1797+] 
as well as of every honeft man to whom 
he was known. 
The auditors fmiled when Daunou, fe- 
eretary of the fecond clafs, pointed outa 
memoire, by Mercier, on this queftion : 
Has a man of genius ever exifled? It 
would require a confiderable fhare of ge- 
nius to prove the negative. 
Guyton-Morveaux read a memoir on 
tho vegetable fubftances which are em- 
ployed in dying. 
Mongez read a differtation on the 
types of coins, compared with thofe of 
medals. 
Roederer, fecretary of the fecond/clafs, 
read obfervations on the queftion pro- 
- pofed at the laft fitting, as the fubject of 
the firft prize of the prefent year; 
namely : What are the inftitutions the beft 
calculated to lay the foundation of the morals 
of a nation ? ; 
Mole, fecretary of the third clafs, read 
a production of Andrieux, belonging to 
that clafs, which met with a very flatter- 
ing reception. It is a dialogue between 
two journalifts on the ufage of the words 
Monfieur and Citizen» Thefe two journa- 
lifts, . 
“ Gouvernant Punivers a neuf francs 
_ par trois mois,” 
“ Governing the univerfe at the rate of 
nine livres per quarter,” but the govern- 
ment of which will coft them fomewhat 
_ dearer in confequence of the recent 
ftamp on newfpapers, afforded no little 
entertainment to the auditors. 
Lebrun clofed the fitting by two odes 
replete with whim and fancy, the one 
againft anarchy, (compofed during the 
fyftem of terror), and the other againft 
royalifm, 
The fitting was divided into two parts 
by the ceremony of crowning the pupils 
of painting, fculpture, and architecture, 
who had obtained the prizes offered by 
their refpeétive {chools. The following 
are the fubjeéts of competition and the 
names of the pupils crowned. 
PatintTinG, The fubjeét of com- 
Laft Sitting of the Infitute, on O€tober 6. 
382 
petition was the death of Cato, of Utica, 
at the moment when, recovered from his 
fwoon, he pufhes back the phyfician, 
opens the wound with his own hands, 
and expires in the act of tearing out his 
bowels. 
The great prizes were beftowed on 
Pierre Bouillon, a native of Thiviers, in 
the department of Ja Dordogne, pupil of 
Monfiau; Pierre-Narcifle Guerin, of 
Paris, pupil of Regnault; and Louis- 
André-Gabriel Bouché, of Paris, pupil 
of David. The fecond prizes fell to the 
lot of Louis Herfent, of Paris, pupil of 
Regnault; and Mathieu-Ignace Van- 
Brée, a native of Antwerp, and pupil of 
Vincent. 
ScuLteTure. The fubjeét of com- 
petition was Ulyffes and Neoptolemus 
wrefting from Philoctetes the bow and 
arrows of Hercules, to oblige him to fol- 
low them to the fiege of Troy. 
The great prize was beftowed o 
Charles Antoine Callamard, of Paris, 
pupil of Pajou. The fecond prizes were 
awarded to Aime Milhomme, of Valen- 
ciennes, pupil of Allegrain; and Jean-. 
Louis Duval, of Paris, pupil of Boizot. 
ARCHITECTURE. The fubje& of com- 
petition was that of public granaries for 
the ufe of a great city, fituated on. the 
banks of a river. 
The great prizes fell to the fhare of | 
Louis-Ambroife Dubut, of Paris, pupil 
of Ledoux; and Jean-Antoine Coufin, of - 
Paris, pupil of the deceafed Belizard. 
The fecond prizes was beftowed on Eloi 
Labarre, born at Ourfcamp, in the de- 
partment of ['Oife, pupil of Raimond ; 
and Maximilien Hurtault, of Paris, pupil 
of Percier. 
The pupils by whom the great prizes 
were obtained, are to be fent to Italy, to 
profecute theirftudies there at the expence. 
of the republic. 
The abfirad of the inserefting proceed- 
ings of this iluftrious body will be regularly 
continued in the Monthly Magazine. 

MATHEMATICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
6 
TN perufing your Magazine for laft month, I have met with fome ftri€tures on a paper, inferted 
‘at page 117, relative to imaginary quantities in Algebra, on which I fhall beg leave to make 
a few obfervations. 
How it makes out on the principle of aa producing a?, and a—bXa—b, a?—-225-4-53, 
that 4./—2X 4/ 
—a muft produce 
—+a, and not —a, or what affinity the one bears to the cther, 
bs > gee ¢ f > , / 
I confefs I cannot difcover. But paffing this by : how happens it that 4/-b.n? (4/——a x 4/—~a) 
is not as well —=——a as -++-2? or, which is the fame thing, why may not -—-a,,as well as 4-2, be 
the fquare root of a?, abjtraéfedly confidered, as it muft be here? Tt 
is admitted, on ali hands, 
that —o x —ea=sy?—=-++-4 xX <a, and, beyond a doubt, is true. 


