1807.] 
Pare | 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ae 
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 
REPORT Of the TRANSACTIONS of the Puy- 
SICAL CLass of the NATIONAL INSTI- 
TUTE, for the last HALF YEAR of 1806. 
By M. CUVIER, SECRETARY to the soct- 
IY. 
N consequence of a recent order of 
the society, we are informed by the 
learned secretary, that the reports of their 
labours are, in future, to be confined to 
the period of six months; but the pre- 
sent, he observ es, is not on that account 
less replete with interesting results. 
The numerous vacancies which have 
occurred this year among the members 
of the mathematical and ‘physical class, 
by excitinga lively emulation, have been 
the means of producing a numerous col- 
lection of works in the different depart- 
ments of the natural:sciences. We shall 
persevere, continues the reporter, faith- 
fully to observe the practice hitherto 
adopted of analysing these works in con- 
junction with those of our colleagues; 
without this it would be, indeed, impos- 
sible to furnish a complete history of the 
sciences, since these labours, though ap- 
parently ‘foreign, are neyertheless, for the 
most part, intimately connected with 
ours, by the identity of the objects of re- 
search, a part of which we generally ap- 
propriate to ourselves, and by repeating 
and varying the experiments and obser- 
vations, which form their bases, are en- 
abled to estimate their real merit. 
Messrs. Bosc and Silvester, the princi 
pal candidates in the agriciiitural depart. t= 
ment, have greatly improved several ma~ 
nuscripts on the subject of agriculture, as 
well as some works already published on 
particular branches of this science. The 
important places intrusted to them by 
the governinent in this. depai ‘tment of 
the administration, and their extensive 
attainments in the physical sciences, 
have equally been taken into conside- 
ration, and the class has, with pleasure, 
enrolled both of them among 1ts mem- 
bers. M. Silvester has beep nominated 
the successor of M. Cels; and M. Bosc, 
a profound naturalist as well as.an expe- 
rienced avriculturist, and who is the au- 
thor of “teat in)portant works on the 
history of animals, has succeeded to Gil- 
bert, the veterinarist whose place has been 
Vacant during the five last years. 
In the botanical department, one place 
Only, that of the late M. Adanson, was 
‘to be filed up; nevertheless, the coinpe- 
tition has not been the less honourable, 
either in the number, or importance of 
the works, submitted ‘by the candidates 
to the jadgment of the class. It must 
afford, M. Cuvier justly observes, great 
satisfaction to the lovers of science, to 
witness such convincing proofs of the zeal 
and ardour of those who cultivate them. 
M. Palisot de Beauvois, the successful 
candidate, had, we are informed by the 
reporter, strong claims to this distinction, 
not only from his travels in Africa and: 
America, and his Flora of Oware § Be- 
nin, which has enriched botany by ren- 
dering us acquainted with some singular 
plants, but also from the Fiora of the 
United States of America, which he is at 
present engaged in preparing for the press, 
and of which he has already communicat- 
ed some interesting specimens; and lastly, 
on account of his accurate researches 
into the nature of cryptogamous plants. 
These labours consist of descriptions of 
new species, and in establishing genera, 
and other methedical distmbutions, from 
which it would be dificult to give an ex= 
tract; but they also comprehend more 
general objects, and chietly a theory re- 
specting the fecundation of mushrooms, 
of which M. Cuvier thinks it incumbent 
on him to give an analysis, more particu- 
larly as this subject, eee noticed by 
several writers of merit, does not appear. 
to him to have sufliciently attracted the 
attention of botanists in general. 
It is well known that mosses produce, 
at a certain period, longer or shorter pe- 
dicels, terminated by capsules of a very 
complicated structure, aud filled with a 
dust of various colours, 
Dillenius and Linneus imagined that 
these capsules were anthers, or male or- 
gans, and they sought for the female or- 
gans in certain groupes of stellate or star- 
like leaves, which are sometimes present 
on other. parts of these small plants. 
This opinion, however, was never very 
generally adopted; on the contrary, it 
was supposed that the dust contained in 
the capsules was the seed, and not the 
pollen. 
It then became necessary to search for 
it in something analogous to the stamens. 
Hill conceived he liad discovered it in 
the cilie surrounding the: edge of the 
capsule; Keehl lreuter, in the’ calyptre, or 
hood; Schre aber, in certatn small threads 
at the bettoin Gr the pedicel, in which 
opinion 
