Notes On Literature Science And Art.

The Mon iteur informs us that a supplementary eoiiA-ention ivas concluded between France and Holland on the 27 th April last , ratified on the 14 th inst ., by which books , pamphlets , and scientific memoirs printed in the French language aro to be admitted into France upon payment of a duty equal to Ss . per civt ., and works in other modern , or in tbe dead languages , at 5 d . per cwt . It is to be hoped that tho British government ivill not fail to secure a similar scale for . English printers

and publishers , whose works noiv pay here from 20 a . to 60 s . per civt . in the former , and from 4 s . to 40 s . in the latter . Why almanacks should pay ten times as much as other works is a riddle . The . meeting of the Royal Geographical Society was held on Monday night , and ivas one of the most interesting ever held by that body . The Victoria gold medal , the highest honour ivhich ifc is in the power of the societ } ' to confer , was presented to Lady Franklin and Captain Sir

Leopold M'Clintock . Lord De Grey and Ripon , the President , made the presentation in a highly appropriate speech . Lady Franklin ivas not present , but Sir Roderick Miircliison attended on her behalf , and read a letter from thafc distinguished lady , which gave graceful expression to her feelings . Sir Roderick claimed for Sir John Franklin the first discovery of the North-west passage , aucl urged that a national monument should be erected , on which the gallant Franklin ' s claim to that

discovery should be distinctly recognized . At the recent meeting of the Society of Antiquaries , J . Bruce , Esq ., V . P ., presided . Count Lasteyrie ivas elected an Honorary Fellow ; and Jlr . G . E . Pritchett , Mr . J . 11 . Appleton , and Jlr . H . White , were elected Fellows . Mr . G . Reed communicated a note ou a Canoe found in North Wales . The Director exhibited a Spear-head of bone , found in the Thames . Jlr . "Wiggins , a Signet Ring found at Suessa . Mr . Almaek

communicated tivo original Letters written by Edivard Gorges to Sir John Stanhope . Sir F . Madden exhibited a Deed of the year 1090 , AA'ith the seal , " En Placard . " Jlr . JY . H . Hart communicated Transcripts of Documents relating to the manufacture of gunpowder in the reign of Queen Elizabeth , in which the family of Evelyn appear to have been much interested .

The Scientific Relief Fund , instituted by the . Royal Society , has attained an amount of £ 3 , 475 . The . subscribers are : —G . B . Airy , . £ ' 20 ; J . G . Appold , £ 100 ; Sir JV . Armstrong , £ -100 ; Dr . N . Arnott , £ 25 ; C . C . Babington , £ 50 : A . K . Barclay , £ 100 ; Eev . J . Barlow , £ 10 ; ^ Y . Bowman , £ 100 ; Sir B . Brodie , Bart ., £ 100 ; Duke of Buceleueh , £ 100 :. G , Buekton , £ 10 ; Rev . T . Burnett , £ 3 ; G . Busk , £ 25 ; B . B . Cabbell , £ 100 ; S . H . Christie , £ 10 ; Miss Burdett Coutts , £ 100 ; C . R . Darwin ,

£ 100 ; Warren De la Rue , £ 100 ; Duke of Devonshire , £ 100 ; F ., £ 10 10 s . ; W . Faii-bairn , £ . 100 , - Dr . Franldaurl , £ 10 ; J . P . Gassiot , - £ 100 ; J . JV . Gilbart , £ 100 ; Dr . , T . H , Gladstone , £ 10 ; Sir . H . P . Gordon , £ 50 ; P . Hardwick , £ 50 ; W . Harvey , £ 1 . 0 ; J . Heywood , £ 50 ; Rowland Hill £ 10 ; J . Hodgson , £ 21 ; R . Hudson , £ 100 ; Dr . H . Bence Jones , £ 100-Dr . Leeson , £ 10 10 s . ; Sir J . W . Lubbock , Bart , £ 100 ; J , Lubbock , £ 30 ; Dr . JV . A . Miller , £ 21 ; Major J . A . Moore , £ 10 10 s . ; Sir R . I .

Murchison , £ 100 ; A . F . Osier , £ 25 ; Sir C . Pasley , £ 50 ; Major-General Portlock , £ 10 IQs . ; J . Prestwicli , £ 10 10 * . ; J . R . Reeves , £ S 0 ; G . Reimie , £ 10 10 a . ; J . Rogers , £ 10 ; Dr . Roget , £ 10 ; Lord Rosso , £ 100 ; E . J . Badge , £ 5 5 s . ; F . W . Russell , £ 20 : General Sabine , £ 25 ; W . W . Saunders , £ 50 ; J . Simon , £ 10 ; S . R , Solly , £ 20 ; W . Spence , £ 100 ; R , Stephenson ( per Executors ) £ 100 ; JV . Tite , . £ 100 ; N . B . Ward , £ 21 ;

C . JVheatstoue , £ 20 ; S . C . Whitbread , £ 100 ; J . Whitworth , £ 100 ; Erasmus Wilson , £ 100 ; G . Wilson , £ 10 ; Sir JV . P . Wood , £ 100 ; Lord Wrottesley , £ 50 ; J . Yates , £ 21 . OJ the above , the sum of £ 3 , 20-1 15 s has been invested iu £ 3 , 351 7 s . 6 d . New Three per cent . Consols . The Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts fourth conversazione of the season took place on Friday last , in the magnificent picture gallery at Bridgewater House , the residence of the president of tho

society , the Earl of Ellesmere . The whole suite of apartments was filled by an elegant aud fashionable company , about eight hundred in number . The Earl of Ellesmere presided , and the proceedings were opened by the reading of a paper by Jlr . H . Ottley , on tho ' - 'Italian and Dutch Schools , " rluring which he occasionally illustrated his subject b y directing attention to some of the principal clte . f d ' o-urres of the gallerv .

