CHRONICLE OF THE FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES, FOR THE YEAR 1800. Catalogue of the Gentlemen upon whom the different Univer sities of Germany have conferred the Degree of Doctor in their respective Faculties; with the Titles of the Disser tations, written and defended by them at their Inauguration. EBRUARY 1. P. M. Ritter, M. D. Dissertatio. Pauca de Morbo Scrophuloso complectens. Göttingen. Feb. 7. C. F. Constantin, M. D. Diss. de Encephalitide. Leipzig. Feb. 22. C. C. E. Schmidt, D. D. Diss. de Theologia Joannis Apostoli. Jena. March 8. J. F. F. Thalacker, M. D. Diss. de Gummi & Ligni Guiaci Virtutibus & Usu medico. Jena. March 21. J. G. Krebel, M. D. de Dentitione difficili. Leipzig. March 28. G. A. Markard, M. D. Diss. Observationes quasdam medico-chirurgicas continens. Göttingen. March 31. G. M. von Metz, LL. D. Diss. de Onere probandi, & Causis, quæ litigantem ab eo immunem reddunt. Altdorf. March 31. H. Klugkist, LL. D. ejusque apto et tempore et modo. Leipzig. Diss. de Pœnis. Gottingen. Diss. de secundarum Extractione April 10. C. F. Gruner, M. D, Diss. de Jesu Christi Morte vera, non Syncoptica. Jena. April 22. A. R. Zink, LL. D. Diss. de Obligatione Magistratus ex consensu in hypothecæ constitutionem. Ältdorf. April 22. J. C. S. von Unternesselbach, LL. D. Diss. de Litibus circa Quantitatem & Stagnationem Aquæ in Alveo molari componendis & cavendis. Altdorf. April 24. A. F. Aster, LL. D. Diss. de simultanea Investitura Liberis Jure Saxonico in Feudis Parentum interdicta. Leipzig. April 29. C. A. Gottschalk, LL. D. Diss. de Legato Rei alienæ. Leipzig. April 30. E. A. Topp, M. D. Diss. Sistens Forcipis Obstetricæ nu perrime inventa Descriptionem. Jena. DEATHS. Jan. 3. J. J. J. Doellinger, med. and phil. doct, professor of mee dicine at the university of Bamberg. VOL. II, Y Jan. style of the translation is flowing and easy, and holds a due medium between the latitude of a paragraph and the scrupulosity of a literal translation. Lately has appeared at Amsterdam, "Vita Ruhnkenii," by Prof. Wittenbach, and has met with a very favourable reception from the public. The work is written in a pure and elegant Latin style, and affords many striking proofs of the success with which philological literature is still cultivated in Holland.-Professor von Lenney, Wittenbach's successor at Amsterdam, reads public lectures upon Wittenbach's" Ecloga Historica," and the twenty-first book of the Iliad. Prof. Cras follows the system of Kant, in his lectures upon iogic, which however do not as yet meet with general approbation. Of Prof. Eichhorn's Universal History, the first volume of the second part has appeared. It comprehends the history of the world, from the period of the great emigration of nations to the end of the eighteenth century. On account of the great multiplicity of events occurring during this period, the present volume brings down only the general history of Europe as far as the present day, and that of the particular states to the year 1492. The reader will be gratified to find here a concise review of the latest events in the history of Europe, stated in an impartial manner. Prof. Büsch, of Hamburgh, died on the 5th of August, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. A life of this worthy and celebrated man, written by himself, is publishing by Mr. Hoffman, in Hamburgh, under the title of "J. G. Büsch eigne Lebensgeschichte; oder, Ueber den Gang meines Geistes und meiner Thätigkeit." Mr. Thomas Taylor, the Platonist, will, we understand, in a short time, present the public with an English translation of the Metaphysics of Aristotle. This translation will be as literal as possible, on account of the uncommon accuracy and profundity of Aristotle's conceptions, and the pregnant brevity of his diction. Copious notes will be given, which, though principally philosophical, will be occasionally critical; for errors in the Greek text will be frequently noticed, and emendations proposed, either from the com mentaries of Alexander Aphrodisiensis and Syrianus on this work, or from conjectures of the translator. In the course of these notes too, it will be shewn, that this work is of the perastic kind; and that the objections made by the Stagirite, in various parts of it, to Plato's doctrine of ideas, are rather pretended than serious, rather dialectical than demonstrative. In short, Mr. Taylor will endeavour to present the English reader with the manner as well as the matter of Aristotle; and in the introduction to