ANNALS 



or 



PHILOSOPHY. 



JANUARY, 1814. 



Article I. 



Sketch of the hnprnvements in ScieJice made during the Year 1813. 

 By Thomas Thomson, M. D. F. R. «. 



Nothing is more pleasing tlian to take a view of the successive 

 steps by which tlie diillrent sciences advance towards perfection, 

 and nothing more useful than to observe the various rates at which 

 each of them is advancing in our own time. Such knowledge 

 enables us to appreciate the taste of the age in which we live, and 

 shows us the various branches of knowledge which constitute the 

 fashionable objects of study. I conceive therefore that the sketch, 

 which I am about to present to my readers, of the progress of 

 Science during the year 1813, imperfect and mutilated as it must 

 of necessity be, will not be unacceptable. 



The countries towards which we naturally turn our eyes, when 

 we think of the progress of science, are Britain, France, Germany, 

 Sweden, and Italy. Of wliat has been done in Britain, as far as 

 can be collected from the diderent Journals and philosophical works 

 published during the course of the year, there is no difficulty of 

 procuring information. Several of the French Journals find their 

 way into this country with considerable regularity ; though not till 

 long after the period of publication. Hence what I shall ttate witk 

 respect to that country will rather apply to 1H12 than to 1813. 

 Germar^y has been the theatre of the most bloody war that Europe 

 has yet seen, and cannot therefore be expected to furnish much 

 materials for our historical sketch; especially as Saxony, the country 

 in which some of the most important scientific journals are pub- 

 lished, has been occupied by the French army, and of consequence 

 none of these Journalb could make their way to London. Sweden, 

 as far as 1 know, does not furnish uny regular scientific journal j 



Vol.. HI. N° I. A 



