361 



order in its appearance and progress ; that the pencils of rays or 

 streamers, as they are called, generally make their first appearance 

 in the north; and as they rise from the horizon, assume/ the form of 

 an arch, extending from east to west, and having its vertex in the 

 plane of the magnetic meridian, the arch itself being at right angles 

 to that plane. While the arch itself is near the horizon, its breadth 

 from north to south is considerable ; and the streamers of which it is 

 composed appear to be nearly at right angles to the general line of 

 the arch, their directions converging to a point a few degrees to the 

 south of the zenith. As the arch moves forwards towards the south, 

 its lateral dimensions appear to contract, the intensity of its light 

 increases, and the directions of the streamers, still tending to the 

 same point in the heavens, approach more nearly to parallelism with 

 that of the arch. When it has passed the zenith, and arrived at 

 the above-mentioned point, a little to the south of the zenith, the 

 arch is seen as a narrow belt, 3 or 4 only in breadth, and with well- 

 defined edges. In its further progress southwards, it again enlarges 

 in breadth, and exhibits, in a reverse order, the same succession of 

 changes as before. Hence, the author concludes that the streamers 

 have individually a position nearly vertical or parallel to the magnetic 

 dip ; that they form a thin fringe, stretching often to a great distance 

 from east to west, at right angles to the magnetic meridian ; and 

 that the movement of the fringe from north to south takes place by 

 the extinction of streamers at its northern side, and the formation of 

 new ones contiguous to its southern side. 



From a variety of observations which are detailed in this paper, 

 the author infers, in opposition to the opinion of Mr. Dalton, that 

 the region occupied by this meteor is above, but contiguous to, that 

 of the clouds, or at least to that in which aqueous vapour is con- 

 densed, so as afterwards to appear in the form of clouds. The height 

 of this region he estimates as in general about 2000 feet above the 

 surface ; and he is of opinion, that while such is the height of the 

 lower ends of the vertical streamers, their upper ends may have an 

 elevation of 2000 or 3000 feet more. 



Observations on the Functions of the Intestinal Canal and Liver of the 

 human Foetus. By Robert Lee, M.D., Physician to the British 

 Lying -in- Hospital. Communicated by Dr. Prout, F.R.S. Read 

 June 19, 1828. [Phil. Trans. 1829, p. 121.] 



From the circumstances of the early development of the liver and 

 intestines in the foetus, of the copious supply of blood which they re- 

 ceive, and of the great space which they occupy in the abdomen, the 

 author was led to the conclusion that they performed some important 

 functions in the fetal economy. Although no nutritive matter can 

 be furnished by the mouth, yet the contents of different portions of 

 the alimentary canal were found, both in appearance and chemical 

 composition, to bear a striking analogy to those of the same portions 

 of the canal in the adult, where the processes of assimilation and ab- 



