ROYAL SOCIETY.

Jan. 9. B. C. Brodie, Esq. V. P. The Earl of Tyrconnel was elected Fellow. The portrait of the late President, Davies Gilbert, Esq., painted by Thomas Phillips, Esq., R. A., F. R. S., at the solicitation of several members, was, by their request, presented to the Society, and a vote of thanks passed for this valuable present. A large number of parliamentary papers, on subjects relating to science, were received from the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Read, an essay on the Empirical Laws of the Tides in the port of London, with some reflexions on the theory, by the Rev. William Whewell, of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Jan. 15. J. W. Lubbock, Esq., V. P. Read, on a new property of the Arcs of the Equilateral Hyperbola, by H. F. Talbot, Esq., M. P., F. R. S.; and experimental researches in Electricity, sixth series, by Michael Faraday, Esq., D. C.L. F.R.S., &c.

Jan. 23. Francis Baily, Esq. V. P. The sixth series of Mr. Faraday's Experimental Researches on Electricity was concluded, and a seventh series commenced; and an Appendix was read to Dr. Daubeny's paper on the gases disengaged from the King's well at Bath. Adjourned over King Charles's Martyrdom to Feb. 6.

The

and thirty arches of a most magnificent aqueduct. From Antiochia the writer went by Isbarta to Sagalassus in Pisidia, celebrated for its siege by Alexander, and thence in search of the ruins of Selge. Being prevented from accomplishing his purpose of exploring the sites of Lystra and Derbe, by the entrance of the army of Ibrahim Pacha into Iconium, he now returned to the back of Chonas, where he had the further satisfaction decidedly to

fix the exact situation of Colossæ. In this and the former journey of the author (described in his account of the "Seven Churches" of the Apocalypse, published two years since), he travelled over little less than six hundred miles of new ground, hitherto unknown to the European traveller, or, at least, of which no description has appeared.

Mr. Hamilton likewise read the first the Origin of the Hindoos," by Professor and second chapters of a memoir "on Schlegel, of Bonn; the former relating to the name Hindoo, the latter to the early emigrations of mankind.

Dec. 4. Some extracts of a letter from Sir William Gell were read by Mr. Hamilton, giving an account of the exhumation of the remains of Raphael at Rome, noticed in the Gentleman's Magazine for December.

It is known that Raphael commenced a series of architectural designs, intended to represent a complete restoration of ancient Rome. These designs have been subjects of anxious inquiry at Rome; and the Romans have to be informed that they are in England, in the collection of Mr. Coke at Holkham.

The Secretary read a memoir "on the Royal Names and Titles on the Sarcophagus in the British Museum, formerly called the Tomb of Alexander," by the Rev. George Tomlinson. The hypothesis which assigns this splendid monument to Alexander the Great is now universally exploded; and it is allowed that its original tenant was one of the ancient Pharaohs. From an examination of the shields inscribed on the sarcophagus, and on the other monuments remaining of him, published by the Society, Mr. Tomlinson has ascertained that Horus, or Hor, was the name of this king; and he has no hesitation in placing him among the Bubastic sovereigns of the twenty-second dynasty. His tomb, therefore, cannot be of a later date than about the middle of the tenth century before the Christian æra. Mr. T. further cleared up several diffculties, hitherto unexplained, in relation to his legend, in which he is styled "the victorious of the land of Heb;" and to his prænomen, as it appears on the monu

ment. He agrees with Rosellini, that by Heb is meant the greater Oasis. In the prænomen, as given by that writer, this Pharaoh is called " son of Mith; " instead of which Mr. Tomlinson proposes to read "son of Pascht," the tutelary deity of the city of Bubastis, and of the Bubastic kings.

The reading cnocluded with a further portion of Professor Schlegel's memoir on the origin of the Hindoos, including the chapters on the national traditions of that people, and on the diversity of the races of mankind.

Dec. 18. The Secretary read a paper by the Rev. G. Tomlinson, on the inscriptions upon the two obelisks of block basalt, in the British Museum. These beautiful monuments of Egyptian art, which now stand near the celebrated sarcophagus called the tomb of Alexander, were erected by the Pharaoh Horus of the twenty-second or Bubastic dynasty, whom Mr. Tomlinson, in a paper read at the last meeting, proved to have been the original occupier of that sarcophagus. They were set up in honour of the god Thoth, in the city of Heliopolis; the inscriptions (of which translations were given) contain little else but magnificent titles bestowed upon Horus and his tutelary deity. From this circumstance, and the similarly futile character of many other specimens which have been published, the writer inferred that the notions formerly entertained of the value of these monuments, as records of Egyptian science, were merely empty speculations, which must give way to the progress of truth and of sound philological knowledge.

