force, the combination of these portions of electrical currents corresponding to the constituent, will, in every case, exert precisely the same action as that which corresponds to their resultant. It is from this law that he has deduced the analytical expression of the mutual action of two small portions of electrical currents :-first, in the case in which they are both perpendicular to the line which joins their point of bisection; and, secondly, in the general case, where they form with that line any angles whatever, as a and s. In both cases, the analytical expression has been developed; but, as we have not room to set down the different steps, we must content ourselves, instead of merely giving the resulting formula, which would be unintelligible by itself, with referring the scientific reader to the Journal de Physique, xcI. 226, where he will find the subject treated in a very able and luminous manner.

Dec. 11.-At this sitting, M. Ampère read a supplement to the foregoing Memoir, in which he gives an account of two experiments which tend to verify the formula he had previously deduced, and subjoined some observations on the analogy existing between this formula and that which expresses the effects of radiant heat, and likewise upon the consequences deduced from that formula, which agree perfectly with the facts observed by other philosophers.

In the proceedings of 1821, nothing deserving particular mention was laid before the Academy, till the 12th of March, when M. Halle read the report of the committee on a Memoir of M. Chomel, entitled, "Observations on the use of the Sulphates of Quinine and Cinchonine in Intermitting Fevers." The object of the author was to ascertain if the substances known under the names of quinine and cinchonine, that is, the characteristic

alkalis of the yellow and grey quinquina, combined in the state of sulphates, rendered more soluble by that combination, and preserving the pungency peculiar to the quinquinas from which they are extracted, possess the qualities of febrifuge in the same degree with the original bark. M. Double, a physician of extensive practice and great experience, had already shewn the utility of these compounds in the treatment of tertian and doubletertian, quartan and double-quartan fevers. In his hands the administration of sulphate of quinine had been attended with immediate and complete success, and generally after the first doses, in the cases of six patients of different ages, among whom were an infant of nine years old, and a woman whose health was impaired by the irregularities of the critical age. The number of observations recorded by M. Chomel is fourteen; in six of which the cessation of the fever was owing to the sulphate of quinine, and took place either immediately after the first dose, or after the second. The doses generally effectual consisted of from 6 to 12 grains; in only a single instance did they amount to 24; in one case, complete success followed the administration of a dose of 5 grains, in another of 8 and 12, although in the first of these instances the simple bark had been administered in half-ounce doses without any sensible effect, and in the other the extract in doses of a drachm each. The sulphate of cinchonine was employed by M. Chomel only in one instance; from 6 to 20, and from 20 to 24 grains were requisite to produce complete success. In the thirteenth observation, the resinous matter of quinquina, in doses of one and two ounces, was first employed without any success; then the ligneous part in doses of one ounce; and thirdly, the sulphate prepared with the quinine extracted from

the Carthagina bark in doses of 24 grains; immediately after this last trial the sulphate of quinine extracted from yellow quinquina, given in doses of the same amount, definitively terminated the fever. In three cases the salts of quinine failed, as well as the bark in its original state.

On the 30th of April, M. Cuvièr presented to the Academy the head of Descartes, which M. Berzelius, Secretary of the Academy of Stockholm, had purchased, at a public sale, in Sweden, and which he had been eager to transmit to the native country of that truly great man. He also read the letter, in which M. Berzelius gives an account of the particulars, hitherto unknown, respecting the history of that head, and which tend to establish its genuineness. At the same

time, M. Cuvier presented an engraved portrait of Descartes, remarking, that all the traits indicated by the osseous parts, are similar to the characters of the head presented by M. Berzelius; which, according to M. Cuvier, completed the proof that this was in reality the head of Descartes.*

The remaining proceedings of the Academy for the year possess no manner of interest, either to the general or scientific reader, if we except a masterly Memoir by M. de Laplace, on the Attraction of Spherical Bodies, and the Repulsion of Elastic Fluids, which was read on the 10th of September, and of which we will endeavour to give some account, in the view of the Improvements and Discoveries in Science during the years 1820, and

1821.

THE year 1821, like the two former, was upon the whole productive, and the fall in the prices of land produce, which commenced in 1819, has proceeded with little interruption ever since; and this, notwithstanding a marked improvement, in the course of the present year, in the condition of the great body of the consumers, other than the agricultural classes themselves, and with the ports of this country closed against the importation of foreign grain.

