1840, and were afterwards republished, with others, in separate form. The published lectures comprise the following subjects, viz.: Eruptive Fevers, Diseases of the Thoracic Viscera, Fevers, Dropsy, Gout, and Rheumatism. A Compendium of his Lectures was also published by Dr. N. D. Benedict. In 1820, Dr. Chapman commenced the publication of "The Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences," which he continued to edit for many years. This Journal, continued to the present day,'under the name of "The American Journal of the Medical Sciences," is now well known throughout Europe and America as the oldest and first of American medical journals. In 1808, Chapman published a work entitled "Select Speeches, Forensic and Parliamentary," with critical and illustrative remarks, in five 8vo. volumes, which excited much attention. In 1804, Dr. Chapman contracted a matrimonial alliance, from which he derived unalloyed happiness. His wife, Rebecca Biddle, (daughter of Colonel Clement Biddle, of the Revolutionary Army, an intimate friend and confidential correspondent of Washington's), still survives him. The decease of Major John Le Conte, a member of the Society, at Philadelphia, on the 21st of November, 1860, aged 77, was announced by Dr. Coates, with a brief sketch of his life. Mr. Foulke also paid a deserved tribute to the learning and virtues of the deceased, of whom, on motion of Dr. Elwyn, Dr. Coates was appointed to prepare an obituary notice. Judge Carleton made a verbal communication upon the subject of the Association of Ideas, in continuation of remarks at a former meeting. Mr. Foulke and Dr. Bell carried on the discussion of the subject. The annual report of the Treasurer was read and referred to the Committee of Finance. The annual report of the Publication Committee was read by Dr. Caspar Wister. Pending nomination, No. 416, was read, and the Society adjourned. Stated Meeting, December 21, 1860. Present, twenty-two members. PROF. CRESSON, Vice-President, in the Chair. A letter was read from W. H. Harvey, dated Dublin, December 6, 1860, accepting membership. A letter was read from Dr. Casper Morris, dated Philadelphia, December 18, 1860, resigning membership. Letters acknowledging the receipt of the Society's publications were read from the Lusatian Society at Görlitz, dated September 14; the Royal Academy at Amsterdam, dated March 24; the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and M. C. C. Rafn, at Copenhagen, dated October 15, 1860. Letters announcing donations were read from the Royal Society of Antiquaries at Copenhagen, dated October 15; the Lusatian Society at Görlitz, dated September 15; and the Royal Academy at Amsterdam, dated August 15, 1860. A circular letter was read from C. St. A. Bille, dated Copenhagen, September 17, 1860, explaining the appearance of a series of articles in French in the columns of his paper, the "Dagbladet," on the subject of the Schleswig-Holstein difficulties, with two specimen sheets of the paper. A letter was read from C. C. Rafn, of Copenhagen, dated October 18, 1860, detailing the publications of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of the North. A letter was read from H. Wheatland, secretary of the Essex Institute, dated Salem, Massachusetts, December 17, 1860, announcing a donation, and requesting a set of the Proceedings for the library of the Institute. On motion, the request was granted. A letter was read from the president, Dr. Wood, dated London, November 29, and Paris, December 1, 1860, informing the librarian of the measures he had taken to forward their diplomas to foreign members lately elected, and to obtain sets of the publications of the Geological and Ordnance Surveys of Great Britain and France. The secretaries were VOL. VII.-3 c 1 authorized to make application to the French authorities for the publication of the French Survey. And so much of the letter as related to certain parts of the British series was referred, on motion of Dr. Bache, to a committee of three, consisting of Mr. Lesley, Mr. Trego, and Mr. Foulke. A letter was read from Matthew S. Henry, dated Philadelphia, December 20, 1860, offering for sale at not less than $100, a MS. vocabulary of the Delaware Indian Languages. The volume (of 800 pages) was exhibited, and the application of the author was, on motion, referred to a committee of three, to be appointed by the president, and announced at the next. meeting. The president appointed Dr. B. H. Coates, Mr. Lesley, and Mr. Foulke. The following donations for the library, were announced: R. S. N. Antiq. Copenhagen, extract from statutes, list, &c. 4, 16, 12 pp. 1860. From the Society. Runeindskrift i Piræus; interpretée par C. C. Rafn (pp. 250). Archæologia, XXXIII. 1860. 4to.-From the Society. Proc. B. N. S. H. VII (23, 24). 1860. 8vo.-From the Society. Proc. Acad. N. S. Philadelphia (33), 1860. 