pets farsa Tet ote

Perret erik

SMES Er re?
Serircee

“ee Tie Te ot 7
woe a os” ;
& 4 Steer
- ; ;
ug en ae
al ete atete tate ‘ete

tiv ier etl

re 8 ws a
Conde ed
oycte a

.
.

Som ahal
wiriete le bt ore
ots

tan

ot)
are
eer

6 dare we

O64 09 Se ae

r;
ke
bet w3s7.
* .
enees3e
Bletoes
44
sf

~~
htt oe

_

-

| PROCEEDINGS

|

OF THE

aS ee ye ASS te

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR, THE

SESSION 1880-81.

PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET.

BE LBeAgSee.: :
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1882.

LE.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

3 2 AS

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1880-81.

BELEAs Lf:

PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET.
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1882.

ERRATUM.—Page 37, line 16, for grape sugar read came sugar.

CONTENTS.

List of Officers ee ee ve 56 oe oe
List of Shareholders .. Ns Pe 00 os

Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts Ap ae se
The Benn Collection of Antiquities; by William H. Patterson, Esq.,

M.R.LA. ee ee ve ve ve ee
The History of Islands, as told by the Animals found in them; by
Thomas Workman, Esq. ae a sc ve ve
The Problem of Geological Climates; by Joseph John Murphy, Esq.,
LAG he Ail a i al ve ve ve oe ve
The Movements of Fluids in Plants; by Thomas H. Corry, Esq.,
M.A. M.R.I.A, .. ee ve ve ee
Remarks on how Ideas of Height are Formed ; by R Robert Young, Esq,,
Some Old Coins found recently at Kilroot, near Carrickfergus, between
Tide Marks ; by William Swanston, Esq., F.G.S. os Ae
Belfast Investigators from 1808 to 1820, in Various Branches of Natural
History ; by A. O’D. Taylor, Esq. (Title only) re ae
Recently Discovered Artificial Si aied Matters ; by E. A. Letts, Esq.,
PhD. BR.S.E.. oe « we se ve ee
Notes on the Foraminifera—Genus Lagena; by J eae Wright, Esq.,
EGS) 0r5 ve oe ve ve ve
The Wild Birds’ Protection Act, 1880; by A. O’D. Taylor, Esq. ae
Donations to the Library during Session 1880-81 .. ae Ax

Donations to the Museum during Session 1880-81 .,

Catalogue of Collections—Class I.—Antiquities ., ar ee

102
103
104

108
110
115
119

App.

Belfast Hatural Bistory and Philosophical Society,
EHESTABLS$S225D 1821.

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares ,, ‘i cost £14.
3 Shares ,, 95 cost £21.

The propriotor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum; the proprietor of three or more Shares stands exempt
from further payment.

Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management.

MEMBERS.

There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read
Papers, and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are
' understood to intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session
for Lectures extends from November in one year till May in the sueceeding
one. Members, Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due first
November in each year.

P- REN bE Ee GcEs«

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto; also of access to
the Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission
orders for inspecting the collections to any friends not residing in Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Musoum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 0’clock.
Admission for strangers, 6d. Each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

BEeLrAS TL

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Officers and Council of Management for 1881-82.

Presiden.
ROBERT L. PATTERSON, Ego.

Bice- Presidents.
T. ANDREWS, Esq., M.D.,. F.R.S. ROBERT M‘ADAM, Esa.
W. H, PATTERSON, Esq, M.R.LA. ROBERT YOUNG, Ese., C.E.
Secrefarp.
CHARLES WORKMAN, Esqa., M.D.

Greasurer.
JOHN ANDERSON, Esq, J.P., F.G.S.

dibravian.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

atembers of Council.

JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Eso., F.G.S.| JOHN -PURSER, Esq, M.A.

JOSEPH WRIGHT, Eso, F.G.S. R. O. CUNNINGHAM, Eso, M.D.

WM. SWANSTON, Esq., F.G.S. J. D. EVERETT, Esq, M.A, D.C.L,
E. A. LETTS, Ese, Ph.D., F.R.S.E.

SHARHEHODLDEHRS.

[*Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |
Allen, W. J. C., J.P., Faunoran, Greenisland.
Andrews, Jz nes ( Representatives of ), Donegall Street, Belfast.

Andrews, Michael ( Representatives of), Ardoyne, do.
Andrews, Thomas, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Queen’s College, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J.P., Victoria Street do.

Archer, S., J.P. (Representatives of), Wellington Place, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Holywood.
*Alexander, James, J.P. (Representatives of ), Holywood.

*Bateson, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.P., J.P., D.L., Belvoir Park,
Belfast.

*Batt, Thomas G. ( Representatives of), Belfast.

Bland, Rey. W., J.P. (Representatives of ), Whiteabbey.

Bottomley, Henry H., Ulster Street, Belfast.
d7

&

vi

*Bottomley, William, J.P., Calender Street, Belfast.
Brett, C. H., Chichester Street, do.
Bristow, James R., Northern Bank, do.
Barbour, James, Falls Foundry, do.
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill, do,
Boyd, W.S., Donegall Quay, do.
Brown, John Shaw, Bedford Street, do.
Brown, John, Bedford Street, do.
Burden, Henry, M.D., College Square North, do.
Burnett, John R., Gamble Street, do.

*Campbell, James ( Representatives of), Cultra, Co. Down.
Campbell, John, Copeland View, Greenisland.

Connor, Charles C., White Linen Hall, Belfast.
Carlisle, James, J.P., Donegall Street, do.
Carson, John, Church Lane, do.
Charley, John (Representatives of), College Park, do.
*Charley, John (Representatives of), Finaghy, do.

*Clermont, Lord, Ravensdale Park, Newry.

Coates, Victor, Rathmore, Dunmurry.

Corbett, Mrs. Clarendon Place, Belfast.

' *Charters, John (Representatives of), Craigowen, Craigavad.

Crawford, William, Donegall Place, Belfast.
Cuming, James, M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Combe, James, J.P. ( Representatives of), Ormiston, Sydenham.
Connor, James (Reps. of), Great George’s Street, Belfast.
Calwell, Alexander McD., College Square Northy do.
Cunningham, Robert O., M.D., F.L.S., Queen’s College, do.
Clarke, Edward H., Belfast Bank, do.
Darbishire, James M., Lombard Street, do.
“Donegall, Marquis of, K.P., &c., &c., London.

Drennan, Dr., Chichester Street, Belfast.
*Drummond, Dr. James L. ( Representatives of), do.
Duffin, Charles, J.P., Waring Street, — do.

~ Dunville, William, J.P. (Representatives of ),Calender St., do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough.
Dixon, Thomas S., York Street, Belfast.

vil

Emerson, William, Donegall Quay, Belfast.
Everett, Joseph David, M.A., D.C.L., Queen’s College, do.
Ewart, William, J.P., M.P., Bedford Street, do.
Ewart, W. Quartus, Bedford Street, do.
“Fenton, Samuel G., J.P., ( Representatives of ), do.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do.
Forsythe, R. H., Holywood.

Finlay, William Laird, Windsor, Belfast.
Finlay, Charles, J.P. (Representatives of), University Sq., do.
Fuller, Professor George, Queen’s College, do.
Fagan, John, F.R.C.S.L, University Road, do.
Garrett, Thomas, Gamble Street, do.
*Getty, Edmund ( Representatives of), do.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Bath Place Mill, do.
Gordon, Alexander, M.D., Howard Street, do.

Gordon, R. F., J.P., D.L., Florida Manor, Killinchy.
*Grainger, Rev. John, D.D., Broughshane, Ballymena.
Gray, Robert (Representatives of ), College Square East, Belfast.

Gordon, Robert W., Falls Road, do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.P., Sea Park, Carrickfergus.

Gray, William, C.E., M.R.I.A., Mount Charles, Belfast.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Hind, John, jun., College Street South, do.

*Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Mount Vernon, do.
Hancock, John, J.P., Lurgan.

Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), Queen’s Square, Belfast.
*Henry, Alexander, Manchester.

*“Herdman, John (Representatives of), College Sq. North, Belfast.

Hind, James, Durham Street, do.
Hind, John, J.P., Durham Street, do.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, Waring Street, do.
*Houston, John B., J.P., D.L., Orangefield, do.
Herdman, John, Carricklee House, Strabane.

Hamilton, Sir James, J.P., Corporation Street, Belfast.
Harland, Edward J., J.P., Queen’s Island, do.

Hodges, John F., M.D., F.C.S., Queen’s College, do.

Vill

Hyndman, Hugh, LL.B., Waring Street, Belfast.
Henderson, W. D., Victoria Street, do.
Henderson, James Alexander, J.P., Donegall Street, do.
Holford, T. & A., Dorsetshire (Cern Abbas).

Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Corn Market, Belfast.
Jackson, W. R., Corn Market, do.
Jaffé, John, Donegall Square South, do.
Jaffé, Otto, Donegall Square South, do.
*Johnson, Sir William G., J.P., D.L., College Sq. North, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., Jennymount Mill, do.
Johnston, David W., Jennymount Mill, do.
Kennedy, James, Falls Road, do.
Keegan, James, J.P., High Street, do.
*Kinghan, Rev. John, Deaf and Dumb Institution, do.
Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.

Lepper, F. R., Ulster Bank, Belfast.
Lakin, Mrs. John, Tamworth.

Lamb, William W., Divis View, Belfast.
Letts, Professor E. A., Queen’s College, do.
Lytle, David B., Victoria Street, do.

' *Macrory, Adam J. (Representatives of), Duncairn, do.
Mitchell, W. C., J.P., Tomb Street, do.
*Mitchell, George T. ( Representatives of), do.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain, do.

Moore, James, J.P., Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P., D.L. (Representatives of ), Belfast.
Mulholland, J., J.P., D.L., M.P., Ballywalter Park, Ballywalter.

Mullan, William, J.P., Victoria Street, Belfast.
Murney, Henry, J.P., M.D., Donegall Square East, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Ann Street, do.
Murray, Robert (Representatives of), Arthur Street, do.
*Murphy, Joseph John, F.G.S., Old Forge, Dunmurry.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Glenburn, : do.

_ Musgrave, Henry, Ann Street, Belfast.
Musgrave, Edgar, Ann Street, do,

Moore, James, Donegall Place, do.

e

1x

MaclIlwaine, Mrs. Jane, Belfast.

Macllwaine, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A., Netherville Terrace,
Belfast.

MacAdam, Robert, College Square East, Belfast.

*M‘Calmont, Robert, London.

*M‘Cammon, Thomas, Dublin.

*M‘Cance, J. W. S., (Representatives of ), Suffolk, Dunmurry.

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., V.L., J.P., Belmont, Belfast.

*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of ), Donegall St., do.

M‘Cance, Finlay, J.P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*MacLaine, Alex., Corporation Street and Queen’s Elms, Belfast.

M'Gee, John G., High Street, do.
Neill, John R., Queen’s Arcade, do.
Patterson, E. Forbes, High Street, do.
Patterson, Mrs. M. E., College Square North, do.
Pim, Edward W., Hien Street, do.
Pay George, Corporation Street, do.

*Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), Fisherwick Pl. do.
Purdon, Charles D., M.D. (Reps. of), Wellington Place, do.

Purdon, Thomas Henry, M.D., do. do.
Patterson, William R., Lower Crescent, do.
Patterson, R. Lloyd, Corporation Street, do.
Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., High Street, do.
Purser, Professor John, M.A., Queen’s College, do.
Porter, Rev. J. Scott (Representatives of), Lennoxvale, do.
Patterson, Richard, High Street, do.
Patterson, David C., Corporation Street, do.
Riddel, William, Ann Street, do.
Rowan, John, York Street, do.
iitehie, W. B., M.D., J.P., The Gree do.
Ross, William A. ole P. Clonard, Falls Road do.
Rea, John Heda, M.D., Great WT iearia Street, do.
Robertson, William, J.P., Bank Buildings, do.
Robinson, John, York Street, do.
Simms, William, White Linen Hall, do.

Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., Tomb Street, do.

Suffern, John, Windsor, Belfast.
Suffern, William, Windsor, do.
Steen, Dr. Robert, Ph.D., Academical Institution do.

Smyth, John, jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge,
Smith, F. Chaloner, Sandymount.

Swanston, William, F.G.S., King Street, Belfast.
*Tennent, R. J., J.P., D.L.(Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of ), Rushpark, do.
Thompson, Robert, J.P., Donegall Square North, do.
Thomson, Charles, Fountainville, do.

*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
*Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of ), Holywood.
Thomson, Professor James, LL.D., Glasgow.

*Thompson, William (Representatives of ), Belfast.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of ), do.
Torrens, James, J.P., Wellington Place, do.
Valentine, James W., Whiteabbey, do.
Valentine, Thomas, J.P., The Moat, Strandtown, do.
Walkington, Thomas, Waring Street, do
Workman, William, Corporation Street, do.
Workman, Rev. R., Newtownbreda.

Wilson, John K., Donegall Street, Belfast.
*Wilson, Robert M.

*Workman, Thomas, Bedford Street, Belfast.
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank, do.
Ward, Fras. D., J.P., Bankmore, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Donegall Street, do.
Workman, Charles, M.D., Balmoral Terrace, ‘ do.

Workman, Rey. R., Glastry, Kirkcubbin.
Walkington, D. B., Windsor.

Young, Robert, C.E., Donegall Square East, Belfast.

Young, Robert M., Donegall Square East, do.
HONORARY MEMBERS.

Stewart, Samuel A., F.L.S., North Street, Belfast.

Robinson, Hugh, Donegall Street, do

Tate, Professor Ralph, F.G.S., Adelaide, South Australia.

xi

ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS.

Barbour, J., County Down Railway,
Bruce, James, Calender Street

Bulloch A., Donegall Square South,
Corry, James P., J.P., M.P., Dunraven, Windsor,
Craig, James, Calender Street,

Corry, Thomas H., Benvue, Malone,
Collier, Dr., The Academy, Cliftonville,
Carr, James, Ulster Bank,

Cramsie, John, J.P., Waring Street,
Dinnen, John, Chichester Street,
Dunville, Robert G., J.P., Calender Street,
Glass, James, Bedford Street,

Glover, G. T., Ballymacarrett

Piaham, ©. B., J.P.; York Street,
Liversedge, H. J., Lagan Foundry
Loewenthal J., Linenhall Street,

Lynn, William, C.E., Calender Street,
Matier, Henry, J.P., Clarence Place,
Mulholland, J. R. T., J.P.

M‘Auliffe, George, J.P., Calender Street,
Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace,
Pring, Richard W., Corn Market,

Porter, Robert, York Street,

Redfern, Peter, M.D., Prof. Queen’s College,
Reade, Robert H., York Street,

Seeds, William, Arthur Street,

Taylor, David, J.P., Windsor,

Tate, Alexander, C.E., Queen’s Elms,
Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., Bridge Street,
Watt, R., Donegall Place,

Wolff, J. W., Queen’s Island,

Wilson, James, Skipper Street,

Ward, John, F.G.S., Lennoxvale,

Ward, Marcus J., Bankmore,

Belfast.
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do

‘NOSUMGNGATT “(CT “AA ; "ISSI ‘eunp YIP
‘NOSUMLIVG “FT “AA 4991100 PUNOT puv pouTLUEXT

laWNSMaNT, “WORT ‘NOSUTANY NHOL "sLopypn yy {

OL g Ses see eee eee eee eourleg &g—Avyy 4ST

ee “IS8T EEE
0 SI 890F 0 GI 896F
01g 8g ‘ spUvy S,JoInsvely, Ul soURleg OF, 5
’ G61 9G ‘ (0x ‘PZ Se QF ‘sosuodxm vIAXT
pe SEL GF ‘suoT}dtIOsqng SuTjoeT[0N
‘POT SOT TF ‘SH * PO SST SIF “S180D
SUIpNpUL) Yseueqg aA Y|snoryy
pred ‘sjunoooy Arpung ‘* ‘“ ae
9 FL G 9/P DIEM SOL GF eyoIy “SS zs
e O1Ie6G) Sea von oot IOINSVALT, ide oT Alan?) be ane 5 SPREE SG OF
ysnory ‘pung Surppmg ‘sourreg “ es “4999T -SMANT “PGST OLF
a7 a 0) ge ae c: "*"100p 7& ‘stoqIstA “ % ‘hy mM —syuowost.raapy “* * ry
Sh 9) GG. Seer Aepuoyy 19jseqy—spoooorg “ “ (Oye PGE, A= PP ase Tudy 481
0 ¢ Gg eee eee eee oer moryng, 1 Areyeg JTBMO}C "IT 3 66 6c
: “I4QUOD QnIO PPI sistpemyey “ OR sso = 4 ie Avy 481
0 &I 6) eee eee ee O88T “AON 1 Arepeg ‘YSvreq “I a3 66 74
suipue ivex OF suoydiosqng “ —ge dy OF 6156 nk ‘ee = goouvinsuy =“ oP ee
0 Ft eee eee eee eee m0T} a) (0) 74 (q7e9) S[ISSO,J SHODeIAI_ 6c 66 “c
“nqliyuoD uoYRroossy Sstooutsum “ —jyz SS ie UO eres mY 18st ‘AVL
€ GL sh °* OOF SuNsoaut-oYy uryyorg “ —gT ‘uve IST TI} ‘sostmerg Yuey *‘ “<= “997
“T881 "881
OI SI 8 see Avapey “ON ‘pusprarq “ —g] ‘Buy 0 S16 esnoy-Ssurpea ‘satedeyy *S S =OCRON
O-Fieges o" a3 spuvy ut sourpeg AG—] oun Sen gre > Joyutg ‘oudvpy pred yseg oF, —FT Ae
“SLA IS One ‘O88T “AU OLIGNADXKaA ‘O8SST
“Ady "JaINSead | YJIM JUNOIIP UI ke

‘ISS

‘Ae 48) Suslpua sea, ay} Joy ‘AJAI909 jeaiydosojiyg pue AJOJSIH] fednjzeN psepjag ay]

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY,
SESSION 188 0—8r.

and November, 1880.
Professor Purser, President, in the Chair.

Mr. Witt1am H. Patrerson, M.R.I.A., gave a description of
THE BENN COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES.

THE PresmDENT said they met that evening to open the
sixtieth session of that Society. It had been for many years
the custom of the President to give at the opening meeting an
inaugural address in the form of an account of recent researches
in science. On the present occasion they proposed to deviate
from that course, and the Council of the Society had sanctioned
an arrangement which, he had no doubt, would be very much
pleasanter to the audience, and certainly, with the present
College engagement, which he had at the beginning of the
session, more convenient to himself; and that arrangement
was that they should, on the present occasion, hear from one
of their members a description of the valuable collection of
antiquities and archzological specimens which had been pre-
sented to them by Mr. George Benn. The member of this
Society who was about to give them this description was Mr.
William H. Patterson, who, as they all knew, was admirably
qualified for the task; and he (the President) was quite sure
they would spend a most interesting evening. Since he had
the honour of addressing them at the opening meeting last
November, the Society had been enriched by two most valuable
gifts. Mr. George Benn, known to them all as the historian
of this town, had given to the Society the collection of anti-

2

quities which, through many years’ patient research, had been
made by his late brother, Mr. Edward Benn, with this proviso,
that the Society would furnish a suitable habitat for the collec-
tion. The Committee of the Society, with very great spirit,
met Mr. Benn's liberality by collecting from their townsmen a
considerable sum of money, some £400 or £500 ; and the fruits
of that amount they had in the building that evening. They
had now got added to the edifice three valuable rooms. One
of them was devoted to Mr. Benn’s collection ; in the second,
their librarian proposed to deposit the very valuable assortment
of books. That assortment contained a tolerably complete set
of the transactions of learned societies. Many of the learned
societies of Europe presented to that Society copies of their
transactions. The third room, which was a smaller one, was
exceedingly well adapted for the holding of committee meetings,
and for such like purposes. Before he made way for Mr.
Patterson, he would just say how anxious the Council were
that more of those who were members of the Society and who
attended its meetings would come forward and give them, in
the shape of papers or short addresses, the result of their
labours. One of these they had last year, and it was highly
appreciated. He hoped that the example thus set would be
imitated by others during the coming session. Mr. Patterson
would now proceed with his address.

_ Mr. Patterson said: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
most of you are aware that in the early part of this year the
large collection of antiquities which had been formed by the
late Mr. Edward Benn, of Glenravel House, County of Antrim,
was presented to this Society by his brother, Mr. George Benn,
to whom the collection had been bequeathed. You are also,
no doubt, aware that the Council of the Society, with a view of
securing a suitable abiding-place for this important collection
of the antiquities of our country, determined upon building an
addition to the Museum which would accommodate the Benn
collection, and, at the same time, would afford some very
essential accommodation for other portions of their collections

3

which had never been adequately displayed. The Council set
to work to collect the necessary funds, and, by the kindness of
friends, they were shortly enabled to commence the building of
the three-storeyed addition which you now have the oppor-
tunity of seeing. The contractor did his work in a rapid and
satisfactory manner, under the superintendence of our fellow-
member, Mr. Young, who, I should say, was President of our
Society at the time this work was commenced. The lower
room of the new building, in which the Benn collection is
deposited, was formally opened in July last, on the occasion of
the meeting being held here of the Royal Archzological and
Historical Association of Ireland, Mr. Young having in a few
appropriate words declared the Benn collection open. At the
same time, the remainder of the space in the room not already
occupied by the Benn collection was filled with a most inte-
resting collection of antiquities, chiefly stone implements, Irish
and American, which were lent to the Committee of the
Archeological Association by a small number of friends residing
in the neighbourhood, who are the fortunate possessors of very
fine collections. This loan collection is only mentioned inci-
dentally ; but, having named it, I should like just to say
further, that among those who contributed towards the collec-
tion were Messrs. Gray, Knowles, Raphael, O’Laverty, Canon
Macllwaine, Canon Grainger, and the Earl of Antrim. I
should also specially mention Mr. Gray’s series of coloured
drawings of cromlechs and other rude stone monuments and
remains existing in this neighbourhood. This series is most
interesting, and quite unique.

I have been asked to give this evening some account or
description of the Benn collection, by way, perhaps, of intro-
ducing it more particularly to the notice of the members of this
Society and their friends. I have already mentioned briefly
how and when the collection came into the possession of our
Society, and now it will be well to mention more particularly
the classes of objects and the numbers of objects in each class,
so that you may have an idea of the extent of the collection.
But first let me say that the late Mr. Benn had exceptionally

4

good opportunities for forming a collection of Irish antiquities.
The possessor of ample means, he lived for many years in a
district which is probably the richest in Ireland in stone
implements. Living not in a town, but in the centre of a wide
country district, he became known far and near as a purchaser
of anything curious which might be found from time to time
in the bogs or in the operations of the farm, in reclaiming and
breaking up waste lands, and in sinking drains, clearing out
water-courses, and all the other ways in which lost and buried
objects come to light. It may not be generally known that
the chief friends of collectors of antiquities are ragmen. These
men, in wandering all over the country, have opportunities of
getting possession of things that have been found ; and, when
they know that certain things are in demand, they inquire for
them, and it is wonderful what numbers of things they pick
up—in this cottage a flint arrow head or a stone axe, in that a
bronze spear head or celt, and in another a quern stone or an
enamelled bead or old coin. These things are carefully stored
away for days and weeks, as the case may be, till the ragman’s
wanderings bring him near the house of the collector, whom
he has had in view all the time, as the person who will give
him shillings for what he has only paid pence; and the collector
is glad to “get an addition to his cabinet, and dismisses the
ragman with an admonition to bring him the next curious
things he finds. A blessing on the ragmen! But for their
intervention, most of the antiques that are dug up would soon
be lost again; unless of metal, the labourer who found an
implement would likely throw it away, or, if he brought it
home, it would become the plaything of the children for a
short time, and then would be either broken or lost. But-for
the ragman, most of the collections of Irish antiquities would
be much smaller than they are. The ragmen are not abso-
lutely truthful; and, if they find that it will enhance the value
of any antique they have to sell, they will not hesitate to invent
a story, as to how it was found in an old rath, or fort, or castle.
Some of them also try their hand, but in a very clumsy way,
at the forging of antiquities, but these forgeries are so bare-

5

faced that it is seldom hard to detect them. Our wandering
dealers lack the manipulative skill of the celebrated “ Flint
Jack.” Collectors tell me that when a man has brought them
some good things, and perhaps is likely to bring them more,
they sometimes take from him these forgeries, or duplicate
specimens, which they in no way require, in order to encourage
the ragman to come back, and also as a bribe to prevent him
taking his finds to some rival collector; for I may tell you it is
one of the special peculiarities of collectors to be very jealous
of other collectors. A collector wants to have things that
no other collector has; hence these forgeries and impostures
are winked at.

Mr. Benn’s collection was especially rich in stone implements,
and this is just what might be expected in a collection formed
in the County of Antrim. The County Antrim flint must
have. been of immense importance to the inhabitants of this
country, from the very earliest coming of primitive man down
to the discovery or introduction of metals; and no doubt our
flint formed an article of barter with the inhabitants of other
districts of the country, because, with the exception of a part
of Derry, no flint is found elsewhere in Ireland. It has been
more than once pointed out by readers of papers here that
regular manufactories of flint implements existed in very old
times in different parts of Antrim, usually near places where
the chalk rocks came to the surface.

I will now give an enumeration of the various objects that
compose the Benn collection as at present displayed :—Of
_ polished stone celts there are 94 ; flint celts, partly polished, 8 ;
finely worked flint arrow heads, lozenge-shaped, barbed and
stemmed, and lance heads, 228; flint flakes, worked, 34; thumb
flints, or scrapers, 18. Of the class of objects known as hammer
stones, some of which are oval, some oblong, some perforated,
and some not, there are, including some that may have been
spindle steps, about 100. Of small stone disks, perforated by a
.central hole, which were probably worn as personal ornaments,
or as charms, or armlets, or which may have been spindle
whorls, and are called in some parts of Ireland “fairy mill-

stones,” there are about 200. There are also several querns
and grain rubbers, making in all, of stone objects, a total of
upwards of 872. |

The next objects which I will direct your attention to are
those formed of earthen and glass materials, and these are
extremely interesting, as they comprise the glass beads, of
which there is a very fine series, and also the cinerary urns.
The beads in the collection, including those of amber, number
about 400. Some of these are probably not ancient; but of
undoubtedly ancient beads, both plain and enamelled with
several colours of glass, there are a great many. Some
of them, as might be expected, are quite unique, and it is
remarkable how closely they resemble the beads found in
so-called Saxon tombs in England, as drawn and coloured in a
work on the Faussett collection, compiled by the late Mr.
Joseph Mayer. Many of you will remember the fine series of
ancient beads that was exhibited here lately by Mr. Knowles, of
Cullybackey ; and in considering the great number of beautiful
and elaborately ornamented beads in Mr. Knowles’s, in Mr.
Benn’s, and in other local collections, one cannot help being
struck with the immense numbers of these fine ornaments
which the ancient people here possessed. J would like you
to examine these beads when you have opportunities of
doing so, and I feel sure you will be struck by the skill
with which they are made, and by the taste displayed in
harmonising the various colours of the enamel. One reason,
no doubt, why so many of these beads have been found
in such a perfect state is the comparative indestructibility
of glass when buried in the ground. Some of the beads —
may have formed the heads of pins of either wood, bone,
or bronze, the pin part having long since mouldered away.
It is possible that these beautiful beads may not have been
made in Ireland at all, but may be of Continental, possibly
Italian, workmanship. Very similar beads have been found in
England and Scotland, and also in Denmark and about the
Swiss lake dwellings. Mr. Day, in a paper on enamelled beads
in his possession, communicated to the Kilkenny Archeological

7

Association in 1869, says:—“ I would be led to suppose. ...
that these beads were imported, and that they may be classed
with the antiquities which belong to the late bronze and early
iron period. When found by the peasantry, they are still
regarded as possessing a talismanic power, and are sometimes
called gloine-an-drudgh, or ‘the magician’s glass,’ and in Scot-
land they are called ‘adder stones’ and ‘snake stones.’” In
speaking of the colours of these beads, Mr. Day writes: —“ Blue
appears to have been the favourite colour, but, while that is so,
our museums and private collections can show others in pale
green, white, yellow, and red, and with spirals and other orna-.
ments of varied colours; while others have a dark ground-
work, and are studded with fragments of red, green, yellow,
blue, and white enamel, which are set without any attempt at
order on the surface. There is one form of glass ornaments
which, so far as I can ascertain, is only found in Ireland; it is
shaped somewhat like a dumb-bell, and is made of green
vitrified porcelain or opaque glass.’ Some of these small
double-headed beads are in the Benn collection. I am aware
that Mr. Edward Benn considered his collection of beads very
important, and that he communicated a paper upon them to
the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, which
was published in their transactions. There are several fine
cinerary urns in the collection, but, unfortunately, most of
them are more or less broken, while some consist of mere
fragments. These urns contained the ashes of individuals of a
race which practised cremation, that extremely satisfactory
way of disposing of the remains of the dead, to which
ancient practice there now seems a disposition to return.
Such urns have frequently been found in Ireland, and in
England and Scotland. They are filled with fragments of
charred bones, and are generally discovered with the mouth or
open downwards, resting on a slate or small slab, and sur-
rounded by a rudely-built chamber of stones. One of the urns
in this collection was found in a sand-hill near Dervock, County
of Antrim; another one was found at Belsallagh, parish of
Skerry, County of Antrim, in 1834; and another larger one is

8

labelled as having been found in the townland of Legagrane,
parish of Dunaghy. Several small crucibles, which have
evidently been used, are in the collection. Such crucibles are
occasionally found about the crannogs or Jake dwellings, and
were, no doubt, used for melting the gold, bronze, and findrinné,
or white bronze, of which the ancient inhabitants of the country
formed the beautiful personal ornaments and weapons which
are so familiar to us. The finding of these worn crucibles
proves that metal work was carried on in the districts where
they are found. The last objects which may be enumerated.as
coming under the class of earthen materials are some of those
small clay tobacco pipes which are found in many places,
generally about towns or places which were centres of popula-
tion a couple of hundred years ago. The peasantry call these
Danes’ pipes, from the fondness they have of attributing every-
thing ancient that they do not understand to the Danes; or
sometimes, by calling them fairy pipes, they attribute a super-
natural origin to them. In reality, however, they have a much
later and more prosaic origin, as they were just the ordinary
smoking pipes of about two hundred years ago. They are
often found in street cuttings for sewers, associated with copper
- coins of the Williamite period, and many of them are stamped
with initials or other trade marks, which are known to have
been used by pipe makers who lived at Broseley and other
places in England. Of these pipes there are seven. Thereare
also some objects of jet which are curious.

