Literary Gossip.

THE announcement of a new novel by Lord Lytton has excited a great demand for early sheets among American and, curiously enough, also among Dutch publishers. One American house is said to have offered 5007. for them.

THE author of 'Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts' has a new work on an equally promising subject in the press. Mr. Kennedy names his forthcoming volume 'The Fireside Stories of Ireland.'

WE learn that Dr. Tregelles's Greek Testament, complete to the end of St. Jude's Epistle, will appear in one volume, on the 1st of October. The Apocalypse will follow as soon as the doctor's health, which, we regret to learn, is still far from good, will allow him to resume his labours and with it will be given the proper appendices.

WE are glad to hear that a new edition of Mr. John Hosack's ingenious book, 'Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Accusers,' is nearly ready. The first edition was a great success, being exhausted in the course of three months. AN account of the pilgrimage to Mecca made in 1864 by the late Nawab Sikandar, Begum of Bhopal, is about to be published by Messrs. Allen. The translation is by Mrs. Willoughby Osborne. We believe that this is the first work by an Eastern lady ever published.

PROF. OLIVER W. HOLMES is said to be engaged on a new volume of essays.

WE are glad to hear that the Benedictines are beginning again to come forward as the learned order among Roman Catholics. The Prior of the Benedictine Monastery at Belmont, near Hereford, is shortly going to publish a work on which he has been engaged for some years, on The Life and Times of St. Thomas Aquinas'; and another of the fathers at the same monastery has in the press a refutation from the Catholic point of view of the sacerdotal theory of orders in the Church of England.

It is stated that Sir William Muir has declared himself against the introduction of Sir William Jones's spelling in the Indian Gazetteer, and that there is to be further official discussion before final orders are issued.

A REMARKABLY interesting work has just been published at Florence, entitled, 'Duecento Sonetti in Dialetto Romanesco,' di Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, with an introduction and notes by Prof. Luigi Morandi. This is the first Florentine edition of Belli's delightfully satirical sonnets, and they are now presented in an edition worthy of their merit; for if published at Rome the ecclesiastical Censure would have obliged the omission of many of the sonnets which have had so powerful an influence on the minds of the Roman people. What the poet Giusti has been to Florence, Meli to Sicily, and Grossi to Milan, Belli has been to Rome: and in Prof. Morandi he has found a learned commentator thoroughly versed in the Roman dialect.

'SEEDTIME AND HARVEST' is the title of a

novel by a new writer, which will be published during the autumn.

MR. H. E. MOLTZER has published at Groningen the second part of his Middle Netherlandish Dramatic Poetry,' a contribution

towards the study of old and middle national literature, which now constitute a favourite study in Holland.

studies on military history, Sommario di THE third part of Major Carlo Corsi's Storia Militare' (Torino, Candeletti), takes in the period from 1815 to 1866, the latter portion of which has acquired so important a position in the history of modern warfare. The work is illustrated by twenty-three topographical drawings.

AN Italian newspaper, the Eco d'Italia, published twice a week in New York, represents the Italian periodical press in America, and publishes in its appendices the novel 'Clelia,' written by General Garibaldi, and Gli Scolari di Pisa,' by Signor T. Gherardi del Testa. The editor is Cavaliere G. F. Secchi di Casale.

AN Italian version of M. Louis Jacolliot's work, 'Le Bible dans l'Inde,' has been published by Signor Politti.

THE September number of the Vyestnik Evropui of St. Petersburg-the best of Russian, one of the best of European reviews contains an article on Lothair' forty pages long, headed The Jesuits in Contemporary England.' The book itself, it seems, has produced so great a sensation in Russia, that, according to the reviewer, "in Petersburg the booksellers cannot manage to order a sufficient number of copies." Another article in the review is devoted to the second volume of Mr. Hepworth Dixon's Her Majesty's Tower.' The reviewer speaks in flattering terms of the book, and seems to take a special interest in its subject-the English Kremlin, as he calls it.

6

In the two previous numbers of the Vyestnik Evropui were the following: The Ancient Russian Race,' by A. Nikitski; 'Notes from the Correspondence of Arakcieieff, Minister of Alexander the First'; 'English Society, as it appears in the novels of Mr. Anthony Trollope,' by L. A. Palonski; an article on 'France and Prussia,' by E. Utin, which is hostile to Prussia. Amongst subjects of the day is a paper on Modern Japan, and its Constitution,' by W. Veniukoff; and Turkey, and its City and Country Life,' by Madame Karlovoi; The Women of the American Revolution,' by Madame M. K. Tzebrikoff; and the third part of the novel, The Great She-bear,' by V. Krestovski, the nom de plume of a lady. The last three names show that the women of Russia, amongst whom Mr. Mill's work on The Subjection of Women' at once became so popular, know how to take their fair share of literary as well as of political life.

A NEW Monthly periodical has been brought out in Russia, under the editorship of V. Semievski, entitled Ruskaia Starina, or, ‘Russian Antiquity'; its object is to serve as the means of publication of rare and hitherto unpublished documents of the ancient history and literature of Russia, of which it has already given some very interesting specimens.

