 ducats. 



HELVETIC SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 



This Society has proposed the following prize question for the 

 years 1S22 and IS23: 



*•' To collect exact and well-observed facts on the increase and 

 diminution of the glaciers in the different parts of the Alps, and 

 on the deterioration or amelioration of their pastui ages, and oii 

 the former and present state of the forests." It will be sufficient 

 if the authors treat only of a determined part of the Alps. — 

 Memoirs to be given in before 1st of January 1822. — Prize 300 

 livres. 



SOCIETY OF SCIENCES AND ARTS OF UTRECHT. 



This Society has announced the following questions for prize 

 competition : 



First Question. — " Are there characteristic signs sufficient to 

 distinguish always with certainty the true ca,ncerfrom other ma- 

 ladies which resemble it ? In case of an affirmative answer, what 

 are these signs ? Ought this malady to be considered as the ef- 

 fect of an indisposition of the whole body, or as only local? If it 

 is to be considered as an indisposition of the whole body, can 

 external remedies, whether amputation or the remedy applied by 

 the Religious of the Convent of Rees. or the corrosive remedies, 

 especially arsenic, contribute to the cure or alleviation of the ma- 

 lady ? or ought they to be considered as all equally hurtful ? When 

 the malady has not yet the characteristic signs of true cancer, 

 but when "there is reason to fear it may become so, and when it 

 may as yet be considered as a local evil, what external remedies 

 may then be applied with sound hope of success ? and what are 

 those which should be considered as hurtful ?" 



Second Question. — " Can we, by surveying any particular 

 part of the body of an animal that we have not had an opportu- 

 nity of observing in life, conclude with certainty what use it 

 made of that part ; so that we may look on this principle of final 

 causes not only as an usefnl principle, but as always a sure guide 

 in the natural history of the animal kingdom ?" 



Third Question.—" What relation is there between specula- 

 tive philosophy and mathematics ? Why are nnithematics ne- 

 cessary to jjhilosophy, excluding their apjjlication to physics ? 

 and what means docs .speculative philosophy offer for the exten- 

 sive and ullimati.' pcri'cclion of pure mathematics ?" 



Q q 2 LIl. InicL 



