fages in ancient authors, which attribute the caufe of it to the attraction of the heavenly bodies; but thefe ideas, which were only fimple, rude notions, remained unimproved till the time of Newton; as true knowledge cannot be obtained until we are advanced far enough to fubmit it to analyfis, and make it the subject of a rigorous calculation; it is only, properly fpeaking, at this period that the fcience commences. number of delicate points in the system of the world; and likewife to account fatisfactorily for certain apparent anomalies remarkable in particular regions of the globe, and to affign the real caufe of them. It is already known, that these anomalies are a confequence of the general move. ment, modified, however, by local circumftances; but we ftill want to be able to afcertain the influence of those circumftances in every part; and this can only be done by good obfervations. The moft fimple obfervations, and even thofe the most circumfcribed to one spot, Befides, the fafety of navigation is ought, long before the time of Pitheas, clofely connected with thefe obfervations, to have induced a fufpicion that the tides and with the refults that neceflarily flow are regulated by the moon; all the inha- from them; for, confidering the great bitants of the coafts of the ocean might draught of water in veffels, it is of no have been readily convinced of it. Indeed, fmall importance to calculate with precifion every thing announces this fact with the the exact hour of full tide, not only in the fame evidence as the return of the seafons. interior of the ports, but ftill more partiWe cannot bestow great encomiums on the cularly, in the difficult paffages that lie authors who have spoken of it the firft; it towards their mouth, where veffels can was not with them, properly speaking, a only pafs fecurely at the time of high discovery, nor even an obfervation at all water. The navigation must be regulated profound. Till Newton, the world was in fuch a manner, as to arrive in thefe dancompletely ignorant of the true caufe of gerous paffages, precifely at the inftant this wonderful phenomenon. Till his when they ceafe to be fo; that is to say, time, men wandered in vain hypothefes about the time of high water. The whole and were far from supposing that it was coafting navigation ftands in need of very fubject to the fame law as that which exact documents with refpect to the moveregulates and determines the movements ment of the tides: and it is now high time of the different parts of the planetary to set about this enterprize, fo that the fyftem. marine and commerce may enjoy the advantages refulting from the actual state of our information. Public utility is the fole end of the meditations and researches of geometrical naturalifts. Notwithstanding this profound ignorance of caufes, navigation, that art which lays all others under contribution, has early derived great advantages from the facts afcertained. It was fufficient to ob ferve, that the daily ftop of the tides is fenfibly uniform; that they return at the fame hour every fortnight, and that the highest tides take place at the time of the new and full moon. It was fufficient from a knowledge of thefe data, to be able to calculate the time of high tide, with a precifion that was fatisfactory and which was perfectly adequate to the wants of the first ages. Now that we have no longer any thing to wish for, with regard to the theory of the flux and reflux of the fea; and that, thanks to the progrefs of analyfis, fince Newton, all its details and effects have been calculated with the precision requifite in the obfervations of the celestial phenomena; it becomes an incumbent duty to multiply and perfect the fe obfervations, not in order to confirm a theory which no longer ftands in need of demonftration, but in order to establish and determine a At the beginning of the last century, the Academy of Sciences perceived the urgent neceffity of having accurate obfervations; it prefented to M. le Comte de Pontchartrain, then at the head of the department of the marine, a memoir, in the form of inftructions, relative to the neceffity of deputing intelligent and capable perfons to obferve the flux and reflux of the fea, and the method that ought to be pursued in order to make the faid obfer vations. The Fathers Gouge and Lahire drew up the above memoir, agreeably to the views of the Academy. The Minifter affigned this labour to the profeffors of navigation, established in the respective ports, and the academy received many series of obfervations, the principal of which were thofe made at Dunkirk and at Havre, during the years 1701 and 1702; the former by M. Baert, and thofe at Havre by M. Boffaye du Bocage; both profeffors of navigation. Caffini, Caffini, the fon, gave a defcriptive account of thefe obfervations in the Memoirs of the Academy for the Year 1710, as, likewife, of others more ancient, made at Breft, in 1679; and at Bayonne, in 1680, by Lahire and Picard. He, likewife, gave a difcuffion, in the Memoirs of 1712 and 1713, on a long feries of obfervations made at Breft, in the years 1711 and 1712. This feries was begun by M. Montier, thence continued and extended to the year 1716, by M. Coubart, an able profeffor of navigation. Thefe latter obfervations were particularly valuable for the number and the exact care with which they were drawn up. It is to be regretted that the obfervations of the year 1713 have been loft. Although Caffini was attached to the fyftem of Defcartes, which was then in vogue, it is no lefs true that his labour on the fubject of the obfervations we have juft fpoken of, is very useful, and, for a long time, formed the only pofitive documents relative to the courfe