this work will clearly evince, that the scientific dialectic of Plato, of which that philosopher has given such a beautiful specimen in his Parmenides, is in no respect different from the metaphysics or first philosophy of Aristotle. We also understand, that a dissertation is to be annexed ON NULLITIES, in which Mr. Taylor promises to unfold a new branch of mathematical science, and to elucidate the TO EN, or THE ONE of of the Pythagoreans and Plato, so often alluded to by Aristotle in his Metaphysics. This work is printing under the patronage of two very respectable gentlemen; and therefore, though subscriptions to it are taken, they are principally collected for the benefit of the translator, and not to defray the expence of printing. In digging a canal near Vienna, an urn was lately found by a peasant, containing two hundred and ninety-eight gold pieces of the value of one guinea each, and of the size of a ducat, but rather thicker; two hundred and twenty four of them have been collected for the Imperial Museum at Vienna. They are, in general, in very good preservation, and amongts them are seventy-six Nervas,ninetyfive Vespasians, forty-two Trajans, and twenty-one Adrians. Since the discovery of the above mentioned gold coins, a number of silver pieces, contained in copper vessels, have been dug out of the earth within the walls of Vienna. They are all of the same coinage, bearing the effigy and inscription of the emperor Otho. Their value is about ten creutzers each. Mrs. Inchbald has received another manuscript drama of Kotzebue, which it is probable she will adapt for representation, at Covent Garden theatre early in the ensuing season. The academy of Petersburgh, which has long been occupied in search of a substitute for coffee, has found, that acorns contain all the requisite qualities, excepting certain oily particles, which are communicated to them by the following process:-The acorns are peeled and roasted until they have acquired a brown colour; whilst still hot, they are covered with small pieces of fresh butter, and well shaken together that the butter may penetrate into them. Medal struck in honour of Mr. Ifland, the German dramatist and actor. The friends of Mr. Ifland, at Leipzig, have caused a medal to be struck in commemoration of the pleasure which his acting afforded them during his short residence at that city. Mr. Loosz of Berlin, has engraved the die, and executed it with great elegance and taste. One side represents the picture of Mr. Ifland, which is reckoned a striking likeness, and is adorned with a wreath of laurel. The reverse contains the following inscription: Qui fabulas scenicas scribendo agendoque animos semper movit, oblectavit, percutit, IF LANDO, musarum alumno, istuc amoris monimentum Lipsiæ, quos arte ac moribus sibi devinxit, amicorum officiosa voluntas offert.-Underneath this inscription the attributes of the dramatic arts are placed. Opium being imported from the East-Indies in a very impure and imperfect state, Prof. Tromsdorf tried to produce it from the white garden poppy, which is grown in abundant quantity in Germany. Of the juice which he gathered he has prepared a tincture, the composition of which he promises to communicate, on the first opportunity, for the benefit of the public at large. He has made repeated experiments with this tincture, which answered his most sanguine expectation, in fluxes, colics, hysterical fits, &c. The The rev. Mr. SENGER of Reck, in Westphalia, the inventor of the paper manufactured of the Conferva bulbosa Linn. has received a very gracious letter from the king of Prussia relative to his invention, and a gold medal from the academy of sciences at Berlin, which, as well as the economical society at St. Petersburg, has nominated him a corresponding member. The following English works have been prohibited lately at Vienna; Letters to a young lady on a variety of useful and interesting subjects, in two vols. by J. PENNETH.-The Orphan Heiress of Sir Gregory, an historical fragment of the last century.