The alterations required may be made in the volume with a pen, as for errors of the press, by reading “1.127” for “1.141” in lines 25 and 30 of page 276, and lines 2 and 13 of page 277; and “nineteen” for “one” in line 27, and “eighty-one” for “four” in line 28 of page 276.—M. F. [p222] III. NATURAL HISTORY. 1. _On the Supposed Influence of the Moon_, by M. Arago.—There is an impression very general with gardeners, that the moon has a particular effect on plants, especially in certain months. The gardeners near Paris gave the name of the _lune rousse_ to the moon, which, beginning in April, becomes full either at the end of the month, or more generally in May. According to them the light of the moon, in the months of April and May, injures the shoots of plants, and that, when the sky is clear, the leaves and buds exposed to this light become red or brown, and are killed, though the thermometer in the atmosphere is several degrees above the freezing point: they confirm this observation, by remarking that, when the rays of the moon are stopped in consequence of the existence of clouds in the air, that then the plants are not injured, although the temperature and other circumstances are the same. M. Arago explains this observation of practical men, by a reference to the facts and principles established by Dr. Wells. He has shown that, in a clear night, exposed bodies may frequently have their temperatures reduced below that of the surrounding atmosphere, solely by the effect of radiation, the difference being as much as 6, 7, 10, or more degrees, but that it does not take place when the heavens are obscured. M. Arago then observes, that the temperature is often not more than 4, 5, or 6 degrees above the freezing point during the nights of April and May, and that when the night is clear, consequently when the moon is bright, the temperature of the leaves and buds may often be brought by radiation below the freezing point, whilst the air remains above it, and consequently an effect be produced, which, though not dependent upon, accompanies the brilliant unobscured state of the moon—the absence of these injurious effects, when the moon is obscured, being also as perfectly accounted for by these principles, from the knowledge that the same clouds which obscure the moon will prevent the radiation of heat from the plants. Hence, as M. Arago observes, the observation of the gardener is correct as far as it goes, though the interpretation of the effect which he generally gives is incorrect.—_Annuaire du Bureau des Long._ 1827, p. 162.