THE Tibetan language is of great importance, for that which is now a special branch, Buddhistic literature; but it is also of further interest to us, as the key to the languages of many of our tribes in the Himalaya, which are connected with the languages of the Caucasus. There is at length some awakening of our authorities as to our duties in regard to Tibetan. We learn from the Phoenix that Prof. Summers

is now employed in cataloguing our most valuable collection in the Indian library, and which includes the Kanjoor, of 1,083 works, in 100 volumes, and the Tanjoor, of 225 volumes; 88 volumes of the latter embrace 2,640 works. In addition, Mr. Jaeschke, the missionary in English Lahoul, proposes to publish the first copious dictionary of Tibetan.

A GRAMMAR of the Siamese language is to be published at Bangkok, in Siam, by J. T. Jones, D.D., for many years a resident in that country.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC.-Prof. Pepper's New Lecture, showing how the marvellous GHOST EFFECTS are produced.-New Musical Entertainment, by Mr. Suchet Champion, DER FREISCHUTZ Sand and the Suez Canal.- American Organ daily. The whole for One Shilling.

SCIENCE

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

Liverpool, Sept. 22, 1870. TAKEN altogether, the Liverpool Meeting of the British Association has been a very important one in its proper aspect of a scientific congress. In its magnitude and finance it ranks also in the first class, the number present being in all 2,878, and the money received 3,0967.

The Sections have been well attended, and the papers read above the average in merit, although no extraordinary discovery in the realms of philosophy has been announced. The only shortcomings have been in some of the entertainments given in the town, about which there has been at least unintentional obscurity. The Bickersteth soirée, reported in all the Liverpool papers as one of the grandest efforts of the local courtesy towards the members of the British Association, could not have been appreciated by those twothirds of the Members and Associates who never received any invitation, and although we freely accord to the giver of any feast the undoubted right to select his guests, we object to the local newspapers applying to this brilliant affair the character of a general entertainment. The Mayor for two nights did entertain all comers, and the British Association lists were fairly cut in halves; those favoured with names from A to M came first, and N to Z followed. Private entertainments appear to have been frequent, chiefly amongst the magnates with honorary titles, but viewing the extent of Liverpool and the character of its commercial occupations, this could scarcely be otherwise; and some of those agreeable pleasures which are the charm of a short residence in smaller towns must be generally absent in over-grown places. The meeting-halls were of the grandest character, and the arrangements made for the accommodation of the audiences perfect. Indeed, every credit is to be given to the town authorities and the local committee.

The innovation of selecting two towns in advance for the approaching congresses is an excellent one, not only that it allows more time for local organization, but that it will also give authors more scope for the perfect preparation of papers on subjects of scientific interest immediately connected with the favoured districts, and the splendid series of which made the gatherings at Newcastle and Nottingham so very memorable. Edinburgh, the selected city for next year, under the presidency of Sir William Thomson, and Brighton, the elect for 1872, will, without doubt, give the best results. The spirit of intended improvement which has marked the proceedings of the Council of the Association at the general meetings at Liverpool is an augury of the best nature for the improvement of the character and power of the British Association beyond its present and past eminence. The Soirée on Tuesday evening was a really brilliant affair, and abounded in objects of interest, to which, however, the desired attention could not be paid from the density of the crowd. The model of the unfortunate Captain attracted, as was to be expected,

course which he had taken to discover the action of the diurnal tides at the mouth of the Indus. He said that the tide-wave could be traced from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic regions, and then came the question whether that wave disappeared altogether on reaching the Pole. He then propounded the theory that there was a compound diurnal tide due to the moon's transit a few hours before, and also that of four days previously-in other words, it took four days for the tide to run round the globe, and then it came to sight again.

Mathematical Theory of Combined Streams,' by Prof. RANKINE.-The object of the investigation was to extend to combinations of any number of streams of fluid, whether liquid, vaporous or gaseous, the principles applied to combinations of two streams by previous authors, especially by Prof. Zeuner (Das Locomotiven blasrohr,' Zürich, 1863). Several competent streams of fluid, each coming through its own supply-tube and nozzle, are led in directions parallel to each other, into one end of a cylindrical space called the junctionchamber, in which they mingle so as to form a resultant stream; and that resultant stream escapes from the other end of the junction-chamber through an orifice called the throat. The dynamical principle upon which the motion depends is that of the equality of impulse and momentum. The aggregate momentum per second of the component streams is found by multiplying the mass of fluid which comes from each nozzle in a second by its velocity, and adding together the products. The momentum of the resultant stream is the product of the mass of fluid discharged from the throat in a second, into the velocity at the throat. The difference of these two momenta is equal to the impulse per second exerted in the junction-chamber, which impulse is found by multiplying the area of the throat by the difference between the intensities of the pressure at the nozzle-end and at the throatend of the chamber respectively. If there is a gain of momentum the pressure at the throat is less than at the nozzles; if there is a loss of momentum, the pressure at the throat is greater than at the nozzles. There is always a loss of energy, which is expended in producing eddies, unless the velocities of the component and resultant streams are all equal to each other. The amount of that loss can be calculated in any given case by the help of the principle already stated; and that principle being expressed in the form of an equation, and taken together with another equation expressing the equality of the mass discharged at the throat to the sum of the masses which come through the nozzles, affords the means of solving various problems as to combined streams.

"Thermo-Dynamic Acceleration and Retardation of Streams,' by Prof. W. J. RANKINE.