This, I think, exhausts the articles that are formed of glass
or earthen materials, and I therefore pass on to amore inte-
resting class of objects—namely, those of bronze. These are
more interesting, because they show an entirely fresh departure
in human culture. Hitherto I have spoken of axes and lance
heads formed of stone; now we find them formed of a hard and
handsome metal, taking a keen edge, many of them carefully
and thoughtfully ornamented with patterns formed by incised
lines or dots, the very kind of ornament that was most suitable
to the material and the objects. You can well imagine how
soon a race of people armed only with stone would go down

9

before a race armed with bronze weapons. They would be
either exterminated or enslaved. The division of pre-historic
time into a stone, a bronze, and an iron age, as far as regards
man’s advancement in civilisation, is an extremely simple,
and at the same time an ingenious one. You are aware that
this division was first suggested and adopted by the Danish
archeologists, and was founded on the results of their inves-
tigations in the peat bogs of Denmark. They found that low
down in the peat the only implements or objects of man’s
workmanship were formed of stone; then, at a higher level in
the peat, weapons of bronze were found associated with stone.
As the explorers examined higher beds, they found that bronze
increased in quantity, while stone diminished; and, passing
still upwards, when the maximum of bronze implements and
weapons had been attained, iron began to make its appearance
as the material of which weapons, &c., were formed; and,
passing still nearer the surface, as bronze decreased so iron
increased, until the iron age was fairly entered on. Sir John
Lubbock divides pre-historic archeology into four great epochs.
This is done by making two stone periods—that is, an earlier
and a later. The following are the divisions he adopts:—
“J, That of the drift, when man shared the possession of
Europe with the mammoth, the cave-bear, the woolly-haired:
rhinoceros, and other extinct animals. This we may call the
‘Palzolithic’ period. II. The later or polished stone age, a
period characterised by beautiful weapons and implements,
made of flint and other kinds of stone, in which, however, we
find no trace of the knowledge of any metal excepting gold,
which seems to have been sometimes used for ornaments.
This we may call the ‘ Neolithic’ period. III. The bronze age,
in which bronze was used for arms and cutting instruments of
all kinds. IV. The iron age, in which that metal had super-
seded bronze for arms, axes, knives, &c., bronze still being in
common use for ornaments, and frequently, also, for the handles
of swords and other arms, though never for the blades. Stone
weapons of many kinds, however, were still in use during the
age of bronze, and even during that of iron, so that the mere

if)

presence of a few stone implements is not in itself sufficient
evidence that any given find belongs to the stone age.” For
instance, I believe that arrow heads of flint, of which there are
such large numbers in the Benn collection, continued to be
made and used far down into the bronze and iron periods, and
it has been asserted that the dark-coloured stone celts or axes,
of which such numbers have been found, were in use in Ireland
as late as the time of the Stuart monarchs.

The discovery of copper was, of course, what led to the
introduction of the mixed metal, bronze, which, as you are
aware, is-a very hard metal, formed of a mixture in certain
proportions of two soft metals, copper and tin. ‘Tin is too soft
for weapons of any kind. Copper is not so soft; and, as might
be expected, the early metal-workers evidently tried how it
would suit for weapons, and accordingly we find axes of pure
copper in many collections, but they are very rare. I have not
heard of copper spear heads or arrow heads as being found in
Ireland. With regard to copper implements in the Museum
of the Royal Irish Academy, Sir William Wilde writes :—
‘The only copper implements of very great antiquity in the
Academy’s collection are some celts evidently of the very
earliest pattern, and greatest simplicity in construction, a couple
of battle-axes, a sword blade of the curved broad shape usually
denominated scythes, a trumpet, a few fibulz, and some rudely
formed tools. ‘There can be little doubt that these copper celts
are the very oldest metal articles in the collection, and were
probably the immediate successors of a similar class of imple-
ments of stone.” In the Benn collection there is one copper
celt, rudely fashioned, of flat shape. The scarcity of copper
implements in such finds as have been made is probably to be
accounted for by the facts that copper was not found to bea
very suitable materlal for weapons, owing to its softness, and
that bronze superseded it before long; and also because what
copper celts were still in the possession of the early metal-
workers at the time of the introduction of bronze were re-melted
and worked up into bronze implements.

Of bronze celts there are in the Benn collection 35, from

Tor

two inches to seven and a-half inches in length. This isa
very large number to find in a private collection, and is a proof
of the late Mr. Benn’s industry in collecting, and also of the
exceptionally good opportunities which he had for forming a
collection. Of these celts, 54 are either flat-shaped or-of the
winged form which have been called Paalstab or Paalstav celts.
These and the solid celts were, it is supposed, mounted for use
by being inserted in a handle of wood, which either lapped
over the tang portion of the axe or was pierced by a hole of
suitable shape to receive the small end of it. The socketed
celts, of which there are 31, were cast with a hollow or socket,
into which the wooden handle was inserted ; these frequently
had small loops cast on at the sides, which were most likely
for the purpose of passing a tying through, to secure the head
more firmly to the handle. These two classes of weapons—the
one in which the metal head was inserted into the wood, and
that in which the wood shaft was inserted into the head—are
considered by O’Curry to have belonged to two distinct but
contemporaneous races of people in this country; and in his
lectures he cites an ancient account of the first battle of Magh
Tuireadh, which was fought, according to O’Flagherty, in the
year B.C. 1272, or, according to the chronology of the Four
Masters, in B.c. 1890. The battle was fought between the
Firbolgs and the Tuatha Dé Danann, near the village of Cong,
in the modern County of Mayo; and the ancient records give
very full details of the weapons which were used on both sides.
The weapons seem to have been of bronze, and Professor
O’Curry examines and criticizes in his usual painstaking way
the various kinds of weapons which are mentioned, as regards
their form, material, and mode of use; and in translating the
Irish names for them he endeavours to identify them with
ancient bronze weapons preserved in the Museum of the Royal
Irish Academy. O’Curry’s arguments are too long for repe-
tition here; but I will read you one extract concerning this
battle, which is very instructive in itself, and illustrates the
careful way in which O’Curry treats his subject :—‘ The
Firbolgs had settled their seat of sovereignty at Tara, where

12

they lived under the government of a distinguished warrior,
King Eochaidh Mac Erc, when they heard of the appearance
of their rivals, who had entered the island on the north-west,
and had established themselves in the strongholds of the present
County of Leitrim. The Firbolgs, on consultation, determined
to send a picked champion of their force to enter into com-
munication with the strangers, and to ascertain what their
intentions were; and their choice fell upon Sreng, the son of
Sengann; and it is in the description of the meeting of this
warrior with Breas, the equally renowned messenger of the
Tuatha Dé Danann, that the first description of the weapons
on both sides, both offensive and defensive, is found. Without
occupying any unnecessary space, then, in detailing the descrip-
tion of the battle itself, I shall proceed to refer to those passages
only which contain any description of the shape, size, con-
struction, and use of the various arms employed; and I shall
afterwards endeavour to classify these, as well as I can, with
reference to the collection of specimens open for examination
in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. Upon the selec-
tion of Sreng by the council of the Firbolgs, ‘he arose then,’
says the ancient writer, ‘and took his hooked, firm, brown-red
_ shield, and his two thick-handled spears called craisechs, and
his keen-gliding sword, and his elegant quadrangular helmet,
and his thick iron club, and he set out from Tara,’ &c. And
when Sreng arrived in sight of the camp of the Tuatha Dé
Danann, Breas, the champion of the latter, came out to meet
and speak with him, ‘ with his shield upon him,’ proceeds the
history, ‘and his sword in his hand, and having two huge
spears with him.’ The two champions, we are told, wondered
each at the peculiar arms of the other, their form and character
being different; and when they came within speaking distance,
each of them, it is said, ‘stuck his shield firmly into the
ground,’ to cover his body, while he looked over the top of it
to examine his opponent. On conversation, they agree to
raise and put away their shields; and Sreng observes that he
had raised his in dread of the ‘thin, sharp spear’ of his adver-
sary; while Breas expresses similar respect for the ‘thick-

13

handled spears’ of the Firbolgs, and asks if all their arms are
like them. Then, to give Breas an opportunity of examining
them, Sreng ‘took the tyings off his two thick-handled
craisechs’ (or heavy spears), and asks Breas what he thinks of
them, who replies in surprise and admiration of the ‘ great,
pointless, heavy, thick, sharp-edged arms,’ and refers to the
sharpness of their touch, their power when cast at an enemy,
the wounds that would come of rubbing to their edge, and the
deadliness of their thrust ; thus describing both the form and
modes of use of this peculiar kind of spear. Sreng then
explains that the name of the weapon is craisech, that they are
‘gorers of flesh,’ and ‘crushers of bones,’ and ‘breakers of
shields,’ and that their thrust or stroke is death, or perpetual
mutilation. On separating they exchange weapons, we are
told, that the hosts on each side might thus form an opinion of
the other by an examination of a specimen of the arms. Breas
gives Sreng his two sleghs, or spears, and sends word by him
that the Tuatha Dé Danann will insist on half of the island ;
that they would take so much in peace, but if so much were
not conceded by the Firbolgs they must try the issue of a
battle between them. Sreng then returns to the Firbolg camp,
and it is in his account of the champion of the Tuatha Dé
Danann that we have a description of their weapons. ‘Their
shields,’ he says, ‘are great and firm; their spears are sharp,
thin, and hard ; their swords are hard and deep edged.’ And
Sreng recommended his people accordingly to agree to the
proposed terms, and to divide the country equally with the
strangers. This, however, they would not consent to do, for
they said if they gave the Tuatha Dé Danann half they would
soon take the whole. On the other hand, the Tuatha Dé
Danann were so much impressed with the report of Breas, and
with the appearance of the terrible craisechs, that they resolved
to secure themselves by taking up a better military position
before the impending battle, and they retired accordingly farther
west into Connacht.”—['‘ Manners and Customs of the Ancient
Trish,” by E-O’Curry ; vol. ii, p. 235.] After this follows an
account of some of the events of the battle, in which the uses

14

of the several weapons are most minutely described. O’Curry
also gives an account of the second or northern battle. of Magh
Tuireadh, fought thirty years later than the first, between the
victorious Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians, or sea rovers.
In this account, the weapons are described still more fully.
And in an account of a later battle, that of Ath Comair,
O’Curry again goes most minutely into the subject of the
weapons used, and he draws particular attention to a missive
weapon called a “lia lamha laich”—translated a “ champion’s
hand-stone’—which was carried for use in the hollow of the
shield, and which O’Curry suggests was the polished stone
“celt,” of which I have lately been speaking.

Of bronze sword blades, and what may be called dagger
blades, there are in the Benn collection 24. Of bronze spear
or lance heads, many being of beautiful workmanship, there
are 26; these have sockets for the insertion of the shaft. The
sword blades, on the contrary, were made with rivet holes, and
were rivetted to handles which were made of scales of wood,
bone, or hard tusks, such as those of the sea-horse. There are
about 30 bronze brooches and pins. It is in antiques of this
class that we find some of the most exquisite workmanship of
the old artificers. Some of Mr. Benn’s are richly ornamented,
and are worthy of a careful examination.

There are many other bronze objects, to some of which it is
difficult to assign either a name or use. Some of them are,
undoubtedly, parts of horse trappings, spurs, bits, &c., many
rings of bronze, which have evidently been cast, and some of
which are still adhering together in twos and threes, as they
came from the mould. There are some small finger rings and
seals of different materials; and a curious object made of thin
bronze, hollow, and evidently in imitation of a human finger,
with the nail and folds of skin at the knuckles all complete.
This probably was the case or shrine.in which the finger bone
of some saint was preserved as a relic. There are two bronze
smoking pipes and two iron ones, and also a brass or bronze
“beggar’s badge,” issued in the parish of Shankill in 1774.
The most interesting object of bronze, and perhaps the most

15

interesting object in the whole collection, is the small urn, or
vase, bearing an Irish inscription, which has lately been de-
scribed in Miss Stokes’s work on “Christian Inscriptions in the
Irish Language.” This little urn, which probably was an altar
vessel, was described by the late Dr. Petrie, in the Dublin
Penny Fournal, vol. ii. He says: “This very interesting little
altar vessel . . . . was found in the ruins of an old church in
Islandmagee, in the County of Antrim, and fell into the pos-
session of an old woman in the neighbourhood, who used it for
many years to hold oil for her spinning-wheel. Its workman-
ship is of great beauty, being not only of graceful proportions,
but as round and smooth as if turned ina lathe. The inscrip-
tion round its neck, which is in a beautiful square Irish
character, enables us to ascertain with precision its age and
original owner. It is as follows: ‘Pray for Martin O’Brolachain.’
From the ‘Annals of the Four Masters,’ as well as from the
‘Annals of Innisfallen,’ we find that this Martin O’Brolachain
was professor of divinity in the Abbey of Armagh, and died in
the year 1188. He is designated as the most wise of all the
Irish of his time.” Mr. Benn was owner of this precious relic
in 1832, having rescued it several years previously from its
ignoble position at the old woman’s spinning-wheel. Miss
Stokes, in her work, gives a different reading of the inscription,
and no doubt the correct one. It reads: ‘‘oR po M[Ac.]ETAIN
AU BROLCHAIN” (pray for Mac Etan, descendant of Brolchan ;)
and it would seem that this individual has not been identified,
although several members of this family belonged to Armagh,
and others were connected with the church at Kells. The vase
is two-and-three-quarter inches in height, and seven inches in
circumference.

In the collection there is an ancient square ecclesiastical bell,
found near Ballymena; a small square bell, cast of bronze; and
some of the round bells or crotals, which, however, are not
ancient. ‘There is also a large rivetted caldron of a well-known
type, and a circular brazen dish, which was found at a crannog
near Randalstown. At this crannog, or lake dwelling, many
objects of human manufacture have been found from time to

16

time. In the collection there are a few articles of wood—
namely, two paddles from the peat which occupies the site of a
dried-up lake, a wood spade, a cattle yoke, and some methers,
or drinking cups. There are three gold ornaments anda silver
bracelet.

I think most of the antiquities in the collection have now
been noticed, with the exception of the coins, of which there
is a very large series. To deal effectively with these requires a
special knowledge, and I will now express a hope that the
coins in this collection may shortly be catalogued, and
that a notice of them—especially of the rarities among
them—may be brought before the Society. I may say that
there is an entire series of the tokens of the Belfast merchants
of the seventeenth century, with one exception, that of the
joint token of Thomas Atkins and William Lockhart, of which
there is a beautiful drawing by Dr. Aquilla Smith, of Dublin.
These tokens are about 30 in number. A very interesting
token in the collection is that of W. Johnston, of Belfast, of
which only this one specimen is known to exist. From its size
and the character of the letters, it may probably have been
issued early in the eighteenth century. It probably represents
on copper a part of High Street as it then was; the market-
house, with its little steeple ; the river, apparently unenclosed,
flowing in an open stream, and one of the bridges which crossed
it. It is strange that no other specimens of this “ Belfast
ticket” have turned up.

Mr. Benn has also presented, with the collection, a number
of valuable books on antiquarian subjects. I estimate that, not
counting the coins, there are in the Benn collection about
1,300 separate objects. These, along with the collection of
Irish antiquities already in the Society’s Museum, will form a
very fine nucleus, around which, it is to be hoped, many inte-
resting objects will from time to time be gathered. The Irish
antiquity room should form, and I expect will form, one of the
chief attractions in our Museum.

17

30.4 Movember, 1880.
Mr. Ropert L. PaTtTerson, Vice President, in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Tuos. Workman, Esq., on

THE HISTORY OF ISLANDS, AS TOLD BY THE
ANIMALS FOUND ON THEM.

Havine in a few words shown that, previous to the publication
of Mr. Darwin’s work on the “ Origin of Species,” the ideas
held as to what constituted a species were very different from
what naturalists now hold, the lecturer went on to describe the
situation and peculiar fauna of the Azores, Madeiran, Canary,
and Cape Verd Islands. He showed that there were very con-
clusive grounds for believing that the animals found on these
islands were of Palzeartic (or Europeo-Asiatic) origin ;—though
many of them are specifically different from their allies in Europe,
yet that difference has been brought about by their peculiar posi-
tion and long-continued isolation. To show that there has been
no land connection between these islands and the mainland from
the most remote period, Mr. Workman pointed out that there
are no terrestrial mammals, toads, or frogs found on them; and,
though there are enormous numbers of different species of
apterous (or wingless) beetles found in South Europe and North
Africa, yet these islands possess only a few species, and these
exceptions go to prove the rule. For instance, the genus
Meloe has three species found in these islands, but as in its
larval form it is parasitic on bees, its presence is easily accounted
for. Also, many species that are winged in Europe are wing-
B

18

less in these islands, and this remarkable fact is accounted for
in this way, that wings are not absolutely necessary for these
species, and, therefore, those insects which are frequent flyers
are blown out to sea, while the more sluggish individuals who
either cannot or will not fly remain to continue the race.
This process, continuing from generation to generation, would,
on the well-ascertained principle of selection and abortion by
disease, in time lead to the entire loss of wings by those insects
to whom wings are not a necessity. Those insects to which
wings are a necessity to obtain their food or to provide for their
offspring are found, in many cases, to have more powerful
wings than individuals of the same species in Europe.

The lecturer then described the remarkable fauna of the little
island of St. Helena, and tried to show that its origin is also
Paleartic, although the island of St. Helena is situated
1,000 miles to the south of the Equator, and more than 1,800
miles south of the Cape Verd Islands. He pointed out the in-
timate connection between the insects found on St. Helena and
the Cape Verd and Canary Islands, and suggested that there was a
likelihood that in geological times there were many islands in
the Atlantic Ocean, bridging over this enormous distance,
whose former existence is now marked by rocks and shoals,
and that by means of these stepping-stones the aboriginal
inhabitants of St. Helena arrived. Also, that there is reason
to believe that during one of the glacial periods the ocean
currents in the South Atlantic were reversed, and that the
same cause would drive animals to seek more southern climes.
The insects and shells on the island of St. Helena are very
different from those found elsewhere. ‘There are no mammals,
reptiles, or fresh-water fish, and only one species of land bird
found on it, showing that St. Helena has been disconnected from
other islands from an extremely remote time.

19

21st December, 1880.
THomas WorKMAN, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by JoszPH JoHN Muspuy, Esq., F.G.S., on
THE PROBLEM OF GEOLOGICAL CLIMATES.

Ir has long been known that fossil remains of plants and
animals are found in the temperate and colder regions of the
earth, of similar species to those which are now found living in
much warmer climates, thus proving that, in remote geological
periods, what are now the temperate and cold latitudes were
much warmer than they are at present; and evidence, mostly
of a different kind, consisting of ice-borne boulders and glacial
scratches on rock, has now made it equally certain that, in
comparatively recent geological periods, icebergs and glaciers
had a much greater than their present range.

Various causes have been suggested for these changes of
climate. It was formerly a favourite idea, that in the early
geological periods the cold crust of the earth was thinner than
at present, and that the air was warmed by the earth’s internal
heat. This, however, is now, I believe, universally abandoned.
Sir William Thomson and all the best authorities are agreed
that, so soon as the earth’s surface was sufficiently cool and
consolidated to admit of vegetable and animal life on the land,
the escape of internal heat would be too small to have any
perceptible effect on the temperature of the air.

It has been suggested that the solar system may be moving,
in the course of successive ages, through hotter and colder

20

regions of space. It appears certain, however, that we receive
scarcely any heat from the stars; so that we can never have
passed through a colder region than that which we are passing
through at present; and it does not seem at all probable that
our system, since its first formation, has ever been near enough
to any of the stars to be sensibly warmed by them.

Three causes remain which have probably, indeed almost
certainly, had their influence in changing the climates of our
planet. These are—

1. Changes in the relation of the earth to the sun in its
orbit.

2. The secular cooling of the sun.

3. Changes in the distribution of land and ocean.

I maintain that glacial climates have been due to changes in
the relation of the earth to the sun ;—-that the warm climates
of the early geological periods were due to the sun’s heat being
greater than at present;—and that the effect on climate of
changes in the distribution of land and ocean, though probably
of sensible magnitude, has not been very great.

Respecting the first of these three causes, I have little to add
to what was contained in my paper on “The Glacial Climate
and the Polar Ice-cap,” which was read to this Society on the
1st December 1875, and afterwards printed in our Proceedings.
I will briefly recapitulate what I then offered as an explanation
of the glacial climates.

The chief cause of glaciation is neither a low mean tempera-
ture nor a cold winter, but a cool summer, which leaves the
snow of winter unmelted. This is shown by the fact that the
height of the snow-line on mountains is chiefly determined
by the summer temperature ;—the warmer the summer, the
greater is the height to which we must ascend in order to find
perpetual snow ;—winter temperature has no effect on it.

Supposing the sun’s heat to be constant, the total heat
received by the earth from tbe sun in the course of a year is
very nearly constant from year to year ; but the excentricity of
the earth’s orbit is subject to considerable though very slow

21

changes, which greatly affect the distribution of heat over the
seasons of the year. We are at present, and have been for
80,000 or 100,000 years past, in a period of small excentricity.
At present the earth’s aphelion, or maximum distance from the
sun, occurs near the midsummer of the northern hemisphere.
When the position of the aphelion in the year was the same as
at present, while the excentricity was at the greatest, our planet
received at midsummer of the northern hemisphere nearly a
tenth less heat than it does at present, so that the snow of
winter would not be melted in summer to anything like the
extent that it is now, and many parts of the lands of high
northern latitudes, which are now covered with vegetation,
were then buried under continental ice like Greenland. At
the same time, the great heat of the summer in the non-glaciated
hemisphere, where the perihelion would fall at midsummer,
would raise a great quantity of vapour, a part of which would
be condensed and fall as snow in the glaciated hemisphere, thus
increasing its glaciation ; and this action would be promoted
by the active circulation of the winds between the summer and
the winter hemispheres, which obviously must be greatest at
the perihelion of maximum excentricity.

After about 10,500 years, the aphelion would have moved
round to the midsummer of the opposite hemisphere, which
then became the glaciated one; so that, while a period of great
excentricity lasts, the two hemispheres are glaciated alternately.
The periods of great excentricity are of irregular duration, but
very much longer than 10,500 years ;—we ought consequently
to expect to find geological evidence that the glacial climate
has not been continuous but intermittent and recurrent, with
warm, or at least not glacial, periods between; and there
appears to be satisfactory evidence of this.*

Mr. Croll has the great merit of being the first to call atten-
tion to the effect on climate of changes in the excentricity of
the earth’s orbit, and has stated his views at length in his work
on Climate and Time. He has, however, made what I think
the mistake of attributing glaciation to winter cold, and con-

* See Croll’s Climate and Time, ch. 15, © Warm Interglacial Periods,”

22

sequently placing the glacial period of either hemisphere in
that portion of the cycle where the aphelion occurs in the
winter.

There is one conspicuous fact of the present physical geography
of the earth which appears to support Mr. Croll’s opinion.
The earth’s aphelion occurs at present in the winter of the
southern hemisphere, and that hemisphere is the most glaciated
of the two ;—the entire Antarctic Continent is covered with an
ice-cap down to the water’s edge; while in Greenland, on the
contrary, the covering of continental ice in most places does
not come down to the sea, and in Siberia and North America
there is no continental ice at all. This however is amply
accounted for by the great extent of ocean in the southern
hemisphere. Water has the greatest capacity for heat of all
known substances, and consequently takes a long time to heat
and a long time to cool. For this reason masses of water tend
to equalize the seasons, mitigating both summer heat and
winter cold ; and the depression of summer temperature in the
southern hemisphere, due to this cause, lowers the snow-line
and promotes glaciation. .

But if land and water were equally distributed over both
hemispheres, I cannot doubt that the fact of the perihelion
occurring in the summer of the southern hemisphere would
raise the summer temperature of that hemisphere, and cause it
to be less glaciated than the northern. This is the state of
things at present in the planet Mars. The proportion of land
to ocean is greater in Mars than in the earth, and they are
nearly equally distributed over the two hemispheres. In Mars,
as in the earth, the perihelion at present coincides with mid-
winter of the northern and midsummer of the southern hemi-
sphere ; and the excentricity of his orbit is somewhat greater
than that of the earth at its maximum. We ought conse-
quently to expect the extent of permanent snow to be much
less round the south than the north pole of Mars, and this is
what has been observed. Round each pole there is a permanent
snow-cap. The northern one was observed in 1837, and its
least diameter, which was shortly after the midsummer of that

23

hemisphere, was 15° 20’; so that it had a radius of half of this,
or 7° 40’, from the pole as centre. The southern cap was
observed in 1830, and its least diameter was 5° 46’, (or a radius
of 2° 53’;*) and Schiaparelli states that it has once been seen to
disappear. The snow-caps grow visibly smaller, almost from
day to day, under the summer sun. This shows that the depth
of the snow cannot be very great. Their diminution, as Mr.
Wallace remarks, is exactly similar to the rapid melting of the
snow on the plains of Siberia and North America. If astro-
nomers in Mars were to watch the earth, they would see the
snow disappearing every summer from extensive tracts of land
round the North Pole, while the ice-cap which surrounds the
South Pole and covers the Antarctic Continent would be always
seen of the same size. This would be very perplexing, and
would perhaps give rise to doubts whether the white surfaces
that they saw around the earth’s poles were of snow at all, until
it was seen that the southern snow-cap was surrounded by a
bluish expanse which was probably a vast ocean, and it would
be obvious that great fields of snow cannot be formed and dis-
appear again over water as they can over land.

When it. became known that glaciers and icebergs once
extended over great regions now free from them, it was an
obvious guess to make, that the sun must at that time have
been colder than at present. This however seems impossible ;
for no agency appears to exist in nature, or to have ever existed
since the first condensation of the sun out of the primary
nebula, whereby his stock of heat can have been greatly in-
creased. The idea at one time gained currency, that the sun is
constantly receiving supplies of heat by the falling in of meteors
from external space on to his surface ;—I think there is good
reason to believe that this is the source of a sensible though
small part of the heat which he is always radiating away ;—but
if we suppose that the sun was much colder 100,000 years ago
than now, we must suppose that the supply of in-falling meteors
has increased during that time so as to supply a large part of
his present heat; and the existence of so great a quantity of

* Edward Carpenter, in the Geological Magazine, March, 1877.

24

meteoric matter, circulating near the sun, as this hypothesis
would require, appears to be inconsistent with what we know
of the equilibrium of the solar system.

Moreover, it does not appear at all probable that a colder sun
would produce a glacial climate. The chief requisite for the
production of glaciers, and consequently of icebergs, which are
floating fragments of the vast Polar glaciers, is the fall of snow;
the snow-bearing clouds are fed by evaporation, and evaporation
requires solar heat; so that, as Tyndall has expressed it, dimi-
nution of the sun’s heat would cut off the glaciers at the source.
We may no doubt imagine such cold as would freeze the oceans
to a distance of forty-five degrees of latitude round each pole,
but this would not account for rocks scratched by glaciers and
boulders borne by icebergs, for these show the icebergs and
glaciers to have been in motion.

On the other hand, the fact of the climate of, at least, the
higher and middle latitudes having been formerly much warmer
than at present, may be reasonably accounted for by supposing
that the sun was then hotter than now; and this is not only
an admissible supposition, but appears to be necessarily true;
because a body which is constantly emitting heat must in the
course of time grow cooler, unless it receives supplies of heat or
of fuel from without; and in the case of the sun this appears
impossible, except to a comparatively small extent, through the
in-falling of meteors. Heat is probably being produced by the
subsidence, or falling in, of his surface, but no action of this
kind can sustain the temperature at the same level for an
indefinite time.

If “the imperfection of the geological record’’* permits it,
we ought to expect to find evidence of a progressive cooling ;
and the fossil flora of the Arctic regions does seem to yield
such evidence. On this subject we have abundant information
from the discoveries of Professor Nordenskiold, who has probably
done more than all other explorers put together to increase
our knowledge of Arctic geology, and from the researches
of Professor Heer of Zurich on the fossils brought home

* This is Darwin’s expression, being the title of a chapter of his Origin of Species.

