1802.] 
aftronomers, and to confirm or reject the 
exiftence of this f{uppoled planet. 
In fome fubterraneous refearches _re- 
cently made in the village Labatie-Mon- 
falgéon, department of Upper Alps, have 
been dilcovered divers reiiques of the an- 
tient magnificence of Gaul, when fubject 
to. the Romans ; antique walls, covering, 
without interruption, an immenfe plain ; 
remains of confiderable buildings ; frag- 
ments of Mofaic; medals, one of which is 
a gold one of Conttantine, in perfect pre- 
fervation; indeed, every thing indicates 
the exiftence of an antient city in this 
place, of which, however, there does not 
remain any tradition. 
The celebrated, philofopher, Van Ma- 
RuM, of Holland, and Profeflor Prarr, 
of Kiel, have undertaken a large courle 
of experiments to illuftrate the nature of 
Galvanifm. » They have charged electri- 
cal batteries of 140 feet {quare, by a fingle 
contact with the pile of Volta; and they 
have evidently proved, that this pile ts a 
true excitatory apparatus of electricity, 
which furpaffes, in fome refpects, the 
ftrongeft eleCtrical machines. They have 
melted, by the electricity of this appara- 
tus, to the amount of twelve inches of 
iron wire, and even of wire of piatina. 
One of the moft interefting inftitutions 
at Paris is the Inftitute or- School of the 
Deaf and Dumb, who once a month 
perform their exercifes in public. Their 
preceptor, the Abbé SicaRD, is a bene: 
volent-looking man, fomething more than 
60 years of age. 
them is carried on by figns, Other per- 
fons write upon a black board the quef- 
tions they. would have anfwered. Though 
no extraordinary or remarkable anfwers 
are given, a late traveller mentions two, 
-—'* What is gratitude ?”—** Gratitude 
as: the memory of the heart.” © What 
is friendthip ?”"—=** Friend/bipis the love of 
the mind.’ 
Profeflor Operurn, of the Central 
School of the department of the Lower 
Rhine, at Strafbourg, has lately publithed 
a work intitled, 4 Public Exercife of Bi 
bliography, compofed as an hiftorical thefis, 
in French, agreeably to the antient aca- 
demic forms. The fubjeét of it is highly 
interefting, as it relates to Guttenburg, 
the real founder of printing, with move- 
abletypes. In this he collects, from dif- 
ferent authors, all the documents on which 
we may form any notions of Guttenburg 5 
_ among thefe appears the letter written in 
the year 1424, by John Guttenburg, to 
his fifter Bertha, the original of which, 
the celebrated bibliographer Citizen 
Filcher, of Mentz, propoles to publifh, 
Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
His converiation with’ 
151 
together with a very curious act pafled by 
John and Friele * Genizfleilch, brothers, 
on St. Margaret’s Day, 1459, in favour 
of the Convent of Si. Clair, at Mentz 
We learnfrom this eflay,that Henne (John) 
senszfeifch de Sugeloch, named Gutten~ 
burg, was born at Mentz, in the year 
1400, of a noble family ; that the family 
had two houfes at Mentz, one called Zune 
Ganjxfleifeb, and the other Zum Guder- 
berg; and that Guttenburg was rich. 
He was at Strafbourg in the yéar 1424.5 
he there entered into partnerfhip with An- 
drew Dryzehn, and tome others, in 143. 
George Dryzehn, brother cf Andrew, 
then lately dead, commenced a Jaw-procels 
againft him in 1439. ‘The pieces relative 
to this fult are fill preferved, as hikewife 
the fentence, by which he: was condemned 
to pay afum to the brother of the defung, 
whom he would not receive into part. 
nerfhip, Thefe moveable charafers were, 
it feems, engraved in wood, they were 
pierced in the fide, fo as to be placed in 
files. Guttenburg tried alfo to ule leaden 
types, with fome alloy. It appears that 
he printed fome books at Strafburg. ° On 
his return to.Mentz,.in 1445, he again 
applied himfelf to printing., He printed 
there an alphabet on a plate, for the ule 
of ichools, entitled, De&rinale Alexandri 
Galli, et Petri Hifpant Tra@atus Logicales; 
as alfo the Grammar of Donatus. Citi- 
zens Bodman and Fifcher, of Mentz, have 
found fome fragments of the three editions 
.of Donatus, which they thiak fhould be 
attributed to Guttenburg, after his return 
to Mentz, in the years 1449 and 1450,, 
before his partserfhip with Fault. One 
of theie fragments is in wooden plates, the 
other in moveable wooden characters, the 
third in characters cut in metal. Cuitizea 
Fifcher has publifhed thefe three frag- 
ments. In 1450 Guttenburg entered into 
partnerfhip with Fauft; they undertook a 
Latin Bible, Fault defrayed the charges. 
Two copies of this bible are now in the 
National Library of Paris; it is printed 
in catt characters. This partnerthip be- 
tween Fault and Guttenburg was diflolved 
in 1455: the latter, not being able to fa- 
tisfy the claufes of the payment, was 
forced to give up printing altogether, 
Affitted by Dogtor Conrad Humery, fyn- 
dic of Mentz, he eftablifhed another prefs 
in 1456. In1460 appeared the Catholi- 
con ot John de Balbis. This work is 
called Catholicon, that is to fay, Univer- 
fal, becaule it contains a Grammar, a 
treatife of Rhetoric, and a Dictionary. 
Tt is not afcertained whether it iffued 
~* Genfafleifch is the family name of Gut- 
tenburg. ‘ 
from 
