REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. Sir Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee, consisting of Mr. FRANCIS GALTON (Chairman), Professor A. W. WILLIAMSON, DOUGLAS GALTON, Professor BOYD DAWKINS, Sir RAWSON RAWSON, Dr. J. G. GARSON, Dr. JOHN EVANS, Mr. J. HOPKINSON, Professor R. MELDOLA (Secretary), Professor T. G. BONNEY, Mr. W. WHITAKER, Mr. G. J. SYMONS, General PITT-RIVERS, and Mr. W. TOPLEY. THE Corresponding Societies Committee of the British Association begs to submit to the General Committee the following Report of the proceedings of the Conference held at Leeds. The meetings were held on fessor T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., Vice-Chairman, and Professor R. Meldola, Mr. A. Tate, C.E.. Mr. Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A. Mr. M. H. Mills Mr. T. Cushing, F.R.A.S. Mr. W. Healey Mr. A. S. Reid, M.A., F.G.S.. Mr. Robert Brown, R.N. Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S. Belfast Natural History and Philosophi cal Society. Geological Society of Glasgow. Inverness Scientific Society and Field Isle of Man Natural History and Anti- Leeds Geological Association. Leeds Naturalists' Club and Scientific Association. Leicester Literary and Philosophical Liverpool Geological Society. Malton Field Naturalists' and Scientific Manchester Geographical Society. North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Nottingham Naturalists' Society. Rochdale Literary and Scientific Society. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club. Yorkshire Naturalists' Union.1 FIRST CONFERENCE, SEPTEMBER 4. The chair was taken by Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., the Corresponding Societies Committee being also represented by Professor T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., Mr. W. Topley, F.R.S., Mr. J. Hopkinson, F.L.S., and Professor R. Meldola, F.R.S. (Secretary). The Chairman proposed that the report of the Corresponding Societies Committee to the General Committee, printed copies of which had been distributed among the Delegates, should be taken as read. This was pat to the meeting and carried unanimously. The subjects dealt with in the report were then taken in order. SECTION A. Temperature Variation in Lakes, Rivers, and Estuaries.-The Chairman stated that in connection with the work of this Committee, of which Dr. H. R. Mill was the Secretary, a large number of thermometers had Three Delegates appointed under the rule which empowers a Society having its head-quarters in the place of meeting to send up this number of representatives. been distributed throughout the country, and a good deal of information had been collected during the year. It was proposed to ask for the reappointment of the Committee with a grant to enable the observations to be tabulated. Mr. William Watts stated that he had been conducting temperature observations in two large reservoirs belonging to the Oldham Corporation during the last eighteen months. These results were included in the report of the Committee. Mr. Watts added that there was some probability of the observations having to be discontinued for want of funds, although on his own part he was perfectly willing to carry on the work for another year. Mr. Cushing presented a record of weekly temperature observations taken in the River Wandle in Surrey. The temperatures were taken between 3 and 3.30 P.M. on Sunday afternoons, and extended from October 1888 to February 1890. The observations were taken at ten different stations, five of which are on the Carshalton and five on the Croydon branch of the river. The tabulated records were accompanied by a statement of the mean weekly shade temperature and the rainfall for the previous week, both being made up to 9 P.M. on the Saturday. The tables were also accompanied by a sketch of the district traced from the 25-inch Ordnance map, showing the positions of all the stations, which were numbered from 1 to 10, and which corresponded with the positions in the temperature tables as read from left to right. The river is very shallow, but the tables showed some rather large mean differences of temperature. While stations 1, 8, and 9 showed respectively the mean differences of 15.8, 16.2, and 17.7° F.; station No. 5, where the water is only 18 inches deep, shows a mean yearly variation of only 0·7° F., while the mean variation of shade temperature during the same period was 38.7° F. These temperatures were taken at from 12 to 18 inches below the surface with a thermometer graduated on the stem and verified at Kew. The observations had been taken by Mr. F. C. Bayard, an active Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and Secretary to the Croydon Microscopical and Natural History Club, which Society was represented by Mr. Cushing at the Conference. Mr. Bayard had expressed his willingness to continue the observations. The Secretary suggested that the results presented by Mr. Cushing should be handed to Dr. Mill, the Secretary of the Committee. The Chairman, having commented on the value of Mr. Bayard's observations, proceeded to state that he had recently been reducing experiments with respect to evaporation, which had been made during several years at Strathfield Turgiss in Hampshire, in which the ordinary small evaporators had been compared with a galvanised iron tank 6 feet. square and 2 feet deep. The rough result was that the evaporation from the tank averaged about 15 inches per annum, while the smaller ones (owing to the high temperature of the water) indicated an evaporation considerably in excess of the truth. Meteorological Photography-Mr. Hopkinson alluded to the success which had been achieved by the Committee on Geological Photography, of which Mr. Jeffs was Secretary, and pointed out the growing importance of photography as an aid in other branches of scientific research. He suggested that the idea might be extended to meteorological photography, and that a Committee should be formed for carrying out this object. Photography could be advantageously applied to the investiga tion of meteorological phenomena such as the forms of clouds, lightning flashes, the effects of storms, &c. It would be the function of such a Committee to collect the photographs and keep a register of them, which would be added to from year to year. The study of the forms of clouds would be more satisfactory if undertaken by a comparison of photographs than by drawings. Mr. Hopkinson referred to the practical