Royal  Society.  151 
modynaraics.  They  will  find  in  it,  written  by  a  master,  an  admi- 
rable account  of  the  existing  state  of  knowledge  as  to  the  nature  and 
effects  of  heat,  of  the  steps  by  which  that  knowledge  has  been  ac- 
quired, of  its  bearing  on  the  molecular  constitution  of  matter,  and 
of  the  numerous  points  at  which  the  subject  of  heat  touches  .the 
general  doctrines  of  mechanics. 
Observations  upon  the  Climate  of  Uckfield  in  the  Weald  of  Sussex.  By 
C.  Leesox  Prixce.  London:  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  1871. 
This  is  an  admirable  digest  of  meteorological  facts  elucidatory  of 
the  climate  of  Sussex,  in  which  the  author  treats  of  pressure,  tem- 
perature, and  rainfall — three  of  its  most  important  elements.  One 
feature  of  the  work,  of  much  usefulness,  is  a  complete  and  consecutive 
history  of  the  weather  at  Uckfield,  monthly  from  January  1843  to 
December  1 870  inclusive.  We  do  not  remember  a  similar  feature, 
except  in  the  case  of  Howard's  '  Climate  of  London.'  There  is 
something  more  needed  than  numerical  results,  valuable  as  they  are. 
The  salient  features — hot  or  cold,  wet  or  dry,  clear  or  cloudy,  mild 
with  the  progression  of  vegetable  life,  frost  with  its  retardation — each 
finds  a  place  in  the  brief  meteorological  chronicles  of  the  months. 
Only  one  omission  in  the  work  strikes  us ;  it  is  that  of  the  deter- 
mination of  the  elements  which  are  necessary  for  resolving  atmo- 
spheric pressure  into  its  constituents,  the  pressure  of  dry  air  and 
the  elasticity  of  aqueous  vapour.  The  elaborate  Tables  of  tempera- 
ture and  rainfall  for  twenty-eight  years  show  that  these  elements 
have  been  well  worked  up.  The  pressure  was  not  observed  until 
1854;  and  during  the  seventeen  years  to  the  close  of  the  observa- 
tions, it  would  have  added  to  the  value  of  the  work  had  it  been  ac- 
companied by  Tables  of  the  degree  of  humidity,  the  pressure  of  dry 
air,  and  the  elasticity  of  aqueous  vapour ;  for  then  the  mutual  de- 
pendence of  each  element  on  the  others  would  have  become  appa- 
rent. As  it  is,  the  Tables  show  this'  dependence  to  a  certain  extent, 
the  pressure  being  greatest  in  February,  the  driest  month.  The 
pressure  in  October  (the  wettest  month)  was  very  nearly  the  lowest, 
December  being  only  *003  inch  lower. 
We  strongly  recommend  the  work  to  all  meteorologists ;  and  even 
the  general  reader  will  find  much  to  interest  him  ;  in  a  word,  it 
bears  the  same  relation  to  meteorology  as  White's  '  Selborne5  does 
to  natural  history. 
XVII.  Proceedings  of  Learned  Societies. 
ROYAL  SOCIETY. 
[Continued  from  p.  75.] 
Nov.  16,  1871.— General  Sir  Edward  Sabine,  K.C.B.,  President,  in 
the  Chair. 
rpHE  following  communications  were  read  : — 
*      "On  a  Periodic  Change  of  the  Elements  of  the  Force  of  Ter- 
restrial Magnetism  discovered  by  Professor  Hornstein." 
Professor  Hornstein,  of  Prague,  has  communicated  to  the  Imperial 
