196 Literary and Philosophical Society. 



this manner, but it did not hold out very long.' (The 

 Bishop's language here may require explanation, he does 

 not mean that the person ceased soon, so far as we under- 

 stand him, but that long sentences could not be read. The 

 word period is used for sentence}} * Thus this young woman 

 hath merely by a natural sagacity found out a method of 

 holding discourse, that doth in a great measure lessen the 

 misery of her deafness. I examined this matter critically, 

 but only the sister was not present, so that I could not see 

 how the conversation passed between them in the dark.' 



It would have been better if the Bishop had seen the 

 girls conversing by touch, but in any case it is a science 

 beyond our present aspirings. 



* The Inverse Method of Central Forces ' has no named 

 author. It was communicated by Dr. Holme, and it may 

 be left to Dr. Bottomley to give his account of the paper. 

 Dr. Bottomley says, ' The author of the paper says that if 

 it sustains anything original it is in the third proposition. 

 In this he treats of the equation of the orbit described by 

 a body acted upon by the forces tending to the same 

 centre which vary as the nth and the 9th powers of the 

 distance reciprocally.' 



Dr. Theophilus Rupp discusses Priestley's experiments 

 on air, and defends the new chemistry against Phlogiston, 

 not the last defence, although the old theory was becoming 

 weak. 



* Experiments on the Oxygenated Muriat of Potash ' 

 are by Thomas Hoyle, Jun., originator of the famous print- 

 works called by his name. 



