ART. V.-1. Report of the Meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Held at several places in Great Britain and Ireland, from 1830 to 1838.

2. Proceedings of several Gentlemen belonging to Boston, Salem, and the University of Cambridge, met November 1, 1838, to consult on the expediency of forming an institution to be called "The American Institution for the Cultivation of Science," and published by order of the Committee of Correspondence, John C. Warren, Chairman.

IN 1822, some thirty German naturalists assembled around the celebrated Oken, not less known for the accuracy and elegance of his works in natural history, than for the bold theories which they sometimes contain. This small association of men, all devoted to science, all influenced by the desire of uniting the numerous states of Germany into a single nation, at least in a scientific, if not in a political point of view, came together at Leipsic. Whether Professor Oken, and his associates, who most warmly adopted his ideas from the beginning, may have imagined that this fusion of scientific interests in Germany might have a happy influence upon the political condition of the country, is a question which it is not our object to examine. If the originator of this plan cherished the desire of consolidating the small states of his country, and of breaking up the numerous frontiers, which give to its map the appearance of a draughtboard, he took care effectually to conceal it, and to appeal to his compatriots only in their character as naturalists. This small body of men of science, which the circular of Professor Oken called together in the famed and opulent city of Leipsic, resolved themselves into a society, which took the name of "the Congress of Naturalists," and adopted certain rules for their government. The most distinctive features in the constitution of the association were, that its chief object was declared to be to afford an opportunity to the cultivators of natural science or medicine, in Germany, to become personally acquainted with each other, and that every person who had written upon natural science or medicine, was admissible as a member, and all who were devoted to either, might attend its meetings. In other respects, its organization was like that of similar associationsit had the usual officers, and its meetings were to be annual.

If, at the beginning, the "Congress of Naturalists" bore the marks of a union so feeble as to lead to a common belief, that

it would not long hold together, so much greater was the astonishment, when it was soon seen to develop itself with great strength. With each returning anniversary, the number of its assembled members increased, and every year, new streams poured their tribute of facts and experiments into this just formed sea of science.

In the number of its most celebrated meetings, the most remarkable is that which was held at Berlin, in the year 1828. Mr. Von Humboldt, chamberlain of the King of Prussia, and one of the most renowned and most respected philosophers of the present age, had been elected president for the session. The evening in which he received the society at his house, the king and several members of the royal family honored the meeting with their attendance. No stronger proof could be given of the high estimation in which the most distinguished philosopher of Germany, and the most celebrated traveller in the world, was held by his sovereign, nor of the desire of this enlightened prince to favor with his protection the progress of the sciences, and to confer honor upon the men who cultivate them.

Mr. Von Humboldt opened the congress in presence of a large number of the court, with a discourse full of nobleness and dignity, in which he did not degrade himself with flattering, either the assembly, which had conferred upon him the honor of the presidency, nor the sovereign power which was listening to him. with a thousand ears. We introduce a short extract from his address, to show that the society continued true to its original purpose:

"The chief object of this assembly,' said he, 'does not consist, as in other societies, whose sphere is more limited, in the mutual interchange of treatises, or in innumerable memoirs destined to be printed in some general collection, — it is to bring those personally together, who are engaged in the same field of science- it is the immediate, and therefore the more obvious interchange of ideas, whether they present themselves as facts, opinions, or doubts. It is the foundation of a friendly intercourse, which throws light upon science, adds cheerfulness to life, and gives patience and amenity to manners.'"

At this period of its existence, the German scientific congress no longer consisted, as at its beginning, exclusively of naturalists and physicians, but all whose labors were directed to the solution of any question of natural philosophy, and had written upon any subject therewith connected, had the right of membership.

Before quitting this subject, we must again refer to the principles upon which this association was organized, and ga

ther from them, if we can, the design in which it was originally formed, by Professor Oken, and first assembled on the classic soil of the city of Leipsic. This design, as it is expressed in the article of its constitution, of which we have given the substance, is so unpretending and so limited, that it is difficult to conceive, that it could have given birth to an institution, which in a few years reached so remarkable a development. But if a glance is cast upon the political organization of Germany, it will be understood how fruitful in consequences might be this assembling of a few men who, in the different states, devoted themselves to researches of the same kind. Probably in no country are the men of science so indiscriminately scattered upon every point of its surface, and throughout all its towns, small as well as great, as in Germany. Let any one call to mind the names best known in science and letters there, and he will find, that the men who bear them, are dispersed in every part through its whole limits, from south to north, and from east to west. Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Gottingen, Munich, Giessen, Leipsic, and a multitude of other cities, justly boast of their philosophers of the first rank.