25

by Nordenskiold.* In extreme outline, the facts are as fol-
lows :—

The oldest vegetable forms found fossil in the Arctic regions
are Sigillaria, Calamites, Lepidodendra, and other plants cha-
racteristic of the Coal period, and showing a warm climate;
and the corals and shells bear the same witness. In the
Jurassic strata Cycads and Conifers are found, the representative
species of which now grow in the neighbourhood of the tropics.
During the Cretaceous period, a great change occurred. In the
lower Cretaceous periods, the characteristic forms are Ferns,
Cycads, and Conifers ; but before the conclusion of the period
these had given place to deciduous trees and other Dicotyledons,
among which are a Ficus and two species of Magnolia. In the
Miocene beds, besides plants belonging to a warm climate, we
find trees characteristic of a temperate climate like that of
Central Europe at present, such as limes, oaks, beeches, planes,
and large-leaved birches.

These facts appear to show a progressive fall of temperature,
indicated first by the transition from Ferns and Cycads to
deciduous trees, and afterwards by the disappearance of these
latter, giving place to the present Arctic flora, The fall of
temperature, as Heer remarks, was probably accompanied by
a clearing away of cloud at the transition from Ferns to
Dicotyledons,

I cannot however agree with Heer and Nordenskiold that there
ever was a time, since life began, when all latitudes had the
same climate; but it is probably true that when the solar heat was
the greatest the difference of climate between different latitudes
would be the least, because the amount of evaporation increases
very rapidly with increasing temperature, and the higher
latitudes would be warmed by the heat liberated in the con-
densation of vapour which had been evaporated in the lower
latitudes. Moreover, the heat of the equatorial regions would
be mitigated by a veil of cloud screening the earth. But if all
latitudes had the same temperature, there would be no cause to
produce atmospheric currents between different latitudes, and

* See the Geslogical Magazine, November, 1875.

26

thereby to cause vapour which had been evaporated near the
equator to be condensed about the poles.

We have still to consider the possible effect on climate of
changes in the distribution of land and ocean. Sir Charles
Lyell appeared to think that a warm climate over the whole
earth might be due to a preponderance of land near the equator
and of sea about the poles; and that the reverse arrangement
would account for a glacial climate. It is quite true that a
polar continent, surrounded by a vast ocean, would be emi-
nently favorable to glaciation. We see this in the Antarctic
regions now. But it does not appear to be true that the
substitution of land for sea about the equator would have any
tendency to raise the polar temperatures, but rather the reverse,
because in that case there would be less evaporation about the
equator, and consequently less condensation about the poles,
and less liberation of latent heat. ;

Mr. Wallace, in his Zs/and Life, has lately maintained that
the high polar temperatures of the pre-glacial periods may be
explained by supposing that there was formerly a more open
and free communication than at present between the tropical
and the polar seas ;—that, as he puts it, there were several Gulf
Streams instead of one passing comparatively warm water into
the polar seas. This might be satisfactory if we had to do with
mean temperatures or winter temperatures ; but I have endea-
voured to show that glaciation is almost exclusively determined
by the summer temperature, and we know that the distribution
of living beings is mainly determined by the same ;—whereas
an examination of Dove’s map, showing the isothermal lines
for January and July, will make it evident that the effect of
the Gulf Stream on climate, though very considerable, is chiefly
confined to the winter. The late Mr. Hopkins, of Cambridge, in
his well-known paper on geological climates,* estimated the
effect of the Gulf Stream on the July climate of London as null.

It would however probably make a sensible improvement in
the summer climate of the Polar basin if the slope of the Asiatic

* Journal of the Geological Society, 1851.

7

and North American continents were so changed that no great
rivers were to flow into the Arctic Ocean, because the ice from
the Siberian and North American rivers greatly lowers the
summer temperature there.

It is worth remarking, that throughout all geological time
‘the northern hemisphere must have been comparatively conti-
nental with a continental climate, and the southern hemisphere
oceanic with an oceanic climate. The arrangement of land
and water on the earth’s surface is such, that a hemisphere of
which England is the centre contains a greater proportion of
land than any other hemisphere that can be drawn, and the
opposite hemisphere a greater proportion of water. ‘This is
obviously due toa slight excentricity of the earth’s centre of
gravity as compared with her centre of figure, drawing the
water of the ocean to the farther side from us; and no
geological revolution can have materially altered this, which
must have been fixed at the original condensation of the
earth.

To return to the subject of the former greater heat of the
sun ;—we have seen that a much colder sun would not produce
glaciation ; but on the other hand it is evident that a very hot
sun would prevent glaciation, by melting the snow either before
it fell or soon after. Nordenskiold states that there is a total
absence of any evidence of glaciation having occurred in the
Arctic regions during the Tertiary period, although such evi-
dence, consisting chiefly of ice-borne boulders, could not be
destroyed except by such denudation as would have removed
the strata altogether. It appears safe to attribute this to the
greater heat of the sun during the Tertiary period, which is
also attested, as we have seen, by the fossil vegetation.

There is however some evidence of glaciation in Eocene and
Miocene times, not regularly recurrent, but only occasional as
to place and time. Those cases which appear to be most clearly
made out are in Switzerland and Piedmont, near the Alps ;*
and there is no difficulty in seeing how vast glaciers might
proceed from the Alps at a time when none were formed on

* Croll’s Climate and Time, pp. 305, 306.

28

the much lower mountains of the Arctic regions. Vast glaciers
would be formed so soon as the sun had cooled down sufficiently
to permit of perpetual snow remaining at all, because the
greater heat of the sun would produce greater evaporation than
at present, and consequently greater snowfall.

29

18th Fanuary, 1881.

The President, PRorEssor Purser, in the Chair.

A Paper was read by THomas H. Corry, Esq., M.A., M.R.LA.,
F.Z.S., on

THE MOVEMENTS OF FLUIDS IN PLANTS.

THE subject which will engage our attention this evening is
perhaps the most important in the whole science of Vegetable
Physiology, and though it has.received attention from investi-
gators for nearly two centuries, it appears even yet, so far as the
present state of our knowledge extends, impossible to give
an adequate, definite, and deductive account of the modus
operand: of these movements in detail. Certain of the facts,
however, are well known and established by experiment, while
over others hangs a shadow of uncertainty, since we are
compelled to draw our conclusions as to the internal pro-
cesses, on all essential points, from a careful study of the external
phenomena in the plants themselves ; for the forces acting in
the living plant act under conditions which are widely different
from those which obtain in the ordinary apparatus of the
laboratory.

I will begin by describing the structure of one of the
simplest plants, viz.. Pandorina. It consists only of a single
mass of living tissue, which we call protop/asm, surrounded by
a clear, glassy, transparent envelope or wall, termed the ce//-
wall, for we designate the lump of living protoplasmic material
as a ce//, and speak of this plant as being unicellular. This
envelope is not of universal occurrence in plants, for certain
plants, during either the whole or a portion of their existence,

30

possess no cell-wall ;—it is derived from the protoplasm by a
process of change. Of its more minute structure and properties
I shall presently have to speak.

The protoplasm, or living and essential constituent of the
structural element or cell, is at first clear, and transparent;
often, however, we find that it is more or less opaque, exhibiting
a turbid whitish granular appearance; the granules which render
it so being due to the presence of drops of oil, granules of starch,
or granules of inorganic salts. The layer of protoplasm,
which lines every portion of the cell-wall, is not uniformly
granular throughout, for between the granular portion and the
cell-wall there is a clear space, and the protoplasm here is
transparent, hyaline, and harder than the inner portion. Con-
sequently there is a division of the protoplasm into two distinct
portions—a granular portion or endoplasm, and a hyaline
portion or ectoplasm. ‘The ectoplasm is comparatively inactive
in the performance of the chemical processes which go on in
the cell; it is protective of the inner active region, and hence
probably its clearness is due to the fact that no foreign bodies
are needed there. This differentiation of the protoplasm into
two also occurs in organisms which are destitute of a cell-wall.
In the centre of the mass of protoplasm is a body with a well-
defined outline of a darker colour than the protoplasm, and in
some cases appearing to be merely slung in certain bridles of it,
_(as in the cells of the filaments of Tradescantia); this body is
nothing but condensed protoplasm, and is called the zucleus.
Nuclei have of late been detected by a German observer in the
cells of the Fungi, and of the lower Algae, where they were for
a long time supposed to be absent, and here they are not single,
but in great numbers, so that if these observations be trust-
worthy, we do not know of any vegetable cell which does not
at some period possess a nucleus. ‘The function of the nucleus
is to act as a governor or director of the protoplasm of the cell,
and hence it presides over division, and is usually the first
portion of the cell to divide. As the cell increases in age,
minute clear spaces called vacwolae make their appearance in
the protoplasm; these are filled with a watery fluid known as

31

the ce//-sap; these vacuolae extend, and uniting in the centre
of the cell, give rise to a large clear space filled with fluid, which
is called the ce//-vacuole; as the cell increases in age, the
endoplasm becomes changed and used up in the process of
nutrition, so that in the cell in age we find nothing but the
cell envelope, perhaps a lining of ectoplasm, and a central space
filled with cell-sap.

It is by means of this cell-sap that the plant can take up from
outside the fluid substances required for the nutrition of the
protoplasm. It usualiy contains dissolved in it a number of
substances either used for the growth of the cell, or excretions
of the activity of the cell, e.g., sugar, vegetable acids, colouring
matters, seen in the cell-sap of Virginian Creeper (Ampelopsis
hederacea), which produces the red appearance of its leaves in
autumn and winter; ard also in the purple colour of the
filaments of the stamens of Tradescantia. Itscontents depend on
the age and activity of thecell. The cell-sap acts then asa store-
house whence the protoplasm may build itself up, and also a
reservoir for the products of its disintegration.

In order that we may obtain a right appreciation of the
phenomena presently to be described, it is necessary that some
notice of the minute structure, and mode of growth of the cell-
wall and of the protoplasm, should precede our account of
them.

Our knowledge of this portion of the subject is due to the
patient and accurate investigations of Carl Von Nageli,* who
obtained the first generalizations, through an elaborate and
painstaking study of the structure and physical properties of
starch grains. Afterwards it was applied to the cell-wall in
general, and then to the protoplasm. The facts to be briefly
noticed constitute what is known in Vegetable Physiology as
‘“Nageli’s theory of the structure of the cell-wall, and of other
organized bodies.”

Cell-walls, starch grains, and protoplasmic structures, consist
in their natural condition, at every point that can be seen even

* Nageli, Pflanzen Physiologische Untersuchungen, Vol. 1, Parts 1 and 2. Nageli
and Schwendener, Das Microscop, Vel. II., p. 402, et seq.

32

under the microscope, of a combination of solid material with
water; but when the cell-wall is very thin, no microscopic
observations can show that the cell-wall has any particular
structure, and it appears to be a perfectly homogeneous mem-
brane. If these organized structures are placed in, or treated
with, a reagent such as alcohol, which is capable of removing
water, a part of their aqueous contents is withdrawn, and con-
sequently they diminish in size; while on the other hand,
when treated with certain reagents, such as dilute acids and
alkalies, they have the peculiar property of swelling up—that
is, of absorbing a certain amount of fluid, with a consequent
increase of bulk. From these phenomena Nageli inferred that
the starch grain, for example, consists of isolated solid particles,
which are themselves impenetrable by water, but which are
capable of taking up a certain amount of water between them,
and that the amount of this water may vary according to cir-
cumstances. The swelling up, then, depends on the taking up
of a certain quantity of water, and the temporary retention of
the same between the particles of the cell-wall; and upon this
property of swelling up the growth in size, and the peculiar shape
of the cell depend. Within certain limits, these variations in
the proportion of water to solid matter may occur without
occasioning any permanent change in the molecular structure ;
but if, with a higher temperature, and in presence of chemical
' reagents, the proportion falls below a certain minimum or
exceeds a certain maximum, permanent changes in the internal
structure take place, which can no longer be reversed, and the
internal organization of the body becomes partially or entirely
destroyed.

Every molecule of a saturated organized body is, on this
theory, surrounded by layers of water, by which the adjacent
molecules are completely separated from one another. ‘These
molecules are solid and relatively unchangeable, and invisible
even with the highest attainable microscopic powers. We may
compare the whole cell-wal! to a brick wall or to a regiment of
soldiers seen at a distance, which, on closer inspection, we find
to be composed of smaller particles, viz., bricks or men. When

33

the starch granule is absolutely dry, these solid particles—to
which Nageli gave at first the name of molecules—apparently
come into perfect contact, for the granule does not lose its
transparency, which would be the case if air were included in
its substance. Hence the first inference we may draw from
this, as to the form of the molecules, is that the particles are
not spherical or oval, for in that case the starch grains would
of necessity contain air when dry. They must be, therefore,
more or less polyhedral, but they are not equi-axial, since the
swelling up does not take place equally in all directions. The
word molecule used at first by Nigeli to designate these solid
particles has not the same sense as when it is used in Chemistry,
for one of these molecules of Nigeli is probably an aggregation
of a larger or smaller number of chemical molecules; and,
therefore, in order to avoid any confusion on this score, the
word micel/a has been substituted by him in his more recent
works. These micellz may be supposed to be of various sizes,
and it is evident that, if the thickness of the aqueous envelope
be the same, larger micellze will form a more dense, and smaller
micellze a less dense structure. It is well known that organized
structures, such as the cell-wall and starch grains, exhibit an
appearance of stratification when examined under the micro-
scope—that is to say, of an alternation, in one or more planes,
of more and less dense layers ;—these were formerly supposed
to indicate the successive layers of deposition of cellulose in the
one case and of starch in the other—internally in the case of
the cell-wall, externally in the case of the starch grain ; while
in reality the appearance is due to an alternation of layers
containing larger and smaller micella. In all cases the pro-
portion of solid to fluid is greater in the dense than in the less
dense layers; or, in other words, the relative size of the
micellz to the watery areas which surround them is greater in
the layers of greater density.

The changes in volume of organized bodies due to the
removal of water or its absorption, depend, then, on the fact
that when swelling up takes place the micellz are forced farther
apart by the water which penetrates between them, while, on

(2

34

the other hand, they approach one another in proportion as
water is withdrawn from between them. But it may be asked,
How can such a structure as the cell-wall hold together?
The forces by which these micelle, with their surrounding
watery areas, are held together, are :

Ist. The attraction existing between the separate particles of
each micella holding them together and rendering
them impermeable to water ;—since we saw that each
micella was itself probably an aggregate of chemical
molecules.

2nd. The attraction of the micelle for one another, in conse-

} quence of which they tend mutually to approach.

ard. The attraction which exists between each micella and
the water which surrounds it. This acts, of course, as
a counteracting influence to the second.

It is obvious that the attraction existing between the micellz
and their surrounding watery areas must necessarily be greater
than that of the micellz for each other, otherwise the micellz
would attract one another and exclude the water ; but whereas
the latter attractive force varies inversely as the square of the
distance, the former must vary inversely as some higher power.

Thus, if 4 represents the attraction between two micelle,
B represents the attraction between a micella and the water,
while D is the distance between two micellz, the limit of
swelling up or imbibition will be reached when — ==
between any two neighbouring particles. 2, however, will
diminish more rapidly as the distance increases.

This theory of Nageli affords a satisfactory explanation of
the mode of growth of a cell-wall. It is easy to understand
that when the limit of extensibility is nearly reached—that is,
when the micellz of the membrane are separated as far as it is
possible for them to be—new micellz can be deposited in the
interstices, and the extended condition can be thus rendered per-
manent, and made a basis for further extension. This mode of
growth is commonly known as growth by intussusception, or by

35

intercalation of new particles. But this is not all that has been
determined with regard to these micellz, for in 1862 a paper
appeared by Nageli,* in which were contained these results. He
found, in the first place, that organized structures, such as starch
grains and cell-walls, are doubly refractive under the polariscope ;
and further, that this property is not affected by causing them
either to increase or to diminish in size either in consequence
of absorption or removal of water, or by mechanical stretching
or pressure. It is well known that double refraction is a pro-
perty characteristic of some crystals, and hence it might be
supposed at first by some, that the cell-wall was simply a
crystallization outside the protoplasm ; but if this were so we
could interfere with its optical properties just as we can do with
the optical properties of crystals, for these last, when treated
with reagents, swell up, and their double refraction either
disappears or is changed in a marked degree; but, as we have
just stated, Nigeli found the reverse to be the case with regard
to the micelle. He concluded, therefore, that the double
refraction is not a property of the organized structure as a
whole, but that it belongs to each individual micella; and
hence these micellza must be crystalline. Again, from the
interference colors which these objects present when examined
with polarized light, he ascertained that the crystalline micellz
have three axes of elasticity, that they must be biaxial crystals ;
and further, by comparing the effect produced by the passage
of polarized light through glass under various degrees of
pressure, he arrived at the conclusion that the micellz are so
arranged in the membrane of which they form part, that one of
their axes of elasticity is perpendicular to the surface, while
the other two axes lie in the plane of the membrane. Nigeli
has also shown that the crystals of proteid substance which
-occur in various seeds and tubers have the same molecular
constitution as starch grains and cell-walls. The outcome of
this theory in relation to the movement of fluid in the wood
will be seen hereafter. At present we will only pause to notice
in how far it is applicable to the protoplasm. ‘There can be

* Proceedings of Bavarian Academy, 1862,

36

little doubt that it is justifiable to extend this theory to the
explanation of its intimate structure also. It is true that
the protoplasm swells up under certain solutions in the same
way as the cell-wall does, and hence we may conclude that it
also is built up of minute solid particles, separated by areas of
fluid; but as to their form, shape, and size we are at present
entirely ignorant except in this one particular that they do zot
act on polarized light in such a manner as to suggest that they
are crystalline.

Next we have to consider the general properties of a cell. If
we cut a thin section of some colored portion of a plant—e.g., a
beet-root—and place it under the microscope, we can observe in
each cell the cell-wall, protoplasm, nucleus, and cell-vacuole, in
which latter we find contained a bright red-colored fluid, which is
the cell-sap, in this case colored red. If such a section is left in
water for some time, nothing particular will be found to take place;
all the parts will retain their position. We have, then, a vesicle
containing red coloring matter which is soluble in water placed
in water, yet the red fluid does not escape from the cell into
the water. If we repeat the experiment by placing some red
fluid on an animal membrane, and then floating the latter on
water, the red fluid will soon be found to dialyse—z.e., pass
through the interstices between the solid particles of which the
membrane consists, from the exterior into the water. What
prevents, then, the same result in the previous experiment with
the beet-root? We would find, if we were to leave the section
for days and weeks in water, that no escape of fluid would
take place, and an escape of fluid would only occur when the
entire disintegration of the cell by bacteria—or, in other words,
its death—occurred also. The cells of the beet-root, then,
though placed in water, are still living, not dead, and it is only
when they become dead that the red fluid contained in them
escapes through the cell-walls. If, however, another section be
plunged for a few minutes into strong spirit, when it is after-
wards immersed in water the red fluid escapes directly through
the wall, proving further that this property of retention depends
on the life of the cell. The only living part of the cell is the

37

protoplasm, and this retaining property is due, then, to the
protoplasm lining the cell-wall. For if a section of beet-root
is placed in a tolerably concentrated solution of some salt, such
as nitrate of potash, or common salt, the cell-wall will not be
found to alter much in shape, but the layer of protoplasm lining
the cell-wall will contract away from it towards the centre, and
form an irregular bag in the middle of the cell, leaving a large
space between it and the cell-wall—z.e., we have produced a
plasmolytic condition of the protoplasm. Yet, though the
protoplasm has contracted, the red fluid contained in the
vacuole has not escaped; and since it is plain that the fluid in
its integrity could not have remained in the cell in its now
reduced size, something must therefore have passed out, what
has done so being simply pure water. The protoplasm, then,
so long as it is living, prevents coloring matter passing out
through it, and this is true also of other substances—e.g., grape
sugar, which occurs abundantly in the beet-root’s cells, dissolved
in the red cell-sap. While an objection might possibly be
entertained to the evidence of the red coloring matter, inas-
much as it belongs to the class of bodies denominated “cod/ozds””
by Graham, the case of the sugar presents no such ambiguity,
because it is a crystalline substance belonging to Graham’s
class of “ crystalloids,”’ and, therefore, should dialyse through a
membrane such as the cell-wall, were it not for the retaining
power of the protoplasm exercised upon it; for even in the
plasmolytic condition above described it is still impossible to
detect any trace of cane sugar outside the cell. But it may be
objected that in plasmolysis you have destroyed the life of the
cell. That this is not the case may be satisfactorily demon-
strated; for it is possible, by gradually diluting the salt solution
with water, to bring the cell back again from the plasmolytic
condition into a turgid state, yet during all this time there has
been no escape of the coloring matter. Precisely the same
effects will occur if these experiments are repeated on a
growing plant, which will go on growing as before after they
are over, 60 that this is proof enough that they do not
destroy the plant’s life. As we shall see, these observations

38

are of great importance in connection with the absorption of
water by the roots of plants. To sum up, then:

The cell-wall is a membrane which permits of the passage of
any dialysable substance through it. This may be easily shown
by placing the cell in currant juice or litmus solution, which
will not destroy its life) when we obtain the converse of
the experiment last detailed. The cell-sap and protoplasm do
not either of them become colored, but if the solution of coloring
matter used be tolerably concentrated, a plasmolytic condition
will be produced, and the intermediate space between the con-
tracted protoplasm and the cell-wall will become filled with the
colored fluid, which, though it has passed through the cell-wall,
yet does not pass into the vacuole through the protoplasm.
The cell-wall is also very elastic, since the cell is capable of
taking up into itself a considerable amount of fluid, and within
certain limits the cell-wall gives way to the strain so produced,
while, if conditions are present by means of which the fluid is
withdrawn again from the cell, the cell-wall contracts like an
elastic bladder, and returns again to its normal limits. In
plasmolysis the cell-wall maintains its form though it dimi-
nishes in size; since the internal pressure which caused tension
has been removed, it in consequence has contracted, although
it still retains the same shape as before. The protoplasm has the
the power of resisting the passage through it of certain substances,
and hence we cannot apply to it the ordinary principles of dialysis,
though we can give expression to these physical principles in a
mathematical form for the cell-wall. It exercises a peculiar
principle of interference with, and regulation of, the passage of
substances from within outwards and from without inwards. It is
also extensible, for the cellis capable of taking up a certain amount
of fluid, and as the amount of fluid in the vacuole increases,
the protoplasm lining the cell-wall expands also. It is not so
clear, however, that the protoplasm is elastic—z.e., an extensible
body returning to a state of rest when the strain is removed—
for in plasmolysis the protoplasm shrivels up, and only slowly
regains its former proportions. Butin many cases, and probably
in all, the protoplasm is contractile, and in this respect it differs

39

from the cell-wall. This contractility signifies, that under
certain circumstances of which we at present are ignorant, the
minute micellz of the protoplasm attract each other with
greater force than at other times, and hence the size of the
protoplasm diminishes. It has been laid down as a distinction.
between the animal kingdom and plants, that the latter are not
possessed of motion ; this, however, is not so, for the protoplasm
in plants is contractile, exhibiting movements, and probably
plasmolysis is an instance of this condition.

As regards the properties of the cell-sap: it plays a very
important part in the physical or mechanical condition of the
cell. It is the fluid which keeps the cells in a tense or turgid
condition. This condition is one of the most important factors
in growth, and in the movements of motile organs in plants.
Let us enquire, then, by what means this tension is kept up.
When the cell is growing, if the quantity of cell-sap did not
increase with it, the cell would become loose and flaccid; this
quality of turgidity depends on the presence of certain sub-
stances in solution in the cell-sap. In an ordinary case of osmosis,
where a membrane is placed between a strong solution of sugar on
the one side and water on the other, the water passes more rapidly
through the membrane than the sugar solution does: z.e., the sub-
stance of the sugar has the power of attracting a certain amount
of water to itself until equilibrium is established—that is, until
the solution of sugar on both sides of the membrane is exactly
of equal strength—and then all further current ceases. In the
cell-sap certain substances exercise this same power, and attract
rather more water into the cell than it can conveniently hold,
and hence a distinct and important pressure is set up between
the cell-membrane and the cell-fluid. The protoplasm then
maintains a hydrostatic tension on the cell, and it does this in
virtue of the osmotic properties of these substances held in
solution in the cell-sap. What are these substances, then?
The cell-sap is a fluid of very low specific gravity, nearly the
same as that of water, and if we dry it, the amount of ash after
its evaporation is very slight; and, this being the case, it is
difficult to see how the cell-sap exercises this extraordinary

40

osmoticaction. Inthe ordinary case of osmosis above referred to,
there was a thick syrupy solution, viz., sugar, to account for it.
The ash, on analysis, is found to consist principally of inorganic
salts, such as chlorides and nitrates, and it was formerly thought
that this extraordinary osmotic action was due to their presence.
The presence of coloring matter and sugar will not account for
it, since these are only occasionally, not universally, present,
while the nitrates and chlorides are so; but recent researches
have shown that these latter are present in too small quantity
to exercise this power, and that another explanation must be
sought. If we take a section of a plant and touch it with blue
litmus solution, we obtain distinctly red or acid reaction, for in
cutting the section we have ruptured a considerable number of
cells, and this acid fluid is in most instances the cell-sap. This
acid reaction is due to the presence of certain organic acids
formed as the result of the living activity of the protoplasm of
the cell, and not taken up from the exterior. They occur in
nearly all the cells of plants, and it seems probable, according
to De Vries, that they are the bodies to which the osmotic
action and properties are due, for if we neutralize the cell-sap
of cells they lose at the same time their osmotic properties, and
- can no longer absorb the requisite amount of water to keep the
cell in the necessary degree of tension.

And now, having got a correct and accurate idea of what a
vegetable cell is, and of the various properties of the several
constituent parts, we may go on to enquire the method in
which the first great movement of fluid in the plant takes place.
First, we have then to consider what is known as the RAPID
MOVEMENT OF FLUID IN PLANTS. This also possesses other names ;
it is known as the ascending current of the crude sap, or the
rise of the sap. Under this head there are several processes
included, which, for simplicity, it will be as well to consider
Sseriatim. j

First then Adbsorption—what is the exact method by which
plants absorb their nutriment? If we take first the simplest
case, viz., that of a unicellular organism swimming freely in
water, we find that every part of the plant is equally adapted for

41

the purpose of absorption, and no particular organs are necessary.
Further, everything the plant takes up for its nutrition, even
the Carbonic Dioxide gas, is derived from the water which sur-
rounds it, and consequently must be in solution in water. What
is taken up by such a plant, then, is taken up in obedience to
the laws of diffusion, modified by the controlling influence
exerted by the protoplasmic layer lining the cell-wall; and this
is true of the great majority of plants—viz., that absorption
takes place through the cell-wall. In some cases, however, we
find that no cell-wall is present, but simply a mass of proto-
plasm—e.g., in the Myxomycetes—and in this case the process
is somewhat different, the protoplasm simply flowing round the
solid particles; and then these particles are not absorbed into
the protoplasmic substance, but are merely enclosed in it, then
the protoplasm acts upon them, bringing those which are fit for
food into solution, and dispersing them through its mass, while
those which are unfit for digestion are afterwards thrown out.
This is an exceptional case, however, for the cell-wall usually
prevents the direct contact of the protoplasm with the food. If
there was no living protoplasm lining the cell-wall, the process
of absorption would be a simple process of absorption through
a membrane, in obedience to the laws of osmosis, for if we had
simply a cell-membrane, osmosis would go on freely and equally
in all directions, but the presence of the protoplasmic lining
removes it from the physical condition of things. Thus, if we
take a typical cell, the amount per cent. of salts taken up is
very much less in the cell-sap than outside, if the cell be
immersed in fluid. That is to say, the cell takes up the water
in which the substances are dissolved more readily than it takes
up the substances themselves, consequently the more dilute the
solution is the greater is the amount of salts taken up. It would
seem, at first, to be a waste of energy on the part of the cell to
take up large quantities of a dilute solution, filter the water off,
and retain the salts, rather than to take up small quantities of a
‘more dense one; but the fact is, that dense or strong solutions
are interfered with in their passage by the protoplasm lining
the cell-wall, and if they were sufficiently dense and strong they

42

would produce that condition of the protoplasm called plasmo-
lysis, and so upset the entire regulation of the cell; consequently
it becomes a necessity that the substances to be taken up should
be in the form of a very dilute solution. The difference, then,
in the passage of fluids holding substances in solution through
the cell-wall from acase of ordinary osmosis, is due to the living
layer of lining protoplasm, which can modify or prevent the
entrance of substances in solution from the exterior; thus it
allows the various solutions of salts, if sufficiently dilute, to
pass, while it prevents the entrance of sugar and coloring
matters. Let us consider more exactly how this process of
absorption is accomplished—that is to say, how the substances
absorbed pass into the cell. The cell-wall, according to the
researches of Nageli, consists of micellz surrounded by water,
and the water intervening between the various micelle takes
up from the surrounding water a certain proportion of salts,
which proportion is passed on from micella to micella through
the cell-wall till it reaches its interior, then from micella to
micella through the protoplasm to the vacuole, so that a process
of what is called fluzd diffusion goes on from the exterior to the
interior of the cell; but in the course of time a condition of
equilibrium is set up, and the cell-sap will contain as much per
cent. of the salts as the solution outside it, and then no more is
taken up.