Yet the weather was not so steadily favourable, as in some former seasons. The first two months of the year, indeed, were uncommonly mild and pleasant, but March and April were wet, and May, June, and the greater part of July, cold, with frequent hailshowers, hoar-frost, and the wind from the north. About the end of July, when the prospect of the harvest was by no means encouraging, especially upon thin dry soils, some refreshing showers fell, after which the temperature became higher, and the weather,

though still variable, continued friendly to the ripening and ingathering of the crops, till the whole were secured in good order, over the greater part of the United Kingdom. This was particularly the case throughout the whole of Scotland and the north of England; but in the south of England and also in some parts of Ireland, a great deal of rain fell for about a month, from the last week of August, which injured the wheat and barley in some districts to such a degree, that the corn market rose very rapidly; wheat from 54s. 7d., the weekly average on the 1st of September, to 70s. 7d. on the 29th of the same month, and apprehensions of scarcity became very prevalent. But the decline of prices which occurred in October, proved that the damage was but partial, and that the alarm was unfounded. The same variable weather continued to the end of the year. In November and December the rains were so copious, that many of the rivers overflowed their banks; but the greatest losses were

Upon a comparison with 1820, there has been more rain in 1821 by about 6 inches, while the medium temperature was higher by 1.38.

With the exception of the months of September and October, the corn market exhibited little fluctuation in prices, seldom ranging more than between 50s. and 55s. for wheat, and most generally veering round the latter rate, till near the end of the year, when this, and all other kinds of corn, experienced a considerable depression. The price of bread, however, did not always correspond with that of wheat; owing, perhaps, to the partial injury which this grain had sustained in September, the quartern loaf, after the harvest, continued higher than in its usual proportion to wheat. The most common rate in London, before September, was 9d., sometimes 10d.; the highest in September was 121d.; and at the end of the year, though wheat had fallen 8s. below the price at its commencement, the loaf still stood at

10d. In Edinburgh, it was, as usual, about Id. lower than in London. Oatmeal, in the Edinburgh market, sold in retail, varied from 1s. 1d. to 1s. 4d. per peck of 8 lb. avoirdupois, and potatoes from 8d. to 10d. per peck of 28lb.

Live stock, both fat and lean, which had hitherto yielded slowly to the depression of the times, experienced, in the course of this year, as great, or a greater reduction, than corn, probably not less than 25 per cent, as compared with the prices of 1820. The state of the weather during the summer had been unfavourable to the grazier, and the appearance of the turnip crop at the end of the grass season threatened a deficiency of food for fattening in the ensuing winter. The produce of the dairy, however, did not sink so much as corn and butcher meat, a circumstance which may be ascribed to the manufacturing classes having been generally in full employment. The price of wool, too, though somewhat lower

The distress of the agricultural class es had now become so general, and was so fully admitted by all parties, that Parliament at last found it necessary to listen to the numerous petitions which were every day accumulating upon their table; but as their debates and proceedings belong to another department of this work, we shall only advert to the last in so far as they present any tangible result.

In our last volume, we alluded to Mr Robinson's intention to bring in a bill for better ascertaining the averages which regulate importation, which was brought in accordingly, and passed without exciting much attention. By this act, the returns are to be taken from about 150 towns in England and Wales, not of the prices only, but also the quantities; and these quantities and prices are to be combined in striking the general average. It also contains some provisions in regard to bonded corn, which must now be measured as it comes from the warehouse, as well as when it is first lodged there. This act, however, was clearly inapplicable as a remedy to the present state of things, how beneficial soever may be its operation hereafter; and a measure of a more general and effective character was loudly demanded by the great body of the landed interest

8 35 10

on both sides of the House. With this view, a committee was appointed to consider and report upon the petitions of the agriculturists, without any such limitations on their powers as had been imposed on those of the committee in the former session. A number of witnesses were accordingly examined by this committee, and many documents regarding the corn markets of other countries, as well as of the united kingdom, laid before them; the whole, as exhibited in the appendix to the report, forming indeed the most com. plete body of evidence on the subject of the Corn-trade that has ever appeared in this country. The Report itself was presented on the 21st June, too late in the Session to lead to any new enactment,-nor did the committee recommend any. In the House itself, so great a difference of opinion prevailed, both as to the cause of the depression and the means of relief, and even as to the practicability of afford. ing any relief at all, that all parties seem at last to have acquiesced in the expediency of waiting till it was seen what another year should bring forth. The only other general measure affecting agriculture, which requires to be noticed here, was the repeal of the tax on horses employed in husbandry; to which we may add, though of a