502 



occur in red letters at pages 17 and 18, are intended to indi- 

 cate the portions to be read at those hours. They rather seem 

 to have reference to the passages in the narrative which they 

 follow, the first occurring after the death of our Lord, where 

 it is said, " and it neyzed faste toward eve ;" and the other 

 where it is related, as night came on, his body was taken down 

 from the cross. 



With the exception of the first page, where the writing 

 has been partially obliterated by damp, the manuscript is in a 

 perfect condition, and must be regarded as a most interest- 

 ing specimen of the grammatical construction and spelling of 

 the language at the time it was written, as well as of the pic- 

 torial and caligraphic skill of a monastic scribe. 



Mr. M. Donovan read a paper on the Identity of Malic 

 and Sorbic Acids. 



" Previously to my entering on the ultimate object of the 

 present communication, I hope to be excused for making some 

 observations on the discovery of the sorbic acid which I made 

 many years since. In asserting my claim, and soliciting the 

 attention of the Academy to that discovery, which has not 

 been justly dealt with, 1 hope I shall not be deemed guilty of 

 egotism altogether inexcusable. The rewards of the chemist 

 are few ; none but persons engaged in his pursuits can appre- 

 ciate his toils and his disappointments. The least that can be 

 accorded to him is the acknowledgment of his labours; for in 

 the same proportion that we respect the opinion of the world 

 we value its approbation. 



" In the year 1785, the illustrious Scheele, having made a 

 chemical examination of the juices of several fruits, announced 

 the existence of a new and peculiar acid in gooseberries. 

 Obtaining it afterwards in greater abundance from apples, he 

 named it malic acid, and published an account of its pro- 

 perties, of many of its combinations, and of its preparation. 

 Amongst other fruits, he found this acid in the berries of the 



