46 



Mr. Smith, in conclusion, drew the attention of the Aca- 

 demy to the circumstance that those and many other venera- 

 ble and most interesting remains of remote antiquity, which 

 are but rarely, and at distant intervals of time, discovered in 

 Great Britain, and on the Continent, literally abound in Ire- 

 land ; and hence inferred, the incalculable advantage which 

 will be attained, in the study, of the ancient history not only of 

 this country but of the world, by the formation of a great 

 National Museum of Irish Antiquities, such as is at present 

 projected to be fonned under the auspices of the Academy. 



" Without claiming any undue importance for the pursuit 

 of antiquarian research, it nevertheless has its office, and 

 that by no means an ignoble one, as the handmaid of history — 

 ' Principatum non habet ; ancillari debet.' It furnishes the 

 critical student not only with curious information and the 

 most valuable commentary on minute points, but summons 

 up for him a host of most important witnesses, whom, though 

 silent, he can subject to the most scrutinizing examination 

 again and again ; on whose testimony, carefully weighed as to 

 its true value, history ever rests as on its securest basis.'* 



The reading of a paper by the Rev. T. R. Robinson, 

 D. D., " On the Constant of Refraction, determined by Ob- 

 servations with the Mural Circle of the Armagh Observa- 

 tory," was commenced. 



A paper by Dr. Andrews of Belfast, " on the Heat deve- 

 loped during the Combination of Acids and Bases," was read. 



The general conclusions at which the author arrives are 

 contained in the two following Laws. 



Law 1. " The heat developed during the union of acids 

 and bases is determined by the base, and not by the acid; 

 the same base producing, when combined with an equivalent 

 of different acids, nearly the same quantity of heat, but dif- 

 ferent bases a different quantity." 



