672 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



my, now exhibited. He had been engaged for upwards of twenty 

 years iii the preparation of models in painted relievo for the medi- 

 cal schools in France. The material which these pieces are made 

 of, and the system of painting, are his own and exclusive property. 

 They present over wax models the folio wins: advantages: 



1st. Wax specimens are modeled, and are imitations very fine 

 indeed, but not perfect. 



2d. The process of manufacturing is very slow, and the disease 

 that you wish to reproduce changes in aspect, in color, in form 

 before the piece is completed. 



3d. Wax specimens are easily spoiled at the contact of atmos- 

 pheric air, they are altered by heat, and loose their color iu course 

 of time. Those colors are too bright, too fine; what the physician 

 wants in nature, not the ideal of the artist, he wants to see the 

 disease in all the horrors of its reality. 



The specimens we present to you to-night, are made from im- 

 pressions taken last summer in one of the hospitals of Paris, they 

 are made in a composition inalterable under the influence of heat 

 under any climate. They may be handled, cleaned when soiled, 

 and carried about without any inconvenience. They are exact and 

 minute reproductions of the diseased parts, as may be ascertained 

 by looking at them through a magnifying glass, and their last, but 

 not least, advantage, is they are much cheaper than wax. 



Having brought his industry to this country, he respectfully sub- 

 mitted these specimens of his work hoping that the members pres- 

 ent would aid him to become known among the scientific men of 

 the United States. 



J. Stanley Grimes, Esq., took the floor and gave the following 

 new deductions touching the 



FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 



The new theory which I propose concerning the formation of 

 the solar system is all embraced iu the following proposition : 

 'Ihe relative magnitudes, densities and distances of the sun a7id 

 planets, are such as icoidd necessarily result from the axial rotation 

 of a nehulous mass in a resisting medium. 



If we athnit the existence of an ethcrial fluid, — such as that the 

 vibrations of which produce light and heat, — we must also admit 

 that it will present a slight resistance to the passage of a body 

 through it. By regarding the ethcrial fluid as analogous to atmos- 

 pheric air, wc can readily understand that the lighter a body is 