In the case of ordinary plants, every portion of the plant is
not capable of absorption, and this function is performed in
them by certain special organs. The only organs of such a
plant which are capable of absorbing are the leaves and the
roots. ‘The leaves, as we shall see, absorb the gaseous nutriment
from the air; while the roots absorb water from the soil, or if
roots are absent, their place is taken by hairs, shoots, or
branches of the thallus or plant-body. The roots are not capable
of absorption over their entire surface, but only by a particular
part. The tip of the root is covered by a rather loose external
sheath or root-cap, and this was formerly believed to be the
absorptive portion of the root, and hence received the name of
the spongzole, and this idea still lingers in many botanical books,

43

But the root-cap possesses no such function, and it has been
shown that it is the part of the root immediately behind the
root-cap, 7.e., the youngest part of the root, which possesses this
power. The epidermal cells which cover this portion grow out,
or are prolonged into, certain long thin-walled delicate one-celled
hairs, which are the absorptive portion of the root, and which are
well seen in the germination of the Garden Cress (Lepzdium
sativum), and of the Buckwheat (Polygonum Fagopyrum)-
The presence of these root-hairs, then, indicates that the
cells of that portion of the root are young and capable of
absorption; hence, if we find them to be absent, we may usually
conclude that the part of the root in question has passed the
stage when it could absorb. In certain Coniferae, however,
these root-hairs are absent, and absorption takes place in them
by the epidermal cells themselves ; also in certain plants, ¢.g.,
Utricularia, which float in water, no root hairs are present, but
here the cell-walls are unthickened, and the whole surface of the
epidermis is capable of absorbing fluid. If we pull upa strongly
growing plant out of the ground, the parts of the root which
are provided with hairs (neither the extreme apex nor yet the ©
oldest portion) will be seen to be closely covered with earthy
particles, which we cannot remove without tearing the hairs.
The water taken up by the roots from the soil, by a method
to be presently described, is not pure, since either rain, or water
containing Carbonic Dioxide gas in solution, will act upon the soil,
and bring a number of inorganic salts, which are necessary for the
nutrition and growth of the protoplasm of plants, into solution
in it. Certain other nutritious substances however, required
by the plant, are retained by the soil so firmly that water cannot
dissolve them out of it. These are decomposed by the acid cell-
sap which is contained in the cells of the root, and which
saturates even their cell-walls, and they then pass into the plant
in the form of salts of organic acids. This we can show by
growing a plant in a pot, across which, at a certain height, a
plate of polished marble is placed, when we find that the calcic
carbonate is decomposed at those parts of the plate which are
in direct contact with the roots, and a complete outline of the

44

whole root system is bitten or corroded upon the marble. Ex-
perimental evidence has shown that the roots, provided they
are intact, only absorb gases or liquids: if the root is broken it
may absorb small solid matters, but while it remains intact
nothing solid enters the plant by its means.

The salts which are taken up by the plant belong to two
groups :

I, Essential salts, consisting of elements forming an essential
part of the organized structure, and used directly to build up
the protoplasm and cellulose of the plant; these are formed of
the elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulphur.

II. Non-essential salts, containing elements not in any way
essential or capable of replacing essential constituents. They
vary according to situation, e.g., Iodine and Bromine, which
are found in considerable quantities in sea plants.

Between these two are a group of elements which go to form
part of the plant structure also, and they are important to the
plant, as promoting the chemical processes by which the con-
version of the group of essential salts from inorganic compounds
to very complicated organic ones takes place; as instances of these
we have Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, and Phospho-
rus. They are found in the ash when the plant is burnt.

It has been found that the ash of plants which grow close
together in the same soil, or in the same water, may have a
composition which is different in different cases, and which is
different also from that possessed by the soil. Hence some have
attributed to plants a certain selective or exclusive power, which
they exercised by their roots, z.e., that they could absorb certain
matters and reject others. This power, if it exists, must bea
very feeble one at most, for roots placed in solutions injurious
to the plant absorb them ; and the phenomenon is capable of a
much simpler explanation by the ordinary laws of diffusion.
A salt which is held in solution by the medium, whether soil
or water, surrounding the plant, will continue to diffuse into
the cells of the roots, until a condition of equilibrium is set up
between the two fluids which are separated by the membrane;
and this statement is true of those substances which, being in

45

solution in water, are at once absorbed with it by the plant,
and also of those substances which the plant’s own agency brings
into solution before absorption. If the salt is a non-essential,
and is not consumed in the plant, as a necessary consequence it
remains unaltered, and the state of equilibrium which is soon
attained becomes permanent; hence no more of that substance
will be absorbed. But if it is, as in the case of essential salts,
consumed in the plant, and undergoes chemical change during
its consumption, it ceases to exist in its original form in the
plant, and in consequence, the state of equilibrium is being
continually broken, since the plant uses it up in its life and
growth, so that the cell-sap never contains an equal proportion
of the salt with the fluid outside ; a demand for more is created
by its disintegration, and consequently fresh supplies of it are
being continually taken in. Since the chemical changes which
go on differ in different plants, it is possible to account in this
way for the variety in the composition of the ash of plants
which have grown side by side. Water holding salts in solution
is principally, if not entirely, absorbed by the roots. What,
then, is the minute structure of a root ? and what is the exact
method by which plants absorb this liquid ?

In a transverse section of the root of a Monocotyledon,
such as Iris, seen under the microscope, covering the ex-
terior we find a layer of epidermal cells, some of which
are prolonged into root-hairs; inside this layer are paren-
chyma cells of more or less rounded form, with thin walls ;
in the centre we find a sort of core of narrow long cells,
generally with very thick walls which are altered chemically
as well, for they consist no longer entirely of cellulose,
which is the normal constituent of the cell-wall, but of a modi-
fication of it, viz., lignin, or wood. This core is the fibro-vascular
cylinder of the root, and it corresponds to the wood in a section
of the stem. All the intervening space between this core and
the epidermis is filled up by thin-walled parenchyma tissue.

In what manner then do the roots absorb? The soil is not
dry, at least never completely so, for we find moisture present
even in sand, and this moisture so universally present is not

46

present locally, and does not remain in one part when put there, ~
but permeates through the whole of the soil, and diffuses itself
equally. The soil then consists of minute angular fragments,
with gaps between them which are filled with air.

Each solid particle of soil is surrounded by a film or layer of
water, held there by attraction—thick, if the soil be wet, thin,
if it be dry—and which we may artificially remove altogether.
The root-hairs wriggle their way among the particles, and come
into close contact with them, and with themoisture which adheres
to them. These root-hairs absorb water in the same manner as a
unicellular organism does, by virtue of the osmotic properties
of their cell-sap, which contains acids, and salts in solution.
The soil also possesses moisture containing salts in solution, but
in a very dilute solution, much less dense than in the cell-sap
of the plant itself. These are separated by a permeable mem-
brane, the cell-wall, and by the protoplasm, which, as we saw,
does not prevent the passage of a weak solution, but only pre-
vents the passage of a strong one. Accordingly, the previously
existing condition of equilibrium is broken, and the weak
solution passes into the cell-sap of the epidermal cell, while the
_strong solution in the cell-sap cannot pass out in turn, because
of the restraining action of the protoplasm, so that a process of
endosmosis apparently takes place. Let us suppose the cell-sap,
in all the parenchyma cells intervening between the epidermis
and the central core, to have been originally of the same
strength.

Parenchyma

OO —— —————————— ee
Exterior | Epidermal Cells | | | | Woody Core
> eer oe I 2 3 4

The water taken up into the epidermal cell, by its hair-like

prolongation, from the soil has rendered its cell-sap weaker than
that of the parenchyma cell numbered ‘1’ in the diagram;
consequently a process of endosmosis again goes on; the cell-
sap of the cell ‘1’ taking up water from the cell-sap of the
epidermal cell, until equilibrium is established between them,
and thereby becoming weaker in turn than the cell-sap of cell

47

‘2. which thus absorbs in its turn, and so on for cells ‘3’ and ‘4,’
until a state of equilibrium being for the moment established
between cells ‘3’ and ‘4,’ the fluid makes its way to the central
core. By this time the epidermal cell, having its cell-sap
rendered stronger through the removal of its absorbed water by
cell ‘1,’ takes more from the soil, which in like manner is
passed on as before. Hence water is being continually absorbed
from the soil by the root-hairs, and passed on from cell to cell
through the parenchyma, by a process of endosmosis. But
when we come to the passage of the fluid from the thin-walled
parenchyma tissue to the cells of the thick-walled woody core,
a difficulty arises, since the cells of the latter contain air, and it
is not possible that this passage can take place by an ordinary pro-
cess of diffusion, for in the case before us we have air on one side
of the cell-wall, and a liquid on the other, whereas diffusion re-
quires the presence of two liquids, one on either side of the
separating membrane. The explanation is, that as the fluid is
taken up by the parenchyma cells from without, through the
medium of the root-hairs, these cells become turgid, and in
virtue of this, by the osmotic action of their cell-sap they take up
more water than they can possibly contain—or, in other words,
the osmotic activity of the cells is so great that it is in excess of
their cubic content; they become in consequence gorged with
water, and in this manner a hydrostatic pressure or tension is set
up, and filtration takes place into the cells of the central core.
Filtration differs from diffusion in that it can take place where
there is fluid on one side only of the separating membrane, and air
on the other. We can show that water exists in the cells or
vessels of the central core, by putting a damp log on the fire
when we find that fluid and air bubbles come out. The vessels
are simply formed by rows of cells placed vertically one above
another, the partition walls of which have become absorbed;
afterwards the cell-walls of these vessels so formed undergo
chemical change. Next we have to enquire what becomes of
the water when it has found its way into the vessels in the way
described ; in order to do this we must understand the structure
of leaves, and something also concerning ¢ranspzration.

48

A leaf consists of a flattened out sheet of parenchyma tissue,
composed of cells of various form, through which at intervals
run fibro-vascular bundles, constituting what we know as the
venation of the leaf; in some leaves we find a central large
fibro-vascular bundle, or midrib, from which the other bundles,
called veins or nerves, are given off, like the barbs from the
quill of a feather. These again give off smaller branches or
veinlets in their turn, in a like manner, which are connected
with one another by minute branches, so that we get finally a
very complex reticulum or network formed. In other leaves
there is no such central midrib, but several large bundles termed
nerves enter the leaf, and traverse it running parallel to one
another. These are simply connected by cross branches at
intervals. This sheet of parenchyma, known to botanists as the
mesophyll, and the cells of which contain green coloring matter,
is covered both on the upper and lower surface, by a sheet of epi-
dermis, which is usually only a single layer of cells in thickness,
to protectit. The cell-walls of these epidermal cells have become
chemically changed; they have become cuticularized, that is to
say, they still retain their elasticity, but they can no longer be
permeated by water, nor will they swell up under its influence ;
when this change takes place all distinction between the outer
boundaries of the constituent cells ceases, and a continuous sheet
of protective cuticle covers the whole surface of the leaf.

This sheet is broken at certain intervals by apertures which are
known as stomata or mouths. These stomata are as a rule
much more frequent on the lower surface of leaves than on the
upper. They consist of a central aperture or space surrounded
by two or sometimes four cells, which are firmly united at their
extremities. This central space can be opened or closed ac-
cording as these cells, which are called the guard cells of the
stoma, and contain chlorophyll, are turgid or flaccid. If the
guard cells are flaccid, with no considerable quantity of fluid,
that is to say, if they do not contain as much water as they
can, their tendency is to come together, and so close the stoma.
If the guard cells take up more water, so as to become tense
and turgid, they must increase in size, and so tend to separate

49

from one another: if they were free, each would become
spherical; but since they are fixed at the ends, they can only
bulge out at the sides—that is, increase their curvature, for
they cannot increase in length. This they do, and the stoma
tends to open. Sucha condition of things would be the case if
the guard cells were free and isolated, but it is not that which
ordinarily obtains. The guard cells, as we saw, are placed at
intervals among the ordinary epidermal cells of the leaf, from
which they may be distinguished both by their form and by
their containing chlorophyll, which the ordinary epidermal
cells do not. Their behaviour therefore is influenced by the
aggregate behaviour of these epidermal cells, of which they
only form a small part. When all the epidermal cells are tur-
gid the guard cells tend to swell apart and open the stoma, but
this is prevented by the turgid cells of the epidermis, which,
since they occupy more space, tend to push them together.
Of these two opposing forces, the influence of the epidermal
cells is the greater, and consequently, when the guard cells are
in the greatest degree of turgidity, the stoma is closed. When
evaporation is going on, the cells of the epidermis contract, and
fall apart, while the guard cells of the stoma become flaccid and
tend to fall together, but are pulled apart by the superior op-
posing force of the epidermal cells. The factors acting upon
the process of the opening and closing of the stomata are thus
not single, but the resultant of a number of forces.

The parenchyma tissue of the leaf consists of two kinds of
cells :—

First, oblong cells, which touch on all sides, and are packed
closely together so as to leave no intercellular spaces. The-e
occur immediately below the layer of epidermis covering the
upper surface of the leaf, they are placed perpendicularly to
the surface, and they are sometimes known as the palisade
layer.

Secondly, irregularly branched, more or less rounded cells,
which of course, in consequence of their shape, cannot touch at
all points, but leave spaces intervening between them, which
are known as intercellular spaces. These cells, like those of

D

50

the palisade layer, contain chlorophyll. They form the lower
and larger half of the leaf substance.

The stomata which we have mentioned communicate directly
with the intercellular spaces which are nearest the lower surface.
We shall presently see the functions of all these parts, in con-
nection with the upward movement of fluid in the stem: but
first a few words about Zranspiration.

Every portion of a plant which is exposed to the atmosphere,
and which is not covered by thick layers of cork, e. g. the stem,
or by cuticle, e. g the leaves, both of which are equally imper-
vious to air or water, is constantly giving off enormous quanti-
ties of watery vapour into the air by evaporation. This exha-
lation or loss of watery vapour from any part of a plant is
known as /yvanspiration, and it takes place, as I have said,
wherever a ccll is exposed to the air. Water-weeds for example,
such as Poi nogeton, when dragged out on the bank, very
quickly shi:vel up, and lose their water faster than aerial
plants do: this is due to the fact that the epidermis is not cuti-
cularized in them, and consequently transpiration takes place
from the entire surface of the plant. Owing, however, to the
principal parts of plants being covered either by cuticle or by cork,
it is carried on for the most part by means of certain openings,
viz., the stomata of which we have just spoken; these stomata
occur on all parts of the more highly organized plants which
- are above the ground, viz., on stems, leaves, and the petals of
flowers ; they extend also very far down in the vegetable king-
dom, thus we find them among the Mosses and Liverworts
(Hepaticae). Below this last named group we find no trace of
them, but there is no need for them, since all the cells are more
or less in contact with the air or water, and the exchange of
gases can take place through their walls.

The leaves are the principal organs of transpiration, because
in them, as we have seen, the stomata open into the inter-
cellular spaces, which are bounded by the cell-walls of many
cells. ‘Transpiration does occur also, however, in stems pro-
vided with stomata and epidermis (herbaceous plants), or even
where the epidermis has become transformed into cuticle, if the

51

~

internal tissues are placed in communication with the exterior,
by means of channels of communication. We have an example
of these in the ‘lenticels’ found among the cork cells of the
outer layer of the bark, which are in reality the stomata of the
cork layer of the stem, and each frequently, if not always,
corresponds to a primitive stoma of the epidermis, whose place
the layers of cork have taken. Apart from the stomata and
lenticels, there is little transpiration of fluid ; for the leaves, as
we have seen, though thin, have the exterior layer of their epi-
dermal covering rendered impervious to water, so that exhala-
tion of watery vapour can only take place from the unthickened
cell walls of the cells composing the mesophyll, and bordering
the intercellular spaces with which the stomata communicate.
If we place a stem bearing leaves under a bell-jar at a sufficiently
high temperature, the glass will soon be covered with drops of
water, in consequence of the watery vapour, which is given off
by the plant, being condensed.

Transpiration is not merely a process of evaporation, but is
something beyond that. Evaporation is dependent on certain
external influences, such as the amount of heat and the degree
of saturation of the air ; it will increase as the temperature of
the surrounding air rises, and the degree of saturation by mois-
ture consequently decreases. Transpiration is influenced by
the same circumstances ; its amount is of necessity the greater,
the higher the temperature and the drier the surrounding air ;
but it is also dependent on the nature of the plant. Evapora-
tion takes place in proportion to, and varies directly as, the
actual amount of surface exposed. The amount of transpiration
is dependent on the number of the stomata, and their size :
hence its amount is different on the two surfaces of a leaf; the
under surface, which has the greatest number of stomata, hav-
ing also the largest amount of transpiration. That transpira-
tion is not, however, absolutely dependent on the number of
the stomata, is shown by the Lime-tree (Zia Huropaea) where
on the upper surface of the leaves the proportion of stomata in
a square millimetre is 72/, and on the lower surface the propor-
tion is sixty, while transpiration takes place from the upper
surface in the proportion of twenty, and from the lower in the

52

proportion of fifty; also in the Dahlia, where the proportion of
stomata on the upper surface of the leaf is twenty-two, on the
lower surface thirty-three, or as 2:3, while the degree of tran-
spiration on the upper surface is 50, and on the lower surface
Too, or as 1:2. In the Deadly Nightshade the proportion of
stomata on the upper surface is 5*5 to 10 on the lower surface,
and the relative quantity of water transpired is as 48:60.
Recent results have shown further that the quantity of water
exhaled is greater in the same proportion as the number of
stomata is greater. Those points which particularly affect the
degree of transpiration in plants may be grouped under two
main heads.

I. External influences. Of these the first is the presence
of light, which, however, is so usually associated with a
rise of temperature, that it is a matter of difficulty to
isolate them. In the dark, the stomata of most plants
are almost or quite closed, hence very little watery vapour
can be then exhaled, and if a low degree of temperature be
present at the same time, the process of transpiration may
become slow, or even cease altogether. The immediate bearing
of this statement will become evident when we come to con-
sider root-pressure The stomata of most plants are, on the
contrary, most widely open in the light, especially if it be bright,
even if the temperature be low. Hence, according to the care-
ful experiments of MacNab, increase of light, apart altogether
from, 2nd independently of, the elevation of temperature, has a
distinct influence on the amount of transpiration which it
increases. Increase in the amount of humidity of the air also
affects it in two ways; Ist, it acts by simply checking the pro-
cess of evaporation, and zndly, it acts on the stomata, causing
the guard and epidermal cells to swell up and become turgid, -
and thus diminishing the size of the stomata, that is to say,
causing their closure.

We may consider, together, the effect produced by varia-
tions in the moisture of the air surrounding the transpiring
organ, and that produced by variations in the temperature of
the air; for each of these conditions is so dependent on the
other that it is impossible altogether to eliminate its influence

53

and consider it apart. If the humidity of the air is very great,
z.é., if the air is at or near its point of saturation, the amount of
water given off by the plant is very small, 7. e., transpiration is
practically absent, provided always that, as is usually the
case, there is no important difference between the temperature
of the plant and that of the air outside. But in a saturated
atmosphere, variations in the temperature of the air may
occur, so that the temperature of the air rises above that
of the plant, and under these conditions, transpiration will
go on to a perceptible, though to no very great extent, al-
though the air is saturated with moisture. Under ordinary
circumstances, however, when the degree of humidity of the
air is moderate, the amount of transpiration is affected by the
degree of humidity, since if the air becomes moister the amount
of transpiration becomes less, and vice versa. Variations in the
degree of humidity of the air are, however, affected in their turn
by changes in the temperature, so that every change in the
temperature of the air produces either directly or mediately an
effect on transpiration. When the degree of humidity of the
air is high, it tends to reduce the amount of transpiration
in the plant, but when the temperature of the air is high, that
is to say, when the air is hot, it tends to promote transpiration
and render its amount greater. On the other hand, the cooler
the air is, the less will transpiration go on.

To return for a moment to the influence of light on trans-
piration. We have seen that this factor has an important bear-
ing on the opening and closing of the stomata; and when
we come to speak of their function later on, we shall see these
stomata exert in- turn an important influence upon transpira-
tion ;—hence, through their mediate agency, light exercises
an important influence on transpiration.

From experiments conducted by Hales more than a century
ago upon many plants of the Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) it
was found that in a day of twelve hours the maximum loss of
water by a plant was thirty ounces, and the mean loss twenty
ounces, while in a night of the same duration the mean loss was
three ounces. This shows us that while the amount of water

54

transpired during the day, ze. in the light, is very large, the
amount transpired during the night, z.e. in the dark, is very
small indeed. In this case the influence of light on transpira-
tion is mainly due to the widely open stomata, though in part
to the warmth of the air.

But light has probably a azvect influence upon transpiration,
altogether apart from its effect on the stomata ; at least we
have some observations on record which seem to show that this
is the case, although it is extremely difficult to get the action of
light as ight solely, and not accompanied by any variations of
temperature induced by it. These experiments were carefnlly
performed on plants kept in a moist and nearly saturated at-
mosphere, z.e., under conditions which prevented any change in
the temperature or humidity of the air around the plant. It.
was then found that under such conditions the stomata remained
open both in the dark and in the light, so that the effect of light
upon these structures was thereby eliminated ; and further, it was
observed that exposure to light increased very much the amount
of transpiration of the plant as compared with the amount of
transpiration of the same plant for an equal time in the dark.

The nature of the substances present in the water taken up by
the roots, and so introduced into the plant, materially affects

the amount of transpiration going on in the leaves.
_ Movements of the air produce an influence in a twofold
fashion—first, by promoting evaporation, and, second, by shak-
ing the parts of the plant, e. g. the leaves and branches, there-
by promoting transpiration. Thus, if an ordinary branch be
taken and violently shaken for a minute or two, the leaves be-
come flaccid and hang down for a considerable time, as if they
had been supplied with too little moisture. The reason of this
is that the mechanical stimulus produced by shaking the leaves
causes excessive transpiration. This is an interesting point in
connection with the attractive power of the living protoplasm
for water, for by shaking this attraction is diminished, and
it allows the passage of water through it to take place in conse-
quence more readily than is usually the case.

II. Lnternal Causes. Transpiration varies in quantity ac-

CFL

a
0)

cording to the special organization of the plant and of its
separate parts. First: Zexture of the plant. The stems of
most woody plants and trees are, as we have seen, almost en-
tirely prevented from transpiring by thick layers of cork ; and
transpiration is small in such stems and leaves as are covered
with a thick cuticle, such as the stems of Cacti, the leaves of
Agave and of Begonia, and hard evergreen leaves. The
leaves of Agave and Begonia, when cut off from the parent
plant, wither slowly, and can live for a long time without any
water, since evaporation is very slow, as the texture of the leaf
almost eliminates transpiration. These plants can also thrive
in a very dry soil. Tender leaves, on the contrary, in which the
cuticle is but slightly developed, as e. g. those of the Tobacco
(Nicotiana tabacum) and the Pumpkin, wither as soon as they
are removed from the plant, or if the soil. becomes too dry.
This condition is also seen in many aquatic plants, such
as the Potamogetons, where the texture of the leaves is
very flimsy and weak, and as a consequence evaporation on
exposure to the air is very rapid indeed. Secondly, the age of
the leaf, apart from its texture, exercises a very important in-
fluence on the activity and amount of transpiration in a given
time. This has formed the subject of recent investigations by
an Austrian observer, Von Hoéhnel. From these researches it
appears that we can represent the amount of transpiration at
the various periods in the life of a leaf by means of acurve. At
the time of its first appearance, the amount of transpiration at-
tains an expression very considerably greater than we find to be
the case at any subsequent period in the history of the leaf.
From this point the curve descends, indicating a diminution in
the amount of transpiration; after a time, however, the curve
begins to rise again, indicating an increase in the amount,
though it never attains its initial height, and then at length it
finally sinks gradually, indicating a marked decrease. The
meaning of this curve is very interesting. In their initial
condition the leaves had no cuticle and no-stomata :—conse-
quently, whatever transpiration took place did so through
the closed cell-walls, forming the external surface of the epi-

56

-

dermal cells. This we may call the period of Hpcdermal trans-
piration. As the leaf grows older this epidermal transpiration
becomes interfered with by the gradual development of the
cuticle ; hence we get a diminution in the amount of transpir-
ation, and the curve, as we saw, falls. But simultaneously with
the production of cuticle we find the development of the stomata
taking place, and at the period of the history of the leaf when
the cuticle has reached the highest point in its development,
the stomata have already begun to play an important part in
the function of transpiration which, in some measure, compen-
sates for the diminution of its amount occasioned by the cuticle,
and so we find the curve rising again. This period may be
called that of Stomatal transpiration. ‘The amount at the
maximum of this period is never so great as at the maximum
of the period of epidermal transpiration. As the leaf grows
older the amount of transpiration becomes less and less, and the
curve gradually and permanently falls. These experiments
show us the importance of considering the age of the leaf as
modifying transpiration, and they also teach us what we
shall have to consider more fully hereafter, the great im-
portance of the stomata in relation to the function of trans-
piration.

Next let us enquire—Do we find any definite sequence of rise
‘and fall in the amount of transpiration taking place within the
twenty-four hours, or in other words, is there any dazly period-
city of transpiration, such as we shall subsequently find occurs in
the case of the root-pressure? I can only say, in passing, that all
we do know is that in the daytime the amount of transpiration
is much greater than it is at night, but we have not at present
materials for constructing a definite sequence to express this
difference with points of maxima and minima. Both light and
external circumstances affect the transpiration directly, and
hence whatever periodicity is present may perhaps be due to
these forces, and not to any internal inherent periodicity in the
plant itself, such as we will find in the case of the root-
pressure. Yet, while we have no direct proof that an inherent
periodicity does exist, there is some reason for thinking that it

57

may do so, though the existing periodicity is so sensitive to the
action of external stimuli that it becomes very difficult to elim-
inate their influence. The transpiration of watery vapour in
plants is precisely analogous to the transpiration of vapour in
the respiration of animals. The physiological import or sig-
nificance of transpiration with regard to the general economy
of the whole plant may be briefly stated, as follows :—There is
very little doubt that transpiration exercises an important in-
fluence on the amount of absorption by the roots, although there
is no direct relation between these two functions. The loss of
water by transpiration from the plant must be replaced, or
else fading speedily ensues. Under normal circumstances it is
replaced by the water containing salts in solution, which is
absorbed by the roots from the soil being conveyed to the
leaves. The greater the loss by transpiration, the greater will
be, therefore, the amount of absorption, and, consequently, the
greater the amount of salts in solution taken into the plant,
and in this way the passage of an enormous quantity of water
through the plant assists and promotes the absorption of water
containing substances in solution from the soil by the roots.
Transpiration, then, causes a varying flow of water bearing
certain nutritive substances; and as transpiration takes place in
the leaves which are situated at one extremity of the axis of
the plant, and the great organs of absorption, as we have
seen, are the roots, which are placed at the other end, the
general movement of water from the roots to the leaves through ,
the stem is an upward one, and used to be spoken of as the rising
sap. It is determined by two principal causes: 1, suction from
above, due to transpiration ; 2, pressure from below, due to the
hydrostatic pressure exercised by the parenchyma cells of the
root. The temperature of the soil varies less than that of the
air; Consequently the water taken up is at a more or less uni-
form temperature, and hence the rush of this water up the stem
produces the effect of equalizing the temperature of the plant.
Transpiration also lowers the temperature of the surface parts
of the plant in hot weather, just as, e. g., the evaporation of
spirit on the hand produces a sensation of cold, since the heat

58

required to convert it into vapour is derived from the skin, so
evaporation takes heat from the parts in order to enable it to
take place. The process of evaporation consists in the removal
of pure water; hence, although water containing salts in solution
is absorbed by the plant, only pure water is given off, and an
accumulation of salts takes place in the plant. The loss of
water caused by transpiration very materially affects the
amount of water in the plant at any moment, and so indirectly
affects the growth of the plant. For the growth of each in-
dividual cell is due to a condition of turgidity, and if this con-
dition ceases to obtain, growth ceases also. If the transpiration
is then excessive, and the plant loses more water than it can
take up, the cells of the plant lose their turgid condition, and so
the growth of the plant is considerably retarded. Transpiration,
doubtless, exercises an important influence by causing what is
known as the negative pressure in the wood, the reason of which
I hope to show presently.

