Royal Society. 51 



. Dr. Graham is nearly as great an adept in the art of puffing, as 

 in the practices of spoliation, borrowing, and blundering : he has, it 

 seems, published three other books ; and in an advertisement pre- 

 fixed to the Chemical Catecliism we have the opinions of various 

 critics respecting the works in question ; in due time we expect to 

 find the same persons giving similar judgments of the Chemical Cate- 

 chism. We shall undoubtedly hear, to copy the phrases of Dr. Gra- 

 ham's reviewers, — and his they are we doubt not, — that the Catechism 

 is a work " of a very superior order," — " recommended by talent and 

 experience,"— " incomparably superior to any similar work in our 

 language," — " a very valuable acquisition to the family library," — 

 " lays a large claim to a decisive superiority," — " is altogether de- 

 serving of permanent popularity;" with many other strains equally 

 laudatory and quite as true. 



In concluding a notice extended much beyond the limits demanded 

 by the nature of the work ; we recommend Dr. Graham when he 

 writes again, if he sliould wish to avoid detection and ex))osure, to 

 take a hint from Sir Fretful Plagiary, and serve his pilferings " as 

 gipsies do stolen children, — disfigure them to make them pass for 

 their own." 



X. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



KOYAL SOCIETY. 



April 30.— A PAPER was read, entitled " On the respiration of 

 -^ birds;" by JNIessrs. W. Allen and W. Hasledine 

 Pepys, FF.R.S. 



The inquiries of the authors on human respiration, and on that 

 of the Guinea-pig, of which they communicated the details to 

 the Royal Society in former papers, are here extended to the respi- 

 ration of birds. Pigeons v/ere the subjects of these experiments, 

 and the same apparatus was employed as the one used for the 

 Guinea-pig, described in the Philosophical Transactions for 1809. 



The object of the first experiment was to ascertain the changes 

 which take place in atmospheric air when breathed by a bird in the 

 most natural manner. For this purpose a pigeon was placed in a 

 glass vessel, containing about 62 cubic inches of air, and communi- 

 cating with two gasometers, one of which supplied from time to 

 lime fresh quantities of air, and the other received portions which 

 became vitiated by respiration. The experiment lasted 69 minutes, 

 and was productive of no injury to the bird except a slight appear- 

 ance of uneasiness whenever the supply of air was not sufficiently 

 rapid. On examining the air at the end of the experiment, no alte- 

 ration had taken place either in the total volume of air or the pro- 

 portion of azote whicli it contained ; the only perceptible change 

 being the substitution of a certain quantity of carbonic acid for 

 an equal volume of oxygen gas, amounting to about half a cubic 

 inch jier minute, and being equivalent to the addition of 96 grains 

 of carbon in twenty-four hours. 



Two experiments were made on the respiration of oxygen gas, 

 obtained from chlorate of potash, and containing in the one case 

 two, and in the otiier only one, per cent of azote. Under these 



1 1 '2 circuni- 



