170 Scieitlijic Intelligence. — Natural liistortj. 



Among the brief notices of the transactions of the Helvetic Socie- 

 ty at this meeting, are the following : — Mr. Baup of Vevey announces 

 that a great number of experiments have proved, to him that the 

 weights of the atoms of simple bodies are exact multiples of each 

 other ; a law which has been announced hitherto only in a hypothet- 

 ical manner and without being verified by facts. He promises on this 

 subject a detailed memoir. 



Prof. Gautier gave the society some details of a new observatory 

 about to be constructed at Geneva, the plans of which he presented. 



Prof. A. De La Rive of Geneva, stated the result of some re- 

 searches he had made with Prof. Gautier on the inclination of the 

 magnetic needle at Geneva and at St. Bernard by means of a dip- 

 ping needle of Gambey. Allowing for the difference of latitude the 

 inclination is proved to be less at the Convent than at Geneva. 



The radiation of terrestrial heat is much more intense at St. Ber- 

 nard than at Geneva, but the atmospheric electricity is there almost 

 nothing. — Idem. 



9. Determination of the time ivhich a drowned person has been un- 

 der water. — As the means of ascertaining, very nearly, the time which 

 a dead body has been under water may prove in some cases to be 

 important in a judicial investigation, M. Alph. Devergie was author- 

 ized by the prefect of Paris to observe and open the subjects de- 

 posited at the Morgue, a place to which all bodies are brought that 

 have died by unknown means, or which are found in the public pla- 

 ces of that city or in its neighborhood. The number annually brought 

 there is about three hundred. 



After much investigation M. A. Devergie assigns the following 

 characters as the means of deciding the length of time the body has 

 been submerged, supposing the weather to have been cold. 



1. From three to five days. — Rigidity of the corps, coldness: no 

 contraction of the muscles by electrical stimulus ; the epidermis of 

 the hands beginning to whiten. 



2. From four to eight days. — Suppleness of all the parts ; no con- 

 traction from electricity ; color of the skin natural ; epidermis of the 

 palms of the hands very white. 



3. From eight to twelve days. — Flaccidity of all the parts ; epi- 

 dermis of the backs of the hands beginning to whiten -, face softened 

 and presenting a wan appearance, different from that of the skin of 

 the other parts of the body. 



