3799.) Fifty Articles of Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 15% 
the legiflature of the different ftates of Fu- 
rope, that by a confentaneous att of au- 
thority they might decree the extinftion 
of the {mall-pox as eafily as France de- 
creed the abolition of royalty. J.C. G. 
JuNcKER, profeflor of medicine at Hale, 
and the poet REINEIKE, have feconded 
the humane views of Profeffor Faust in 
his laudable defign: they have together 
in concert prelented three different ad- 
dreffes to the congress at Rattadt, upon 
the neceflity of taking general meafures 
againft the fmall-pox: C, Lenz has 
alfo prefented one of a like tendency to 
the French Directory : it is theretore pro- 
bable at Jeaft that an experiment may be 
tried how far the hope will be realized of 
extinguifhing this loathfome and fre- 
quently fatal difeafe, and.with it doubt- 
lefS, as the means cannot be more diffi- 
cult, the meafles. Profeflor JuNCKER 
has formed a fociety of more than a hun- 
dred and fifty phyficians, German, Dutch, 
and Swifs, who have folemnly engaged 
unitedly and perfonally to employ all their 
energy for ftopping the ravages of thefe 
pelts of the younger age*. 
There has been publifhed at VENICE, 
a work of fome importance in the fcience 
of Oprics, by a philofopher, whofe 
name is AMBROGIA FUSINIERI. Its 
ebjeét is to prove, that the refiftance of 
the refracting Media, and by no means 
the laws of Newtonian attraction, can 
alone account for the phoenomena of tie 
refraction of light. 
In their hopes of Oriental empire, the 
French have been induced to apply, with 
extraordinary zeal, to the ftudy of the 
living languages of the caft. The Per- 
jian, the Arabic, the Turkifh, and the Ar- 
meniag languages form a particular courfe 
of inftruction, which is taught at the 
NATIONAL LIBRARY in Paris by a dif- 
ferent proteflor for each language. 
The French, as was announced in the 
laft Monthly Magazine, have formed a 
national inftitute at Cairo. In the un- 
sertainty and the difficulties of their pre- 
fent fituation in Egypt, this inftitution 
¢an fcarcely appear otherwile than ridi- 
culoufly premature. And yet we cannot 
but view with refpect a fcientific and lite- 
rary activity, of which the ardour is not 
to be reprefled, even by fuch hardfhips 
as thofe of the Egyptian expedition of the 

* The Cow Pox, which continues to be 
practifed by fome of the principal phyficians 
tn London with unvaried fuccefs, will, per- 
haps, efte€t more towards eradicating the 
Small Pox, than all the well meant projects 
of the German profeflors. 
French. The lift of the members of this 
iufiziute contains, among others, the il- 
Juftrious names of Monge, Bauchamp, 
Berthollet, Dolomieu, and Denon. The 
following quettions were propofed at their 
Jirfi meeting ; 1. How improve the flrac- 
ture of ovens for the preparation of bread 
to the army? 2. Yo find a fubftitute 
that may be ufed inftead of barley in 
making beer? 3. What are the bef 
means tor clarifying and cooling the wa- 
ters of the Nile? 4. Are wind or water 
mills the more fuitable for ufe in Egypt? 
5. What are the fittelt refources to fup- 
ply the French army in Egypt with gun- 
powder? 6, What is the prefent ftate 
of legiflation in Egypt ? and how may it 
be ameliorated? 7. To produce a plar 
of general regulation.—At the fecond 
meeting of this inftitute, Andreoffy, one 
of its members, reported, concerning the 
article of gunpowder, that Egypt had al- 
ways received its fupplies of fulphur 
from Venice, that its charcoal was fup- 
plied from the burning of the ftalks of the 
lupine, that, however, faltpetre is fufh- 
ciently plentiful in Egypt, where it is 
found both in native veins and alfo ma- 
nufactured, asin Europe. The faltpetre 
of Egypt he farther reported to be a ni- 
trate of potafh, and not like the French 
faltpetre, nitrate of lime; the ftalks of 
Turkey corn are ufed in its preparation, 
and it is purifed with white of eggs. 
The gunpowder is manufactured by work- 
men who remain naked while they are at 
work. It is of an excellent quality, and 
cheaper than gunpowder is in France, 
The Egyptian gunpowder was formerly 
an article of exportation to Leghorn: 
The Beys poffefled no large magazines of 
gunpowder. Atthe third meeting of the 
inftitute of Cairo, Berthollet read a me- 
moir on the formation of Azmoniac; Sul- 
kowfky read a defcription of the road from 
Cairo to Salehieé ; fome converlation teak 
place on the fubje& of zitls, in which 
water-mills were coneluded to bethe ftteé 
for ufe in Egypt. Berthollet read an ac- 
count of the analyfis of the euinpowder of 
Cairo, in which he fhewed it to contain 
only = of faltpetre, and to be, as to its 
other ingredients, a mixture, of fulphur, 
charcoal, earth, and muriate of fada; 
which requires to be lixiviated anew bhe- 
fore itean be fit-for ule; Monge read a 
memoir on the monuments of antiquity in 
Cairo, in which he propofed that a par- 
ticular vafe of granite, covered with hie- 
roglyphics, fhould be {ent to France. 
The literature of GERMANY is {till fo 
much more under the influcace of men or 
trade 