It is unnecessary to remark, that before the establishment of the scientific congress, the German philosophers of the different states knew each other by their writings; but they oftener knew each other far better by the severe criticisms which were directed against each other. The attempt, therefore, by means of bringing together the persons of different opinions, to give them an opportunity of explaining their differences, without having recourse to disputes, abusive as they had sometimes been, was surely a praiseworthy undertaking. Another cause contributed still more powerfully to change an institution so feeble in its origin into the most imposing society, which until that time had ever existed. The German professors were accustomed to spend their vacations in travelling, either for the purpose of visiting each other, or verifying some fact in natural history, of recent announcement, or consulting manuscripts or rare books, not to be found in their own academic library. Thus the grand object. proposed by the new scientific association, was in perfect accordance with their wants and usages. By changing the place. of meeting annually, the members were not called to repeat their visits to the same city; the naturalist saw all the great collections in succession, and could study them leisurely, and confer with others engaged in the same pursuit, upon doubtful points; and the geologist had oppertunity to survey the various formations of different regions, in company with persons to

whom they were most familiar. Distant friends, who could rarely see each other, made appointments to meet on these occasions. On reaching the place of meeting, they had only to make themselves known at the door of the hall in which they met, and they were admitted by the simple talisman of the name of a man of science, and received among the members without needing either ticket or diploma. At the close of the session, each paid his proportion of the expenses incurred, and the members separated, to meet again at the succeeding anniversary.

On the catalogues of the faculties of the universities of Tubingen, Leipsic, and Gottingen, the same name is found among the professors of natural philosophy. It is the name of three brothers, known in the learned world by their beautiful experiments upon the undulations of sound, and by their discoveries in magnetism and electricity. Of nearly the same age, they came from the gymnasium to the university at the same time. During their academic life, their studies were pursued together; in the vacations they visited, in the company of each other, the places which every German student is expected to see before exchanging the student's cap for the beaver, and the open collar for the stiff cravat. On the traveller's book of many a hotel in the large cities, and of many an humble inn upon the Hartz, and among the mountains of Saxony, may be seen these three names written one above the other, or rather the same name, thrice inscribed, on three successive lines. When they had finished their studies, these young men separated for the first time in their lives, promising to make every effort to meet annually, in their vacations. Repairing to the three universities which we have cited, situated respectively in Wurtemberg, Saxony, and Hanover, they began, as is usual with the German professors, by an exhibition of their learning and talent, as private lecturers, and in a few years they made themselves extensively known, by valuable and important publications, and received appointments to regular professorships. Too young to have taken part in the establishment of the scientific congress, they agreed to suspend their connexion with it, until they had all acquired the right to a seat there, by their professional labors. When this was accomplished, they determined upon meeting each other at every anniversary, and when the session was terminated to set out together upon their regular annual journey. As long as the desire of travelling, during their vacations, continued, they were always punctual at the meetings of the congress, but when they had traversed Germany in postchaises or with vetturini, as they had formerly done on foot, they gave up meeting with the

society, which had never been particularly interesting to them, but they continued their visits to each other, for the purpose of prosecuting their scientific researches. The learned world is acquainted with the beautiful results of these meetings of the brothers Weber.

The foregoing is the history of the German scientific congress. That which happened to the three professors, whom we have taken for an example, could not fail to happen sooner or later, to every man of science, who came to the annual meeting. Therefore it ought not to excite surprise, if notwithstanding the eclat which this association acquired in the first years of its existence, it does not now command very high respect. When it had reached its apogee, the men whose whole life had been consecrated to minute observation of nature, to patient researches, to profound and laborious studies, felt themselves lost in a class of persons placed between the amateur and the real savant, in that numerous class designated by the name of demi-savants, who are the scourge of scientific societies. Knowing a little of every thing, in which there is no harm, and believing that they understand every thing, in which there is a vast deal, these persons at last drive away all the men of real science, who could pardon them for their ignorance, but cannot tolerate their pretensions. At the present time, the scientific congress is known among the aristocracy of German savants, under the name of the congress of apothecaries.

If this decline of the German scientific association should lead one to the conclusion that the sciences are not pursued in that country with as much vigor as they were at its most flourishing period, it would be very erroneous. The society has ever had a very feeble influence upon the direction of the researches and studies of the German savants; the object of its organization is too explicitly expressed, to justify an idea that its founders ever had in view to stimulate laborers in the field of science. In Germany, a stimulant to exertion is less necessary than in all other places. Professors work in their studies, in their libraries, in their laboratories, for the love of science, to demonstrate an idea, to discover facts in support of theories, which they love to introduce into every thing, and a little also, without doubt, for the love of fame. Living, for the most part, in small towns, where they make a portion of the best society, where their emoJuments place them on a level with the richest, glory of itself suffices to excite them and give them patience. The admiration of the enthusiastic young men who listen to them and revere them, imparts a charm to labor, which the love of gain and