'On the Mode of Action of Lightning on Telegraphs, and on a New Method of constructing Telegraph Coils,' by Mr. S. A. VARLEY.-Lightning protectors were very generally adopted in the early days of telegraphy, but subsequently were practically abandoned, as they were found not to save the coils, or only exceptionally. When storms occurred in the neighbourhood of telegraph circuits, powerful electric currents were often induced in the telegraph wires, which in some cases might be strong enough to fuse the coils, but which more often demagnetized or reversed the magnetism of the magnetic needles inside the coils. The interruption which lightning caused on telegraph circuits was more important than the destruction it caused to the apparatus. Needle telegraphs were very generally employed by railways, on account of their simplicity, and communication on railways was consequently liable to serious interruption when storms occurred. In 1866 the writer introduced instruments which he believed to fulfil most of the conditions of an efficient instrument, and gave the result of direct experiments with electricity of tensions varying from 12 to 700 cells of Daniell's battery, which had furnished the data from which he had designed his lightning-bridge. The construction of the lightning-bridge, which consisted of two metallic pointed conductors, approaching to within one.

eighteenth of an inch, and surrounded with a mixture of conducting and non-conducting matters in a minute state of division, was then described. The action of the lightning-bridge placed in a circuit struck by lightning was next described; the lightning finding in its direct path a bridge of conducting particles in very close proximity to one another, which were connected under the influence of the discharge, and the matter, rendered highly incandescent, offered a very free passage to the secondary current developed by the demagnetization. There are upwards of 1,000 of these bridges doing daily duty in this country alone, and not a single case of a coil being fused when protected by them has occurred. The change in the administration of the telegraphs had been inaugurated by the adoption of induced magnets for needle telegraphs, and, consequently, a great impulse had been given to their introduction. This form of coil had been adopted by the Government. 'Description of the Port Elizabeth Time-Signal, Cape of Good Hope,' by Mr. S. A. VARLEY.When requested to construct the trigger for this signal, the author, as he considered the use of relays or secondary apparatus to be objectionable in time circuits, determined, if possible, to construct the apparatus sensitive enough to be discharged by the batteries at Cape Town. The trigger was discharged by one through-current from batteries 500 miles distant, but the action of the trigger was much more rapid than previous ones; the time absorbed by the apparatus in discharging being only one-twentieth of a second, and the actual time elapsing between the current leaving Cape Town and the receipt of a return current announcing the falling of the ball was only one-fifteenth of a second.

On the Cause of the Interrupted Spectra of Gases,' by Mr. G. J. STONEY.

SECTION B.-CHEMICAL SCIENCE. President-Prof. HENRY E. Roscoe. Vice-Presidents-J. LOWTHIAN BELL, J. H. GILBERT, W. GOSSAGE, E. SCHUNCк, Prof. WILLIAMSON, J. YOUNG, R. ANGCS SMITH. Secretaries-Prof. A. CRUM BROWN, A. E. FLETCHER, Dr. W. J. RUSSELL. Committee-J. H. Atherton, J. Attfield, H. B. Brady, J. Campbell Brown, Dr. Baumhauer, Dr. Bischof, M. Carteighe, W. Crookes, C. Calvert, A. H. Church, R. C. Clapham, Dr. Crafts, E. Davies, H. Deacon, J. Dewar, Arthur E. Davies, Prof. F. C. Van Dyck, W. Francis, D. Forbes, G. C. Foster, T. Fairlie, R. Gerstl, H. Gaskell, W. E. Heathfield, W. Hope, A. G. Vernon Harcourt, W. Huggins, Thomas Jenuings, Stevenson Macadam, E K. Muspratt, H. M'Leod, Rev. J. G. Macvicar, Henry Matthews, Hugo Miller, J. B. Nevins, J. Pattinson, B. Paul, W. H. Perkin, R. Reynolds, W. C. Roberts, C. W. Siemens, J. Smyth, jun., J. Spiller, E. C. C. Stanford, W. W. Stoddart, F. Sutton, Edward Smith, J. Berger Spence, Peter Spence, W. Thorp, C. Tomlinson, A. Voelcker, W. Weldon, Rev. S. Williams, J. Williams, J. Young, jun.

THURSDAY.

