re ah he a) Report and Proceedings OF THE i ew ALS Natural History and Philosophical Society SESSION 19098-1910: BELFAST : PRINTED BY MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). GRO —# | G Deport and Proceedings BELFAST Natural History and Philosophical Society FOR THE SESSION 1909-1910: BELFAST : PRINTED BY MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET. (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). 19t1, CONTENTS. The Ulster Dialect—Sir John Byers Sir Samuel Ferguson, Poet and Patriot—A, Percival Graves, M.A. wee The River Plate of South America, and the Faulkland Islands— Robert J. Kennedy, C.M.G., D.L. Some of our Rarer Birds and their Nesting Habits—Nevin H. Foster, M.B.O.U. The Celts on the Continent and in Ireland—-John M. Dickson Side Lights on Bible History—K. T. Frost ... Trypanosomiasis and Sleeping Sickness—Professor W. St. Clair Symmers, M.D. Annual Report Balance Sheet Exchanges 5 List of Office Bearers List of Shareholders... Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. — :o :———_— BSTABLISH ED 1821. ior CONSTITUTION. The membership of the Society consists of Shareholders in the Museum, Annual Subscribers (Associates), Honorary Members and Honorary Associates. Shares in the Museum costs £7 each. A holder of one Share pays an annual contribution of ten shillings ; a holder of two Shares (in one certificate) an annual contribution of five shillings ; while a holder of three or more Shares (in one certificate) is exempt from annua] payments. Shares on which the annual payment as above are in arrear are liable to forfeiture. The Council retain the right to decline to consolidate two or more share certificates into one certificate. Annual Subscribers (Associates) pay £1 Is (one guinea), due Ist November in each year in advance. A General Meeting of Shareholders in the Museum is held annually in May or June, or as soon thereafter as convenient, to receive the Report of the Council and the Statement of Accounts for the preceding year, to elect members of Council, to replace those retiring by rotation or for other reasons, and to transact any other business incidental to an annual meeting. Share- holders only are eligible for election on the Council. The Council elect, from among their own number, a President and other officers of the Society. Each Member has the right of personal attendance at the ordinary lectures of the Society, and has the privilege of introducing two friends for admission to such. The session for lectures extends from November to May. Any further information required may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary. - RT eps rtaley BELFAST NATURAL. HisTORY. Pano PHI LOSOPHICAT "SOCIETY SESSION 1909-10. loth November, 1900. ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, SIR JOHN BYERS “THE ULSTER DIALECT.” (Abstract. ) The opening meeting of the Session was held in the Museum, College Square North, when the President (Sir John W. Byers, M.A., M.D.,) delivered a lecture on the subject of “The Ulster Dialect.” There was a large attendance, and at the outset of the proceedings Mr. R. M. Youne, B.A., M.R.I.A., bon. secretary of the Society, announced the donation of a very ancient iron mantrap of unusal construction, presented by the Misses Boomer, of Lisburn. Some stone implements, including a rare type of drinking cup made of steatite from Donegal, had been lent for exhibition by Rev. J. Northey. On the motion of Professor Linpsay, M.A., seconded by Mr. JoHN Horner, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the donors and to Mr. Northey. Sir JoHN Byers, who was received with applause, having expressed very warmly his feeling of gratitude for the personal compliment paid him in re-electing him President of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society for another year, said he proposed to bring before them that evening, in the inaugural 2 Sir John Byers on address of their eighty-ninth Session, ‘‘ The Dialect of Ulster”— a subject of the greatest interest, because of the light it threw upon the origin, habits, folklore, and manners of the people of the North of Ireland. He pointed out that the main char- acteristics of a dialect were peculiarities of vocabulary, of pronunciation, and of idiom; and the Ulster dialect he con- sidered first analytically in the light of these three canons. In reference to the words, their Celtic, English, Scotch, French, and Scandinavian origin was very fully discussed, and it was shown that it was from a mixture of all these elements that what is termed the Ulster dialect arose. It was a form of language spoken by the people themselves, and especially by those residing in the country districts. This dialect had been handed down from father to child since about the commence- ment of the eighteenth century as a spoken rather than as a written language, and, although subject to change, it had remained wonderfully consistent, being preserved by tradition and by the ear and voice of the people. It was really an admixture of all the various languages introduced from time to time into the North of Ireland, as well as of the original native Celtic, an amalgam being produced by their interaction on each other. In certain districts—especially in those parts of Antrim, Down, and Londonderry which adjoin the sea coast—the dialect was largely, as might be expected, Scottish; but even there words of Scotch origin not found in any English dictionary abounded. The original Scotch words in many instances have been considerably altered, and the type of words found in some of these places as well as the pronunciation given them showed that they were of an earlier origin than those found in other Scotch settlements in the North of Ireland. In other localities, the vocabulary was more clearly English ; while again in many parts the words in use were more distinctly Celtic, yet in almost every district of the North of Ireland there was a certain admixture of words, idioms, and The Ulster Dtalect. 3 phrases, and even of pronunciation which would enable an edu- cated observer to say that the dialect, though it undoubtedly might show local peculiarities, was of the Ulster type. Sir John Byers then referred to the Ulster dialect synthetically, and pointed out with many illustrations, the characteristics of the language as a whole. He showed, what was well known, that there were few forms of expressions which brought out in bolder relief the peculiarities of any dialect than the sayings and pro- verbs which one heard constantly used, and certainly the Ulster dialect was in that respect exceptionally strong. It was said by some that such phrases exhibited a certain poverty of language among the individuals employing them, and that accordingly they used a particular expression with a general application, which their hearers thoroughly understood; but he (Sir John) con- tended that these sayings—and he quoted in proof of his view a large number—indicated that they were really examples of in- tensity of thought, employed by a most observant people, whose tendency was to be laconic and not to waste words or circumlo- cutions of speech. In order to bring out in concrete form the peculiarities of the Ulster dialect Sir John gave a very full account of the many diverse words, phrases, idioms, and proverbs asso- ciated with two most important Irish factors, the pig and the potato. Finally, with the view of illustrating a comparison between the language of the North of Ireland and other dialects, he took one of the best-known and most frequently-quoted literary items, and gave it in modern English, as well as in the Scotch, and Ulster dialects. mt the close of the lecture Mr. FRAncis CurLry, J: Ps High Sheriff of Belfast, moved a vote of thanks to Sir JoHn Byers, and, in doing so, expressed his high appreciation of the interesting address which they had heard that evening. Mr. GARRETT NaGLeE, R.M., seconded, and joined with the previous speaker in paying a tribute to the lecturer. The vote of thanks was passed with acclamation, and, Sir Jouwn Byers having suitably replied, the proceedings terminated. 26th November, 1909. Sir Joun Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. “SIR SAMUEL FERGUSON, POET AND PATRIOT.” By Mr. A. P. GRAVES. (Abstract). THE CHAIRMAN, who was well received, said they were there that evening to have what he was sure they would all regard as a great intellectual treat—an address on a distinguished Irishman, Sir Samuel: Ferguson, who was born in High Street, Belfast, in 1810, and who, as a brilliant man of letters, had brought renown to the city of his birth, He was a man of the most diverse accomplishments. It was now universally admitted that his “Qgham Inscriptions in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland” had placed him in the front rank of antiquarians. These in- scriptions, which Sir Samuel did so much to explain (just as another great Irishman, Dr. Edward Hincks, who lived at Killy- leagh, County Down, interpreted the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and whose bust has been lately placed in the Cairo Museum) were carved in wood or stone, or found in manuscripts. They belonged to an alphabet used by the ancient Irish and other Celtic races up to about the ninth or tenth century as secret characters. They would hear from their able lecturer what he, as a high authority on such a question, thought of Sir Samuel Ferguson’s position as a poet. There was no doubt that by striving to create modern poetry from the ancient Irish tales of saints, heroes, and histories of places, Sir Samuel Ferguson had— perhaps unconsciously on his part—a great deal to do with bringing about the modern revival in Irish literature, and, owing to this, he probably was appreciated as a poet more highly to-day Sir Samuel Ferguson, Poet and Orator. 5 than during his lifetime, just as occurred in the case of Whistler in the sister domain of art, and Schubert in music. Friends of his (the speaker’s) who knew Sir Samuel Ferguson in Dublin, spoke in the warmest terms of his delightful personality, of his wonderful conversational qualities, and of his most generous disposition. All who had come in contact with him or who had studied his writings would agree on one point, and that was that Sir Samuel Ferguson was, in the best and truest sense of the word, a patriot, who did his utmost to advance the prestige of Ireland in every line of intellectual effort, and no man did more than he to awaken an interest in the history, learning, and antiquities of his native country. They were particularly fortunate that evening in having with them a gentleman to lecture on Sir Samuel Ferguson who was in such thorough sympathy with his subject, for Mr. Graves was both by heredity as well as by cultivation one of the most distinguished Irish literary men of the present day—a poet and a musician who, living during early life in the countrysides of the South of Ireland, had become thoroughly acquainted with the people, and had received an ever- living impulse from their language and from the music of the old airs they sung, just as Moira O’Neill had found her inspiration in the environment of the lovely Glens of Antrim. Mr. ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES, who was very heartily received, said Sir Samuel Ferguson was the Irish poet of the last century who most powerfully influenced the literary histury of his country. It was the influence of his writings that so decisively begun the great work of restoring to Ireland the spiritual treasure she sacrificed in losing the Gaelic tongue. He was, however, no mere antiquarian ; he was also a scholar and patriot in the highest sense of the words, and he had friends in all parties, for he was in no sense a political partisan. He (the lecturer) should say from what he had read of Ferguson’s poetry, and what he knew of the man, that he differed from those who regarded the realm of poetry as another world, detachable from this—a life mystical. He was absolutely human and practicable, 6 Mr. A. P. Graves on broad and sympathetically minded. He had many difficulties to overcome, one being the fact that Irish themes had no public behind them at the time. Ferguson would live in selections, though large selections, from his works rather than in its entirety. Yet “The Forging of the Anchor” was a remarkably clever achievement for a young man of twenty, and ‘The Fairy’s Dance” was equally wizardy itself. Patriotic to the core, Ferguson was most eager to achieve something high fer Ireland’s sake, something to lift her from the intellectual ruts into which she had fallen. Another Belfast man, Dr. Robert Gordon, who was keeping him up to his highest self, wrote ‘‘ You rejoice me. You are strong, and I would have you strike some note that would reverberate down the vistas of time.” Ferguson responded to his friend’s appeal with a poem in which he displayed great cleverness. “Thomas Davis, an Elegy,” was a poignant expression of his grief at the death of one of his country’s defenders, and the last verse of it sounded like a prophecy. Further on, Ferguson’s “ Lays of the Western Gael” were published, and, according to the description of a commentator, these were a series of ballads founded on events in Irish history. It was wonderful the number of contemporary poets who found and appreciated what Ferguson was. The tendency to act at times as a commentator on his own work, and his disregard of verbal delicacies were the only proclivities to which exception could be taken in his poems. But his method was uniformly manly, and he swept all their minor critical objections before him. They grew to love his ponderosities and carelessness, which formed part of his greatness. Having dealt with and quoted from “ Congal,” the lecturer said at the time of the publication of this work Ferguson’s genius had yet to break into its finest flower. A volume published in the year 1880 contained some striking verses of a religious and philosophical character, but in ‘ Deirdre” and ‘‘Conari” he reached his greatest height as a poet. William Allingham described ‘‘ Deirdre’ as reminding him of a Greek play, and he (the lecturer) might say that he should like to see “ Deirdre” Sir Samuel Ferguson, Poet and Orator, 7 acted. He thought it would act successfully, and if the Ulster Literary Theatre were to take it up with a view to its presentation, it would be an excellent idea. The larger number of Irish critics preferred ‘“ Conari,” a work which belonged to the “ great” school of poetry. Though at times over scholarly and nodding now and again—all great poets occasionally nodded as opposed to the little self-conscious ones who were never caught napping— Ferguson was always strong, simple, and sensible ; he was no mere reed for blowing music through. What Mr. Yeats wrote about him some years ago remained true to-day, that ‘‘ he was the greatest poet Ireland had produced, because he was the most central and the most Celtic.” The school of mystic poetry founded by Mr. W. B. Yeats, which Padraic Column, Mrs. Eva Gore Booth, Joseph Campbell, and others each in their own distinguished way followed, found more favour in England than Ferguson’s poetry did. But he (the lecturer) was still convinced that Ferguson, through his great gifts of heart and head and his single-minded devotion to his country’s literature, remained, and would long remain, the truest representative of ancient bards. The Very Rey. the DEAN oF BELFAST, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Graves, said it was an exceedingly nice thing that the latter should come to Belfast to lay, as it were, a wreath on the tomb of Sir Samuel Ferguson, and stimulate in their hearts that growing interest taken in the work that the deceased poet had done. It did seem as if the Celtic spirit in literature was beginning to be recognized for what it was, and as if it was about to come to its own again. Mr. JAMES Corr seconded the motion. The resolution was carried by acclamation, and appropriately acknowledged. 14th December, 1909. Sir JoHN Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. “THE RIVER PLATE OF SOUTH AMERICA AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS.” By Mr. Rospert J. Kennepy, C.M.G., D.L. Abstract. The CHAIRMAN said they were on that evening to have the privilege of hearing a lecture from an able member of an old County Down family, who was at present on a well-earned holiday from his public duties, and an address from his distinguished wife, who was daughter of a_ well-known Ulster nobleman, Viscount Bangor. Mr. Kennedy had spent all his professional life in the diplomatic service. He had been, among other places, at Madrid under the renowned Sir Austen Henry Layard, who was celebrated for his archeological discoveries in Asiatic Turkey—notably at Nineveh and at Babylon—while at St. Petersburg and at Constantinople Mr. Kennedy had served under the greatest of the Queen Victorian ambassadors, the late Lord Dufferin. He was after- wards appointed his Majesty’s Minister in Montenegro, and at present he occupied the responsible position of Minister to the Republic of Uruguay. Sir John Byers said it was indeed remarkable the number of Ulstermen who had, like Mr. Kennedy, served their country with great distinction in the diplomatic sphere. The Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, that most versatile of men, was the most distinguished. Then, among others they had George first Earl Macartney, of Lissanoure, County Antrim, who was the first British envoy appointed to China; and the Right Hon. James Bryce, O.M., born in Belfast, who was now Ambas- The River Plate of South America and the Falkland Islands. 9 sador-Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington. It was a noteworthy fact that both Lord Macartney and Mr. Bryce had each been a Chief Secretary for Ireland. Then they had the Right Hon. Sir Charles Stewart Scott, G.C.M.G., a County Derry man, who was Ambassador at Copenhagen and to the Court of Russia; and Sir John Newell Jordan, K.C.M.G. (another County Down man), who had been Consul-General at Korea, and who at present held the extremely difficult and responsible position of Envoy-Extraordinary and Minister-Plenipotentiary at Peking. In the diplomatic service of China there were at present three brilliant North of Ireland men—Sir Robert Hart, Bart., G.C.M.G, (the most decorated man alive); Sir John M‘Leary Brown, C.M G., one of the greatest of financiers ; and Sir Robert Bredon, K.C.M.G. He (Sir John), in the name of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, welcomed Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Kennedy that evening. Mr. R. J. KENNEDY was sure they would pardon him if at the outset, in alluding to South America, he gave them some elementary information with regard to geography, as he knew, both from experience and speaking to friends with whom he had come into contact since his return, how very vague one’s ideas of geography might be without travel or special study. It might be. new to most people not giving their attention to the subject that South America in point of size comprised seven million square miles, or was more than double the size of Europe. It contained twelve Republics, and the Republics about which he wished particularly to speak that evening were those of the La Plata, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The population of Europe totalled 340 millions, while that of South America totalled 40 millions. Mr. Kennedy then gave a brief resumé of the history of the leading Republics of South America in order to lead the audience up to its present political conditions. Proceeding, he said it was his belief that they were more interested in the com- mercial affairs of these nations than in anything else. He might therefore state that South American yearly imports amounted to 10 Mr. R. J. Kennedy on £,136,000,000 sterling, and of this £37,000,000 were British, while £ 99,000,000 went to the other countries. In other words, one-third of the whole trade of South America was British. It was difficult in a short lecture to deal with twelve different Republics, and he would ask them to be satisfied with a descrip tion of one—Uruguay—assuring them that what was said of it applied ten times more to Argentina and Brazil, On the port of Monte Video £ 2,500,000 sterling had lately been spent in improvements and enlargement. The shipping reached the figure of 64 million tons, and of these 34 millions were British, 1,399,000 German, and 555,000 French. If they took the exports of Uruguay, these to Britain in 1906 amounted to £384,000, and in the following year these increased to over 1,000,000. On the other hand, this small republic imported from the United Kingdom goods to the extent of £ 2,000,000 sterling in 1906 and to the extent of nearly £3,000,000 in the subsequent twelve months. This was going on_ increasing. During a period of twenty-nine years Great Britain had headed the list of imports, but the percentage had fallen considerably. That compared unfavourably with Germany, whose imports were increasing. During the last three years while he was in Uruguay Britain’s trade had increased, and he had been able to assist its development. Speaking generally, he might say that America was “a continent in the making,” and up till now it had been to a-great extent made by the strong and influential British com- mercial communities resident in all its principal cities, but more especially in those of the River Plate republics. South America had a great future before it. The River Plate republics were, however, passing out of the stage of militarism into that of industrialism, and as their wealth increased their stability became more and more assured. That was the time for forming strong and lasting and influential friendships, and Great Britain should now realise that those Republics were worthy of more attention _ than had hitherto been accorded them. The River Plate of South America and the Falkland Islands. 11 The Hon. Mrs. Kennepy, describing a visit to the Falkland Islands, said they left Monte Video on the roth February, in the middle of very hot weather, by one of the steamers belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. There was no land visible the whole way from Monte Video to the Falkland Islands, and they did not meet a single steamer in a voyage of three days. They came across several icebergs, and these were very dangerous, especially at night. Mrs. Kennedy concluded with an interesting description of Port Stanley. A pleasing variety was lent to the lectures by a series of extremely clear lantern views, depicting many episodes of South American life and nature. Mr. JosEPH R. FisHER, B.L., in proposing a vote of thanks, said he knew he was voicing the opinion of the members of the Society when he moved that their best thanks be given to Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy for their interesting addresses. There was no better way of carrying out the aims for which the Society had been founded than by taking advantage of an opportunity for lectures such as those they had heard, and seeing what other nations were doing, and in what way they could help their own. After hearing so much about Uruguay they would readily believe that it was destined to become one of the greatest centres of civilization in the world. It afforded him sincere pleasure in moving a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. Sir Orro JarFE seconded the proposal, which was passed by acclamation, and the proceedings terminated. 26th February, IQIO. Sir JoHNn Byers, President, in the Chair. * SOME OF OUR: RARER BIRDS AND THEIR NESTING HABITS.’ By Mr. Nevin H. Foster, M.B.O.U. ( Abstract.) Mr. Foster in the course of his paper said he thought it would be admitted that no class in the animal kingdom is more universally looked on with favour than that of birds. From whatever standpoint it might be viewed, the subject was one the study of which was fascinating, and ornithological pursuits were well worthy of being encouraged. From the strictly scientific point of view many valuable lessons had been and were to be learned as to the evolution and development of birds from a reptilian ancestry. In the matter of distribution it might be thought that owing to the power possessed by most birds of rapidly transporting themselves from one place to another, even over obstacles which would form an efficient barrier to the passage of other forms of life, the class Aves would be unworthy of regard as a factor in the problems of zoo-geography. Such was by no means the case, for, although some species of birds regularly spend their winters and summers respectively in far distant localities, yet those migrations were found to be constant, and the birds could be looked for in definite localities with certainty in the proper periods of the year. In the case of resident species a natural obstruction, which to their minds seemed to be comparatively Insignificant, often proved an effective stop to the spread of a Some of our Rarer Birds and thety Nesting fHabits. 13 species. Many islands not far remote from continents harboured an avi-fauna markedly individualistic and differing widely from that of the neighbouring mainland. The subject of economic ornithology had received scanty recognition in this country. It was admitted that most of their birds were invaluable to man, but as to the usefulness or otherwise of certain species opinion was divided, and the subject demanded thorough and scientific examination. The skill displayed by birds in the construction of their nests and the assiduity with which they tended their young broods must command the admiration and respect of all. Almost 19,000 species of birds were now known to science, and of those nearly 300 were awarded a place in the Irish avifaunal list. The lecturer then proceeded to give a most interesting description of the following birds and their habits :—Golden eagle, peregrine falcon, whinchat, siskin, crossbill, chough raven, dipper, tree-sparrow, kingfisher, nightjar, waterrail, woodcock, red-necked phalarope, Canada goose, scoter, red-breasted mer- ganser, gannet, Sandwich tern, Manx shearwater, and red throated diver. The lecture was illustrated with about fifty lantern slides, together with specimens of birds from the Thomson collection, and was followed throughout with close attention. “THE CELTS ON THE CONTINENT AND IN IRELAND.” By Mr. Joun M. Dickson. (Abstract). Mr. Dickson, in the course of his paper, said in a busy com- munity like theirs but few had time to study such a complicated subject as ethnology. Too many seemed willing to accept without 14 Mr. John M. Dickson on examination such casual references to race questions as might appear from time to time in the daily papers or such other ephemeral publications, with the result that almost universal misconception prevailed even as to what race or races they in Ireland belonged. Thus they continually heard the short dark- haired aborigines (still plentiful in this country) referred to as Celts or the Celtic fringe of the population, and their peculiarities of disposition described as the Celtic temperament. He hoped to show them that these statements were directly opposite to the facts. Even Sir Horace Plunkett, whose ample experience in Ireland should have made him familiar with both types of the population, in his “Ireland in the New Century” habitually misapplied the term Celtic. But a more typical example of this false ethnography was to be found in a new geography published in 1902 by one Meiklejohn, where on page 19 they read—“ The Celtic race has been gradually edged off to the extreme West of Europe, the North-West of Scotland, the West of Ireland, the West of England, and the West of France; at one time it inhabited almost the Western half of Europe.” Now, with the rather remarkable omission of Spain and Portugal, the above fairly described the distribution, not of the Celtic, but of the old Mediterranean, race, and the phrase “edged off” very happily described the process ; but he hoped to show that the Celts had in every instance done the “edging off.” All competent ethnologists now held that the population of the British Islands was derived from two races—one the aboriginal race of Western Europe, in stature averaging 5ft. 4in., with black and slightly curly hair, dark or dark-grey eyes, and a peculiar pallor of com- plexion ; the other with an average stature of 5ft. gin., with fair or reddish hair and a preponderance of blue eyes, together with a more or less florid or generally suffused colour. The latter was now named the Gallo-Belgic race, of which the first representatives to reach Britain were the Celts, and he proposed to call to the attention of his audience what confirmation of that view might be The Celts on the Continent and in Ireland. 15 found in history and language, in the Irish traditions, as well as by observation of the population about them to-day. Mr Dickson then went into his subject in more detail. On the motion of Mr. B. W. D. MontcomeEry, seconded by Mr. ARTHUR DEANE, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Foster and Mr. Dickson. roth February, I9ro. Sir Joun Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. “SIDELIGHTS ON BIBLE HISTORY.” By Mrevk. 1. Frost. ( Abstract.) The CHAIRMAN said one of the special features of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was the great variety in the subjects brought before the members, and on that evening they were to be favoured with a lecture on archeological side- lights on Bible history. As they were aware, archzology, or the science which dealt with past civilizations, was one of unusual interest, and afforded immense scope for study, because the lines along which it could be followed were so numerous. Ireland was full of many types of antiquities, such as ecclesiastical remains, round towers, cromlechs, forths (or raths), stone monu- ments, souterrains, cairns, flint implements and ornaments,—like the famous gold Celtic torque found near Limavady,—and Ulster had produced a very able school of archeologists. At their head was the late Bishop Reeves, the most painstaking and accurate of investigators. Then there were Robert MacAdam (editor of the old Ulster Journal of Archaeology), who was so interested in philology and folk-lore; Samuel M‘Skimmin, a new edition of whose History and Antiquities of Carrickfergus was just pub- lished ; Classon Porter, who accumulated so much original material in reference to the old MacDonnells; Canon Hume, who wrote in the Ulster dialect ; Monsignor O’Laverty, who collected the ancient legends direct from the people ; Edmund Getty, a man of great antiquarian knowledge on many subjects ; and John Grattan, whose original work on the measurements of Side Lights on Bible History. 17 the skulls of human remains discovered within the round towers of Ulster is indeed a marvel of scientific research in craniology. When new Chairs and Lectureships were established recently, consequent on the formation of the Queen’s University of Belfast, the authorities wisely created one on classical archeology and ancient history, and to that new lectureship Mr. Frost, who had studied under distinguished authorities in Egypt and the old classical countries, was appointed, and it was he who was now to address them. Mr. Frost said he did not intend to give anything like a formal lecture, but rather to offer a running commentary on a number of pictures, and in connection with these he had to acknowledge the great services of Mr. Welch. Personally he did not believe that the study of the past should be regarded or treated as a dry specialisation, but should be used to illustrate the legends and books we read about. In the same spirit, in the matter of classical archeology, he wished not to oust the old grammatical training, but to reinforce it. He believed the present assault that was being made on the old literary training could best be met and repelled by bringing it more into touch with modern research. He did not consider that any amount of working through museums would or should take the place of the study of the literature of the past, as the two methods were simply different aspects of the same subject. In his remarks that night he proposed to deal with Egypt at the time of the Exodus and a little before—the period of the oppression—and with the topography of Sinai. In his various expeditions on the spot he did not go out with a pious end in view at all, but simply for camel-driving, and that entailed a great deal of im- piety. But Exodus and the Book of Numbers were recalled at every turn, and, apart from the sacred record altogether, he felt convinced on purely secular grounds the bulk of the books attri- buted to Moses must have been written by him. He said that at the outset, as he desired to leave the religious question out altogether, and to treat his subject from an exclusively secular 18 Mr. K. T. Frost on Side Lights on Bible History. aspect. He would only add in that connection that if facts and measurements and actually existing evidence were found to square with the sacred record the testimony was infinitely more signi- ficant than mere philological deductions. A succession of views were thrown upon the screen, these illustrating Biblical history in connection with Sinai, Gilead, Moab, the Jordan, Jericho, the Dead Sea, Geza, and Jerusalem. The lecturer commented on each in colloquial but graphic manner, and narrated many personal experiences of his travels in Palestine. Concluding his remarks, which were illuminated by flashes cf entertaining humour, he said the historical setting of the Biblical records supported their authenticity, quite apart from any other evidence. On the motion of Sir WILLIAM CRAWFORD, J.P., seconded by the Rev. Dr. Hanson, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Frost for his fresh arid stimulating lecture, and the pro- ceedings terminated. 6th April, Oro. Str Joun Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. “ TRYPANOSOMIASIS AND SLEEPING SICKNESS.” By PRroressor SymMMERS, M.D. (Abstract) The CHAIRMAN said they were met that evening to have the privilege of hearing a lecture from one of his most scientific medical colleagues on a subject of the greatest interest, not alone to medical men, but to the public. Modern discoveries were constantly confirming the truth of the aphorism enunciated so far back as the fifteenth century by the celebrated German- Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus, that disease comes mainly from without, and is not, as a rule, engendered within our system. Now, as they were all aware, many maladies were due to low forms of vegetable life, called, from their resemblance to rods—bacilli—and they had examples of these in typhoid, diphtheria, and consumption ; but there were also other ailments in which the actual cause was a primitive form of animal organism. It was an amoeba which gave rise to malaria, and there was a group of diseases all caused by the presence in the blood and body fluids of a species of flagellated protozoa belonging to the genus Trypanosoma, hence the term Trypanosomiasis applied to this wonderful congeries of maladies. By far the most wonderful of this remarkable group of ailments, which Professor Symmers;would discuss that evening, was the sleeping sickness, to which at present the greatest attention was being paid. They all knew that the recent opening up of equatorial Africa had led 20 Professor Symmers on to the intercommunication between tracts of that vast country which in former times were absolutely isolated from each other, and hence this dread disease had spread from the Congo to Uganda. Inreference to the second factor—how disease germs or parasites reached our bodies—there was ample evidence to show that these might be in some cases swallowed with food or drink, or inhaled, or they might enter by direct contact, as in the case of blood-poisoning, but of late they were beginning to see that insects could be the vehicles for carrying these causes of disease. Their domestic fly might convey the poison of typhoid and implant it on food, such as milk and sugar, by which it was in turn conveyed to the human system. And in the case of a disease which in autumn caused a terrible mortality among infants and young children— diarrhcea—the fly was probably one of the factors in carrying the poison-germ from its breeding- ground, especially in stables. Again, the mosquito conveyed the malarial and yellow fever organisms, and it was by a thorough crusade against these insects that the Americans were able now to cut the Panama Canal, which Dr. Lesseps failed to accomplish owing largely to the death-roll among his workers from malaria and yellow fever. At the present time the mortality among those working in this tropical district between North and South America was as low, if not lower, than it was in Belfast. It was also known that the flea played a part with the rat in carrying the plague contagion. The latest great discovery was that an insect called the tsetse fly was the vehicle by which the parasitic trypanosoma which caused the sleeping sickness was carried from person to person. Professor SYMMERS, who was received with applause, then proceeded with his lecture. About seventy years ago, he said, a French physician discovered in the body of fishes a certain microscopic animal which up to that time was unknown to science. Within two years of that time the same or a similar parasite was pointed out in the blood of frogs in quite a number of places in Europe. Lewis found rats in the neighbourhood of Trypanosomiasis and Sleeping Sickness. 21 Calcutta similarly affected. In 1902 it was found there was in Central Africa a curious disease, characterised by irregular fever, swollen glands, and red spots on the chest and back—a peculiar disease of human beings—and in the blood a trypanosome was discovered. In the following year it was found that sleeping sickness was associated with a trypanosome in the bodies of its victims. A number of animals harboured those parasites in their blood. There was a whole series of them ; scores were known, looking like each other, but differing from each other. Argentine horse fever having been described, the lecturer described the symptoms of sleeping sickness. When the natives found they were suffering from trypanosomic sickness they simply gave up ; they sold their cattle and had as good a time as possible before the inevitable end came. After a few months—or it may be years—the patient became more and more languid and less inclined to work. He became morose and emaciated, the glands in the neck swelled to a bigger size, he got a curious puffiness underneath the eyes, he had difficulty in walking, there were tremors of the tongue, and ultimately the muscles of the body showed tremors also, showing that the poison had arrived at the nervous system. Later on coma supervened, and the patient died. When the nervous tremors developed the disease was absolutely fatal. By means of lantern slides the parasites were described by Professor Symmers. These included mammalian, avian, and reptilian trypanosomes, illustrating their chief morphological characters. The tsetse fly had a peculiarity. It flew in an absolutely straight line with great rapidity, and when doing so emitted a curious hissing sound, from which it derived its name. The glossisia morsitares was a true intermediary host, and be- came capable of infecting animals. The next picture was a diagrammatical longitudinal section through culex pipiens, show- jng the distribution of the parasites in the body of the mosquito. Trypanosomes grew in the stomach of the insect, and became balled in a mass at the back of the mouth, and were ultimately passed through the proboscis into the animal that it bit. Pictures 22 Professor Symmers on Trypanosontasis of natives suffering from trypanosomiasis were shown, and horses suffering from dourine. ‘Trypanosomes destroyed the spinal cord of the animals. With regard to the geographical distribution of the disease, 200,000 people in Uganda died in six years’ time. In Spain, Hungary, European Turkey, Syria, India, Sumatra, Java, and the Phillipines there were trypanosomic diseases. Sleeping sickness was rife in the Congo basin, the Cameroons, Upper and Southern Nigeria, Togoland, the Ivory and Gold Coasts, and the Gambia; while in South America thousands of cattle perished from trypanosomic diseases. Schand’s discoveries were alluded to, and the lecturer concluded by saying that, prin- cipally owing to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, attempts had been made to discover a cure for sleeping sickness. At the present day Todd, in Toronto, had shown that a new drug was able to kill out the trypanosome in rats, and it might be that they had hit upon something that would effect a cure. Many acute observers were doing their best to make Central Africa a white man’s country. Right Hon. THomMaAs SINCLAIR moved a vote of thanks to Professor Symmers for his interesting lecture, and said they did not know whether to admire more his profound knowledge of the subject or the wonderful lucidity with which he had placed it before them. Lately he (Mr. Sinclair) had a visit from a North of Ireland gentleman who held a colonial appointment in Uganda, and the latter had informed him as to an interesting Government experiment. Around Lake Nyanza the Government were en- deavouring to clear a belt about three miles deep from the edge of the lake. They were burning and cutting down trees in which the flies causing that disease were nurtured, and they were de- porting the natives to inland places. After hearing the lecture they would watch the results of the experiment with interest. Mr. T. F. SHiLiincTon, J.P., seconded, and The motion was cordially. passed, and was conveyed by the CHAIRMAN. Professor SYMMERS having acknowledged the compliment, The proceedings terminated. ANNUAL REPORT. 