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Scientific Intelligence.— -Astronomy* 
The same astronomer agrees with Schrseter, Herschel and 
others, in considering the white polar spots at the south pole of 
Mars, as owing to ice and snow ; and the spots he observed in 
the polar regions of Venus he ascribes to the same cause. Let 
it not be objected that Venus is nearer the Sun than Mars. We 
are also nearer the Sun than Mars, and yet the Earth has a much 
larger spot of snow than that planet. We know, that the heat 
at the surface of a planet may not depend so much upon the 
proximity of the sun, as upon the density of the atmosphere. 
2. The Moo w.—- Gruithuisen has published some curious 
observations on the physiognomy of the Moon's surface. He com- 
pares the lunar mountain ranges and groupes, with those of the 
Earth, and offers conjectures as to their geognostical structure, and 
composition. From the external characters of the ranges, he con- 
siders himself entitled to assume the existence of primitive 
rocks, of various secondary limestones, &c. The lunar atmos- 
phere, according to his observations, from its nebulous strata, 
must contain water. Such an atmosphere is probably intended 
to assist in the support of organized beings, and our author 
maintains the existence of such in the moon. Schraeter, the 
great astronomer, often speaks of the arts, the civilisation and 
the industry of the inhabitants of the moon. He conjectures 
the existence of a great city to the north of Marius , (a spot in the 
moon), and of an extensive canal towards Hygena (another 
spot) ; and lastly he represents a part of the spot named Mare 
Imbrium to be as fertile as the Campania. Gruithuisen enters 
into a long discussion regarding the existence of water in the 
moon, and finishes by maintaining the existence of lunar seas, 
lakes, and rivers. 
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 
3. Berlins* Steam-Engine. — The Bibliotlieque Universelle for 
March 1824, contains an elaborate paper on Mr Perkins’ Steam- 
Engine, by a friend of Mr Perkins, which was carried to Ge- 
neva, and communicated to the editors, by Mr Church, the 
American Consul, who had made a voyage to London for the 
express purpose of seeing Mr Perkins’s apparatus. This paper 
contains the most complete description of the above engine 
which has yet anpeared, and it presents, we believe, the first 
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