SCUDAMORE'S Dictionary of Scientific Terms. 8vo. 6s.

Recreations in Practical Astronomy. By the Rev. G. JEANS, M.A. 8vo. 88. 6d.

The Locomotive Engine popularly explained. By W. TEMPLETON. 58.

The Year Book of Facts, 1841; exhibiting all the Discoveries and Improvements in Science and the Arts of the past Year. By the Editor of "The Arcana of Science." 58.

Recreations in Chemistry. By THOMAS GRIFFITHS, Chemical Lecturer at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 48. 6d.

Manual of Logarithms and Practical Mathematics. By JAMES TROTTER. 12mo. 48. 6d.

Thoughts on Phrenology; or, Phrenology tested by Reason and Revelation. By a Barrister of the Middle Temple. 8vo. 3s.

JOHNSON'S Philosophic Nuts. 1 and 2, each 18.

Literature.

Parts

cal remarks, and occasional biographical notices of a portion of the extensive literary collections which he has on sale.

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH
ARCHITECTS.

The paper read at the first meeting of the session, on the 7th Dec. (not on the 9th, as in p. 79), was by Professor Willis, on some of the characteristics of the Gothique Flamboyant. The peculiarity chiefly alluded to, was the complicated manner in which the mouldings and members are made to cross and inter-penetrate in the French Gothic. The appearance thus presented is not unknown in English perpendicular style, but is there usually the result of necessity, whereas in the French Gothic it is produced purposely.

Dec. 21. Chas. Barry,esq. in the chair. M. Duban of Paris, architect of the new Ecole des Beaux Arts, and Signor Raffaele Politi, of Sicily, known by his work on the Antiquities of Agrigentum, were elected honorary and corresponding members. Two fine engravings of the spire of Antwerp cathedral, drawn by M. Serrure, were exhibited by Mr. T. L. Donaldson, and illustrated by some remarks on the date of the building. It appears to have been commenced in 1420 or 1423, and was not completed until 1518. In 1833 the works were resumed, and have been continued to this time, at an expense of 40007. The height of the spire is 404 feet. A paper was read containing some observations on Vaulting, by Mr. B. Ferrey, and having especial reference to a very curious chapel at Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire, dedicated to St. Katharine. The edifice was founded during the reign of Edward IV., and displays in a peculiar manner the care with which the mediæval architects adapted their buildings, both in design and construction, to the situation they occupied.

Jan. 11. 1841. J. B. Papworth, esq. in the chair.

Mr. E. I'Anson, jun. read a paper on Norman and Italian campanili, wherein he pointed out the striking similarity which exists between them, instancing various towers at Lincoln on the one side, and those of Rome and Ravenna on the other.

Jan. 25. Mr. Papworth in the chair. A paper by Mr. Charles Parker was read, descriptive of the cisterns formed to filter the rain water for the use of the inhabitants of Venice; also an account of an Artesian well and reservoir sunk at the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum, at Springfield, in the parish of Wandsworth, by Mr. P. Lapidge.

Feb. 8. Edw. Blore, esq. in the chair.

Mr. Hay's work on Cairo was presented and led to some remarks by Mr. G. Alexander on the three various styles of architecture to be found in that " city of cities," namely the Moorish, the Turkish, and a mixed Italian style. Mr. Scoles exhibited a sectional drawing made by Mr. Bonomi about forty years ago, representing St. Paul's Cathedral within that of St. Peter, at Rome, and took occasion to condemn the construction of the dome of the former for the waste of internal area. Relative to St. Paul's, Mr. George Godwin drew attention to the present state of the model of Wren's original design, now kept in the cathedral, and enforced the necessity of its being repaired and preserved.

A paper by Mr. W. A. Nicholson, on the arch, commonly called the "stone beam," in Lincoln cathedral, was read; also, some remarks by Mr. Papworth on the same subject. This arch abuts against the two western towers, 80 feet from the ground. The extrados is 1 ft. 9 in. wide, the thickness is 11 inches, the horizontal span 27 ft. 11 in. It is not the segment of a circle, as was supposed, but is pointed. Its use is unknown; Mr. Papworth suggested it was put up simply to test the level of groining, &c.

