early Dutch, Flemish, and German artists, was presented by Her Majesty, in compliance with the wish of the late Prince Consort. A painting by Wright of Derby, "Experiments with the Air-pump," was presented by Edward Tyrrell, Esq.; a portrait of Lewis the Comedian, by Sir M. A. Shee, was bequeathed by T. D. Lewis, Esq.; and "Sir Guyon," by Unwin, was bequeathed by Apsley Pellatt, Esq.

A number of important picture sales took place during the season; and the prices fetched by pictures of real merit seem to be on the rise. At the sale of the late Mr. Bicknell's pictures hardly a single work in a collection of nearly 500 failed to obtain a higher price than it had cost the collector. It is true that this collection was one made with unusual taste and judgment. At this sale the following pictures by J. M. W. Turner were sold :-" Antwerp," 1833, cost 3157., sold 26357. 10s.; "Helvoetsluys," 1832, cost 2837. 10s., sold 16801.; "Ivy Bridge, Devon," cost 2837. 10s., sold 9247.; 'Wreckers," 1834, cost 2887. 158., sold 19847. 10s.; "Calder Bridge," cost 2887. 15s., sold 525l.; Venice," 1842, cost 2621., sold 17327. 10s.; "Ehrenbreitstein," cost 4017., sold 18907.; “ Port Ruysdael," 1827, cost 3157., sold 19957.; “Palestrina," 1830, cost 1050l., sold 19957. Works by Stanfield, Roberts, and Sir E. Landseer also went at prices far beyond their original cost. Mr. Bicknell's pictures alone (without the water-colour drawings) realized 56,4947.

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A collection of early pictures, made by the Rev. W. D. Bromley, was also dispersed in June. "It is not too much to say that there has not occurred a sale of works of ancient art for several years which in importance can compare with this. Almost free from mere sensational and pretty pictures, such as form the staple of popular galleries, this collection was worthy of a man of genius, who understood art in its highest and most spiritual sense 2." "A Virgin and Child," by Leonardo da Vinci, sold for 490 guineas. The same subject, by Sandro Botticelli, fetched 750 guineas. A portrait from the Rogers' Collection, by Fillippino Lippi, 406 guineas. The total produce of this sale was 13,9581. 5s. In comparing the result with that of the sale previously mentioned, it appears that modern works are sought for at higher prices than those of the ancient painters, the works of Turner, Landseer, and several other painters commanding the most extensive competition.

At the sale of Mr. Allnutt, which occurred somewhat later, a large number of valuable works, chiefly modern, was dispersed. This sale realized 19,2957.

The Arundel Society, founded for the purpose of promoting a knowledge of early Italian art, and for the publication of copies of rare specimens falling into decay, has been thriving this year. "The Art Journal" (July) says, "A full tide of prosperity has flowed to the rooms of this Society in Old Bond-street. Visitors to London and other strangers to the good works of this association should avail themselves of the liberal grant of free admission to the valuable series of copies from Italian frescoes there on view. The exhibition will be found - to be little short of an epitome of Italian art from the time of Cimabue to Leonardo, Luini, and Raphael. Some of the masters in this historic chain are represented by chromo-lithographs, already issued to subscribers; others are seen by the original drawings made expressly for the Society from the frescoes themselves. The earliest in the series date back to the period of Cimabue, in the thirteenth century; the latest, consisting of photograph drawings from the two tapestries in the Vatican-wanting in the Hampton Court collection,-c -come down to the closing years of Raphael's life, in the sixteenth century."

2 Athenæum.

"The Society as careful watchers over, and in some sense almost the guardians of, the great frescoes of Italy, have established a special fund for the copying of works which may be fast falling to decay. The firstfruits of this enterprise are now to be seen hung in the rooms of the association. Amongst them we may enumerate The Adoration of the Kings,' the masterpiece of Perugino, at Citta della Pieve; the important works by Mantegna, in the Church of the Eremitani, at Padua, including especially 'The Martyrdom of St. Christopher;' the early compositions lying at the foundation of the great middle age revival, painted by Cimabue, Buffalmacco, and Simon Memmi, in the Church of St. Francis, at Assisi; and, lastly, coming later, four beauteous compositions by Luini, at Saronno, near Milan, certainly the very choicest of the numerous paintings with which this artist has adorned the cities of Lombardy. It will thus be seen, that in some sort the arts which flourished in the plains of Milan, and in the cities of Padua, Florence, and Rome, have been transplanted to Old Bond-street, London."

"We are glad to know that the Arundel Society has now attained the proud position most to be desired, whether the sphere be politics, literature, or art; that it has reached, we say, the strength, which can fearlessly incur, and can, if need be, court direct unpopularity. In other words, this Society can brave the publication of a high class of works which cannot be ventured upon by mere private mercantile houses, works which appeal to the educated few, which supply the wants of earnest students, and which tend to exalt art in this country."