He argues from four different classes of physical phenomena, and comes to the conclusion, not only that matter is discontinuous, and therefore that atoms and molecules do exist, but he even attempts to form an idea of the size of these molecules; and he states that in any ordinary liquid, transparent or seemingly opaque solid, the mean distance between the centres of continuous molecules is less than the hundred-millionth and greater than the two-thousand-millionth of a centimetre. There is, however, another class of physical considerations which render the existence of indivisible particles more than likely. He referred to the mechanical theory of gases, by means of which all the physical properties of gases, their equal expansion by heat, the laws of diffusion, the laws of alteration of volume under pressure, can be shown to follow from the simple laws of mechanical motion. This theory, however, presupposes the existence of molecules, and in this direction again we find confirmation of the real existence of Dalton's atoms. The mention of the molecular motions of gases will recall to mind the great loss which English science has this year sustained. Prof. Graham accomplished, to a certain extent, for dynamical chemistry what Dalton did for statical chemistry, and it is upon his experimental researches in molecular chemistry that Graham's permanent fame as one of England's greatest chemists will rest. He next mentioned an important research by Dr. Andrews, of Belfast. No opinion would appear to have been more firmly established than that of the existence of three sepa rate states, or conditions, of matter, viz., the solid, the liquid, and the gaseous. A body capable of existing in two or more of these states was thought to pass suddenly from one to the other by absorption or emission of heat, or by alterations of the superincumbent pressure. Dr. Andrews has shown how false are our views on this fundamental property of matter, for he has proved that a large number of, and probably all, easily condensible gases, or vapours, possess a critical point of temperature at and above which no increase of pressure can be made to effect a change into what is called the liquid state, the body remaining as a homogeneous fluid; whilst below this critical temperature certain increase of pressure always effects a separation into two layers of liquid and gaseous matter. As examples of the power which modern methods of research give of grappling with questions which only a few years ago were thought to be insoluble, he might quote the observations, now well known, by which Lockyer determined with those of Frankland and Lockyer respecting the probable pressure acting in the different layers of the solar atmosphere; and, lastly, the results obtained by Zöllner respecting solar physics, and especially the probable absolute temperature of the Sun's atmosphere, as well as that of the internal molten mass. Starting from the fact of the eruptive nature of a certain class of solar protuberances, Zöllner thinks that the rapidity with which these red flames shoot forth proves that the hydrogen, of which they are mainly composed, must have burst out from under great pressure; and if so, the hydrogen must have been confined by a zone or layer of liquid, from which it breaks loose. Assuming the existence of such a layer of incandescent liquid, then applying to the problem the principles and methods of the mechanical theory of gases, and placing in his formule the data of pressure and rate of motion as observed by Lockyer on the Sun's surface, Zöllner arrives at the conclusion that the difference of pressure needed to produce an explosion capable of projecting a prominence to the height of 3 above the Sun's surface-a height not unfrequently noticed

In his opening address, the PRESIDENT said the rate of motion on the Sun's surface, together In the midst of the excitement of the horrible war in which the two most scientific nations of the Continent are now plunged, let us endeavour to recount the peaceful victories which since the Meeting in Exeter have been achieved in the Department of Chemistry. With regard to the position of chemical science, it will not take a careful observer long to see that, in spite of the numerous and brilliant discoveries of which every year has to boast, we are really but very imperfectly acquainted with the fundamental laws which regulate chemical actions, and that our knowledge of the ultimate constitution of matter, upon which those laws are based, is of the most elementary nature. Believing that we must distinguish between fact and theory, he would remind them that Dalton's discovery of the laws of multiple and reciprocal proportions, as well as the differences in the power of hydrogen replacement in hydrochloric acid, water, ammonia and marsh gas, are facts, whilst the explanation upon the assumption of atoms is, as far as chemistry is as yet advanced, a theory. If, however, the existence of atoms cannot be proved by chemical phenomena, we must remember that the assumption of the atomic theory explains chemical facts, as the undulatory theory gives a clear view of the phenomena of light. If it be true that chemistry cannot give us positive information as to whether matter is infinitely divisible, and therefore continuous, or consists of atoms and is discontinuous, we are in some degree assisted by deductions from physical phenomena which have been recently pointed out by Sir William Thomson.

is 4,070,000 atmospheres. This enormous pressure is attained at a depth of 139 geographical miles under the Sun's surface, or at that of 1-658th part of the Sun's semi-diameter. In order to produce this gigantic pressure, the difference in temperature between the inclosed hydrogen and that existing in the solar atmosphere amounts to 74,910° Cent. In a similar way Zöllner, calculates the approximate absolute temperature of the Sun's

atmosphere, which he finds to be 27,700° Cent. -a temperature about eight times as high as that given by Bunsen for the oxyhydrogen flame, and one at which iron must exist in a permanently The President then went on to gaseous form. remark that, passing to more purely chemical subjects, this year was signalized by the re-determination of a most important series of chemical constants, namely, that of the heat of chemical combination, by Julius Thomson, of Copenhagen. Another addition made to chemistry was a new, very powerful, and simple form of galvanic battery, discovered by Bunsen. Amongst the points of progress in inorganic chemistry, he noticed the preparation of a missing link amongst the oxysulphur acids by Schützenberger; and, as an illustration of the results of organic research, he quoted Baeyer's investigations on mellitic acid. An important application of the dehydrating and carbon-condensing power of zinc chloride, long known in its action on alcohol to produce ether, has been made by Kekulé; whilst the discovery of the sedative properties of chloral hydrate by Liebreich marks an era in medical chemistry second only to the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. The chemistry of colouring matters has received an impetus in the practical working of the discovery of the production of artificial alizarine, the colouring-matter of madder, by Messrs. Graebe and Liebermann. During the past year progress has been made in the practical working of the processes by which this colouring-matter is obtained from the hydrocarbon anthracene contained in coal tar, and more economical plans for effecting the transformation have been independently proposed by Perkin and Caro and Schorlemmer and Dale. The theoretical investigation of the reaction-and especially of the nature of some other peculiar products formed, in addition to alizarine, which render the artificial colouringmatter different from natural alizarine-has been carried out by Mr. Perkin, and especially by Dr. Schunck. The address next referred to the process of recovering sulphur from the vat waste. Dr. Mon had now, the President believed, solved the difficult problem of economically regaining the sulphur by oxidizing the insoluble monosulphide of calcium in the lixiviating vat itself to the soluble hyposulphite, and decomposing this by hydrochloric acid, when all the sulphur is deposited as a white powder. He also alluded to Mr. Weldon's process of recovering the black oxide of manganese, used for the evolution of chlorine in the manufacture of bleaching powder. Another process which may possibly still further revolutionize the manufacture of bleaching-powder was that of Mr. Deacon, for the direct production of chlorine from hydrochloric acid without the use of manganese.