of the tides. By the help of this labour, D. Bernoulli, aided, moreover, by theory, formed his Table of the Retardation of the Tides, which has been, and still is, fo ufeful to navigaPremature fyftems perish, but facts tors. are eternal. We might here quote a multitude of occafions wherein the Academy of Sciences has not only endeavoured to accelerate the rational progress of the fciences, but, likewife, applied itfelf to the most important objects of public utility. No learned fo. ciety has carried its folicitude fo far in thefe refpects; and the marine, in particular, is under eternal obligations to it. It is to the Academy of Sciences, that maritime Europe is indebted, for the first principles in the theory of the conftruction of veffels, working of them, &c. as alfo the first judicious notions relative to the guaging of veffels, &c. Exclufive of theory, the calculation of the tides reposes upon facts; and principally on the knowledge of what we call Etablissement des Ports; or, the Tables taken at the Ports. We have, indeed, pretty ample documents; but they require to be rectified, and they call for the folicitude of the clafs. The ftate of the major number of the ports is not known with a precifion adequate to our other knowledge; nor even with that which the fafety of navigation requires. A fact remarkable enough is, that the late expedi tions round the world have furnished us, in regions many thousands of leagues dif tant from us, with more correct data than those we are in poffeffion of, for many of our neighbouring ports, which we frequent every day. The feries of the obfervations at Breft, fpoken of above, forms an aggregate, the theory of which furnishes all the refults with a wonderful precifion. Similar materials for the other ports would, doubtlefs, leave nothing further to be wished for, as to the practical part, but fill it would be always useful to make obfervations, and efpecially in circumstances wherein a number of cafes concur together to form greater or leffer tides. It would be therefore of importance to make obfervations when the perigee or the apogee of the moon and of the fun concur with the fyzygie; when the perigee of the moon, concurring with the fyzygie, these two ftars are near to the equator or to the tropics, &c. The wides of the quadratures, although of lefs importance for the operations of the fea fervice, are yet not the less interefting in their courfes; and, in all cafes, obfervations become important, in order to ascertain the effect of acceffary circumftances. We conftantly observe eclipfes, although it be no ways neceffary to verify the principles upon which their prediction is established. The tide of the new moon of Germinal laft, furnishes an example of the utility of obfervations; it was ob.erved at Breft, by our colleague Rochon. The circumftances were highly favourable to produce a very high tide, and this in effect took place. But what renders this obfervation truly important is, that the weather being almoft calm, this tide was folely produced by the general caufe without any complication of meteorological circumstances; and was no lefs, on that account, one of the highest that has been ever observed in that port. The obfervations of the fame tide, made at Calais, by M. Septfontaines, are likewife very important. Agreeably to the above confiderations, the clals whofe principal object it is to extend its refearches to all objects of public utility, cannot but take a great intereft in the plan of obfervations that we are about to propofe to it; and which may ferve for instructions to the perfons that fhall be appointed to carry it into execu tion. This example will not fail to be followed up by foreign nations. In this 4 D 2 laft laft point, the class has a great influence, nothing has been written in France. The by its correspondence. Your committee therefore proposes 1. &c. &c. (To be concluded in our next.) MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. defcriptions of new objects are accompanied with figures, engraved by the best artifts. There are 31 plates in each of the two volumes that have juft appeared. These plates are finished in a style more or lefs exquifite, according to the nature of THE two firft volumes of te nimed, the fexquet; they are even done in colours, and it appears to answer perfectly to the announcement that had been made of it in the profpectus. In fact, there is no compilation, on the na ural fciences, fo remarkable for its felection of memoirs, and the beauty of the engravings. As the zeal of the co-operators has not relaxed, and as there is no want of materials, the public may reft affured that the fucceeding volumes will not be lefs interefting. The Museum poffeffes the richest collection of materials in the three kingdoms of nature, that has ever exifted. This collection, due to the fucceffive labours of a number of naturalis, to the refearches of a multitude of voyagers, and to the donations received from all countries, has been prodigioufly increased, of late years, by the combination and affem blage of a number of cabinets of Holland and Italy, and by the acquifitions which the First Conful has made, with a view to complete it. The general defcription of its contents, of fuch articles as are little known, and of the novel ones it has received, would be fufficient to fill up a great number of volumes; but the curators of this depofitory have not confined themselves to defcriptions and chemical analyses; they are conftantly employed in the pursuit of fuch refults, as may be applicable to the progress of agriculture and the arts; to the theory of the earth, and to the advancement of that philofophy which ftudies the relations that nature has