A new set of rules was adopted by the Society at their June meeting, providing amongst other things that the number of members should be allowed to fall to 1500, who are alone to receive the annual publications in return for their subscriptions. New members will be admitted first as associates, and afterwards as subscribers on the occasion of vacancies in the 1500.

A "Fine Arts' Quarterly Review," on a very magnificent scale, was started this year, the contributors being amongst the foremost authorities in art. In the first volume were contributions by Mr. Tom Taylor, Professor Charles Kingsley, Mr. Palgrave, Mr. W. M. Rossetti, Mr. Panizzi, Mr. Hamerton, Mr. F. G. Stephens, and others. The illustrations are of high character, and the work aims at taking the highest place amongst art publications.

Under the head of Art, Music should not be left unnoticed; but it would be impossible to do more than allude to the leading events of the year which have novelty to distinguish them, the chief one being the production of M. Gounod's 'Faust," at Her Majesty's Theatre and Covent Garden. Her Majesty's Theatre was the first in the field, but was quickly followed by the rival establishment. At the former the heroine was represented by Madame Titiens, at the latter by Madame Carvalho. The public, which some years ago heard M. Gounod's "Saffo" at Covent Garden with indifference, was on this occasion taken by storm, and the success of "Faust" was something unusual. The music, although strange, and unlike that with which the public is most wont to be captivated, soon became the property of the very street bands, and was to be heard with less or more perfection of execution on every side. Hostile criticism,— and there was not much of it,—was voted a nuisance, and by the end of the year Faust" reigned absolutely triumphant. The critics have prophesied immortality, and a place beside the imperishable works of Mozart and Meyerbeer. The value of these predictions time alone can show.

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The English Opera Company at Covent Garden produced towards the close

of the year an opera by Mr. Balfe, "Blanche de Nevers," which met with no decided favour. A cantata, by Mr. Benedict, entitled "Richard Cœur de Lion," produced at the Norwich festival, was pronounced a success, and the work was afterwards performed in London, at St. James's Hall, when an equally favourable verdict was given. A new class of musical composition, "Opera di Camera," was attempted at the Gallery of Illustration in November, and though of a slight kind, deserves mention, as likely to develope into an important feature. The piece, entitled "Jessy Lea," was composed by Mr. J. A. Macfarren, the libretto being by Mr. Oxenford. The only accompaniment is a grand piano, and solo voices are alone employed, the performers being only four in number. This little opera obtained considerable favour: and the practicability of the scale on which it was produced is likely to encourage aspiring young composers to try their powers in the same direction.

The London Musical Society, which now takes an important place among the numerous societies devoted to musical ends, supplies a desideratum in giving trial performances of the works of young composers. In November six orchestral works of great merit and promise were played at one of these meetings, being symphonies by J. F. Barnett and Miss Alice Mary Smith; a piano-forte fantasia by H. C. Banister; a violin concerto by H. Baumer; and overtures by C. D. Maclean and J. L. Summers.

The usual performances of oratorios, operas, concerts, popular and classical, have gone on throughout the year, and far outrun the possibility of record. It may be remarked only that the standard of music has been greatly raised of late, and that the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and other classical composers form the staple of almost every concert which aims at popularity.

SCIENCE.

At the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society the President, Major-General Sabine, in his speech took a summary view of the scientific objects which have recently engaged the attention of the Society. The first subject mentioned was "the projected establishment of a telescope of great optical power at Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, for the observation of the nebulæ and multiple stars of the lower hemisphere. The Society had been consulted on the subject by the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies. The President and Council replied to the Colonial Office by a report dated December 18, 1862. It was hoped that the thoughtful discussions embodied in a correspondence which had arisen relative to this matter might have a prospective value not limited to the occasion which had given rise to them. Other sites favourable for such observation might be found elsewhere than at Melbourne, for instance, on the Nilgiri hills, and the subject was one which it might be hoped would one day receive the attention it deserves."

"The researches of Kirchhoff and Bunsen had rendered it probable that we shall be able to obtain much insight into the chemical nature of the atmosphere of the brighter fixed stars, by observing the dark lines in their spectra, and comparing them with the bright lines in the spectra of elementary, and perhaps also of compound, bodies, in the state of incandescent gas or vapour. The interest of such an inquiry was obvious; but the difficulties involved were very great. The inquiry had recently been taken up by two gentlemen working in concert, Mr.

Huggins and Dr. Miller, who in a paper read to the Society had described and figured the spectra of three of the brighter stars. In a subsequent paper Mr. Huggins described the means employed for practically determining with accuracy the positions of any stellar lines which might be observed, with reference to known points of the spectrum, and gave beautiful maps of the spectra of twenty-four of the elementary bodies under the action of the inductive discharge, reserving others for a future communication."

"Professor Tyndall had given the fourth of a series of papers upon the relation of gases and vapours to radiant heat. In the course of these inquiries he showed that the different aeriform bodies, even though colourless, exert very different degrees of absorptive action on the rays of heat; and that certain portions of these heat-rays are more powerfully absorbed than others, rays from objects at a low temperature being more easily absorbed than those from objects at an elevated temperature. He had also proved that gases radiate as well as absorb; and, in conformity with what is known in the case of solids, that in gaseous media also there is equality in the powers of radiation and absorption."