Mr. FORBES read the Report of the Committee 'On the Chemical Nature of Cast-Iron. The Committee had not had it in their power during the past year to make any important progress in the investigation of the chemical nature of cast-iron; the required apparatus having been in a dismantled condition during the year; but they trusted that the experiments would be resumed without much additional delay.

On a New Chlorine Process, without Manganese,' by Mr. H. DEACON. On the Weldon Process for the Manufacture of Chlorine,' by Mr. W. WELDON.

'On Air Pollution from Chemical Works,' by Mr. A. E. FLETCHER.—-The author proposed that in places where complaints were made against manufacturers by farmers, as to damage to their crops by corrosive smoke, let the district be called a manufacturing district," upon the requisition of a certain number of inhabitants. To such district an inspector should then be appointed, who should have power at any time to ascertain the nature and amount of the gases escaping from the various works. At the end of each month, or a longer period, the inspector should publish a list of all the works in his district, with a number indicating the average amount of acid vapour he had found upon his visits. There the inspector's duties should terminate, as he should be neither prose

cutor nor judge, but merely publish the facts he ascertained, which the farmer himself could never have gathered. Hitherto legislation had been partial. There was at present an Alkali Act, but it regulated the alkali manufacture only.

Dr. ANGUS SMITH did not doubt that by careful attention to the mode of investigation pursued by Mr. Fletcher it would be possible to know exactly the proportion of sulphuric acid or muriatic acid, and probably of other gases, which proceeded from a particular place. The whole question was one, however, requiring consideration, and it was only by examination that a proper mode of calculation could be arrived at; but there were some results already ascertained which could be employed in sanitary inquiries.

Dr. VOELCKER pointed out that the farmer might at present suffer considerably before he would engage in an expensive lawsuit. At the same time, he thought that care should be taken that only substances positively injurious were prohibited.

In the course of the discussion, it was strongly urged that over-legislation on this question should be avoided; and that at present the crops did not suffer to the extent which some imagined.

'On the Phenomena of the Crystallization of a Double Salt,' by Mr. J. B. SPENCE.

SECTION C.-GEOLOGY.

President-Sir PHILIP DE MALPAS GREY EGERTON, Bart. Vice-Presidents-J. BRYCE, Prof. HARKNESS, Sir CHARLES LYELL, Bart., Prof. PHILLIPS, J. PRESTWICH, Prof. W. W. SMYTH. Secretaries-W. PENGELLY, Rev. H. H. WINWOOD, W. BOYD DAWKINS, G. H. MORTON.

Committee-Prof. Austed, John Aitken, Lionel Brough, II. Bauerman, William Hellier Baily, Geo. Busk, E. W. Binney, John Cunningham, C. J. Cooper, H. W. Crosskey, W. Carruthers, Prof. P. M. Duncan, Dr. Brice, James Eccles, David Forbes, Rev. J. Gunn, Hugh F. Hall, M. Hall, F. W. Harmer. J. D. Hooker. Edward Hull, J. Gwyn Jeffreys, John Jones, J. W. Judd, Wm. King, G. Henry Kinahan, W. King, R. Lightbody, George Maw, Edward Myers, W. Molyneux, W. S. Mitchell, T. H. McK. Hughes, R. Mallet, Dr. H. A. Nicholson, P. O'Callaghan, G. W. Ormerod, Capt. Price, T. Readwin, Dr. Ricketts, J. Rofe, R. H. Scott, S. Sharp, R. A. Eskrigge, Rev. W. S. Symonds, W. W. Stoddart, R. G. Symes, J. Thomson, W. A. Traill. Prof. Van Beneden, J. Waterhouse, Prof. Williamson, E. Wood, John M. Woodall, J. L. Warren, W. H. S. Westropp, J. Wyatt, H. Woodward, H. B. Woodward.

THURSDAY.

The PRESIDENT said, he would not deliver an address, a practice that was an innovation in the constitution of the society which first obtained in 1856, and it was made in the Statistical Section, that section itself then being an innovation, and, in his opinion, by no means a good one. The custom increased the expenses, enlarged the bulk and delayed the publication of the Journal, thereby tending to take from the subjects discussed the freshness to which their chief interest attached.

After the minutes of the last meeting had been read, the reading of the papers was proceeded with. 'On the Glaciated Condition of the Surface of Triassic Sandstone around Liverpool,' by Mr. G. H. MORTON.-The map of the Government Geological Survey was of great value to local geologists. The most important progress, however, in local geology had resulted from the superficial or drift deposits which cover the country, and the discovery of the glaciated condition of the surface of the sandstone beneath. These superficial accumulations had been divided into post-glacial deposits (consisting of drift-sand), bluish silt or mud, submarine forests; glacial deposits (including upper drift sand, boulder clay, lower drift sand). The latter subdivision was often absent; and, under these conditions, the boulder clay usually covers the surface. Mr. Morton explained that this clay is the dark red clay so extensively used in this neighbourhood for the purposes of brick-making. It contains pebbles and boulders, varying in size from that of a pea to immense blocks six feet in diameter, a large proportion of them being striated and ground Hat on one or more surfaces by the action of the ice, similar to the specimens of boulders and pebbles brought from the glaciers of the Alps. In the course of his investigation he had been compelled to adopt a new theory, namely, that a great sheet of ice once travelled over this part of the country from the south-east to the north-west. The first striated surface discovered was between Parkhill Road and the Dingle, but had been destroyed by the erection of cottages over the place. This surface is 120 feet above the sea, and the strata belong to the pebble beds of the Bunter