eftablished among the different orders of beings. Renouncing all hypothefes, they admit nothing which is not fupported by obfervation and experience. Thus the Annals of the Museum contain the actual history of the establishment; they exhibit a confpectus of its curiosities, its new daily acquifitions and the means of deducing advantageous refults from them; and, laftly, they are intended to publish the obfervations and discoveries of the profeffors of the Muftum, and thefe of their corref pondents, who concur with them in their labours, for the progrefs of the fciences. Some hiftorical notices are annexed, relative to fuch celebrated naturalifts as have made important difcoveries, and of whom 2 when the colour forms an effential character: in this manner are executed the figures of certain ftones, that have been found in the bodies of men, and other animals; and the engravings of the mollufce are of a moft exquifite finishing. It is intended to give, in a series of memoirs, the hiftory of fuch animals as are no longer to be met with in the living ftate, but whofe foffil remains atteft their existence anterior to all authentic human monuments. In digefting or arranging the promiscuous mass of these remains, means have been found to recompole the skeletons of a number of animals, to determine their characters, to decide whether they were herbivorous, or carnivorous, and to afcertain the place which they occupy in the scale of beings. It is likewife intended to publish occasional engravings of all fuch new plants as are now flourishing in the garden, with all the details of their fructification. Notices will also be given on the foreign plants acquired by the Museum, and which are meant to be naturalized in France, from their being ufeful, and because they will live in that climate. This has been already done with refpect to the jalap plant, together with the New Zealand flax; and it is also meant to be done with the batatas, wi h certain fruits. &c. &c. There will likewife be published, in one of the next numbers, three species belonging to the fame genus, of the molt beautiful flowers that can be cultivated, which will be engraved in colours, the better to display their luftie and beauty. COLLEGE OF FORT WILLIAM. N.Tuesday, the 29th of March, 1803, being the day appointed by his Excellency the Vifitor, for the public disputations in the oriental language, the governors, officers, profeffors, and ftudents, of the college affembled at nine o'clock, at the new government-houfe. At a little before ten, his Excellency the Vifitor, accompanied by the honourable the Chief Juftice, the Members of the Supreme Council, the Members of the Council of the College, and the officers of his Excel Excellency's foite, entered the fouthern room on the marble floor, and took his feat at the west end of the room. In front of his Excellency, feats were placed for the profeffors, and for fuch ftudents as were to maintain the difputations, or to receive prizes and honorary rewards. As foon as his Excellency had taken his feat, the difputations commenced in the following order: Difputation in the Perfian Language. Pofition. -"The natives of India, un"der the British government, enjoy a greater degree of tranquillity, fe"curity, and happiness, than under 66 any former government." Defended by Mr. R. Jenkins, Bombay. Chief opponent, Mr. T. Hamilton, Madras. Second opponent, Mr. J. Wauchope. Moderator, Lieut. J. Baillie, Profeffor. Difputation in the Hindoostanee Language. Pofition." The fuicide of Hindoo Wi"dows, by burning themselves with "the bodies of their deceafed huf"bands, is a practice repugnant to "natural feelings, and inconfiftent "with moral duty.”. Defended by Mr. W. Chaplin, Madras. Chief opponent, Mr. R. T. Goodwin, Bombay. Second opponent, Mr. R. C. Rofs, Medras. Moderator, John Gilchrift, Efq. Profeffor. Difputation in the Bengalee Language. Pofition." The diftribution of Hin"doos into cafts, retards their progrefs in improvement." Defended by Mr. J. Hunter. Chief opponent, Mr. W. B. Martin. Second opponent, Mr. W. Morton. Moderator, W. C. Blaquiere, Efq. Declamations in the Arabic Language Were pronounced by Mr. R. Jenkins and Mr. E. Wood. At the conclufion of the difputations in the Perfian, Hindoottanee, and Bengalee languages, an appropriate fpeech in the language of the difputation was made by the refpective moderators. At the conclusion of the declamations in the Arabic language, Lieut. Baillie, the Professor of Arabic, delivered a speech in that language. When the difputations and the Arabic declamations and fpeeches were concluded, his Excellency fignified to the officers of the college his directions, that the prizes and honorary rewards fhould be diftribut ed in his prefence on the ensuing dạy. His Excellency also notified his intention to confer the degree of honour established by the ftatutes on feveral ftudents, whom he had directed the council of the college to present to him for that purpose. On Wednesday the 30th of March, his Excellency the Vifitor entered the room about half paft eleven o'clock, accompanied by the honourable the Chief Justice, the Members of the Supreme Council, the Members of the Council of the College, and the officers of his Excellency's fuite. As foon as the Vifitor had taken his feat, the Vice-provoft proceeded to prefent to his Excellency thofe ftudents who were entitled under itatute 8, to receive degrees of honour, and whofe prefentation had been previoufly directed by his Excellency. The Vice-provost pub licly read the certificate granted by the council of the college to each ftudent refpectively, ipecifying the high proficiency which he had made in the oriental languages, and alfo the regularity of his