157 



result which gave increased interest to the process, was the in- 

 conceivable rapidity with which the acid, under these circumstances, 

 absorbed the ethereal vapour, which it appeared to do with greater 

 avidity as the process advanced. 



In fact, the water, in the act of congealing, flew all over the 

 inner surface of the retort, in consequence of an explosive evolution 

 of ethereal vapour, generated amid the aqueous particles. The conge- 

 lation of the water was rendered evident to the ears as well to the 

 eyes of his class of more than three hundred students. 



Doctor Bache communicated the decease of the Hon. Jona- 

 than Sewell, of Quebec, a member of the Society. 



Stated Meeting, December 20. 

 Present, forty members. 

 Mr. Du Ponceau, President, in the Chair. 

 The following donations were received: — 



for the library. 



Appendix to Part V. of the Greenwich Observations, for the year 1834. 

 (A missing number.) London, 1834. — From the Royal Society 

 of London. 



The Statutes at Large, of South Carolina. Edited under the author- 

 ity of the Legislature. By Thomas Cooper, M. D., LL.D. Vol. 

 V. Columbia, 1839. — From Dr. Tidyman. 



A Map of the Extremity of Cape Cod. Executed under the direction 

 of Major J. D. Graham, U. S. Top. Engrs. — From the Author. 



Crania Americana; or. a Comparative View of the Skulls of various 

 Aboriginal Nations of North and South America. By Samuel 

 George Morton, M. D. Philadelphia, 1839. — From the Author. 



Medical and Topographical Observations upon the Mediterranean; 

 and upon Portugal, Spain, and other Countries. By G. B. R. Hor- 

 ner, M. D., U. S. N. Philadelphia, 1839.— From the Author. 



The State of the Prisons in England and Wales. By John Howard, 

 F. R. S. Warrington, 1784. — From Mr. John Vaughan. 