1909710. a The annual meeting of the shareholders of this Society was held on October 12th, 1910, in the Belfast Museum, College Square North. Professor Sir John Byers, M.A., M.D. (Presi- dent), occupied the chair, and the attendance included the Right Roms kobert Youns, |].P.; Sir Charles Brett, Professor J. A. Lindsay. M.A., M.D.; Dr. S. W. Allworthy, Messrs. Seaton F. Moiipan, |. M.R.1.A.;. Maurice F. FitzGerald, W. H..: F. Patterson, John Horner, (honorary treasurer), A. T. Jackson, William Gray, M.R.I.A.; William Faren George M. M,Neill, Henry Riddell, M.E.; Robert Patterson, F.L.S.; H. C. Mont- gomery, W. Swanston, and Robert M. Young (honorary secretary). Apologies for absence were received from Sir Otto Jaffe, J,P.; Mr. Nevin H. Foster, and Mr. R. A. Mitchell. The notice convening the meeting having been read, The Hon. SECRETARY submitted the Annual Report, which gave a record of the work done during the past Session as follows :— The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society desire to submit their report of the working of the Society during the past year. The Winter Session was opened in the Museum on the roth November, 1909, with an address on the subject of ‘t The Ulster Dialect,” by the President, Sir John W. Byers, M.A., M.D. A Special Meeting was held on 26th November, when a lecture was kindly delivered by Mr. A. Percival Graves, M.A. ; subject, ‘Sir Samuel Ferguson, Poet and Patriot,” The Third Meeting took place on 14th December, when an illustrated lecture was kindly given by Mr. Robert J. Kennedy, C.M.G., D.L. ; subject, ‘The River Plate of South America and the Falkland Islands,” with some notes on latter by the Hon. Mrs. Kennedy. 24 Annual Meeting. The Fourth Meeting was held on 25th January, 1g10, when two papers were read—I. ‘‘Some of our Rarer Birds, and their Nesting Habits” (with. lantern illustrations) by Mr. Nevin H. Foster, M.B.O.U. II. “The Celts on the Continent and in Ireland,” by John M. Dickson. At the Fifth Meeting on the roth February, Mr. K. T. Frost, M.A., lecturer on ‘Classical Archeology and Ancient History,” Queen’s University, lectured on ‘‘ Side Lights on Bible History, with Personal Reminiscences from Palestine and Egypt ” The Sixth Meeting on 6th April was devoted to an illustrated popular lecture by Professor Wim. St. Clair Symmers, M.D. ; subject, ‘‘ Trypanosomiasis and Sleeping Sickness.” At all the meetings there were large attendances of the members and the general public. Your Society has to deplore the loss of one of its honorary members, Mr. Samuel A. Stewart, A.L.S., F.B.S.E., so long and honourably connected with the Museum as Curator. He became assistant to the late Mr. Darragh in 1880, and on the latter’s retirement in 1891 was elected Senior Curator, a post he relinquished, owing to increasing infirmity, in May 1907. At the annual meeting of that year his old friend, the late Mr. John H. Davies, so well known as a botanist, moved the vote of thanks to Mr. Stewart for “the donaticn of his exceedingly valuable Herbarium and Paleontological collections, formed during the many years of his long and active life.” The obituary notices which have appeared in various scientific journals clearly indicate the great loss our Society has sustained in the decease of our honorary member. Your Council tendered their sincere condolence to his relatives through their Secretary. Two other esteemed members have also passed away since the last Annual Meeting, Messrs. James Stelfox, M.I.C.E., and Charles Sheldon, D.Litt. Both. of them for many years were regular attenders, and took an active part in the meetings of the Society. Annual Meeting. 25 At the last Annual Meeting it was announced that, on the advice of Sir Charles Brett, two special meetings of the Council and a meeting of the Society had been held (the latter on Sep- tember 24th, 1909) and had passed a resolution ‘‘ authorising the Council of the Society to make application to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland for powers, with the consent of the Society, to transfer the collections to the Cor- poration on a basis satisfactory to both parties.” After full consideration by the Charitable Commissioners and their official advertisement on 15th November, 1909, to all persons concerned, the application of our Society to amend the scheme under which the Society is governed, was passed with the under- standing that the details of the proposed agreement between the Society and the Belfast Corporation must be submitted to the Commissioners for final approval. After further negotiations with the Belfast Corporation, on the 23rd March, 1910, a special meeting of the Society was held, at which the following resolution was discussed and passed unani- mously :—“ That the Society consents to the Council transferring to the Corporation of the City of Belfast the whole or any part of the collections and specimens, and the cases containing the same, now belonging to, or which may hereafter be acquired by the Society, to be retained permanently by the Corporation, subject to the following conditions, namely:—That, so far as practicable, all specimens, or groups of specimens, so transferred shall always have attached to them a label of some one distinctive colour, on which label there shall be printed words stating, if possible the name of the original donor. Since the termination of our official year, the deed of Gift embodying the foregoing resolution, and conveying the collections to the Belfast Corporation, was duly executed on 27th July, 1910. A Lease of the Museum premises to the Belfast Corporation was also duly executed on the same date. Your Curator, Mr. John Sinclair, resigned at the beginning 26 Annual Meeting. of this year, and Mr. George Donaldson has rendered valuable clerical assistance during the remainder of the Session. Your Council desire to express their best thanks to the local Press for reports of the various meetings. In accordance with the constitution of the Society five members of Council retire from office, four of whom are eligible for re-election, viz. :—Prof. Gregg-Wilson, Prof. FitzGerald, John Horner, and Right Hon. R. Young. Mr. Horner presented the financial statament, which was of a satisfactory character. The CHarRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said the latter indicated that the work submitted to their public meetings last session—whether as regarded variety, interest, or importance—was equal to that done during any of the previous eighty-seven years of the existence of that old Belfast society, Death had again removed several of their members. They deplored the loss of Dr. Charles Sheldon, who, for a lengthened period, was one of the headmasters of the Royal Academical Institution ; Mr. James Stelfox, C.E., who was a keen amateur in microscopic and photographic work, and whose son—Mr. A. W. Stelfox—was now the very efficient secretary of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club ; and of Mr. S. A. Stewart, who occupied the very foremost place among Irish naturalists, and whose ‘“‘ Flora of the North-East of Ireland” represented thirty years of careful field-work. He was sure they would all be pleased to learn that the negotiations between that society and the Corporation of Belfast, which were most creditable to both parties, were now practically completed. It might be well for him to explain the exact state of affairs. In 1907, that society offered the entire collection in their museum, on loan, to the Corporation of Belfast, and on 1st February, 1909, the City Council adopted so much of the Museums and Gymnasiums Act (1891) as related to museums, and they also struck a museum rate of % in the & with the view of amalgamating the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical _ Society’s collection with the municipal collection, and of providing Annual Meeting. 27 museum buildings worthy of the city in which such a joint collection would ultimately find a home. Now, in order that their society could place officially their collection at the disposal of the Corporation, acting on the authority of their legal adviser. Sir Charles Brett, they had held two special meetings of the council and a special meeting of the society (24th September, 1go9), at all of which a resolution was passed authorising the council of the society to apply to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland for powers to transfer their Museum Specimens to the Corporation. As a result, after full and careful consideration, the Charitable Commissioners allowed an alteration to be made in the scheme under which the Natural History and Philosophical Society was governed, with the understanding that the details of the proposed agreement between the society and the Belfast Corporation were to be submitted to the Commissioners for final approval. After further negotiations, at a_ special meeting of the society, held on 23rd March, 1910, the resolution quoted in the annual report was, after discussion, passed unanimously. The Charitable Commissioners having finally approved of this arrangement, the deed of gift embodying this resolution conveying the collection to the Belfast Corporation, was duly executed on 27th July, 1910, and the lease of the Museum premises to the Belfast Corporation was also signed on the same occasion. During all these protracted negotiations the greatest care had been taken to consult the society, to act with the approval of their legal adviser, Sir Charles Brett, and, finally, to submit everything over which they had authority to the Charitable Commissioners. He would also like to emphasise the extreme fairness shown by those actfng for the Corporation in all these transactions. The condition of matters at present was that the City Council had taken from them the old Museum, where the Curators of the Municipal Museum were at present cataloguing the specimens, and they were paying the society a rent for it— mutually arranged—,while the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society would continue as hitherto to hold their 28 Annual Meeting. meetings in the present Museum buildings, the City Council charging them a nominal sum for each occasion the large lecture- room was used. When, however, the new Municipal Museum was built, it was expected it would contain a fine modern lecture theatre—such as the one in the Royal Dublin Society’s Museum-— where not only their society but other kindred educational bodies would meet. When, in time, all the specimens had been housed in this new City Museum, the Corporation would give up the old Museum again, and the Natural History and Philosophical Society could then by letting the vacant old museum increase considerably their finances, this additional revenue being spent absolutely and entirely on scientific objects, as they were obliged to do by their trust scheme, such as bringing able lecturers to address them, or in any other manner that their scheme allowed, so that in this way the public would be the real gainers. By the new arrangement, now completed, their specimens would be suitably housed, systematically classified, advantageously arranged for teaching purposes, and properly and constantly looked after by the efficient curator of the Municipal Museum and his able assistant, while the Corporation would acquire an extremely valuable collection which would be a fine nucleus for their new museum. They would get, among many other objects, first, the famous specimens of Irish antiquities, which they owed largely to George Benn, the historian of Belfast, and his brother Edward ; second, the unique collection* of North of Ireland fossils, pre- sented, among others, by Right Honourable Robert Young, Mr. W. Swanston, and the two MacAdams ; and third, the collection of Irish birds brought together largely by Mr. William Thompson, who for twenty-six years was a distinguished ornament of that Note.—This collection was generously augmented and arranged by members of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club, of whom Messrs. Professor Ralph Tate, F.L.S..; Hugh Robinson, M.R.I.A.; S. A. Stewart, A.L.S. ; William Gray, M.R.I.A.; W. Swanston, F.G.S.; and Joseph Wright, F.G.S., were elected afterwards Honorary Associates of our Society. More ' recently the Thompson collection was re-arranged and valuable additions made by Mr. Robert Patterson, F.L.S., M.R.I.A., and some friends. Annual Meeting. 20 society, and who was president during nine sessions. Mr. Thompson, who was a brother of the late Mr. James Thompson, of Macedon, was a remarkably able scientific man, much ahead of his time. He wrote ‘“‘ The Natural History of Ireland,” a monumental work which was still the standard book on the subjects with which it dealt. After his death, in 1832, the members of the Natural History and Philosophical Society erected a memorial to him in the form of an additional room added to the museum, the “Thompson Room,” in which were placed the private collections bequeathed by him to the museum. Among this unique collection there are three birds which were still the only Irish specimens, and one—Sabine’s gull—which is the first Irish specimen of the kind. Fourthly, the Corporation would also secure the very important ethnological specimens gathered together by Mr. G. A. Thomson, a brother of the late senior director of the Belfast Bank, Mr. John Thomson. Mr. Gordon Thomson’ was a man of easy means, who was a great traveller. He enriched the museum with articles from the north-west coast of America, as well as from South America and the South Sea Islands. He lived in a curious house— now no more—on the Crumlin Road, modelled after a South American residence, and known as “ Bedeque House ”— hence the name Bedeque street. Fifthly, they would have thé Crozier collection of Arctic Birds given by Captain F. P. Crozier, who afterwards perished with Sir John Franklin in the ill-fated Erebus and Terror expedition, which left England in 1845. Crozier was a native of Banbridge, where a monument was erected to him. Quite apart from, and beyond, the advantages which both the Natural History and Philosophical Society and their City Corporation would gain by the new arrangement they had mutually agreed upon, it was the public who would be really most benefited, because in these days of the education of the people why should such splendid collections be preserved only for the few instead of for the many? Placed as they would be ultimately in a new modern museum, under the care of the Library and 30 Annual Meeting. Technical Instruction Committee of the Corporation, which was now so closely and so wisely joined to the Queen’s University of Belfast, they would be of value to the students, not alone of Belfast, but of the whole of the North of Ireland. In conclusion, after expressing how much they owed the Belfast Press for the admirable reports they gave of their meetings, Sir John Byers said he wished, in the name of every member of that society, to thank their honorary secretary, Mr. R. M. Young, who had laboured for a quarter of a century to make it successful, and also their honorary treasurer, Mr. John Horner, who, as a member of the Library and Technical Instruction Committee, had done so much to further the negotiations which had terminated so auspiciously between the society and the Council. Right Honourable R. Youn formally seconded the motion. Mr. William Gray, in supporting, said he would like to take that opportunity of saying that he thoroughly endorsed all that had been said by Sir John Byers, especially everything he had stated as to the advantages that would accrue from the placing of the society’s collection in the proposed new museum. So long ago as the year 1869 he had advocated the provision of some - such central museum, and it was with that object in view that be became one of the first to urge the adoption of the Free Libraries Act in Belfast. Mr. Gray went on to allude to the arrangements made in connection with the agreement with the Corporation. In answer to a question by Mr. A. T. Jackson, Sir Charles Brett explained some of the provisions in the agreement, and after further conversation in which Mr. Gray and Mr. H. Riddell took part, The resolution was passed. _ On the motion of Mr. Gray, seconded by Dr. ALLWorTHY, the following were elected members of the council of the society :— Right Honourable Robert Young, J.P. ; Sir James Henderson D.L. ; Professor Grege Wilson, Mr. Maurice F, FitzGerald, and Mr. John Horner, Annual Meeting. 31 A vote of thanks was accorded to the chairman, on the proposition of Mr. RIDDELL, seconded by Mr. MontTcomeEry, and Sir JoHN Byers having replied, The proceedings terminated. At a subsequent meeting of the council the following office- bearers were elected for the ensuing year :—President, Sir John W. Byers, M.A., M.D. ; vice-presidents, Sir James Henderson, Meek. ; Sir Otto Jaffe, LL.D, J.P-; Mr. Robert Patterson, F.L.S.; Mr. Wm. Swanston, F.G.S.; honorary treasurer, Mr. John Horner; honorary librarian, Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D.; honorary secretary, Mr. R. M. Young, B.A., EeRIB.A., J.P o161 snsny jo Aep yIo€ sty paieq ‘dd nyo GUVHOI JDa1109 SI JUNOSDW Surosei0j vy} yey. AjtqI199 J] ‘o161 sn3ny jo Avp yibe siya poyeq reoyO Sununocoy ‘“YANYOH NHOL ‘10UI2A0D “ONNOA ‘W LUAAOU UNODDY IN4} B St sAoqge ayy IYI AjrI199 oy "yY901G sInjueqeaq 3uUEeD Jed %r “pyy “og Suruutds 199.9 yIOA 9YyI UT JUNODDY SIyI JO Jpeio 943 0} Sulpurjzs oov¥ jo wns ¥ SI aieyy soULTeEq sAoqe ety sapissq—‘q'N quawxeg [BIO], | SNOsUL][IOST]AY ysor1aqUy "S907 aouvinsuy sexy pur [en sa5eysog SuISsIJIZApV SUUILg —:-z1A ‘sqyusudeg 1y1Q ‘ mrnwMmo L 6 ° 9 6 ° L z + +00 H TOD: 3 19 Be Salie[es Gis s ze ‘omy ‘saxey, puv quay a ES "929 ‘sasTtaig Jo s0uBUaqUTe yy _— : sBurpeay BUIMOTIOS Sua poe sjuswAevg jo sjunowy ‘* 6o6r ‘rf Avy ‘YUe_ AaIsTA enp soured Agy aHOaUVHOSIG S + oy yUe_ 193S[( eNp souejeg unasn]y 0} Suotssiupy —! ‘ZA ‘sidta09y SnosUET [POST te squsy SPuSpeG suondriosqns oy, “HOUVHO ‘OIGI ‘Tidy YI0E pepus 1BaX ay} 104 1G AJaI90S yeorydosojiyg pue Ksojsipy jeinjen’ ysejjag ay} Jo JuNnossy ayy "SZ “YD “PIA OF Y Br ‘S88I SLOV (GNVTAUl) SLNAWMOGNY IVWNOLLVOnNGa 33 EXCHANGES. ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. ALBANY.—Annual Report of New York State Museum. Austin—Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science. BasEL.—Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel. BeLFrast.—Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalist Field Club. BERGEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog and Crustacea of Norway. BoLocna.—Rendiconto della R. Accademia dell’ Instituto di Bologna. BouLpER.— University of Colarado College Studies. BremMEeN.—Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. BresLau.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie vom Verein fir Schles sicke Insektenkunde BricHton.—Annual Report of Brighton and Hove Natural History and Philosophical Society. BrisBANE.—Annals of the Queensland Museum. BROoKLYN.—Science Bulletin of Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. BRuSSELS.—Bulletin de la Societé Royale de Botanique. 5 Annales de la Société Royale Zoologique et Molaco- logique de Belgique. 5 Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. Buenos Ayres.—Anales des Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. BurraLo.—Bulletin of Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Catcutra.—Records of the Geological Survey of India. M4 Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. is Botanical Series and Entomological Series, also the Agricultural Journal of India. CAMBRIDGE.—-Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, also Curator’s Report. Carpirr.—Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society. 34 Exchanges. CarpirF.—Report of the Welsh Museum of Natural History. CassELL.—Abhandlungen des Vereins fur Naturkunde zu Kassel. CurisTiANiA.—Forkandlinger 1 Videnskabs-Selskabet 1 Chris- tiania. CINCINNATI.—Bulletin of the Lloyd Library. CoLorRADO SprinGcs.—Colorado College Studies, also Science series and Engineering series. Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gelleschaft in Danzig. DaveNnpoRT.—Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. Dusiin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, also Scientific Proceedings and Economic Proceedings. | EDINBURGH.—Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edin- burgh. as Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. - Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. EmpEN.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Emden. Grenoa.—Rivista Ligure di Scienze, Letture, ed Arti. GirssEN.— Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Heilkunde zu Giessen. Guiascow.—Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society. Goruitz.—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Gorlitz. Hameurc.—Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. INDIANAPOLIS. — Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences. KHARKOW.—-Transactions of the Society for Physico Chimiques of Kharkow University. Kirw.—Memortrs of the Society of Naturalists of Kieff. LAUSANNE.— Bulletin de Société des Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles. LAWRENCE.—Science Bulletin of the University of Kansas. Lreps.—Annual Report, Philosophical and Literary Society. Lerpsic.—Sitzungberichte des Naturforschenden Gesellschaft vu Leipzig. Exchanges. 35 Lima.—Boletin del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. Lonpon.—Report of the 76th Meeting of the British Association, also Report of the Corresponding Societies’ Committee. ry Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. Re Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Ms Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. Memoirs of the Astronomical Society. . Guide Books, British Museum (Natural History). Mapison.—Bulletin and Maps of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Wisconsin. Mapras.— Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. MANCHESTER. —Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society. MELBOURNE—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Mexico. — Boletin Mensual del Observatoria Meteorologico Magnetico Central de Mexico, also Anuaria. ‘s Boletin de Instituto Geologico de Mexico. MILWAUKEE—Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History Society. MINNEAPOLIS.—-Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. MissouLa.-—Bulletin of the University of Montana. MonTeEvipEo.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo. MonTREAL.—Reports and Maps, Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada. Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. New Yorxk.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. NotTTinGHaM.—Annual Report and Transactions of the Notting- ham Naturalists’ Society. OtrawAa.—Annual Report of Geological Survey, Oxrorp.—The Ashmolean Natural History Society. Papua.—Atti della Accademia Scientifica Veneto-Trentin Istriana. PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. sh Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 36 Exchanges. Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturli. Rio DE JANIERO.—Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janiero. RocHesTER, N.Y.—Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science. RomrE.—Journal of the British and American Archeological Society. Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. g Bollettino della Societa Zoologica Italiana. San Francisco.—Proceedings of the Californian Academy of Sciences. STAVANGER.—Aarshefte of Stavanger Museum. STIRLING.—Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archeological Society. STOCKHOLM.—Kungl Svenska Vetenskaps Academiens Hand- lingar. SypNEy.—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia. Tokyo.— Mitteilungen der Deutschen Geselleschaft fir Natur und Volkerunde Ostasiens. TRENTON, N.J.—Archzologia Nova Czesarea. Upsata.— Bulletin of the Geological Institute of Upsala Univer- sity. Vienna.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo- gischen Reichsanstalt. WasHINGTON.—Year Book of the Department of Agriculture. : Annual Report of the American Bureau of Ethnology. x Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Contributions to Know- ledge, and Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- tions. 55 Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washing- ton. York.-- Annual Report of Yorkshire Philosophical Society. ZuRicH.— Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zurich. ” BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY ND EEA bOSOPHICAL }BOCIETY. Officers and Council of Management for IQI0-I1. President : SIR JOHN W. BYERS, M.A., M.D. Vice=Presidents : SIR JAMES HENDERSON, ROBERT PATTERSON, F. t.s. aiibon IOSIO55 Male WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.«G.s. SIR JOLTTO JAFFE, Lu.p.,. J.P. bon. Treasurer: JOHN HORNER. thon. Librarian : PROFESSOR J. A. LINDSAY, M.a., M.p, bon. Secretary : ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A., j.P.,. MaR.I.A. Council : SiR JOHN W. BYERS, M-A., M.D. JOHN M. FINNEGAN, B.a., B.SC., Sec. Q.U.B. MAURICE F. FITZGERALD, B.a., M.1I.M.E,, A.M.I.C.R- NEVIN H. FOSTER. SIR JAMES HENDERSON, a.M., D.L., J.P. PROFESSOR J. A. LINDSAY, M.4., M.D., F.R.C.P, JOHN HORNER. Sim OTTO JAFFE, Jj.pP., LL.D. SEATON F. MILLIGAN, mM.R.1.4.. J.P. ROBERT PATTERSON, F.L.Si5. M.R-L.Auy» F.Z:S.5 M.BO.U. HENRY RIDDELL, M.z. WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.cGs. PROFESSOR GREGG WILSON, p.sc., M.R.1.A. RIGAT TON. ROBERT YOUNG, P.c., C.E., J.P. ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A., J.P., F.R.I.B.A. SHAREHOLDERS. [*Denotes holders of three or more Shares]. * Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast Allworthy, S. W., m.p., Manor House, Antrim Road, do * Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S. (Representatives of), Holywood, Co. Down Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R c.s.Eng., University Square, Beltast Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do Andrews, George, J.P., Ardoyne, do Armstrong, William, Donegall Square West, do Armstrong, William, Thronemount, do Baird, Capt. William, Royal Avenue, do Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone, Co. Antrim Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.4., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, do *Boyd, J. St. Clair, M.p,, Chatsworth, Malone Road, do Braddell, Edward, 35 St. Andrew’s Road, Bedford Brett, Sir Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, Belfast - Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park =. do Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue do Bristow, John, Wellington Place do Brown, John, F.R.S., A.M.1.E.E., Longhurst, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Burrowes, W.B., Ballynafeigh House, Belfast Byers, Sir John W., M.a., M.D., Lower Crescent, do *Brown, George B., Lisnamore, Ormeau Road, do Braithwaite, W. T., Botanic Avenue, do Barnett, Miss Mary, Ardmore, Holywood Calwell, William, M.A., M.D., 6 College Gardens, Belfast *Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do Carr, A. H. R., Waring Street, do Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, ~ Holywood ‘*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor, Co. Down *Christen, Mrs. Rodolphe, St. Imier, Brig of Gairn, Ballater, N.B. Shareholders. 39 Clark, George S., p.L., Dunlambert, Belfast Clarke, E. H., Notting Hill, do Connor, Charles C., M.a., J.P., College Gardens, do Crawford, Sir William, J.p., Mount Randal, do Craig, Edwin E., Craigavon, Strandtown, do Corbett, Miss K. M. do Combe, Barbour, Ltd. do Davies, A. C., Lenaderg House, Banbridge, Co. Down *Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representatives of) Dixon, Professor, M.A., SC.D., F.R.S., Hurstwood, Malone Park Belfast Dods, Robert, B.A., J P., St. Leonard’s, Newcastle, Co. Down * Donegall, Marquis of (Representatives of) Belfast *Downshire, Marquis of (Representatives of), The Castle, Hillsborough, Co. Down Duffin, Adam, LL.D., j.p., Dunowen, Cliftonville, Belfast Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Representatives of) Ballywalter, Co. Down Ewart, G. Herbert, M.A., J.P., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast Ewart, Fred W., M.a., B.L. Derryvolgie, Lisburn Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart, M.a., J.P., D.L., Glen- machan House, Belfast Elliott, E. J., Donegall Park, do Farren, Wm., Mountcharles, do *Fenton, Francis G., Paris Ferguson, G. W., c.£.. J.p., Carnamenagh, Antrim Road, Belfast Finlay, Fred W., j.p., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel, do Finlay, Robert H. F., Cavehill Road, do Finnegan, John, B.A., B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue do FitzGerald, Professur Maurice F., B.A., M.I.M.E., ASSOC. M.I.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, do Foster, Nevin Harkness, Hillsborough, Co. Down Fisher, J. R., 8.L., Alexandra Gardens, Belfast 40 Shareholders. Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), Belfast Gibson, Andrew, F.R.S.A.1., Fairfield, Lansdowne Road, do Girdwood, H. M., Broughton Flax Mills, Manchester Gordon, Malcolm, Hilden, Lisburn Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A. (Representatives of), Broughshane, Co. Antrim Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast *Hall, Frederick H., Waterford Hamilton, Rev. Thomas, D.D., LL.D., Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University, Belfast *Hamilton, Hill, j.p. (Representatives of), do Harland, Capt. W., Eaton Terrace, London, W. Henderson, Sir James, A.M., J.P, D.L., Oakley, Windsor Park, Belfast Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte (Representatives of), Clarges Street, London Henry, Professor R. M., M.A., Wellington Park, Belfast Herdman, John, J.P., D.L., Carricklee House (Representatives Of)s Strabane *Herdman, Robert Ernest, J,p., Merronhurst, Craigavad, Co. Down Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, Belfast Hind, John, jun., The Deanery, Carrickfergus Hodges, Miss Belfast Hogg John, Academy Street, do Hazelton, W. 'D., Old Forge, Dunmurry Horner, John, Drum-na-Coll, Antrim Road, Belfast *Houston, John Blakiston, J.p., v.L., Orangefield, do. *Hughes, Edwin, j.p., Dalchoolin, Craigavad, Co. Down Hunter, William, j.p., Fortwilliam Villas, Belfast Jackson, A. T., c.z., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie Avenue, do. Jaffe, Sir Otto, J.p., 1L.D., Kin Edar, Strandtown, _ do. Johnston, Samuel A., J.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Dalguise, Monkstown, Dublin Shareholders. AI Kidd, Miss Helen, Castlerock, Co. Derry *Kinghan, John R., Belfast Kinnaird, George Y., Malone Park, do. Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do. Lanyon, Mrs., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, do. Larmor, Sir Joseph, M.A., D.SC., LL.D., F.R.A.S., S€C.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge Leathem, R. R., m.p., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast. Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, J.p., Edgecumbe, Strandtown, do. Lepper, F. R., J.p. Elsinore(Representatives of), Carnalea, Co. Down Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., F.c.S., Shirley Lodge, Cultra, do. Lindsay, Professor James A., M.a., M.D., Queen’s Elms, Belfast Mackenzie, John, c.E., J.P., 412 Lisburn Road, Belfast *Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do. Magill, J. E., Elmwood Avenue, do. Malcolm, Bowman, M.I.C.E., M.1.M.E,, Ashley Park, Antrim Road, do. Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.I.MAR.E., Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, do. Mayes, William, Derramore Park, © do. Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.I.A., F.R.S.A.L, J.P., Bangor, Co. Down Mitchell, Robert A., LL.B., T.c.D., Marmont, Strandtown, Belfast Montgomery, Henry C., Bangor, Co. Down Montgomery, H. H., Strandtown, Belfast Montgomery, Thomas, J.P, D.L., Ballydrain House (Representatives of), Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Moore, James, J.p., The Finaghy, Belfast Morton, Professor, W. B., m.A., Nottinghill, do. Muir, A. H., Scottish Provident Buildings, do. Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do. “Murphy, Isaac James (Representatives of), Armagh *Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do. *Musgrave, Henry, p.L., Drumglass, Malone, do. 42 Shareholders. Milligan, A., Springfield Road, Belfast M‘Bride, Henry James, J.P., Hyde Park, Mallusk, do. M‘Bride, Samuel, Edgehill, Lennoxvale, do. *M ‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London *M‘Cammon, Thos. P., Plaisted, Woodville, Holywood, Co. Down MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, Belfast MacCormac, John M., m.p., Victoria Place, do. M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down *M‘Cracken Francis (Representatives of). Macllwaine, John H. (Representatives of), Mornington Park, Bangor, Co. Down M‘Kisack, H. L., m.p., University Square, Belfast *MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen’s Elms, do. M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do. Neill, Sharman D., Martello Terrace, Holywood, Co. Down Nicholson, Henry P., Belfast O’Neill, Henry, M.D., J.P., B.L., College Square East, do. O’Rorke, Mrs., Dunratho, Craigavad, Co. Down Orr, Hugh L., Woodstock Road, Belfast Park, Rev. Wm., M.a., Garthowen, Sans Souci Park, do. Patterson, Edward Ferrar, Ballyholme Road, Bangor, Co. Down Patterson, Mrs. David C., Holywood, do. Patterson, John, Dunallan, Windsor Avenue, Belfast Patterson, Richard, J.P., Kilmore. Holywood, Co. Down Patterson, Robert, M.R.I.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., Glenbank, do. do. Patterson, William H,, m.r.1.4., Garranard, Strandtown, Belfast Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Knock, do. Pim, Edward W., J.p., Elmwood Terrace, do. Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, _ Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.E., M.R.1.A., National Library, Dublin Reade, Robert H. S., J.p., p.t., Wilmont, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Shareholders. 43 Riddell, Henry, M.z., 64 Gt. Victoria Street, Belfast Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do. Shillington, Thos. Foulkes, j.p., Dromart, Antrim Road, do. Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.a., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do. Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s. Eng., University Square, do. Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do. Smyth, John, M.a., c.E., Milltown, Banbridge, Co. Down Speers, Adam, B.SCc., J.P., Riversdale, Holywood, do. Steen, William C., M.D., Margate Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, Belfast Stelfox, Arthur W., a.r.1.B.A., Chlorine Gardens, do. Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do. Symington, Prof, Johnson, M.D., F.R.S.E., Windsor Gardens, do. Symmers, W. St. Clair, Queen’s University. *Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do. *Tennent, Robert James (Representatives of), Rushpark, do. Torrens, T. H., D.L., J.P., Wellington Place, do. *Turnley, John (Representatives of), do. Walkington, Miss Jane A, Osborne Gardens, Belfast Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, do *Webb, Richard T., Kensington Villa, Knock Avenue Road, do. Whitla, Prof. Sir William, M.p., J.p., College Square North, do. Wilson, Prof. Gregg, M.A., PH.D., D.SC., M.R.I.A., Queen’s University, do. Wilson, James, M.E. (Representatives of). *Wilson, Walter H., Belvoir Park (Representatives of), do. *Wilson, W. Perceval, do. *Wolff, G. W., j.p., The Den, Strandtown, do. Workman, Francis, The Moat, Strandtown, do. Workman, John, j.P., Lismore, Windsor, do. Workman, Rev. Robert, m.a., Rubane House, Glastry, Co. Down *Workman, F. W., Corporation Street, Belfast Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, do. ‘Workman, T. (Representatives of). 44 _ Shareholders. Young, Right Hon. Robert, p.c., c.E., J.p., Rathvarna, *Voung, Robert Magill, B.a., J.P. M.R..A., Rathvarna, HONORARY ASSOCIATES. Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, Wright, Joseph, r.c.s., Alfred Street, ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS. Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Northern Banking Company, Ltd., Ulster Bank, Ltd., York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA. ' Boyd, John, Holland Park, Neill’s Hill, Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, Fulton, G. F., Howard Street, Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, Hanna, J. A., j.P., Marietta, Knock, Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park, Lynn, William H., Antrim Road, M‘Laughlin, William H., j.p., Macedon, Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.C.S.1., Lower Crescent, Swiney, J. H. H., B.a., B.E., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, Thompson, John, J.P., Mount Collyer, 20 FEB. 1911 Belfast do. Belfast do. do. Belfast do. do. do. Belfast do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. a7 $$ 1 ae Report and Proceedings OF THE BHELEAS'T Natural History and Philosophical Society FOR THE i . ii 7 x aS e 2 SS y HeES> SHSSIOWN 1910-11- BELFAST : PRINTED BY MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET, (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). , i 1911. eee $$$] 523 Report and Proceedings OF THE BEDLEMAST Natural History and Philosophical Society FOR THE SESSIOW 1910-11. BELFAST : PRINTED BY MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET. (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). HOU: CONTENTS. A Plea for Art—Ernest Normand... Some Characteristics of Medieval Chronicles—Professor Powicke Explorations in Nubia—Professor Elliot Smith The Progress of Technical Instruction—F. C. Forth Some Theories of Genius ~-H. L. Stewart, M.A., D.Ph. ... “ Some Facts in the Life History of a Water Beetle—F. Balfour-Browne, M.A., F.R.S.E. The Hungarian Slavs—Dr. Seton-Watson Annual Report and Meeting Balance Sheet Exchanges ron List of Office Bearers . List of Shareholders ... Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 5 (0) @ ESTABLISHED 1821. q (©) 5 CONSTITUTION. The membership of the Society consists of Shareholders in the Museum, Annual Subscribers (Associates), Honorary Members and Honorary Associates Shares in the Museum cost 47 each. A holder of one Share pays an annual contribution of ten shillings ; a holder of two Shares (in one certificate) an annual contribution of five shillings ; while a holder of three or more Shares (in one certificate) is exempt from annual payments. Shares on which the annual payments as above are in arrear are liable to forfeiture. The Council retain the right to decline to consolidate two or more share certificates into one certificate. Annual Subscribers (Associates) pay 41 Is (one guinea), due 1st November in each year in advance. A General Meeting of Shareholders in the Museum is held annually in May or June, or as Soon thereafter as convenient, to receive the Report of the Council and the Statement of Accounts for the preceding year, to elect members of Council, to repiace those retiring by rotation or for other reasons, and to transact any other business incidental to an annual meeting. Share- holders only are eligible for election on the Council. The Council elect, from among their own number, a President and other officers of the Society. Eack member has the right of personal attendance at the ordinary lectures of the Society, and has the privilege of introducing two friends for admission to such. The session for lectures extends from November to May. Any further information required may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary. A ai £4 iain ’ 4 ot hae rk ae svi : lt ve a ae gi st } sed dain ie iy a‘ ra f a feat de - Gn ae Pat yy a aris be ie Z BELFAST NATURA dis LORY Pani PrMLOSOPHICAL »SOCIETY | SESSION trogto-t1. 