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.

ON

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. 78. 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 124d.; 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 1d. lower than in London. Oatmeal, in the Edinburgh market, sold in retail, varied from 1s. 1d. to 1s. 4d. per peck of 83lb. 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

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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 examin ed 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 complete 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 affording 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