difficulty of photographing light clouds in a blue sky, and suggested that it might form part of the work of the Committee to investigate methods for effecting this object. With respect to lightning flashes he stated that numerous photographs had been taken, some of which were very valuable, but others were useless owing to the failure on the part of the photographer to indicate the position of the plate in the camera. The advisability of interesting the Corresponding Societies in the work was pointed out to the Delegates by Mr. Hopkinson, who also urged the special necessity of securing as soon as possible photographs showing the after-effects of storms. It was proposed that a Committee of the Association with a small grant should be formed through Section A. If this Committee were sanctioned Mr. Symons and Professor Meldola would consent to serve on it, and Mr. A. W. Clayden, who had made a special study of the photography of clouds and lightning flashes, would be willing to act as Secretary. After some discussion as to the mode of procedure it was decided that application should be made through the Committee of Section A for the formation of a Committee on Meteorological Photography, and that the application should be also supported by a recommendation from the Conference of Delegates to the Committee of Recommendations. SECTION C. Sea Coast Erosion.—Mr. Topley stated that the Committee appointed for this purpose would be glad to receive any assistance. Some of the Corresponding Societies had applied for forms, but nothing had as yet been done. Three years ago the Isle of Man Society had proposed to take the matter in hand and form a Committee. He believed some of the Yorkshire Societies were doing good work, but they had not yet received the results. Erratic Blocks.-The Rev. E. P. Knubley stated, with reference to the work of this Committee, that the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union had been carrying on the records satisfactorily, and that about twenty-five reports had been presented during the year. These had been sent to Dr. Crosskey, the Secretary of the Committee. Geological Photography.-Mr. O. W. Jeffs stated that, through the action of the Conference of Delegates at previous meetings of the British Association, a Committee had been appointed for collecting and reporting on geological photographs. Very material assistance had been rendered to the work of this Committee by various Delegates from the several Corresponding Societies, many of which had sent photographs or lists of those that had been taken. All that had been done thus far was of a preliminary character, and had consisted in arranging the photographs which had been taken in order to select those which illustrated welldefined strata or sections. The work was by no means complete, and the report, which would shortly he presented, showed that a very large proportion of the counties of England and Wales were as yet unrepresented. Mr. Jeff's asked those Delegates who had not yet done so to bring the matter before their Societies, and to interest their photographic members in the work. The object of the Committee was to secure by systematic action in the various districts a series of photographs illustrating the features which geologists thought most worthy of being recorded in their respective localities. The only portion of England where the scheme had been carried out to any extent was Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union had adopted the photographic method, and had taken over 100 negatives. Mr. Hopkinson had brought the subject before the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, and he hoped to receive photographs from them shortly. A large number of the photographs which had been received would be exhibited in the room of Section C, and Mr. Jeffs invited the Delegates to inspect them. He added that the Committee would be glad to receive any suggestions from the Delegates. The counties from which photographs had been received were :--Dorsetshire, Cornwall (very few), Devonshire (very few), Isle of Man (several), Kent, Lancashire, Montgomeryshire, Nottingham, a few from North Wales, Suffolk, and Shropshire, a large number from Yorkshire, and some from Scotland and Ireland. The list was manifestly very incomplete, and he hoped that by next year's Report it would be considerably extended. Copies of the circular of instructions issued by the Committee were circulated among the Delegates.. Professor Lebour asked if any steps had been taken with respect to the keeping of the photographs. Mr. Jeffs said that this matter had not yet been discussed by their Committee. They intended to keep the photographs until the collection had assumed a more complete form. A suggestion had been made to render some of the best examples more available to the Delegates and to the public, and more especially to those requiring them for educational purposes, by issuing them in the form of a publication, but the matter had not yet been properly discussed. Professor Bonney said that, as a member of the Committee on geological photography, he was enabled to state that the work had hitherto been necessarily of a preliminary nature, and had been carried out by the zeal and energy of Mr. Jeffs. The question of publication would come before the Committee later on, and, speaking on his own: behalf, he considered it of great importance that some step in this direction should be taken. He expressed the opinion that the best destination of the photographs would be to lodge them with the Geological Society if they would receive them. If an enlarged photograph were required for educational purposes, the negative could then be borrowed for the purpose. It would, of course, be a year or two before the photographs would be accessible. When a large collection had been accumulated, it would be most useful to select some thirty or forty of the more typical examples of geological phenomena and to have them enlarged for publication. Professor Bonney expressed the opinion that, for the purposes of teaching, enlarged photographs would be better than photographs taken on a large scale. The discussion was continued by Mr. W. Watts and Mr. Eli Sowerbutts. The suggestions put forward by Professor Bonney were approved of, and it was pointed out that it would be desirable that the Corresponding Societies should have a list of the photographs already sent in to the Committee, in order to know which were wanted and which were not. |