which had taken place for holding a General Soirée of all the Literary, Scientific, and Art Societies of Liverpool.

Mr. JOSEPH BOULT read a paper on "The Credibility of Venerable Bede."

Ladies were invited to this Meeting.

THIRD ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, November 12th, 1877.

JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Messrs. Jno. Galley, G. W. Allman, and John Atkinson, were elected Ordinary Members.

Some inquiries were made with regard to the Society's Library, and suggestions offered as to the best mode of bringing the donations of books and Transactions presented to the Society under the notice of the Members. It was ultimately moved by Mr. UNWIN, seconded by Mr. YATES, and carried :-"That the Council be requested to take into consideration the printing of a Catalogue of the Society's Library, and also to ascertain whether this could be done in conjunction with a similar proceeding on the part of the other societies meeting in the Royal Institution."

Mr. ALBERT J. MOTT gave a brief epitome of the discoveries of Stanley in Africa, and pointed out the immense influence they would have upon the future commerce of that continent.

66

The Rev. HENRY H. HIGGINS, M.A., read a paper on Developmentalists and Evolutionists: or the Use of Dogma

See page 127

in Science," which was ordered to be printed at once in order that it might be discussed by the Members at the next meeting, in connexion with the President's Address.

Ladies were present at this Meeting.

FOURTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, November 26th, 1877.

JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Messrs. E. W. Bindloss, Chas. T. Gatty, Jno. G. Roberts, and Griffith Jones were elected Ordinary Members.

The HON. SECRETARY reported progress with regard to the arrangements for the Soirée which had been fixed for the 14th of December.

A conversation followed on the Meteor recently seen from this neighbourhood.

Mr. T. J. MOORE introduced Mr. Frederick Mather, of the United States' Fish Commission, who had come to England at the instance of Professor Baird, for the purpose of transporting living British Turbot and Soles to the American seaboard.

Mr. MATHER described, at the request of the President, the methods adopted in the United States for the artificial breeding and the transportation of Salmon and other Food Fishes; and also described the arrangements by which he had recently successfully brought large quantities of American Salmon Ova to the Continent of Europe.

* See page 67.

Mr. MOORE exhibited a large and very perfect cast shell of the Sea Cray-fish, Palinurus vulgaris, from the Southport Aquarium.

A discussion then followed on the President's Address, and the Rev. H. H. Higgins's paper read at the last meeting, the chair being occupied by Mr. E. R. Russell, Vice-President. Messrs. Birch, Guthrie, Ward, Davies, Roberts, Dr. Brown, and the Rev. T. P. Kirkman, M.A., F.R.S., were the speakers. Ladies were present at the meeting.

FIFTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, December 10th, 1877.

EDWARD R. RUSSELL, VICE-PRESIDENT, in the Chair. Messrs. H. N. Atkins and Thos. Snape were elected Ordinary Members.

A communication was received from the Council stating that it was not considered desirable to print a special catalogue of the donations to the Library, seeing that a complete list for each Session appears in every volume of the Proceedings; but an improvement would be made in the present mode of announcing donations on the circulars, by printing a list of them, three or four times during the Session, on a separate sheet, for the purpose of being preserved by the members.

The HON. SECRETARY reported that all the arrangements for the Associated Soirée were complete; and that there was every prospect of a brilliant gathering. The prices of tickets had been fixed for Members at 2s 6d. the single, and 3s. 6d. the double ticket.

The Rev. H. H. HIGGINS, M.A., drew attention to the change in the spectrum of a star (Nova Cygni) which occurred recently.

Mr. R. C. JOHNSON, F.R.A.S., after some remarks on the case, thought it possible that a star which exhibited a continuous spectrum crossed by certain bright lines, might (if the star from any cause became much fainter) exhibit what would appear to be a bright line (or gaseous) spectrum only, and that the impression might thus arise that a change had taken place in the constitution of the star.

66

Amy

Mr. JOSIAH MARPLES then read a paper on Robsart, the story of her Married Life and her Death."* Ladies were invited to this meeting.

SIXTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, January 7th, 1878.

JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Mr. R. Read, Rev. David Morris, and Dr. Shearer were elected Ordinary Members.

Dr. CAMPBELL BROWN explained the principles and construction of the Telephone, and was followed with remarks thereon by the Rev. H. H. Higgins, Mr. Stearn, Dr. Whittle, etc.

The Rev. H. H. HIGGINS exhibited a series of selected specimens of the univalve coral-inhabiting Mollusc, Magilus, belonging to Mr. Edward Charlesworth, F.G.S., who believes they show that Magilus has the power of driving its way through masses of solid coral, and that it does so with the same facility that the bivalve Teredo tunnels through masses of wood.

* See page 151.

In the absence of the Hon. Secretary, the PRESIDENT reported that the recent Soirée had resulted in a profit of £37, which had been invested, in the names of trustees, for the benefit of the next Soirée. More than 2,000 persons had attended the gathering in St. George's Hall, and the Soirée was considered in every respect to have been a very great

JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Mr. T. J. MOORE brought before the Society some additional micro-photographs of the thread-cells, etc., of Physalia, by Dr. J. Habirshaw, from preparations by Capt. Mortimer, supplementary to those exhibited to the Society in October

last.

Capt. MORTIMER, who was present, made some remarks on the above, and on a large and beautifully preserved specimen of Balantium, taken by him in the South Pacific, and remarked on the supposed relation of this Pteropod to the fossil genus Conularia; as also on a sample of Flexible Sandstone (Itacolumite), from the United States, prepared and presented to him by Capt. Dewy, of Philadelphia.

Mr. ISAAC ROBERTS, F.G.S., explained, with the aid of blackboard illustrations, the recently discovered methods of

* See page 233.

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