Now as to the Function of the Stomata. It was formerly
thought that the stomata, through which transpiration for the
most part takes place, acted as protective regulators of the
amount of fluid exhaled : thus it was said that when the plant
was transpiring very actively, the stomata remained closed, so
as to shield the plant and prevent it from losing too much
_moisture; when, on the other hand, the atmosphere was nearly
saturated with moisture, so that there was little evaporation, and
the light was dull, the stomata opened, because then no harm
could come of a free passage into the leaves being left open, for
moisture to come out. I said that this would ke the case if
the stomata were isolated; but that since they are placed
among the cells of the epidermis, owing to the action of these
cells overcoming that of the guard cells of the stomata, the total
result was, that when the temperature, was highest and the sun-
light brightest, and as a natural consequence the amount of
transpiration at a maximum, the stomata were always most
widely opened—prccisely the reverse of what ought to occur
according to the old theory ; so that it is apparent that there is
no direct provision in the stomata for checking the amount of

59

transpiration.* When the air is very damp, and near to its
point of saturation, or when the light is dull, or it is night, the
stomata are closed, and the guard cells remain side by side.
Some other explanation, then, of the function of these stomata,
than the old one that they are regulators of the amount of
transpiration, must be sought. Have the stomata, then, much
importance as regulators of the absorption of gases, z. e., do they
materially assist the leaf in taking up Carbon Dioxide from the
air? for the conditions under which the stomata are most
widely opened, viz., dry air, high temperature, and intensely
bright sunlight, are also those under which the greatest supply
of Carbon Dioxide is taken up by the cells of the leaf. It was
thought until recently that they were of great importance, and
it was believed that the wide open condition of the stomata had
a distinct relation to the ready passage of Carbon Dioxide from
the exterior air into the intercellular passages present on the
lower surface of the leaf, whence the parenchyma cells of the
mesophyll absorbed it with great activity ; since the cells
bounding these passages, which had absorbed as much of the gas
as they could, when they were robbed of their store continually by

* The opinion stated in a previous part of this essay—viz., that the independent
action of the guard cells, under conditions favouring transpiration, was to close the
stomata, but that they were restrained from doing so through the greater force produced
by the flaccid condition of the other epidermal cells exerting a stronger influence upon
the guard cells than their own flaccid condition does, and that, consequently, the open
state of the stomata, under the conditions of bright sunlight and high temperature,
was due to the total or resultant action of two opposite and non-concurrent forces—
was held until very recently. But it has lately been shown that the action of bright
sunlight, which increases the amount of transpiration, also causes separation, not
closure—turgidity, not flaccidity, of the guard cells themselves ; and hence opening of
‘the stomata. Von Mohl attributes this to the mechanical stimulus of light inducing
the formation in the cell-sap of the guard cells of osmotic substances capable of attract-
ing great amounts of water ; other observers think that the action of light is to increase
the resistance of the living protoplasm in the cell to the loss of water from it. At
present the balance of evidence is about equal on both sides; perhaps it slightly
inclines more to favour the last. Whatever be the view taken, however, the fact is
plain that the action of the guard cells under sunlight is concurrent with that of the
ordinary epidermal cells, though the two actions are due to exactly opposite conditions
—the former to turgidity, the latter to a flaccid condition—and it is owing to their com-
bined (not mean) action that the stomata remain widely open.

60

the more internal cells in their immediate proximity, could absorb
further supplies rapidly from the store at hand in the intercellular
passages. Boussingault has very recently shown, however, from
comparative experiments made upon a large number of leaves,
between the amount of absorption of the upper surface of the leaf,
which has but few stomata, and the lower surface where stomata
are present in large numbers, that the upper surface absorbs more
actively, and at the same time takes up a much larger quantity of
Carbon Dioxide gas, than does the lower surface. Hence the
stomata would appear to have no part of importance to play in the
absorption of gases by plants, which must take place, then, directly
through the cuticularized cell-walls of the epidermal cells. These
latter are permeable by dry gases, and so there is no obstacle
offered by them to the absorption of gases by the cells of the
epidermis ; it is only to the passage of watery vapour that the
cuticle offers any resistance. In so far as the stomata are con-
cerned in any way with the interchange of gases by the plant, they
seem to be channels of exit for these gases, for the stomata open
very readily when slight pressure is brought to bear on them from
within, while they do not open so readily to pressure applied from
without. Pressure from within may be brought about by the gases
in the intercellular spaces being expanded, if the temperature in-
creases and becomes high ; under the influence of this pressure the
stomata readily open, and permit the gases to escape into the
' surrounding air.

Since then the only function with which the stomata are con-
cerned, apart from this comparatively trivial one of favouring the exit
of gases, is that of transpiration, let us see what the real influence of
their action is upon it. We have seen that the opening and closing
of the stomata are due to variations in the condition of turgidity
of the guard-cells, and also that the action of bright sunlight and
warmth, which increase the amount of transpiration, cause also
separation of the guard-cells, and hence opening of the stomata.
When transpiration is most vigorous, the plant is likely to lose the
greatest amount of water, and hence the object and use of the
stomata is to facilitate and promote the escape of water in the
form of vapour from the cell-walls of the leaf-cells of plants.

61

We have also seen when transpiration is not active, the stomata
are not required to be open, and hence they are found to be closed.
An adequate amount of transpiration is very important to the
plant, because it is due to this that a supply of inorganic substances
are absorbed in solution. These substances we saw could only be
taken up in very small quantities, and since a very large supply of
them is required in the plant, it follows, as a necessary consequence,
that a very considerable amount of transpiration is needed to
supply an adequate amount of nutrition to the plant. Further, as
we shall see, the formation of starch from the Carbon Dioxide,
absorbed by the cells of the leaf, independently of the stomata, is
dependent on the absorption of certain inorganic salts, as e. g. those
of Potassium, by the roots; and hence it is necessary that while the
process of absorption of Carbon Dioxide is going on actively,
under the conditions of bright light and warmth, a large quantity
of these salts should be absorbed at the same time; and this can
only take place by means of sufficient transpiration at the leaves,
through the widely open stomata.

As to the method of transference of fluid from the vessels of the
woody core to the different parts of the plant, or in other words,
as to the course of the rising sap, different views have been enter-
tained. The chief structural elements composing the central
core of the wood or prosenchyma, are vessels and fibres to-
gether with ordinary parenchyma cells; and the question arises,
does the water rise uniformly through all of these, or
only through some of them, and if so, through which? At
first sight, the cavities of the vessels would appear to be the
most natural channel for the water, since they are open from
one end of the plant to the other, and the old idea was that
-in them the water was conveyed, that they acted like blood-
vessels, and contained fluid. In spring, the cavities of the
vessels do contain water, but as summer comes on and the
leaves expand the amount of water gradually decreases, and
they become filled with air, and when transpiration has really
set in the whole cavity is occupied by air, so that in summer,
when transpiration is most active, and consequently the amount
of fluid passing to supply the loss which it occasions is greatest,

62

no water is present in the cavities of the vessels ;—conse-
quently it is erroneous to compare them with the blood-vessels
of animals, and another explanation must be sought. It is only
in special cases that the vessels do contain water, for, as a rule,
they contain nothing but air.

By introducing various staining fluids into the plant, such as
chloride or sulphate of aniline, we apparently get some evidence
that the course of the current of liquid is confined to the
wood. For all the woody elements of the younger portion
of the wood of the plant through which this staining solution
passes will be stained a bright yellow or deep brown colour by
it. This solution, then, stains the wood-vessels, and thus affords
a characteristic test for lignified tissue. But though this evi-
dence appears at first satisfactory, we must not overlook the
fact that the solution of aniline might pass up through other cells
as well as through those of the wood, but yet not stain them, be-
cause they are not lignified ; and, consequently, if we relied on
it for our conclusions alone, we might be led into error.

The pith, which seems to be, next to the cavities of the vessels,
the most feasible channel, cannot afford a means for its convey-
ance, because in all cases it remains exceedingly small, and the
larger the plant becomes, the smaller proportionately is the
amount of pith; so that except in the very young condition the
consistence of its cells becomes either dried up or inert ; and in
- many stems, after a few years, it ruptures and either completely
disappears or remains in the form of interrupted thin shreds of
tissue. Further, some observers have removed the pith, and
shown that after its removal the plant flourishes as well as it
previously did.

The medullary rays, which are strands of parenchymatous tis-
sue, running radially from the pith to the bast layer of the bark,
only occur at intervals, and do not extend along the stem, con-
sequently they are of no value as a channel for the upward
‘current of water ; and the same thing may be said of the inter-
cellular spaces, which habitually contain air, and of which there
are very few inthe wood. Does the upward current then ascend
by the bast layer of the bark (ph/oem), or by the fibres of the

63

wood proper (xylem)? for only these two alternatives are now
left us. If we take a plant which, when fully grown, has no
continuous pith in the centre of the stem but only a fibro-vas-
cular mass surrounded by cortex, e.g.,a tree; and if we cut into
it all round the stem in the form of a complete ring, right down
to the interior of the layer whence annual additions are made to
the wood and bast, viz., the cambium, so as to remove all the
tissues for the width of one inch, and separate the cortex of the
upper part of the tree from that of the lower, but leave the
xylem bundles themselves untouched ;—now, if the water rose
by means of the bast, the tree should fade, because we have cut
off the supply which filled up the loss due to transpiration.
But the upper part of the tree, bearing the leaves, does not fade,
but continues to grow; the leaves continue fresh and green, and
fresh leaves are put forth; the removal of the ring of cortical
tissue, then, does not interfere with the passage of liquid to the
leaves, and the only connection which can exist between them
and the roots is in the woody tissue of the plant, and hence
the water which passed from below upwards must have un-
doubtedly passed through the wood. It appears then, from
elaborate researches, that the vessels and fibres of the wood
take up the water absorbed by the roots and pass it on in the
thickness of their cell-walls, which consist, as we saw, of minute
solid particles separated by areas of water.

But the question arises, how can liquid actually travel ix the
substance of the lignified cell-walls? To answer this we must
understand the precise nature and properties of a cell-wall when
lignified. These -properties are not those of the ordinary un-
altered cellulose membrane ; for a cellulose wall has the power of
taking up a considerable amount of water between its micelle,
and of swelling up to a considerable degree. When it becomes
changed into one composed of lignin, however, it loses this power
of swelling up, and can take up a small amount of water between
its micelle, but only a relatively small amount, and it attains its
point of saturation more rapidly than in the case of the ordinary
cell-wall. It is not impermeable to water, on the contrary it takes
water up readily, and very readily parts with it again, but does not

64

attempt, in any way, to retain and hold it as a cellulose wall does.
It only takes it up and gives it up again in very small quantities,
however. The ordinary cellulose cell-walls, on account of their
property of levying black mail upon any fluid that passes into
them, and retaining a considerable quantity of the water in them-
selves, are not good conductors of fluid. The lignified cell-wall,
on the other hand, is a good conductor, as it must pass on what-
ever fluid it gets, since it cannot absorb it into itself. A very
slight pressure, then, on the part of the parenchyma cells of the
root, is sufficient to make the lignified cell-walls take up water
from them, and when this fluid has got into the lignified wall, it
exists there in a very mobile condition, and can be readily passed
on.

The fluid in the walls of fibro-vascular tissue in the leaves, is
constantly being drawn upon by the parenchyma cells of the leaves
which are actively transpiring. In consequence of this, the vessel
walls become poor in water, and exert a drawing influence on the
water in the walls of the remainder of the vascular system ; this
influence extends down the leaf-stalk into the branch, and thence
into the stem, and finally to the vessels of the root. If the fluid
which exists in the lignified cell-wall, was in a similar condition
to that of the water in a cellulose one, the supply of fluid
to meet the demand created by transpiration could not be
maintained with sufficient rapidity, but since it exists in a con-
dition in which it can easily be passed along, this enables the
necessary supply to be kept up through a long branch.

If an ordinary branch of pinewood, a yard in length, be taken,
and the surfaces of its two ends having been rendered perfectly
smooth, be then carefully dried, and after this a little moisture is
spread on the upper surface by means of a brush, at the same
moment as the application is made, a distinct appearance of liquid
poured out at the other extremity will be observed. From this
simple experiment we can derive some idea as to the state of
things existing in the living plant, and thus we see that a with-
drawal of water, however slight, at one point, is accompanied by
an absorption of water at another. The liquid in the lignified
cell-walls forms then an unbroken column, from the leaves down

65

to the roots, intercepted, but not interrupted, by the solid micelle ;
and the whole question of its passage in these is a simple question
of hydrostatic equilibrium ;—the smallest disturbance, causing with-
drawal of water at one point, is sufficient to cause a rush of water
at another to supply its place.

That the lignified cells of the wood serve for the conduction of

water, is also confirmed by the fact that submerged water plants,
which can have no transpiration, and lose no water at their surface,
have no lignified elements in their wood. In these plants we find
that the fibro-vascular system is very feebly developed, and almost
absent, although in land plants closely allied to them we find a
well-defined fibro-vascular system. This mode of conduction of
liquids is confined then to plants having a well-developed fibro-
vascular system; and as the physiological significance, and one of
the uses, of a great fibro-vascular system, is to afford a supply of
the water absorbed by the roots to the leaves, we find it most
developed in plants having a well-developed leaf system.

So then, at the leaves, we find a considerable demand for wa-
tery vapour which must be supplied from below; this watery
vapour passes between the micelle in the thickness of the woody
walls of the vessels, and makes its way to the cell-walls of the
leaves. The fibro-vascular system of the plant when the plant

.is entire is a completely closed one, as are the blood vessels
of animals ; under ordinary circumstances we find no communi-
cation between the external air and the interior of the fibro-
vascular system. For if we make a section of the stem of an
actively transpiring plant under mercury, we find that upon
section the mercury is absorbed into it (or better still, use
solution of a salt of lithium, taking care to make the section
under the surface of the fluid); hence, the air in the cavities of
the vessels is at a lower pressure than that of the atmosphere,
that is to say, it exists at a minus or megative pressure. ‘This
experiment, then, demonstrates the truth of the statement that
the vessels must be completely closed, otherwise there would
have been an equality of pressure between air in the vessels
and the external atmosphere.

A negative pressure, then, indicates that a marked difference of

E

66

pressure exists between the air in the vessels and the external air.
In what way is this negative pressure brought about ? First let
us take as an example for our consideration a low-growing plant,
such as Alchemilla, which in the night transpires very little
water and absorbs a good deal—so much so, that the water is
forced by filtration under pressure into the vessels, and becomes
exuded as drops of water along the margin of the leaves in the
morning by means of special arrangements known as water-
pores, of which more hereafter. During the daytime transpir-
ation becomes active, and as it proceeds the water is withdrawn
from the cavities of the vessels to meet the demand, and conse-
quently these cavities become empty. ‘Transpiration has the
effect, then, of tending to produce a vacuum, for asmall amount
of air present in the cavities along with the liquid becomes much
expanded or rarefied, and exists at a lower, more diminished pres-
sure than that of the external air, 7. e., at a negative pressure.
When night comes again, the activity of the root absorption
forces water into the vessel cavities and compresses the rarefied air
so as to bring it back to a pressure equal to that of the air outside.
What happens to this plant daily, takes place also in large plants
such as trees, yearly. In the spring of the year, before the de-
velopment of the leaves has taken place, the cavities of the
vessels contain a considerable quantity of water, and also some
air at normal pressure. When transpiration sets in and becomes
active, this water is gradually withdrawn, and the remaining
air expands, owing to the creation of a partial vacuum, and so
it comes to have a lower pressure than that of the external air,
and this is the condition in which we found it existing upon
section in the summer. The presence of this negative pressure
demonstrates the fact that the cavities of the wood-cells and
vessels are completely shut off from the external air, and have
no direct communication with it through the openings of the
stomata, as was formerly believed ; for if such an opening to the
exterior did exist, this negative pressure could not be present.
When we submit sections of the parts of the plant to micro-
scopic examination, we can see how this complete closure is
brought about. We shall then find that the vessels of the wood

67

are covered by layers of cells which protect and shut them off
entirely from the influence of intercellular spaces lying more
superficially. Thus, in the root, the endodermis or bundle-
sheath forms a compact complete layer round the fibro-vascular
tissue and cuts it off from the intercellular spaces existing in
the cortical parenchyma. This endodermis is present also in
some stems in a like position, or if it is absent its place is taken
by layers of thickened closely-packed cells which have the same
protective function. In consequence of the existence of this
negative pressure in the cavities of the vessels, there is a passage
of air by diffusion from the surrounding tissues into the cavities
of the cells and vessels of the wood. For this negative pressure
tends to exercise an attraction for the gases in the other tissues,
and to draw them towards the vessel-cavities, thereby setting
up currents; but this attractive power is never sufficiently
great to bring the air in the vessels to the normal pressure of
the air outside. This negative pressure has also an important
influence in promoting and rendering more easy of accomplish-
ment than it would otherwise have been the entrance of water
from the parenchyma cells adjoining the fibro-vascular cylinder
through the walls into the cavities of the vascular system, where
it is seen in the case of pruning a Vine in spring. The pas-
sage of fluid and of gases from the wood to the stomata must
take place by the cell-walls, since the cell-walls can only
pass substances in the form of solution. The watery vapour
is simply given off as watery vapour from the external moist
surfaces of the wood-cells or vessels, and it may be deposited as
drops in the plant itself, e. g., in the case of water found in
the cells surrounding the vessels in the tops of high trees ;—or
it may pass out of it as watery vapour. Its course is briefly as
follows :—The fluid is absorbed by the root-hairs, it passes by
diffusion through the parenchyma cells of the root, by filtration
under pressure from them into the vessel-walls of the root, and
it is conveyed in the thickness of the lignified cell-walls of the
woody tissues through the stem to the leaves, and from the moist
surfaces of the parenchyma cell-walls of the leaf into the inter-
cellular spaces in communication with the stomata, through

68

which it is exhaled in considerable quantities. The liquid
absorbed by the roots is not forced by their osmotic activity
to the leaves, but only into the vessel-walls, and thence it is
sucked up in obedience to transpiration. We have still to
enquire how the water gets from the vessels of the leaves, in
the vessel-walls of which it exists, to the actual cells which
exhale the watery vapour. These latter are not wood cells, but
parenchymatous cells containing chlorophyll grains for the
most part, and making up the great mass of the tissue or
mesophyll of the leaf. Water has then to get to these from the
vessels, and this is accomplished in a similar manner to the
original mode of absorption of the water by the roots. The
vessels contain in their walls then a considerable quantity of
water taken up from below; this is absorbed by the parenchy-
matous cells adjoining them in virtue of their osmotic activity,
which in these cells, as in those of the root, is always greater
than their cubic content, z. ¢., if the cell-walls allowed of their
expanding they could take up more water ; this water taken up
from the vessel-wall is then passed on from cell to cell towards
the exterior by osmosis, and exhaled in the form of watery
vapour into the intercellular passages, and thence through the
stomata.

Hitherto we have considered herbaceous plants ; but in trees,
all the vessels do not transmit fluid in their walls. The wood
in a Dicotyledonous stem which increases in thickness, at
length comes to consist of a central portion which is older,
darker coloured, and harder than the rest, called the duramen or
heart-wood ; and of an outer, younger, and lighter coloured por-
tion which is called the alburnum or sap-wood. Of these two
portions the alburnum is the only part which is active in this
process and fitted by its organization to transmit fluid, and
which is likewise in connection with the leaves of the year ;
the duramen, on the other hand, soon dries and becomes more
and more incapable of transmitting fluids, so that it takes no
part in this conduction of water. This is illustrated by the
vegetation of hollow forest trees, in which a sufficient layer
of young wood remains within the bark to carry up the

69

absorbed fluids. It has been found that the careful removal
of the heart-wood of trees does not prevent the supply of liquid
to the branches from the roots ; but if the layers of sap-wood
are removed, the upper parts of the tree die from desiccation
even when the bark is left uninjured, except to such an extent
as is sufficient to allow of removing the wood beneath. What
advantage does the plant gain then by the exhalation of such a
large quantity of water as this? for in the Sunflower (HleHan-
thus annuus) on a summer day, the weight of the water
exhaled is equal to the weight of the plant itself. The answer
is that as fast as water is being transpired by the leaves a de-
mand for more is set up, and the plant takes up as much
fluid as it is possible for it to do by the roots, but sometimes
it cannot get enough. It takes up, not water alone, but
water containing salts in solution, which are then present in
comparatively large quantities in the plant for its nutrition.
Transpiration is then the force by which the plant gains a
supply of energy for its growth. It is greatest when the ac-
tivity of the plant is greatest ; in the Sunflower, when the
leaves are largest, and the temperature high, and the light
intense, the stomata are most widely open, and it is just then
that the largest amount of salts are needed for nutrition. The
transpiration of a plant does not bear any direct relation to the
amount of moisture absorbed by its roots, for under certain cit-
cumstances, as on particularly hot days, when the atmosphere is
flashing with a bright light, we get a condition where the amount
of transpiration is in excess of the amount of absorption, and what
is known as withering or wilting of the plant occurs ; the leaves
of the tree or herbaceous plant giving out more water than is
taken in by the roots, so that the cells remain no longer tense
but become flaccid, the plant droops, and if this condition be
long continued the plant’ may die. If the activity of the root
absorption be in any way impaired and diminished, as, e. g., if
the root be too much cooled, the plant withers. Again, a plant
when newly transplanted droops for a time, because the roots,
though they are supplied adequately with water, are incapable
of taking up the requisite amount of water fast enough until

7O

a new growth of root-hairs enables them to become closely
attached to the particles of the soil, and in this case it is ad-
visable to remove the leaves. A plant also growing in a dry
soil as a habitat, if the season be unusually dry, gives out
more fluid than it takes up, and soon dies. The plant, in ordi-
nary conditions, usually takes up rather more than enough to
supply the demand of transpiration, as it has also to perform the
processes of growth. Weeds, also, when removed from the soil,
rapidly fade and die from loss of water by transpiration. That
they do not die merely from exposure of the roots is clear ; if so,
how could we explain the cases, such as we have presently to no-
tice, of the withering of shoots or flowers which have been cut off
from the plant? The conditions of withering are especially of
interest to those who are cultivators of vines in this country, since
the roots are generally outside and the stem and leaves inside the
hothouse. If the leaves in the warm atmosphere within give off
a large quantity of water, while the temperature is very low out-
side, the plant will not be supplied with sufficient moisture,
because the root can take up moisture only after a certain
degree of temperature has been reached.

The aerial parts of plants, as stems and leaves, are not capable
of absorbing watery vapour from a moist atmosphere, or from
water poured over them. We might expect that the upper
surface of the leaf being exposed to rain could absorb some,
but it does not ;—the upper surface of the leaf is not usually
- provided with stomata, and is covered with a continuous cuticle,
often covered in turn with wax, and so rendered waterproof.
The aerial roots of Orchids, which hang down into the air, may
draw watery vapour from it, as in those forms which rest on other
plants for support, but obtain no nutriment from them, and are
known to botanists as efiphytes or air plants. The roots of
these plants, which are peculiarly adapted for taking up mois-
ture from the air, are, as a rule, invested with a very special
covering, known as the ve/amen, which consists of several layers
of spirally thickened epidermal cells, often quite empty, which
communicate freely with the external medium, and abut on the
cells of the interior of the root. “These velamen cells act in the

vps

same manner as the particles of soil do, and catch the particles
of water, whether in the fluid form, as from rain ; or they can
condense aqueous vapour just as the particles of the soil can do,
and in this manner they will draw from the air supplies of
watery vapour sufficient for the closed cells of the root with
which they are in contact, for the plant in this case is absolutely
dependent on the water which is thus taken up. It is, no doubt,
a matter of common observation that drooping plants recover
their turgidity when they are wetted by dew or rain, or if the
air be moist. This is the result, however, partly of an in-
creased supply of water from the moistened earth, and partly
of a diminished transpiration in consequence of the dampness
of the atmosphere :—it is not the result of absorption of water
by the leaves.

This phenomenon of drooping or withering occurs con-
spicuously in parts of plants which have been cut off in air.
Thus, if we cut through the stem of a Sunflower (Hekanthus -
annuus) or of the Birthwort (Aristolochia Sipho) and place it
in water in such a manner that the cut surface and the water
are in contact while the leaves are in the air, and then expose
it to the daylight, we soon find that the water sucked up by
the cut surface is not a sufficient quantity to compensate for
the loss of watery vapour taking place by evaporation from the
leaves, and the plant therefore, after a short time, droops and
withers ;—cut flowers also soon become withered, shrivelled and
flaccid through loss of water when exposed. This experiment
shows us that the younger terminal leaf-bearing portions of the
stems of plants which have large leaves, and consequently a large
surface for evaporation, when they are cut off zz azr, partially
lose the power of conducting water. The withered shoots of
flowers, however, may be revived in a short time by forcing in
water under pressure.

For this purpose, a Y shaped bent glass tube is taken and
filled with water, the stalk of the withered shoot is then passed
through a perforated stopper of caoutchouc, and this is then
fixed on to one end of the U tube, in such a manner as to be
perfectly air-tight. Mercury is then poured in at the opposite

72

end until it stands in the open limb at a rather higher level
than in the closed limb—viz., by eight to ten centimetres. A
pressure is consequently set up and water is forced into the
drooping shoot, which gradually revives and becomes turgid
again, a series of spasmodic jerks occurring as the plant gra-
dually becomes erect. The Indian Cress (Zropeolum majus)
is a very good plant to perform an experiment of this kind
on. It is noteworthy that the shoot remains turgid after the
pressure has become reduced to zero by the mercury in the two
sides of the tube coming to the same level, and even when the
mercury is raised up by the suction of the shoot in the same
arm of the tube to which the shoot is attached, so that a force
is now acting upon the section of the shoot in an exactly op-
posite direction to that in which it previously acted. This
shows that the forcing in of water is necessary only at first ;
afterwards the revived shoot has sufficient power of suction
even to raise a column of mercury to a height of several centt-
metres, and thus to replace the loss occasioned by transpiration
from the leaves. Hugo De Vries found that if rapidly-growing
shoots of plants with large leaves are cut off at the lower part,
which has become completely lignified, and are placed with the
cut surface in water, they remain for some time perfectly fresh. If,
however, they are cut through at the younger parts of their stem
and placed in water, they soon begin to wither, as we have seen.
_ This withering takes place more rapidly and more thoroughly
in proportion as the part where the cut is made is young and
not lignified. We can easily prevent this withering, however,
by making the section under water, and taking care that the
cut surface does not come into contact with the air. By these
precautions, the disturbing influences are reduced to a mini-
mum, and the conduction of water through the stem suffers no
interruption. For if we compare the length of time during
which a stem cut in water remains fresh, with that during
which a similar stem cut in air does the same, we will find
that the former will be much the greater. Or if we take
care while we are making the cut in air, that the leaves and
upper parts of the shoot lose only a very small quantity of

73

water by transpiration, withering will not begin till a later
period, and will increase but slowly after the cut surface is
placed in water, and the leaves again can transpire.

The cause of withering in all these experiments is an inter-
ruption in the power of conducting water from below, and this
is due not only to the conduction of water ceasing for a short
time, but also—and this is the more important element of the
two—by a change taking place, which consists in the loss of
water above the cut surface when the section is made in air,
for section in air disturbs the relation existing between the wa-
ter and the solid micelle in the walls of the wood-cells, and
hence exerts a distinctly injurious influence on the conducting
power for water of the wood-cells in the stem, and diminishes it,
because under the altered conditions water can no longer pass
in the cell-walls with the same ease that it previously did.
The loss of water cannot be restored simply by placing the
cut surface once more in contact with water: for, when so
placed, it takes it up but very slowly. That it diminishes the
conducting power for water, we can easily show. If we cut off
the stem of a Sunflower ({ehanthus annuus) in the air and
place it in water and allow it to remain for some time so that
it begins to wither, and if we then carefully remove several of
the lowest and largest leaves from the stem, we shall find that
the growing apex and the leaves which are left will, after some
time, begin to revive, even without any further cutting of the
stem, which, as we shall presently see, restores conductivity. So
that we see that the amount of water which is required to
supply the transpiration of a large number of leaves cannot be
conducted through the stem after it has been cut off in air,
while the amount which is required to supply the transpiration
of a few leaves, can; or, in other words, the cause of this is a
diminution of conducting power for water, if the cut surface
does not remain too long in contact with air, because a short
exposure to the air increases the diminution to a much greater
degree. This change occurs only in a short piece of the stem
above the cut surface, and it is evidently due to the loss of
water from the cells, caused by the suction of the higher parts

74

in obedience to transpiration, not being compensated by absorp-
tion from below ; and also to the fact that when we put the
plant in water the cell-walls of the injured cells swell up and
become mucilaginous, and they soon cover over the cut surface
mechanically with a pellicle of abundant gummy matter ; this
rapidly becomes filled with Bacteria, and in this way shuts off
the interior of the cut stem from any contact with the sur-
rounding water. Every circumstance which tends to increase
this loss of water tends also to increase the loss of conducting
power, and causes the shoot which is placed in water to wither
more rapidly and more completely. We must, therefore,
assume that the conducting power of the cells depends on the
quantity of water which their cell-walls contain. That this
assumption is a very probable one, we can show by forcing
in water from below, under pressure, in the manner before de-
tailed ;—~. e., if we artificially increase the amount of water in
the cells of this piece, we can also increase its conducting
power. If the withered shoot or flower be placed in water
of from 35 to 40°C. it will soon revive, and if then placed in
water of 20°C. it will either remain fresh for days, as e.g., in the
Elder, or at least wither more slowly, as e. g. in the Artichoke.

If we are placing in water for purposes of experiment, the
ends of shoots which have begun to wither after being cut off,
it is only necessary to remove a second portion from the stem
by means of a new cut made a sufficiently long distance above
the original point of section, but this time under water, and the
shoot revives. This applies also to cut flowers, which, under
these conditions, remain much longer fresh than they would
otherwise do. As regards the length of the portion necessary
to be removed, it has been found that in the Elder (Saméducus
nigra) to remove a portion six centimetres long in a herbaceous
shoot of twenty centimetres was amply sufficient. In this last
case of section under water, the water is immediately conveyed
upwards, and the cells above the point of section recover their
turgidity, so that then there is no loss of conducting power.

We have still to consider certain other phenomena.

