~ 
1606.} 
LATREILLE has publifhed the firft vo- 
lume of his General Hiftory of Infeéts ; 
a work on which he has been engaged for 
a coniiderable time. 
Duvernoy has publifhed the three 
laft \volumes’ of Cuvien’s Comparative 
Anatomy 3 a work which was anxioufly 
expected. 
Dr. Wollafton fome time fince an- 
nounced that he had extraéted from the 
ore of platina two diftinét metals, to 
which he had given the name of rhodium 
and palladium. ‘The eccuracy of his ex- 
periments was contefted. In France, 
however, M. Collet Defeotils has obtained 
the fame refults by following the fame 
procefs. The rhodium and palladium ob- 
tained by him were exhivited at a late 
meeting of the National Inftitute. 
The National Inflitute of France has 
propofed as a fubject of a Prize Effay, to 
be adjudged in July, 1808, ‘* To examine 
what has been the influence of the cru- 
fades upon the civil liberty of the people 
of Europe, upon their civilization, and 
upon the progrefs of \their learning, com- 
merce, and indufry.”” The diicourfe is 
to be written in French or Latis, and 
muft be delivered in before the 1ft of 
Aprtl, 1808. The prize is a gold medal 
of 1500 francs in value. 
Germany. 
Since the union of Bamberg to Bava- 
ria, the electoral library of Munich has 
been enriched with feveral valuable arti- 
cles before kept in the treafury of the 
chapter of Bamberg. Among theie are, 
th. celebrated Codex aureus, or Golden 
Manufcript of Bamberg, difcovered by 
the abbot Gley, who likewile collated it ; 
four New Teitaments, and a Miffal of 
the eleventh or twelfth century, in {mall 
folio, wittten on beautiful white vellum, 
in characters executed with the greateft 
care, They are all in the beft prefervation, 
as they were never fhewn without {pecial 
permiffion, and were never lent for the 
purpofe of collation. The binding of 
thefe manu(cripts is very rich; it is orna- 
mented with precious {tones and oriental 
pearls fet in gold, and with {cripture fub- 
jeéts carved in ivory. 
Two oppofite opinions, it is well 
known, are generally entertained on the 
fubjeé&t of the budsand branches of plants. 
Linnzus and Hales conceived that the 
pith or medullz penetrated through the 
wood, thus producing the ramifications of 
plants; and afterwards, ftretching out, 
formed the eflential parts of vegetable bo- 
dies. Other naturalifts have attributed 
MontTuty Mac. No. 143. 
Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
449 
to the bark, and to the cortical layers, 
what their predeceflors confidered as the 
product of the medulla alone. Hence, 
they imagine that the increafe in lenoth 
and thickne{s muft depend on thefe organs. 
According to KoELER, who has lately 
been engaged in inveftigating the truth of 
thefe two opinions, it fhould fem, that 
the upper part of a branch, and of a 
thoot,‘is merely formed by the pith, the 
medullary fheath, and the bark. Hence 
he concludes, that the augmentation of 
{tems or trunks, and branches, depends 
altogether on the elongation of the veffels 
of the medullary fheath. The alburnum, 
the tubes of which proceed in a perfeétly 
{traight dive&tion, appears at the upper 
part of a branch under the form of fepa- 
rate fibres, which difappear at the furface 
of the medullary fheath. 
Rufia. , 
.The Emperor Alexander has founde 
a college at Teflie in Georgia, At the 
head of this eftablifhment has beea placed 
an ecclefiaftic, who poflefles extenfive lite- 
rary attainments, and a perfeét knowledge 
of the Ruffian language. Tranflations of 
various uleful works are already making 
into the Georgian, and ijn returs the lite. 
rature of Ruffia expe&ts others of an an- 
cient’ Georgian poet named Ruflawell, 
and of a celebrated romance-writer of 
the fame country, Sergei Tmogwell. 
America. 
Colonel Lewis, who was commiffiocned 
‘in 1804, by the Prefident of the United 
States, to explore the fources of the Mifz 
fouri, afcended this river for the fpace of 
five hugdred leagues, and ftopped in 47° 
of latitude in order to pafs the winter. 
Here the temperature was fo rigorous 
that the fnow, which equalled two teet in 
thicknefs, did not difappear until the end 
of March. He found different colonies 
of Indians, who in general gave him a 
good reception, and furnifhed him with 
what neceffaries he required. They in- 
formed him he would have two hundred 
leagues to travel before reaching the great 
cataraét, and about the fame number of 
leagues farther before arriving at the great 
mountains whence the Miffouri has its 
fource ; and that on croffing thefe moun-_ 
tains, he would mmmediately reach the 
South Sea. The leffer torrents which 
flow into this siver were all diftinguifhed 
by French names; from which it is pre- 
fumable that the French from Canada had 
penetrated into thefe countries, which have 
fince been vilited by Mackenzie. 
3M MONTHLY 
> a ee eee 