16th November, 1910. Sir JoHn W. Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. iN Pip Ar hORGART?? By Mr. Ernest NORMAND. ( Abstract. ) THE CHAIRMAN said his first duty was to return his most grateful thanks for the great honour that they had done him in his re-election as president of that Natural History and Philoso- phical Society, which was founded as far back as 1821. He was glad to be able to announce that, thanks to the efforts of their very capable Secretary, Mr. R. M. Young, they were during the ensuing session to have a series of most interesting addresses, and the first—to be given that evening, ‘““A Plea for Art”—was by Mr. Ernest Normand, who, for the past twenty-five years, had been a prominent exhibitor of important subject-pictures at the Royal Academy and tne Corporation galleries in Great Britain, several of which had acquired large works from his brush. As they were all aware, Mr. Normand’s wife (“Henrietta Rae”) was also a most distinguished painter. Mrs. Normand exhibited annually at the Royal Academy, and many of them were familiar with her work. Mr. NorMAND, who was received with applause, said he had been asked to address them on some topic allied to the practice of his own profession, and he had selected a subject which, lying 6 Mr. Ernest Normand on well within the province of a painter, might perhaps also be made of interest to a lay audience if treated not too technically. Only ten years ago, when he received his first invitation to that neigh- bourhood, he was assured by several prominent men that any attempt on his part to galvanize the community into even a semblance of interest in matters artistic could but end in vexatious futility. Belfast was said to be so intent on building up fortunes that its citizens could not possibly be deflected from that all- absorbing pursuit by any such topic as the one he then proposed to introduce, which was the establishment of a municipal art gallery in the city, Now, however, he returned on a similar invitation to the one which first brought his wife and himself amongst them, and it was borne in upon him that the necessary incentive, not only in the interim spontaneously generated from within, but that it had already borne fruit of surprising dmiensions and quality. An undeniable esthetic impulse was manifesting itself in that great city; celebrated musicians found it worth their while to win the approbation of the citizens, art was being dis- cussed intelligently, things were moving in the right direction, and a healthy spirit was evident on all sides. in Belfast they had the inestimable advantage of being able to profit by the failures and the successes of some twenty municipal galleries in England. When once they had their gallery, with its annual exhibition of invited works, they would speedily find a vast improvement in the works of their local artists. They had excellent talent amongst their designers, many of whom were seeking to express themselves in pictorial effort, but they were necessarily groping in the dark, and had only the standard of their own work by which to measure themselves. For want of a properly constituted con- trolling body, such as one found in Paris, they were running a grave risk of interfering with the grandeur of their City Hall by an indiscriminate introduction around it of statues, most of which were out of scale to the building they were hemming in. They started extremely well with the Dufterin Memorial, and it did not need a trained eye to convince the spectator that its architectural A Plea for Art. 7 features were entirely in sympathy with the main building. The sculpture fell into its proper relative position, and explained the sculptor’s intentions at a glance, while at the same time its pro- portions were noble and convincing. Neither could any exception be taken to the memorial to the late Queen Victoria, which was also in scale with the building, and was well placed. Moreover, the success of the group as sculpture alone was undeniable, and it was undoubtedly one of Brock’s finest efforts. Concluding, the lecturer referred to some of the other objects which a municipal art gallery might serve, and said municipalities, and municipalities alone, could encourage that monumental art in painting as in sculpture which was the true national as distinguished from domestic art. The Municipal Art Gallery exercised an ennobling influence on the community as a whole. They taught the workers who visited them that there were realms at present entirely beyond their ken where they could at times obtain at least temporary oblivion from the sordid cares of their colourless lives. Through the eyes and the brain of the artist they learned to appreciate the manifold beauties of nature, and asa result of this life came to have a new meaning for them. Mr. Garret NAGLE, R.M., in moving a vote of thanks to the lecturer, said Mr. Normand appeared before them that night in his dual personality—in his own personality as a most eminent painter and in his personality as the husband of an equally distinguished fainter. He referred to his wife, Henrietta Rae, whose fame and works were so well known in Belfast. In that delightful paper Mr. Norman had interwoven so many charming anecdotes of the interesting people, painters and artists, with whom he had come in contact that he had kept attention riveted upon him. He had also told them of what had been done in the cause of art by municipal authorities in other parts of the United Kingdom and of the magnificent art galleries they had provided. They hoped before long to see in this city an art gallery worthy of Belfast filled 8 Mr. Ernest Normand on a Plea for Art. with works of most eminent artists, and which would be capable of affording pleasure to the citizens in general. Professor SINCLAIR, in seconding the motion, said he supposed as a Belfastman he should plead guilty to the charge that Mr. Norman had levelled against them as a city that their artistic instinct had either been latent or was non-existent. They looked forward with the greatest possible confidence to a renaissance or revival of art in Belfast. Tue CHAIRMAN, in putting the motion (which was carried by acclamation), said it had been suggested that art was either latent or non-existent in Belfast, but he would be disposed to take another view, and to say that it had been undeveloped. In the past the city had produced artists who had won fame in a much wider field connected with it, although perhaps they had not all received their training here. ‘There were men hike M ‘Dowell, the Royal Academician, and Atkins, an artist who died too early to allow of full expression being given to the powers he possessed, while a short distance from the building in which they were now met John Lavery, perhaps the greatest portrait painter of the present day, was born. © Mr. Normaw, in reply, said his principal object in delivering the lecture was to provoke discussion, and he thought he had succeeded in doing that. It was very evident that in art matters Belfast had made great progress in recent years. 13th December, I9gro. Sir Joun W. Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. ‘SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIEVAL CHRONICLES.” By PRoFESSOR POWICKE. | (Abtract). THE CHAIRMAN said they were to have the pleasure of listening to what he was sure would be a most instructive address by his colleague, Mr. Powicke, the able professor of modern history in their university, and the dean of the new Faculty of Commerce. It was only natural that one engaged, like Mr. Powicke, in the special study and in the teaching of history, should draw their attention to the medieval chronicles, which were really very important ancient annals of the various countries in which they existed, and which, as such, furnished often the earliest historical prose of any European vernacular. In Ireland they had the famous “ Annals of the Four Masters,” but long previous to these a very early and ancient volume of chronicles and other records of the country was preserved in the old Abbey of Fathain (Fahan), on the west coast of Innishowen, founded by St. Mura. In this monastery there was also preserved a metrical account of the acts of St. Columba. They had also the “Annals of Clonmacnoise,” reaching from the earliest periods down to 1408 ; the Annals of Lough Ce,” and others. Professor PowicKE, in the course of his lecture, said the characteristic of the Middle Ages was belief in law and the universal, not so much as a result of science, but as a rule of life. The modern social order went back to the Middle Ages, during 10 Professor Powicke {on which the Roman Empire made terms with the barbarian world, This belief in the essential unity of things explained many anomalies, including those of the medieval chronicle. Every writer who wished to be more than a parochial annalist stretched his story upon a chronological framework, which had its origin in the harmony of sacred and pagan chronology made by Eusebius. In the Latin translation of St. Jerome the chronicle of Eusebius became the basis of Western history. It was continued by numerous writers and was combined with the official lists of Roman consuls, which were made down to the sixth century. At different periods in medieval times universal histories were compiled which were continuations of these continuations. The lecturer proceeded to refer to the work of Marianus Scotus and Sigebert of Genblou, and said this work was, in its turn, continued by Robert of Torigny, a monk of Bec, who became Abbot ef Mont St. Michel, and through him it came into England. Robert, who lived in the middle of the twelfth century, came in contact with what was a kind of Celtic revival. In the previous century Tigernach had worked the traditions and records of Ireland into the Eusebian chronology, and now Geoffrey of Monmouth and others were writing down the legends of the British kings. Robert of Torigny, however, refused to tamper with the work of Eusebius and St. Jerome by inserting the exploits of Arthur and his pre- decessors. The lecturer then turned to the influence of St. - Augustine and Orosius upon historical writing, and especially upon the universal chronicles of Isidore of Seville and of Bede. The ecclesiastical point of view, emphasized by St. Augustine, was apparent in the work of Gregory of Tours and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History ; but gradually the Divine character of secular history was asserted, and it found a classical expression in the Convivio of Dante. In the second part of his lecture Professor Powicke dealt with some different types of chronicle, and traced the development of the monastic annals and the Royal annals of the Carolingian period. Turning to the scholarship and the historical method of the better medieval chronicles, he referred to the influence of the Some Characteristics of Medieval Chronicles. wt ‘“‘chansons de geste” and political history in the vernacular upon the older forms, and said Villani’s chronicle, in which rising Florence was preferred to waning Rome, might be regarded as marking a transition to the modern criticism of history. In Machiavelli’s Discourses on Living they found the definite expression of the opposite point of view to that of Bede or Orosius. On the motion of Mr. A. B. WiLson, seconded by Mr. C. M. CUNNINGHAM, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to Professor Powicke for his lecture, and afterwards Mr. J. M. Finnegan; B.A., B.Sc. (secretary to the Queen’s University), gave his report as the society’s delegate to the British Association. The CHAIRMAN said they were much indebted to Mr. Finnegan for the excellent account he had given them of his Sheffield visit, and they could not help feeling gratified that they had a man of his experience and ability as secretary to their university. ‘The proceedings then terminated. Toth January, IQTl. Sir Joun W. Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair “EXPLORATIONS IN NUBIA.” By PrRorrssor ELLIOT SMITH. (Abstract. ) THE CHAIRMAN said they were there that evening to have what he was confident would be a most interesting lecture from a distinguished and well-known member of the medical profession— Dr. Griffin Elliot Smith—-who was himself a remarkable example of the cosmopolitan nature of the British Empire. A native of New South Wales, a doctor of medicine of the University of Sydney, Dr. Smith came to Cambridge, where he graduated as master of arts and became a fellow of St. John’s College. From Cambridge, where he was demonstrator of anatomy, he went to Egypt as professor of anatomy in the Egyptian Government School of Medicine, Cairo, returning subsequently to England, on being appointed professor of anatomy in the University of Man- chester, while from 1909 to torr he was also Arris and Gale lecturer to the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Professor Smith was well known for his extremely original work on the comparative anatomy and evolution of the brain, which led tu his being elected a fellow of the Royal Society. Whilst at Cairo, Professor Smith worked under the famous French savant, Sir Gaston Camille Maspero, director general of antiquities and of excavations in Egypt, devoting his attention specially to anthro- pology and the art of mummification. He had ample opportunities for following these interesting studies both at the famous museum in Cairo and at Girga, a small town in Upper Egypt on the west bank of the Nile, a little more than three hundred miles south of Explorations in Nubia. 13 Cairo. There in the prehistoric cemeteries there were exposed bodies buried thousands of years before, dessicated in the dry sands, and in such an extraordinary state of preservation that the brain, the lens of the eyes, and the nerves were in many cases easily demonstrated. A large volume was at the University full of this research work. That night Dr. Smith was to tell them something of life in Nubia, that very ancient country, the lower part of which, extending from Assouan to Dongola, and as far as Wady Halfa, was now incorporated with Egypt. Sir John Byers said it was a long distance from Egypt to Belfast, and yet, apart from those who had visited that wonderful country, their interest in it had been maintained in former times by that most brilliant Orientalist, Dr. Edward Hincks (his father, Dr. T. D. Hincks, was classical head master in the Royal Academical Institution), who from 1825 to 1866 was rector of Killyleagh, where the famous Hans Sloane was born. It is surely a most significant circum- stance that a man living in the centre of County Down, who was never in Egypt, first employed the true method of deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, and simultaneously with Rawlinson dis- covered the Persian cuneiform vowel system. Sir Gaston Maspero told our distinguished Belfast Egyptologist, Mr. John Ward, that he owed more to the teaching of Hincks than to that of anyone else, and that as an indication of his gratitude he felt it incumbent on him to erect a portrait bust of Hincks in the Cairo Museum. Mr. Ward having supplied the necessary material for this to be done, Hincks’s bust is now in that wonderful collection of Oriental antiquities. They all knew that it was common to call linen the staple industry of the North of Ireland, and it was a remarkable fact that one of their ablest and most respected linen merchants, Sir William Crawford, had in his possession a piece of linen from an Egyptian mummy, marvellously fine, made of flax, which when examined microscopically was quite similar in fibre to the flax used to-day. This linen was so thick in proportion to its fineness that nothing similar had been woven in modern times. 14 Professor Eltiot Smith on Professor ELLiot SmitH, after discussing the circumstances which led to the decision of the Egyptian Government to under- take a complete archeological survey of that part of Nubia stretching from the First Cataract at Assouan as far south as Korosko, which will be flooded in the great reservoir when the heightening of the Assouan Dam will be completed, described the manner in which the work of archzological exploration was carried out, and the nature of the objects discovered, and the knowledge acquired as the result of the survey. In 1882, when the British Government made itself respon- sible for the welfare of Egypt, its first duty after restoring order was to put the irrigation canals into order, to cut new channels, and do everything to facilitate the just and equitable distribution of the water brought down by the river. To accomplish this end it was necessary to build a great dam across the Nile so as to hold up the surplus water (which would otherwise be poured wastefully into the Mediterranean), and then use this stored-up supply for distribution as it became necessary. After the most careful and painstaking enquiry, it was demonstrated that the only place where such. a dam, to benefit the whole of Egypt, could be con- structed in a stable manner and at reasonable cost was across the rocks of the First Cataract at Assouan. The only objection raised against the carrying out of this scheme was that it would imperil the safety of the famous Temple of Philz. To prevent this the foundations of the temple were underpinned, under the direction of Captain Lyons, and the building made stronger than it had ever been. Four years ago it became necessary to heighten the dam to provide a still greater reservoir, and the Government decided to make a thorough examination of the whole tract of country to be flooded, so as to rescue all the historical records of past generations buried in the soil. The work was put under the charge of the Survey Department, of which Captain Lyons (now lecturer in geography at the University of Glasgow) had become director-general, the actual work of excavation and archeological research being carried on by Dr. George A. Reisner, and the Explorations in Nubia. is examination of the human remains being made by the lecturer. During the last three years this work of exploration had been carried on, and many thousands of graves had been made to yield up their secrets—secrets that in some cases they had preserved for fifty centuries—and it could now be truthfully said that no ancient land had ever been so thoroughly and_ systematically explored as Lower Nubia. Much light had been thrown on the past history of civilization, not only in Nubia, but also in Egypt and the Sudan, by the investigation, and it was now possible to follow the chequered career of that poverty-stricken land, where the negro first came into contact with people of European affini- ties from a time nearly four thousand years B.c., when Egypt and Nubia formed one territory, occupied by the same people, with the same civilization, on till about 2700 B.c., when they parted company, Egypt rapidly progressing towards the golden age of her prosperity and culture, Nubia undergoing a deterioration both in culture and its population, and becoming tinged with negro blood and influence. Thence onward Nubia ever remained a poor country, and from time to time was overrun by Egyptians from the North and negroes from the South. With all these devastating influences to drag her down, Nubia deserved only too well the appellation given her in ancient times—‘ wretched Nubia.” Professor SyMINGTON, F.R.S., moved a hearty vote of thanks to Professor SmiTH for his instructive and valuable lecture, and, referring to the Nubian system of plaiting the hair amongst ladies, said if adopted by modern women it would save a great deal of bad feeling in theatres and at concerts. Professor Dixon, F.R.S, seconded the motion, which was passed unanimously. The meeting then concluded. 15th February, Iori. Professor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., in the Chair. “THE PROGRESS OF TECHNICAL) INSTRUCTION.” By Mr. F. C. Forru. (Abstract). THE CHAIRMAN said in the unavoidable absence of the President he had been asked to preside, and he did so with much pleasure. Mr. Forth needed no introduction, as his name, his reputation, and his work were known to everybody in the city. He had built up one of the finest technical schools in the United Kingdom and the largest in Ireland, and noted for its efficiency from every point of view. They would all be very glad to hear him that night on a subject on which he was an acknowledged - master. Mr. FortH, who was cordially received, said in December, 1got, he had the privilege of outlining to the Society the proposals of the Belfast Corporation in regard to the then recently-adopted Technical Instruction Act. In compliance with the request of the Secretary of their Society (Mr. R. M. Young), he proposed now to give a description of a decade of technical instruction in Ireland, with special reference to Belfast. At the outset the lecturer referred to the establishment of the “‘ Recess” Committee in 1896, This Committee consisted of some twenty-two members com- prising men of all shades of political opinion, and it met under the chairmanship of Mr. (now Sir) Horace Plunkett. Ulster was represented on this Committee by a number of its prominent men, amongst them being the late Sir James Musgrave, Bart., the Right ‘Hon. Thomas Andrews, the Right Hon. Thomas Sinclair, and The Progress of Technical Instruction. 17 others. Without doubt the progressive condition of technical instruction in Ireland to-day is due to the labours of that Com- mittee. The Agricultural and Technical Instruction Act became operative in April, rg00. In that year the total Government grant to Ireland for science and art instruction was but a little over 43,000. In the year 1909-10, the last year for which official returns are available, these grants had risen to £22,500. In the session 1902-3, the second year of the Department’s operations, the total amount expended by technical instruction committees was 477,000; in the year 1909-10 this amount had advanced to #£141,000. In the year 1902 4,013 students presented themselves for examination at the science and art examinations ; in the year 1909 6,142 students presented themselves. In the year tgo1 289 students were presented for examination in technological subjects, whilst in the year 1909 907 were presented. But in this con- nection the most striking figures are that the percentage of students who passed the technological examinations in 1901 was 36°2, whereas it was 56 percent. in 1909. No stronger testimony could be given to the increased and still increasing efficiency of the instruction given in the technical schools. As regards Belfast in the year 1900, the actual institutions in existence were the Working Men’s Institute, the Hastings Street School, the Govern- ment School of Art, and the Model School classes, numbering amongst them certainly not more than 800 students all told. Nevertheless good work was done, and, having regard to the conditions, the committees of these institutions accomplished wonders. The Corporation of Belfast was amongst the first of the local authorities to adopt the Act of 1899, and in the year 1900 a committee was formed called the Library and Technical Instruction Committee, with Alderman Sir James Henderson as its chairman. Pioneer lectures were arranged by the Department, and were given in various centres in Belfast under the auspices of the Committee. The next step was to arrange for the incorporation of the beforementioned institutions in the local scheme, and this was carried out in the early part of the year rgor. The Com- 18 Mr. F. C. Forth on mittee next proceeded to make plans for establishing a range of evening classes. The buildings occupied by the institutions which have been merged in the Corporation Scheme were utilized, and other temporary premises were secured in various parts of the city, ten buildings being provided in all. Early in September of the year rgo1 the first prospectus of the Municipal Technical Institute was issued, and shortly afterwards the classes were opened. Before the end of the first session over 3,000 individual students had enrolled. The programme of instruction at present in operation in the Institute includes a day division and an evening division, and the classes are grouped in a preparatory section and introductory section, and into the depart- ments of mathematics, mechanical engineering, naval archi- tecture, physics and electrical engineering, the building and furnishing trades, textile industries, pure and applied chemistry, natural science, commerce, the printing trades, miscellaneous trades and industries, women’s work (a department of import- ance), and the school of art; whilst there is a day trade prepara- tory school and a day technical course, as well as provision for physical training. ‘The success of the trade preparatory school can be judged from the fact that the demand from employers for boys trained in this school is much in excess of the number of boys available annually, and greatly to the regret of the Institute authorities many excellent situations which are offered cannot be filled. At the present time, although there were still five months of the present session to run, the number of individual students enrolled is 5,913, and it is important to note that these are not all children, but persons of ages ranging from fourteen years to sixty years. When the Corporation adopted the Technical Instruction Act it possessed neither buildings nor equipment, To-day it owns a building worth £110,0c0, that building contain- ing equipment valued at £50,000 or a property whose total value is £160,000 ‘The technical instruction scheme is exercising a very marked effect on other branches of education. It is, for example, reacting on the national and secondary schools in the The Progress of Technical Instruction. 19 following, amongst other ways: —National (and secondary) school teachers attend art classes in which they are given instruction in those branches of art which they can apply practically in teaching the children in their schools. Again, classes are held in experi mental science, in which teachers obtain instruction which they can utilize in training their pupils in the elements of science. Further, a most important extension of the work of the Institute is that which provides for the training of women national school teachers in domestic science—this including cooking and laundry work—so that the teachers in turn can undertake the training of the girls in the elementary schools. The Corporation, under its technical instruction scheme, has included the establishment of a public textile testing house, this work having been undertaken in response to the strongly-expressed desire of the textile trades of Belfast and district. Moreover, a scheme has been adopted rendering possible a co-operation of effort between the Queen’s University and the Municipal Technical Institute, a scheme well calculated to ensure the highest efficiency in the realms of higher education, securing this result with the utmost economy of educational effort and of money. The proposals which have now been approved by the Senate of the University, as well as by the Corporation constitute one of the most important and most fruitful educational steps taken in Belfast since the Technical Instruction Act was adopted. Mr. J. M. Frnnecan, B.Sc., in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, said there were formerly a great number of people in Belfast who required to be converted to the advantages of technical instruction, but a) change had taken place, and Mr. Forth deserved of Belfast gratitude and praise for the Herculean work he had accomphshed. Mr. Basi WILSON seconded the motion, which was passed by acclamation, and the proceedings concluded, 14th March, 1071. Sir Joun W. Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair SOME THEORIES OF GENIUS. By Mr... Le Smmwarnes.A., D:Pr. (Abstract). The PRESIDENT said they were to have the privilege that evening of hearing two papers dealing with subjects of a philo- sophical and natural history nature, for the discussion of which that old Belfast Society had been established ninety years ago. The lecturers were distinguished teachers of the University. Mr. Balfour-Browne came amongst them with very strong recom- mendations from the University of Oxford, while Dr. Herbert Stewart was a North of Ireland man—one of themselves—who, after a briiliant career at Queen’s College, had added to his reputation by his achievements at Oxford. Mr. Balfour-Browne’s address would be of interest for its own sake, and it would demonstrate the educational value of the careful scientific observa- tion of facts. The study of the habits of the lower types of animal and vegetable life had of late received a new impetus from their close relationship with the dissemination of disease, as in the case of the ordinary house fly, the mosquito, the rat, and the tsetse fly, which conveyed the organism which gave rise to the deadly sleeping sickness. He was looking forward with great pleasure to hear Dr. Stewart bringing before them the latest theories as to that highest form of mental gift or ability, which was bestowed, not acquired, which was independent of tuition, and which generally imported something inventive or creative. No doubt ‘many men of genius had what Carlyle in his ‘“ Frederick the Great” called the “transcendent capacity of taking trouble first of Some Theories of Genius. 21 all,” of whom Charles Darwin was a marked example, but they had an innate and original gift beyond what might be cultivated by education and study—just that something which distinguished the orator from the most polished of speakers. It was such a gift that enabled Burns to associate with a part of Scotland the realistic creations of his poetic fancy ; that was shown in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” that marvellous fairy-drama of Shakespeare ; that was exhibited in Rembrandt’s famous “ Landscape with a Wind- mill ;’ that enabled Sir Isaac Newton to discover the law of gravitation ; and that made Napolecn for a time the terror of Europe. It was said by a certain modern school, of which Lombroso was the chief exponent, that genius was a form of mental derangement, but would anyone say that Burns, Shake- speare, Rembrant, Newton, or Napoleon showed any form of insanity ? He (Sir John) feared that their views as to what genius was due to were still mere speculations or theories, but, considering the tremendous advances that the science of medicine was making, the anatomists and physiologists of the future might in time be able to tell them in what respect the brains of men of genius differed—in regard to structure and function—from those of their less gifted fellow-beings, and then they would have some physical basis as a characteristic underlying what they styled genius. Dr. STEWART, in the course of his lecture, said there was some- thing paradoxical in proposing to theorise about genius. To explain was to bring in rules, but a genius would not be a genius if he could be accounted for. ‘Talent was a thing they could under- stand, and the difference between less and more was one of degree. Another way to put it was that the guif between talent and genius was one that could in no way whatever be bridged, or even reduced. What right had they to assume that genius was a generic thing? He suspected that their distrust of anything that purported to explain genius was the feeling that the explanation of genius was as impossible as the manufacture of the philosopher’s stone. Let them therefore look on the unique fact of the existence of genius as a challenge to the pyschologist. Genius seemed to fall 22 Myr. H. L. Stewart on roughly into types. When they thought of the genius of intellect they had the reasoning faculty strongly in evidence, coupled with enormous exaltation. There was also the genius of feeling, and the great genius of every form of art. But there was another type that stirred the world as often as it appeared, and, considered from the psychological point of view, this type was the most extraordinary and fascinating of the three. That was the type described as the overmastering power of a strong personality, seen in Mahomet, Julius Cesar, Oliver Cromwell, and other leaders of men—the genius of will, deficient perhaps in the reasoning faculty, but incomparable in driving power. It was now tolerably certain that the pre-eminent faculty when it once appeared was. fairly certain to reappear, and the inference seemed reasonable that parentage was in some way accountable for the phenomenon. Statistical information went to show that if genius was a /usus nature, it tended to reproduce itself. Having dealt in detail with Lombroso’s extensive and minute investigations, the lecturer said any argument that rested on empirical facts was liable to error. The second theory as to the origin of genius was one of the most ambitious in the whole range of modern psychology, that of Frederick Myers. His theory was that genius was the result of sub-concious mental activity. It was the theory that the con- scious waking experience of man was but a fragment of his personality. There was in each one of us enormous mental reserves that never rose into utility, and to this theory, with certain limitations, he (the lecturer) thought there was no adequate or intelligible reply. It showed that a man of genius could call upon reserves of mental energy which existed in everyone, but which the ordinary individual could not bring into operation. It was the theory of the sub-liminal and the super-liminal region of the mind, genius alone having access to the former. If Myers were right, the normal state of the ordinary type was a state of pro- foundly dissociated personality, for by far the larger region of the mind was permanently inaccessible to our reach. And those rare ' cases which were called genius were so far from being morbid that Some Theories of Genius. 23 they were in the highest degree healthy types, for they restored the broken unity of the whole man. Mr. BaLrour-BRownE then proceeded with his lectures, in which he gave an interesting description of the groups of water- beetles known as dytiscus and hydrophilus, pointing out the differences and characteristics of each. The lecture was illustrated by a series of special lantern slides. On the motion of Mr. HENry RIDDELL, M.E., seconded by G. H. WHEELER, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the lecturers, and the meeting concluded. IIth April, rorr. Str Joun W. Byers, M.D., President, in the Chair. “THE HUNGARIAN “SLAVS.” SLOVAKS AND THEIR ART. By Dr. SETon-WATSON. ( Abstract. ) THE CHAIRMAN said one of the special features of the Natural History and Philosophical Society was the means it afforded for bringing before the members and the public—from time to time—subjects out of the ordinary course—by those who, from their specialized knowledge, were really authorities upon such topics, That night they would have a unique example of what he had said, for they were to listen to a lecture on “ Peasant Art and Costume in North Hungary,” as exhibited by the Slovaks, a pastoral and peaceful race of people who lived mostly in the northernmost counties of Hungary. Dr. Seton-Watson, who most kindly came to address them on that occasion, had not only thoroughly studied the Slovaks, but his monograph ‘Racial Problems in Hungary - a History of the Slovaks,” embodying the results of his personal observations, constituted him one of the very highest authorities on their art, poetry, and music ; while, in order to still further educate his fellow-countrymen, he had got up an exhibition of Slovak art—comprising pictures, sculpture, embroidery, and vestments—in the Dore Galleries, London. The lecture was to be fully illustrated, and he would like to call attention to some striking slides which were specially prepared for Dr. Seton-Watson from photographs taken after the three-colour The Hungarian Slavs. 25 process by Baron Schlippenbach, a distinguished German art critic, who had himself lived for a time among the Slovaks. In the name of all those present he welcomed Dr. Seton-Watson on that his first visit to Ireland. Dr. S—ETON-WaTSON said, in coming before them to lecture on the Slovaks and Slovak art, he felt the race was so little known in this country that he should explain who the people were. The Slovak race was one of the smallest in all Europe, numbering two and a half million in Austria-Hungary. It was a Slav race, related to the Russians and the Poles; but counting as its nearest kinsmen the Bohemians. They resided in the mountainous country to the North of Hungary, and overflowed across the Austrian frontier into Moravia. It was that latter portion that was ahead of all the other in art. The reason why the Moravian Slovaks led in art was due to political causes. He did not desire to discuss politics, for if he were to touch on them he would have many disagreeable and well nigh incredible facts to tell them. However, he would content himself by saying that the Slovaks were most unhappily situated in their own country, and also that the Austrians, if behind the Hungarians in some respects, were far ahead of them in everything concerned with the treatment of smaller races, and in the qualities that made a State great. However, despite their circumstances, the Slovaks had been blessed with a keen artistic sense, and if their art was, as a critic had said, art in the making it was exceptionally interesting. The Slovaks were a pastoral people, but a good proportion earned their living as raftsmen, and they produced a big tribe of pedlars who wandered all over Eastern and Central Europe As to art, the Slovaks carried out the dictum of Ruskin and William Morris, that it should not be a thing apart; they applied decorative designs not only to their houses, but to the very dishes from which they ate, their knives and forks, clothes, whips, and even agricul- tural implements. Their decorative art was fostered by the patriarchal life which they led, but though these conditions were now disappearing the art itself had survived. The lecturer then 26 Dr. Seton- Watson on showed a series of slides to illustrate the external and internal decoration designed and carried out on their houses by the peasants themselves. The women were responsible for most of the decoration in the cottages, using colour in a fashion strange to our eyes, but often with very happy effect. The home indus- tries were mainly carried out by the men, who were adepts at carving, pokerwork, and pottery. They were extraordinarily fond of decorating their costumes, of which some delightful specimens were exhibited, including elaborate lace embroidery and needlework. Mr. J. R. FIsHER, in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, said they were deeply indebted to Dr. Seton-Watson for the glimpse he had given them of one of the most beautiful corners of Europe. The Slavs, who were the largest race in Europe, numbering at the present time about 130 millions, complained that they were shut off from the rest of the Continent by a German screen, that we knew nothing of their language cr of their minds. Yet they were making remarkable progress in industry, and they were possessed of fine artistic instincts, as was shown by what they had done in applied art, painting, and also in music. . They were a kindly and sympathetic people, and it was shameful that the Hungarians, whose own struggle for liberty had aroused so much sympathy, should have shown so little regard for the Slavonic peoples under their rule. For all these reasons Dr. Seton-Watson’s self-appointed task of interpreting these races to English-speaking peoples was one that deserved the highest praise. Mr. GARRETT NAGLE, R.M., in seconding, said Dr. Seton- Watson’s lecture had aroused intense interest, both from its exquisite slides and the glimpse into the lives of the Slovaks which he had given them. He had opened their eyes to a new land, and some of them when holiday-time came round should turn their thoughts to that “ terra-incognito” of which they had heard that evening. The Hungarian Slavs. 