ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS, FRIENDS 
AND STRANGERS. 
Remarks.—This method of acknowledgment has been adopt- 
ed, because it is not always practicable to write letters, where 
they might be reasonably expected; and still more difficult is it 
to prepare and insert in this Journal, notices of all the books, pamph- 
lets, &c., which are kindly presented, even in cases, where such no- 
tices, critical or commendatory, would be appropriate ; for it is ofien 
equally impossible to command the time requisite to frame them, or 
€ven to read the works; still, judicious remarks, from other hands, 
would usually find both acceptance and insertion. 
In public, it is rarely proper to advert to personal concerns ; to 
excuse, for instance, any apparent neglect of courtesy, by pleading 
the unintermitting pressure of labor, and the numerous calls of our 
fellow-men for information, advice, or assistance, in Jines of duty, 
with which they presume us to be acquainted. 
The apology, implied in this remark, is drawn from us, that we may 
not seem inattentive to the civilities of many respectable persons, au- 
thors, editors, publishers, and others, both at home and abroad. It 
is still our endeavor to reply to all letters which appear to require an 
answer ; although, as a substitute, many acknowledgments are made 
in these pages, which may sometimes be, in part, retrospective— 
ds. 
\ 
SCIENCE.—FOREIGN. 
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. XIV, pt. 
1. 4to. Edin. 1839. From the Society. 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Nos. 13, 14, 
15. 8vo. 1839-9. From the Society. 
Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 385. From Counsellor Schu- 
macher of Altona, through Messrs, Nestler & Melle, Hamburg, 
With numerous prospectuses, &c., of German works. 
Annalen der Physik und Chemie: herausgegeben zu Berlin von 
J.C. Poggendorff. 1833, 12 Nos., and 1839, Nos. 1 to 7 inclus. 
Leipzig. S8yo. From the Editor, in exchange. 
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