It is well-known that if we prune a Vine in spring, before

75

the leaves are developed, what is called bleeding by gardeners
occurs, that is to say, that water will gradually and slowly ooze
out from the cut surfaces ; and closer investigation has shown
that this water exudes from the openings of the large vessels.
This may also be seen by cutting through several trees, as a
Maple or a Birch, when a flow of water of considerable strength
will take place, many pints of fluid being poured out from the
cut surface for some time. It may also be seen in all woody
shrubs growing vigorously and provided with a well-developed
root system. If we cut through the stem of a Sunflower or of a
Tobacco plant, a few centimetres above the ground, and prevent
the evaporation which would take place from the cut surface,
an outflow of fluid will begin after a time, which may continue
for several days.

The boring or tapping of Maples for Sugar by means of holes
is effected in the spring-time, for the longer stagnation in the
cavities of the wood during winter gives the water the power
of absorbing sugar out of the closed living cells of the wood,
and out of the parenchyma surrounding them ; a result which
cannot be expected, or only in a lesser degree, in the case of the
rapid flow from the smaller root-stalks of quickly growing
plants.

The presence of fluid in the vessels in the spring cannot
possibly be due to the leaves, because they are either not un-
folded at all, or, if they are, they are very small indeed, and,
hence it must be due to some force exerted by the roots them-
selves. This force, known as the root pressure, is occasioned
thus: the water is absorbed from the soil by the roots, and
forced by means of the hydrostatic pressure set up in the par-
enchyma cells into the cavities of the vessels of the roots by a
process of filtration, thence it is forced from the roots into the
stem, so that when the latter is cut it is poured out. The
amount of pressure exerted by this force of outflow is very con-
siderable and easily perceived, and the amount of fluid given
out very large ; it may be measured by attaching a glass tube
containing mercury to the cut surface, when we find that the
pressure is able to raise up the column of mercury for a con-

76
siderable height, which is equivalent to the pressure sufficient
to support the weight of at least an atmosphere if not more,
so that it is no hypothetical force we have to deal with. The
limit of distance to which the mercury column is raised is,
however, soon arrived at, and a condition of equilibrium be-
tween the downward pressure of the mercury and the upward
pressure of the force is attained. No other force is present to
occasion this root pressure than those of absorption and filtra-
tion under pressure, and hence this rise of liquid to a very
considerable height is the expression of the absorbent activity of
the parenchyma cells of the roots measured in millimetres
of mercury; for the greater the facility with which they absorb
moisture in the form of water, the greater is the filtration into
the vessels, and consequently the greater is the flow of fluid in
the case of cutting off a stem near the ground. When we put
on the mercury manometer we oppose a substance—viz.,
mercury, to the filtration of the water into the vessels, yet,
nevertheless, the active power is so great as to overcome the
ordinary resistance, and also to lift the mercury column as
well. In proportion, then, as the osmotic power of the par-
enchyma cells is greater, so will the root pressure be greater.
This movement of water effected by the root pressure is par-
ticularly conspicuous in the early spring, when the leaves are
just opening, and generally at the period of most vigorous
growth. When the leaves are once developed and expanded,
and transpiration has begun, the root pressure gradually dim-
inishes, the accumulated water being evaporated until, when
the plant transpires most, this root pressure is entirely absent ;
for, if we make a section in summer, no escape or flow of liquid
can be obtained from the cut surface of the stem, though the
absorptive activity of the roots is still going on, and the amount
of fluid passing is very much greater than it was in the spring-
time, because the plant is continually losing water at its leaves,
which are transpiring. As fast, however, as the liquid is ab-
sorbed by the root-hairs and passes thence by osmosis and
filtration into the vessel-walls of the wood, it is no longer
forced into the cavities of the vessels to collect there and be

77

easily seen when a section is cut, but it is carried upwards at
once in the walls of the vessels to the leaves, to compensate
there for the loss of liquid due to transpiration. On the
contrary, if we pour water on the cut surface, it will be
rapidly absorbed; for the vessels, as we have seen, contain no
water, but only air at a negative pressure.

We see, then, that there are two kinds of pressure manifested
by the roots: First, the endosmotic activity of the cells of the
root, absorbing fluid from the exterior and passing it through
their cell-walls and protoplasm, thence forcing it under pressure
into the lignified walls of the vessels, whence it is conducted at
once to the leaves in obedience to the demand created in them
by transpiration. This pressure is always constant, and we
cannot measure it. Secondly, the activity obtained by the
presence of a condition of turgidity in the cells of the root,
for taking up fluids to a greater extent than they can contain,
and, consequently, for exercising a hydrostatic pressure, oc-
casioning a process of rapid filtration into the cavities of the
vessels: this is the externally evident root pressure of which I
have been speaking, and its amount can be measured. The
latter, as I stated, never coexists with transpiration. When we
have root pressure evident there is either no transpiration, or its
amount is exceedingly small, and in consequence of this the
liquid has time to collect in the cavities of the vessels ; but
when transpiration has once begun, it is impossible to detect
any evident root pressure, for the cells of the root never become
turgid to the excessive degree required to force liquid through
the walls of the vessels into their cavities, but remain tolerably
flaccid; and, as we have seen, the evident root pressure depends
on the turgid condition of the cells. When transpiration is
going on we never have any water in the vessels: hence, when
the leaves are actively transpiring there is no evident root
pressure, and consequently, as we saw, the fluid transpired
could not be supplied to the leaves from the root pressure, as
was at one time supposed.

In the experiment of measuring the amount of the root
pressure by means of the height of the column of mercury

78

which it can support, if the apparatus is left for some time it will
be found that the level of the mercury will not be constant, but
will oscillate slightly above and below the level at first attained,
but will not deviate much from it on either side. These varia-
tions, it will be found, take place in a definite sequence, the en-
tire round of which is accomplished every twenty-four hours,
and to these variations in the root pressure the term Dazly
Periodicity has been applied. At first sight, this daily periodi-
city would seem to be due to external changes, z.e., changes
in the temperature of the soil and the air, produced by the
alternations of day and night, affecting the root. There are
reasons for believing that it is not due to this source, how-
_ ever, since we find a slow rise of the root pressure at the
same time that we get a decline of temperature; and, further,
the temperature of the soil never varies to such a degree in
twenty-four hours as is required to produce these oscillations.
Hence we may conclude that the temperature of the air and the
soil has no important bearing on this daily periodicity. The
influence of light appears the next likely agency to produce it;
but it happens that if we put the plants in the dark these oscil-
lations will go on just as well as they do in the light. It is not
due, then, to variations in external conditions, but to variations
in the absorbent condition of the root-cells. It is probable that
these latter variations were induced in bygone times by varia-
tions in external conditions, and that these have become
transmitted by heredity, so that the roots of the plant have
become habituated to vary in their absorbent activity, and
hence these variations can at the present time go on quite
independently of the action of external conditions, e.g., in the
dark.

In herbaceous plants, the water forced up from the roots
contains only mineral salts in solution taken up from the
soil. In the Vine, Maple, and some trees, it usually holds
in solution various organic substances, and particularly sugar,
which it obtains from the stem.

In winter, the wood-cells and vessels contain water, together
with larger or smaller bubbles of air; hence, if a hole be

79

bored into a tree in winter and the part be rapidly warmed,
or if the temperature of the air be rising, the increase of
temperature suddenly expands the air-bubbles mixed with
the fluid, and causes the fluid to be driven out of the stem
where it can find an opening. When the part is cooled again,
the air contracts, and fluid is absorbed. This is sometimes con-
founded with the d/eeding of plants, which we have seen is due to
root pressure only. The exudation or movement of the liquid
by increase of temperature can only occur in the winter and early
spring, before the leaves unfold and transpiration begins, be-
cause it is only at that period that air and liquid exist together
in the cavities of the vessels.

Rather a striking evidence of the existence of this root
pressure, and a phenomenon well worthy of note, is the secre-
tion or excretion, under certain circumstances, of actual drops
of water, as water, by the leaves of certain plants. In the
process of transpiration the water always passes off from the
plant in the form of vapour, but in certain other cases we find
that drops of water are exuded. This pouring out of water is due
to the osmotic activity of certain structures which have received
the name of water glands. As regards the position of these
glands on the leaf, it seems to be the rule that they occur on
the margin of the leaf. Exceptions to this statement are
afforded by several species of Crassulas (C. cordifolia, C. arbor-
escens, and C. portulacea), where they occur distributed over
the surface of the leaf. In leaves with an entire margin they
usually occur only at the apex, z. e., the extremity of the main
fibro-vascular bundles, as in the species of Azalea, Myosotis,
Arum, Caladium dstillatorium, Musa, Richardia, Collocasia,
Zea Mais, and Hordeumvulgare. In leaves whose margins are
cut or indented there may be a gland at the apex of each tooth,
as in the Chinese Primrose (Primula sinensis), in Fuchsia glo-
6osa, and in the common Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) ;
also, in Bryophylinm calycinum, in the indentation between
two teeth, as in Crassula spathulata, or even on the sides of
the tooth, as in Senecio petasitis. In Tropeolum majus they
occur only on the upper surface of the leaf_near the margin.

80

In the species of Saxifraga (such as S. crustata) they appear to
occur only on the upper side of the leaf, at the margins,
in connection with the little depressions or pits between the
lobes or crenations; in Crassula lactea and C. coccinea, on the
upper and under margins, and in Sedum Steboldit, only on the
under side.

In Saxifraga crustata, which, according to the researches of
W. Gardiner* has the most highly differentiated gland at
present known, the adult structure of the gland is somewhat
as follows:—The peripheral termination or ending of each
of the fibro-vascular bundles which ramify through the me-
sophyll of the leaf presents the appearance of a swelling or
_ dilatation at its extremity, which is roughly pear-shaped in
outline, being broad towards the surface of the leaf, and taper-
ing inwards towards the fibro-vascular bundle. Each of these
dilatations is placed immediately under the bottom of one of
the depressions which exist between each of the lobes of the
leaf, and forms what is known as a water-gland. By far the
larger portion of the tissue of the gland is made up of poly-
gonal cells, slightly longer than broad, closely fitting one to the
other without intercellular spaces. These cells are derived
from the ground tissue at the apex of the termination of the
fibro-vascular bundle. The cell-walls are thin, and the cells
themselves are much smaller than those of the surrounding
ground tissue. They contain no chlorophyll, and their proto-
plasm is very granular. The gland is invested by a sheath of
cells containing chlorophyll corpuscles of one or at most two
layers thick, which entirely surround it, with the exception of
that portion of it which is covered at the surface of the leaf
with epidermis. This sheath is continuous with the endodermis
or bundle-sheath of the fibro-vascular bundles of the leaf, and
by means of it the very definite group of cells which form the
gland are exceedingly well marked off from the ordinary ground
tissue which surrounds it. At the inner extremity of the

* See an admirable paper by him entitled ‘“‘ The Development of Water Glands in

the leaf of Saxifraga Crustata,” in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, New
Series, No. LXXXIII, July, 1881.

81

gland, towards the fibro-vascular bundle, we find certain elon-
gated fusiform or spindle-shaped cells, with reticulate thicken-
ings on their walls, which cells are joined end to end, and even-
tually become continuous with the spiral vessels of the fibro-
vascular bundle. These cells present a series of intermediate
forms between gland cells with granular protoplasm and delicate
reticulate thickenings on the one hand, and the spiral vessels of
the bundle on the other, so that in the adult condition it is prac-
tically impossible to say exactly where the fibro-vascular bundle
ends and the true gland tissue (derived, as we saw, from the
the ground tissue) begins.

At the broad end of this water-gland, where it underlies the
epidermis, we find one, two, or rarely three openings or apertures
freely communicating with the external atmosphere through
the epidermis: these are known as water-fores or water stomata.
Each of these resembles an ordinary stoma, in the fact that it is
bordered by two guard cells containing chlorophyll, which are,
however, derived from the division of a single epidermal cell.
These guard cells are larger than the ordinary guard cells of
the stomata, and the two together have a rounded contour as
compared with the elliptical shape of the pair of guard cells ofa
stoma proper. The actual pore, moreover, is relatively smaller
than the opening of the stoma, and, unlike it, cannot be opened
or closed according to the degree of turgidity of the cells of the
leaf :—it is fixed, and always remains open. The time of de-
velopment is also much earlier in the case of the water-pores,
and their exact mode of development, as Gardiner has shown,
is quite different from that of the stomata; they differ also in
being confined to leaves only, whereas stomata, as we have seen,
occur elsewhere as well. The position of these pores in Saxz-
Jraga crustata is on the margin of the upper side of the leaf,
at the bottom of each of the depressions or pits which occur
there. The mode of action of the whole apparatus is as fol-
lows :—Water occurs in the vessel-walls of the ultimate ending of
the fibro-vascular bundle (which, however, is completely closed
and blind); the cells of the gland in immediate connection with
which it ends are, however, parenchymatous and capable of

82

absorbing water from it, which they do. These cells are also
of the nature of secreting cells, so that the water which they
absorb from the vessels of the bundle is poured by them into
the water-pore. The vessels of the fibro-vascular bundle do
not then open directly into the water-pore, but are separated
from it by the parenchymatous cells which form the secreting
gland, and the water is not poured into the pore directly from
the vessels as if from a pipe. In the day-time, when the tem-
perature is high and transpiration very vigorous, the secretion
of drops of water does not take place, and even if water is
secreted by the cells of the glands, it is evaporated as fast as it
is secreted. But at night, when the temperature falls, causing
decrease of transpiration, the walls of the vessels, and even the
vessels themselves, become gorged with water, and every facility
for secretion by the gland is offered. Under these conditions
the cells of the gland become turgid, a pressure is set up, and
drops of water exude through the water-pores. As we have
seen, each water-pore is situated at the base of a depression
or pit in the leaf margin. ‘The production of these pits is due
to cell division, though not to the growth of the cell, for this
practically ceases in the tissue of the water-gland with the divi-
sion of the epidermal cell into two to form the water-pore,
while cell division still goes on in the rest of the leaf, ending
only with formation of the stomata. The sides of these
pits, especially the outer side, z.e., the proximal side of the
lobe to the stem,—are lined or fringed with small, knob-
like, stiff hairs which are out-growths from the surface of the
epidermal cells which forms the walls of the depressions. These
cells, before the development of the pits, in the way above
described, formed part of the margin of the leaf. The hairs
are almost perfectly spherical, with very thick and highly
refractive cell-walls. The water which exudes through the
water-pores subsequently fills the pits, and as the hairs are
most abundant on the outer side, when an excess of water is
secreted and the pit overflows, this water tends to collect on this
margin of the lobe. This water is not simply water alone but
is charged with carbon dioxide gas, and holds in solution certain

83

mineral salts, more specially a quantity of calcic carbonate, or
chalk. As the water evaporates and the carbon dioxide gas
comes off, the chalk is precipitated, and that which is deposited
in the neighbourhood of the pit tends to aggregate around the
hairs, and becomes thus firmly held and prevented from falling
into the pit and stopping up the open water-pore, thereby
rendering it useless. In this manner the whole margin of the
upper surface of the leaf becomes covered with little masses of
chalk, indicating the openings through which the water is ex-
creted. In spite of this special provision, however, the older
glands frequently become inefficient on account of being choked,
the pit becoming completely filled with the very large concre-
tions of chalk formed, which appear to spread from the pit,
covering the entire lobe and even extending over other parts of
the leaf as weil, in the form of a white incrustation. The
whole of the phenomenon may be easily seen by placing a
bell-jar over a vigorous plant. Since the air becomes saturated
with aqueous vapour, transpiration is reduced, and large drops
of water are secreted. On removing the jar the water rapidly
evaporates, and a deposit of chalk is formed. Such is the
mechanism of the water gland and pores in Saxifraga crustata,
which is unique as regards the special provision for the de-
position of the calcic carbonate, the distinct differentiation of
the gland tissue, the well-marked sheath for the gland of
endodermis, the extreme granularity of the protoplasm, and the
activity of function. In the water glands of the Crassulas, e g.,
C. arborescens, which are the next most highly developed, we
have neither hairs, nor endodermis forming a gland sheath.
The protoplasm is not nearly so granular, nor the activity so
great. The diminution of gland tissue is often accompanied by
an increase in fibro-vascular tissue, which appears to replace it.
Thus, in the Crassulas, the reticulated cells at the base of the
gland are much more numerous than they are in Saxifraga,
and this seems to be a general tendency in the less highly
differentiated glands. Between the water glands of Saxifraga
and Crassu/a and those occurring in other plants there seems
to be a wide hiatus, The well-differentiated gland and con-

84

spicuous difference between its cells and those of the adjacent
parenchyma no longer occur; in fact the gland cells and the
parenchyma appear to merge into each other. In Alchemilla
the spiral cells terminating the bundle are simply continued to
the surface of the leaf, and there is no proper gland tissue at all.
But the water-pore long preserves its individuality, although
in many cases it seems probable that its function is taken on
by an ordinary stoma of which it is, even in its most differ-
entiated form, but a modification. The number of water-pores
in relation with each gland varies very much; there may be
one or a group, thus—

In Saxifraga crustata, 1\—2—3. In Primula sinensis, 1—2.
Bryophyllum calycinum, 5—6. Crassula lactea, 15—18.
Crassula coccinea, 1-3. Hordeum vulgare, 1—2.
Crassula spathulata, 15—20.

In Primula sinensis the water-pores lie flush with the leaf
surface. If we cut off a leaf and place it in water, the secretion
of fluid in the form of drops of water will cease. If we take
a whole plant of Alchemilla vulgaris and plant it in a pot,
when the amount of transpiration from the leaves is very great,
and consequently there is no evident root pressure, the excre-
tion of drops of water by the leaves will cease; but if we
place the plant under circumstances by which the amount of
transpiration is diminished and the evident root pressure in-
creased, we get drops of water secreted. These last-named
conditions actually take place in nature, as we may see by
considering what occurs in a small specimen of this plant
through the space of adayandanight. At night transpiration
is almost absent or very much diminished, while the root ab-
sorption is very active ; hence the water accumulates and fills
the vessels, thus giving rise to a root pressure which is so
considerable that it fills all the vessels of this low-growing
plant with water, and hence if we examine the plant in the
morning before the sun has got to it we shall see large
and numerous drops of water fringing the edge of the leaves,
which are secreted or forced out by the water glands, and have

85

exuded out through the pores, of which there are in this case a
considerable number to each gland, so that the amount of water
poured out in this way by a plant may be considerable. During
the day this process will cease, because the amount of transpir-
ation is so great that it soon empties the vessels, and keeps them
in that condition. That these drops are not drops of dew, as
might be at first supposed, may be proved by placing a bell-jar
cover over the plant, when we will find that the process still goes
on, and consequently the water must be poured out from some
part of the leaves themselves. This secretion of water de-
pends on the evident root pressure, since it only takes place
when we have fluid in the vessels, and will not take place
when the leaf is cut off from the plant unless we replace the
root pressure by forcing in water under the pressure of a column
of mercury. According to Dr. S. H. Vines, and Dr. Moll, of
Amsterdam, possibly some definite correlation exists between
the presence of excretory organs such as water-pores, and the
existence of evident root pressure ina plant. Hofmeister (Flora,
1862) could detect no root pressure in Conifers, where the vessels
are few, the only ones being those first formed, which soon die ;
and Moll has failed to discover any excretory organs in their
leaves.

In by far the larger number of plants, the activity and life of
the water gland and structures analogous to it appear to be
co-existent with that of the leaf asa whole. In certain cases,
however—e. g., species of Musa, Richardia, and the grasses, in
which the gland is borne at the apex of the leaf—the apex soon
withers, and the gland becomes destroyed. Thus, in very
young barley plants (Hordeum vulgare), large drops of water
may be seen hanging on the apex of each leaf, even though the
temperature of the surrounding air be as high as 74° Fahr.
As they grow older the secretion stops, and later each leaf
apex withers upand dies. Another case of secretion or excretion
of a very different nature is that of honey (which is a solution
of sugar in water), by flowers. In this case the secretion or
pouring out of water will take place for days just as well after
we have cut off the flower from the stem and placed it in water

86

as before we did so, which shows that the secretion of these
drops is perfectly independent of the rest of the plant and of
the root pressure, and depends on the local activity of paiticular
living cells. These cells form what are called mectaries, which
are well seen in the Crown Imperial (Pritillaria imperial),
where they form large circular areas at the base of the perianth
leaves. They have no special pores, and generally lie more or
less on the surface, exposed freely to the action of the air, in
a sort of depression of the epidermis, which, however, does not
cover them; thus a little cup is formed by cells, which take up
great quantities of water by the osmotic activity of substances
in their cell-sap from the end of the fibro-vascular bundle over
which their inner surface is always placed in direct contact, and
which breaks up beneath them in a radiating manner. ‘The
activity of these cells is so great that more water is taken up
than the cells can contain ; they thus become turgid and a pres-
sure is set up in them, in consequence of which water is forced
out from them by filtration through the cell-walls, on to the
exterior at the surface of least resistance, in order to prevent
rupture taking place. In this case the cells appear to be able
of themselves to set up a pressure in the absence of the root
pressure which they were unable to do in the case of the water
gland.
The causes of the ascending current of water are, then :—
I.—Internal causes, dependent on the plant itself:

A. The endosmotic cunmstant activity of the root-cells,
producing a suction on the soil.

B. Capillarity, which has a twofold action: 1. Its action
in raising a column of water. This will, of course,
have but little influence comparatively, except when
water and air occur together in the vessels, or in
the cases of root pressure in spring 2. Its action
in maintaining a column of water when already
raised. ;

C. Diffusion in its widest sense.

D. Imbibition.

IJ.—External causes :—

87

A. Transpiration, the v7s a fronté giving the upward
pull at the leaves, and causing a demand for the
water absorbed by the roots to supply the loss which
it occasions.

B. Variations of temperature which, by causing expan-
sions and contractions of the air within the vessels
affect the relative distances between the micelle
composing their walls, and thus produce local ex-
pansions and contractions, followed by currents of
water. .

C. The action of the wind, which causes the swaying of
the branches and leaves. It is well known that if
you bend a tube, such as a vessel, the calibre or size
of the bent part is smaller than when the tube was
straight, and therefore a bent tube will hold less
than a straight tube; but not only does bending
affect the calibre, it affects also the solid sub-
stance, by diminishing the distance between the
component micellz at particular points, and in-
creasing them at others, for while one part is con-
tracted another partisexpanded. The result is that
water is forced out where the distances are dimin-
ished, and since it cannot be forced downwards
against all the forces acting concurrently which tend
to bring it upwards, it passes upwards, for in this di-
rection it has only its own weight to oppose it. The
effect of the bending is thus to produce a local ten-
sion, and when this is removed there will be an up-

_ ward current to supply the space which is left empty,
In addition to this, in the parts where the distance
between the micellze has increased, more water is
needed, and so there is an upward current to those
parts aiso. So, then, every alternate bending, first
to one side and then to another, produces a corres-
ponding upward movement of the water, and the
branches act as so many pumps, so to speak, doing
their work slowly but surely, not by their cavities

88

but by the bounding walls of those cavities. The
action of wind swaying the leaves causes an in-
creased amount of transpiration to take place, and
in this way affects the upward current.

Thus far we have dealt with the course and movement of the
ascending current of water through the plant, maintained, as
we have have seen, in obedience to the pull given by trans-
piration, the fluid being supplied by the absorptive power of
the parenchyma cells of the root.

Now we have to speak shortly of what was formerly known
as the “ descending current of the sap,” or “the elaborated sap.”
It was believed, and is still believed by many, that the ascending
current of water, after being deprived in the leaves of a large
portion of its water by evaporation and transpiration, descends
again, taking a definite course after having received a new
element into its composition, which substance is of the highest
importance in the growth of the plant—viz., Carbon. This
Carbon is obtained from the small quantity of the carbon
dioxide gas which is present in the air, and which is taken up
principally, as appears from the recent experiments of Boussin-
gault, of which mention has been already made, through the
cuticularised cell-walls of the epidermal cells covering the upper
surface of the leaf, and not by means of the intercellular passa-
ges of the lower surface, and the stomata which communicate
with them, as was formerly believed to be the case.

The green colouring matter, chlorophyll, so almost univer-
sally distributed in the vegetable kingdom, is present in the cells
of the leaf parenchyma ; and under the presence of it, of an
adequate supply of air containing the carbon dioxide, of bright
sunlight, and of certain appropriate salts, more particularly salts
of potassium, the plant is able to separate the carbon from the
carbon dioxide, and to combine it with oxygen and hydrogen in
the proportions in which the latter occur in water, and thus
form the carbo-hydrate well-known as starch. The formation
of the starch takes place only in connection with the living
protoplasm of the cell, and the part of it specially set apart

89

for this function is the protoplasm which forms as it were
a matrix in which the green colouring matter lies. For
chlorophyll does not usually occur, staining the whole pro-
toplasm of the cell after the fashion of a dye; but when the
cell is examined by the microscope, under a power of a quarter
of an inch objective, it is seen that the green colouring matter
occurs in grains or granules of a rounded or angular form; and
on treating these grains, granules, or corpuscles, with reagents
such as alcohol and ether, it has been found possible to remove
the colouring matter and leave the isolated grains or granules
unstained. These isolated grains are nothing but living pro-
toplasm, and it is in them that the first formation of starch from
carbon and the elements of water takes place under the action
of light.

If we place a plant in the light, we find that minute starch
grains appear in these chlorophyll corpuscles of the leaves ; if
we then place it in darkness, we no longer find starch grains
present in this position: the starch grains, then, which were
formed in the light have been conveyed away in the dark. In
what way is this starch conveyed away from the leaves and
transmitted to the various parts of the plant? The cells of the
leaves are completely closed, and starch cannot be conveyed
away bodily from one part of the plant to another. Starch is
also practically insoluble in water ; hence, it must have been
converted into some soluble substance, and one, moreover,
which will pass by diffusion through the cell-wall. In the
bodies of animals processes of conversion of this kind are always
going on—e. g., in the stomach, starch is converted into sugar
under the action of certain bodies called ferments, and analogy
leads us to believe that the same is the case in plants: that is
to say, starch is converted into sugar, and into the particular
form of glucose which is a substance soluble in water by the
action of unorganized ferments ; and then this sugar formed by
the process of fermentation is removed from the leaves and
carried away in solution to the other parts of the plant. These
ferments are not only supposed to exist in plants, they have
actually been discovered to do so in the cells of buds and leaves.

go

They are very active in germinating seeds, e. g., in the process
of malting barley.. The ferment present in malt was first dis-
covered and was called azastase, and hence all unorganized
ferments which convert starch into sugar are called dastatic.
But how does the sugar in solution pass through the protoplasm
of the cells where it is transformed ? for this offers a considerable
resistance to the passage of substances through it. In the
case of the beet-root, quoted in an early part of this paper, we
saw that the cane sugar present in the cell-sap did not pass
through the protoplasm and escape from the cells into the
surrounding water in which the section was immersed, even
when the cells were allowed to remain there for some con-
siderable time. To this question it is, unfortunately, at present
impossible to give a definite answer. Possibly the sugar at
once undergoes a change into a substance which will pass by
diffusion through the protoplasm more readily than it can itself
do—z.e., into some form of vegetable acid; or perhaps the
sugar exists under these conditions of formation in a form dif-
ferent from, and more diffusible than, that in which it is met with
after it has lain for a long period in the stores or reservoirs
of the plant. There is no doubt whatever that it does pass in
some form or other from the leaves to the other parts of the
plant. If we assume either that it is directly converted into a
very diffusible form of sugar, or indirectly into some diffusible
substance, such as a vegetable acid, we have the key to the
whole distribution of the sugar solution in the plant. Now it
is the movement.of this sugar solution which has been long
known as the descending current of the elaborated sap. It was
formerly said that its course was a downward one, through
that portion of the growing wood in ordinary forest trees (Dico-
tyledons) which we know as the cambium; a zone of ordinary
parenchyma cells capable of division, and from which the
annual additions take place to the exterior of the wood proper
which lies internally to it, and to the interior of what is known
as the inner or bast layer of the bark, which lies externally to
it ; and also that it passed through certain vessels in this bast
layer as well.

g!

