one of the descendants of Nauplius the Argonaut. The Argonaut was remarkable for his knowledge of naval affairs and of astronomy. He built the town of Nauplia, and sold Auge, daughter of Alcus, to King Teuthras, in order to screen her from her father's resentment.

the art of discovering the approach of ships or the neighbourhood of land at a considerable distance. This pretended art was discovered by M. Bottineau, who was employed in the Isle of France from the year 1782 to 1784. The account given of it is as follows:

"This knowledge is not derived either from the undulation of the waves, or from the subtilty of sight, or from any particular sensation; but merely from observation of the horizon, which discovers signs indicating the proximity of ships or of land. On the approximation of a ship toward the land, or towards another ship, there appears in the atmosphere a meteor of a particular nature, visible to every one without any painful attention. It is not by any kind of accident that this meteor appears under these circumstances; on the contrary, it is the necessary result of the approximation of one vessel towards another, or towards the land. The existence of the meteor, and the knowledge of its different modifications, are what constitute the certainty and precision of my information. If I am asked how it is possible that the approach of a ship towards land should give birth to any meteor whatsoever in the atmosphere, and what connection there can be between two objects at such a distance from each other; I reply, that I am not obliged to give an account of the hows and wherefores; that it is sufficient for me to have discovered the fact, without being obliged to account for its principle."

Upon this we shall only observe, that the whole seems to be the work of fancy.