Mr. Poynter then read a paper on the construction of Observatories.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

Jan. 28. Henry Hallam, esq. V. P. The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Mahon and George Landmann, esq. late Colonel R. Eng. author of Historical, Military and Picturesque Observations in Portugal, were elected Fellows of the Society.

Charles Spence, esq. exhibited a drawing of a fresco painting of St. Christopher, accompanied by the usual accessories of this legend, recently found in Rochester cathedral, on removing the rubbish which filled the lower arches on the north side of the northern transept. The height of the Saint was more than eight feet. Beneath it were the outlines of a previous painting of Christ on the cross, of which a sketch was also shown. The whole fell away shortly after its exposure.

Sir Henry Ellis, by favour of Mr. Hogarth, exhibited the original letters of credence from Queen Elizabeth to the Emperor of Cathay, given to George Way. mouth in the year 1602, on occasion of his starting to find a North-West passage to India and China. This document is beautifully written on vellum, within a rich border of a golden arabesque pattern, drawn on a red ground. The Queen's signature is in Latin, ELIZABETHA R. and an unusual seal is attached, having only one side; it represents the royal arms, crowned, the supporters being two lions sejant bearing the ostrich feather. The document was found in a closet with other papers, at Chester. Its most remarkable passage is one in which Elizabeth characterizes her subjects as 66 being a people by nature inclined to great attempts, and to the discovery of contries and kingdomes unknowen." Waymouth's expedition was an utter failure, as will be seen in Sir J. Barrow's History of Maritime Discovery.

Sir Henry Ellis also communicated some

documents relative to our naval warfare with the Dutch in the reign of Charles II. The first was a letter of Adm. Ayscough to the King.

Feb. 4. Mr. Hallam in the chair.

William Devonshire Saull, esq. F.G.S. and F.R A.S. of Aldersgate-street; Thos. Stevenson, esq. of Upper Grosvenor-st., Memb. R. Coll. Surgeons; and Charles D. Archibald, esq. F.R.S. of York-terrace, Regent's Park, and Rusland-hall, Lancashire, were elected Fellows of the Society.

Mr. George Perfect Harding, F.S.A. exhibited a seal found in Scotland about fifty years ago, and supposed to have belonged to James Stewart, Earl of Murray, Regent of Scotland. It is of steel, and engraved on three faces, which turn upon a swivel. On one side is a lion erect on its hind legs, holding a shield with a cypher; on another, arms, supported by two lions, with the motto, DONO DEI SUM QUOD SUM; on the third, the owner on horseback with a drawn sword: motto,

AB ORIGINE SACRA,

Sir Henry Ellis communicated two documents relative to the first fortification of Plymouth, which appears to have originated with Sir Francis Drake about the year 1590.

Mr. Geo. Tradescant Lay exhibited a Chinese drawing of a party of mountaineer warriors, accompanied by a description of their arms and armour.

Feb. 11. Thomas Amyot, esq. Treasurer, in the chair.

David Jardine, esq. communicated an essay on the supposed connexion of Lord Mounteagle with the Gunpowder Treason: which was only partly read.

Feb. 18. H. Hallam, esq. V.P.

Lewis Pocock, esq. of Montagu-street, Russell-square, and Henry Godwin, esq.

of Newbury, Berkshire, were elected Fellows of the Society.

