378 Scientific Intelligence — Miscellaneous. 



will lead naturally to the consideration of metamorphoses in general, 

 and the successive changes through which particular types of animals 

 pass during the different periods of their life. The importance of 

 tracing these changes throughout the animal kingdom, in order fully 

 to appreciate the relative standing of the different families in each 

 class, will also be made prominent. A full account of intestinal 

 worms will complete the history of Articulates. 



Particular attention will finally be given to the structure of Ver- 

 tebrates, their affinities and homologies, and the natural progressive 

 gradation which may be traced between their four classes, from 

 Fishes through Reptiles, Birds and Mammalia, to Man. Besides 

 considering the structure of these animals in their adult condition, 

 full information will be given upon their embryonic growth, from the 

 first formation of the egg to the final development of the germ ; 

 thus affording another opportunity of tracing the remarkable paral- 

 lelism which exists between the different stages of growth of animals 

 belonging to the same great type, and the different degrees of de- 

 velopment which their different families present in their full-grown 

 condition. 



Constant reference will be made to the structure of the human 

 body, in order to prepare the student more fully for a correct under- 

 standing of its peculiarities and the functions of its organs. The 

 lectures will be illustrated by numerous diagrams, and the exhibi- 

 tion of natural specimens. 



This Course of Lectures was delivered to a very crowded and en- 

 thusiastic audience. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



17. Galvani and Volta. — No one who wishes to judge impartially 

 of the scientific history of these times and of its leaders, will consider 

 Galvani and Volta as equals, or deny the vast superiority of the 

 latter over all his opponents or fellow-workers, more especially over 

 those of the Bologna school. We shall scarcely again find in one 

 man gifts so rich and so calculated for research as were combined in 

 Volta. He possessed that " incomprehensible talent," as Dove has 

 called it, for separating the essential from the immaterial in compli- 

 cated phenomena ; that boldness of invention which must precede 

 experiment, controlled by the most strict and cautious mode of ma- 

 nipulation ; that unremitting attention which allows no circumstance 

 to pass unnoticed; lastly, with so much acuteness, so much simpli- 

 city, so much grandeur of conception, combined with such depth of 

 thought, he had a hand which was the hand of a workman. 



18. Sir Charles LyeWs visit to North America.. — Sir Charles 

 Lyell has just left England for North America. The objects of the 

 journey are the examination of the geology of some extensive tracts 

 of country in the United States, and in Canada, and of delivering 

 courses of lectures on geology in that country. 