formation. Two-thirds of a mile north the largest surface occurs, in the waste ground on the east of North Hill Street. It is exposed at the present time, exhibiting several hundred square yards of ice-planed sandstone, closely covered with fine lines and grooves, all perfectly straight and parallel with each other, and running in the direction of 35° W. of N. The surface of the rock at North Hill Street is 160 feet above the sea, and the strata belong to the pebble beds of the Bunter formation. Striated rock had also been found at Kirkdale, at Wavretree (in Victoria Park), at Thatto Heath, at Oxton, and at Flaybrick Hill. Assuming the glaciation of the surface of the rock around Liverpool to have occurred before the submergence of the land at the beginning of the glacial period, and afterwards covered with boulder clay deposited by icebergs or field ice, some portions (he contended) must have been denuded during the subsidence. The only alteration in the contour of the land seems to have been the reduced elevation of the low ranges of the hills which traverse the district in the same direction as the ice seems to have done.

Dr. RICKETTS read a paper descriptive of the strata which have been exposed in the cuttings on the new railway between Huyton and St. Helen's.

Mr. J. THOMSON read the Report of the Committee on the Corals of the Mountain Limestone.' Mr. W. H. BAILEY read a 'Report on Fossils of the Kiltorcan Quarries.'

Mr. W. S. MITCHELL read the 'Fourth Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the LeafBeds of the Lower Bagshot series of Hampshire.'

'On the Evidences of Recent Changes of Level on the Mediterranean Coast,' by Mr. G. MAW.

'On the Organization and Affinities of the Calamites of the Coal Measures,' by Mr. W. C. WIL

LIAMSON.

'On the History and Affinities of the British Conifere,' by Mr. W. CARRUTHERS.

SECTION D.-BIOLOGY.

President-Prof. G. ROLLESTON,

Vice-Presidents-Prof. BALFOUR, Dr. BEDDOE, Dr. J. H. BENNETT, G. BENTHAM, G. Busk, Joux EVANS. Prof. M. FOSTER, Dr. HOOKER, Prof. HUMPHREY, Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart.

Secretaries-Dr. T. S. COBBOLD, SEBASTIAN EVANS, Prof. Lawsox, Thos. J. MOORE, H. T. STAINTON, Rev, H. B. TRISTRAM, C. STANILAND WAKE, E. RAY LANKESTER.

Committee-Sir James E. Alexander, H. Buckley, Dr. J. Barker, M. A. Bennett, H. B. Brady, Dr. Bickersteth, H. W. Bates. I. Byerley, Edwin Birchall, Dr. Boycott, Dr. G. W. Child. Prof. Cleland. Dr. Cleghorn, R. O. Cunningham, H. E. Dresser, Dr. Drysdale, P. M. Duncan, W. B. Dawkins, H. Denny, Prof. Dickson, R. Dunn, Sir Walter Elliott. W. Francis, W. H. Flower, N. Goodman, Col. Grant, Dr. Grierson, F. Galton, Rev. Dr. Ginsburg, R. Garner, A. Hamilton, Rev. H. II. Higgins, Dr. Henton, Dr. Jerdon, J. Gwyn Jeffreys, J. Kaimes. Dr. King, A. L. Lewis, E. J. Lowe, Thos. Moore, Dr. Macalister, R. M'Andrew, Dr. W. C. McIntosh, H. N. Moseley. Prof. Alfred Newton, P. O'Callaghan, Mons. Plateau, R. Patterson, Dr. B. W. Richardson, O. Salvin, Dr. E. Smith, Dr. Pye Smith, J. Samuelson, S. Sharpe, Prof. Stricker, Dr. J. L. Stewart, R. Swinhoe, Prof. Traquair, Prof. Wyville Thompson, Prof. Van Beneden, J. Wyatt, Prof. E. Perceval Wright, A. F. H. Waters, H. Woodward, A. R. Wallace.

THURSDAY.

Zoology and Botany.

Pro

This department was presided over by Prof. ROLLESTON, who, in his inaugural address, drew attention to the importance, in the interests of science, of trained students observing natural history, and he especially urged the necessity of local observations, field clubs and local museums. ceeding to review the subjects which will be considered in the Section, Prof. Rolleston said that one of the most important of these subjects, that of spontaneous generation, touched upon certain susceptibilities lying outside the realm of science. He, however, reminded his audience that in the sectional discussions they had only to do with the scientific arguments bearing upon the questions; and he hoped that the committee would be supported by the members in excluding all extraneous considerations. Truth being one, all roads leading to it would assuredly converge sooner or later. Their business was to see that the road with which they were particularly concerned was properly laid out. In this view he was glad to be able to fortify himself by the dictum of Archbishop Whately"The possessor of real faith will be fully convinced that whatever suppressed physical fact appears to militate against his religion will be proved to be natural, or else be reconcilable with his religion." This and other testimonies which he quoted were most important; but he must point out what might

seem to be a want even in the dicta of such men. They had allotted the privilege of error of teaching to the utterances of only one of the parties concerned; they had forgotten the woe which religious men and theologians had brought upon the world because of the offences which they, with ill-considered zeal, had created. They had left something unsaid which might be summed up in the homely caution, that there may be faults on both sides. He trusted that discussion upon the scientific aspects of these great questions would not be restrained, it being kept in mind that mutual forbearance might slacken progress as well as excite mutual jealousies. In conclusion, he expressed a hope that the Association would adopt some means to carry out the suggestions he had made in the opening of his address.