"In the Bakerian Lecture, by Mr. Sorby, entitled by him 'On the Direct Correlation of Mechanical and Chemical Forces,' were embodied a series of observations upon the influence of pressure upon the solubility of salts, in which results were obtained analogous to the change in the freezing-point of liquids under pressure. It was found in cases where, as is usual, the volume of the water and the salt is less than the volume of the water and the salt separately, that the solubility is increased by pressure; but that in cases where, as when sal-ammoniac is dissolved in water, the bulk of the solution is greater than that of the water and salt taken separately, the solubility is lessened by a small but measurable amount."

"The bright lines in the spectra of electric discharges passing through various gases and between electrodes of various metals, had been made the subject of a long and laborious course of experiments by Dr. Robinson, with a view to ascertaining the origin and conditions of these lines. Dr. Robinson inclined to the opinion that their origin is to be referred to some yet undiscovered relation. between matter in general and the transfer of electric action; and that while the places of the lines are thus determined independently of particular circumstances, the brightness of the lines is modified according to the special properties or the molecules which are present, through a range from the greatest intensity down to a faintness which may elude our most powerful means of observation."

The President stated that by a discussion of the results of the magnetic observations maintained for several years past at the Kew Observatory with an accuracy previously unattained, and by combining these with the earlier results at the British colonial observatories, he had been enabled to trace, and satisfactorily to establish, the existence of an annual variation in the three elements of the earth's magnetism, which had every appearance of being dependent upon the earth's position in her orbit relatively to the sun.

Dr. Otto Torell, Professor of Zoology in the University of Lund, had communicated an account of the progress made by an expedition appointed by the Swedish Government, at the recommendation of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, to execute a survey preliminary to the measurements of an arc of the meridian at Spitzbergen.

"I may, perhaps," said the President, "be permitted to allude for a moment

B b

to the peculiar interest with which I must naturally regard the proposed undertaking. The measurement of an arc of the meridian at Spitzbergen is an enterprise which, nearly forty years ago, was a cherished project of my own, which I had planned the means of executing, and which I ardently desired to be permitted to carry out personally. I may well, therefore, feel a peculiar pleasure in now seeing it renewed under what I regard as yet more promising auspices; whilst I cannot but be sensible of how little I could have anticipated the opportunity, at this distance of time, of congratulating the Swedish Government and Academy upon their undertaking, and of thanking Dr. Torell for having traced its origination to my early proposition."

"A few years ago the attention of the Royal Society was called by the Foreign Office to the circumstance of several glass bottles with closed necks having been found on the shores of the West Coast of Nova Zembla, leading to a conjecture that they might afford some clue to the discovery of the missing ships of Sir John Franklin's expedition. The inquiries instituted by the Royal Society traced the bottles in question to a recent manufacture in Norway, where they are used as floats to the fishing-nets employed on that coast. These floats, accidentally separated from the nets, had been carried by the stream current which sets along the Norwegian coast round the North Cape, and thus afforded evidence of the prolongation of the current to Nova Zembla. The Swedish expedition in the course of its summer exploration found on the Northern shore of Spitzbergen several more of these bottle floats, some of which even bore Norwegian marks and names, supplying evidence of considerable geographical interest of the extension of the Norwegian stream current to Spitzbergen, either by a circuitous course past the shores of Nova Zembla, or by a more direct offshoot of which no previous knowledge existed."

"The application of gun-cotton to warlike purposes and engineering operations, and the recent improvements in its manufacture, had been the subject of a report prepared by a joint committee of the chemical and mechanical sections of the British Association, consisting chiefly of fellows of the Royal Society. The committee had the advantage of personal communication with General von Lenk, of the Imperial Austrian artillery, the inventor of the system of preparation and adaptation by which gun-cotton had been made practically available for warlike purposes in the Austrian service.”

"It appeared that many of the disadvantages attendant upon the use of guncotton, as at first introduced by Schönbein in 1846, had been overcome, being due to imperfections in its preparation, and ceasing when suitable processes were adopted in its manufacture. The report of the Committee concluded with these words:-The subject has neither chemically nor mechanically received that thorough investigation that it deserves. There remain many exact measures still to be made, and many important data to be obtained. The phenomena attending the explosion both of gun-cotton and gunpowder have to be investigated both as to the temperature generated in the act of explosion, and the nature of the compounds which result from them, under circumstances strictly analogous to those which occur in artillery practice."

The presentation of the Copley and two Royal Medals took place, the recipients being this year all Englishmen.

The Copley medal was presented to the venerable Professor Sedgwick, the geologist. The President said, "The Copley medal has been awarded to the Rev. Adam Sedgwick, for his observations and discoveries in the geology of the Paleozoic series of rocks, and more especially for his determination of the