2G The vote of thanks having been passed by acclamation, THE CHAIRMAN, in conveying the vote of thanks, said the North of Ireland had a certain association with the land described by the lecturer, for near Ballymena and in County Down they had settlers from Moravia. THE LECTURER having briefly replied, The proceedings terminated. ANNUAL REPORT, 1910-11. The annual meeting of the shareholders was held on 25th November, rgi1, in the Belfast Museum, College Square North. Professor Sir John Byers, M.D, (president), occupied the chair, and there were also present :—The Right Hon. Robert Young, J.P. ; Sir James Henderson, D.L. ; Sir Charles Brett, the Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s, University (Rev. Dr: Hamilton); Professor). =A. Lindsay, M.D. ; Professor Symington, F.R.S.; Professor Sinclair, M.D. ; Messrs. T. F. Shillington, J.P. ; Joseph R. Fisher, barrister- at-law ; William Gray, M.R.I.A.; J. M. Finnegan, B.A., B.Sc. ; John Smith, M.A.; Henry Riddell, M.E.; W. Swanston, John Horner, Granby Higginbotham, J. J. Andrew, E. J. Elliott, R. A. Kyle, W. Armstrong, Joseph Wright, J. E. Magill, W. Faren, and R. M. Young, J.P. (hon. secretary). Apologies for absence were received from Sir Otto Jaffe, J.P. ; Professor Sir William Whitla, M.D.; Rev. William Park, Professor Gregg Wilson, D.Sc.; Mr. W. H. M‘Laughlin, J.P., and Mr. Robert Patterson, F.L.S. Mr. Ropert M. Younc, B.A., M.R.I.A. (hon. secretary), read the annual report as follows:—The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society desire to submit their report ot the working of the Society during the past year. The winter session was opened in the Museum on 16th November, when a lecture was kindly delivered by Mr. Ernest Normand, London, on the subject, ‘‘ A Plea for Art.” The second meeting was held on 13th December, when Professor F. M. Powicke, M.A, kindly lectured on “ Some Characteristics of Medieval Chronicles,” and Mr. J. M, Finnegan, B.A, B.Sc., secretary Queen’s Univer- sity, Belfast, submitted his report as delegate to the British . Association. The third meeting took place on roth January, 191, when an illustrated lecture entitled “ Life in Nubia, Ancient Annual Meeting. 29 and Modern,” was kindly given by Professor Elliott Smith, F.R.S., Victoria University, Manchester. The fourth meeting was held on 15th February. when Mr. Francis C. Forth, principal of the Municipal Technical Institute, delivered an illustrated lecture on ‘A Decade of Technical Instruction in Ireland, with special reference to Belfast.” The fifth meeting was held on 14th March, when two papers were read---(t) ““Some Theories of Genius,” by Mr. H. L. Stewart, M.A. (Oxon.), Ph. D_; (2) “Some Facts in the Life History of a Water Beetle,” by Mr. Frank Balfour-bBrowne, M.A., F.R.S.E., illustrated by lantern slides The sixth meeting, on rith April, was devoted to a popular illustrated lecture kindly given by Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson, M.A., D.Litt. (Oxon); subject, ‘Peasant Art and Costume in North Hungary.” The attendance of the members and general public at these meetings was gratifying, as showing the interest taken in the various subjects. Your Society has to deplore the Joss of three esteemed members, who have passed away since the last annual meeting — Messrs. A. MacLaine, J.P.; Richard Patterson, J.P., and John Carson—all of whom took an active interest in its welfare for many years. Your Council are glad to inform the Society that the various collections conveyed by deed of gift to the Belfast Corporation in July, 1910, are in process of being thoroughly catalogued and classified in a scientific manner. Some of the objects of special interest are on view in the Municipal Art Gallery. Our late esteemed Curator, Mr. Samuel A. Stewart, bequeathed to the Society a number of valuable scientific books, including forty volumes of the “Journal of Botany” and a set of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club reports and proceedings. ‘These have been added to the library. A list of the numerous publications received in exchange from home and foreign learned societies will be printed with the present, report. During the past season Mr. George Donaldson continued to iender valuable clerical assist- ance. Since the termination of our official year their Majesties King George V. and Queen Mary visited Ireland, and your 30 Annual Meeting. Council presented a loyal address from the Society on 1oth July, which was graciously acknowledged.” Mr. Joon Horner (hon. treasurer) reported that they began the year with a debit balance of £76 15s 8d, but this had now been reduced to £7 4s od. THE CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report and statement of accounts, said they showed that the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was now, as in the past, dis- charging a most useful function in Belfast. They had unfor- tunately to deplore the loss by death of three members—Mr. John Carson, who for many years was a regular attendant at their meetings ; Mr. Alexander MacLaine, who for long occupied an important place in the industrial life of the city ; and Mr. Richard Patterson, an honoured citizen of Belfast, who was one of a remarkable Ulster family which had taken a most praiseworthy share in maintaining the reputation of the North of Ireland in such diverse subjects as art, science, philology, antiquities, and folk-lore. Mr. Robert Patterson, F.R.S., the author of ‘‘ Zoology for Schools,” was one of those distinguished men who in 1821 founded the Natural History and Philosophical Society, and both ’ he himself and two of his sons, Sir Robert L. Patterson, F.L.S., and Mr..W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., were presidents, and now his grandson, Mr. Robert Patterson, F.L.S. (son of the late Mr, Richard Patterson), a man of the keenest scientific instincts, as his weekly ‘‘ Nature Notes and Queries” showed, was about to continue the hereditary connection of the family with the Society by becoming their new hon. secretary. He (the Chairman) would like to draw special attention to the very full and perfect way in which the various collections conveyed by deed of gift to the Belfast Corporation last year were being catalogued by Mr. J. A. S. Stendall, assistant curator of the Public Museum and Art Gallery. After thanking the members of the Belfast Press for the manner in which they had reported their meetings, the Chairman said the Society was deeply indebted to Mr. R. M. Young, their very efficient hon. secretary, and to Mr. John Horner, their able Annual Meeting. 31 treasurer, to whose watchful care since 1904 was due the present very satisfactory condition of their finances. In conclusion, Sir John Byers said now that his term of office was at an end, he wished to thank very warmly all the members for the kindness and consideration they had invariably shown him during the three years he had been president of the Natural History and Philo- sophical Society. Apart altogether from the personal distinction of having been the president of one of the oldest of their Belfast societies for such a lengthened period, he (Sir John) would always recollect with unfeigned pleasure and satisfaction that during his term of office, thanks largely to the unceasing efforts of their friends, Mr. R. M. Young and Mr. John Horner, the arrangement with the Corporation of the City of Belfast had been finally completed, one of the practical results of which he hoped to live to see in the new and, he was sure, beautiful City Museum and Art Gallery which was to be erected upon a site selected in Botanic Park, and which would be, he was certain, of such incalculable educational value to the people of Belfast and the North of Ireland. Sir JAMES HENDERSON, in seconding the motion, said he was obliged to the CHAIRMAN for the reference he had made to the Library and Technical Instruction Committee, who in regard to the transfer of the Society’s collection to the Corporation had been anxious to have the negotiations brought to a a successful termina- tion. He thought everything in reference to this movement had been well done, and when they had their new municipal art gallery and museum he believed the members of the Natural History and Philsophical Society would be proud to see their collection on exhibition within its walls. He was glad to know that the Society was still continuing its useful career, and so far as the new art gallery and museum was concerned he could assure them that the members of the Library and Technical Instruction Cowmittee would do their utmost to make it a credit to the city. The Vick-CHANCELLOR of Queen’s University, in moving the re-election of Sir John Byers, Messrs. S. F. Milligan, R. Patterson, 32 Annual Meeting. W. Swanston, and Nevin H. Foster as members of the Council, said he was glad to think that the Society had done such excellent work during last session, and there could be no doubt that its success was largely due to the efforts of the gentlemen comprising the Council. Notwithstanding the change that was contemplated in the transfer of the collection of their Museum to the Corpora- tion—a transfer of which he entirely approved—they all hoped that the Society would continue its good progress, and that under the new conditions it would become even stronger and more influential than it had been in the past. | Mr. WILLIAM Gray, who seconded the motion, said he joined with the Vice-Chancellor in congratulating the Society and the Corporation on the transfer of the collection in the College Square North Museum. He (the speaker) was one of the first to propose the transfer, and he was quite sure that the change would prove of immense benefit to the city. The motion was carried. Sir CHARLES Brett said he had the greatest possible pleasure in proposing that the best thanks of the Society be given to Sir John Byers for the manner in which he had discharged the duties of president. He said he knew how difficult it was for a busy man like Sir John to tear himself away from his professional work; but, dispite this, his attendance at the meetings held under the auspices of the Society had been very regular, and he had also taken a practical part in the management of its affairs. Sir Charles added that he was one of the oldest members of the Society, and he therefore heard with pleasure of the satisfactory position which it occupied. Mr. J. R. FisHErR, in seconding the motion, said it was no small achievement to be able to celebrate such a long series of distinguished men, who had kept the torch of learning and culture alight in the city of Belfast. They had had some of the most distinguished men taking part in the work of that Society, but there had been no more efficient, no more courteous, no more popular in all the list of presidents than Sir John Byers. Belfast Annual Meeting. 33 owed a great deal to a society like theirs. It meant an immense amount of work to keep up all the lectures and to give the necessary time and care to the Museum collections. He hoped in handing over the specimens the Society would not cease to exist, but would continue its work of enlightenment with increased efficiency. The motion was passed with acclamaticn. The CHAIRMAN, in reponding, said it had been a pleasure to him to preside at their meetings and to do what he could to help on the work of the Society. As to the question of the continuance of the Society, he would like it to be clearly understood that the transfer of their collection to the Corporation would not interfere with the work of the organization. As a matter of fact they hoped to have some arrangement which would enable them to do even better in the future, because their income would perhaps increase, and that would enable them to bring more distinguished lecturers to the city. He hoped that in the new Museum a hall would be provided for the purpose of meetings. In handing over their specimens to the Corporation they believed that the collection would be better looked after by the Corporation, and that it would be of more value to the public. THE HUNORARY SECRETARY’S WORK. INTERESTING PRESENTATION. A very pleasing ceremony followed the ordinary business. This took the form of a presentation to Mr. R. M. Young, J.P., of a portrait in oils of his esteemed father, the Right Hon. Robert Young. This gift, which was presented by the Chairman on behalf of the members of the Society, was to mark in some degree their appreciation of the efficient and continuous manner in which Mr. Young discharged the duties of hon. secretary for the past quarter of a century. The portrait is a faithful one, and only what one would expect from Miss Henrietta Rae (Mrs. Ernest Normand), the painter. Several ladies, including Mrs. Normand, were present at the interesting proceedings. 34 Annual Meeting. The CHAIRMAN, in making the presentation, said he had been deputed in the name and on behalf of the members to pay a slight compliment to Mr. R. M. Young, who since 1885, a period of twenty-six years, had acted as hon. secretary of the Natural History and Philosophical Society. They felt that his valued services, given to the Society all these years, deserved some recognition from them, and they were sure no honour would be more grate- fully accepted by him than a portrait of his revered father, one of the most venerated and respected of their fellow-citizens, who had received from his Sovereign the high distinction of being made a member of the Privy Council, and who, as an indication of his varied and cultivated gifts, had occupied the presidentship of that Society as well as of the Belfast Literary Society, and who was still chairman of Belfast(Linen Hall) Library. They all rejoiced that the Right Hon. Robert Young was present on that occasion, and that, notwithstanding his eighty-nine years, he was still in the possession of such physical and mental vigour. As they all knew, one of the special features of their Society was the discussion of the latest scientific discoveries, especially in their practical and utilitarian bearings, and it was worth noting that during the time Mr. R. M. Young was secretary that such subjects as the phonograph, wireless telegraphy, and horseless carriages were first brought under the notice, in a public society, of the people of Belfast. Further, it was during Mr. Young’s period of office that, in 1891, the Society obtained their scheme from the Educational Endowment Com- missioners, which enabled them to transfer their Museum collec- tions, through the Library and Technical Instructien Committee, to the Belfast Corporation. Mr. R. M. Young was an ideal secretary in such a society as theirs, being a man of most diverse artistic, historical, and antiquarian tastes, as his edition of “‘ The Town Book of the Corporation of Belfast (1613-1816),” his “Ulster in ’98,” his “‘ Historical Collections Relative to Old Belfast,” and his “ Belfast and the Prevince of Ulster in the Twentieth Century ” all showed. - Sir John Byers, in conclusion, ' said that to him personally it was a great pleasure to take part in Annual Meeting. 35 such a p!easant function, for his friendship with Mr. Young began during his college days, and had continued without a break ever since. In now presenting, on behalf of the members of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, the picture of his father to Mr. Young, he (Sir John) would like in the name of each subscriber to thank very warmly Mrs. Normand for the beautiful painting she had given them, which in every respect was amost excellent piece of work, and which was well worthy of her widely-recognized reputation as one of the most gifted artists of the present day. THE CHAIRMAN then unveiled the portrait amid applause. Mr. Young is shown sitting in a thoughtful mood, with clasped hands, before a vase of flowers. The kindly and cultured features are admirably brought out, and there is an ease about the entire painting which is delightful. There are attractions in the background such as an open window, plush curtains, and an avenue of trees. Ona plate attached to a massive gilt frame the following inscription has been engraved :—‘‘ Right Honourable Robert Young, president of Belfast Natural History and Philo- sophical Society, 1877-9. Presented by the members to his son, Robert M. Young, honorary secretary 1885-1911.” Mr. Younc’s REPLY. Mr. R. M. Younc, in accepting the portrait, said he was quite overwhelmed by the kindly way in which the Chairman had referred to his services on behalf of the Society. During the time he had been their secretary the Council of the Society had always been mosi ready and eager to give him all the assistance in their power, and this had made his duties comparatively light. Anything he had done for the organization was a mere nothing compared with what he would have liked to do. He was greatly touched by the form which the presentation had taken because of the deep affection which he had for his father, and this portrait would convey to all who might see it a faithful idea of the man as he actually was. His father had had a long connection with 36 Annual Meeting. the Natural History and Philosophical Society. He read his first paper before the members in 1853 and he had contributed several other papers since that time. Sir Charles Brett had stated that he was an old member of the Society, but his (the speaker’s) father had an even longer record. ‘They had had a succession of brilliant men as their Presidents since he (the speaker) took office in 1885, but none of them had done more to strengthen the prestige and the position of the Society than Sir John Byers, They had also been fortunate in their treasurers, and he wanted to take that opportunity of acknowledging their indebtedness to Mr. John Horner, who at present occupied the position. Had it not been for his efforts the Society would not have been in such a satisfactory financial position as it now was. Mr. Homer had done so well that in future they would be able to carry on their operations in a manner that had not been possible in the past. Concluding, Mr. Young said he was greatly obliged to all the subscribers to the presentation fund, and he wished to thank them most sincerely for the compliment they had paid him. THE RicHt Hon. Rospert Younc, who was cordially received, also expressed his thanks, and said the sittings he had given to Mrs. Normand had been very interesting, He was glad to learn that the prospects of the Natural History and Philosophical Society were so bright. It seemed to be well organized, and with a man like his friend Mr. Horner managing their finances he had not the slightest doubt but that it would have a brilliant future. The formal proceedings then terminated. Subsequently the members and visitors were entertained at afternoon tea by Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Younc, the catering being carried out to the satisfaction of all present by Messrs. Thompson (Belfast), Ltd., under the personal supervision of Mr. Donnelly, manager of the firm, Annual Meeting. 37 A meeting of the Council of the Society was held after the annual meeting, and the following were then elected office-bearers for the year t1g11-12:—President, Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D.; Vice-Presidents, Sir James Hender- son, D.L., M.A.; Messrs. Robert Patterson, F.L.S., William Swanston and R. M. Young, B.A., J.P.; Hon, Treasurer, Mr. Henry Riddell, M.E.; Hon. Librarian, Mr. John Horner; Hon. Secretary, Mr. Robert Patterson. SE SEI SO PE SE NS EE RE ENE I ART Sa RT SIONS IE ED PRED "ETS LETT PIE EPIL RT EET ESE SE EE Bt EE CT EE LT a TT i "1161 ‘aun jo Aep 4161 siy1 poieq *r16r ‘Avy Jo Aep 391 SIyy psi1eEq ; ‘e0yOQ Suyunoooy “YHNYOH NHOL ‘soupny AAVADSOO BOLNVN "rouIaAOrD) “QNOOA “WW LYAdOd *JO9I109 SI JUNODDW Sulose10j oy] yeyy Aj109 | *JUNODY eN.1j & SI 9AOqe ay} yey} AfIW199 OAV 903 ainjueqeq, "o=D Buruurds 490135 YOR 9Y} UT JUNODOW Sty JO IpeI19 ayy 07 Surpuvys oof¥Y jo ums v si a19Y} ‘adURTeq aaoqe ay} SepIsag—"q‘N ‘jueg sed Ar “pyyq ‘ € SNOSUL][IOSTIAL To, a Be -* sasuedx@ [ese] ¢ es cary te qyso10qUuy i sex) pue feng 2aetnaES) pue osvisog SUISIJIVAPY ArauoT}vIg pue Surjuiig —; “ZIA ‘sjuouAeg 1yIQ “‘ Lak aa EOLOW ENO oowmw HCOOCMO NMNMOMO H ° =f 4 ¥ 8g I9 Hi, (ene fo) 9M Me 5 Salieles Qe Olecc ese a os ‘029 ‘soxe] pu qusy LP cay v- a ‘omg ‘sosTWoIg JO 9DURUSzUIL I] — =: SSuIpeay BUIMOTIOS ey} Jepun sjuswAeg jo sjunowy ‘ g@ St 9lLF °° “+ qunosoV se] ted se sourjeg aa ‘HOaAVHOSIA “AOaAVHO ~ % fp ots o 1161 qudy qo uo TEnOD OY qsurese oouveg ‘ on Fag "§ “" sjuay “ 61 gt as oe 6 ie a _ Spusprarqg ‘ £ 93% °° + as an +. suordriosqng oy, o00m “aD "TI6l JEdy yIog papua 1eax ay} «104 1G Ajajoos jeojydosojiyq pue As10jSI]] jesnjeny ysByjag ay} Jo junosoy oy "SZ ‘YD “WIA OF ¥ SF ‘SSSI ‘LOV (GNVTAUI) SLNAWMOGNA TVWNOLLVONGA 39 EXCHANGES. ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, ALBANY —Annual Report of New York State Museum. ANN-ARBOR—Michigan Academy of Sciences. Austin.—Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science. BasEL.—Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel. BEtrast.—Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalist Field Club. Bercen.—Bergens Museums Aarbog and Crustacea of Norway. BERKELEY.— University of California. BIRMINGHAM.—Natural History and Philosophical Society. A Midland Institute Scientific Society. Botocna.—Rendiconto della R. Accademia dell’ Instituto di Bologna. Boston.—Boston Society of Natural History. BouLver.—University of Colorado College Studies. BREMEN.—Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. BRESLAU.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie vom Verein fiir Schles sicke Insektenkunde. BriGHTON.—Annual Report of Brighton and Hove Natural History and Philosophical Society. BrisBANE.—Annals of the Queensland Museum. BrooKiyn.—Science Bulletin of Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. BrussELs.—-Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique. Annales de la Société Royale Zoologique et Molaco- logique de Belgique. " Annales de la Seciété Entomologique de Belgique. Burnos Ayres.—Anales des Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. BurraLo.—Bulletin of Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Catcutra.—Records of the Geological Survey of India. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. Botanical Series and Entomological Series, also the Agricultural Journal of India, ” 99 ” 40 Exchanges. CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, also Curator’s Report. CarpiFF.—Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society. CarpirFr.—Report of the Welsh Museum of Natural History. CassELL.—Abhandlungen des Vereins fur Naturkunde zu Kassel. Cuicaco.—Academy of Sciences. 4 Field Museum of Natural History. CHRISTIANIA. — Forkandlinger 1 Videnskabs-Selskabet i Chris- tiania. CincINNATI,—Bulletin of the Lloyd Library. CommMBRA PoRTUGAL.—Scientific Academy of Coimbra University. CoLoRADO SpriINGs.—Colorado College Studies, also Science series and Engineering series. Cotumpus.—Ohio State University. COPENHAGEN. — Academy of Science and Arts. Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gelleschaft in Danzig: DaveENnport.—Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. DrESDEN.—Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Heil- kunde in Dresden. Dus.iin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, also Scientific Proceedings and Economic Proceedings. a Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. ‘i Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. ms The National Library. EDINBURGH.—Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edin- burgh. 35 Proceedings of fhe Royal Society of Edinburgh. ve Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. EmpEN.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Emden. Genoa.—Rivista Ligure di Scienze, Letture, ed Arti. GressEN.—Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft ftir Natur und Heilkunde zu Giessen, Exchanges. AL Giascow —Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society. 4 Geological Society of Glasgow. Gor.itz.—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Gorlitz. Ha.irax.—Nova-Scotian Institute of Science. Hamepurc.—Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. IcLo.—Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines. INDIANAPOLIS.—Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences. Kansas.— University of Kansas, Kuarkorr.—Transactions of the Society for Physico Chimiques of Kharkoff University. Kierr.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of Kieff. LausaNnNnE.—Bulletin de Société des Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles. LAWRENCE.—Science Bulletin of the University of Kansas. Lreps.—Annual Report, Philosophical and Literary Society. Leipsic.—Sitzungberichte des Naturforschenden Gesellschaft vu Leipzig. Lima.—Boletin del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. Lonpon.—Report of the 76th Meeting of the British Association, also Report of the Corresponding Societies’ Committee. - Quarterly } Journal of the Geological Society of London. > Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. a Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. - Memoirs of the Astronomical Society. i; Guide Books, British Museum (Natural History). a The Patent Office Library. Manison. — Bulletin and Maps of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Wisconsin. Mapras.—Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. MANCHESTER.—Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society. MELBOURNE.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 42 Exchanges. Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatoria Meteorologico Magnetico Central de Mexico, also Anuaria. xy Boletin de Instituto Geologico de Mexico. MiLWAUKEE.— Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History Society. MINNEAPOLIS.—Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. MissouLa.— Bulletin of the University of Montana. MoNTEVIDEO.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo. MONTREAL.—Reports and Maps, Geological and Natural History - Survey of Canada. Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. New Haven, Conn.—Yale University Library. New York.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 3 Columbia University Library. NEw ORLEANS.—Louisiana State Museum. * Natural History Survey. Norman.—The University of Oklahoma. NotrinGHAM.—Annual Report and Transactions of the Notting- ham Naturalists’ Society. Orono.— The University of Maine. Osnagruck.—Silbzehnter Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaft- lichen Vereines zu Osnabruck. Orrawa.—Annual Report of Geological Survey of Canada. OxForp.—The Ashmolean Natural History Society. Papua. — Atti della Accademia Scientifica WVeneto-Trentin Istriana. PHILADELPHIA.— Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. ' Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturli. Pura, BENGAL.—Imperial Department of Agriculture. Rio DE JANIERo. — Archivos .do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janiero. ” Exchanges. 43 RocHEsSTER, N.Y.—Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science. Romer.—Journal of the British and American Archeological Society. ce Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. . Bollettino della Societa Zoologica Italiana. San Francisco.—Proceedings of rhe Californian Academy of Sciences. STAVANGER.—Aarshefte of Stavanger Museum. STIRLING.—Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archeological Society. STockHoLM.—Kungl Svenska Vetenskaps Academiens Hand- lingar. SyDNEY.—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia. Toxyo.— Mitteilungen der Deutschen Geselleschaft fiir Natur und Volkerunde Ostasiens. . Torquay.—Torquay Natural History Society. Trenton, N.J.—Archzologia Nova Cesarea. UpsaLa.—Bulletin of the Geological Institute of Upsala Univer- sity. VienNnA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo- gischen Reichsanstalt. WaASHINGTON.—Year Book of the Department of Agriculture. FA Annual Report of the American Bureau of Ethnology. s Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, Pro. ceedings of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, and Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. a5 Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington. = United States Geological Survey. York.—Annual Report of Yorkshire Philosophical Society. ZuRICH.— Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zurich. 44 BELFAST NATURAT HisTtOGk AND. PHILOSOPHICAL, SOC ia, Officers and Council of Management for rgrs-12. President : PROF. JAMES A. LINDSAY, M.A., F.R.CiP. Vice=Presidents : SIR JAMES HENDERSON, ROBERT PATERSON anes. AS Nics sD RT aule: WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.e:.s. ROBERT M. YOUNG, J.P. ‘bon. Treasurer: HENRY RIDDELL, m.e. ‘fbon. Librarian: JOHN HORNER. fbon. Secretary: ROBERT PATTERSON, F.L.S., M.R.1.A. Council: SIR JOHN W. BYERS,.™.a., M.D. JOIN’ MD PINNEGAN, "Bsr, B.SC., SECO’. 8, MAURICE F. FITZGERALD, B.A., M.1I.M.E., a.M.I.C.-E. NEVIN H. FOSTER, m.38.0.u. SIR JAMES, HENDERSON, 4A.M., D.L.; J.P: PROKESSOR i. Ay IENDSAV. Moat inde. RECAP: JOHN HORNER ALEXANDER TAYLOR. SEATON F. MILLIGAN, m.R.1.A., J.P. ROBERD RAGTERSONS Buss. MeReloAs. eZ1Seen NIABLONU HENRY RIDDELL. M.r. WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.c.s. PROFESSOR GREGG WILSON. D.sc., M.R.1.A. RIG “LON: OBER WOWINGa Pre (Ct. ers ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A., J.P., F.R.I.B.A. 45 SHAREHOLDERS. [*Denotes holders of three or more Shares]. * Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast Allworthy, S. W., m.p, Manor House, Antrim Road, do * Anderson, John, J.p., F.G.S. (Representatives of), Holywood, Co. Down Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R.c.s.Eng., 23 University Square, Belfast Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, 12 College Gardens, do Armstrong, William, Donegall Square West, do Armstrong, William, Thronemount, do Baird, Capt. William, Royal Avenue, do Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton (Representatives of), Portglenone, Co. Antrim Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.A., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street (Representatives of) do *Boyd, J. St. Clair, m.p., Chatsworth, Malone Road, do Braddell, Edward, 35 St. Andrew’s Road, Bedford Brett, Sir Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, Belfast Brett, John H. c.r£., Fortwilliam Park do Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue do Bristow, John, Wellington Place do Brown, John, F.R.S., A.M.I.E.E., Longhurst, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Burrowes, W. B., Ballynafeigh House, Belfast Byers, Sir John W., M.a., M.D., Lower Crescent, do *Brown, George B., Lisnamore, Ormeau Road, do Braithwaite, W. T., Botanic Avenue, do Barnett, Miss Mary, Ardmore, Holywood Calwell, William, M.a., M.D., 6 College Gardens, Belfast *Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do Carr, A. H. R., Donegall Place do Carson, John, (Representatives of) Walmer Terrace, | Holywood *Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor, Co. Down *Christen, Mrs. Rodolphe, St. Imier, Brig of Gairn, Ballater, N.B. 46 Shareholders. miniGss Clark, George S., D.L., Dunlambert, Belfast Clarke, E.H., Notting Hill, do Connor, Charles C., M.A., J.P., College Gardens, do Crawford, Slr William, J.p., Mount Randal, do Corbett, Miss K. M., Derryvolgie Avenue, do Combe, Barbour, Ltd., do Davies, A. C., Lenaderg House, Banbridge, Co. Down *Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representatives of) Dixon, Professor, M.A., SC.D., F.R.S., Hurstwood, Malone Park, . Belfast Dods, Robert, B.A., J.P., St. Leonard’s, Newcastle, Co. Down *Donegall, Marquis of (Representatives of) Belfast *Downshire, Mraquis of (Representatives of), The Castle, Hillsborough, Co. Down Duffin, Adam, LL.D., J.P., Dunowen, Cliftonville, Belfast Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Representatives of), Ballywalter, Co. Down Ewart, G. Herbert, M.A., J.P., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast Ewart, Fred W., M.A., B.L., Derryvolgie, Lisburn Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., M.A., J.P., D.L., Glen- machan House, Belfast Elliott, E. J., Donegall Park, do Faren, Wm., Mountcharles, do *Fenton, Francis G., Paris Ferguson, G. W., c.E., J.p., Carnamenagh, Antrim Road, Belfast Finlay, Fred W., J.P., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel, do Finlay, Robert H. F , Cavehill Road, do Finnegan, John M., B.a., B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue, do FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.a., M.I M.E., ASSOC. M.I.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, do Foster, Nevin Harkness, Hillsborough, Co. Down Fisher, J. R., B.u., Alexandra Gardens, Belfast Shareholders. 47 *Getty, Edmund (Representatives of) Belfast Gibson, Andrew, F.R.S.A.1., Fairfield, Lansdowne Road, do Girdwood, H. M., Broughton Flax Mills, Manchester Gordon, Malcolm, Hilden, Lisburn *Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.1.A. (Representatives of), Broughshane, Co. Antrim Gray, William, M.r.1.A., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast *Hall, Frederick H., Waterford Hamilton, Rev. Thomas, D.D., LL.D., Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University, Belfast *Hamilton, Hill, j.p. (Representatives of), do Harland, Capt. W., 35 Chester Terrace, London, S.W. Henderson, Sir James, A.M., J.P., D.L., Oakley, Windsor Park, Belfast Henry, Professor R. M., M.a., Wellington Park, Belfast Herdman, F. S., The Drift, Antrim Road, do Herdman, John, J.P., D.L., Carricklee House (Representatives of) Strabane *Herdman, Robert Ernest, j.p., Merronhurst, Craigavad, Co. Down Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, Belfast Hind, John, jun., The Deanery, Carrickfergus Hodges, Miss, Glenravel, Co. Antrim, Belfast Hogg, John, Academy Street, do Hazelton, W. D., Old Forge, Dunmurry Horner, John, Drum-na-Coll, Antrim Road, Belfast *Houston, John Blakiston. J.p., y.1., Orangefield, do *Hughes, Edwin, J.p., Dalchoolin, Craigavad, Co. Down Hunter, William, j.p., Portwilliam Villas, Belfast Jackson, A. T., c.z., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie Avenue, do Jaffe, Sir Otto, J.p., LL.D., Kin Edar, Strandtown, do Johnston, Samuel A., j.P., Dalriada, Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Dalguise, Monkstown, Dublin 48 Shareholders. Kidd, Miss Helen, Castlerock, Co. Derry *Kinghan, John R., Windsor Avenue Belfast Kinnaird, George Y., Sandown Park, Knock, do Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do Larmor, Sir Joseph, M.A., D.SC., LL.D., F.R.A.S., SEC.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge Leathem, R. R,, M.D., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, J.P., Edgecumbe, Strandtown, do Lepper, F. R, J.p., Elsinore (Representatives of), Carnalea, Co. Down Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., FC.S., Shirley Lodge, Cultra, do Lindsay, Professor James A., M.A., M.D., Queen’s Elms, _ Belfast Mackenzie, John, c.£., J.P., 412 Lisburn Road, Belfast *Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do Magill, J.E., Elmwood Avenue, Nao Malcolm, Bowman, M.1.C.E., M1.M.E., Ashley Park, Antrim Road, do Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.I.MAR.E., Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, : do Mayes, William, Deramore Park, do Milligan, A, 225 Springfield Road, do Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.1.A., F.R.S.A.I., J.P., Bangcr, Co Down Mitchell, Robert A., LL.B., T.c.D., Marmont, Strandtown, Belfast Montgomery, Henry C., Bangor, Co. Down Montgomery, H. H., Strandtown, Belfast Moore, James, J.P., The Finaghy, Belfast Morton, Professor W. B., M.A., Nottinghill, do Muir, A. 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Down Nicholson, Henry P., Cranagall, Annaghmore, Co. Armagh O’Neill, Henry, M.D., J.P., B.L., College Square East, do *O‘Rorke, Mrs., Tudor Park, Holywood, Co. Down Orr, Hugh L., Garfield Street, Belfast Park, Rev. Wm., m.A., Garthowen, Sans Souci Park, do Patterson, Edward Ferrar, Ballyholme Road, Bangor, Co. Down Patterson, Mrs. David C., Glenard, Holywood, do Patterson, John, Dunallan, Windsor Avenue, Belfast Patterson, Richard, J.p., Kilmore (Representatives of), Holywood, Co. Down Patterson, Robert, M.R.1.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., Glenbank, do. do Patterson, William H., m.R.1.a., Garranard, Strandtown, Belfast Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Knock, do Pim, Edward, W., j.P., Elmwood T errace, do Pim, Joshua, 10 Donegall Square South, do Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.E., M.R.1.A., National Library, Dublin 50 Shareholders. Reade, Robert H. S., J.P., p.t., Wilmont, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Riddell, Henry, M.r., 64 Gt. Victoria Street, Belfast Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do Shillington, Thos. Foulkes, j.P., Dromart, Antrim Road, do Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.a., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s.Eng., University Square, do Smith, John, Castleton Terrace do Smyth, John, M.a., c.£., Milltown, Banbridge, Co. Down Speers, Adam, B.SC., J.P., Riversdale, Holywood, do Steen, William C., M.p., 51 Adelaide Park, Belfast Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do Stelfox, Arthur W., A.R.1.B.4., Chlorine Gardens, do Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do Symington, Prof. Johnson, M.D., F.R.S.E., Windsor Gardens, do Symmers, W. St, Clair, Queen’s University. do *Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do *Tennent, Robert James (Representatives of), Rushpark, do iemens, 1. El: D.L.5 J... Wellington Place do *Turnley, John (Representatives of). . do Taylor, Alexander, 131 Donegall Street do Walkington, Miss Jane A., Osborne Gardens, do Wallace, C. A., Princetown Road, Bangor Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, Belfast *Webb, Richard T., Kensington Villa, Knock Avenue Road, do Whitla, Prof. Sir William, M.D., J.P, College Square North, do Wilson, Prof. Gregg, M.A., PH.D., D.SC., M.R.LA., Queen’s University, do *Wilson, Walter H., Belvoir Park (Representatives of), do *Wilson, W. Perceval, do *Wolff, 'G. W., J.e., The Den, strandtown, do Workman, Francis, The Moat, Strandtown, do Workman, John Jj.p., Lismore, Windsor, do Workman, Rev. Robert, m.a., Rubane House, Glastry, Co. Down Shareholders. 51 *Workman, T. (Representatives of). Workman, W., 8 Corporation Street Belfast Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., 10 May Street do Young, Right Hon. Robert, P.c.,C.E,, J.P., Rathvarna, Belfast *Young, Robert Magill, B.A., J.P., M-.R.I.A.. Rathvarna, do HONORARY ASSOCIATES. Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Belfast Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., May Street do ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS. Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast Northern Banking Company, Ltd., do Ulster Bank, Ltd. do ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA. Boyd, John, Holland Park, Neill’s Hill, Belfast Bruce, James, D.L., J.p., Thorndale House, do Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do Fulton, G. H., Howard Street, do Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do Hanna, J. A., J.P., Marietta, Knock, do Higginbotham, Granby, Fortwilliam Park do Lynn, William H., Antrim Road, do M‘Laughlin, William H., J.p., Macedon, do Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.c.S.1., Templepatrick House, Donaghadee Swiney, J. H. H., B.a., B.E., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, _ Belfast. Thompson, obi, eR Mount ghee do ? s - 1911 i Cee RE LOMO H, . = 1 i Tet! i ri. ' Al ice j fh ahs we! im ao ategennoets unania Ae ae yw ea eae ae Meu Me. ‘ rs oy Sie i. eet UN ten enainany ig a ae aa) Unie i \ ie eee & be Nye ban a | ne a a ; 5 > anes ; eee —— $i) + = 4eee Report and Proceedings OF THE BELFAST ! Natural History and Philosophical Society FOR THE f \ b \ 84, N = \ z bie SAL 2 ee ————————————————————— SESSION 1911*1e. BELFAST : MAYNE, BOYD & SON, LTD., 2 CORPORATION STREET. (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). 66 oh rf 7 ‘ Nel ee oe mae F q 5 hare ar Stn he Report and Proceedings aie AS Natural History and Philosophical Society: FOR THE / (E > ny tt ae ah \ 4 is oe %y SESsiON 1911512. BELFAST : MAYNE, BOYD & SON, LTD., 2 CORPORATION. STREET. (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY). 