Upon the motion of Mr. HUMPHREY, a vote of thanks was passed to Prof. Rolleston, and a hope was expressed that he would permit his address to be printed.

"On the Osteology of the Chlamydophorus truncatus,' by Mr. E. ATKINSON.

'On the Marine Mollusca of the Gulf of Suez, in February and March, 1869,' by Mr. R. M'ANDREW.

The total number of species of mollusca obtained by Mr. M'Andrew in the gulf amounted to some 818, of which 619 had been identified or described, the remaining 199 being still undetermined. In the list of named species were 355 not previously recorded as inhabiting the Red Sea, and of these fifty-three, including three genera, were new to science. The dissimilarity between the Fauna of the Red Sea and of the Mediterranean, which had been frequently remarked, showed, the writer said, that a barrier between the seas must have existed from very remote times; and this was not inconsistent with Prof. Issel's statement that an examination of the geological conditions of the isthmus led to the conclusion that the two seas were united during the Eocene and Myocene periods.

Dr. W. THOMPSON read a 'Report on some of the Echinoderms discovered in the Expedition of H.M.S. Porcupine,' and Dr. W. C. M'INTOSH read a 'Preliminary Report on certain Annelids dredged in the same Expedition.'

Anatomy and Physiology.

Prof. M. FOSTER presided over this Department, which met in the Patents Room of the Free Library immediately after Prof. Rolleston's Address.

'Report on the Physiological Action of Chemical Organic Agents,' by Dr. RICHARDSON.— Attention was drawn to the progress that had been made in the study and application of nitrate of amyl, methylic ether, bichloride of methyline and hydrate of chloral. Dr. Richardson then recorded his labours of the past year. In this period he has investigated the action of several organic compounds, the ethylates of sodium and potassium; sulphur, alcohol, or macaptein; sulphide of ethyl, and triethylic ether. The first two of this list he had found to be the most active caustics known, and it probably would be possible to construct from them a caustic which should be painless in its operation. The triethylic ether, a fragrant etheral substance, was found to be a general anaesthetic, and to act as such whether administered by inhalation or by the mouth. It was best administered in the usual way, by inhalation, and the experience of it, so far as it went, showed it to be safe and effective. Lastly, were described the effects that arose from exposing the nervous expanses to the influence of active organic agents. Some of these, the nitrate of amyl for example, acted directly through the nervous system independently of the circulation; by other agents, sensibility to pain could be destroyed without destroying consciousness; and lastly, having explained how in the organic series the alteration of elementary composition modified the physiological action of the representatives of the series, the author illustrated how in time the physiologist, by continuance of research, with the agents placed at his command by the chemist, would be able to estimate the actual physiological value of organic

substances by their chemical composition, and to reduce the knowledge of the action of medicinal substances to the rules of positive science.

Dr. TURNBULL believed that the line of research suggested would undoubtedly lead to the most important results; and he referred to his own researches on the iodides and cyanides of the methyl and ethyl series made at the last meeting of the Association at Liverpool.-Prof. HUMPHREY spoke of the great value of the bichloride of methyline which Dr. Richardson had introduced, and also of the effect of nitrate of amyl in arresting tetanus. Dr. BROWN-SEQUARD read two papers-one 'On apparent Transmission of Abnormal Conditions due to Accidental Causes,' and the other On various Alterations of Nutrition due to Nervous Influence. In the course of his remarks, he said that the series of experiments he had made upon different animals led him to believe that the right side of the brain was more important for organic life than the left side. Although the two sides of the brain were precisely alike when the animals were born, by greater development of the activities one side came to be quite different from the other.

Ethnology and Anthropology.

were found, such as Formby; and in Domesday Book certain Drenghs appeared as holding lands at Warrington, "drengge" being a Scandinavian tenure, and the word "drengh" being still in use in Norway. The effect of the Norman Conquest on the ethnic elements in Lancashire would probably be inconsiderable, though there, as elsewhere, the Anglo-Danish or the Anglo-Norse aristocracy might have been more diminished, by slaughter and emigration than the commonalty, whose blood might have had a larger admixture of the Celtic element. Since that time no ethnological change worthy of mention had occurred in the northern part of the county, and the physical type in that quarter was accordingly pretty distinct. The Norwegian element prevailed in it over the Kymro-British. The Anglian was weak and the Gaelic doubtful.

Mr. J. A. PICTON remarked that they had in the Free Library Institution some relics which had been taken up, not very long since, of perhaps the oldest inhabitants of the district, consisting of several cinerary urns, &c.

'On the Ottoman Turks,' by Dr. BEDDOE. 'On the Distribution of the Names of Weapons in Pre-historic Times,' by Dr. HYDE CLARKE. 'On the Geological Changes which have occurred since the First Traces of Man in Europe,' by Dr. P. M. DUNCAN.