conduct during his rehdence at college. When the certificate had been read, his Excellency the Vifitor prefented to each ftudent the honorary diploma infcribed on vellum in the oriental character; purporting that the Committee of public Examination having declared that the ftu dent had made fuch proficiency in certain of the oriental languages as entitled him to a degree of honour in the fame, his Excellency was pleafed to confer the faid degree, in conformity to the ftatute. The ftudents now leaving college, on whom his Excellency was pleated to confer a degree of honour on this occasion, were, Mr. William Butterworth Bayley, of the Establishment of Bengal. Mr. Richard Jenkins, of the Establishment of Bombay. Mr. William Byam Martin, of the Eftablishment of Bengal. Mr.Terrick Hamilton, of the Establishment of Fort St. George. Mr. William Chaplin, of the Establishment of Fort St. George. Mr. Edward Wood, of the Establishment of Fort St. George; and Mr. Richard Thomas Goodwin, of the Establishment of Bombay. At the fame time a degree of honour was conferred on the following ftudents of last year; Mr. Mr. Jonathan Henry Lovett, of the Etablishment of Bombay; and Mr.Charles Lloyd, of the Eftablishment of Bengal. After the degrees of honour had been conferred, tre prizes, medals, and honorary rewards adjudged at the late public examination were distributed by the Provolt, in prefence of the Vifitor, to the following ftudents- Meffis Jenkins, Martin, Chaplin, Hamilton, Wood, Goodwin, Hunter, Wauchope, Rofs, Morton, Romer, Gowan, Newnham, Sprow, Bourchier, Sparrow, Elliott, Cole, Pulier, Walker, Plowden, and Turnbull. After the prizes and honorary rewards had been diftributed, his Excellency the Vifitor was pleafed to deliver the following fpeech. "GENTLEMEN OF THE COLLEGE OF FORT WILLIAM, "From the foundation of this college to the prefent time, the ftate of political affairs has not permitted me to difcharge the grateful duty of prefiling at your public exercifes. My attention, however, has not been withdrawn from the progrefs, interests, and conduct of this inftitution. The principles on which this inftitution is founded, the fpirit which it is defigned to diffufe, and the purpofes which it is calculated to accomplish, muft inhance the importance of its fuccefs, in proportion to the exigency of every public crifis, and to the progreffive magnitude, power, and glory of this empire. "In the difficulties and dangers of fucceffive wars, in the moft critical juncture of arduous negociations, in the fettlement of conquered and ceded provinces, in the time of returning peace, attended by the extention of our trade, by the augmentation of our revenue, and by the restoration of public credit, I have contemplated this inftitution with confcius fatisfaction and with confident hope. Obferving your aufpicious progrefs under the falutary operation of the ftatutes and rules of the College, I have anticipated the ftability of all our acquifitions, and the fecurity and improvement of every advantage which we poffefs. From this fource, the fervice may now derive an abundant and regular fupply of public officers, duly qualified to be come the fuccefsful inftruments of adminiftering this government in all its extenfive and complicated branches; of promoting its energy in war; of cultivating and enlarging its refources in peace; of maintaining in honour and refpect its external relations with the native powers; and of establishing (under a juft and benignant fyftem of internal administration) the profperity of our finances and commerce on the folid foundations of the affluence, hoppire's, and confidence of a contented and grateful people. "There were the original purposes of this foundation, which was defined to aid and animate the efforts of diligence and natural genius, contending with the defects of exifting establishments; to remove every obstacle to the progress of the public fervants in attaining the qualifications requifite for their respective stations; to enlarge and to facilitate the means of acquiring ufeful knowledge; and to fecure, by fyftematic education, fixed regulation, and efficient difcipline, that attention to a due course of fludy, which had hitherto depended on individual difpofition, or accidental advantage. "The neceffity of providing fuch a fyftem of education was not diminished by the numerous infances exifting in the Company's fervice of eminent oriental learning, and of high qualification for public duty. A wife and provident government will not reft the public fecurity, for the due adminiftration of affairs, on the merits of any number or description of its public officers at any period of time. It is the duty of government to endeavour to perpetuate the profperity of the state, by an uniform fyftem of public inftitution; and by permanent and established law to tranimir to future times, whatever benefits can be derived from present examples of wildom, vtue, and learning. The fuppofition of an univerfal deficiency in that knowledge, which this College is cal culated to extend, has never conftituted fundamental principle of the inftitution. Far from refting on fuch foundations, this inftitution could not have endured for an hour, it could not have commenced, without the active aid of learning, talents, and virtues, furnished from the bofom of this fervice. "The origin of this College, its prefent profperity, and its beneficial effects, are to be atcribed in a great degree to the affitance which I have derived from thofe refpectable characters in the higher branches and in various departments of the fervice, who, by contributing their zealous exertions to promote the fuccefs of the infti tution, have endeavoured to extend the benefit |