British Association for the Advancement of Science. 265 
hundred and seventy five instances of the fall of rain the barometer 
sunk only seven hundred and fifty eight times, being six hundred 
and forty five to one thousand. In the United States the most co- 
pious rains not unfrequently occur during an unusual elevation of 
the barometer. Rk. 
Arr. XII.—Seventh Meeting of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science—Liverpool, Saturday, Sept. 9. 
Tne report of the doings of this meeting, (appropriately called by 
one of the speakers her majesty’s parliament of science,) with a con- 
densed abstract of most of the papers, fills fifty six pages of the Lon- 
don Atheneum, equivalent to about three hundred of this Journal. 
When the papers, or so many of them as may be thought worthy of 
that honor, shall be printed in full, it is easy to see that they will 
occupy a large volume, which, should the Association be fully main- 
tained, will continue to form an annual contribution, of no small value, 
to science and the arts, several volumes of which have already ap- 
peared. 
It is impossible, consistently with our limits, and with the obliga- 
tions due to many persons and subjects, to do any thing more than 
cite from the printed reports of the Atheneum and of the Liverpool 
Standard and Mercury and other British papers received from valued 
friends abroad, some leading facts presented in the form of excerpts, 
and it may be with little connexion. In doing this we shall be obli- 
ged to pass over entire subjects, and which very possibly may be, in 
particular cases, more important, at least in the view of some of our 
readers, than those which we select. 
The meeting was fully attended; many distinguished men were 
there, although others whose names we have been accustomed to 
see on these occasions were absent. 
Magnets.—Mr. Cunningham, to try the efficacy of cast iron in 
forming magnets, ‘ got three small castings made of the horse-shoe 
form, each weighing seven ounces; on touching these with a small 
compound magnet in the usual manner, he was very agreeably sur- 
prised to find them absorb and retain the magnetic influence in a 
degree superior to any steel ones he had ever previously constructed ; 
and stated, that he had no doubt that they would be further improv- 