SECTION E.-GEOGRAPHY. President-Sir RODERICK I. MURCHISON, Bart. Vice-Presidents-Sir HENRY BARKLY, Admiral Sir EDWAard Belcher, Sir HENRY RAWLINSON, Bart., FRANCIS GALTON, Rear-Admiral Sir JOHN D. HAY, Bart., LORD MILTON. Secretaries-H. W. BATES, DAVID BUXTON, ALBERT J. MOTT, CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM. Committee-Col. Sir J. E. Alexander, Prof. D. T. Ansted, J. Arrow. smith, C. H. Bracebridge, H. A. Bright, Alexander Buchan, G. Catap bell, Capt. J. Carmichael, General F. R. C. Chesney, Col. Cracroft, W. Hepworth Dixon, Robert Dunn, Sir Walter Elliott, A. G. Find lay, David Forbes, R. N. Fowler, Colonel J. A. Grant, Governor Gilpin, Rev. C. D. Ginsburg, Prof. Huxley, Prof. Henry, Captain Jansen, Captain Griffith Jenkins, Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, H.H. the Rajah of Kolapore, J. K. Laughton, Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., R. H. Major, Don Arturo de Marcoartu, Rev. R. Moffat, Lord Neaves, Right Hon. Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., Dr. O'Callaghan, Prof. Rawlinson, W. Winwood Reade, Viscount Sandon, Earl Stanhope, Warington Smyth, Captain Sir John Swinburne, Bart., R. Swinhoe, Col. Rd. Strachey, J. A. Tinne, J. T. Towson, Charles White, Samuel Woods, Edward Whymper.

THURSDAY.

Prof. HUXLEY said the problem they had now to determine was, what effect artificial modifications and external conditions had upon living organisms -whether they produced changes which, being transmitted hereditarily, became the basis of new races. Referring to a resolution brought forward at a former meeting, which endeavoured to pledge the Association to abstain from making grants of money to persons engaged in experiments which involved vivisection, he said they had before them that day one of the most experienced physiologists and vivisectors of his day, and he had only to ask the audience to form their own judgment as to whether Mr. Brown-Sequard was likely to inflict one particle of pain upon any creature whatever without having a plain and definite purpose in view. If that question came before the Association again, and he hoped it would, he trusted that they would recollect that the order of Nature was such that certain kinds of truth were only attainable by experiments on living animals, and that when they The PRESIDENT, in his opening address, commight result to the welfare of thousands and thou-menced by describing the changes which the Section sands of human beings who might otherwise be had undergone in the history of the Association. suffering unimaginable misery, those experiments It was formerly occupied by Medical Science, and, were perfectly justifiable. after remaining vacant for some time subsequent to the withdrawal of the medical men, was devoted in 1851 to the kindred subjects of Geography and Ethnology; the separation of these two sciences, a change effected two years ago, he thought was to be regretted, in so far as it led to the diversion from the Section of a class of papers descriptive of the native races of distant lands, which could be adequately discussed by geographers. The chief advances recently made in geographical knowledge related to the little-known regions of Eastern and Western Turkestan. In the latter country, science had benefited by the conquest by the Russians of large portions of the Khanats of Khokand and Bokhara, and he (the President) thought that it would now be generally confessed that the cause of civilization and humanity had also been benefited by these conquests. In Eastern Turkestan the principal discoveries had been made by the English travellers, Shaw and Hayward, who, proceeding indifferently, and on different errands, had crossed the passes of the Kuen-lun and reached the great cities of Yarkand and Kashgar. Mr. Shaw had recently returned to Yarkand, as the associate of Mr. Douglas Forsyth in his political mission to the Ataligh Ghazee, the new ruler of the country, which he had wrested from the domination of the Chinese: the mission departed in July last, and good news had already been received of its progress. Mr. Hayward had proceeded to cross the mountains considerably further to the west, by the Gilgit Valley, and had already explored a considerable tract of this lofty region, previous to crossing the head waters of the Oxus to the point which he had been commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society to investigate, viz., the Pamir Steppe, or, as it is called by the neighbouring peoples, from its great elevation, Bam-y-dunya, "the upper floor of the world." To his (the President's) great sorrow, he

Mr. J. EVANS presided over this Department, which met in the Lecture-room. In his opening address he explained what appeared to him to be the subjects which properly came within the province of the department, the present condition of knowledge of those subjects, and the methods at command for increasing that knowledge. One main central point-the history of the origin and progress of the human race-must, he said, be that around which all their thoughts must revolve, and towards which all their investigations must be directed. The great fact, however, which we could not too steadily bear in mind, was, that we of the present day-our words and works, and all the surroundings of our life-were nearly the last links in one long, complicated, though continuous, chain, which connected us with our remotest forefathers, their language, implements, and associations.

'On the Anthropology of Lancashire,' by Dr. BEDDOE-The author said that it had been supposed that the Teutonic character of the inhabitants of South Lancashire might date from the occupation of Manchester, during the Roman period, by a cohort of Frisians. Possibly, the blood of the Celtic Britons, here as elsewhere, might have been somewhat affected by colonization of this kind under Roman auspices, but it seemed more probable that the southern part of Lancashire was not really Saxonized until the reign of Ethelfrith of Northumbria, who made great conquests in this direction. Vacant spaces were also gradually filled up by the immigration of Mercians from beyond the Mersey, but the northern portions of the county remained British much longer. Certain Scandinavians also found their way into South Lancashire, and thus a few local Danish names