Stated Meeting, November 20.

Present, twenty-three members.

Dr. CHAPMAN, President, in the Chair.

Letters were received and read:

From the Royal Lombardy Institute of Science, Letters and Arts, dated Milan, June, 1846, informing the Society that they had forwarded donations of books, and asking, in exchange, its publications:-

From N. P. Rolando, dated London, October 8th, 1846, accompanying the communication from the Lombardy Institute, and offering his services in transmitting donations:

From the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin, dated Berlin, August 1st, 1846, acknowledging the reception of the Transactions of this Society, Vol. IX., Parts 1 and 2, and Proceedings, Nos. 28 to 34; the Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee, Vol. III., Part 1; and Dunglison's Discourse on Du Ponceau:

From the same, dated Berlin, August 1st, 1846, transmitting a donation to the Society:

From the Regents of the University of New York, dated Albany, Nov. 11, 1846, acknowledging their having received No. 35, Vol. IV., of the Proceedings of this Society: and,

From Maximilian, Prince of Wied, dated New Wied, on the Rhine, March 26, 1845, acknowledging the notice of his election as a member of this Society.

The following donations were announced :

FOR THE LIBRARY.

Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Aus dem Jahre, 1844. Berlin, 1846.

Royal Academy of Berlin.

4to.-From the

Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Königl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Juli, August, September, October, November, December, 1845. Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, 1846. 8vo.-From the

same.

Nouveaux Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et BellesLettres de Bruxelles. Tomes XVII. et XVIII. 1844, 1845. 4to.-From the Royal Academy of Brussels.

Mémoires Couronnés et Mémoires des Savants Étrangers, publiés par l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. Tomes XVII. et XVIII. 1843-1844, 1844-1845. 4to.From the same.

Bulletins de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. Tome XI. Nos. 9 à 12. 1844. Tome XII. Nos. 1 à 6. 1845. 8vo.-From the same.

Annuaire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. Onzième Année, 1845. 12mo.-From the same. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. XVI. Part II. Edinburgh, 1846. 4to.-From the Society.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. II. Nos. 27 and 28. 1845-6. 8vo.-From the same.

Archæologia: or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity. Pub. lished by the Society of Antiquaries of London. Volume XXXI. London, 1846. 4to.-From the Society. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part XIII. 1845. 8vo.-From the Society.

Reports of the Council and Auditors of the Zoological Society of London, read at the Annual General Meeting, April 29, 1846. 8vo.

From the same.

The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Vol. XX. Part the First. London, 1846. 4to.-From the Linnean Society.

List of the Linnean Society of London. 1846. 4to.-From the

same.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Nos. 27, 28, 29. 8vo.-From the same.

The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. No. XVII. Part I. Vol. IX. Part I. London, 1846. 8vo. From the Royal Asiatic Society.

The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. X. Part I. Containing the Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, decyphered and translated; with a Memoir on Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions in general, and on that of Behistun in particular. By Major H. C. Rawlinson, C. B. London, 1846. 8vo.-From the same.

The African Repository and Colonial Journal. Vol. XXII. Novem

ber, 1846. No. 11. 8vo.-From the American Colonization Society.

The Medical News and Library. Vol. IV. November, 1846. No. 47. 8vo.-From Messrs. Lea & Blanchard.

The American Journal of Science and Arts. Conducted by Professor Silliman and B. Silliman, Jr., and James D. Dana. Second Series. November, 1846. No. 6. 8vo.-From the Editors. Journal of the Franklin Institute of the

XLII. No. 251. Third Series.
No. 5.

State of Pennsylvania. Vol.
Vol. XII. November, 1846.

8vo.-From Dr. R. M. Patterson.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, including Zoology, Botany, and Geology.

8vo.-From Sir William Jardine, Bart.

Annales de l'Observatoire Royal de Bruxelles, publiées, aux frais de l'État, par le Directeur, A. Quetelet. Tome IV. Bruxelles, 1845. 4to.-From the Director.

Annuaire de l'Observatoire Royal, par le Directeur, A. Quetelet. 1845. 12 Année. 12mo.-From the same.