In reality the distribution of this sugar solution does not take
place in any definite and determined direction, but can take
place through the parenchyma cells of the plant in any direc-
tion whatever, upwards as well as downwards, by simple diffu-
sion to those parts where it is required, z. e., to those parts where
growth is going on, and where there is a deficiency of sugar in
consequence of a consumption of sugar material, and hence
where there is a demand being set up forit. Thus, if we imagine
a cell dividing and getting poor in sugar, in a plant in which, to
begin with, all the cells were in eguzibrium, that is to say,
possessed of an equal supply of sugar or starch, immediately a
demand is created from cell to cell throughout the whole plant
for sugar solution, which passes by diffusion towards that point
in all directions until equilibrium is again established. The
distribution of this sugar solution in the plant depends, then,
on the processes going on within the plant, which are using the
sugar up in various ways. Consequently, the course of this
sugar solution is very different at different seasons, since
growth varies at different times. In spring we have active
growth of the leaves, and growth of the wood in the stem and
in the root, both in length and thickness. As the leaves form
this sugar solution it is clear that when they are in the pro-
cess of development they cannot form it for their own growth.
The growth of the leaves takes place by means of the use of
the reserve food material, such as aleurone and starch; hence
in spring the current of sugar solution is not from the leaves
to somewhere else, but from the reservoir, wherever it may
be, upwards towards the growing organs—e. g., leaves, flowers,
&c., where it is being consumed to supply the material for the
growing cells, and promote the development of those organs.
When the leaves are formed, and active growth goes on in the
stem, roots, and flowers, the direction of the current of the sugar
solution is then, as I have stated, from the leaves to every part
where growth is taking place; hence in summer its course is an
indeterminate one. In the autumn we have less active growth,
and the plant is then producing seed or laying up stores of starch
and other substances for the supply of the next spring, so the

g2

current of sugar solution will then be carried from the leaves
to the seeds, or downwards to the base of the stem to some
depository or reservoir, (root, rhizome, tuber, or bulb), because
it is being there deposited bodily as starch (sometimes, however,
it continues to exist in the form of sugar—e. g., in the onion),
- and stored up either for use by the plant in the succeeding
year, or for the development of the embryo, for in both of
these cases there will be a demand for it which must be supplied.
Starch, then, travels down from the leaves ina soluble form,
through the parenchymatous cells to the cells of the tubers and
other subterranean reservoirs, which are unable to form it for
themselves, since they possess no chlorophyll, but only store it
up by re-depositing it in the bodily form of starch in consequence
of deriving a supply of sugar solution from the leaves. The
parenchyma cells of the plant, in which the sugar solution
passes, have always a very acid reaction to test paper ; and it
may be, as I have said, that the sugar is temporarily in the
form of an acid, to enable it to be more easily transferred from
one part of the plant to another. The transference of carbo-
hydrate material does not, moreover, take place in one single
stage only—that is, by starch being converted into sugar at the
leaves, and this again re-converted into starch at the reservoirs;
but it is interrupted or halts at certain periods on the way
before it reaches its final destination, and the sugar solution is
thrown down here and there, in the insoluble form of starch, in
cells which are not reservoirs for starch: this latter at a subse-
quent period is re-dissolved.

The change of starch from the soluble form of glucose to the
insoluble form in the reservoirs does not take place promiscu-
ously in all the protoplasm of the cells of the tubers, &c., as was
at one time believed to be the case, but is confined to certain
special portions of it, forming bodies known as starch-forming
corpuscles. These have been most specially studied by A. F.
W. Schimper, in the tubers of the potato, and also in various
roots and rhizomes* If a piece of a potato tuber be exposed to

© “Researches upon the Development of Starch Grains,” Botanische Zeitung, 1880,
No. §2, translated in Quart, Four. Micros. Sci. New Series, Ixxxii., April, 1881.

95

the light it turns green, and it is the starch-forming corpuscles
which, though normally colourless, can and do become green
under the action of the light. The correspondence between the
chlorophyll corpuscles and these colourless corpuscles which
exist in the internal reservoirs is then a very close one.

Each starch-forming corpuscle consists of a small portion of
differentiated protoplasm, which varies in shape according to
the plant examined ; in many plants they are rod-shaped in
form ;—in the potato tuber, however, they are circular. They
are especially abundant in the immediate neighbourhood of the
nuclei of the cells; thus if the cells of a section of a tuber of the
potato immersed in alcohol be examined, a number of those
protoplasmic circular bodies will usually be found surrounding
each nucleus. The starch grain in its earliest stage of develop-
ment projects from each of these as a little hump or protuber-
ance on;one side of the corpuscle, which, when treated with
iodine, turns a blue colour, showing that it is starch that is
present. As the starch grain grows rapidly, in later days we
find that it has increased enormously in size, while the corpuscle
is then almost undistinguishable and is soon lost sight of. The
starch grain of itself cannot grow, it is only able to do this in
consequence of certain processes of change taking place in these
corpuscles. Directly the starch grain becomes free from its
starch-forming corpuscle all further growth ceases, for it can
only grow so long as its connection with the starch-forming
corpuscle remains unbroken.

Since the sugar solution is thus deposited, a demand for a
further supply will be created, which has to be supplied. But
in the spring, when growth is active, the starch in the sub-
terranean reservoirs—-roots, tubers, rhizomes, &c.—becomes at
once reconverted by the action of a ferment into solution of
sugar, to fit it for being more easily carried, and in this form
it passes upwards by diffusion through the parenchyma cells
towards the leaves. The movement of this solution of sugar
is now known as the “ sow movement of fluids in plants.”

That the starch is reconverted into sugar is well known.
Starch grains have been observed in various stages of disap-

94

pearance, being gradually eaten away and frayed out from the
surface by something present in the cells, and this has been
especially seen in observations made on seeds. The starch
grains do not dissolve entirely at once, but gradually dissolve
from the outside, in somewhat the same manner as sugar does
in hot water, its solution being due to the action of a diastatic
ferment.

We:see, then, that the direction of the slow movement of
fluid is determined by local circumstances, and the reason it
does descend to the root and not ascend to the inflorescence is
simply in relation to the demand for sugar there. Wherever
the simple unaltered parenchyma tissue remains in the plant,
with unaltered cell-walls through which this diffusion may
prevail, there we may have this sugar solution passing; conse-
quently we find it in certain strands of these cells which run at
intervals from the pith to the inner layer of the bark (bast
layer), and which are known as the “medullary rays;” its
usual course is through the growing cells of the cambium zone.

The slow movement of fluid is, then, of an essentially dif-
ferent nature from the rapid movement due to transpiration
and the other causes which we noticed. I donot think that this
movement of the sugar solution is in any way a return current
downwards of the remainder of the fluid which, with mineral
salts in solution, being deprived of its nutrient substances as it
goes on its way, at length finds its way to the leaves, and there
deposits in the leaf-cells the salts which it contains, which are of
no further use in the plant’s nutrition, the water passing off in
the form of watery vapour through the stomata; but it is a new
current, set up, in obedience to the laws of diffusion, towards
the points where there is a demand, and traversing the par-
enchymatous tissues where such laws hold complete sway.

In addition to the sugar solution we. have certain other bodies
—viz., the crystalline nitrogenous bodies, such as asparagin,
leucin, and tyrosin, which are formed as the products of a long
series of transformation changes on the proteids. These are
readily diffusible, and can pass with ease, in solution in water,
from cell to cell through the cell-walls of the parenchymatous

95

tissues of the plant, by diffusion; their distribution, like that of
the sugar solution, being regulated by the principle of demand
and supply.

If we cut through and remove a ring of bark for the breadth
of one inch, down to the very surface of the wood, taking care,
also, to remove the cambium zone, from the stem of a willow, for
instance, since this forms a good subject for operating upon, we
shall find that the part of the stem below the ring is materially
injured, though the upper part is not so. If we leave it for some
time the upper part thickens, produces rootlets and buds, and also
branches vigorously ; while the part below the ring does none
ofthese. The upper part remains in connection with the leaves ;
but the removal of the ring of bark has interrupted the passage
of the substances formed in the leaves, both non-nitrogenous
and, as we shall see presently, nitrogenous also, which the lower
portion requires for its growth ; so that this part is deprived of
its nourishment, and, in consequence, it remains dwarfed and
arrested, while the rudiments of buds which were previously
present upon it remain undeveloped. By this experiment we
have shown that the nutritive substances from the leaves pass
by the elements contained in the outer layers of the stem, ex-
ternal to the wood, which we have removed. Ringing fruit
trees in this way causes a swelling of the tissues, and a tem-
porary increase in the production of fruit above the wound,
since there is less growing surface to be supplied. According
to Sachs, if we cut a transverse section of a herbaceous stem,
such as the cucumber, dry the cut surface and place neutral
test paper, previously moistened with water, upon it, we find
that certain parts of the test paper become red and certain
others blue ;—those parts which are colored red, indicating an
acid fluid (containing sugar, oil, and vegetable acids formed
from starch in various ways), correspond to the position of the
parenchyma cells of the plant, viz., the cambium, the medullary
rays, and the parenchyma of the bast layer ; while those which
are colored blue, and indicate an alkaline fluid (containing,
according to him, substances of an albuminous or nitrogenous
nature), correspond in position to the bast portion of the

96

bark, and more particularly to the elements in it known as the
sieve tubes.

I have shown that almost the entire amount of the fluid
absorbed by the roots is expelled in the form of watery vapour
by the leaves in the process of transpiration, and that when
this supply is either insufficient to meet the demand occasioned
by transpiration, or is interfered with, the phenomenon of with-
ering takes place. Also, that the descent is determined by local
circumstances ; that its course is regulated only by the physical
laws of diffusion rendering it necessary that it should pass
through the parenchyma tissues; and the interpretation to be
placed upon the latter part of the observation which I have
mentioned, alone remains to be noticed. The alkaline reaction
is due to the presence of a proteid substance which is capable
of being assimilated by the protoplasm.

It seems, then, that proteids, as such, and otherwise than in
the form of nitrogenous crystalline bodies, are conveyed by the
plant. These proteids are stated to be formed by the combination
of starch with the body known as asparagin, since this latter
body is only absent when active formation of starch is going
on in the cells of the plant. If the plant be placed in the dark,
we get formation of asparagin in the cells of the plant, but no
formation of starch. Asparagin is regarded as formed by a
very complex series of degradation changes from the original
nitrogenous protoplasmic material of the plant, and in this way,
- in combination with starch, it is regarded as being rendered
again capable of being used up and brought into the substance
of the protoplasm once more. It is this body, then, that passes
in the form of solution through the sieve-tubes, which consist
of cells laid end to end, the transverse partition walls between
which cells have become perforated by canals, so that the
contents of long lengths of cells communicate with one another ;
and thus afford a means of conveyance for proteids, as such, from
one part of the plant to another. They appear to pass mainly
by diffusion through their walls to any point where fresh
material of this kind is needed to sustain the life of the plant,
in consequence of a consumption of them at that point, otherwise
there is no current at all.

97

The plant seems to get on better if the sieve-tubes be left
untouched in the experiments of ringing trees, than it does if
they are removed along with the other elements included by
the ring.

In some plants also, as the Euphorbias, the Poppies, and the
section of the Composite represented by the Dandelion, we
find certain vessels present in the bast, known as /aticiferous
vessels, containing a milky fluid, one of the constituents of
which is proteid material which is thus transported in this
channel from one part of the plant to another. These vessels
seem to have some influence in distributing the substances
formed in the leaves; their use for this purpose is, however, a
secondary one, and they are not essential elements, since they
are only present in a few plants.

Lastly, we have the movement of water in the process of
growth.

The growth of the cells of plants is always connected with
the absorption of water, and this not only as regards the size of
the cell vacuole ; for the growth of the cell-wall, &c., is also
accompanied by the intercalation of particles of water between
the solid micellae. .

Water must, therefore, be conducted to the growing cells and
tissues, and when the organs which absorb the water lie ata
Peace from those which require it from their growth, the
movement of liquid is necessarily considerable.

Water is also required by the organs of assimilation, since it
gives the hydrogen required for organic compounds.

The reservoirs of nutrient matter, in which substances such
as starch are for a time accumulated, also require water to enable
them to dissolve these substances, in order that they may be
transported as formative material to the leaves and growing
apices of rootsand stems. All these movements of water, which
are necessarily connected with nutrition and growth, proceed
slowly, like growth itself. Their direction is from the nearer
parts first, then from the more distant, and finally from the
external medium. The water travels slowly by osmosis, from
cell to cell, through the parenchyma, and as the equilibrium

H

98

between the individual cells is destroyed by the consumption of
water in the growing cells, the water from the more distant
portions of the tissue is absorbed to restore it. The growing
cells contain dense protoplasm and need much water, the older
parts contain less dense protoplasm and much cell-sap, and the
still older parts only cell-sap.

In conclusion, I must thank you for the attention which you
have given me while I have endeavoured to treat this intricate
and difficult subject in as plain a manner as I could think of,
and I trust that in some respects at least I have not left unful-
filled the task I had set myself, viz., to give some account of
the mechanism whereby the movements of fluids in plants is
determined. My thanks are also due to my friend W. Gardi-
ner, B.A., for valuable information concerning his researches
on water glands and water pores, without which this essay
would have been necessarily incomplete.

[The paper was illustrated by diagrams and drawings of
some of the various parts of plant structure noticed during its
progress. ]

oh

15th February, 1881.
Mr. R. Youne, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. Roserr Younc, C.E., read a Paper entitled

REMARKS ON HOW IDEAS OF HEIGHT ARE
FORMED.

THE attention of the writer was drawn to the importance of
this subject bya singular experience he had lately, when visiting
the coast of Clare.

When a young man, with a strong relish for the wilder aspects
of nature, he had the good fortune to be located for a considerable
time in the vicinity of Ballycastle, and during his leisure had
ample opportunities of examining and sketching the bold head-
lands and sea cliffs from Benmore on one side to Pleaskin on
the other. Some years afterwards he had the opportunity of
carefully studying the rest of the grand coast line of Antrim
from Cushendun to Larne, and making drawings of the most
picturesque points ; so that these familiar Antrim cliffs became
the standards to which he naturally referred any cliffs or preci-
pices he met with in other places. Of late years, on several
journeys both in England and Scotland, and in the Continent,
he had been struck with the singular tameness of cliffs which
he found exceeded those on our coast in height, but failed to
impress the mind as forcibly. It was not, however, till lately
that the full explanation of this curious phenomenon occurred
to him.

In making a tour, last August, through Clare and Kerry, he
had turned aside to visit the famed cliffs of Moher, about the

100

grandeur of which so much has been said; and their height
being upwards of 600 feet, and springing sheer from the Atlantic
waves, he naturally anticipated being impressed with a feeling
of sublimity. The day was calm, and he was able to approach
the extreme edge at one of the little outlooks considerately
furnished by Mr. O’Brien, the owner of the place, and there to
make a careful drawing of the range of cliffs extending towards
Liscanor ; but the feeling he experienced was that of disap-
pointment and depression of spirits, instead of elevation. Instead
of the sensation being equal to that experienced at the Fair
Head, it seemed to be even less than one feels at the sight of
Pleaskin, which does not reach 400 feet. What can this mean?
The explanation would seem to be this :—

The Moher cliffs are composed of a vast mass of thin slate
beds, slightly tilted up towards the sea, of a dull, sooty tint in
general, and only relieved here and there by a little local colour
from lichens. The slaty structure can only be faznd/y seen in
the nearest cliff, at about 200 yards distance ; and those beyond
it show simply one uniform dark grey tint, and might be of sand-
stone or trap, for any external evidence to the contrary. In
short, what is wanting is a modulus or scale to give the eye
and mind a means of piling up the idea of height.

Standing ina similar position at Pleaskin, Co. Antrim, how
different everything is found.

Beginning at the sea level are beds of tabular trap and amyg-
daloids, separated by thin veins of red ochre—above these, the
stratum of red ochre, which forms such a striking feature in
other parts of the headlands, and is upwards of 25 feet thick—
above this rise the magnificent basaltic columns which are seen
at a glance to be not a whit less in bulk than those which can
be approached and handled at the Loom, or at the Giants’
Organ, and which are known to be at least s50 feet in height.
Resting on these pillars is a mass of basaltic rock, partly amor-
phous and partly prismatic, which the eye tells you is some-
what thicker than the range of columns ; and above this stands
a second tier of basaltic pillars even larger than the lower ones.
The upper portion of the cliff is composed of several strata of

IO]

greenstone, separated by partings of lignite and red ochre,
and in the aggregate is about twice the depth of one range of
columns, or somewhere about 100 feet in thickness.

In addition to the scale of measurement afforded by the
columns, it is obvious that the strongly-contrasted structure
of the alternate beds of rock, and the variety and piquancy of
effect arising from the bright tints of the ochre beds, which
draw the eye, as did the rubricated lines in the old MSS., to
important passages, all help to create the impression of size
and importance of this magnificent headland.

It has often been remarked that visitors to the Causeway
have been disappointed with what they have first seen at the
Grand Causeway, but have expressed their admiration after-
wards, when brought to Pleaskin and Benmore. Very likely
this mainly arises from their carrying with them the idea of the
size of the columns with which they had been brought in
contact at starting, and which now serves them as a scale when
they try to form a notion of the height of the huge sea-wall in
which they again find these familiar forms rising in symmetrical
ranges one above the other. In short, the effect of natural
scenery must depend very much on how the eye has been:
disciplined previously by the examination of forms of the same
or somewhat similar character.

The principle of aggregation, or multiplicity of parts, in
helping to an estimate of vastness, as in the pictorial represen-
tation of mountain forms, has been well explained by Ruskin
in “Modern Painters,’ and illustrated by his own exquisite
drawing of “A Buttress of the Alps.” In architecture, also, it
is well recognised ; and by acting on this knowledge, the de-
signer of St. Paul’s, in London, produced a building which,
although much inferior in size, strikes the mind with a greater
idea of sublimity than St. Peter’s, at Rome, with all its lavish
expenditure.

102

15th February, 1881.
Mr. R. Youne, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. WM. SWANSTON read a Paper on

SOME OLD COINS FOUND RECENTLY BETWEEN
TIDE-MARKS AT KILROOT NEAR
CARRICKFERGUS.

THE next communication was by Mr. William Swanston, who
exhibited and gave an account of several old coins, both silver
_ and copper, recently found between tide-marks a short distance
to the north of Carrickfergus. The coins consisted of several
silver of Charles II., base coinage of Philip and Mary, a few,
apparently Scotch, of copper, and several local tokens, &c. Of
the tokens, one was by ‘‘ Anthony Hall, in Carrickfergus,” two
were of Belfast issue, but the names were undecipherable.
Strange to say, there was also one Roman copper coin in fair
preservation ; also a seal-like article, with an inscription in
early English letters, and very similar in character to an
article in the Benn collection.

In connection with the above subject, a copy of M‘Skimin’s
History of Carrickfergus, and the first edition of Benn’s History
of Belfast, in which many local tokens are figured, were handed
round.

103

15th February 1881.
Mr. Ropert Youne, Vice-President.in the Chair.
Mr. A. O’D. Taytor read a paper on

BELFAST INVESIGATORS FROM 1808 TO 1820 IN
VARIOUS BRANCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

104

15th March, 1881.

The President, PRoFEssoR PursER, in the Chair.

Professor E. A. Letts read a Paper on

RECENTLY-DISCOVERED ARTIFICIAL COLOURING
MATTERS.

PROFESSOR LETTS stated that the origin of the industry in arti-
ficial colours was the introduction of gas as an illuminating
agent. About the year 1739, the Rev. Dr. Clayton, Dean of
Kildare, obtained combustible gas by heating coal; but the
inventor of practical gas-lighting was Murdoch, who, in 1792)
lighted his workshops at Redruth, in Cornwall, by its means,
and in 1802 established a gaswork at the Soho Foundry, near
Birmingham, the property of the well-known firm of Boulton
and Watt. Ten years later the invention was introduced into
London, and gas-lighting soon became general.

Every one knows that gas is produced by heating coal, and
that tar is obtained as a bye-product. Neither of these pre-exists
in coal, but both are produced from it by extremely complex
changes in the material of which the coal is composed. Now,
tar, which may be defined as the liquid substances produced by
heating coal, is a mixture of a great many very different bodies ;
over forty have been separated from it already, and no doubt
others remain to be isolated. In spite of the immense wealth
lying latent in coal-tar, it was at first regarded as a useless bye-
product, and was sent down the sewers or burned. But now it

105

is sO valuable that, were the electric light to supersede gas as an
illuminating agent, it is probable that we should still have to
prepare tar almost, if not quite, in as large quantities as at
present. The lecturer then explained how the first aniline
colour was discovered. Aniline was first obtained by Unver-
dorben, a German chemist, by distilling indigo, and derives its
name from awz/, the Portuguese for indigo. Later it was found
to be present in coal-tar. For ten years it was regarded simply
as a chemical curiosity, and was without practical application:
In the year 1856, however, Mr. Perkin, whilst endeavouring to
obtain quinine artificially, discovered that aniline, when treated
with oxidising agents, yields a splendid mauve dye. Thus the
first of the aniline colours was discovered by accident ; and the
lecturer pointed out how often it has occurred that investigations
of a purely scientific kind have led to important practical results.
This was the case with the discovery of chloroform, and also
parafin. The mauve dye attracted universal attention, and, as
a consequence, the study of aniline and coal-tar products was
pushed on with great vigour, with the result that a large and
very profitable industry came into existence. The lecturer then
explained that the quantity of aniline present in coal-tar is so
minute that it would be very expensive if it could only be ob-
tained directly from the tar. But, fortunately, it can easily be
made from benzol, a hydrocarbon which is abundant in tar.
This, when treated with aquafortis, gives nitro-benzol, a sub-
stance smelling like oil of almonds, and used, under the name
of o7/ of mirbane,in perfumery. The nitro-benzol, when boiled
with vinegar and iron, gives aniline. Rosaniline was discovered
about the same time as the mauve dye, and is prepared from
commercial aniline by heating it with arsenic acid. It is a
splendid red-colouring matter of intense tinctorial power. Hof-
mann very carefully examined it, and found that it could not
be prepared from pure aniline, but only from a mixture of
aniline and a very similar substance found in commercial aniline
called toluidine. MRosaniline is the starting point for a great
number of very beautiful colouring matters. The first disco-
vered of these were the violets tmperiales and bleu lumiere, which

106

were made in France by heating aniline with rosaniline. Hof-
mann found that they were derivatives of rosaniline, resulting
from the replacement of hydrogen by a compound called
phenyl, and that the more the hydrogen was thus replaced,
so much the bluer was the colour. In a masterly research
Hofmann showed that other groups could be introduced into
rosaniline instead of phenyl, and that very beautiful colour-
ing matters resulted. The so-called Hofmann violets are of
this description, the group introduced in place of the hy-
drogen being either methyl or ethyl. Two other colours are
produced from rosaniline—one is the so-called gas green or
iodine green, and is obtained by the same processes as the Hof-
mann violets. The other is a yellow dye called chrysaniline
or phosphine, and is found in the residues of the rosaniline
manufacture. Other dyes made from aniline have a brown
colour, and a very fast black can also be prepared. The lecturer
then showed experimentally how easily some of these dyes are
prepared, and how simple an operation dyeing silk and wool
with them is. In fact, fabrics made of the latter are at once
dyed by simply immersing them in a solution of the colouring
matter. He then said that the anthracene colours were of great
importance, and explained how they were first made artificially.
The Egyptians employed madder as a dye, for it has been found in
the cloths in which mummies arewrapped. The colouring princi-
ple of madder was discovered by two Frenchmen, and was named
alizarine by them. Two German chemists showed that alizarine
is a derivative of anthracene, a hydrocarbon found in tar, and
they then discovered a process for converting anthracene into
alizarine. This process was improved by Mr. Perkin, and is
now carried out on the large scale. In fact, very little madder
is now cultivated, the artificial dye-stuff being employed instead.
The lecturer showed what remarkable tinctorial properties ali-
zarine possesses, and also dyed some cloths various colours by
its means. He expressed his thanks to Messrs. Crum & Co., of
Thornlie Bank, near Glasgow, for the beautiful specimens of
dyed fabrics they had kindly given him. Dr. Letts then passed
on to say a few words about Professor Baeyer’s researches on

107

some curious substances called phthaleines, some of which are
dye-stuffs. One of these, called ffworesceine, is a very curious
body, which, when dissolved in hartshorn, shows a splendid
green fluorescence. The lecturer concluded his sketch of arti-
ficial colours by mentioning that indigo had lately been obtained
artificially by Professor Baeyer, and that attempts were being
made in Germany to prepare it commercially. He believed
that the culture of indigo will soon be a thing of the past.

108

12th April, 1881.
The Vice-President, Ropert Youne, Esq., C.E., in the Chair.

Mr. JosepH Wricut, F.G.S., read a Paper,
NOTES ON THE FORAMINIFERA—GENUS LAGENA.

AFTER briefly referring to the structure and classification of
foraminifera, Mr. Wright went on to speak of their abundance
almost everywhere over the bed of the ocean, the white oozy
material frequently dredged from great depths being known
as globigerina ooze, from the abundance of Glodigerina found,
through it. He instanced in illustration of the abundance of
foraminiferal life at some places, that in one ounce of mud
gathered by Mr. John Pim off the fluke of an anchor at Vik-
holmen, Norway, and sent to him for microscopic examination,
he found sixty-two different species of foraminifera, some of them
represented by hundreds of individuals. He then spoke of
Lagenaas being the simplest form of the hyaline foraminifera, con-
sisting of one chamber, and frequently covered with most varied
and beautiful shell ornamentation. Many of the deep-sea forms
have long projecting spines. These, he suggested, might be to
assist them in maintaining an upright position in the soft ooze
in which they are usually found. Zagene have attained their
maximum development during recent times. They are of rare
occurrence in the Mesozoic and Palzozoic periods, although
other forms of foraminifera are abundant. Our leading British
rhizopodists are of opinion that connecting links may be found

109

between nearly all the species of foraminifera. With regard to
Lagena, hesaidallour British flat Entosolenian Lagene havetheir
three-sided representatives in the Estuarine Clay at Limavady
Junction, and he suggested these might be intermediate links
between the flat and round Lagena, also that an Australian
Lagena had been found not unlike Lagena costata, having a slit
aperture, a character which had been considered characteristic
of our flat Entosolenians. He also added that the bilocular
Lagene occasionally met with might be the link between Lagena
and (Vodosaria. ‘The paper was illustrated by diagrams.

IIO

12th Apri, 1881.

_—

Mr. Rosert YounG, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. A. O’D. Taytor read a Paper on
THE. WILD BIRDS’ PROTECTION ACT ese:

Mr. Taytor pointed out that there had been since 1869 three
Acts passed on this subject. The first of these was “An Act
for the Preservation of Sea Birds,” passed in the 32nd and 33rd
year of the present reign; the second, “An Act for the Pro-
tection of certain Wild Birds during the Breeding Season,”
passed in the 35th and 36th year ; and the third, “ An Act for
the Preservation of Wild Fowl,” passed in the 39th and goth
year. The last one—that now under consideration—was passed
in the 43rd and 44th year of Victoria, 7th September, 1880, and
came into force on the 1st March, 1881. Its title was “ Wild
Birds’ Protection, 1880.” The main object of all these Acts was
undoubtedly a wise and kindly one—namely, to afford to all
those birds whose habits are not in themselves injurious to the
interests of man that immunity from molestation which all
animals require while looking after their young. ‘The salient
features of the present Act are as follows :—First—The close
time is from Ist March till 1st August inclusive. Second—lIf
within that period any bird specified in an annexed schedule of
85 birds be killed by shooting or trapping, the penalty for each
bird so shot or trapped, or attempted to be shot or trapped, or
exposed for sale (after the 15th March} shall be a sum not ex-
ceeding 2cs. Third—lIf the bird destroyed be an unscheduled
one the offender shall, in the firstjinstance, be reprimanded, and

Ii!

for any offence thereafter the penalty shall not exceed §s. for
each bird. Fourth—Power is given to the principal Secretaries
of State in Great Britain, and to the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland,
to extend or vary the close time. Fifth—The Act extends to
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, but not to the Island
of St. Kilda; and a power of exempting any county or part of
a county is procurable upon the application of justices in quarter
sessions. A brisk controversy has sprung up as regards the
dates fixed, and the chief contention has been about the month
of March. Mr. Taylor gave extracts from various communica-
tions on this point from gentlemen in England and elsewhere,
some few in favour of an earlier date than 1st March, but most
in favour of a later date. Coast shooters seem in favour of the
month of March being an open one; inland gunners hold the
contrary opinion. Mr. Taylor was in favour of the former view
as regards the coast and estuaries, because in the month of March
immense flocks of geese and duck are passing northwards to
breed—birds which are really migratory, and which rarely breed
in these latitudes, their nesting places being in Lapland, Arctic
Siberia, and even away in the Arctic circle. It seems hard to
professional shooters to debar them in March from the legitimate
exercise of their profession as regards birds which do not breed
in these islands. The 1st of April would be a fair date to meet
such cases. There is, fortunately, an elasticity in the Act,
through the power given of varying the close time, which might
practically be so used as to meet the different requirements of
different parts of the country. Mr. Taylor considered the
amount of imposable fine, 20s., excessive, as scarcely any bird
is worth more than §s. for table. Except in some aggravated
case, 5s. and costs seems ample. There have already been
several convictions in London, Liverpool, and Hull under the
new Act. Another point where a practical absurdity is not
unlikely to arise was illustrated thus :—The justices of quarter
sessions in one county may seek and obtain a modification of
the close time, and the justices of the adjoining county may
seek aud obtain a different modification. County Antrim may
set the close time to end 15th July, and County Down may be

112

content to allow the 1st of August, as specified by the Act, to
stand. On the 16th of July a gunner may then shoot with
impunity a gull at one side of the River Lagan, which divides
the two counties ; but if another gunner shoots the gull’s mate
at the’other side of the river, he may be taken before a magistrate
and fined 20s. There is a peculiarity in the last clause of
section 3 of the new Act, which, in Mr. Taylor’s judgment,
greatly impairs the catholic character of the Act, and places
under the control of private fancy or caprice the killing or cap-
ture of all birds not in the privileged schedule. In other words,
this clause seems to place the owner or occupier of the land, or
any one delegated by him, above both the letter and spirit of
the Act. The words run thus :—‘ This section (namely, No. 3,
specifying the penalties) shall not apply to the owner or occupier -
of any land, or to any person authorised by the owner or occu-
pier of any land, killing or taking any wild bird on such land,
not included in the schedule hereto annexed.” Such a permis-
sion seems to contradict the very basis of the Act stated in
the preamble, which says, “ Whereas it is expedient to provide
for the Protection of Wild Birds of the United Kingdom during
the Breeding Season.” How the expediency of the protection
is in any way done away with by the honour of being done
to death by a landlord or by some one delegated by him, Mr.
Taylor failed to see. A curious legal point has already arisen
in connection with the clause—namely, does this admitted pri-
vilege of capture and killing justify possession or exposure for
sale? At Hull, on the 28th of March this year, this case was
tried, and the magistrate, after a day’s consideration, decided it
did not justify exposure for sale. The want of provision for guard-
ing eggs seems to be a serious defect in the present Act. It seems,
strange to say, the law will take no cognisance of the germ
which developes into the chick, but only comes into force when
the chick emerges from the shell. The eggs, at least, of such
birds as breed in colonies, and are, therefore, much more ex-
posed, should be protected for some limited time of the breeding
season. ‘The ten or eleven weeks from the 15th of May till the
15th August would be sufficient to ensure the sea-birds at our

113

various breeding haunts round our coast being able to rear at
least one brood in peace and comfort, provided their eggs were
held sacred during that period. Plover, snipe, and some other
birds which breed inland in colonies would need similar pro-
tection for their eggs. Mr. Taylor stated he was not at all in
favour of over-legislation, and that he held a government might
become too paternal; therefore he was not in favour of any
legal punishment or fine being imposed on every thoughtless
little boy who robbed a bird’s nest. Strongly as he deprecated
such cruelty, he thought that as regards the solitary nests of our
ordinary small birds, home-teaching and the inculcation of
thoughtfulness and kindness for the lower animals would be a
sufficient safeguard against destroying most birds’ eggs. Parents,
teachers, and the admirable lessons inculcated in various ways
by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, might
safely be left to guide public sentiment and the habits a boys
about taking birds’ eggs from mere wantonness. As regards
the schedule annexed to the Act, it is a defective one in the
nomenclature, without entering on what reasons led to the
rather puzzling selection of privileged birds. The local English
names of several species were given—names which none but —
students of ornithology could recognise. Then, there seemed
some extraordinary confusion in actually repeating the same
bird under different names—for example, on the schedule the
gannet is mentioned in one place and the solan goose in another ;
the two names are for the same bird. The curlew is ened
-in one part of the list, the whaup in another:—to these the
same remark applies. The new Act, however, as a whole, being
well meant and carefully devised, should have a fair trial, and,

perhaps, hereafter, some of the improvements suggested might
be added to it.

mr

1
ee
+e
cYiria

5 ee
ores Pistia
4

“ad

Pa
~Ma
Leg:

te 4 only ue
¥ wh: 1
mise: nn ee
7 Te] i
f ee 4

cen
%

Paper Athy
_ ,

+

79 ete I yh

mY att Bc 4)
Aaa x "th age (ME! “os rd

alt Me woes mY Hi bowl

| sid pou ~ it

IIs

DONATIONS TO LIBRARY DURING SESSION 1880-1.