1912. CONTENTS. The New Science: Eugenics or Race ihe pd Leonard Darwin The Philosophy of Henri ee ty Piotor: AN. ice: M.A., M.D. From Montreal to Victoria: An Impression of Canada—by Mr. William Hunter, J.P. Comets—by Professor H. H. Turner, D.Sc., F.R.S. Recent Advances in Irish tate Mr. Nevin H. Foster, M.R.LA. oa The Growth of Public as BAe cleseny Consiered—by Mr. H. L. Stewart, M.A., Ph.D. The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum—by Dr. R. F. Scharff, Ph.D. ioe abe German Education: its Lessons for oe Professor Sadler, LE. India and its Big Game epicnaane Cain y, IL. Siar. P.R-G:s: Annual Report Balance Sheet Additions to Library ... List of Office Bearers ... List of Shareholders 20 22 26 Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, :On ESTABLISHED We2kr On CONSTITUTION: The membership of the Society consists of Shareholders in the Museum, Annual Subscribers (Associates), Honorary Members and Honorary Associates. Shares in the Museum cost £7 each. A holder of one Share pays an annual contribution of ten shillings ; a holder of two Shares (in one certificate) an annual contribution of five shillings ; while a holder of three or more Shares (in one certificate) is exempt from annual payments. Shares on which the annual payments as above are in arrear are liable to forfeiture. The Council retain the right to decline to consolidate two or more share certificates into one certificate. Annual Subscribers (Associates) pay 41 Is (one guinea), due Ist November in each year in advance. A General Meeting of Shareholders in the Museum is held annually in May or June, or as soon thereafter as convenient, to receive the Report of the ‘Council and the Statement of Accounts for the preceding year, to elect members of Council, to replace those retiring by rotation or for other reasons, and to transact any other business incidental to an annual meeting. Share- holders only are eligible for election on the Council. The Council elect, from among their own number, a President and other officers of the Society. Fach member has the right of personal attendance at the ordinary lectures of the Society, and has the privilege of introducing two friends for admission to such. The session for lectures extends from November to May. Any further information required may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary. BELFAST NATURAL, EOS POR Pan): Pi LLOSOPHICAL. SOCIETY, SESSION 1911-12. Igth November, IOI, Professor Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “THE NEW SCIENCE—EUGENICS OR RACE HYGIENE.” By Major LEONARD DARWIN. (Abstract). The first meeting of the present session was held on 14th November in the large hall of the Municipal Technical Institute, which was kindly lent for the occasion by the Library and Technical Instruction Committee of the Council of the County Borough of Belfast. The attendance was gratifyingly large and representative, and the fact that Major Darwin is the fourth son of the great scientist, the late Mr. Charles Darwin, F.R.S., naturally added to the size of the audience. Sir JoHNn Byers, the outgoing president, who was very warmly received, said in the first place he had again to thank the members and the Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society for the courtesy extended to him, and his second duty was to introduce—although he needed no introduction —Professor Lindsay, who would in every respect maintain the honour, dignity, and scientific importance of the Society. PROFESSOR LiNDsay, who was very cordially received, said his first duty was to return his sincere thanks to the Council of the _ Society for the honour which they had conferred upon him. He 6 Major Leonard Darwin on had to express the sincere sympathy of the Society with the relatives of the late Mr. John Prown, F-.R.S., in their recent sad bereavement. Mr. Brown was for many years one of the most active and eminent members of that Society, in which he filled the offices of president and treasurer with much ability. That night he (the speaker) had the honour of introducing to the audience the distinguished son of an illustrious father. It was safe to affirm that the name of Darwin would be cherished and revered so long as science was known and honoured amongst men. escent with variation had _ been recognised as the fundamental law of life. ‘The terms “ struggle for life,” ‘‘ natural selection,” ‘‘ the survival of the fittest,” had entered into the very texture of their thought, and coloured all their conceptions. The Darwinian theory of biology was as firmly established as the Copernican theory of the heavens or the Newtonian theory of gravitation. To ignore it was to place oneself wholly outside the stream of modern thought. Natural selection was the key to the Darwinian doctrine, namely—the principle that in a state of nature those unfitted to survive were eliminated in the struggle for existence, while the sturdier type were perpetuated. But, as civilization developed, they saw a new principle at work, and one which ran counter to natural selection. Nature’s somewhat ruthless methods of disposing of the unfit were thwarted. .Civilised society was confronted with the spectre of the degenerate. The increase of insanity and of cancer had justly alarmed the British nation. Many theories—some of them fanciful, and others, perhaps, ridiculous—had been put forward to account for that increase, but there could be little real doubt that such increase was due mainly to the neglect of those principles which the Eugenics Education Society existed to formulate and to advocate. The president of that society he now introduced to the audience, and in their name he offered Major Darwin the heartiest of Irish welcomes. Major Darwin, who was received with applause, thanked the president for the kind words used in reference to his father. The New Science—LEugenics or Race Hygiene. 7 If his father could now speak he would be the first to acknowledge that the change in thought to which allusion had been made, was absolutely certain to come, whoever advocated it or did not advocate it. It had been said that man was the culminating point of this world process. That was true in a certain sense, but it did not take a long walk through any slums to make them, at any rate, hope for further progress. He thought also that science told clearly that there was no physical bar to the progress of man both in his mind and in his body. Tke word ‘culmination ” had a certain sinister sound about it. It was true that in the days of the highest Greek achievements it might well be said that a culminating point had been reached because civilisation for many centuries went backwards, and historians told of many great nations reaching a high position and then going backwards for some reason that could hardly be known at present. They of this race might be in the same predicament—if they were not going backwards they might not be advancing as quickly as they should. In dealing with this problem, eugenics was the science that must be turned to. That science dealt with all those features which determined whether the race was progressive or not. Those who were pressing forward the demand for more study of this subject might be called upon to prove three things. They must prove that there was a serious problem demanding immediate attention ; they must prove that the existing knowledge of scientific facts indicated that great progress might be made in the race in future if certain steps were now taken, and they must prove that something should now be done. It would be noted that he made a distinction between what could be done and what ought to be done. The confusion of these questions had caused the science of eugenics to lose very much. The question was what ought to be done, because the difficulties they had to meet with were rather more moral than intellectual. Enormous advances had been made in medical treatment ; we had hospitals, asylums, a reformed Poor-law, and reformed prisons. It would be seen that millions 8 Major Leonard Darwin on : now must live who in more barbarous days would have died young. At this we should certainly rejoice, because it was an instance of the evolution of man’s highest nature. Although we ought to continue to rejoice, yet if we came to recognize with Dr. Tredgold that the degenerate offspring of the drunkard and the wastrel seemed to get a better start in life than the children of respectable, hard-working parents—if that was even near the truth, it made us consider whether all was right in our present social arrangements, Every investigation proved that all the characteristics of man’s mertal and physical powers were inherited, and under the law of heredity it followed there must exist vast numbers of degenerates. Was it thus we were to progress. Many might doubt or disbelieve the law of heredity, but every statistical inquiry yet made clearly proved that all mental and physical qualities were hereditary, As an argument against this, instances of individual differences between father and son were often quoted, but that did not in the least degree prove that the generation of the father and the generation of the son were not exactly alike on the average. But individual differences between father and son did not prove that a large crop of degenerates were not coming into the world. The birth-rate of slum-dwellers was higher than that of others more fortunately circumstanced. To call the citizen of the future an “encumbrance” was an evil thing to do. ‘The check on the marriage-rate always affected the better classes. They ought to struggle for the independent existence of women, so that they might have an economic existence. Still, the supreme function of women was motherhood. Anyone who would take the trouble to answer some simple hypothetical questions must realize that there was an acute situation to be faced. The battle of the Eugenists would be won ‘when public opinion thought out the subject. If they were proved to be wrong no one would rejoice more than they would. In the future, however, whatever might have been the case in the past, if any nation was to win in the great competitive struggle of to-day The New Science—Eugenics or Race Hygiene. 9 it must pay the utmost attention both to heredity and environ- ment—to neglect either was fatal. Environment was, however, almost: always likely to win in the conflict with heredity. The social reformer should not resent the presentation of facts: Although the task before them was a hard one, they must still persevere. With regard to the morality of the question the Eugenists were trying to enlist sympathy for the coming generation which they wanted to enter the world well equipped in the inherent qualities of their minds and bodies so that there should be less suffering than now existed. The lecturer next dealt with the question of segregating the feeble-minded, and said public opinion must be educated on the point. It must not be forgotten that any interference with parental responsibility tended to break up the family as a unit and was to be deprecated since it was the foundation of civilisation. Their efforts should be directed to a campaign of persuasion rather than one of leglislation. The love of luxury was the main reason for the sterility of the upper classes. In conclusion, the lecturer said if there was one sentiment which might be more widely acknowledged and preached it was that the production of the citizens of the future was the noblest task that could be placed on human shoulders. On the motion of Mr. J. R. FisHer, Barrister-at-Law, seconded by Professor Gregg WILSON, a very cordial vote of thanks was passed to the lecturer. Major Darwin having acknowledged the compliment, The proceedings terminated. December 5th, TOs. “THE PHILOSOPHY OF HENRI BERGSON. By Proressor Linpsay, M.A., M.D. (Abstract). PRoFEssoR Linpsay, who was received with applause, said that no apology was required for presenting a philosophical subject for the consideration of the society, as their title showed that philosophy came well within their range. It could not be denied that it was a subject which was looked upon with askance, not only by.the average man and the average woman, but even by highly-cultivated people. It was regarded as unpractical and as relating to subjects which were either of no importance or which lay outside the range of the human intellect. Yet philosophy of some kind underlay all their views regarding the nature of mind, the competency of reason, the claims of duty; and the subject could not, as a matter of fact, be evaded. Philosophy was an attempt to find the reasoned base upon which science rested, to integrate knowledge, to define the powers and limitations of the human faculties, and to discover a satisfactory basis for morals. European philosophy had for the last few decades oscillated between two opposed and contrasted schools of thought—firstly, the mechanical school, which regarded the universe as a highly- organised mechanism, governed by physico-chemical laws ; which held that consciousness was simply a function of the brain ; which The Philosophy of Henri Bergson. 11 found in matter the source of every form of energy ; and which denied teleology and free-will ; and, secondly, the neo-Kantian or neo-Hegelian school, which viewed mind as the fundamental fact ; which regarded physico-chemical laws as wholly inadequate to explain the Cosmos, and which stood for intuition, teleology, and free-will. Between these two schools now stood the philosophy of M. Henri Bergson, which had to a remarkable degree gained the ear of European thought-—a philosophy which invited them to reconsider all the great problems of philosophy from a new point of view, which waged war both upon the mechanical and the idealist schools, and which propounded a new method and suggested a new synthesis. It was a subtle and ambitious scheme, and one which threw down a challenge to some of the most cherished ideas of modern science. Firmly planted upon physics and biology, it reared its head into the thinnest ether of abstract speculation. In opposition to Scientific Honism, it conceived a radical distinction, an unceasing struggle between matter and consciousness. It involved a re-statement of vitalism, as Bergson regarded life not as a function of matter, but as a free creative energy using matter as its instrument, continually renewing itself, evolving higher types, and ever seeking a fuller measure of self-realisation. It was a spiritual philosophy, as it regarded life, consciousness, spirit, as the primary realities. It was an evolutionary philosophy, as change, movement, progress were its essential features, and time was its keynote It was in opposition to popular teleology, as it denied that the Cosmos was the fulfilment of a pre-determined plan, holding rather that it was the result of a creation which went on for ever in virtue ef an initial movement, which knew no end but the development of its own inherent energy. It was a philosophy of free-will, and it conceived life and consciousness as essentially free, as constantly striving by traversing matter to arrive at freedom. It strove to rehabilitate instinct and intuition, holding that these were in closer touch with reality in the domain of life and of mind than reason. It had {2 Professor Lindsay on important ethical inferences, as it laid stress upon action rather than upon thought, holding that man was made in order to act as much as, or more than, in order to think. It inculcated the far-reaching principle that in every act of consciousness they carried their whole past mental life with them. To characterise the Bergson philosophy in brief—it was evolutionary, vitalistic, spiritual, libertarian, pragmatist. It was a rebound from Scientific Monism and Scientific Determinism. The President then proceeded to deal at length with the Bergson philosophy from three points of view---first, its theory regard- ing matter, mind, and consciousness; second, its theory of life; and third, its ethical inferences. In conclusion he said he did not pro- pose to attempt any detailed critical appraisement of Bergson’s philosophy. He doubted his competency for the task, and in any case much time, thought, and discussion would be required before its permanent value could be determined. No one would deny that it was a stimulating and suggestive scheme, or that its author was an accomplished and acute thinker, whose works combined in a rare _ degree philosophic acumen and literary charm. ‘There were some to whom this philosophy would seem little more than an attempt to reintroduce the old idols under a new alias. Others, profoundly dissatisfied with modes of philosophy which regarded the universe as a huge machine, working solely under physico-chemical laws and man as no more than a conscious automaton, would welcome a fresh stream of thought which sought to revivify the arid places of physical and biological science. Others again, while hesitating to follow Bergson in his flights through the abysses of speculation, would accept the challenge to restate the old problems in fresh terms, and to examine the old enigmas from a new point of view. In a passage of “The Critique of Pure Reason” Kant remarked that “It is a great and essential proof of cleverness or insight to know how to ask reasonable questions.” Many philosophical paradoxes bewildered the reason and admitted of no solution because the problem was wrongly stated. Bergson seemed to him The Philosophy of Henri Bergson. 13 to be pre-eminent, not for closeness of reasoning or clearness of demonstration, but for insight, for the capacity to re-think doctrines which had been long taken for granted, to re-examine postulates which had been too readily assumed. He threw them back upon themselves, challenged some of their most cherished philosophic preconceptions, thawed tbe ice of their prejudices, invited them to assume a new standpoint, and to behold a new prospect. They were bound to look with some suspicion upon a system of thought which professed to transcend, and in some degree to discredit, reason. When they asked themselves the question—‘ In what departments of thought or action are we to reject reason, to what extent are we to reject it, and if we decide to reject it, what is to be our guide ?” they found themselves in a maze of controversy. Bergson had his answer ready—Trust instinct or intuition, but only when they had been clarified and divested of some of those factitious elements with which the necessity for action and the exigencies of practical life had invested them. Those who thought clearly would soon convince themselves that the attempt to rule reason entirely out of court proved in the end futile. Even if they decided that there were many things beyond the compass of human reason, it was bya process of reasoning that this conclusion was reached. Another weak point in Bergson’s system was that he endowed his “ super-consciousness ” with abundant energy and capacity for development, but denied it prevision or definite aim. This only put the mystery one step farther back. It might turn out in the end that Bergson’s philosophy would prove more valuable on the critical than on the constructive side, that it would justify itself rather as a valuable stimulus to re-think the old problems of matter, life and mind, from fresh points of view than as a lasting contribution to positive thought. Bergson had at least fluttered the dovecotes of the philosophers. He had flouted Scientific Monism and Scientific Determinism. He had poured scorn upon Materialism. He had reaffirmed the doctrine of human freedom. More evolutionary than the evolutionists, he 14 The Philosophy of Henri Bergson. had given evolution a new turn and a fresh significance. He had suggested a new key to the puzzling enigma of variation. He had advanced a new theory of knowledge. He had sought to rehabilitate instinct and to justify intuition. These were considerable achievements, or, at least, high ambition. Of their success it was premature to speak, but amongst European thinkers of the 19th and 2oth centuries it was safe to affirm that a high place will always be assigned to M. Henri Bergson. On the motion of Dr. H. L. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Henry RIDDELL, and supported by Professor W. Sr. C. SyMMERS, a vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer, who in the course of his reply said he desired to make it clear that he did not appear as Bergson’s advocate, but rather as his expositor. The proceedings then concluded. gth January, 1912. PRorussor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R:C.P., President, in the Chair. “FROM MONTREAL TO VICTORIA: AN IMPRESSION OF CANADAY’ By Mr. WiLtLt1am Hunter, J.P. ( Abstract.) The CHAIRMAN, who was cordially received, said the lecture that night was on a subject that he was sure interested everybody, and he was glad to see such a large audience. Canada, as they all knew, although not actually one of the oldest of their colonies —he believed the honour belonged to Newfoundland—was very nearly the oldest. and probably the most important. The conquest of Canada about the middle of the eighteenth century was one of the most romantic stcries in British history. They knew that Canada to-day was a country of enormous possibilities and one with a brilliant future before it. It had been fortunate in having a succession of great men amongst its statesmen and politicians, and Canada had solved may difficult problems. It had solved the problem of how two nations differing in bleod and in interest and in creed had learned to live in friendship and unity and pursue ends for the common good. Mr. Hunter, who was to address them, had made a lengthened stay in the country and had studied it from many points of view. He was quite sure the lecture would be full of interest and instruction. Mr. Hunter, who was heartily received, said the entire population of Canada was hardly equal to that of London, The total number of emigrants who went to the Dominion during the five years ending December 31st, 1910, was 1,127,000. Of that 16 Mr. Wilham Hunter on From Montreal to Victoria. number nearly 500,000 came from Great Britain. The main cause of the recent tide of emigration had been the opening up of hitherto unknown immense provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia by the plucky pioneers of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was the great West that was receiving most of the emigrants, and what was once a desolate wilderness was already dotted over, especially nearly the railway line, with comfortable farm houses and some considerable towns. The Government had surveyed the whole lands, and had staked out and fenced public reads intersecting the whole prairie. Canada was no doubt a land of opportunity for the young and strong. Farmers and farm labourers, if they worked hard, were certain to succeed. Tradesmen and young men with a business training and a little capital who emigrated to some of the prairie towns which are growing up like mushrooms were almost sure of success. Pio- ceeding, the lecturer referred to what the Government was doing in assisting to develop the great national resources of the country, and to the provision made for a system of national education, while he also alluded to the agricultural colleges and experimental farms. A variety of views were shown of the different points of interest in a journey from Belfast to the Pacific Coast. The tour embraced the towns of Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Fort William, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Victoria, while interesting reference was made to the Thousand Islands, the great lakes, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and Arrowhead Lake. ‘The lecturer alluded to the progress which had been evidenced by the growth within recent years of the bigger centres of civilisation in Canada, and the views supplied a pictorial account of the methods adopted in farming on a large scale, and of the means provided for the transit of the produce to the public markets. On the motion of Mr. J. M. Finnecan, B.Sc., seconded by by Mr. T. F. SHILLInNGToN, J.P., a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer, and the proceedings terminated. 2nd Fkebruary, 1912. ProFessor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. + LECTURE ON COMERS” By PROFESSOR TURNER, OXFORD. (Abstract). THE CHAIRMAN said the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society had taken a fresh step this winter, as in addition to carrying on its ordinary activities it had felt itself able to offer to the public at nominal charges for admission a series of popular lectures by some of the most eminent men of to-day. They were exceedingly fortunate in having as their first lecturer the distinguished Professor Turner, of the University Observatory, Oxford. The presence of that eminent professor was an honour both to the Society and to the city, and on behalf of those present he (the Chairman) offered the lecturer a hearty Irish welcome. There was no department of science more fascinating than astronomy, and none which suggested deeper thought or admitted of more picturesque illustration. They were looking forward to the lecture that evening on ‘‘Comets” with great expectations, which he felt sure would be more than fulfilled. Professor Turner, who was cordially received, said the great use of astronomy was that it expanded men’s minds almost indefinitely, with the incidental advantage that it had removed many of the vague fears which the savage created for himself. Although the human race had been in existence for thousands of years it was only within the last few hundred years that those fears had been satisfactorily dispelled. Almost the last of them was 18 Projessor Turner on the dread of comets, which were believed to threaten if not the very existence of the world at any rate pestilence or death. The lecturer illustrated this feeling by quotations from Milton’s “* Paradise Lost” and the diary of John Evelyn. A comet observed in 1590 was supposed to be responsible for the sneezing plague, which brought into use the familiar expression ‘“‘God bless you” when a person sneezed, those words being a prayer that the individual affected might not be stricken. Familiarity and knowledge had done away with the fears to which he had referred. Comets had become much more familiar since the invention of the telescope, but it was interesting to note that photography had not the same effect on comets as on planets. The best time to see a comet was when it was near the sun, and then of course it could not be photographed, because the light would fog the plate. Comet-seeking involved great assiduity and labour, some discoveries being made by diligence and others by accident. They moved in curves called conic sections, either a parabola or an ellipse. In the discovery of the law of gravitation Newton laid the basis of all their knowledge of the movements of comets and planets. Continuing, Professor Turner described Halley’s work at Oxford, and how he discovered that the comet called after him came back every seventy-five or seventy-six years. Halley knew he could not live until its return, and he expressed in writing the hope that when it did come back, as it did in 1758, posterity would remember that the prediction was first made by an Englishman. ‘The comet had been traced back to 240 B.c., and as a matter of fact it appeared at the Norman Conquest, at the Reformation, when the first American colony was founded, and when Nelson was born. ‘There was also a political significance attached to its appearance, for it was a curious thing that the results of the elections of 1835 and 1910 were almost exactly the same. The comet had gone now, and if an election took place he did not know what would happen. A comet was not heavy. It was possible that the whole mass of the comet was no bigger than that Comets. 19 hall in which they had assembled. The head was probably a mass of stones, and the tail was probably formed through the driving out by the light of the sun of the lighter constituents. It had been observed that comets underwent a process of breaking up with the passage of time, and they might look forward to the future of Halley’s and other comets as being one of not exactly death, but of transformation into a shower of meteors. At the conclusion of the lecture the Chairman, on behalf of the audience, thanked Professor Turner for his interesting and instructive discourse. He hoped that would not be the last time they would have the pleasure of hearing their distinguished friend in Belfast again. This concluded the proceedings. gih February, 1912. Professor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D, F.R.C.P., President in the Chair. b) “ RECENT ADVANCES IN IRISH ORNITHOLOGY.” By Mr. Nevin H. Foster, M.B.O.U. ( Abstract. ) Mr. Foster said that since the publication of the “ Natural History of Ireland” by William Thompson, one of the Society’s presidents, some fifty-four species of birds had been added to the Irish list, this including all the rare stragglers which had been obtained in Ireland. When the above work was published the birds of prey were considered the most highly specialised birds, and accordingly placed at the top of the list, but since that time it had been shown that this position must be accorded to the sub-order of passerine, or perching birds. Of late years, too, a revision of the systematic order of the families in this sub-order had ousted the thrushes from their premier position, the crows here supplanting them. This appeared only just, taking into ‘account the intelligence of these birds, which in proportion to their size possess much greater brain capacity than obtains in any other birds. The modern trend of ornithology points to the insufficiency of merely a generic and specific name, it being evident that racial or sub-specific distinctions are noticeable between birds of a species inhabiting different regions, and consequently most modern ornithologists have become adherents of the trinominal system. It having been shown by Dr. Hartret that in twenty-one species of birds the English examples could be differentiated from the typical Continental forms, it was not therefore surprising that in three of these our Irish specimens Recent Advances tn Irish Ornithology. 21 further varied from those of Great Britain. The Irish dipper differed from that of England in its possessing wider black borders to the feathers of its upper parts, so that its back appeared almost black in freshly-moulted examples, also in having a more restricted rufous pectoral area. Our coal-tit was announced by Mr. Ogilvie-Grant to be a distinct species, for which he proposed the name Parus Hibernicus, but further research had elicited the fact that in this species in Ireland there is a considerable amount of intergrading, pointing to its probably being entitled only to sub-specific rank. The Irish form differs from that of England in having the occipital spot and cheeks mustard-yellow instead of white ; whilst the sides, flanks, and upper tail coverts of our form are cinnamon-coloured. The latter feature, the lecturer said, was more or less pronounced in all the Irish specimens he had the opportunity of examining, but the head patches had been invariably white except in the case of young birds. The jay of Ireland differed strikingly from that of England in the dark rufous colouring of the sides of the head, ear coverts, and under parts, and in its darker crest, the feathers of the forehead being black, fringed with reddish buff ; those of the crown edged with rufous pink and more strongly barred with blue than in the British jay, the measurements of the tail and wing being also slightly less. Speaking generally, our avifauna must be considered as fairly stable, but a few instances of species decreasing or increasing in numbers were patent. Among those whose numbers and range were diminishing were instanced the goldfinch, birds of prey (eagles, buzzards, harriers, hawks, and falcons), the quail, and the toseate tern. Several instances of the increase and spread of species in Ireland were alluded to, among them being the starling, the tree-sparrow, a few years ago only known in Ireland from County Dublin, but now found to breed also in Mayo, London. derry, and Donegal ; the stock-dove, first observed in Ireland in 1875, but now known to nest in about a dozen counties; the tufted duck, not known as an Irish breeder previous to 1877, but 22 Dr. A. L. Stewart on now found nesting in at least seventeen counties ; the shoveler ; the scoter, only known as a winter visitant till a few years ago, when its nest was discovered in Ulster, where it has since regularly bred ; the red-necked phalarope, and the sandwich tern. Some of the rare stragglers or occasional wanderers to our island were alluded to, such as the waxwing, serin, crossbill, snow-finch, shore-lark, Canadian crane, pink-footed goose, American blue- winged teal, and Wilson’s petrel. ‘The latest Irish ornithological discovery was that of the breeding of the fulmar petrel in the West of Ireland by Mr. Ussher last year. As the spread of this bird’s nesting haunts on the West of Scotland has been observed of late, this invasion of Ireland was not surprising, and Mr. Foster concluded by saying that it was by no means unreasonable to assume that in the course of a few years the inclusion of the fulmar as a breeding species on some of our suitable Northern cliffs would reward the careful scrutiny of our ornithologists. “THE GROWTH OF PUBLIC, OPINION; PSYCHOLOGICALELY CONSIDERED? By Dr. H. L. Stewart, M.A. (Abstract. } Dr. STEWART, in the course of an interesting lecture, said it was the veriest commonplace that public opinion ruled us all. In countless ways we did obeisance to it, and we found it a somewhat capricious and exacting sovereign, quick to take offence, difficult to placate with apologies, and rather insistent that the The Growth of Public Opinion, &c. 23 transgressor must earn his pardon. It prescribed all manner of customs and usages, fashions and amusements, tastes and judgments. It determined most of the literary and artistic criticisms that were passed—they were motived by what someone had heard said by someone else. A few stray private opinions that happened to be shared by the right group of people crystallised into what was called a public opinion, and the series forthwith began to advance not in arithmetical but in geometrical progression. In matters of social or of political or of economic interest there was in every little knot of persons a set of orthodox conventions, and nine out of ten of these kindred spirits repeated them without hesitation and without reflection. But those judgments which we had simply absorbed from our environment in the same way in which we had adopted its dress, its language, and its amusements, we commonly supposed ourselves to have reached by logic and reasoning. One man was a free trader and another a tariff reformer, one a collectivist and another an individualist, in virtue far more of the kind of community in which he had lived than of the intellectual processes through which he had passed. We seldom confessed it—the utmost that we would confess was that we could not give on demand the reasons that had convinced us; but we felt sure that the reasons were producible, and that if we were given a chance of reflection and of reference to those books and newspapers which had formed our minds the reasons could be produced. It was of the first consequence for understanding our social life that we should trace this thing to its psychological roots. How did a public opinion on any matter grow up? What were the steps that intervened between the stage at which it was a mere whim or eccentricity of one or two individuals and the stage at which it became the settled conviction, or even the over-mastering passion, of a community, so strong that the individual questioned or resisted it at his peril? What, in short, were the modes of mental inter- action? The first was that of logical reasoning. We might call 24 Dr. H. L. Stewart on this the first. not because it was the most frequent or the most effective, but because it was the most obvious. It was a great mistake, however, to regard this as the generic type of which the others were more or less disguised varieties. Human nature was equipped with three great innate tendencies, viz.—suggestibility, sympathy, and imitation, corresponding to the threefold division of conscious process. Each of the three modes of experience was infectious, and they were separately infectious—thus the three innate tendencies were so many channels of contagion between mind and mind. Suggestibility had a wide field in the modern art of advertising. The advertiser wished to create a public opinion in favour of the article which he had for sale. He did not proceed by way of proof—his advertisements commonly proved nothing but suggested much. They needed for effective operation minds in which there were no antagonistic ideas on the subject in question; and, if this condition were fulfilled, the flaming poster caused simply a low degree of hypnotism. The most influential type of suggestion was that which had been given the name “prestige suggestion.” Just as the child looked upon the word of his parents as a final authority on all matters, so the adult had his heroes, who could lead him whithersoever they chose. The ground on which our heroes had secured our homage might be utterly unconnected with that sphere of opinion in which we were nevertheless equally willing to trust them. Again, the contagiousness of emotion was the key to not a few of the great mass movements of history. Such upheavals, political, industrial, religious, and anti-religious, had so long as they lasted turned the world upside down. Some of them had been salutary and some pernicious, but, whether salutary or pernicious, once the emotional blaze had been lit up it had spread with the rapidity of a prairie fire. One might illustrate from the Crusades, from anti-Semitism, from the holy wars of the East. And these emotional movements reacted upon opinions that we imagined to have been specula- tively reached, It was impossible to keep our feelings and our The Growth of Public Opinion, &c. 25 judgment in water-tight compartments. The “cold clear thinker” would endeavour to make his emotions adjust themselves to his thought. The impassioned devotee would compel himself to think in the direction in which he already feit. The third channel of infection was concerned with conduct. Psychologists were coming to recognize the immense range of imitative impulse. To it were due those manners and habits that constituted the characteristics of a nation. In primitive society there was what anthropologists called the ‘‘ cake of custom ”; in more developed communities there were traditions, and we had all our channels and grooves worn deep by repetition from which we could scarcely escape. We defended ourselves by appealing to the sanction of immemorial usage or by remarking that what was good enough for our ancestors was good enough for us. The moral to be drawn from such study of the genesis of public opinion was, in the first place, that we might easily be too reverential to what was known as ‘‘the spirit of the age.” Once we had seen inside the great social laboratory where public opinion was in process of manufacture we should regard it as one of the last things before which we should prostrate ourselves. The great upward move- ments of the race had commonly been inspired by men who were the obstinate antagonists rather than the docile followers of the spirit of their time. And the second moral was that we must moderate the sanguine expectations that we tended to entertain regarding the education of the race. Men in the mass would never be moved by reasoning in anything like the degree in which they were moved by nonrational forces. And there was strong ground to rejoice that this was so. A world of pure reasoners would not be a better world, but a worse. A cordial vote of thanks was passed to the lecturers, on the motion of Mr. R. J. ORR, seconded by Mr. R. M. Youne. 