The reading was concluded of Mr. Jardine's communication in continuation of his observations (see p. 80) upon the Gunpowder Plot, occasioned by the recently published letters of Thomas Winter and Lord Mounteagle. In the present paper Mr. Jardine reviewed the whole of the evidence affecting Lord Mounteagle, and explained how each particular portion of it bore upon the question of his guilt or innocence, of a participation in the conspiracy. Mr. Jardine's view of the evidence is, that it is not sufficiently conclusive to justify any decided verdict, but that its tendency is to exculpate Lord Mounteagle rather than to condemn him; in which respect Mr. Jardine stated that his opinion had undergone some little change since he published his narrative of the Plot. Mr. Jardine contended that the anxiety of the government to keep the name of Lord Mounteagle out of sight upon the trial of the Gunpowder conspirators, which is evidenced by the erasure of his name from the original depositions, related to his acknowledged participation in the Spanish Treason of 1603, and not to the Powder Plot; he construed Father Garnet's expression of his determination not to criminate Mounteagle, to allude to the same Spanish Treason; he argued that the proposal made amongst the conspirators to save the lives of certain Roman Catholic peers, of whom Lord Mounteagle was one, amounted almost to a demonstration that he was not a fellow conspirator, and he also raised various inferences in favour of his innocence from his position in the court of James. With respect to the celebrated letter of discovery, Mr. Jardine's opinion is, that it was a mere trick got up by the government to afford a plausible mode of making the public acquainted with the existence of a plot of which themselves had been made aware by some means unknown to us.

Charles Roach Smith, esq. F.S.A. exhibited a skate of bone recently found in Moorfields, which affords a highly curious illustration of the description of the manners and sports of the old Londonners, as described by Fitzstephen, in the reign of Henry II. He says, that when the great lake, or pool, washing the northern walls of the city, was frozen, crowds of youths pursued their sports upon the ice; some sliding, others riding on great millstones of ice; and others, more skilful, flying upon bones fixed under their feet: "Sunt alii super glaciem ludere doctiores, singuli pedibus suis aptantes et sub talaribus suis alligantes ossa, tibias scilicet animalium, et palos ferro acuto supposito tenent in

manibus, quos cum aliquando glacie allidunt, tanta rapacitate feruntur, quanta avis volans, vel pilum balistæ." The writer goes on to describe occasional encounters, in which the picked staves were employed as weapons. The skate now discovered was apparently formed from the meditarsal bone of a horse; its texture is remarkably sound, and the lower surface very highly polished. At one end it is cut to resemble in some degree the turned-up piece of iron now usual at the front of skates; and there is a hole at both ends, by means of which the ligatures must have been attached.

We were mistaken in our last number, p. 188, in stating that Sir George Rose had been elected a Fellow of the Society; his name was proposed, but withdrawn by his own request.

1. A medal of gold, value 300 francs, for the best essay on the question: "What influence have the Crusades had on the arts, commerce, and literature of Flanders, during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centu ries ?"

2. A medal of gold, value 200 francs, for the best essay "To investigate and describe the military establishments termed mansiones, castra stativa, &c. founded by the Romans on the line of road constructed by them in that part of Belgic Gaul comprised within the Canche, the Scarpe, the Scheld, and the Northern Sea, and of which the remainder was inhabited by the Atrebates and Menapians. To explain the system of government which directed the Romans in these works of communication and defence."

The essays to be received must be sent, free of postage, before the 1st of October, 1841. They must be headed by a motto or sentence, to be repeated at the foot of a sealed note which will contain the name and address of the author. This note will not be opened unless the essay shall be adjudged worthy a prize or of honourable mention, in which case it will be publicly unsealed at the meeting. The essays to be sent under cover to M. L. de Givenchy, Secrétaire-Perpétuel de la Société des Antiquaires de la Morinie, St. Omer.

LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Jan. 15. At a meeting of this society