Jlr . Ottloy ' s discourse was listened to ivith much interest and attention . A concert followed , conducted , by M . Benedict , Mr . Alfred Gilbert , and Hen- Schaclifner . The vocalists who assisted were Madame Gilbert , Madame Jenny Meyer , Madame Csillag , and Madame Jlichal , Hon- Her . mans , Jlr . Santley , and Herr Stegcr . The performance gave the utmost satisfaction , and was frequently applauded . On Thursday week the . Academicians met in Trafalgar Square to elect a full member of { heir body . The choice fall upon Mr , Augustus Egg .

Notes On Literature Science And Art.

Mr . Boxall ran close upon the successful candidate in the preliminary scratching , but in the final vote Mr . Egg came in by a majority of five . Tho Ellison water colour collection of paintings has noiv been deposited in the South Kensington Museum , and will be exhibited to tho public on Saturday next . The late Sir W . A . Ross has left behind him very palpable evidences of his long and prosperous career as miniature painter to the Court and .

to the world of fashion . His will ivas proved the other day ( llth May ) , and his personality swoni under £ 25 , 000 . Tho bequests ( he was unmarried ) are all to near relatives , with the exception o £ an annuity of . £ 20 to a faithful female attendant . The second eonrersardone of the Society of Arts took place on Saturday evening last , at the South Kensington Museum . The company ivas

received at the entrance to the educational department of tho Museum by Sir Thomas Phillips , chairman , and the various members of the council of the society . The following departments o £ the Museum were open on the occasion .- —The Sheepshanks' Gallery of Pictures ; the Vernon and Turner Galleries ; the Sculpture Gallery ; the Architectural Museum ; the Animal Produce Collections ; the Ornamental Art Collections ; the Structure and Building Materials Collections ; the Educational Collections ; the Collection of Patented Inventions , and the Art Training-Schools ; and in addition to the above , were exhibited , for the first time ,

the Ellison Collection of Water-Colour paintings , arranged , temporarily , iu the Sheepshanks' Gallery . This collection of paintings is presented , for public inspection by Mrs . Ellison , of Sudbrooke Holme , Lincolnshire , in accordance with the ivish of her late husband , for the pin-pose of forming the nucleus of a national collection of water-colour iiaintuigs . The band of the Coldstream Guards , conducted by Jlr . O . Godfrey , bandmaster , performed an excellent selection of music during the

evening . Refreshments AA-ere served in the large class room . At eleven o ' clock ' the band perforated " God Save the Queen , " after which the company separated . The Building News calls attention to the works in sculpture of Mi-. George Remiio , late Governor of tho Falkland Isles , one of the few artists who over exchanged success in the arts for success in political life . His unfinished marble group ( life size ) of " Cupid and Hymen /

executed in 1838 , and IIOAV at the South Kensington Museum , is duly praiscd . " The nose of Cupid , " writes our esteemed contemporarv , " recalls that of one of the genii beside Can ova ' s monument to the Stuarts , in St . Peter ' s at Rome . " Lisbon has erected a monument in honour of Camoens , On an octagonal pedestal , in tho Renaissance style , the statue of the poel ; , looking upwards , as if "in a fine frenzy , " has been placed . In tho right hand he holds a roll , his immortal epic ; with tho left he grasps the pommel of his SAVord , The sculptor ' s name is Victor Bastos ,

Ancient Symbolism Illustrated.

ANCIENT SYMBOLISM ILLUSTRATED .

BY BRO . UOBEIIT MAItTIX , F . R . C . S ., PAST D . rilOV , GUAXD . VASTER Oi ' SUFFOLK ; A > "D I ' . E . C 031 . OF KNIGHTS TE . AfPLAK , ETC . "THE worshi p of tlie serpent , " says Calmet , " was observed through all pagan antiquity . The Devil who tempted the first woman nuclei' the shape of a serpent , takes a pleasure to deif y this animal as a troph y of his victory over mankind . Tho Babylonians , in the time of Daniel , worshipped a dragon

or largo serpent , which was demolished , by that prophet . The Egyptians sometimes represented thoir gods wifcli the bodies of serpents , and sometimes paid an idolatrous worshi p to the dangerous and odious animals . " / Elian , in his book De Aninialibus , speaks of sacred dragons kepfc in Phrygia . Bryant , in his remarks on the Greek of Justin Martyr on

this subject , says it may seem extraordinary that the worshi p of the serpent should have been ever introduced into tho ¦ world , and it must appear still more remarkable that it should almost universally have prevailed . As mankind are said to have been ruined in some mysterious way through the influence of this reptile , we could

little expect that ifc ivould , of all other objects , have been adopted as the most sacred and salutary symbols , and rendered the chief object of adoration ; yet so ive find it to have been . In most of the ancient rites there is some allusion to the serpent . In the orgies of Bacchus the persons who partook of the ceremony used to carry serpents in their haudt ; and , with horrid scream s > shout JSvve Bacclie ! lo Bacche !