54 Royal Society. 



many hours' detention at each station, it was not considered essen- 

 tial to cumber him. Should the Argentine provinces have become 

 sufficiently quiet, he will first cross the Andes at the Planchan Pass, 

 lat. 35° 20', next at the Partillo (the most elevated) Pass, lat. 33° 40', 

 and finally at the Cumbre and Uspalata Puss, in lat. 32° 50', where 

 observations have already been made. 



As he will remain at Santiago only a short time, I look for him 

 home during February next. 



His and all the raagnetical observations will then be discussed, 

 and tlie volume be ready for press by the close of 1854. Those on 

 meteorology are verj^ far advanced. 



The astronomical observations will fill three volumes, one of which 

 (Mars and Venus) will be ready about the same time as the mag- 

 netical and meterological volume ; the zones not until two years 

 later. 



My report, embracing those of Lieut. Mackai and the naturalists, 

 ■with the maps, plans, and drawings, will probably be the first pub- 

 lished ; and should Congress extend its usual liberality to my pro- 

 positions, all the volumes will be presented to the world in a 

 creditable manner. 



A paper was also read, entitled " On the Typical Forms of the 

 large Secreting Organs of the Human Body." By Thomas H. 

 Silvester, M.D. 



The author in this paper ofl:ers some observations on the large 

 secreting organs of the human body, namely, — 



The lungs, 



The liver. 



The kidney, 



The stomach, 



The intestines, and 



The developments connected with reproduction. 



He observes that there are great obstacles to an attempt to re- 

 duce them to a uniform type, but that further observation reveals 

 a typical uniformity, in adaptation to special purposes, unequalled in 

 the rest of the human ceconomy. The greatest hindrance to the 

 discovery of this law of formation has been the habit of regarding a 

 single element of the glandular organ as the whole and not a mere 

 part of the glandular apparatus ; for instance, the ovary has been 

 described as the ovuliferous gland, although in reality the latter 

 consists of the ovary, the Fallopian tubes, the uterus, and the vagina : 

 also the lung has been said to be a gland, meaning by this expres- 

 sion the secreting portion ; whereas the lung-gland is composed of 

 the vesicular structure, the excretory ducts, the bronchi, larynx, 

 thyroid body, and even the nasal i)assages. The aim of the author 

 has been to discover the constant elements of the glandular system 

 and to compare them together in the several organs. 



A secreting gland is described as a more or less developed fold of 



