i 
Academy of Sciences.—Distribution of Prizes. 119 
Art. XV.—Correspondence of Prof. Jerome Nickles of Nancy, 
France, dated April 17th, 1859. 
Academy of Sciences. oP ectes tion of Prizes—On the 14th of last 
March the Academy of Sciences held its annual public meeting. 
have more than once onieall of these annual sessions and shuwn them to 
be generally void of result, a fact for which the Academy itself, which 
accomplishes so poorly its mission, is to blame. It has been this year as 
in preceding years, and we are compelled to repeat the truth: if we were 
to judge of the progress of science by the prizes awarded, we should infer 
that nothing new had been accomplished in the departments of mathe- 
matics, mechani ics, physics, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, botany, “sg 
—we could almost say in all departments of we eae ae science. Ha 
pily it is not so, and our readers have been able to ju dge by our corres- 
pena for the years 1857 and 1858, that i in Europe e asin Am erica, Men 
‘tween MM. Goldschmidt of Paris, Laurent of Nismes, Searle of the 
Observatory at Albany, N. Y., Tuttle of Cambridge, Mass., Winnecke of 
Bonn, and Donati of Florence. The following is an extract from the 
report. : 
The planet Nemausa was discovered on the 22d of January at Nismes 
by Mr. Laurent, and the planet Pandora on the 10th of September by Mr. 
of observers vate — a dozen years, have enriched astronomy by dis- 
coveries of astero 
The planet divas discovered on the 4th of April at the observatory 
of Bilk by Mr. Luther, is the seventh the knowledge of which is due to 
this skilful astronomer. 
The two planets, Europa and Alexandra, were discovered at Paris the 
4th of February, and the 10th of September by Mr. Goldschmidt, that 
successful explorer of the skies, who, without having to meet the ordinar 
! es, 
that he had rediscovered, on the 9th of September, 1857, the planet 
Daphne ; but Mr. Schubert of Berlin soon showed this to be a mistake, 
proving that the planet was a new one. This planet, which by the date 
of its discovery is the 47th of the group, increases to twelve the number 
made known by Mr. Goldschmidt. 
_ Among the Perignon ear 1858, there are two whose periodicity 
4s well established, ce 
iodici 
presented during its long and brilliant 