-Plans of Educa tion, &c. &c. by CLARA REEVE-and a System of Divinity, for the use of schools, &c. by Dr. BURCKHARDT. Baron C. DALBERG has discovered that the Talcum Steatites, which is extremely soft, and may be easily carved or turned, if put into a vessel closely luted, and exposed to a certain degree of heat, becomes so hard that the file cannot make any impression upon it. The noble discoverer of this useful contrivance has also made repeated experiments to colour the steatites, and has so well succeeded that he can imitate the most beautiful stones. What renders this discovery still more valuable is, that the talcum steatites thus hardened, receives a polish highly superior even to what can be given to agates. We need not observe that this discovery may be turned to great advantage by artists, especially sculptors and seal-e gravers. Mr. Witford has recently discovered twenty-seven different obsolete Sanscreet alphabets, by the help of which he has rescued many valuable works from the obscurity in which they have lain during several thousand years. The learned Bramins bring their unin telligible books, and depart in wonder at the new lights thrown upon them. A curious history of the British islands is translating from an ancient book in the possession of the Bramins of Benares. This work is long anterior to the invasion of Cæsar, not perhaps coming down to so late a period. Britain was called by a name, which signifies the Holy Island. The Thames, Isis, and other rivers, have received no new names since this history was written, and Stonehenge is said to be described as a grand Hindoo Temple. Many very curious topics are said to be illustrated in a manner that will make the translation peculiarly interesting. Dr. White is publishing his work on Ægyptian antiquities, with prints, called Ægyptiaca. We understand a translation from the German is in forwardness, and will shortly be published, of Ferrandino, a production of the author of Rinaldo Rinaldini, of which a translation by Mr. J. Hinckley is just published. The valuable collection of medals and coins of Tippo Saib, is safely arrived in London, and deposited at the India-House. Mr. Mr. Bensley, the printer, so well known by the excellent specimens of typography come from his office, has just finished the fine edition of Virgil, which far surpasses in beauty that of Didot. After it, he is to print Homer and other classics in the same style. Mr. Arrowsmith has just published a map of Capt. Bligh, exccuted in a quite new manner, the course of the currents and winds, being delineated with the greatest accuracy by Arrowsmith. This method is so useful for navigators that, as we understand, the Admiralty has issued orders to all captains to draw their maps or charts in the same manner. Mr. Henley intends shortly to publish a part of his large work, entitled, Illustrations of History, Chronology, and Scripture, from coins and documents not hitherto applied. This part will include observations on the prophecy of Balaam, and the manifestation of Jesus to the magi, and will tend to ascertain the true length of the tropical year, reconciling it to the sidereal, by eclipses and other astronomical phenomena. PLAGIARISM. The reviewer, in the "Jena Universal Literary Gazette" of Neuman's "Marine Pocket-Dictionary of the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German languages, with an English-French and FrenchEnglish index," observes, that the whole of the author's merit consists in having transcribed out of Roeding's" Algemeines Woerterbuch der Marine" (Universal Marine Dictionary) the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese vocabulary, which, for want of knowledge of the languages has been printed off with an enormous number of errors of the press. For each of these foreign technical terms he has taken the English term from Roeding's work; but as only the first numbers of this work, which go as far as the letter L, can have come into his hands, and as the urgency of his circumstances probably did not allow him to wait for the subsequent numbers, he has left out all the words which in German follow after the letter L, (such as Angiulas Spanish, Schlagbetten German, Aaprejo de roli Spanish, Stosstalje German) since without the assistance of the above mentioned work, he found himself unable to annex the English term. The Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and French nomenclatures would undoubtedly have been added by the plagiary, had it not been for the circumstance, that these were not to appear till the 7th number of Roeding's work. He has, however, patched together as many French terms as he could find in that work, down to the letter L. These therefore occupy with him only eighteen octavo pages, whilst Roeding's French Nomenclature, since published, amounts to three hundred and forty-eight pages in 4to. What has been already said will he sufficient to shew the discreditable manner in which this literary product has been manufac tured. |