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. Mr. JOSIAH MARPLES then read a paper on "Amy 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 success. Mr. WARD read a paper on "The Salt Lakes, Deserts, and Salt Districts of Asia." * Ladies were invited to this Meeting. SEVENTH ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, January 21st, 1878. 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. the liquefaction and solidification of oxygen and hydrogen, and the artificial manufacture of rubies, sapphires, etc. Votes of thanks were unanimously passed to Mr. Alfred Morgan, Honorary Librarian, for the presentation to the Society of the maps and other illustrations in his paper on the Cliff Houses of Colorado; and to Mr. Josiah Marples, for the fac-similes of letters of Amy Robsart, in illustration of his paper on her Life and Death. Mr. J. A. PICTON, F.S.A., then read a paper on "Scientific Materialism from a Non-Scientific Point of View."* Ladies were present at this Meeting. EIGHTH ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, February 4th, 1878. JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair. Mr. J. L. PALMER, Fleet Surgeon, R.N., exhibited a specimen of the down of the Alsophila Pruinata, which he described as follows : "The specimens of the pubescence of the fern Alsophila Pruinata, which I have the pleasure of shewing this evening, were given me by Dr. Gustav Fonck, F.R.G.S., some years ago, when I was in Chiloe, South America. The fern which produces them is a tree-fern of the Cyatheœous order, which is pretty widely distributed. It is not so remarkable for its height as for the spread of its fronds, which range from six to twelve or more feet in length. The pubescence is found all over the very young fronds, and in the axils and round the base of the older ones. "Some of it, as you see, is much more silky and 'goldenhaired' than the rest; both kinds are used as a vulnerary * See page 95. and styptic. It acts not by any inherent tanning property, but mechanically, in the same way as a pinch of fur from a beaver hat; and, from the nature of its structure, cannot be used as a textile material any more than thistle-down. Apropos of vulneraries, in this country the proverb of the "hair of the dog that bit you" is not a figurative expression, but an actual fact. I was assured that in case of being bitten, the common people take some of the hair of the biter in country wine to act as a spell against rabies. What the dog takes I do not know. Another strange custom obtains. If anyone breaks a limb, the nearest unfortunate cur is seized, part of his ear cropped, and bound on the limb under the bandages used after setting it. "I am ignorant of the origin of this custom, and whether it exists in other parts of the world among other races." Mr. JOSIAH MARPLES referred to the recent reception, by the Duke of Richmond, of a deputation on the subject of Reformed Spelling, and mentioned that while we in England had not reached further than the discussion of the subject, our cousins in the United States had been driven to action. The Mormons, Mr. Marples stated, conducted all their services and carried on all their public proceedings in English, and as their numbers were largely and constantly recruited from the different European nations, considerable difficulty was experienced by the new comers in learning to read English. So great had been the inconvenience, that a special alphabet had been invented, called the Deseret alphabet, which professed to have a symbol for every sound. Mr. Marples exhibited a copy of the complete Book of Mormon, printed in this manner; for some reason, however, probably because the English speaking Mormons found it inconvenient to learn reading afresh, the Deseret alphabet was not now used, and orders had been sent to Liverpool from Utah that new |