x 
486 
nution would be only 40! in lieu of 50'’, 
which we commonly luppofe. One part 
of the difference may very well proceed 
from the obfervations, and principally 
from the ancient obfervatians, which per- 
haps had better be ditcuffed afrefh, with 
the more exaét elements, which are now 
éempleyed in thele calculations, 
ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON*. 
NATURAL HISTORY. _ 
; R. SCHREIBERS, of Vienna, has 
communicated to Sir Jofeph Banks 
an hiftorical and anatomical defcription of 
a doubtful amphibious animal, called 
Proteus Anguinus. It feems that this ani- 
‘mal is found only in a {mall hkke, called 
Sitticher See, in Carniolia.. Dr. Laurenti 
(in 1768) was the fir perfon who noticed 
‘ this animal: his defcription was fhort and 
imperfect. A more circumftantial ac- 
count was given, in 1772, by Dr. Sco- 
poli. It appears that it ufes its feet in 
creeping on the bottom, and afcending 
the fides of any wooden veffel, but in 
rifing in the water it makes ule only of its 
tail. Its motien is fo flow, and differs fo 
much from that of every other animal, 
that Baron Zois, who has paid moft at- 
tention to it while living, calls the motion 
chara@teriftic of the animal. It produces 
a loud hiffing noife, refemblivg that made 
by thedrawimg the pifton of a fyringe, but 
louder. than could be expeéted from an 
animal of that fize. The head of one, ap- 
parently full grown, about 13 inches long, 
and an tnch in diameter, is an inch and 
three quarters in length—its fore-part re- 
dembles the bill of a duck. The upper- 
jaw is fomewhat larger than the under 
one, 2nd furrounding it, with a thick 
folded {kin, forms a confiderable lip. It 
has ro noftrils, or external ears, and its 
eyes ase very {mall and biack, not fo glo- 
bular.as thofe of fifhes; they appear to 
be attached to the fkin by a {mall thread, 
probably the optic nerve. The anato- 
mical defcriptien given of this animal by 
the learned phyfician, is very circumftan- 
tial, and extends to the length of feveral 
pages of the Tranfacticns, from which he 
concludes, that it bears a ftrong and 
ftriking refemblance to the famous Siren 
lacertina of Linneus. : 
' From the ebfervations of EvERARD 
Home, efg. onthe ttruéture, and mode of 
growth,of the grinding ‘teeth of the wild 
boar and azimal incognitum, it appears that 
et a ee i ie eee eee eal i 
* Notice of the papers publifhed in the fe- 
cond part of the volume of the TranfaCtions 
of the Royal Sccicry, ‘for the Ycar 1802. 
- Proceedings of Learned Societies, 
“rent. 
[June t, 
the mode of dentition in the human fpecies 
is upon the fame principle as in the wild 
boar: that in both, the grinding teeth 
come in -fucceffion after the firft feven 
years of life; and that the moft remark- 
able difference is, that the laft-formed 
grinding teeth of man, called the dentes 
fapientia, do not in fize exceed the 
others, but are rather fimaller, and very 
often have not fuficient room in the jaw 
to come into their regular places. In the 
Negro-race, he obferves, that the dentes 
fapientia have fufiicient room to ¢ome in 
their place, and are full as large as the 
other grinders; the growth of the pofte- 
rior part of the jaw being in tiem evi- 
dently greater than in the European. , 
Mr. KniGHT has given an account of a 
variety of curious experiments on the 
afeent of the fap in trees. Early in the 
fpring of 1799, he felected a number of 
young trees of different kinds, made. cir- 
cular incifions round one half of them, 
fcraping off the external coat of the wood, 
and the other half were left in their natu- 
ral ftate. On the afcent of the fap they 
all fhot with equal luxuriance, but that 
part of the ftems which was below the in- 
cifions had fcarcely any growth, while the 
parts above increated as rapidly as in the 
trees the bark of which had remained 
untouched. From thefe experiments, va- 
ried in every way that occured to him, © 
Mr. Knight feels himfelf juftified in con- — 
cluding, that the current of fap, which 
adds to the annual layer of wood in the- 
ftem, defcends through the bark from the 
young branches and leaves. . 
; ASTRONOMY. 
From obfervations, made by Dr. HFR- 
SCHEL, with a view of inveftigating 
the nature of the fun, &c. it appears 
that this body has a planetary atmof- 
phere, which extends to a great height, 
and is of great denfity: that, like our’s, 
it is fubject to agitations, and is tran{pa- 
This aftronomer thinks that folar 
obfervations may hereafter be rendered as _— 
profitable to mankind as the Nilometer is _ 
to the Fgyptians, and that, by certain 
indications, we may be able to predict the 
temperature of approaching feafons. He 
fuppofes it probable that there may be a 
ceitain connection between the price of — 
corn, or rather the abundance and {can- 
tinefs of harveft, and the number of {pots 
on the fun’s furface. In proof of this he 
has given a ftatement of the prices of 
wheat, and the fpots on the fun’s ditk, 
during five remaikable periods between 
16s0 and 1713. He confiders the fun’s 
fpots to be fymptoms of a copious Ca 
BS ; 100 