Observations des Phénomènes Périodiques. Extrait du Tome XVIII. des Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. 4to.-From A. Quetelet.

Memoir on the Megatherium, and other extinct Gigantic Quadrupeds

of the Coast of Georgia, with Observations on its Geologic Features. By William B. Hodgson. New York, 1846. 8vo.From the Author.

Relacion de Ultimo Viage al Estrecho de Magallanes de la Fragata de S. M. Santa Maria de la Cabeza en los Años de 1785 y 1786. Extracto de todos los anteriores desde su descubrimiento impresos y MSS., y noticia de los habitantes, suelo, clima y producciones del Estrecho. Trabajada de orden del Rey. Madrid, 1788. 4to.-From Richard C. Taylor, Esq.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY BY PURCHASE.

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Conducted by Professor Jameson. July to October, 1846. Vol. XLI. No. 82. 8vo.

The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, and Journal of Science. Third Series. No. 193. September, 1846.

Astronomische Nachrichten. Nos. 571 to 574, inclusive. Nos. 577, 580, 581. 4to.

DONATION TO THE CABINET.

A case containing two Medals, one of Silver and the other of Bronze, struck in Commemoration of the First President of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin, Godofr. Wilh. L. B. de Leibniz. From the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin.

Professor Frazer informed the Society of the death of Isaiah Lukens, a member of the Society, who died on the 12th of November, in his 69th year.

On motion, Mr. Trego was requested to prepare an obituary notice of the deceased.

Mr. Ord informed the Society of the death of Don Martin Fernando de Navarreto, President of the Royal Academy of History of Madrid, a member of this Society, who died at Madrid, October 8th, 1846.

Professor Frazer brought before the Society the subject of the manufacture of an explosive substance made from cotton. It is made by immersing cotton in strong nitric and sulphuric acids, and also with strong nitric acid alone. The process was detailed, and a specimen exhibited. It possesses an hygroscopic property; and when containing water is less explosive, though its strength is restored on being dried.

Pending nomination, No. 192, and new nominations, 193, 194, were read.

Dr. Dunglison, as Secretary to the Board of Officers, read the proceedings of the Board at their last meeting; and on motion of Dr. Patterson, the action of the Board in relation to a paper offered for the Magellanic Premium, entitled "A Treatise on the Parallatic Eye-piece," was approved. The opinion of the Board was to this effect-That the treatise is very learned and elaborate, and founded on a principle that is new in its application, and may lead to important results; but that the instrument itself has never been constructed, and consequently its supposed advantages have never been tested; while

the case is one which particularly requires experimental investigation, without which, indeed, no satisfactory conclusion can be drawn as to the merits or defects of the proposed appaThe Board, therefore, judge that the award of the Magellanic Premium to the inventor, at this time, would be premature; and they accordingly recommend that all action with regard to it be postponed until the merits of the instrument have been tested by actual trial, and that the Treatise be placed in the archives, for the disposal of the author.

Stated Meeting, December 4.

Present, twenty members.

Dr. BACHE, Vice-President, in the Chair.

A letter was received and read:

From Mr. John Plumbe, dated Philadelphia, December 4, 1846, asking permission to copy the portrait of Mr. Jefferson, belonging to the Society, for the purpose of forming one of a series of national portraits now in course of publication by

him.

On motion of Dr. Dunglison, Mr. Plumbe was permitted to take a copy, under the inspection of the Librarian. The following donations were announced:

FOR THE LIBRARY.

Journal Asiatique, ou Recueil de Mémoires, d'Extraits et de Notices relatifs à l'Histoire, à la Philosophie, aux Langues et à la Littérature des Peuples Orientaux. Quatrième Série. Tome VII. No. 35. Juin, 1846. Tome VIII. No. 36. Juillet, 1846. 8vo.From the Asiatic Society of Paris.

Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences, de l'Agriculture et des Arts, de Lille. Année, 1843. Lille, 1844. 8vo.-From the Society.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol. III. Nos. 4 and 5. July to October, 1846. 8vo.-From the Academy.

VOL. IV. 2 Q