5th March, 1912. Professor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “THE AIMS AND SCOPE OF A PROVINCIAL MUSEUM.” By R. F. Scuarrr, BSc. Pu.D., F.LS., M.R.LA. (Abstract ) Professor J. A. Linpsay, the President said thanks to the labours of Dr. Scharff the natural history section of the National Museum, Dublin, Mas one of the most up to date and perfectly arranged in the world. All the Irish fauna had been collected in one large room, the fossil remains had been put in their proper place in the zoological world, and many typical habitats and life histories had been illustrated by means of photographs. No other country. had a zoological museum department so thoroughly representative of its entire fauna and the same might be said of the flora, which was now being rapidly re-arranged. It was also largely due to Dr. Scharff that Ireland took a leading place amongst the nations of the world in its organization for scientific research in the field. Dr. Scharff had visited all the more important museums of Europe and America, and his views on every subject relating to museums were entitled to, and would receive, the utmost respect and consideration. He visited Belfast at an opportune moment. The city was showing at the present hour that its energies and spirit of progress were not confined to the field of commerce and industries. It was advancing by rapid strides in all that related to intellectual development. Their university, their Municipal Technical Institute, their secondary The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum. 27 schools, and their various learned societies were full of life and energy. Their City Council, which had shown so much vigour in many departments, was about to erect a new municipal museum and art gallery which, they hoped, would be worthy of this progressive community. Their society had made arrangements for handing over its collections to this museum when it was ready to receive them. Nothing could be more fitting than at this important juncture they should seek and obtain the advice and guidance of their distinguished guest of that evening. Dr. ScHarFF, at the outset of his address, referred to the origin of museums and their gradual evolution. He said the first scientific museum actually founded was begun at Oxford in 1667 by Elias Ashmole, which to the present day was known as the Ashmolean Museum. They found that a little later Sir Henry Sloane had gathered together a great collection of curiosities as well as books and manuscripts. On his death in 1749 this vast store of valuable property was bequeathed to the nation, and formed the nucleus of what was still the finest and largest museum in the world—the British Museum, In the same century this newly-opened vista of popular education spread like wildfire through almost every country in Europe. In Ireland the Royal Dublin Society took the lead, and actually opened to the public the doors of its newly-established museum in February, 1733. Reference was then made by the lecturer to the great exhibition in London -in 1851, as the outcome of which a great system of educational museums arose throughout the United Kingdom. There were now nearly 200 of them in the British islands, most of them being active and useful. The old popular conception of a museum as a repository for curiosities had passed away, and a new order of things had been established. The new functions of museums were now thoroughly understood, and if people could not always carry out their ideas they at any rate knew what they wanted. Dealing with the construction of a museum building, Dr. Scharff said few museums had not 28 Dr Schariff on grievously suffered from the eminent architect. Frequently he had made the rooms too dark and overloaded them with ornaments, utterly oblivious of the fact that no ornament of any kind should be tolerated in the interior of a museum, and that light was the foremost of all essential qualities of the building. It had been truly remarked that the value of a museum would not be tested by its contents as a means of the advancement of knowledge, but by the treatment of those contents. Hence the making of a museum depended on the knowledge of the curator, and his ability to apply that knowledge. A museum was like a living organism, it required continual and tender care. It must grow or it would perish, and the cost and labour required to maintain it in a state of vitality was not yet by any means fully realised or provided for either in their great national establish- ments or in their smaller local institutions. Proceeding, the lecturer said he strongly urged upon any Museum Committee the desirability of appointing a curator before the museum was built. Let him then form the nucleus of a collection, and carefully study the plans of all the more important modern museums, especially as regarded space, lighting, and heating, so as to enable him to aid in devising a proper scheme for housing the collections. The scope of a museum should be strictly defined. In a great industrial city like Belfast, with its wonderful shipbuilding and linen and other industries, it seemed to him very desirable that some rooms in its museum should be set apart for an adequate illustration of the rise, history, and progress of such industries. In the case of the linen industry, the process of manufacture of the cloth from the cultivation of the flax to the finished article would form a series of valuable and most instructive exhibits. If the preparation of the fibre and the various systems of heckling formerly in use, and the latest machinery, as well as the spinning, weaving, and bleaching in all their phases, and the manufacture finally, were all properly and clearly demonstrated, it might be possible to fill quite a large building without anything else. The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum. 29 Hence the subjects must be carefully selected so as to give a brief and yet instructive picture of the various processes. At the same time it should be made attractive to the layman. The art of shipbuilding could be illustrated in a similar manner, and he felt sure the great Belfast firms engaged in that industry would do everything in their power to foster such an enterprise. The habits and customs of the primitive tribes which once resided in the district or province in which the provincial museum was situated would form another most worthy object for illustration. The local antiquities, the local zoology, botany, and geology, as well as the local arts and art industries should all have a place reserved to them. Here they had to face the great difficulty of space. Every large museum must divide its collections into two portions—namely, a reserve or study series and an exhibited series. Even in small museums it was found necessary to keep part of the collections strictly for students, and exhibit the remainder. Ample storage accommodation, at any rate, was essential. ‘Then when they came to deal with natural history specimens the curator would be called upon to perform quite a distinct and troublesome set of tasks. One great difference between the work to be done in the art section and the one evoted to natural history objects was that the art specimens came into his hands very nearly in the condition in which they would have to remain. A picture, a vase, a piece of old armour, or a statue, beyond a certain amount of tender care in cleaning and repairing, which was more or less mechanical in its nature, was ready for its place on the museum shelves. This was far from being the case with the greater number of natural objects. Not only did they require special methods of preservation, but very often their value as museum specimens depended entirely on the skill, labour, patience, and knowledge expended upon them. In specimens illustrating biological subjects the highest powers of the museum curator were called forth. A properly mounted animal or a carefully displayed anatomical preparation was 30 Dr. Scharff on in itself awork ofart, based onanatural substratum. In few branches of museum work had there been greater progress of late years than in this, and few offered still further scope for development. Now, the direct benefit of a complete collection of specimens illustrating the fauna and flora of the district in which the provincial museum was situated was cbvious, and could not be exagcerated. The pursuit of collecting and studying natural history objects gave to the persons who were inclined to devote their leisure hours to it a beneficial training for whatever their real calling in life might be. They acquired a sense of order and method, they developed their gift of observation and they were stimulated to healthy exercise. Nothing encouraged them in this pursuit more than a well-warned and easily accessible collection in their native town, on which they could fall back as a pattern and an aid for their own. A good series of the local rocks, minerals, and fossils was also most desirable, for they should always bear in mind that the principal aim of a provincial museum ought to be popular instruction. A great many other subjects might be suitably illustrated if the necessary space were available. To give an object lesson of the gradual growth and evolution of the town or city in which the museum was situated would not only be instructive, but it would tend to rouse an interest among the citizens in the problems of the future expansion and what had been called “town-planning.” The various features connected with the water supply, lighting, and disposal of sewage were all capable of illustration in a museum. ‘The construction of roads in ancient and modern titnes was beautifully shown by models in the great Bavarian Science Museum at Munich, as well as the various systems of water-supply, heating and lighting. Almost to every industry one or more reoms had been devoted in this splendidly-equipped: building, and immense sums were being spent annually in the Bavarian capital to keep the museums up to a high standard of efficiency. - As regarded art objects, the - tendency in foreign museums was to display them now in quite a The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum. 31 different manner from that adopted hitherto. Formerly all the articles made of glass, for instance, were grouped together in one or more cases. In a similar manner were treated the china and pottery ware, the metal work, and the jewellery. This method of exhibition had been found to tire the visitor, who was unable to assimilate and derive the desired benefit from this great feast of knowledge that was spread before his eyes in unattractive profu- sion. A few of the best objects belonging to a certain period were now selected and placed together. In this way small rooms, suitably decorated, had been completely equipped with furniture, pictures, glass, china, and metal ware, so as to produce very pleasing as well as instructive eftects. Whatever method of exhibition might be adopted, overcrowding should be avoided. It was far better to place an indifferent art object into the reserve collection than to deprive the valuable specimens of the space necessary for their just appreciation. A good picture especially should have plenty of room, so that visitors might be able to concentrate their attention on this single object. Although, as he had remarked, the principal aim of every museum should be popular instruction, it was clearly their duty to endeavour to raise the esthetic sense of the people. In all exhibits, whether they belonged to science or art, they should constantly bear in mind that instruction should be combined with good taste. Now the background of a case or wall, or the lining of a box or case, which was to show off the specimens was a very important item of museum technique. As regarded the texture of the background, it occurred to him that in a city like Belfast more might be made out of the linen cloth. It could be largely adopted for that purpose, using different qualities and shades for the various classes of exhibits that they had to deal with. Another important subject the curator had to deal with were the cases. It would be preferable if they could do without them, but as long as their museums were entirely free to the public and open to anyone, they must guard their property against injury or loss. The great 32 Dr. Scharff on majority of exhibits must, therefore, be placed under lock and key. This was not all; they must preserve them from fire, mould, dust, and injurious insects. Hitherto wooden cases were almost universally employed in museums. Within recent years, however, it had been discovered that metal was far preferable to wood. ‘The cost of metal cases no doubt exceeded that of wooden ones, but the advantages of the use of metal was so obvious that the difference in price could not influence tbe choice. Metal cases were much more readily made dustproof, they were more fireproof, and more durable, and less apt to warp. They could also enlarge the sashes very much without increasing the width of the frames carrying the panes. A great German authority on museum cases maintains that the architect entrusted with the plans of the new museum should first find out exactly the size and shape of all the cases the curator required, and strictly adapt the size and lighting of the building accordingly. The same authority remarked that the architect scarcely ever did so, but was content with imitating the already existing faulty museum buildings. Now, when they came to the building itself, by far the most important feature was that ample daylight should be available for every room and every nook and.corner. And yet how many of their modern museums failed lamentabiy in that very essential principle of construction! Some authorities were strongly in favour of top light, others preferred side light. They could not easily make a general rule in preference of either, because for certain objects, such as large monumental columns and great plaster casts, they must have top-light whether they hked it or no. For many objects, particularly small ones, a strong side light was preferable, and yet if the windows had a southern aspect the direct sunlight was apt to be troublesome. In top-lighted galleries the position of the cases was independent of the illumination, but they had several drawbacks. In the first place, the objects in the upper part of the cases overshadowed. those in the lower; secondly, if they used horizontal or so-called table cases the light was reflected The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum. 33 from the glass into the visitor’s eye; thirdly, skylights required constant cleaning and repair. On the whole, side-light with windows placed at the ordinary height, seemed to be the best for all moderately-sized exhibits. ‘lhe screens or cases, if placed between the windows at right angles to them, received excellent light, and it was after all the natural one for human habitations. Almost all picture galleries were constructed to receive day light from above, although the great majority of the pictures were originally painted in side-lighted rooms and were never intended for the great top-light halls in which they were now exhibited. A very important consideration was that the museum building should be constructed as far as possible of fireproof material, which he understood could now be obtained at a small additional cost. He had mentioned that the collection of every large museum must necessarily be arranged into two series—namely, an exhibited series and a reserve or study series. The officials of a provincial museum, owing to want of space, might be anxious to curtail or even do without the latter. But the museum could scarcely manage to fulfil its proper functions if some provisions were not made for the safe storage of study and reserve collections. Every provincial museum received large collections, such as birds, butterflies, flint or stone implements, which could not all be exhibited. ‘These, along with the duplicates, should be made available for study and comparison by students. There were many other objects that came into the possession of a provincial museum which might not be suitable for exhibition, and they were yet of considerable value to specialists. It was incumbent, there- fore, on those who planned a local museum to make ample provision for the storing of such objects and their preservation from injury as well as for the staff of officials who looked after them. There should be a supply of store drawers—if possible interchangeable—an especially fire-proof spirit store and suitable cases for the various objects that might have to be deposited there. Finally, it was desirable, in view of the growing popular 34 Dr. Scharff on demand for lectures in connection with museums, te establish a small lecture theatre within the museum building. Several of the English provincial museums possessed such lecture theatres. Before showing them a few lantern slides which his friend Mr. Robert Welch had kindly prepared for him, and which illustrated the subject of some of his remarks that evening, there was still one other feature that he should like to say a few words about. It was what had been called the “open-air museum.” Many beautiful and interesting objects, threatened with early destruction in the rapid changes of the present day, were not suitable for presentation in their museums. Such were, for example, some of the very interesting primitive vehicles which had been dis- covered and brought together by their versatile friend Mr. Welch, illustrating the evolution and origin of the Irish outside car. The varieties of ancient farm implements, obsolete coaches, and many cther things, such as old types of cottages with pecular thatched reofs were all worth keeping for posterity as records. Mr. Alec Wilson suggested, in an address on local museums, that a model Irish residence might be set up in Belfast representing the time when Cuchulain was fighting for Ulster.. He (the lecturer) was not quite clear as to the kind of dwelling he had in his mind, but if such an idea were carried out it should be in the open ground. Now, in Scandinavia such objects were mostly conveyed to the open-air museums. - Stockholm had its skansen and Christiania its bygd6, and both of these establishments were among the most popular resorts of the people of Scandinavia, and greatly fostered among them that interest in the past history and civilisation of their country which it was SO important to preserve. At the close of the lecture Dr. Scharff showed by means of lantern views a number of noted British, Continental, and American museums. Discussion being invited, Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A., suggested that the lecture should be printed in extenso, The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum. 35 Dr. Andrew Trimble, J.P., as a member of the Library and Technical Instruction Committee, explained the steps which had been taken in regard to the proposed new art gallery and museum in the Botanic Gardens Park. He thought the site chosen was an admirable one as regarded light and general position. ‘They had their Curator already appointed, and they hoped to consult him frequently in regard to future arrangements. He should like to ask Dr. Scharff if he thought a museum and art gallery could be housed consistently in the same building. Mr. James Corr spoke appreciatively of the lecturer, whom he described as an idealist. Unfortunately in Belfast they were limited in money and space in regard to their museum, but he had no doubt that when erected it would be an ornament to the city and an education to the people. Before they embarked seriously on the work they would get the very best expert advice. Mr. Robert Welch referred to the Horner collection of spinning-wheels, which he thought formed a splendid nucleus of a particular section of their staple industry. Mr. Alec Wilson, J.P., alluding to openair museums, suggested the utilisation of the whole of the Botanic Gardens Park for that purpose. He mentioned that April next year would be the tercentenary of Belfast. It was in April, 1613, that the town got its charter. Previous to that it had no corporate existence, and it had occurred to some of them that they ought to get up a tercentenary exhibition. They might thus from the material forthcoming get a history of the development of Belfast. Professor Symington strongly supported the idea of the Botanic Gardens Park being devoted toa museum. By that he did not mean a huge showy building, but what might be described as a museum park, very much on the lines of the Scandinavian museums. Mr. R. M. Young, J.P., agreed that the taking of the Botanic Gardens Park for a museum of the kind described would be most desirable, In connection with the tercentenary exhibition 36 Dr. Scharff on The Aims and Scope, &c. suggested by Mr. Wilson he thought a very effective pageant might be organized. Sir Otto Jaffé, J.P., in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to Dr. Scharff, said he had no doubt the lecture would bear good fruit. He thought the site which had been selected for their local museum was on the small side. He agreed that they should have regard to the future, and he would be in favour of devoting the whole of the Botanic Gardens Park, or at all events half of it, for the purpose of a museum park. Professor Gregg Wilson, in seconding, said they should not be content with a small museum, but should endeavour to have one which would rival some of the beautiful buildings they had seen depicted on the screen. The resolution was cordially passed. Dr. Scharff, in reply, said he was glad his remarks had already borne fruit, and that there was a general opinion in favour of the whole of the Botanic Gardens Park being devoted to an open-air museum. He quite agreed that it would be a very suitable place for something of the kind as had been so successfully done in Scandinavia. He had seen the site which had been chosen for their Belfast museum, and he thought it was a very suitable one. The rest of the park could be laid out as the museums in Stockholm and Christiania had been. In reply to Dr. Trimble, he might say that an art gallery and museum might be combined. It had been done in many museums very effectively, and he thought it could be done in Belfast. The proceedings then terminated. March 16th, 1912. Professor Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “GERMAN EDUCATION.” By PRoFFSSOR SADLER. (Abstract). A popular and instructive lecture was given in the Assembly Minor Hallon March 16th by Professor Sadler, LL. D., vice-chancellor of Leeds University, the subject being ‘‘German Education : its Lessons for Europe.” As Professor Sadler is a recognized authority on this matter, the lecture was very largely attended by those interested in education generally. Proressor LinpsAy, who occupied the chair, said in the name of the Society he offered to Dr. Sadler a_ hearty Irish welcome. Dr. Sadler, he said, was one of the foremost living authorities on the subject of education, and had made numerous and valuable contributions to the literature of the subject. If he (the Chairman) were asked what were the special merits of German education he would be inclined to signalise four points—first, the completeness of organisation and the harmonious co-ordination of parts which characterised the German educational system; secondly, the generous and _ farsighted encouragement of research ; thirdly, the liberal financial support accorded to the schools and universities by the Crown, the Legislature, and other public bodies ; and, fourthly, the honour accorded to the teacher and the high value set upon his work. It would be admitted that in some of those particulars we in this country fell short. Every country must develop the system of education best suited to its needs, its traditions, and its spirits, but German education was rich in suggestion, 38 Projessor Sadler on PROFESSOR SADLER, who met with a very cordial reception, in the course of his remarks said the period which extended frem the foundation of the German Empire to the present day had been an era of renewed advance. In the atmosphere of political thought and moral abnegation voiced by Fichie the educational ideals of modern Germany were formed. Prussia had rendered great services to German education, but, great as those services had been, Prussia was not the sole representative of German culture or of its administrative achievement. To ignore the services rendered by Southern Germany and the smaller States now part of the German Empire would be to conceal some of the main factors in the problem. Modern German education was a federal unity, comprising great differences of tone and temper in various parts of the empire, the whole being bound together in such a manner as to secure a sufficient unity of administration without imposing a mechanical uniformity upon different traditions of culture and of social life. The great significance of the history of German education in the last century lay in its effective national organization and its far-reaching international relationships, Proceeding, he said Halle was the first university to be based on the principle of freedom of thought and teaching, and therefore to assimilate modern philosophy and science, and the influence of the Universities of Halle and Gottingen transformed academic life in Germany, and in consequence by the end of the eighteenth century there had been established throughout Germany a strong and intellectual tradition which was pre- disposed to welcome a great development of public education under the supervision of the State. The influence of Kant in Protestant Germany and the religious revival, partly due to Romanticism in Southern Germany, prepared the way for the acceptance of new plans of educational organization imposed by ‘the State. The years 1840 and 1870 were in some respects years of reaction, the progress of the universities slackened, and in the elementary schools progress was checked by a fear of the political German Education. 39 consequences of over-education. But the period was also one of advance, and the elementary schools diversified their plans of study to suit the growing needs of the commercial and industrial community. In the period extending from 1870 to the present time education had advanced in a marvellous manner the universities had been strengthened by the State, secondary schools had been improved, and there was the quickening of a new spirit among the teachers and pupils in elementary schools, while technical education had been furthered in all grades upon a basis of liberal preparatory training. Continuing, the lecturer pointed out that there was no single code for the regulation of elementary schools throughout the empire, and attendance at continuation schools was subject to laws which differed considerably in various States, and the provision of intermediate or higher elementary schools was diverse according to State law. Education in Germany owed its strength and its capacity for readjustment to socia] needs to the fact of its being a federal unity. It, however, maintained an impressive uniformity of intellectual standards, and was so organized as to obtain the reciprocal recognition of educational qualifications between different parts of the Empire. It possessed great intellectual pre-suppositions, which characterized it among the educational systems of the world, and it exerted a united influence upon the thought of other nations. The provincial varieties which enriched and strengthened it did not weaken or obscure the fundamental unity of the whole system. There were many signs of impending changes in the system, but the great fabric of its administration remained intact and _ its prestige remained unshaken. An interesting discussion followed, in which the following took part :—Professor D, L. Savory, Dr. A. Trimble, J.P.; Messrs D. R. Campbell, J. Johnston, and T. R. Johnston. Rey. Dr. HaMILTon, vice-chancellor of the Queen’s University, in moving a vote of thanks to Dr. Sadler, said they , 40 Professor Sadler on German Education. were very grateful to the lecturer for his instructive address, which, he was sure, would have a stimulating effect upon them. Mr. THomas REA seconded the motion, which was passed by hearty acclamation. Dr. Sadler had a guard of honour, composed of forty-eight boy scouts, under the command of Captain A. S. Frazer. The lecturer is a member of the head quarter staff of the boy scouts organization. 26th March, 1012, Professor Linpsay, President, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., in the Chair. “ BIG GAME SHOOTING IN INDIA.” By CaPTaAIN SLEEMAN, F.R.G.S. (Abstract). CAPTAIN SLEEMAN, who was cordially received, said his family for three generations had been pretty closely associated with India, and his grandfather, General Sleeman, was remembered as the exterminator of thuggee, that monstrous superstition of murder, which, it was computed, had cost the lives of a couple of millions of people. The lecturer then went on to deal with the art and practice of big-game hunting as especially applied to tigers, panthers, and bears. ‘The Captain, it may be mentioned, is a mighty hunter, fit to rank with Baker and Selous, and he mentioned incidentally that his Indian spoils embrace some twenty varieties of big game, while of four records which he had -made while following the sport one of the most remarkable was three bears with three shots inside twelve seconds. Captain Sleeman has slain tigers by the score, panthers by the dozen, bears by the hundred. He has hunted Mr. Stripes upon elephants, equipped scmetimes with pad, sometimes with howdah ; he has waited for him in the fork of a tree with a live bait in the shape of goat or pig tied up close by ; he has watched Ly a river bank for him to return to a “kill” of the previous night, and he has followed his tracks on foot right into the jungle. He gave some interesting facts about the life history of tigers and panthers and bears before detailing the special measures employed in compassing 42 Cabtain Sleeman on Big Game Shooting in India. their death, and defended the hunting down and destruction of the beautiful but savage carnivora of India as a practice which benefited not only the equally beautiful and gentler wild animals on which these carnivora prey, but also the population of the villages which are near the jungles. ‘Tigers, he said, will tramp some thirty miles of a night in search of prey, and a tiger would kill a cow every three days or so; sometimes indeed they would kill for mere lust of blood, and he had known a tiger to kill sixteen natives In one night. ‘Tigers and panthers in India killed every year about 1,500 human beings and 28,000 cattle. He had known villages to be deserted owing to the depredations of these -easts, and thus their destruction became an obligation upon those who possessed the means and time, and were willing to incur the danger the task involved. Captain Sleeman then related a number of thrilling shikari adventures experienced by himself and others in order to show the risk associated with tiger and panther hunting. He also showed by limelight a number of interesting Indian slides, some of historical Indian scenes, and others of shikari operations, the most attractive of which illustrated the beginning, progress, and culmination of “big shoots” in which he had been engaged. The lecture was much enjoyed by «ll who heard it, and at the close a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Captain Sleeman, on the motion of Mr. HENRY RIDDELL, seconded by Mr. JOHN HORNER. ANNUAL REPORT, t6tii2, The annual meeting of the shareholders of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was held in the Museum, College Square North, on 27th November. Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D. (President), occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance, amongst those present being— Right Hon. Robert Young, J.P.; the Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University (Rev. Dr. Hamilton), Professor Gregg Wilson ; Messrs- James Moore, J.P.; G. H. Ferguson, J.P.; T. F Shillington, J-P., iwi voung,, J.P.; S, F. Milligan, J.P.,M.R.1As3* Henry Riddell, M.E.; J. M. Finnegan, B.A., B.Sc.; R. A. Kyle, W- Faren, W. Armstrong, W. Gray, M.R.I.A.; Alex. Taylor, John Smith, M.I.C.E.; Isaac T. Ward, John Horner, A. T. Jackson, Gre Nevin H. Foster, J. H. H. Swiney,~B.A., M.I.C.E.; and W. Mullan. Apologies regretting inability to attend were receiyed from Sir James Henderson, M.A.; Mr. Joseph Wright, and Mr. Robert Patterson, F.L.S., M.R.I.A. (hon. secretary). Mr. Ropert M. Younc submitted the Annual Report as follows :— The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society desire to submit their Report of the working of the Society during the past year. The Winter Session was opened on 14th November, 1911, when Major Leonard Darwin, President of the Eugenics Education Society, kindly delivered an address, subject—‘‘ The New Science —Eugenics or Race Hygiene.” The large hall of the Municipal Technical Institute was courteously lent for this lecture by the Library and Technical Committee. 44 Annual Meeting. The second meeting took place on 5th December, when the President, Prof. James A. Lindsay, M.A.,M. D., gave his inaugural address in the Museum. Subject—‘‘The Philosophy of Henri Bergson.” The third meeting was held on oth January, 1912, when an illustrated lecture, entitled—‘ From Montreal to Victoria, an Impression of Canada,” was delivered by Mr. William Hunter, J.P. At the fourth meeting on 2nd February, Prof. H. H. Turner, D.Sc., F.R.S., gave a popular illustrated lecture on ‘‘ Comets,” in the Assembly Hall. The fifth meeting was held on 6th February, when two papers were read (1) “‘ Recent Advances in Irish Ornithology,” illustrated with lantern views, by Mr. Nevin H. Foster, M.R.I.A. (2) “The Growth of Public Opinion Psychologically Considered,” by Mr Hl) Gb. Stewart, (M.A, Phe The sixth meeting was held on 5th March, when Dr. R. F. Scharff, Ph.D., National Museum, Dublin, delivered an illustrated address, subject—‘‘ The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Vluseum,” followed by an instructive discussion. So much public interest was taken in the subject that the Library and Technical Committee obtained permission to publish the lecture in pamphlet form. The seventh meeting, on 16th March, was devoted to a popular lecture by Prof. Sadler, LL.D., Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University, on ‘‘German Education: Its Lessons for Europe,” delivered in Minor Hall, Assembly Buildings, and followed by a discussion. The closing lecture, on 26th March, was kindly given by Capt. J. L. Sleeman, F.R.G.S., subject—‘India and Its Big Game Shooting,” with lantern views. At all these meetings, the attendance of the members and the general public was encouraging. Your Society has to deplore the loss of two zealous friends, the late John Ward, F.S.A., who gave valuable assistance in securing Annual Meeting. 45 several donations of antiquities from Egypt Explorations Fund, and Mr. John Brown, F.R.S., for many years an active member of the Council of the Society, and who contributed important papers to the Society’s proceedings. As mentioned in last Annual Report, the collections of the Society presented to the Belfast Corporation are undergoing careful and scientific classification and cataloguing. The geological specimens are now under consideration. During the past session Mr. George Donaldson has again rendered valued clerical assistance. A list of the numerous transactions received in exchange from home and foreign Learned Societies will be printed with the present Report. Your Council would desire to express their best thanks to the local press for their excellent reports of the various meetings. In accordance with the constitution of the Society, five members of Council retire from office, of whom four are eligible for re-election, viz.:—John M. Finnegan, Prof. J. A. Lindsay, Henry Riddell and R. M. Young. Mr. Henry RIDDELL submitted the financial statement, which showed that there was a balance in the bank of £95 4s. 2d. That was the first time for a considerable number of years there was a balance in the bank, and it was due to the fact that they were now receiving from the city a rental of £150 for that hall and the museum. Compared with previous years there had been a slight falling off in the subscriptions. He thought the Society ought to give the Council a lead in the matter of increasing the number of their adherents, and of giving the organization a wider effect in the city. It seemed to him that the number of share- holders and subscribers was very small for a Society such as that, the premier Philosophical Society in the city, and that an effort should be made to widen their horizon in some way. Very much greater benefit would accrue to the community at large if the Society had a very greatly increased membership. 46 Annual Meeting. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said he thought he could congratulate that old Society on maintaining its energy and vigour, and on the successful work done during the past year, as well as on the favourable financial position which it now occupied. He thought the work of the year was in many respects very interesting, and three of the lectures, which were fresh in his memory, were those given by Professor Turner on ‘“ Comets,” by Professor Sadler on ‘German Education,” and Professor Scharff on ‘“‘The Aims and Scope of a Provincial Museum.” Those three lectures were of special interest and value to them all. Continuing, the Chairman said he would like to thank the various officials for the assistance they had given him in the discharge of his duties during the year. He congratu- lated the Society upon the improvements which had been effected in the premises, which were now much more comfortable and satisfactory than they were in former times. In that connection he would like to acknowledge the services of Mr. Horner and of Mr. Riddell. They all regretted that Mr. Patterson had resigned the hon. secretaryship of the Society owing to pressure of business, but he was sure everyone in that room would be delighted to hear that they had secured as his successor Mr. J. M. Finnegan. Their collections, as they had heard, were being taken over by the Corporation, and were being put in excellent order. The members would be glad to know they were proving even more valuable than had been anticipated. The Irish antiquities, the collections of local tokens and of coins, he believed, would prove of great interest and value. They had to deplore some losses by death. The late Mr. John Ward had been well known to them all as an author, a traveller, and an archeologist. His books on Egypt were recognised as authoritative, and, he had also been a collector. He had the pleasure of seeing his collection of ‘ancient coins, and he thought at the time they were most rich and valuable. Their proceedings that present year, he thought, were very favourable. He would like to emphasize what had been Annual Meeting. Ay said by the Treasurer. They would be glad of an increase in the membership. They thought there were many in the city who sympathised with the work, and who really ought to be of their company. He hoped that appeal would meet with the response it was entitled to. Their Lecture Committee was already at work for the present year, and amongst the engagements arranged was a lecture by Professor Stirling, of Manchester, on “ Life and Motion.” He had much pleasure in moving the adoption of the report and statement of accounts. Rev. Dr. HmiLton (Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University, Belfast), in seconding the motion, said it was very satisfactory that the Society, instead of suffering by the change which came about when their collections were handed over to the Corporation seemed in more than one respect to have gained by it. The report of the Treasurer was the best yet submitted, and they hoped the flourishing state of their finances would be continued in the future. The President had referred to some of the lectures given during the year, which especially evoked their approval. He thought many people would add one more to those he mentioned, one which the President could not mention himself— namely, Professor Lindsay’s lecture on ‘‘ The Philosophy of Henri Bergson.” Lectures by eminent strangers provided a new feature of their work, and he would join the Treasurer and the President in expressing the wish that the Council should in some way be instructed to devise some means whereby the membership, or associated membership of the Society, might be increased. That was the oldest scientific Society, as they had heard, in Belfast. It occupied a very honourable position, it had a noble history, and he thought none of them would like to see it falling off or falling away in any single respect. The reports were adopted. On the motion of Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A., seconded by Mr. James Moore, J.P., the following were appointed members 48 Annual Meeting. of Council:—John M. Finnegan, B.A., B.Sc.; Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.ID.; Henry Riddell, M.E.; R. M. Young, B.A.; and Professor W. St. Clair Symmers. Mr. T. F. Shillington, J.P., moved a vote of thanks to the President, and hoped Professor I.indsay would allow his name to be put forward again for the office during the coming year. Right Hon. Robert Young formally seconded the motion, which was passed unanimously. Subsequently a meeting of the Council cf the Society was held for the purpose of electing office-bearers for the ensuing year. Proressor Lindsay (president), Mr. Henry Riddell (hon. treasurer), Mr. John Horner (hon. librarian), and the four outgoing vice-presidents were re-elected, and Mr. J. M. Finnegan was appointed hon. secretary in succession to Mr. Robert Patterson. nn. oe "e161 ‘AON JO *799T10D SI JUNODIDW SuIOSe10; 943 IYI AjIz109 | Aep wart siqy posed “TOYO Sununosy “TTHAAIY AUYNAH ‘souIpny ‘NNATA “V ‘V “roursaory) ‘NOSUALLVd LYAAOU ‘JUNODDY ON4j & St saoqe 9} IY AjIWI99 OA “ooh F ‘3901 ainjueqead ‘jueo ed %r “p77 “og Suruutdg xv][q 9011G YAOA—: SattNdag SuIMo)[oF By Ul yUNOdoW sty} Jo 3IpsI0 ay} 0} Surpuvys sums ore o10y3 ‘souveg eaoqe oy} Sopisaq—"q"N 6 11 1S2¥ "[vj07, 6 11 18e¥ a 1% $0) ‘e161 ‘aunf{ Yo£ ay] UO JUNODIW SIy} JO ANOAR} Ul soUL[eg LL osi1¥ ‘uawAed [20], g €& zs 1 £6 ——— Le Zhou: zs ** -yoog 3paqD (On Sacommecs BS "sO of “pg ‘sgl 1%—99uvInsuUy 0) ©) duivig reqqny or 6 z@ ‘SI 117 */6 ‘-/zx ‘or/Z ‘sai1nqda'T 10} urs} Ue'T SS gier ot ssoIppy Sulssoisuq Ki 74%) oy “* 4saraquy yueY Co) Ns ii Tee "+ JIpNy JUsuUIEAOy [e00'T : ae peiesep su sjuowAed Arpuns 89 9 +. ais COREY ‘saSvqsog 12. [aw (of BOS ais OD SJUsUWAST}IZApPy if eguy SS 9 Ue *- AzsuOTvIg pue Sunuig —: ‘za ‘sjyuewArg ry19 ‘ z 61 96 — SO -2o ome Be Oe *y Solle[es OFS oa: ge He 98 By s ‘Ox ‘SOxeT, puv s]Usyy <3 8 0 wy: rs “og ‘SeSTUeIg JO sUeUSIUTe PT o oO OST -- + SSUIpvaY BUIMO] IO} ay} Jepun sjuswAeg jo sjunowy ‘ o 61 of OWT LF qunosoy sv] tad se souryeq o g OLY - ‘AD aAV HOSIG ID ‘ZI61 ‘T4Ady yiog pepua 182X 2y} 44aJ90G yeorydosojiyg puwe AJOJSIPY [eINJeN! ISBIJIG a 941NI09T IO} SJaAOIT, JO a[¥G JO Spasd01g ae oe oe se oe oe ee “HOUAVHO JO} ay} JO 1unoD0y ayy sidtaooy snosuryeosipy £* 50 sjuay “ spuapiaiq: “ suorjdtiiosqng of, IG "SZ ‘YD “WIA OF ¥ SF ‘SSSI SLOV (GNV THAI) SLNAWMOGNA TWNOLLVONGA 5° EXCHANGES. ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. Artpany.—Annual Report of New York State Museum. ANN-ARBOR.-—Michigan Academy of Sciences. AustTIN.—Transactions of the Texas Academy of Sciences. BasEL.—Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel. Betrast.—Report and Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalist Field Club. BercEen.—Bergens:Museums Aarbog and Crustacea of Norway. BERKELEY.— University of California. BirMINGHAM.—Natural History and Philosophical Society. Bs Midland Institute Scientific Society. Botocna.—Rendiconto della R. Accademia dell’ Instituto di Bologna. Boston.—Boston Society of Natural History. BouLDER.— University of Colorado College Studies. BreMeN.— Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. BresL_au.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie vom Verein fiir Schles sicke Insektenkunde. BriGHToN.—Annual Report of Brighton and Hove Natural History and Philosophical Society. BrisBANE.—Annals of the Queensland Museum. BROoKLYN.—Science Bulletin of Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. BRuSSELS.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique. * Annales de la Société Royale Zoologique et Molaco- logique de Belgique. a Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. BuEenos Ayrgs.—Anales des Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. BuFrraLo.—Bulletin of Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Catcutta.—Records of the Geological Survey of India. 3 Memoirs of the Department of Agricultural in India. ‘5 Botanical Series and Entomological Series, also the Agricultural Journal of India. Exchanges. 51 CaMBRIDGE.— Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, also Curator’s Report. CarpirF — Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society. CarbiFF.—Report of the Welsh Museum of Natural History. CassELL.—Abhandlungen des Vereins fur NE uh zu Kassel. Cuicaco.—Academy of Sciences. A Field Museum of Natural History. CHRISTIANA. — Forkandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Chris- tiania. Crncinnati.—Bulletin of the Lloyd Library. ComMBRA PoRTUGAL.—Scientific Academy of Coimbra University. CoLorapo Sprincs.—Colorado College Studies, also Science series and Engineering Series. CoLumBus.— Ohio State University. CoPENHAGEN.—Academy of Science and Arts. Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Geselleschaft in Danzig. DavENPOR?T.—Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences DreEsDEN.—Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Heil- kunde in Dresden. Dusiin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society. also Scientific Proceedings and Economic Proceedings, a Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. ss Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. - The National Library. EDINBURGH.-—Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edin- burgh. - Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. EmprEN.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Emden. Grnoa.—Rivista Ligure di Scienze, Letture, ed Arti. Gressen.—Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Heilkunde zu Giessen. 52 Exchanges. Giascow.—Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society. 53 Geological Society of Glasgow. Gor.iitz.—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Gorlitz. Hauirax.— Nova-Scotian Institute of Science. HameurG,—Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. IcLto.—Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines. INDIANAPOLIS. — Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences. Kansas.—University of Kansas. KHARKOFF.—Transactions of the Society for Physico Chimiques of Kharkoff University. Kirrr.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of Kieff. LausaNNE.—Bulletin de Société des Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles. LAWRENCE.—Science Bulletin of the University of Kansas. LEerps.—Annual Report, Philosophical and Literary Society. LErpsic.—Sitzungberichte des Naturforschenden Gesellschaft vu Leipzig. Lima.—Boletin del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. Lonpon.—Report of the 76th Meeting of the British Association, also Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee. “3 Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. ss Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. . Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. ss Memoirs of the Astronomical Society. s, Guide Books, British Museum (Natural History). 5 The Patent Office Library. Manpison.—Bulletin and Maps of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Wisconsin. Mapbras.—Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. MANCHESTER.—Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society, MELBOURNE.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Exchanges. 53 Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatoria Meteorologico Magnetico Central de Mexico, also Anuaria. — Boletin de Instituto Geologico de Mexico. MILWAUKEK.— Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History Society. MINNEAPOLIS.—Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. MissouLa.-——Bulletin of the University of Montana. MontevipDEo.— Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo. MonTREAL.—Reports and Maps, Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada. Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. New Haven, Conn.—Yale University Library. New York.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 3 Columbia University Library. New OrLEANS.— Louisiana State Museum. a Natural History Survey. NorMan.—The University of Oklahoma. NottincGHaM. —Annual Report and Transactions of the Notting- ham Naturalists’ Society. Orono.—The University of Maine. OsnaBRUCK.—-Silbzehnter Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaft- lichen Vereines zu Osnabruck. Otrawa.—Annual Report of Geological Survey of Canada. Oxrorp.—The Ashmolean Natural History Society. Papua.— Atti della Accademia Scientifica Veneto-Trentin Istriana. 9? PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 3 Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturli. Pura, BENGAL.—Imperial Department of Agriculture. Rio DE JANIERO.—Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janiero, ; 54 Exchanges. RocHESTER, N.Y.—Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science. RomeE.—Journal of the British and American Archeological Society. Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. » Bollettino della Societa Zoologica Italiana. San FRancisco.—Proceedings of the Californian Academy of Sciences. STAVANGER.—Aarshefte of Stavanger Museum. STIRLING.—Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archeological Society. STOCKHOLM.-- Kungl Svenska Vetenskaps Academiens Hand- — ealingare SypNEy.—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia. Toxyo.—Mitteilungen der Deutschen Geselleschaft fiir Natur und Volkerunde Ostasiens. Torquay.—Torquay Natural Hlstory Society. TRENTON, N.J.—Archeeologia Nova Ceesarea. . UpsaLa.—Bulletin of the Geological Institute of Upsala University VIENNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo- gischen Reichsanstalt. 99 WASHINGTON.—-Year Book of the Department of Agriculture. Annual Report of the American Bureau of Ethnology. Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, Pro- ceedings of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, and Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington, 3 United States Geological Survey. York.—Annual Report of Yorkshire Philosophical Society. _Zuricu.—- Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zurich. bP) 9 99 39 me Le ASt NAGURABPEES TOR Y aN )..PTHILOSORAIGAL .=OCIERTY, Officers and Council of Management for 1912-13. President : PROF. JAMES A. LINDSAY, M.A., F.R.C.P. Vicc=Presidents: SIR JAMES HENDERSON, | ROBERT PATTERSON, F.L.s. Soin IDolbes ela WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.e.s. ROBERT M. YOUNG, J.P. tbon. Treasurer: HENRY RIDDELL, zz. bon. Librarian: JOHN HORNER. fbon. Secretary: JOHN M. FINNEGAN, B.aA., B.Sc. Council : SIR JOHN W. BYERS, M.a., M.D. JOHN M. FINNEGAN, B.A., B.SC., SEC. Q.U.B. MAURICE F. FITZGERALD, B.A., M.I.M.E., A.M.I.C.E. NEVIN H. FOSTER, M.B.0.U. SIR JAMES HENDERSON, A.M., D.L., J.P. PROFESSOR: J. A. LINDSAY, M.A., M.D: F.R.€.P: JOHN HORNER. ALEXANDER TAYLOR. SEATON F. MILLIGAN, M.R.1.A., J.P. HENRY RIDDELL, m.ez. WILLIAM SWANSTON, F.G.s. PROFESSOR GREGG WILSON, D.sc., M.R.I.A. RIGHT HON. ROBERT YOUNG, Pc., C.E., J.P. ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A., J.P., F.R.I.B.A. PROFESSOR W. ST. CLAIR SYMMERS, m.z. 56 SHAREHOLDERS. [*Denotes holders of three or more Shares]. * Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast Allworthy, S. W., M p., Manor House, Antrim Road, do * Anderson, John, J.P., F.G S. (Representatives of), Holywood, Co. Down Andrew, John J., L.D.s., R.c.s.Eng., 23 University Square, Belfast Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, 12 College Gardens, do Armstrong, William, Donegall Square West, do Armstrong, William, Thronemount, do Baird, Capt. William, Royal Avenue, do Beattie, Rev. A Hamilton (Representatives of) Portglenone, Co. Antrim Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.4., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street (Representatives of) do *Boyd, J. St. Clair, M.p., Chatsworth, Malone Road do Brett, Sir Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park, do Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do Bristow, John, Wellington Place, do Brown, John, F.R.S., A.M.1.E.E., Longhurst, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Burrowes, W. B., Ballynafeigh House, Belfast Byers, Sir John W., m.A., M.D., Lower Crescent, do * Brown, George B., Lisnamore, Ormeau Road, do Braithwaite, W. T., 14 Botanic Avenue, do Caiwell, William, M.A., M.D., 6 College Gardens, do *Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do Carr, A. H. R., Donegall Place, do Carson, John (Representatives of), Walmer Terrace, Holywood *Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor, Co. Down *Christer Mrs. Rodolphe, St. Imier, Brig of Cairn, Ballater, N.B. Shareholders. 54 Clark, George S., p.L., Dunlambert, Belfast Clarke, E. H., Notting Hill, . do Connor, Charles C., M.a., J.p., College Gardens, do Crawford, Sir William, j.p., Mount Randal do Corbett, Miss K. M., Derryvolgie Avenue do Combe, Barbour, Ltd., do Davies, A. C., Lenaderg House . Banbridge, Co. Down -*Deramore, Lord, p.L. (Representatives of) Dixon, Professor, M.A., SC.D., F.R.S., Hurstwood, Malone Park, Belfast Dods, Robert, B.A., j.p., St. Leonard’s, Newcastle, Co. Down *Donegall, Marquis of (Representatives of), Belfast *Downshire, Marquis of (Representatives of), The Castle, Hillsborough, Co. Down ~Duffin, Adam, LL.p., J.p., Dunowen, Cliftonville, Belfast Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Representatives of), Ballywalter, Co. Down Ewart, G. Herbert, M.a., J.P., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast Ewart, Fred W., M.A., B.L., Derryvolgie, Lisburn Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., M.A., J.P., D.L., Glen- machan House, Belfast Elliott, E. J., Donegall Park, do Faren, Wm., Mountcharles do *Fenton, Francis G., Paris Ferguson, G. W., c.£., J.P., Carnamenagh, Antrim Road, Belfast Finlay, Fred W., J.p., Wolshill House, Ligoniel, do Finlay, Robert H. F., Cavehill Road, do Finnegan, John M., B.A., B.SC., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue, _. do FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.A. M.I.M.E., Asscc. M.1.C.E., Fairholme, Monkstown, Co. Dublin Foster, Nevin Harkness, Hillsborough, Co. Down ‘Fisher, J. R., 8.u., Alexandra Gardens, Belfast 58 Shareholders. *Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), Belfast Gibson, Andrew, F.R.S.A.1., Fairfield, Lansdowne Road, do Girdwood, H. M., Broughton Flax Mills, Manchester Gordon, Malcolm, Hilden, Lisburn *Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A. (Representatives of), Broughshane, Co. Antrim Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Roid, Belfast *Hall, Frederick H., Waterford Hamilton, Rev. Thomas, D.D., LL.D., Vice-Chancellor Queen’s University, Belfast *Hamilton, Hill, j.p., (Representatives of), do Harland, Capt. W., 38 Chester Terrace, Chester Sq., London, S.W. Henderson, Sir James, AM., J.P., D.L., Oakley, Windsor Park, Belfast Henry, Professor R. M., M.a., Wellington Park, do Herdman, F.S., The Drift, Antrim Road, do Herdman, E. C., Carricklee House, Strabane *Herdman, Robert Ernest, J.p., Merronhurst, Craigavad, Co. Down Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, Belfast Hind, John, jun., The Deanery, Carrickfergus Hodges, Miss, Glenravel, County Antrim Hogg, John, Academy Street, Belfast Hazelton, W. D., Old Forge, Dunmurry Horner, John, Drum-na-Coll, Antrim Road, Belfast *Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., v.L., Orangefield, do *Hughes, Edwin, J.p., Dalchoolin, Craigavad, Co. Down Hunter, William, j.p., Fortwilliam Villas, Belfast Jackson, A. T., c.E., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie Avenue, do Jaffe, Sir Otto, j.P., LL.D., Kin Edar, Strandtown do Johnston, Samuel A., J.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Dalguise, Monkstown, Dublin Kidd, Miss Helen, Castlerock, Co. Derry Shareholders. 59 *Kinghan, John Rk. Windsor Avenue, Belfast Kinnaird, George Y., Sandown Park, Knock do Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do Larmor, Sir Joseph, M.A., D.SC., LL.D., F.R.A.S., SEC.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge Leathem, R. R., m.p., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast Lepper, George C, 72 High Street, do Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., F.c.S., 12 University Square, do Lindsay, Professor James A., M.A., M.D., Queen’s Elms, do Mackenzie, John, c.£., J.P., 412 Lisburn Road, Belfast *Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do Magill, J. E., Elmwood Avenue, do Malcolm, Bowman, M.1.C.E, M.I.M.E., Ashley Park, Antrim Road, do Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.I.MAR.E., Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, do Mayes, William, Deramore Park, do Milligan, A., 225 Springfield Road, do Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.1L.A., F.R.S.A.L, J.P., Bangor, Co. Down Mitchell, Robert A, LL.B., T.c.D., Marmont, Strandtown, Belfast Montgomery, Henry C. Bangor, Co Down Montgomery, H. H., Strandtown, Belfast Moore, James, J.P., The Finaghy, do Morton, Professor W. B., m.a., Nottinghill, do Muir, A. H., Scottish Provident Buildings, do Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do *Murphy, Isaac James (Representatives of), Armagh *Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do *Musgrave, Henry, D.L., Drumglass, Malone, do M ‘Bride, Henry James, J.P., Hyde Park, Mallusk, do M ‘Bride, Samuel, Edgehill, Lennoxvale, do *M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London 60" Shareholders *M‘Cammon, Thos. P., Plaisted, Woodville, Holywood, Co. Down MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, Belfast MacCormac, John M., m.p., Victoria Place, do M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down *M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of) Macllwaine, Dr. John E., 26 College Gardens, Belfast M‘Kisack, H. L., M.p., Chlorine, do *MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen’s Elms) (Representatives of) do M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do Neill, Sharman D., Martello Terrace, Holywood, Co, Down Nicholson, Henry P., Crannagael, Annaghmore, Co. Armagh O’Neill, Henry, M.D., J.p., B.L., College Square East, Belfast *O’Rorke, Mrs., Tudor Park, Holywood, Co. Down Orr, Hugh L., Garfield Street, Belfast Park, Rev. Wm., M.A., Garthowen, Sans Souci Park, do Patterson, Edward Ferrar, Ballyholme Road, Banger, Co. Down Patterson, Mrs. David C., Glenard, Holywood, do Patterson, John, Dunallan, Windsor Avenue, Belfast Patterson, Richard, J.p., Kilmore (Representatives of), Holywood, Co. Down Patterson, Robert, M.R.1.4., ¥.Z.S., M.B.O.U., Glenbank, do do Patterson, William H., m.r.1.4., Garranard, Strandtown, Belfast Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Knock, do Pim, Edward W., j.p., Elmwood Terrace, do Pim, Joshua, ro Donegall Square South, do Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.£., M.R.1.A., National Library, Dublin Reade, Robert H. S., J.p., p.L., Wilmont, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim Riddell, Henry, M.t., 64 Great Victoria Street, Belfast Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do - Shillington, Thos. Foulkes, j.p., Dromart, Antrim Road, do Shareholiers. 61 Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.A., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, Belfast. Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s.Eng., University Square, do Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do Smyth, John, M.a., c.E., Milltown, Banbridge, Co. Down Speers, Adam, B.sc., J.P., Riversdale, Holywood, do Steen, William C., M.p., 51 Adelaide Park, Belfast Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do Stelfox, Arthur W., a.R.1.B.4., Chlorine Gardens, do Swanston, William, F.G.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do Symington, Prof. Johnson, M.D., F.R.S.E., Windsor Gardens, do Symmers, W. St. Clair, Queen’s University, do *Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do *Tennent, Robert James (Representatives of), Rushpark, do Torrens, T. H., p.L., j.p., Wellington Place, do *Turnley, John (Representatives of), do Taylor, Alexander, 131 Donegall Street, de Walkington, Miss Jane A., Osborne Gardens, do Wallace, C. A., Princetown Road, Bangor Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, Belfast *Webb, Richard T., Kensington Villa, Knock Avenue Road, do Whitla, Prof. Sir William, m.p., j.p., College Square North, do Wilson, Prot. Gregg, M.A., PH.D., D.SC., M.R.I.A., Queen’s University, do *Wilson, Walter H., Belvoir Park (Representatives of), do *Wilson, W. Perceval, do * Wolff, G. W., j.e., The Den, Strandtown, do Workman, Francis, The Moat, Strandtown, do Workman. John, J.p., Lismore, Windsor, do Workman, Rev. Robert, M.a., Rubane House, Glastry, Co. Down *Workman, T. (Representatives of) Workman, W., 8 Corporation Street, Belfast - Wnght, Joseph, F.Gs., 10 May Street do Young, Right Hon. Robert, P.c., c.6., J.P., Rathvarna, do *VYoung, Robert Magill, B.4., J.P., M.R.I.A., Rathvarna do >? o ] ) ’ 62 HONORARY ASSOCIATES, Gray, William, M.Rr.1.4., Glenburn Park, Belfast Swanston, William, F.G.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., May Street, do ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS. Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast Northern Banking Company, Ltd., do Ulster Bank, Ltd., do ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA. Boyd, John, Holland Park, Neill’s Hill, Belfast Bruce, James, D.L., J.p., Thorndale House, do Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do Fulton, G. H., Howard Street, do Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do Hanna, J. A., J.P, Marietta, Knock, do Higginbotham, Granby, Fortwilliam Park do Lynn, William H., Antrim Road, do M‘Laughlin, William H., j.p., Macedon, do Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.c.s.1., Templepatrick House, Donaghadee _ Swiney, J. H. H., 8.a., BE., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, Belfast Thompson, John, J.p., Mount Collyer, do s : z < ps es <3 5 en ee re ra! ys rh oi 5 a eae ee oe ™ ee ae Le Gee = (I - | Aeport “ae Arogeedings. A OF THE BE LPASe Natural -* and ear ae ! ; FOR ae SESSignk stSl2"iSis: 7 BELFAST : MAYNE, BOYD & SON, LTD., 2 CORPORATION STREET, (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVEBSITY). 1914. a i ne _ Heport and Proceedings. OF THE SE LPASr Natural History and Philosophical Society FOR THE SESSION! “T9t2leise BELFAST : MAYNE, BOYD & SON, LTD., 2 CORPORATION STREET, (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S UNIVEBSITY). 1914. COND EN ES: ~ Ons Evolution of Domestic Lighting—by A. M‘I. Clelland ... Footprints of Medical Discovery in Cuba— by Professor Symmers Animated Motion—by Professor Wm. Sterling, M.D., D.Sc., LL.D. Irish Linen and Some Features of its Production—by Sir Wm. Crawtord, J.P. A Trip to the Panama Canal—by J. Milne Barbour, M.A., D.L. Alaska —by Governor John G. Brady Annual Report Balance Sheet Additions to Library List of Office Bearers List of Shareholders TI Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. Ore ESTABEISHED 1S21- Ons CONSTITUTION: The membership of the Society consists of Shareholders in the Museum, Annual Subscribers (Associates), Honorary Members and Honorary Associates. Shares in the Museum cost £7 each. A holder of one share pays an annual contribution of ten shillings ; a holder of two Shares (in one certificate) an annual contribution of five shillings ; while a holder of three or more Shares (in one certificate) is exempt from annual payments. Shares on which the annual payments as above are in arrear are liable to forfeiture. The Council retain the right to decline to consolidate two or more share certificates into one certificate. Annual Subscribers (Associates) pay 41 Is. Od. (one guinea), due Ist November in each year in advance. A General Meeting of Shareholders in the Museum is held annually in May or June, or as soon thereafter as convenient, to receive the Report of the Council and the Statement of Accounts for the preceding year, to elect members of Council, to replace those retiring by rotation or for other reasons, and to transact any other business incidental to an annual meeting. Share- holders only are eligible for election on the Council. The Council elect, from among their own number, a President and other officers of the Society. Each member has the right of personal attendance at the ordinary lectures of the Society, and has the privilege of introducing two friends for admission to such. The session for lectures extends from November to May. Any further information required may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary. ‘ pal afin ia oe jet lf . = Say Late any rie ret ty toa lt Pita) \ ) al ae ie Ds wher oy ah hip blell si, ACO aie AR AGW % WPibe \) x dyiSgu! cn ey Wi dl Tal AL. A) ‘a Mpyeetont i 1OT) ey _Aahiegbe pa dates} ols i, nee k ie, pve sat han Hy hiyk nn Mii vol Vinge ae pT a stat ie’ aap ben Dib. Secs be Mie ‘ a ii © seed weeny a te may ten ud outs ae sash ¢ oe bg kei WiGD te hos 4 Aunt thrhinidee a Se ht iat BELFAST INA Ue lel les ©) IV aN. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY SESSION 1912-13. 13th November, 1912. Professor Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “EVOLUTION OF DOMESTIC LIGHTING.” By Mr. A. M‘I. CLELAND. The first meeting of this the ninety-second session was held on the 13th November in the Museum, College Square North, There was a good attendance. The CHAIRMAN, who was received with applause, said the subject was one of great interest, and it would be dealt with by a gentleman eminently qualified to do it justice. Mr. Cleland, who was cordially welcomed, said domestic lighting began with domestic heating. They might be quite sure that the first domestic light was derived indirectly from the ordin- ary watch fires. So late as the sixteenth century in Scotland pine candles were always used in the common kitchens of the roadside inns. The lecturer traced the evolution of lighting from the pine candle to the torch, the flambeau, the ordinary lamp, the rushlight, and the candle. ‘The candle was made in Belfast in precisely the same way as in the year 1 a.pD. Little was done in regard to pub- lic lighting until comparatively recent times, and at the beginning of the eighteenth century lamps were used in certain streets of the large cities, In 1800 they came to the era of coal gas, It was 6 Mr. A. MI. Cleland on first experimented with by a Dean of Kildare, the Rev. John Clay- ton, who produced inflammable air or spirit. It was reserved, however, for an Ayrshire Scotsman, William Murdoch, to use gas in a practical way in 1792 at Redruth, Cornwall. The premier company of the world for gas manufacturing purposes celebrated its centenary this year, and in the last working year it used 1,800,000 tons of coal, the output being 25,500 millions of cubic feet, representing 232 millions of pennies, which if placed side by side would reach from Belfast to Bombay, a distance of over 4,000 miles.. Mr. Cleland went on to describe the gradually increasing rate of the use of gas as an illuminant, illustrating his remarks with practical illustrations. From 1 candle per cubic foot they had now reached 60 candles per cubic foot. In 1880 they entered the era of incandescence. The discoveries of Argand, Bunsen, and Welsbach were next referred to in a most interesting way, demonstrations being given of Professor Welbach’s experi- ments with mantles made of various constituents. The result of his invention was that he had established entirely new industries. The output of mantles to-day was 400,000,000 per year, and the work was carried on almost entirely by women and young girls. A number of lantern views were then thrown upon the screen showing examples of Greek and Roman lamps, candle holders, rush-light holders found in Ulster, where native iron work attained a high degree of efficiency. Several splendid photographs taken at night by ordinary gaslight were shown, including the City Hall, ‘Donegall Quay, different factories, the Great Northern Railway Station, spinning mills, and a ward in the Workhouse. In all these there was scarcely if any shadow. Proceeding, the lecturer said the rate of cost in Belfast ran to something like $d. per 1,000 lighting hours per candle. Electric filament lamps cost 24d., and flat flame lighting 7d. per 1,000 lighting hours, so that for all purposes they believed there was no light so economical as the present light, to be obtained from the use of ordinary coal gas with a gd. incandescent mantle, Evolution of Domestic Lighting. 7 On the motion of Mr. Finnegan, seconded by Mr. Francis Curley, J.P., a cordial vote of thanks was passed to the lecturer. The Chairman, in conveying the compliment, said he had seldom heard a more interesting lecture in that room. Mr. Cleland was not only a master of his own subject, he was a master of lucid exposition. The proceedings then terminated. December 18th, 1912. Professor Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “FOOTPRINTS= OF MEDICAL DISCOVERY IN CUBA.” By PROFESSOR SYMMERS. (Abstract) The CuarrMAN said it had been thought proper at this stage that some allusion should be made by the Society to the great loss which science had sustained in the death of Sir George Darwin. He was the second son of the illustrious Charles Darwin, and filled the post of professor of astronomy at Cambridge. His work lay in quite a different field from that of his father—namely, in mathematical and physical science. His book on “The Tides” was one of the classics of English science. He showed that the moon by drawing up the tides on the earth was slowly arresting the rotation of the earth and increasing her own distance from the earth,-and this work was likely to throw a good deal of light on the past history of our planet. Sir George was a great friend of Lord Kelvin, and to a great extent carried on the work of the latter. He (the President) was sure it would meet with their approbation if he asked their Secretary to convey their condolence to the relatives of the late Sir George, and their sense of the loss which science had sustained. In introducing Professor Symmers to the meeting, the President said he had chosen a subiect of great interest, and he would furnish them with one of the most remarkable chapters in modern medical history. Professor SYMMERS, in the course of his lecture, said his main object was to lay before them one point, and one point only. Footprints of Medical Discovery in Cuba. 9 Within recent years it had become a fact of prominence and im- portance that vatious diseases were communicated from man to man and from animal to animal through the intermediation of certain biting insects. In order to do so he wished to contrast two very formidable diseases—namely, yellow fever and malaria. In the case of yellow fever the germ that caused it was unknown, while in the case of malaria the germ was one of the best known parasites with which they could possibly acquaint themselves. There had only been four cases of yellow fever in Germany, while there was a small epidemic in England in 1865, which took place somewhere near Swansea. In Spain and Portugal the disease was very dreadful, while along the coasts of the Panama and adjoining countries the disease was one of the most dreadful that could possibly attack humanity. It was terribly fatal, unusually painful, and altogether an abominable condition. In Havana the disease had been known to exist since 1760, and since then it had never been free from it. The American commissioners had made out in their annual death-rate that about five hundred people had died from this disease. In 1880 a famous practitioner made the dis- covery that the disease was communicated from person to person through the bite of a mosquito. In 1900 the Americans sent to Havana a commission for the purpose of determining the cause of yellow fever. After they had tried hypothesis after hypothesis they finally recollected the half-forgotten theories of Dr. Carlos Finlay, and proceeded to make investigations about the mosquitos. Volunteers were asked for, and several young men, who were soldiers in the United States army, allowed themselves to be inoculated with the infected germs. In his (the lecturer’s) opinion such men were heroes, for it must be remembered that the disease which they ran the risk of contracting was nearly always fatal. The mosquitos immediately after they had sucked the infected blood were placed upon the young men, and the result was that none of them contracted the yellow fever. Pro- ceeding, the lecturer showed how that two famous doctors 10 ©. Professor Symmers on Medical Discoveries in Cuba. submitted themselves to the test, and were bitten when the mosquitos had been kept twelve days after they had sucked infected blood. The results were fatal. He mentioned that a surprising point was this, that the infected blood when taken into the body of the mosquito had to undergo some change before it became infected with the disease, which it communicated to the human body. A number of diagrams were thrown on the screen, and the lecturer explained the various processes by which malaria was contracted. _ Professor SYMINGTON, in moving a vote of thanks to Pro- fessor Symmers, said they had had ample evidence that the lecturer possessed the ability to impart his knowledge to the ordinary layman. The audience had been presented in a clear, vivid, and impressive manner with the real nature of yellow fever and malaria. Mr. A. Speers, J.P., in seconding the motion, said the lecture was a very difficult one, but Professor Symmers was extraordinarily successful in finding his way to the minds of those who were only laymen in such subjects. The motion was heartily passed, and Professor Symmers suitably replied. Professor Linpsay announced that the next meeting would be held on the roth January, when Professor Stirling, of Man- chester, would deliver a most interesting and instructive lecture _ on ‘‘ Life and Motion.” The proceedings then terminated. : Toth January, 191}. PRoressor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “ANIMATED MOTION.” By Proressor WILLIAM STIRLING, M.D., D.Sc., LL.D. ( Abstract.) The CHAIRMAN said they were honoured by having a dis- tinguished representative of science with them that night, and in their name, as well as in the name of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, he offered Dr. Stirling a very cordial welcome. Dr. Stirling occupied the chair of physiology in Victoria University, Manchester, and he was the author of several well-known handbooks on subjects relating to that chair, He had also acquired a most distinguished reputation as a public lecturer, and he was sure the large audience in that hall would listen with the greatest pleasure and interest to Dr. Stirling’s address. The LEcTURER, who was cordially received, said movement was one of the most characteristic features of active animal life, but movement was not confined to animals ; it was also manifested in some very remarkable forms, even by plants, especially by those plants which were of somewhat low origin. That night he proposed tc show them a series of films dealing with movement studied from the physiological point of view. As they knew, there were some movements easily analysed by the naked eye, but there were other movements which were not so easily analysed. He asked them to pay special attention to certain films which exhibited to them an entirely new departure in cinematography. If they took, for instance, 2,000 impressions per second and slowed it down to i2 Professor William Stirling on a rate of only 100 per second they had reduced the motion exactly in that proportion. He was going to show them films made in Paris, and there they would see a man walking. They would recognise the “leaden” foot of a man, and perhaps a woman, too—(laughter)—and in the next case they would see a man jumping, and they would be able to analyse every phase of the movement of that jump. In order that they might be brought to something as nearly celestial and angelic as possible—if they could have it on this side of Hades or Styx—he proposed to show them a marvellous film of a pigeon, where they would see the motion slowed down twenty times. ‘They would be able to analyse this, and in contrast to it they would see the movement of a dragon fly taken at the rate of 2,000 impressions per second. Having alluded to photographic experiments, which were the precursors of the cine- matograph, a film was shown illustrating the movements of the amoeba, which, the lecturer said, was very low in the scale, and protoplasmic in its nature. The gradual change in shape and form of the amoeba was described, so that the audience could see what could be done by exceedingly high magnifying power. A starfish which had been placed on its back was seen in successive movements, until the animal] ultimately mghted itself and got its back up. A snail progressed by what was known as its foot, and crawled along by a series of undulations, while 2 portion of one of the films contrasted the sluggish movements of the snail with the quick action of the dragon fly. The process of human beings walking, running, and jumping was illustrated in an interesting and amusing manner by the slowing down of the pictures actually taken of the various movements, while the beautiful and graceful motion of a pigeon flying evoked the hearty applause of the audience. He emphasised the fact that the pictures were not faked in any sense. ‘They were made expressly for the study of movement as expressed in the flight of the pigeon or any other animal. The pictures were taken in briliant sunshine in the open air, and notin a laboratory, whére there were all sorts of electric Animated Motion. 13 light to produce confusion in the animal. The attention of the audience was next directed to some interesting experiments with frogs, the lecturer explaining that if certain parts of the brain and of the organs connected with balance were removed the animal could no longer balance itself, but if the brain were removed and the balancing organs left the frog would balance itself in a very extraordinary way. Dr. Stirling also explained that although the idea of most people was that the heart was an organ which was easily affected, it was really one of the most resisting organs in the whole body. A series of films was then shown illustrating the beating of the heart of various organisms and the methods by which the action of the muscle can be counted in seconds. Following these remarkable films were shown illustrations of how the action of the heart is gradually modified under the influence of chloroform and of the reaction after the drug had exhausted itself. The next series was devoted to the circulation of the blood, and the spectators were able to trace quite clearly the movement of the corpuscles and watch the flow of blood through the veins. A series illustrated the gradual development of an egg, the lecturer remarking that they were all made in a wonderful and mysterious fashion. They all started apparently alike. There was no such thing as Socialism there, because, though they started equal, they did not end equal, otherwise there would be no process of development in relation to human beings. Some pictures having been shown illustrating the results of scientific inquiry as to the cause of sleeping sickness, the movement of protoplasm in plant cells was illustrated. Plants lived and obtained nourishment by their roots, breathing by their leaves. When completely developed they produced flowers, whence came the seeds. The plants would perish, but their seeds would drop into the earth. In conclusion, the lecturer mentioned that the audience had been shown films to the extent of 4,500 feet. Professor W. St. C. SYMMERS, in moving a vote of thanks to Professor Stirling, said he had absolutely fascinated every man 14 Professor William Stirling on Animated Motion. and woman in the room that night. He thought perhaps the best compliment he could pay to his old teacher—for he had the honour to have been a pupil of his many years ago—would be in a single sentence to ask them all to join with him in that motion, and pass a hearty vote of thanks to one of the most remarkable lecturers any of them had ever heard or possibly should ever hear. Mr. S. T. Mercier, J.P., seconded the motion, which was heartily passed. Professor STIRLING, in acknowledging the compliment, said that little did he think years ago, when Professor Symmers was his class assistant in Aberdeen, that he would meet him in Belfast, and have the pleasure of hearing him move a vote of thanks to one who was delighted to call him pupil. This concluded the proceedings. 4th February, 1913. PRoFEssor J. A. Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “TRISH LINEN AND SOME FEATURES OF ITS PRODUCTION” By SiR WILLIAM CRAWFORD, J.P. (Adbstract.) The CHarrmaN said the proceedings of that evening promised to be of quite unusual interest. They were to be addressed by one of the most honoured citizens of Belfast, and he was sure in the name of those present and in the name of that Society he could give a very hearty welcome to Sir William Crawford. He could assure Sir William that it was a great honour and privilege to have him there. To recount Sir William Crawford’s services to Belfast would be a big task, and one he (the Chairman) need not undertake before that audience. He was to address them on the great industry that had done so much for the prosperity and progress of their city, and an industry with which his own life had been so very much associated. StR WILLIAM CRAWFORD at the outset said the use of linen as an article of clothing was veiled in the mists of antiquity. It was mentioned in the Book of Genesis as in use for robing the Royal princes of Egypt, and in the Bible it was frequently referred to in terms of appreciation and as a symbol of purity and excellence. But it was needless to refer to history, for considerable quantities of linen were actually preserved in Egyptian tombs, and acknow- ledged to be of the respectable age of fifty centuries. Some of the linen was not equalled for fineness in modern times. Irish linen, 16 Sir Willam Crawford on he proceeded, was of world-wide fame, and perhaps examination of its manufacture might help to explain why this was so. ‘The moist climate of Ireland was admirably suited to the growth of flax and the processes of its manufacture up to and including that of bleaching. The lecturer then referred to the pulling, retting, and subsequent treatment of flax, including scutching and hackling, until it is ready for spinning. He also described the process of spinning, and went on to deal briefly with the history of the linen trade in Ireland preceding the introduction in 1830 of flax-spinning by steam-driven machinery. Prior to 1700 the export of linen goods from Ireland seemed to have been of small dimensions, but from that date, under the stimulus of bounties amounting to 10 per cent. to 15 per cent., its growth was rapid. In 1689, the year of the accession of William III., the Export of Linen barely reached £6,000 worth; in 1741 it reached £600,000; in 1770, £1,500,000; and in 1825 the declared value was £2,893,018. At the beginning of the nineteenth century a large quantity of linen yarn was manu- factured in Ireland, its manufacture being spread widely, and all yarn being hand-spun. Fermanagh was called “a great yarn county,” and he found it reported that a considerable portion of the yarn made in Connaught was carried by dealers into Ulster, a great portion of the coarse linens being made from it. A great deal of weaving was done in Tyrone, the yarn being obtained from Fer- managh, Leitrim, and Donegal. Early in the nineteenth century flax-spinning mills driven by water power were started in various places in Ulster, and a bounty of 30s per spindle was given to en- courage the erection of these mills. During the seven years in which this tounty was given (1805 to 1811) twelve spinning mills were erected in Ulster, with 6,369 spindles, the mills being scattered over Antrim, Armagh, Down, Donegal, and Tyrone. The bounty was given to encourage the manufacture of sailcloth, canvas, and duck, and the articles encouraged were those suitable for the navy, the object being to have a manufacture which would render the country independent of foreign supply. Along with the bounties Trish Linen and some Features of tts Production. i there were restrictions. For instance, Acts of Parliament prescribed the width and length of each quality, and that linens could not be bought and re-sold in the same market or day, nor exposed for sale if stained. Parliament also established a board of trustees of the linen manufacturers of Ireland to look after the carrying out of these laws, and inspectors were appointed by the Board, one or two in each county. It so happened that the more honest the people became the less need was there for an inspector. One of them in County Down reported that in 1816 he travelled 1,654 Irish miles —one-third of the distance on foot—and received four penalties, 416 os 6d. making his income £55 os 6d. The bounties con- tinued the lecturer, began to diminish from 5th January, 1825, and were entirely withdrawn in 1829. About the year 1830 a great transformation in flax spinning took place in Ireland. In the year 1828 Messrs. Mulholland’s cotton mill was burned to the ground. They at once decided to rebuild it as a flax spinning mill. That mill started work in 1830 in Henry Street, Belfast, and part of the buildings still contained the offices of the York Street Flax Spinning Company, Ltd. About the same time Messrs. Murland of Castle- wellan, also began flax spinning by steam-driven machinery. Messrs. Hind and others in Belfast followed, and by 1850 there were in Ireland 396,000 spindles producing linen yarn. Although Ireland, as compared with England and Scotland, was last to begin the change from hand-spinning, not many years elapsed ere it was abreast of those countries. In 1856 England attained its maximum production with 441,000 spindles. Since that time its spindles had decreased, until now the linen trade there seemed to be near the vanishing-point with less than 50,000 spindles. Scotland reached its maximum in 1871 with 317,000 spindles ; now it had 160,000, while Ireland’s share had increased by a larger number than the other two countries had lost. Ireland had in 1874, 906,000 spindles in operation. In 1888 it had 803,000, and now it had 946,000, belonging to some fifty different companies, seventeen of them in Belfast, one in Cork, and the others scattered throughout 18 Sir Wilham Cramford on Ulster. The average-sized flax mill might contain 20,000 spindles, and a mill of that kind would give employment to about 750 persons It would take about £120,000 or £160,000 to erect a mill of that size ‘The workers were employed in the proportion of two or three females to one male. A few children of both sexes were engaged as learners, and were known as half-timers. About £75 were spent in turning £100 worth of flax into yarn, another £75 in turning that yarn into brown linen, and about £50 in turning that brown linen into the goods ready for the market. Thus on £100 worth of flax about £200 was spent, chiefly in wages, and the finished product was worth £300. The flax used in Irish mills was the produce chiefly of four countries—Ireland, Belgium, Holland, and Russia. The business had come through a great many fluctuations of fortune. Sometimes it had been proverbially profitable and much oftener it had been quite the contrary. A transformation took place from hand spinning to mill spinning. In weaving they had a similar transformation. Ireland began about 1850, after England and Scotland, to use the power-loom for linen weaving, and in this also it had outstripped them. There were in Ireland 36,000 power-looms, owned by 100 companies ; 21,000 of these looms were working in Belfast, 13,000 in other parts of Ulster, and 2,000 scattered in small factories in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk, and Drogheda. As compared with 36,000 power looms in Ireland, Scotland had 17,000 and England 4,400 using linen yarn. Eight weaving factories in Belfast and eight in other parts of Ireland were attached to spinning mills, but that system was not growing ; the growth of extension had been in factories separate from mills. A power-loom factory for the weaving of light and narrow linens would cost £40 or £50 a loom, and a factory for making wide damask or sheetings would cost £100 and up to £200 a loom Wages were paid by piecework, and the same scale applied to men and women. ‘The number of all persons employed in and about a weaving factory was somewhere about as many as the looms it contained. During the handloom period different classes Trish Linen and some Features of its Production. 19 of goods had each its locality of manufacture. The Hugenots, who introduced fine weaving into Ireland, settled at Lisburn and Lurgan. One of them, Louis Crommelin, was an an- cestor of Mr. Nicholas Delacherois Crommelin, managing partner of the York Street Spinning Company when, fifty years ago, he (the speaker) was serving his apprenticeship there. Handlooms were fast becoming a thing of the past. Very considerable improvements had taken place in spinning mills and weaving factories with regard to the conditions under which operatives worked. Chief amongst these was the diminution which had been effected in the amount of dust floating in the air of many of the rooms. In this improvement Mr. R. H. Reade, D.L., had been the pioneer. The action of the united body of flaxspinners in 1908, when, during a period of unexampled dullness, they made a gift of £30,000 in unearned wages was to be put down to their credit. The lecturer then dealt with the different methods of bleaching, and pointed out that in linen bleaching there was a field for the services of chemical research. The present. methods carried with them serious risks of damage to the goods. Here, then, was a practical object for their scientific men to have before them. Having dealt with the preparation of linen goods for the market, the lecturer went on to say that the relations between masters and employes in the linen industry were of a more friendly character than in most other industries. In many instances one generation was succeded by its descendants, and sometimes to the third or fourth generation, in the service of the same company. Conferences in an amicable spirit had sometimes taken place, and arrangements of wages had been agreed upon without recourse to strikes, which had been rare and always of small dimensions. A rough estimate of the capital employed in the Irish linen trade might be made up as follows :—g56,o00 spindles at an average price of £5 each, £4,730,000; 36,000 power-looms at £50, 41,800,000 ;_ bleaching, printing, and finishing works estimated at £500,000, Those amounts added together would show a total of 20 Sir William Crawford on 47,030,000 in plant alone ; in addition to which the stocks of raw material and of goods in the process of manufacture, and in a finished state would be value for £5,000,000 or £6,000,000. Then there was the further amount of capital employed in giving credit to buyers, and whether this be in the form of discountable bills or of open accounts, capital to the extent of over £ 2,000,000 was required to do it. The grand total of capital employed would thus amount to at least 414,000,000, One might estimate the amount paid in wages to the operatives as follows :—67,027 men, women, and young persons at an average of 12s 6d per week, 4£2.178,377 ; bleachers, printers, and finishers, £400,000; em- broiderers, hemstitchers, and warehouse hands, including lappers, ornaientors, and boxmakers, £400,000; hand-loom weavers, 455,000. Besides all these there were clerks, managers, and other officials whose salaries would amount to £250,000, and if 5 per cent, on capital, £700,000, be included, it would show a grand total of £3,983,377, Thus, besides the large sum paid for flax the linen trade was the means of distributing in the province of Ulster about £ 4,000,000, and three-quarters or more of it was drawn from foreign countries, as much the greater portion of Irish linen products was sold outside the United Kingdom. As compared with linen, the cotten industry, its great and formidable rival, was a juvenile. Among the reasons why cotton was so formidable a competitor of linen the following might be mentioned :—Although the cost of flax and of raw cotton did not differ very much, cotton had a great advantage over flax in the ease and cheapness with which it was manufactured. In the first place the hard and in- elastic nature of the flax fibre made a much more expensive type of machinery necessary for its spinning. A cotton mill could be erected complete for about 27s 6d per spindle, whereas a flax-spinning mill would cost from £6 to £8 a spindle. Then the great variations produced in any one field of flax necessitated elaborate and costly hackling and sorting, in which about 50 per cent. of it became tow of comparatively low value, raising the cost of dressed flax.fully 50 Trish Linen and some Features of its Production. 21 per cent. above that of raw flax. Cotton on the other hand was very uniform in quality, and was cheaply carded with less loss of material or of weight. Its elasticity allowed of the employment of machinery so largely automatic that the number of workers in a cotton mill would be about one quarter of those in a flax mill of the same number of spindles, while at the same time the turn-off of a cotton spindle was considerably greater than that of a flax spindle. The advantage in favour of cotton did not end with its conversion into yarn, for it was more easily woven than linen, and finally it was bleached more quickly with less risk of damage and with less loss of weight. Nothing but the inherent beauty and excellence of the flax fibre had permitted its survival of competition so formidable. The position of the linen trade was a trying one, but the experience of the past led to the hope that the staple trade of Ulster would continue to survive during many future generations. To have held the supremacy in the fine linen trade against the world was, he considered, another flag saved by Ulstermen for the British Empire. A cordial vote of thanks to the lecturer was passed, on the motion of Mr. James Ireland, seconded by Mr. John MacKenzie, J P., and the proceedings terminated. roth March, 1913. PROFESSOR Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “A TRIP TO2HE PANAMA CANAL By Mr. J. MILNE Barzour, M.A., D.L. (Abstract). The CHAIRMAN said that night they were to have a lecture on a subject of quite exceptional interest, and more especially at the present time—a subject that made its appeal to the engineer, the sanitarian, people engaged in commerce, and all concerned for the promotion of human intercourse. The Panama Canal was one of the greatest enterprises that man had ever attempted, and which was now progressing to a triumphant issue. They were very much indebted to Mr. Barbour for so kindly consenting to lecture to them on this subject, and he (the Chairman) was sure they would listen to him with a great deal of interest, pleasure, and profit. Mr. Barzsour, who was cordially received, began by referring to the circumstances which led to his visiting the Panama Canal towards the end of last year. He said during his visits to the United States he heard a good deal about the construction of the Canal, and his interest in it increased until he at last made up his mind to go and see it while the work of construction was in progress. The mere work of constructing a canal was apt to convey to the mind a conglomeration of shovels, drills, dredgers, dynamite, dams, and dirt, but in the case of the Panama Canal even A Trip to the Panama Canal. 28 the most casual inspection revealed in progress a stupendous conflict between the mighty powers controlled by modern intellect and ingenuity and the stubborn forces of nature, and many varied problems had had to be solved quite apart from, and equally important as, those of an engineering character which first occurred to one’s mind. Mr. Barbour then referred to the history of the undertaking, and said it had been the belief from very early times that it would be possible to reach the shores of Asia by a western route, but it was not until the end of the fifteenth century that the idea gained sufficient foothold to lead anyone to put it to the test. Christopher Columbus was only one of many in his day who believed that the East could be so reached, and, while his spirit of adventure resulted in the discovery of America on the rath October, 1492, the real object of his search, and one in which he persisted after his discovery of America, was to find some passage or strait whereby he couid continue his journey to Asia. After the discovery of gold in California the importance of the route across the Isthums increased considerably, and a treaty was entered into between the Government of the United States and New Granada whereby the former was granted permission to transport its troops and rations across the Isthmus. In the same year an American syndicate secured from the Government of New Granada a concession for a railroad to connect the oceans across the Panama country, and the line from Colon to Panama _ was completed in 1855, the cost per mile being £28,000. Further surveys of various possible canal routes conunued to be made, but it was not until 1879 that any commencement was made which resulted eventually in the adoption of any particular route or in the actual start on the work of constructing a canal. It was in that year that De Lesseps convened the International Scientific Congress, the members of which decided on the formation of a company with a capital of £16,000 000. ‘The his- tory of this company was a lamentable record, In addition to the 24 Mr. J. Milne Barbour on engineering and climatic difficulties there were hopeless extravagance and corruption, and additional capital had to be raised at an ever-increasing cost. The cost of transport over the Panama railroad was so excessive that the undertaking had to be acquired by the company at a fancy price; and, finally, after incurring a total indebtedness of 380,000,000 dollars, or, according to another authority, after expending 260,000,000 dollars, every effort to raise more capital met with failure, and the enterprise passed into the hands of a receiver in 1889. Despite the mismanagement which had characterised the French undertaking, the company had done a large amount of work, much of which had been turned to account in the present canal. It was not due to any lack of engineering skill that the French company failed to accomplish their purpose. The chief cause of failure was the ravage of disease, the death-rate amongst the men employed on the work rising at one time to 240 per 1,000. The receiver estimated the value of the assets taken over by him at ninety million dollars, and a committee nominated by him considered that the Canal might be completed by the expenditure of an additional one hundred million dollars. The whole scheme was again thoroughly reported on. Just then, however, the United States Congress granted a charter to an American corporation to construct a canal on the Nicaragua route, on which work was started and continued for three years, when the available capital of twelve million dollars was exhausted and work ceased. Other events now occurred, which provided a different incentive to the construction of a waterway, these includirg the war between the United States and Spain, which found the American Government with its most powerful battleship stationed on the Pacific ccast ; the war between Russia and Japan, the alliance between the latter country and Great Britain, which did away with the necessity for the retention of a British fleet in Japanese waters ; and the friction between Japan and the State of California. Having traced the transmission of yellow fever and malaria, the A Trip torthe Panama Canal. 25 United States Government made every effort to exterminate the mosquito, the source of transmission, and the result was that while the average force cf the French company between 1881 and 1889 had been ro,200 men and the loss during that period 22,189, the Americans since 1904 had employed an average force of 33,000 men and lost less than 4,000. The United States Government acquired the rights and property of the French company for a sum of forty million dollars, and they gave one man—Colonel Goethals—absolute power in connection with the execution of the undertaking. When the Americans took possession of the canal in 1904 the terrible mortality from yellow fever and malaria was still fresh in everybody’s mind, and this had a most deterrent effect on the labourers whom they sought to attract to the Isthmus. Before sufficient labour could be obtained wages ranging from one and a quarter to twice those ruling in the United States had to be granted, and other inducements had to be held out. There were some 36,000 men employed on the Isthmus, these being, roughly, divided as follows :—On Canal construction, 28,300 ; an the Panama railroad, 4,200 ; on relocat- ing the Panama railroad, 2,400; and in commissary department, 1,100. About 5,600 of the men were Americans, and of the remainder five-sixths were West Indians and one-sixth Europeans, mostly Spaniards and Italians. ‘The lecturer next dealt with the steps taken to secure the proper sanitation of the Canal zone, and alluded to the plans pursued in the construction of the Canal. The outstanding feature of all the work, he said, was its enormous magnitude, and the mere mention of figures could not convey to the mind the same impression as was gained by spending some time on the ground and seeing what was represented by such figures. As indicating the extent of the undertaking, Mr. Barbour said the Culebra cut was now approaching completion, and it would have been much further forward had it not been for the immense landslides which had taken place. In the nine miles of cutting there were now going out trains on the average of one 26 Mr. J. Miine Barbour on- for every three minutes, each taking out some 600 tons of material. Each of the steam shovels employed was supposed to do as much work as 1,000 men, and in the wet work they actually had a steam dredger that would do as much in one hour as a steam shovel would doin ten. These steam shovels were the largest that had ever been made, and lifted from eight to ten tons at one scoop. It was estimated that the total excavated material when the Canal was completed would if loaded on a train of flat cars make a train of 96,000 miles long, reaching practically three times around the earth. In concluding, the lecturer said that it was expected that in July of this year water would be admitted to the Culebra cut, and the formal opening of the Canal would take place on Ist January, 1915. Vessels would be able to complete the passage through the Canal in about twelve hours. The cost of the undertaking was estimated at about £,80,000,000, as compared with £ 19,000,000 for the Suez Canal, 48,000,000 for the Kiel Canal, and £15.000,000 for the Man- chester Canal. And so in the course of the comparatively short period of some twenty months they might expect to see the hope of more than three Centuries brought to successful fulfilment. They were told that by faith they might move mountains, and there was no question but what in the minds of many that faith had been wanting. There were some people to day, even amongst thcse whose experience and judgment entitled their opinions to consideration, who doubted whether the Panama Canal would be brought to a successful completion and operation—whether by excessive landslides or the treacherous character of the foundations upon which the huge dams and locks had been placed or disaster from earthquake—but to those who had had faith, and had added to it self-denial, industry, perseverence, skill, and ingenuity, let them extend their most earnest wishes that their labours and self- sacrifice might not prove in vain, and that this region, which had been the scene of culminating human endeavour for over three hundred years, might be the means of bringing nations into closer A Trip to the Panama Canal. 24 and more friendly touch with each other, and the extension of all the benefits of civilisation to what were now the remoter parts of the earth. When the time came he was sure there would be no nation more ready or proud than Great Britain to congratulate the United States on this monument to the ability of her doctors and engineers. Sir Robert J. Kennedy, K.C.M.G., D.L., in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Barbour, said South America had been well des- cribed as the great continent of opportunity. While their attention was drawn to the East, and while they were watching five or six nations destroying each other and shedding their blood in order to get pieces of territory which in South America would only be looked upon as in the possession of private individuals—while this was being done, they had this great continent of opportunity offering itself for their commercial development. The lecturer had given them a most comprehensive survey of the whole Panama question, and had_very rightly pointed out that the great success of the American engineers in carrying out the enormous work almost to completion was due to the fact that they recognised that the cause of the chief difficulty was the illness produced by the yellow fever mosquitoes. And while they congratulated them- selves upon the fact that their cousins of North America had succeeded in carrying out the work, he (Sir Robert) thought they ought to extend a feeling of sympathy to the French, and especially to that great engineer De Lesseps, who constructed the Suez Canal, only to sce it a few years later fall into English hands, and who turned his attention to the work of constructing the Panama Canal, and had to give it up. In the name of the audience he (the speaker) offered to Mr. Barbour their heartiest thanks upon his most interesting and comprehensive lecture, and he congratu- lated him most sincerely on the industry and patience with which he had collected information in regard to the subject, and especially upon the ability he had displayed in bringing it before them in such a lucid manner. 28 Mr. ]. Mine Barbour on A Trip to the Panama Canal. Mr. George Clark, D.L., in seconding the motion, said they came there that night expecting a great treat, and he knew they all felt that their hopes had been fully realised. In the last hour and a half their knowledge had been greatly increased with regard to what was going on in the Isthmus of Panama. He under- stood that was the first time Mr. Barbour had lectured in public, and he would like to congratulate him on the success of that lecture. It was a good thing they had citizens of Belfast who had leisure to go and travel, and who came back and put the inform. mation they had gathered at the disposal of others. They were particularly interested in a scheme such as the Panama Canal, which they knew would affect the trade of the world. He re- membered the opening of the Suez Canal and the stimulating effect it had upon the trade of the world, and the general expectation was that a similar stimulating effect would take place when the Panama Canal was open. ‘The firm which he (Mr. Clark) repre- sented had at present under construction a number of steamers which it was proposed to use in connection with the new canal, and he might mention that the steamer which carried Mr. Barbour to Panama was built in Belfast. The resolution was carried, and the Chairman, in conveying it, thanked Mr. Barbour for the generous recognition of the large part played by medical science in this great triumph of engineering. Mr. Barbour suitably replied, and the proceedings terminated. April 7th, I9I3. Professor Linpsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair. “ALASKA.” By GOVERNOR JOHN G. Brapy. (Adbstract.) The CHAIRMAN, who was received with applause, said they would that evening hear a lecture upon a subject of great interest. Alaska was a vast country, about as large as twenty States of the Union. It possessed vast mineral and natural wealth and valuable fisheries. Governor Brady was one of those men of Irish descent who, in other countries, by their energy and ability had brought credit on the land of their origin. He was nine years Governor of that country, and he would receive a hearty welcome that evening. The lecturer said it gave him great pleasure to tell them that evening of an interesting part of the globe. When he saw so much going to waste on the Western coast of America it made him sad to think that many could not get there to enjoy it. Dealing historically with the early exploration of the country, Mr. Brady spoke of the fur traders and adventurers, and referred to the acquisition of the country by the United States at a cost of 7,200,000 dollars. Secretary Seward was much berated both in the Press and on the platform for what was termed such egregious folly. It was said that it was an area fit only for Polar bears and “‘blubber-sucking Eskimos.” But its extent was about 594,000 square miles. From the date of possession in 1867 to rgr1 it had cost the United States roughly something over seven millions sterling, but its production had been really wonderful. The lecturer then introduced a number of excellent slides, beginning with a map of the country, which led to a topographical description 30 Governor John G. Brady on Alaska. of great interest, in which the inlets, mountains, and glaciers were referred to. The Yukon delta, the railroads, and other features were alluded to, together with climatic features, the speaker giving some remarkable information regarding the fact that it was much more equable and mild than was generally supposed. After interesting references to quartz and placer mining Governor Brady dealt with hydraulic and dredger gold mining. Sealing led to another series of fine pictures, and reference was made to pelagic sealing, which at one time was an international question. Eskimos who formerly were starving had now accounts in the banks, and that was because they had 40,000 reindeer in the country. In south-eastern Alaska the catch of salmon and halibut last year was worth twenty-five million dollars, Dealing with agriculture, the speaker said in the Yukon Valley they would be able to furnish seed to farmers in Manitoba and Dakoto. Native art was finely illustrated, and native types described. Analyses and tests of Behring River coals were given, and, concluding, the lecturer said they had on that coast great resources. When the Panama Canal was opened, that country would be near them. They should visit that coast when the cutting was completed, and see what it had for them. They had taken out of that land 446,640,984 dollars. A homesteader received 320 acres of land, so let them come and see the country. Mr. HENRY RIDDELL, M.E., moved a cordial vote of thanks to the lecturer, and said everyone had been deeply interested in what they had heard and also seen in the fine series of pictures. Mr. GARRETT NaGiE, R.M., seconded the resolution with great pleasure. The lecture had come as a revelation. Alaska was a country overflowing with milk and honey. The suggested voyage offered a tempting prospect, and he hoped the idea would be carried out. Alaska offered fine prospects to those desiring to seek their fortunes abroad. The resolution was passed with acclamation, and the pro- ceedings concluded. ANNUAL REPORT, 1912-13. —< + @ + The annual meeting of the shareholders of this society was held in the Museum, College Square North, on the Ist October, 1913, Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D. (President), occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance amongst those present being—-Sir Otto Jaffé, J.P.; the Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University (Rev. Dr. Hamilton), Professor Gregg-Wilson ; Messrs. 9. W. Allworthy, M.A., M.D.; W. T. Braithwaite, E. H. Clarke, Wm. Faren, Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A.; John Horner, A. T. Jackson, Wm Swanston, M.R.I.A.; Alexander Taylor, R. M. Young, J.P. ; Henry Riddell, M.E. (honorary treasurer); J. M. Finnegan, B.A., B.Sc. (hon. secretary); and J. E. Dawson, (assistant secretary). Apologies for non-attendance were received from the Right Honourable Robert Young, J.P.; Sir John Byers, M.A., M.D. ; Sir James Henderson, M.A., D.L.; and Mr. E. J. Elliott. At the request of the chairman, Mr. J. M. Finnegan sub- mitted the annual report as follows :— The NINETY-SECOND Session of the Society was opened on the evening of Tuesday, 12th November, 1912, when an address was delivered by Mr. A. M‘I. Cleland on “The Evolution of Domestic Lighting.” The meeting, which was held in the Museum, College Square North, was presided over by the President of the Society, Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D., and there was a good attendance of members. At the close a vote of thanks to the Lecturer was passed on the proposition of Mr. Finnegan, seconded by Mr. Francis Curley, J.P. The Second meeting of the session took place in the Museum, College Square North, on Wednesday, December 18th, 32 Annual Meeting. 1g12, when an interesting lecture was delivered by Professor Wm. St. Clair Symmers, M.B., on “ Footprints of Medical Discovery in Cuba.” The President (Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P.) occupied the chair. Before calling upon the Lecturer, the Chairman made an allusion to the great loss which science had sustained in the death of Sir George Darwin, and referred at some length to the great work which he had carried out during his lifetime, and said he was sure it would meet with approbation if he asked their Secretary to convey their condolence to the relatives of the late Sir George, and their sense of the loss which science had sustained. ‘The President then introduced Professor Symmers, who proceeded with his lecture, which was presented in a clear, vivid, and impressive manner. A vote of thanks was heartily passed on the proposition of Professor Symington, seconded by Mr. A. Speers, J.P., and Professor Symmers suitably replied. The Third meeting was held in the Y.M.C.A. Large Hall, on Friday evening, 1oth January, 1913, when an exceedingly interesting lecture was given by Vrofessor William Stirling, M.D., D.Sc., LL.D. (Victoria University, Manchester), on ‘‘ Animated Motion” The lecture, which was illustrated by electric cinema and lantern, proved a very decided attraction, and the attendance was extremely satisfactory—the large hall and gallery being well filled with an appreciative audience. At the conclusion a vote of thanks to Professor Stirling was proposed by Professor W. St. C. Symmers, seconded by Alderman S. T. Mercier, J.P., and passed by acclamation. Professor Stirling duly acknowledged the compliment. The Fourth meeting took place in the Museum, College Square North, on Tuesday evening, 4th February, 1913, when a lecture on the subject of ‘Irish Linen and Some Features of its Production” was delivered by Sir William Crawford, J.P., Professor J. A. Lindsay (President) presiding. The Society was favoured by the presence of such an honoured and prominent citizen, and Annual Meeting. 33 during the course of his very instructive lecture Sir William was followed most closely by the large audience. At the close a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to the lecturer on the pro- position of Mr. James Ireland, seconded by Mr. John Mackenzie, Jee; The Fifth meeting of the session took place on Wednesday, tgth March, 1913, when a lecture entitled “A Trip to the Panama Canal” was delivered by Mr. J. Milne Barbour, M.A., D.L. It was originally intended to hold this meeting in the Museum, but owing to the exceptional demand for admission orders, it was found necessary to secure the use of a larger building. The meeting therefore took place in the Central Hall of the Municipal Technical Institute, and your Council are deeply indebted to Sir James Henderson and the members of the Library and Technical Instruction Committee of the Belfast Corporation for so kindly granting the use of same, particularly as the request was made at very short notice. The hall was filled to its utmost capacity, and the lecture, which was illustrated by lantern slides, was greatly appreciated by those present. At the conclusion of one of the most interesting lectures which has been delivered under the auspices of the Society a cordial vote of thanks was passed tc Mr. Barbour on the proposition of Sir Robert J. Kennedy, K.C.M.G., D.L., seconded by Mr. George Clark, D,L., and to which Mr. Barbour suitably replied. The Sixth and concluding meeting of the session was held in the Museum, College Square North, on Monday evening, 7th April, 1913. Governor John G. Brady (Sitka, Alaska) delivered a lecture descriptive of ‘‘ Alaska—its Geography, Climate, Resources, People and Government.” The lecture, which was fully illustrated, was thoroughly enjoyed by those present, and at the close a vote of thanks was passed to Governor Brady on the proposition of Mr. Henry Riddell, M.E., seconded by Mr. Garrett Nagle, R.M.. Your Council are pleased to record that the attendances at 34 Annual Meeting. the various lectures during the session were of an extremely gratifying nature, and they trust that the attendances will continue to increase throughout the coming winter. The arrangements at the meetings were admirably carried out by Mr. J. E. Dawson, whose services as Assistant Secretary had been secured at the commencement of the session. As heretofore, Mr. George Donaldson rendered valuable assistance to the Society. A list of the numerous publications received in exchange from home and foreign learned societies will be found printed with the present report. The thanks of the Council are again due, and are hereby extended, to the local Press for the excellent reports and notices which they invariably give to the doings of the Society. In accordance with the constitution of the Society, five members of Council retire from office, who are eligible for re-election. Mr. Henry Riddell submitted the financial statement, which showed that there was a handsome balance in the bank, and that the society was in a very sound financial position. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the reports, ‘congratulated’ the society on the successful work which they had accomplished during the past year, and _ considered that the various lectures had been exceedingly interesting. He specially referred to the lecture on ‘Animated Motion ” given by Professor Wm. Stirling, of the Manchester Uni- versity, and expressed the opinion that it was one of the most interesting lectures ever delivered in Belfast. He was certain the members of the society would be delighted to know that the services of Professor Stirling had been secured for the ensuing season. He also referred to the manner in which the council hoped to utilise some of the balance which the society had to its credit, and intimated that a fund would be provided for research work, | Annual Meeting. 35 Mr. John Horner seconded the motion, which was passed. On the motion of Mr. Wm. Gray, seconded by Dr. Allworthy, the following retiring members of council were re-elected :—Sir John W. Byers, M.A., M.D.; Sir James Henderson, M.A., D.L. ; Mr. John Horner, Mr. Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.IA., J.P.; and the Right Honourable Robert Young, J.P. Rev. Dr. Hamilton moved a vote of thanks to the president. In doing so he referred to the long line of prominent men who in past years had occupied that position, and said in his opinion the society had never been better served than in the present instance. Sir Otto Jaffé, in seconding the resolution, expressed the hope that Professor Lindsay would allow his name to be put forward again for the office during the coming year. The motion was passed unamiously, and the president acknow- ledged the compliment. Subsequently a meeting of the council of the society was held for the purpose of electing office-bearers for the ensuing year, and the following were appointed :—Professor Lindsay (president), Mr. Henry Riddell (honorary treasurer), Mr. John Horner (hon. librarian), and Mr. J. M. Finnegan (honorary secretary). The four outgoing vice-presidents were re-elected. E161 ‘nf fo dop yjz0€ E161 ‘aunf{ fo hop 41% . ¢ r= PaHPy ‘NOD Et “oo cote Yona ae "7991109 ST JUNOSOW Sulosar0y ayy 3vy3 Ay13499 | *JUNODDY ons} & SI SAoqe oy} IVY? AyII100 oy = a EEE ee or £1 ghtY Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. = The National Library. Durzban.—Proceedings of Natal Scientific Society. Lixchanges. 39 EDINBURGH.—Transactions of the Botanical Seciety of Edin- burgh. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. ‘§ Proceeditigs of the Royal Physical Society. Empren.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Emden. GENoa.—Rivista Ligure di Scienze, Letture, ed Arti. GiressEN.—Bericht der Oberhcssischen Gesellschaft fiir Natur und Heilkunde zu Giessen. Giascow.— Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society. = Geological Society of Glasgow. Goruitz,—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Gorlhitz. Gorreorc.—Regia Societas Scientiarum et Litterarum Gotoburg- ensis. Havirax.— Nova-Scotian Institute of Science. . Hampurc.—Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. IcLto.— Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines. INDIANAPOLIS.—-Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences. Kansas.—University of Kansas. KHaARKoFF.—Transactions of the Society for Physico Chimiques of Kharkoff University. Krerr.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of Kieff. LusanneE.—Bulletin de Société des Vaudvise des Sciences Naturelles. LAWRENCE.—Science Bulletin of the University of Kansas. Lreps.—Annual Report, Philosophical and Literary Society. Lerpsic.—Sitzungberichte des Naturforschenden Gesellschaft vu Leipzig. Lima.—Boletin del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. LiverPoot.—Botanical Society of Liverpool. Lonpon.—Report of the 76th Meeting of the British Association, also Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee, 7 4o Exchanges. Lonpon.— Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, Memoirs of the Astronomical Society. Guide Books. British Museum (Natural History). ry The Patent Office Library. Mapison.—Bulletin and Maps of the Geological aud Natural History Survey of Wisconsin. Mapras.—Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum. MANCHESTER.— Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society. MELBOURNE.— Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatoria Meteorologico Magnetico Central de Mexico, also Anuaria. 5 Boletin de Instituto Geologico de Mexico. MILWAUKEE.—-Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History Society. MINNEAPOLIS.—Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. ; MissouLa.—Bulletin of the University of Montana. MonrTEVIDEO.—