Mr. Wilkinson read a detailed account of his discovery of the contrivances by means of which the celebrated statue of Memnon was rendered vocal, of which discovery a brief notice had been already communicated in an extract of a letter from Sir W. Gell, read Nov. 6th. Among the numerous inscriptions left by the visitors to the Colossus, and which have been learnedly illustrated by M. Letronne, in a memoir published in the Society's Transactions, and more largely in a recent volume of that eminent scavant, is one by Julia Ballilla, who compares the sound emitted by the statue to the striking of brass, ws aλnošo TURÉvros. Mr. Wilkinson had remarked the metallic quality of the sound produced by a blow on the stone fixed below the breast of Memnon, before his attention was drawn to this description. On a subsequent visit to Thebes (in 1830), he was struck with this confirmation of his opinion regarding the means used for the deception; and he determined on ascertaining if it

could be heard by persons stationed near the base, and if any one, totally unacquainted with the history of the statue, would there perceive the metallic ring of the stone. The experiment was accordingly tried upon some Theban peasants, who knew nothing of the nature of the inscription, and were ignorant of the reason for which they were placed below, On being asked if they heard any thing. these persons replied, "You are striking brass; " and the exact similarity of this answer to the testimony of Julia Ballilla completed the conviction on the writer's mind as to the identity of the sound, and the means formerly used to practise the deception.

The name of Memnon was unknown to the Egyptian priests. The Colossus represents Amenoph III., a Theban or Diospolite monarch, the ninth king of the eighteenth dynasty; and the misnomer appears to have originated in the ignorance of those credulous and uninquiring visitors who, by a slight analogy of sound, were led into the error of converting the Theban Amenoph into the Memnon of Homer, in the same manner as the Egyptian Taba was softened into the Grecian Thebes, and as the tomb of a Rameses, who chanced to have the title of Meiamun, was, with equal facility, ascribed to the fabulous Ethiopian.

A further portion of Professor Schlegel's paper, on the origin of the Hindoos, was also read; comprising his chapter relative to their physical characteristics.

Jan. 1. Colonel Leake in the chair. Mr. Hamilton read an extract from a letter from Sir W. Gell, respecting some recent discoveries of antiquities in Italy. Several suits of splendid armour had been found by workmen employed in excavating, in a village in Apulia: and an ancient vase of remarkable beauty had been discovered in Sicily. Sir W. Gell added, that a belief now prevailed that they were certainly the masts of vessels which had been found in the port of Pompeii; and that the report of the stems of trees having been mistaken for masts, had been invented for the purpose of defeating the design of the owner of the soil to demand an enormous sum for permission to excavate.

A communication was likewise read by Mr. Hamilton, from Mr. Dawkins, on the present state of the marble quarries at Pentelicus; and a notice, from Mr. Wilkinson, of an elaborate map of Egypt constructed by him, as the result of many years' laborious investigation of the topography and monuments of that country.

The Secretary read a memoir on the several series of figures of captives which accompany those of the ancient sove

reigns of Egypt, in the temples of Thebes and Abydos. It is well known, that to the study of the latter figures, with the ovals attached to them, we owe the important additions which have been made, in recent times, to our knowledge of the relative ages and designs of the hieroglyphic monuments, and of the progress of the arts, customs, and events, which distinguish the protomonarchy of Egypt; and it was the design of the author to elicit corresponding facts from the study of the former or captive series.

The hieroglyphic signs appended to each series, compared with the characters of the figures themselves, enabled Mr. Cattermole systematically to assign to them their respective geographical positions; and hence to follow the historical succession of foreign wars and territorial acquisitions of each individual in the line of Egyptian conquerors, during nearly three hundred years, the period of the national prosperity and greatness.

Jan. 15. Lord Bexley in the chair. Mr. Wilkinson read a paper on the colours used by the Egyptians; and concluded by exhibiting specimens of the principal colours from the tombs of the kings at Thebes.

The Secretary read a memoir by Mr. E. T. Beke, intitled "Reasons for believing that the writings attributed to Manetho are not authentic."

CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Dec. 8. At this meeting was read a memoir by Professor Moseley, of King's College, London, "On the general conditions of the equilibrium of a system of variable form; and on the theory of equilibrium, settlement, and fall of the arch."

Professor Farish made a statement concerning a splendid meteor, resembling a falling star, observed by him on the 26th of September, at a quarter before seven in the evening. It appeared at first nearly as large as the moon, but before it got to the horizon, it was reduced to almost a thread. It continued in the same verticle,

without altering its bearing at all, and was visible about two seconds.

Professor Sedgwick gave an account, illustrated by maps and sections, of the geological structure of Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, and of the neighbourhood. He observed that the secondary strata in the neighbourhood of this group of primary rocks, appear in a very regular and undisturbed position; the new red sandstone, lias, and oolites, succeeding each in the usual order; that, therefore, the attempts recently made to obtain coal, by sinking through the terrace of Billesdon Coplow, the outcrop of the inferior oolite, must necessarily end in disappointment and loss. He stated also that the Forest consisted of masses of granite, sienite, porphyry, and grauwacke slate; of which the slate was clearly stratified. This stratification bad reference to an anticlinal line of elevation, which was before suspected to exist at this part of England, but had not previously been ascertained. The direction of the line is about N. W. and S. E., and the slaterocks dipping from it to the N. E. and S. W. The disturbance produced along this line may be further traced, on the N. W. of the Forest, in the inclined position of several detached masses of mountain limestone, which stand like islands in the plain of the red marl: dipping, on the whole, towards the S. W. so as to pass under the coal measures of the Ashby de la Zouch field; and therefore to be considered as a prolongation of the S. W. side of the Charnwood forest saddle. The granite occupies the skirts of the Forest on the east, south, and west.