J. Stockdale Hardy, esq. F.S.A. read an historical memoir on Rothley, a very extensive parish in the county, of which the manor was formerly the property of the Knights Templars, and from a period shortly subsequent to the Reformation to the present time of the Babingtons. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and situate in a delightful glen, which, viewed from an adjacent summit, is boldly relieved by the interesting scenery of the Park of Bradgate, the romantic hills, and rich geological treasures of the Forest of Charnwood. There is nothing striking in its architecture; the early English, and perpendicular styles are most prominent. Some interesting memorials of the dead exist in the church; especially one to the memory of Bartholomew Kingston, esq. and his wife, in the 15th century, which has engraven upon it the will of the deceased. The branch of the family of Kingston, which came into Leicestershire, did not long reside there. Sir William Kingston, K.G. a near relative and Lieutenant of the Tower, was charged with the custody of the unfortunate Queen Ann Boleyne, and afterwards with that of Cardinal Wolsey, on whose latter days, as connected with Leicester Abbey, Mr. Hardy made some remarks. There are a number of remembrances of the Babington family in the church of Rothley. The Manor and Soke enjoys some most peculiar privileges. The lands descend to all the sons equally; if a possessor of real estate in the manor leaves a widow, she is entitled to the whole estate during her widowhood; but if she marries again, she only takes a thirdaccording to the common law. If a female possessor of real estate in the manor, dies leaving an husband, he is entitled to the whole estate for his life, whether there are issue of the marriage or not - this is in complete derogation of the ancient common law. These customs, however, were liable to be controlled by particular circumstances, such as wills, &c. Every person making a purchase in the manor, except he owns property previously, has to pay a shilling in the pound, beyond his purchase, to the Lord, and to take an oath of fealty nearly as stringent as the oath of allegiance to the Sovereign. Mr. Hardy proceeded to describe the forms attendant on holding Courts Leet and Baron at Rothley. The Courts were held in an ancient building called the Cross, and the preliminaries observed were very similar to those used at the opening of a commission of Assize by the Queen's Justices Itinerant. With respect to Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, the Lord of the Manor of Rothley, through his especial

Commissary, exercises exclusive power within the soke; neither the Bishop of the Diocese, nor the Archdeacon, can (except with reference to certain particulars conceded lately by the Legislature) interfere within its boundaries. Marriage licenses, probates of wills, letters of administrations, having reference to marriages or personal effects, within the soke, issue under the name and seal of the Commissary, and he holds visitations of the clergy officiating within the manor and soke in the church of Rothley, and its appendant chapels, where also the churchwardens and chapelwardens of Rothley attend to be admitted into office, and to make presentments; the seal of the peculiar and ecclesiastical jurisdiction is engraved in Nichols's History of Leices.. tershire. In the churchyard of Rothley stands an ancient pillar, or cross, a drawing of which was exhibited. Mr. Hardy was inclined to attribute far more importance to this cross than it had yet been deemed worthy of, and believed it to have been erected in the early Norman period, in commemoration of the immunities and privileges so profusely conceded to the manor and soke of Rothley. The paper was concluded with some historical reflections on the Knights Templars; and we have reason to believe that it will hereafter be made public.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.

This Society held its Twenty-eighth Anniversary Meeting on the 1st February, when John Stanton, esq. took the chair. The various presents which had been made to the society, and the several books which they had purchased during the year, were laid upon the table, and Mr. Adamson, the senior secretary, read the annual report:-Since the last anniversary, the society has published two parts of volume III. of its Transactions, one containing ten pages relating to subjects connected with the immediate neighbourhood of Newcastle, and the other Mr. Adamson's two papers on the Anglo-Saxon Coins found at Hexham, in Northumberland, with thirty-two plates; the Society of Antiquaries of London having acquiesced in the request of this Society to allow these papers, which had originally appeared in the Archæologia, to be reprinted here, and furnished the plates which had been engraved at their expense. The members and the public have thus the means of possessing an account of one of the most curious discoveries which ever took place within the district more immediately connected with the Society. The Council expressed their regret, that they were not

