ACADEMY. 



15 



Scientifica Rossanense dcgi' Incuriosi, at first for the 

 belles lettres, but since 1695 for the sciences also. 

 Tlie Royal Academy at Naples has existed since 

 1779. Its publications contain some instructive dis- 

 quisitions on mathematical subjects. Of the Italian 

 academies, we would also mention those at Turin, 

 Padua, Milan, Sienna, Verona, Genoa, all of which 

 have published their transactions. Italy may be 

 called the mother of academic institutions. Jarchius 

 enumerates 550 of them in his catalogue. The 

 French- Academy of Sciences at Paris, Academie 

 Royale des Sciences, founded in 1666, by Colbert, 

 received the royal ratification in 1699. The mem- 

 bers were divided into four classes honorary mem- 

 bers, active members or pensionaries (receiving 

 salaries), associvs and eleves. The first class was to 

 contain ten, and each of the three others twenty 

 persons. The president was appointed by the king 

 out of the first class. From the second, a secretary 

 and treasurer were selected. The duke of Orleans, 

 when regent, abolished the class of eleves, and sub- 

 stituted for it two new classes, the one of which 

 comprised twelve adjuncts, and the other, six asso- 

 cies ; to which latter class no particular branch of 

 science was assigned. A vice-president was to be 

 appointed annually by the king from the first class, 

 and a director and sub-director from the second. 

 In 1785, the king added classes for natural history, 

 agriculture, mineralogy, and physics; so that the 

 whole now consisted of eight classes. He also in- 

 corporated the associes ana the adjuncts (adjoints). 

 This academy has rendered many services to science, 

 especially by the measurement of a degree of the 

 meridian. Since 1699, it has, with a few late ex- 

 ceptions, annually published a volume of its transac- 

 tions, which constitute a series of 139 volumes. 

 Rouille de Meslay founded two prizes, which the 

 academy annually distributed; the first, of 2500 

 livres, for the promotion of physical astronomy ; the 

 second, of 2000 livres, for that of navigation and 

 commerce. In 1793, the academy was abolished; 

 and the National Institute took its place, and that 

 of the other academies ; but they were restored by 

 Louis XVIII. Important academies, besides those 

 of Paris, still exist in the principal cities of France, 

 e. g. at Caen, since 1705 ; at Toulouse, the first 

 volume of whose transactions appeared in 1782 ; at 

 Rouen, since 1736; at Bordeaux, since 1703; at 

 Soissons, since 1674 ; at Marseilles, since 1726 ; at 

 Lyons, since 1700 ; at Montauban, since 1744 ; at 

 Amiens, since 1750 ; at Dijon, since 1740 ; &c. 

 An Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 

 Berlin in 1700, by king Frederic I ; some changes 

 in it were made in 1710 ; principally relating to the 

 presidency. The members were divided into four 

 classes ; the first were to devote themselves to natu- 

 ral philosophy, medicine, and chemistry ; the second 

 to mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics; the 

 third to the history and language of Germany ; the 

 fourth to oriental literature, with a view to the con- 

 version of the heathen. Each class chooses a 

 director for life. The first president was the famous 

 Leibnitz. The institution began truly to flourish 

 under Frederic II, who invited distinguished scholars 

 from foreign countries, and appointed Maupertuis 

 president. Public sessions were held semi-annually, 

 on the birth-day of the king and the anniversary of 

 his accession to the throne. In the latter, a prize 

 medal of 50 ducats is adjudged to him who has best 

 answered the question proposed by the academy. 

 Since that time, their transactions have appeared in 

 a series of volumes, under the title Memoires de 

 VAcadimie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres d 

 Berlin. They are now, however, always published 

 in the German language. New alterations were 



made in 1798, in onler to give a more useful direc- 

 tion to the labours of the academy : among other 

 things, tne royal library and the cabinet of arts were 

 united with it. At Manheim, in 1755, the elector 

 Charles Theodore, established an academy, accord- 

 ing to the plan of Schopflin. It consisted, at first 

 of two classes, the historical and physical ; the latter 

 was divided, in 1780, into the physical, properly so 

 called, and the meteorological. The transactions 

 in the departments of history and physic have ap- 

 peared under the title Acta Academic Tlieodoro- 

 Palatinee in the branch of meteorology, under the 

 title Ephemerides Societatis Meteorologicee Palatmce. 

 The academy at Munich has existed since 1759, 

 but was much enlarged when Bavaria was exalted 

 to a kingdom. Its memoirs are entitled Abliandlungen 

 der baierschen Akademie. Peter the Great had pro- 

 jected the establishment of the Imperial Academy 

 of Sciences at St Petersburg, and consulted WoW 

 and Leibnitz on the subject ; but his death prevent- 

 ed the execution of his project, which was completed 

 by Catharine I. Its first sitting was held, Dec. 1725. 

 The empress appropriated about 30,000 roubles a 

 year for the support of the academy ; fifteen distin- 

 guished scholars in different departments received 

 pensions as members, with the title of professors. 

 The most famous of them were Nicholas and Daniel 

 Bernouilli, the two de Lisles, Bulfinger, and Wolf. 

 Under Peter II. the academy languished ; but re- 

 vived under the empress Anna, and declined again 

 after her death. Under Elizabeth, it flourished 

 anew. It was enlarged and improved, and an aca- 

 demy of arts added in 1747, which was separated 

 again in 1764. Its annual income amounts to 60,000 

 roubles. This academy has contributed much to a 

 more accurate knowledge of the interior of Russia, 

 by sending men like Pallas, Gmelin, Stolberg, Gul- 

 denstadt, and Klaproth, to travel through single 

 provinces, and has thereby given rise to some excel- 

 lent works. The number of active members, besides 

 the president and director, amounts to fifteen. In 

 addition to these, there are four adjuncts, who at- 

 tend the sittings, and are admitted, on the first va- 

 cancies, to the rank of members. The academy has 

 an excellent collection of books and manuscripts, a 

 valuable cabinet of medals, and a rich collection in 

 natural history. Its transactions appeared from 1728 

 to 1747, during which period they amount to 14 

 volumes, under the title Commentarii Academiee 

 Sdentiee Imperialis Petropolitanee. From that time 

 till 1777, they were published under the title Novt 

 Commentarii, in 20 volumes. They were subse- 

 quently entitled Acta Academies, and at present the 

 new series is called Nova Acta. The Commentarii 

 are all in Latin ; the Acta are partly in Latin, 

 partly in French. The Royal Academy of Sciences 

 at Stockholm originated in a private association of 

 six learned men, among whom was Linnaeus, and 

 held its first session, June 23, 1739. In the same 

 year appeared its first memoirs. The association 

 soon attracted public attention, and, March 31, 

 1741, the king conferred on it the name of the Royal 

 Academy of Sweden. It receives, however, no pen- 

 sion from the crown, and is conducted by its own 

 members. A professor of experimental philosophy 

 only, and two secretaries are paid from the fluids of 

 the society, which are considerable, arising from 

 legacies and donations. The presidency is held in 

 turn by the members residing at Stockholm, each 

 one remaining in office three months. The treatises 

 read in the sittings appear quarterly. The first forty 

 volumes, till 1779, are called the Old Transactions ; 

 the subsequent volumes are called the new. The 

 papers relating to agriculture appear under the title 

 (Economica Ada. Prizes, consisting of money and 