GRESHAM PRIZE MEDAL.

The Gresham Prize Medal, for the best composition in sacred music, has been awarded to Mr. John Goss, Organist of Chelsea.

We understand that a premium of ten guineas has been offered for the best Essay on the Life and Character of Sir Thomas Gresham.

tive of the jurisdiction of the City of London over the three manors in the Borough, which are now united under the authority of the Corporation.

The reading was then commenced of a letter from Thomas Rickman, esq. in pursuance of his observations on the architecture of England and part of France. This portion of his dissertation was devoted to buildings whose age is decidedly prior to the year 1000: and after noticing several works of Roman construction in France and in England, Mr. Rickman

enumerated twenty English churches, situated throughout the country, from Northumberland in the north to Sussex in the south, which are characterised by features of the most remote antiquity. He remarked, as a general observation, that a chancel arch of the round form is frequently found standing, in cases where the exterior walls of both the nave and the chancel have been rebuilt.

Jun. 16.-W. R. Hamilton, Esq. V.P. John Yonge Akerman, Esq. of Camberwell, author of a Descriptive Catalogue of inedited Roman coins, was elected Fellow. Captain Mudge exhibited, through the hands of T. Crofton Croker, Esq., F.S.A., some specimens of the remains found in the ancient timber house lately discovered in Drum Kelin Bog, co. Donegal (see Nov. Mag. p. 452); they consisted of a chisel of fine black stone, found in one of the mortice holes, a piece of leather which had been sewed with a leathern strap or thong, charcoal, and nutshells, of which latter article such quantities were found, that it is presumed nuts formed a principal part of the food of the ancient inhabitants. Captain Mudge was prevented by the water from pursuing his excavations further; but he considers the house to have been one of a village.

Mr. Rickman's paper on the most ancient churches in England was concluded.

Jan. 23.-W. R. Hamilton, Esq., V.P. Mr. Doubleday exhibited casts of several curious ancient seals in the Duchy of Lancaster Office, which were illustrated by a paper from Sir Henry Ellis, Sec.

Francis Douce, Esq. F.S. A. exhibited the foundation stone of the Cathedral of St. Mark at Venice, erected about 1000 years ago, and which was discovered when the present Cathedral was built on the site of a former erection. It is a flat circular piece of Vecchia marble, about six inches broad, and half an inch thick, having on one side the head of St. Mark engraved, with a legend round, part of which has been broken off. Mr. D. described from Tacitus the Roman ceremony of placing the foundation stone of a temple, strewing coins over it, &c., and observed that part of the pagan ceremony had been retained in the Christian ritual for the foundation of ancient churches, of which he also gave an account.

Captain Smyth exhibited an engraving of a medal of the Emperor Commodus, bearing the very earliest representation of Britannia, and finely executed.

REPAIRS OF BATH ABBEY.

The Abbey Church of Bath is now undergoing some very extensive repairs. During several mayoralties, and particu

larly those of William Clark and Joshua Phillott, esqs. some gentlemen of the Corporation happily conceived, and put into execution the idea of discumbering the edifice of those unsightly buildings which were placed against it, as well as the accumulation of soil and stones, by which its basis had long been hidden. In the course of this process, the workmen unexpectedly opened, under the eastern buttress, part of the shafts and the bases of four columns, upon which the original superstructure was evidently laid: and they also discovered indications of a more continued line of architectural elevations, evidently the portions of an original and extended building.

Their plan was lately extended to the removal of the houses at the bottom of the High-street, or Market-place, thus opening a view of the whole north range of the church. Soon after this determination, large sums of money were voted by the Corporation, for various works about the exterior of the Abbey, and for removing the clock, which by its weight endangered the tower, and by its great diameter and bulk, much injured its beauty and architectural proportions. This has been effected, and the dilapidations creditably repaired, under the care of Mr. Manners as architect. A new illuminated dial, of about seven feet diameter, is to be placed in the centre of the gable end of the north transept.

In the works on the north and south ailes of the choir, an important restoration has been made. Those ailes were covered with leaden roofs in 1520, denuded thereof about 1539, and supplied in 1558 with the late heavy parapet wall, and stone and wood roofs, in the form of a ; one side of which, leaning against the clerestory windows of the choir, caused them to be deprived of their glass, and built up with stone, to the height of five feet; and the other rested upon the ponderous parapet wall, which obscured the fine bases and proportions of the elegant flying buttresses. These heavy parapet walls have been partly removed,and the stone blocking up the windows taken out, and replaced with glass, and the roof covered with lead, which is placed in the identical grooves of the lead roof of 1520. It is also proposed to take down and lower the present stone and wood roofs of the transepts and choir, which have a higher elevation than the original lead roofs removed in the time of Henry VIII. and now injure the proportions of three sides of the tower.

Few who have visited Bath Abbey, will forget the handsome carving of the great west doors, which were a contribution to