8vo.-From the Acad. African Repository. December, 1860.-From A. Col. Society. Desc. of Bond's Isodynamic Escapement. Boston. 1860. pp. 4. Lunar tidal Wave in Lake Michigan. J. D. Graham. 1860. pp. 7. Dr. Bache read a circular letter of the relatives of M. Steen Anderson de Bille, a member of the Society, and formerly Chargé d'Affaires of Denmark, near the United States government, announcing his decease, at Bruxelles, November 28, 1860, at the age of 79. Dr. Bache and Dr. Hays described the virtues and attainments of the deceased; and, on motion of Dr. Leidy, Dr. Bache was appointed to prepare an obituary notice. Mr. Franklin Peale exhibited a numerous collection of Indian arrow-heads, flint-knives, and pottery, with the following remarks: The members of the Society are aware, from the proceedings of the various learned societies, which have been laid before them, and particularly from the establishment of an institution with express reference to the subject, which was placed upon the list of our correspondents at the last meeting, that much attention is now given to the works of Man, found with the remains of extinct animals, in Diluvial deposits and in Bone caves. It is not my intention to enter into an investigation of this branch of research, as our resources are much too meagre at this time; but I solicit the indulgence of the Society, in behalf of a few remarks upon a department of Ethnology that, I cannot help observing, has been too much neglected in this country. The learned Conservator of the Museum of Copenhagen, so rich in Scandinavian Antiquities, several English Philosophers, including Messrs. Lyell and Prestwick, have recognized the term "Stone Period of the Human Race," as that condition in which the art of working metal was unknown; followed by the "Bronze Period," that in which rude art fashioned the alloys of copper into weapons of war and utility; and ending with the "Iron Period," the last, that in which the working of iron, and its conversion into steel, brings us to the summit of our career in Arts, Sciences, and their congeners, Literature and the Fine Arts. Retracing this order, it is not necessary to pause upon the latter period, but proceed at once to state, that in the territory of the United States the Bronze Period may be said to have scarcely had an existence. It is true, that various articles have been found, made of copper, usually taken from the Mounds, even as far south as Florida, but which, it is almost certain, had their origin in the deposits of native copper of the Lake Superior region; where rude excavations and stone implements give frequent and reliable evidence of the source from whence such articles, and they are comparatively rare, have been derived. But the Stone Period of the inhabitants of our portion of the Continent is rich beyond all precedent, as far as we are able to judge, in specimens, scattered over the whole face of the country, but recent in date for, they were left by the "Red Man," whose fate it has been to pass out of existence before the path of the White Invader, leaving only his traditions, and these evidences of his hard, but inevitable destiny. Is it not singular, that, in all ages and in nearly all portions of the world, the same means, in this rude state of existence, should be employed by Man to supply his wants? From it, we may draw conclusions that, in the words of Dr. Davis, the author of "Crania Britannica," when discussing the subject in connection with the Egyptians and Ancient Britons, "plead for the unity of the human race much more powerfully and more rationally than the metaphysical arguments, with which the doctrine is usually sustained." "It shows that man, in the same state, is everywhere the same; so much so, that the selfsame simple ornaments, produced by the selfsame instruments or the same materials, are to be seen everywhere alike. Nay, we may go further than this even, and show that the same instrument is made everywhere by the same number of strokes, given in exactly the same direction. There must, therefore, have been the same wants, the same powers and capabilities, the same skill, and actually the same taste or the same desire for the beautiful, with exactly the same means of gratifying it." In a preceding paragraph are the words "but of recent date:" this expression is used for reasons that will appear in the course of this communication, for there are Tribes still living on this Continent who use stone implements, because the white trader has not yet supplied them with the metal which supersedes its use; and some of the specimens, which are herewith submitted to the inspection of the Society, were derived from Tribes that have given way recently to the gold-seeking pioneers of California. These facts bring us to the immediate object of this communication, which is, to point out |