$82 
- The editor of the Asnales des Artes 
having inferted in that journal an Account 
of Lord DunaonaLD'sProcefs for extraét- 
ing a gum from lichens, Dr. ROBERT of 
the univerfity of Montpellier fent him 
fome remarks relative to that /ubjeét ; from 
which it appears, that a fmilar di!covery 
was made feyera] ycars ago by M. M. 
Hof FMANN and AMoREUX, who publifh- 
ed it in their Treatife on Lichens, which 
gained -the prize offered by the Academy 
of Lyons in 1786, and from which it ts 
evident, that they prepared a true gum 
from ichens. Nor were they the firft 
difcoverers: they followed and cited the 
experiments made by Dr. Georgi, (in the 
Memoirs of the Academy of Peterburg, 
1779, who aflerts that he had obtaineu 
from lichen, farimaceus, glaucus, phyfodes, 
and pulmonariits, a mucilage, which, on 
drying, becomes tran‘parent, and pofirfles 
the other properties of gum Arabic. Four 
fpecies are here faid to have yielded gum: 
and Lord Dendonald does not feem to 
have obtained it from the fame {pecies, as 
he tells us, that the lichen is fometimes 
from 12 to 13 feet in length ; fo that thele 
trees bend under their weight : which can- 
not be onderffood of any other fpecies 
but the filamentous lichens. This, how- 
ever (adds Dr. Robert) does not detract 
from the merit of Lord Dundonald, who 
‘had never feen.the works quoted above. 
The French government intends to erect 
in the centre of the Place Vendome at Paris, 
a column fimilar tu that ere&ted at Rome 
to the honour of Trajan. his colunin 
is to be two metres, feventy-three centi- 
metres in diameter, and twenty: metres, 
feventy-eight centimetres inheight. The 
fhaft wil] be adorned with one hundred 
and eight aliegorical figures in bronze, 
reprefenting the departments of the repub- 
lic, Ona pedeftal at top is to be placed 
a pedeftrian fiatue of the Emperor Char- 
lemagne. 
The Emperor ALEXANDER continues 
to give proofs of bis zeal for the diffufion 
of knowledge among his fubjects.. For 
this purpoie it has been ordered, that at 
the Univerlity of Mofcow, befides the 
ufual leGlures to the ftudents, lectures are 
read for the public at large, on natural 
hifiory, phyfics, commercial fcience, and 
the hiflory of the European ftates. 
The Atheneum of Vauclufe has refcly- 
ed to erect there a monument in honour 
of Petrarca, This monument is to be 
dedicated, on the 20th of July next, the. 
birth-day ‘of the poet, who was born at 
Arezzo, in 1304, exactly five hundred 
' years befo:e this commemoration. 
Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
[May.1, 
The order of Jefuits is fenfibly increaf- 
ing in Roilia. They have lately obtained 
permiffion to form eftablifhments at Riga, 
Aftracan, Jafia, and Odeffa. 
A feminary was lately projected in Ruf- 
fia, for the education of the teachers of 
{chools: it was opened on the 15th of Ja- 
nuary with great folemnity. 
Fuxcont has Jately publifhed in Rome, 
Relazione di un Viaggio ad Uftiay Ge. or 
an Account of a Journey to Ofltia, aid 
Pliny’s Villa, named Laurentinum, made 
by Counfellor CHarves Fea, Prefident 
ot the Antiquities at Rome, and of the 
Mufeum in the Capiiol. This learned 
antiquarian gives an interefting account of 
the exertions which are now making in the 
neighbourhood of Oftia, by command of 
Pius VII. to recover fome valuable ant:ques 
in room of thofe of which Rome has been 
deprived by the French; and of the fuc- 
cefs which has hitherto attended thele ex-. 
ertions. M. Fea found feveral rums of the. 
ancient Via Oftienfis, and various lapidary 
infcriptions, one of which he diiccyered. 
on the tomb of a rich debauchee, cf 
Tralles, in Afia Minor, who was buried 
there, after having {pent a Jarge fuitune 
at Rome, and in the baths of Bais. From 
the ruins of the ancient Oltia, it fhould 
feem that the piace was laid waite in the 
fixth century, during the invafion of the 
Gorhs, and not by the Saracens. One 
hundred galley-flaves are.employed in this 
work, who, in addition to their ulual, 
wages, receive rewards in proportion to the 
value of what they difcover. 
Viewec, in Bruntwick, has publithed 
a very interefting Account of the Prefent 
State of Midwifery in Paris, &c. by 
C.R. W. Wiepeman, M.D. 
M. B. Bsacman, who has {pent three 
years among the Kalmucs, js about to 
publith a work, entitled Mongolian Papers 
collected in the Country of tne Kalmucs. 
It will confi of five volumes, 8vo- 
AL Pra@tical Manual of Planting has 
been publifhed at Paris, with Plates, by 
Etienne CaLveL. The priociples of 
planting are bere difplayed in the molt 
clear and corre&_,point of view. ‘The 
nature of the foils, the choice of treesy 
the method of planting, tranfplinting, 
and rearing them, with obfervations and 
experiments, are given, fo as to render 
this a moft valuable book to the planter 
and farmer. : 
Dr. GueENsEL, at Stockholm, who 
has {pent feveral years in Lapland, 1s pre- 
paring for the prefs a Defcriptive Account 
of the Natural Produdiions of that Coun- 
try. . 
A letter 