able to lay before the meeting the Pipe Rolls of the northern counties which they have in hand; and promised that the print. ing shall be finished within three months. The gratifying fact was mentioned, that the contributions sent by the Society to the late exhibition of the Polytechnic Society in Newcastle, assisted in some measure towards the complete success of that undertaking, and that their property did not suffer in consequence of the loan. The council acknowledged their obligation to SirJohn Edward Swinburne their President, as well for various interesting communications made by him, respecting the Risingham Roman Remains and the discoveries recently made in the Island of Malta, as for his application to the officers of the Duchy of Lancaster, that this Society may be placed amongst those who may receive specimens of the coins lately found near Preston in Lancashire, and which, as was understood, would be distributed amongst the Societies in England after the British Museum had been supplied with such specimens as it wanted. The list of members of the Society had been augmented during the year with three ordinary and eight honourary members; whilst it had lost the Earl of Durham, one of its ordinary members. Amongst the presents laid upon the table which had been received during the year were two bronze vessels of Roman manufacture found near Alstone, from the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. One of the ancient cut purses, which formerly hung up in the Town's Hutch, Newcastle, from the Town Council; a volume of Tracings, &c. of the Roman Altars, and inscribed stones, in the Society's possession, from John Bell; a part of a statue of Hercules, of Roman sculpture, from the directors of the Newcastle and North Shields Railway Company; the bridle bit, from the equestrian statue of the Duke of Newcastle, which stood in front of Nottingham castle, from Robert Bigsby, esq. D.C.L.; one hundred and twenty-seven Roman, and other coins, from John Trotter Brockett, esq.; twenty-eight Roman coins, said to be found in the yard of the church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle, from Mr. J. S. Garnett; fragment of the leaden cover of a lead coffin found in the nave of the church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle, from the churchwardens of that church. Amongst the books presented during the year was the ancient laws and institutes of England from the Record Commission, and plates 18 to 25 of the Vetusta Monumenta, and concluding Part of Vol. 28 of Archeologia, from the Society of Antiquaries in London.

The following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year.

Sir John Edward Swinburne, Bart. President; Charles William Bigge, esq. Rev. John Hodgson, and Sir C. M. L. Monck, Baronet, Vice Presidents; Messrs. John Adamson and Henry Turner, Secretaries; John Adamson, esq. Treasurer; and for Council, John Trotter Brockett, esq.; Rev. William Turner, Messrs. John Fenwick, Thomas Bell, Robert Richardson Dees, Moses Aaron Richardson, John Stanton, Robert Ormston, John Hodgson Hinde, esq. M.P. Rev. James Raine, Emerson Charnley, William Hutton.

We are requested to mention that the Society has lost from its library a MS. book, a foolscap folio, half-bound, containing the original depositions and other official documents relating to the riots at Hexham in March 1761, and including a copy of Dr. Brown's printed Sermons on those riots. We shall be happy if the public notice of the circumstance should lead to the recovery of the volume.

ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY.

Dec. 11, 1840. Mr. J. Huband Smith exhibited an ancient monastic seal, which has for some time been supposed to be that of the Dean and Chapter of Lismore, and it was found among the effects of the late Rev. Sir George Bisshopp, formerly Dean of Lismore; but the legend reads thus: "SIGILLVM: CAPITVLI: PRIORIS: ET CONVENTVS: DE BVLLYNGIONA,"

It is of a pointed oval form, two inches and seven-eighths in height, and exhibits a seated figure of the Virgin with her Child, crowned, and raising her right hand in the form of benediction, a star of five rays, intended possibly to represent the star of Bethlehem, being placed immediately above the thumb. It has been surmised, with considerable appearance of probability, that this seal belonged to a monastic establishment dedicated to the Virgin, at Ballindown, on Lough Garagh, co. Sligo, said to have been founded by M'Donogh, lord of Corran and Tirreril, A.D. 1427, for nuns of the order of Saint Dominick.

Jan. 11. The same gentleman gave an account of the discovery, in the month of November last, of a human skeleton, accompanied with weapons, ornaments, &c. interred on the sea shore, in the vicinity of Larne, co. Antrim. They consist of a sword of very characteristic form, double edged, and rounded at the point; measuring two feet eight inches and nearly a quarter in its extreme length; a small portion, said to have been about six inches in length, was broken off and lost at the time of its discovery; the blade varies from two inches to two inches and a quarter in breadth;-the head of a lance (both this and the sword are of iron or