Proportions of Convictions and Executions. MURDER. 5 years ending 1824, capitally convicted, 69, executed 47:-or 5 years. 5 years. 1829,. ....... 50,. .... 26:-or 10% 16:-or 43,. ....... Here there is a diminution of executions in each of the two last periods, and at the same time a diminution of crime. If we compare the two extreme periods, we find one third less crime in the last with 16 executions, than in the first with 47 executions. The mean population of Prussia during the same period may be taken at 12,303,535, that being the amount according to the official census in 1826, which year falls exactly in the middle of the same series of years. On the Social Statistics of the Netherlands. By W. R. GREG. The essay, drawn up principally from the works of M. Quetelet, has been printed by the author. The information contained in it is classed under the heads of: 1, density of population; 2, number of children to a marriage; 3, education; 4, crimes against person; 5, crimes against property; 6, crimes of great violence. These subjects are discussed in tables for the different provinces of Belgium and Holland, and illustrated by six maps, in which the premises are shaded and numbered in the order of their numerical relations to the above six subjects. Comparisons are occasionally introduced between these results and those attained in France and England. Account of the Normal School in Dublin established by the Commissioners of Education. By Dr. DICKENSON. On Cooperative Shops for the purpose of supplying Workmen with the Necessaries of Life. By C. BABBAGE, F.R.S., &c. Mr. Babbage gave an account of an instance in which such shops were in operation from 1818 to 1832. He produced tables showing the number of purchases, the quantities of goods sold, and the rate of profit in every year during that period, and explained the causes which led to the failure and abandonment of the system at the end of the latter year. On the State of Education in the Deccan. By Lieut.-Col. Sykes, F. R. S., &c. Statistical documents relating to the New Colony of Australia were presented by Col. SYKES. On the Extension of the Study of Physics. By Dr. D. B. Reid. Dr. Reid stated that the importance of a practical knowledge of physical science to a great number of individuals who cannot afford the time or means required for enabling them to attend the courses at present given to professional persons, led him, some years ago, to pay great attention to the simplifying of apparatus, and the introduction of a course of chemistry. The first branch he had paid more especial attention to, which might be accessible to all classes of society. Last winter he completed his arrangements for this purpose, and gave two courses, to put his system to the test of experience. In one, 100 mechanics operated at the same time on twelve different occasions; and in the other, a course was given to 40 young persons, where the same system was adopted. In the mechanics' class, the students were arranged along five boards, each being provided with twenty gas-lamps, one of which was placed alternately on either side. Every pupil received a blowpipe, a test tube, slips of paper on which tests were applied, and also a broad and a narrow slip of glass, such as glaziers throw away. These slips were used for the same purposes as the paper, and also for solution, boiling, evaporation, crystallization, and filtration: the narrow slips, on the other hand, were employed for imitating furnace operations, heat being applied by a common lamp or candle, assisted, where this was necessary, by the blowpipe. The method of using the flat glass for the above operations was illustrated by Dr. Reid, and the specimens handed to the gentlemen attending the section. Experiments conducted in this manner were equally œconomical and effectual in communicating instruction; and the professional student might also, in the same way, repeat again and again, at home, at the most trifling expense, the greater number of those illustrations which he might see in the lecture-room. Dr. Reid stated, that at an expense varying from 21. to 5l., every schoolmaster might provide himself with an apparatus sufficient to show thousands of experiments on the small scale, and awaken the minds of his pupils so as to take an interest in science*. Since this system was proposed, a number of individuals in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin have stated their intention of introducing it practically both in mechanics' institutions and in schools and academies for the instruction of young persons. THE END. Printed by Richard Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. INDEX I. ΤΟ REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. RULES and objects of the Associa- | Edinburgh Sub-committee, report on tion, v. Officers and Council, viii. Address of Sir William Hamilton, xli. Æpinian theories of electricity and gal- Airy (Prof.), desiderata noticed in his Arts, resolutions of the Committee for Astronomy, resolutions of the Com- the registration of deaths, 251. Falling stars, mode of observing, xxxviii. Geology, resolutions of the Committee Gray (W.) on the quantities of rain 171. Hamilton's (Sir W.) address, xli. Aurora borealis, directions for ob- Hansteen (Prof.), researches in mag- serving the, xxxv. Baily (F.) on the comparative mea- Barlow (Prof.), desideratum noticed in Chemical notation, report of the Com- Christie (Prof.), desiderata noticed in new work on, xxxix. Conybeare (Rev. W. D.), desiderata Coulombian theories of electricity and Dublin Sub-committee, report on the K netism, 61. Harris (W. S.) on the hourly observa- tions of the thermometer, 181. Heat, on the recent progress and pre- on the conduction of, 17. on the radiation of, 17, 163. Hodgkinson (E.) on impact upon Hudson (Dr.) on the phænomena usu- Infraorbital cavities in deers and an- Ireland, magnetical observations in, 159. Jacob (Prof.) on the infraorbital cavi- Jenyns (Rev. L.), desiderata noticed | Quetelet's (A.) mode of observing fall- ing stars, xxxviii. Radiant heat, desiderata reported by undertaken to be drawn up, list Ross (Capt. J. C.) on the direction and Roupell (Dr.) on acrid poisons, 235. Sabine (Capt. E.) on the phænomena on the direction and intensity of Standard scale of Aberdeen, on the comparative measurement of, 91. Terrestrial magnetism, 61, 117. Natural history, resolutions of the Com- Thermometer, on the hourly observa- INDEX II. TO NOTICES OF COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SECTIONS. ABSORPTION, on the office of lac- Agassiz (Prof.) on fossil fishes, 61. on the principles of classification Anemometer, new, 29. Babbage (C.) on the statistics con- on cooperative shops, 125. Bruit de Soufflet, mechanism of, 87. 124. Cambrian and Silurian systems, 58. Cetacea, mammary glands in the, 86. Cheverton (Mr.) on mechanical sculp- Chloride of soda, its use in fever, 104. 81. Classification, principles of, 67. Coal-gas, phænomena of flame from, 49. Cold, its effects on the body, 94. Cornwall, steam engines of, 108. Corrosion of metals by sea-water, 34, Crystallized surfaces, reflexion and re- Dalton (Dr.), analysis of pyroxylic Daubeny (Prof.) on the volatilization on the action of light on plants, |