Front Matter

ADVERTISEMENT. The Committee appointed by the Royal Society to direct the publication of the Philosophical Transactions, take this opportunity to acquaint the Public, that it fully appears, as well from the council-books and journals of the Society, as from repeated declarations which have been made in several former Transactions, that the printing of them was always, from time to time, the single act of the respective Secretaries, till the Forty-seventh Volume: the Society, as a Body, never interesting themselves any further in their publication, than by occasionally recommending the revival of them to some of their Secretaries, when, from the particular circumstances of their affairs, the Transactions had happened for any length of time to be intermitted. And this seems principally to have been done with a view to satisfy the Public, that their usual meetings were then continued, for the improvement of knowledge, and benefit of mankind, the great ends of their first institution by the Royal Charters, and which they have ever since steadily pursued. But the Society being of late years greatly enlarged, and their communications more numerous, it was thought advisable, that a Committee of their members should be appointed to reconsider the papers read before them, and select out of them such as they should judge most proper for publication in the future Transactions; which was accordingly done upon the 26th of March, 1752. And the grounds of their choice are, and will continue to be, the importance and singularity of the subjects, or the advantageous manner of treating them; without pretending to answer for the certainty of the facts, or propriety of the reasonings, contained in the several papers so published, which must still rest on the credit or judgment of their respective authors. It is likewise necessary on this occasion to remark, that it is an established rule of the Society, to which they will always adhere, never to give their opinion, as a Body, upon any subject, either of Nature or Art, that comes before them. And therefore the thanks, which are frequently proposed from the Chair to be given to the authors of such papers as are read at their accustomed meetings, or to the persons through whose hands they receive them, are to be considered in no other light than as a matter of civility, in return for the respect shewn to the Society by those communications. The like also is to be said with regard to the several projects, inventions, and curiosities of various kinds, which are often exhibited to the Society; the authors whereof, or those who exhibit them, frequently take the liberty to report, and even to certify in the public newspapers, that they have met with the highest applause and approbation. And therefore it is hoped, that no regard will hereafter be paid to such reports, and public notices; which in some instances have been too lightly credited, to the dishonour of the Society. CONTENTS. I. An Account of two Rainbows, seen at the same Time, at Alverstoke, Hants, July 9, 1792. By the Rev. Dr. Sturges. Communicated by William Heberden, M. D. F. R. S. page 1 II. Description of the double horned Rhinoceros of Sumatra. By Mr. William Bell, Surgeon in the Service of the East India Company, at Bencoolen. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. p. 3 III. Description of a Species of Chaetodon, called, by the Malays, Ecanbonna. By Mr. William Bell, Surgeon in the Service of the East India Company, at Bencoolen. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. p. 7 IV. Account of some Discoveries made by Mr. Galvani, of Bologna; with Experiments and Observations on them. In two Letters from Mr. Alexander Volta, F. R. S. Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Pavia, to Mr. Tiberius Cavallo, F. R. S. p. 10 V. Further Particulars respecting the Observatory at Benares, of which an Account, with Plates, is given by Sir Robert Barker, in the LXVIIth Vol. of the Philosophical Transactions. In a Letter to William Marsden, Esq. F. R. S. from John Lloyd Williams, Esq. of Benares. p. 45 VI. Extracts of two Letters from the Rev. Edward Gregory, M.A. Rector of Langar, Nottinghamshire, to the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, D.D. F.R.S. Astronomer Royal; containing an Account of the Discovery of a Comet, with Observations thereon. VII. Observations of the Comet of 1793, made by the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, D.D. F.R.S. Astronomer Royal, and other Observers. Communicated by the Astronomer Royal. VIII. Account of the Method of making Ice at Benares. In a Letter to William Marsden, Esq. F.R.S. from John Lloyd Williams, Esq. of Benares. IX. Account of two Instances of uncommon Formation, in the Viscera of the Human Body. By Mr. John Abernethy, Assistant Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P.R.S. X. An Account of the Equatorial Instrument. By Sir George Shuckburgh, Bart. F.R.S. XI. Additional Observations on the Method of making Ice at Benares. In a Letter to William Marsden, Esq. F.R.S. from John Lloyd Williams, Esq. of Benares. APPENDIX. Meteorological Journal kept at the Apartments of the Royal Society, by Order of the President and Council. THE PRESIDENT and COUNCIL of the ROYAL SOCIETY adjudged, for the year 1792, the Medal on Sir Godfrey Copley's Donation, to Sir Benjamin Thompson, now Count of Rumford, for his various Papers on the Properties and Communication of Heat. CONTENTS. XII. A Description of a Transit Circle, for determining the Place of celestial Objects as they pass the Meridian. By the Rev. Francis Wollaston, LL. B. and F. R. S. p. 133 XIII. Description of an extraordinary Production of Human Generation, with Observations. By John Clarke, M. D. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. p. 154 XIV. Description of an Instrument for ascertaining the specific Gravities of Fluids. By John Godfrey Schmeisser. Communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. p. 164 XV. Extract of a Letter from Sir Charles Blagden, Knt. Sec. R. S. to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. giving some Account of the Tides at Naples. p. 168 XVI. Observations on Vision. By Thomas Young. Communicated by Richard Brocklesby, M. D. F. R. S. p. 169 XVII. Observations on a Current that often prevails to the Westward of Scilly; endangering the Safety of Ships that approach the British Channel. By James Rennell, Esq. F. R. S. p. 182 XVIII. Observations on the Planet Venus. By William Herschel, LL. D. F. R. S. p. 201 XIX. Abstract of a Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain, at Lyndon, in Rutland. By Thomas Barker, Esq.; with the Rain in Surrey and Hampshire, for the Year 1792; and a Comparison of wet Seasons. Communicated by Thomas White, Esq. F. R. S. Presents received by the Royal Society, from November 1792, to June 1793. Index.