—+

ApgLAIDE.—Philosophical Society. Anniversary Address of
the President, R. Tate, 1879.
Zoologica et Palzontologica Miscellanea. South Aus-
tralia. R. Tate.
Natural History of the Country Around the Head of the
Great Australian Bight. By R. Tate.
The Author.
Transactions and Proceedings and Report of the Royal
Society of South Australia (late Adelaide Phil. Socy.)
Wiols.1, 26 3. The Society.

Betrast.—Birds, Fish, and Cetacea frequenting Belfast Lough.
R. L. Patterson. The Author.

Proceedings of Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club, 1879-80.
The Club.

Boston.—Proceedings of Boston Natural History Society.
Vol. 20, Pts. 2 & 3, from November, 1878, to Jan.,

1880. The Soctety.
Science Observations. 29, vol. 3, No. 5. 31, vol. 3,
No. 7, 1880. The Editor.

Botocna.—Rendiconto delle Sessioni Dell Accademia Delli
Scienze Dell’ Instituto di Bologna, 1878-9, 1879-80.
The Society.

Brussets.—Bulletin de la Societe Royale de Botanique de

Belgique. Tome dix-neuvieme, Fascicule, premiere et
deuxieme. The Society.

Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de Belgique.
Series 3, No. I. The Society.

116

BERLIN.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde zu
Berlin. Band 8. - No, 1, January, 18éi8; No.2,
February, 1882. The Society.

BRIGHTON.—Annual Report Brighton and Sussex Nat. Hist.
Society. The Soctety.

BRESLAU.—Zeitschrift fur Entomologie, Breslau; Neue Folge
Siebentes Heft. 1879. The Society.

CatcuTra.— Geological Survey of India. Monograph on Fossil

Corals, Alcyonaria of Sind. 28 plates. Ser. 14,
vol. 1. 1880.

Geological Survey of India. Memoirs. Vol. 17, pts.
rand 2; vol. 15, pt. 2.

Palaeontologica Indica. Series Io, pts. 4 and §; 13, part 2.

Records. Vol. 12, part 4; and 13, pts. 1 and 2.

. | The Survey.

CarpirFr.—Naturalists’ Society Report and Transactions. Vol.
11, 1879. The Soctety.

Danzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenen Gesellschaft in Danzig.
Book 4th, part 1880.

Danzig in Naturwissenscaftlicher und Medizinischer
Beziehung. Danzig, 1880. The Soctety..

DuBLIn.— Royal Dublin Society Journal. No. 45, vol. 7, 1878.

; scientific Proceedings. Vol. 1 (N. 5), paee oi royes
partsiz and 3, 1878 ; vol. 2, pts. 1, 2, and 3, 1879; 4, 5,
and 6, 1880.

Scientific Transactions, Vol.1(N.S). Memoirs, 1 and 2,
1877 ; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1878; 9, 10, 11, 12, 1880; vol.
2, part 1, 1879; part 2, 1880. The Soczety.

Journal of the Royal Historical and Archzological

Association, Ireland. Vol. 5, No. 43, July, 1880.
; The Society.

EpDINBURGH.—Transactions and Proceedings Botanical Society.
Vol. 14, part I. The Society.

117

Fiorence.—Atti Della Societa Toscana Scienza Naturale
Processi Verbale, Adunanza del, di 14 Nov., 1880.

Goriitz.—Abandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu
Gorlitz Funfzehnter Band 1875, and Sechszhehuter
Band, 1879. The Society.

HERTFORD.—Transactions Watford Nat. Hist. Society, and
Hertfordshire Field Club. Vol. 2, parts 7 and 8, April
and June, 1880. The Society.

HarvarpD.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Vol. 8, Nos. 1, 2,and 3. Harvard College, Cambridge,

Mass., U.S. Alex. Agassiz.
LAUSANNE.—Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des Science
Naturelles. Vol. 17, No. 84. The Soctety.

Lonpon.—Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Parts, 1, 2,
3, and 4, 1880.
Catalogue of the Library of the Zoological Society.
: Lhe Society.
Journal Royal Microscopical Society. Series 1, vol. 2,
Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 7a, 1879 ; vol. 3, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, and 6a, 1880,
Do. Do. Do. Series 2, vol. 1,
parts 1 and 2, February and April, 1881.
The Soczety.
Royal Astronomical Socy., Memoirs, Vol. 45, 1879-80.
The Society.
LeEIpsia.—Sitzungsberichte Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu
Leipsig. Sechster Janrgang, 1879; and Nos. 1 and 2,
1880, The Soctety.

MANCHESTER.— Transactions Geological Society. Vol. 14, parts
14, 15, 16, and 17 ; Sessions 1879-80, 18 parts, vol. 15;

Sessions 1878-79 and 1879-80, vol. 16, parts I to 5.

The Society.

Maynootu.—The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. Vol 1, parts 11
and 12, December, 1880. Maynooth College.

118

New York.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,
U.S.A. No. 4 and No. 5, 1879; No. 1, 2, 3, 1880.
The Society.
PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences, Philadelphia, U.S.A. Part 1, January,
February, March, 1880; Part 2, April to September ;
Part 3, October to December, 1880.

The Academy.
TRIESTE.—Bolletino della Societa Adriatica di Scienze Naturali
in Trieste: “Vol: 6) No. 11d8r. The Society.

ViennA.—Verhandlungen der K. K. Geological Reichsanstalt,
1877 to 1880, and Parts 1 to 7, 1881.
The Soctety.
WAsHINGTON.—Geological Survey, Territories, U.S.A. Vol. 12.
Freshwater Rhizopods. Professor Leidy.
Eleventh Annual Report, 1877. By Haydon.
The Survey,
Smithsonian Institute, U.S.A. Annual Report, 1878.
Contributions to Knowledge, vol. 22.
Miscellaneous Collections, vols. 16 & 17.
The Institute.
Report of the Chief Signal Officer, War Department, 1879.
War Department.

T19

DONATIONS TO MUSEUM—SESSION 1880-81.

weet

From CoLONEL CRAWFORD.
Impression of Bishop Hooper's Seal.
Medal in Memory of George IV.
Map of Ireland, 1572.
Two Pipes from Corfu.
Pipe Head.
Dagger from Albania.
Two Stone-handled Knives,
Coorg Knife, in Sheath.
Twenty-two Arrows of the Rhond Tribes, India,
Thorn of Acacia, from Jerusalem.
Three Tiger’s Claws, India.
Scales of Fish, from Nerbudda River.
Engraved Bronze Drinking Cup, from India.
Necklace of Groo-Groo Nuts, Demerara.
Women’s Dress, from India.
Indian Basket.
Flint and Steel for Siriking Light, from China.
Flexible Sandstone, Agra.
Two Letters of Invitation from the Begum of Bhopal.
Painted Leather Bag.
Pair of Indian Mocassins, North America
Case of British Insects.
Snout of Sawfish.
A Large Centipede, and some Snakes,
Tail of Lyre Bird.

From Wo. Gray, Esg., M.-R.I.A.

Portion of Basaltic Column, from the Giants’ Causeway.
Ancient Wooden Dish, and a Large Ammonite.

120

From GEORGE GLEN, Eso.
Specimen of Ironsand.

From Wo. Heron, Esq.
Shell, with Coral attached.

From JounN MuscGRAVvE, Esq.
Specimen of Laminated Mica Schist, from Carrick, Co. Donegal.

From Rev. J. G. ROBERTSON.
Letter Written on Leaf of Palmyra Paper, from Ceylon.

From Mr. Joun Watters, Eastleigh, Strandtown.
A Stone Celt, some Copper and some Silver Coins.

From Mr. W. J. Rosinson, Drogheda.
A number of Arrow-heads and Wrought Flakes, from Texas
and Mexico ; also, some Fossils from Texas.

From Mr. James Harper, Dunadry.
A Pike-head, found in the thatch of an old house at Donegore,
County Antrim.

From Firze1sson Loucu, Esg., C.E.
Specimen of Native Sulphur, from the Lake at White Island,
Bay of Plenty, Auckland, New Zealand.

From Mr. Wn. THompson, Glenarm.
Antique Pewter Plate, manufactured in Dublin.

From Lieut.-General SMYTHE, R.A., F.R.S.
Specimen of Red Coral ; also, Model of Canoe, from Fiji Islands.

From Lord CLERMONT.
A number of Bird Skins, from Northern India ; also, two from
Australia.

From Mr. WM. DARRAGH.
Two Stuffed Birds, from India.

MUSEUM

OF THE

Belfast Hatural History and Philosophical Society,

—o——

CATALOGUE OF THE COLLECTIONS.

eater a Oe Dene

CLASS I.—ANTIQUITIES.
SecTIon IJ.—Ir1IsH ANTIQUITIES.

Displayed in Room 3,on Ground Floor. The specimens have
been arranged in three Series.

Series I.—Objects of Stone.

Series II.—Objects of Metal.

Series III.--Objects of Wood, Bone, Earthenware, Glass, and
Leather.

SERIES I.—OBJECTS oF STONE.

The Stone Implements included in this collection consist of
articles of more or less ancient date, and display various degrees
of skill and culture in the peoples by whom they were fabricated.
They are intended to illustrate the life-history of the population
of our country in former times. A large proportion of the objects
here enumerated are pre-historic, and lead us back to a period
when the arts of civilization had made but little progress, and
the natives were content to array themselves in the skins of beasts
slain by arrows, or by spears tipped only with flint. Whether
paleolithic man found his way to Ireland seems, at present, to
be an undecided question ;—but at all events this country was
peopled at a very early date, when the rocks of our hills, and
the boulders of our gravels, furnished the materials from which
were fashioned the weapons employed in war and the chase, and
the tools used in domestic occupations.

2 cen

As might be expected, implements of stone form a conspicuous
feature in collections of Irish antiquities, and the Belfast Museum
is no exception, the cases containing numerous examples of the
prevailing types. The flint implements number close upon a
thousand, and include forms that range from rude flakes—pre-
cisely similar to those which, found elsewhere, are considered
palzolithic—to arrow-heads of the utmost symmetry of form and
delicacy of chipping. There is also a large series of the flints
regarded as scrapers ;—and the so-called hollow scrapers, so rare
in other parts of Britain, are very well represented here, both in
number and variety. The collection of arrow-heads is also good ;
all the forms are included, some of the examples being very fine.
Flint spear-heads and celts are not so numerous. Of stone axes,
or celts, there is a good display, the specimens varying much in
size and finish. Stone whorls, sinkers, whetstones, etc., are fairly
represented ;—as also various kinds of querns, or hand-mills, by
which anciently the corn was ground into meal.

Note.—Tihe Specimens to which the letter “B” is prefixed, viz.:— Bi to B1,135 were
presented to the Society by the late George Benn, Esq., of Fortwilliam Park, Belfast. They
were found chiefly in the County of Antrim, and are arranged in the wall case, on the west
side of the room,

I to 7 unmounted, and Bi to B56, mounted on cards I and 2.
Rude Flint Flakes, that show no secondary chipping. B12,
B21, and B3o, are roughly tanged, as if for the purpose of
being affixed to hafts. Nos. 8 to 12 unmounted ;—size, 1} to
4 inches long.

8 to 12 unmounted, and B57 to Bioo, mounted on cards
3 and 4.
flint Flakes, having the same general characters as the pre-
ceding, but more or less chipped on the edges—B71 has lateral
indentations near the base, as if for securing it to a handle.
No. 12 and B72 and B73 are rudely stemmed or tanged. Size,
1% to 44 inches long.

The flakes referred to above, though rude and unpolished, yet
required a considerable degree of skill for their manufacture.
They were dexterously struck .off pieces of flint by means of

3

another stone. Some of the lumps of flint from which flakes
have been made are occasionally found, and are called cores.
The undressed flakes are supposed to have been applied to
several purposes, serving as knives for domestic use, and as spear
and arrow heads in the chase and in war.

Flint Scrapers. These have been struck off the stone in the ©
same manner as the flakes previously described ; but, instead of
the sharp point and cutting edge, they have a thick end, which
has been chipped so as to have a rounded contour, convex on
one side and flat on the opposite face. These implements seem
suitable for scraping down the hides of animals, out of which
the clothing of that remote period was formed. Another class
of scrapers consists of those curious flints called hollow scrapers :
in these the scraping edge is concave, and generally serrated by
fine chipping. The object of these implements is not clearly
ascertained, but it has been suggested that they served for
scraping smooth the small branches of trees from which arrow
and spear shafts were made. See plate 1, figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

13 to 18 unmounted, and Bio1 to B246, mounted on cards
5) 6, 7; 8; 9.

Oval or Elongated Scrapers, chipped round the margin, on the
thick convex side or back, and displaying the “bulb of percus-
sion” on the more or less flat face. Bz25, Bz26, B228, Bzz29,
B234, and Bz244, are rudely tanged, or stemmed ; Bz2ig and
235, are figured on plate 1, figs. 1 and 2. Size, ? to 4 inches
long, # to 2? inches broad.

19 and 20 unmounted, and B247 to Bz64, mounted on card Io.

Transversely oblong Scrapers, sometimes called Side Scrapers.
One of the longer margins is usually thin and unchipped, the
opposite side being much thicker, rounded on the back, and
chipped. Some, however, have both margins chipped. Bz263
is figured on plate 1, fig. 3. Size, 3 to 13 inches long, 12 to 3}
inches broad. : .

B265 to B357, mounted on cards II, 12, 13.

Flint Implements, styled by Dr. John Evans, F.R.S., Hollow

4

Scrapers (vide “ Evans’s Ancient Stone Implements of Great
Britain,” fig. 226, p. 257). These specimens consist of thin flint
chips, more or less square in outline. The face displays the bulb
of percussion, while the opposite surface has a corresponding
concavity, the chips being, apparently, struck off the stone in
regular series. The distal edge, opposite the bulb, is thin and
crescent-shaped, the margins, in different specimens, represent-
ing segments of circles of various diameters, which are usually
finely serrated, though in some instances they are quite entire.
B304 has two hollow scraping edges, and its base is thick, and
chipped as in ordinary scrapers; B319, B324, B347, and B354,
also show chipping on the back ; B321 and B325 have each two
crescent-shaped scraping margins. Size of longest specimen,
23-in. long, 1% broad. The broadest specimen is 23. inches
broad, 14 long.

B297, B304 and B319 are figured on plate 1, figs. 4, 5, 6,
B358 to B387, mounted on card No. 14.

Flint Implements of various form and purpose. B358, B359
and B364 are triangular flints, which may have served both
as scraping and cutting tools. They have each one or two
sharp cutting edges, and a thicker base, which has the secondary
chipping of an ordinary scraper. Similar to fig. 7, “ Royal Irish
Academy Catalogue.” B360, B361, B362, B363, B365, B366,
B367, B368 and B369 seem to combine, in each specimen, the
‘purposes of cutting and boring. They are 2 to 3 inches long,
and } to ? inches broad, with the back thick, and chipped to a
scraping surface, and the opposite edge thin, sharp, and un-
chipped. In these implements one end tapers to a blunt point,
while the other extremity is chipped into a rude awl-shaped
form. B375 is a broad thin flake, with coarsely jagged edges;
B376 is a flat implement, rectangular in outline, and chipped
all round, 23 by 2 inches. B359 is figured on plate 1, No. 7.
24 is a sharp pointed flake, coarsely chipped on the flat side,
and having a small rounded notch at the base, as if for scraping
small objects like bone needles. Length, 3 inches; breadth,
#-inch.

5)

Flint Knives. Flint being a very hard substance, which
naturally chips to a thin edge, it has from the earliest times been
used to form knives. These have assumed various forms, the
type mounted on card No. 16, being the most graceful form,
and displaying the most artistic finish. The makers of these
flints possessed the art of taking off a thin curved chip of flint
transversely across the rounded back of the knife-blade.

B388 to B411, mounted on card 15.

Oblong Shaped Flints—Knives and various. These specimens
show the bulb of percussion on the face, which is flat and
unchipped. On the back, or convex surface, they are chipped,
some elaborately, others less so. In many of these flints the
process of manufacture seems to be only partially completed.
Size, 12 inches to 4 inches long.

No. 21, Flint Knife, like that represented by fig. 249, Evans's
“Stone Implements,” but our specimen has not been finished.
No. 25, Flint Knife blade, oblong-oval in outline, and quite
symmetrical. One surface is flat and unchipped, the opposite
side is convex, rounded off to a sharp cutting edge, and most
delicately chipped. Length, 24, breadth, # inches.

B412 to B441, on card 16.

Knife-bladed Flints, resembling the preceding—perfect in
form, and exquisitely chipped on the convex surface. The
margins curve symmetrically to a more or less acute point at
each extremity. Fig. 239 of Evans’s ‘Stone Implements”
represents, but does not do full justice to this type. Size, 13 to
2$ inches, $ to 1} inches broad.

Arrow-heads. The use of the bow and arrow in war and the
chase has prevailed in very ancient times, and still continues
amongst many savage tribes, and the use of some kind of stone
for points of arrows seems to have been equally wide-spread and
enduring. On account of its hardness, some silicious material
has always been preferred; even bottle glass is often made to
serve the same purpose. Excellent arrow-points are made of
obsidian, but the material always employed by the ancient

> J

6

workers, where obtainable, has been flint. The supply of flint in
the North of Ireland being inexhaustible, seems to have led to an
extensive manufacture of arrow-heads, as well as other flint imple-
ments, in this locality. In no other part of Britain have flint
arrow-heads been found so abundantly, and the skill of the
ancient Irish workers in flint has nowhere been excelled. These
weapons have been formed with a degree of symmetry, and
finished with a delicacy of touch, that could not be exceeded.
The flint arrow-heads have been divided into several leading
types: they pass up into javelin and spear-heads, which assume
the same forms.—See plate 1, figs. 8 and 9.

B442 to B468, mounted on card 17.

Worked Flints, of various forms and dimensions. They seem
‘to represent spear and arrow-heads in an unfinished state, or some
may have been rejected as unfit for completion. All the forms
of arrow-heads are represented on this card by rude examples.
Some are triangular, some indented, others stemmed, barbed,
leaf shaped, or lozenge shaped. Size, 1 to 4 inches long.

No. 23 is a rude, or unfinished arrow-head. It has been
worked roughly into the leaf shape, but lacks the fine chipping
characteristic of that type. ‘‘ Evans,” fig. 246, represents a
specimen almost identical. Length, 24, breadth, 13 inches.

29 to 33 unmounted, and B469 to B508 mounted on card 18.
Triangular Arrow-heads, varying from triangular with entire
- base to the indented form. The notch worked in the latter is
sometimes quite shallow, in other specimens it appears as a deep
sinus. B474 and B475 are chipped on one surface only, the
opposite side being flat and flake-like. Size, % to 2 inches long.

34 to 37 unmounted, and Bs5o9 to B536 mounted on card 19.
Stemmed Arrow-heads. The stem or tang varies in size.
Some, as No. B518, are beautifully serrated on the edges. Size,
1% to 2} inches long.
26 to 28.
One Triangular-Indented and Two Stemmed Arrow-heads

7

found at Ballinderry, County Antrim. About 1} inches long
and 1 inch broad.

Bs537 to B560, mounted on card zo.

Favelin-heads, or Large Arrow-heads, stemmed as in the
preceding. Some of these, as B553, are rudely made, and
without lateral wings. Others are wrought with much skill.
Bs546 and Bss3 are figured on plate 1, Nos. 8 and 9. Size,
2 inches to 33 inches long.

Bs61 to B612, mounted on card 21.

Barbed Arrow-heads, varying much in form, and also in
finish. Some are exquisitely wrought, while others are com-
paratively rude. B6o04 is a broken specimen, remarkable for
the great size of its barbs and the manner in which they spread.
The length of this arrow-head was less than its breadth, when
unbroken. Size, # to 12 inches long.

38 to 41 unmounted, and B613 to B647 mounted on card 22.

Leaf-shaped Arrow-heads. Many of these are examples of
the finest character of work: slender, and of elegant propor-
tions, and with most delicate chipping ; others are coarser and
less symmetrical. B640 is produced at the base into a stem
or tang, for inserting in the shaft. No. 39 is exactly represented
by fig. 293 of Evans’s “Stone Implements.’ Size, 1% to 2
inches long.

42.

Favelin-head, of elegant proportions and exquisite workman-
ship. It is lozenge-shaped, and one of the best examples of this
graceful type. Evans, fig. 276, illustrates this form admir-
ably. Length, 4 inches; breadth at the shoulder, 14 inch.

B648 to B680, mounted on card 23.
Lozenge-shaped Arrow-heads, mostly of elegant proportions,
and chipped with the utmost skill. Size, 3 to 24 inches long.
43>
Leaf-shaped Spear-head, coarsely worked over the surface,
but with somewhat finer chipping on the margins. Identical

8

in size, form, and workmanship, with the specimen from Le
Moustier Cave, in the Dordogne, represented by fig. 1, plate A, 3,
“Reliquiz Aquitanice.” Length, 43; breadth, 2% inches.

B681 to B693, mounted on card 24.

Spear-heads, of various form and size. Some are oval, some
leaf-shaped, and others of the lozenge-shaped type. B683 has
been a fine weapon, but is broken. Bé6go is a remarkably
fine example, made from the variegated flint that occurs at
the upper surface of the chalk, where it is in contact with the
trap rock. This specimen is of the lozenge pattern ; it measures
72 inches in length, and has the surfaces ground and polished.
Sizes, very various.

2

A Worked Flint, which seems to combine the characters of
spear-head and knife. It is equally convex on both surfaces,
which are chipped all over, the margins being worked to a sharp
cutting edge. The base, which is square, is especially sharp, and
ground on one side. The specimen resembles fig. 341 of Evans’s
“British Stone Implements.’’

44-

Oblong Flint Celt, very roughly chipped, except in front,
which has a smooth, nearly straight axe-like edge. Length,
53; breadth, 24 inches.

45.

flint Celt similar to the preceding, but having a semicircular

~ cutting edge. Length, 54; breadth, 2 inches.

46.

A small F/int Celt, much nairowed to the base, as if for in-
serting ina handle. The narrow end is rough and unpolished,
but the broad, rounded, axe-like edge has been ground smooth
and sharp. Length, 3 inches; greatest breadth, 2 inches.

463.
A Celt-like Cutting Tool, abruptly truncate at the base, which

is not narrowed. Fig. 29 of Catalogue of Royal Irish Academy
represents a similar implement.

9

B694 to B698 mounted on Card 25.

Celts, or Hatchets, made of flint. They have the cutting
edges ground and polished. Size, 43 to 7} inches long.

B699 to B706 mounted on Card 26.

Flint Implements of various forms and uses. Bé699 is a
massive, coarsely-worked implement 3? inches long, by 13 broad
and 1 inch thick, pointed at each end, as if intended fora punch
or small pick. B7oo is of the same type, but only 2 inches
long. Bvyo1 and B7o2 seem to be cores from which flakes
have been struck off. B7o03 is a broken specimen of a rude
unground celt. B7oq4 and B7os5 are remarkable lenticular
discs of flint, nearly circular in outline, and about 2? inches in
diameter. They are ground smooth on both surfaces, polished,
and brought to a moderately fine edge all round. B706 is
a flint chisel similar to No. 463. It has the proximal edge
ground fine and the butt-end abruptly truncate. Size, 3} inches
long, by 2} broad.

Stone Whorls. Various uses have been assigned to these
objects. It has been suggested that they served as dress-fasteners
(links), as beads, as sinkers, as counters for some game, and as
spindle whorls, when yarn was spun by means of the distaff, ere
the invention of the spinning-wheel. The latter is the com-
monly received opinion.

47 to 49.

Perforated Stone Discs, or Whorls. 47 is of hard shale, and
is ornamented on each surface with two circles of ovate to
rhomboidal markings. Size, 1 inch to 13 inches diameter. They
were dug up in an island in Lough Clay, County Down, in 1845.

50 to 58.

Perforated Whor/s, of sandstone and shale. 53 is marked on
one side with fine punctures. No. 54 has a series of incised
concentric circles. Diameters, 14 to 2 inches.

B707 to B740, mounted on card 27.
Perforated Stone Discs, or Whorls. Mostly rough and un-
polished. With a few exceptions, they are formed of sandstone

igo)

and shale. The lowest row on this card are, more or less, glob-
ular in form, and of smaller size. Diameters, } inch to 23 inches.

B741 to B760, mounted on card 28.

Whorls which, like the preceding, are formed mainly of sand-
stone ; a few are of shale. By745 is of earthenware. B757,
B758, B759, have the perforations enlarged and worn down
to one side, as if by the working of a spindle. By76o0 has a
small hole drilled near the margin, apparently for suspension.
These whorls are either slightly concave, quite flat, or convex
on one or both faces. Diameters, 14 to 23 inches.

B~61 to B785, mounted on card 29.

Stone Whor/ls. Mostly polished,and of symmetrically rounded
shape. B76z and B763 are decorated by carved ornament-
ation, consisting of lines and dots on their faces. Several other
specimens on this card show incised concentric lines. B766
is a quartz nodule, with natural perforation, but has evidently
been preserved for use. Diameters, 2 inch to 1} inches.

Stone Celts.—These are implements intended to serve the
same purposes as the metallic axes, hatchets, adzes, and chisels
of the modern artificer. The word celt is derived from the
Latin, ce/tis, and literally signifies a chisel. A small portion
only of the celts are chisels in the modern sense, but the term
is used as generic, and includes all the cutting tools of the joiner.
Stone celts are found in all parts of the world, and are popularly
regarded in most countries as thunderbolts. In Ireland they
are abundant, and large numbers have been found in Down and
Antrim. (See Plate 1. fig. 10).

59-

Celt, or Stone Axe, made of a fine-grained silicious rock, and
highly polished. This is an excellent example of its class.
Each of its sides has been ground flat. he front or cutting
edge is about three inches wide, and the equally sharp base 14
inches. Length, 14; greatest breadth, 3} inches. Found ina

bog near Portglenone, 1348.
60

Celt, massive and highly polished. The cutting edge is much

II

rounded, and the base produced to a pick-like point. Length,
13; greatest breadth, 4 inches.
61.

Celt of oval-oblong form, made of trap rock ; both extremities
present cutting edges. Length, 7; greatest breadth, 34 inches.
Found at Kilrea, County Derry.

62.

Celt made of quartzite rock, and finely polished. The sides
are ground flat. Length, 63; breadth, 2? inches. Found at
Malone, near Belfast. E

Ri

Celt, highly polished. The cutting edge broad, and the butt-
end pick-like. Length, 64; breadth, 2? inches. Found in
County Armagh.

64.

Celt, polished and flat-sided. Length, 33; breadth, 12 inches.
Found in County Armagh.

65.

Celt, found at Saintfield, County Down. Length, 3; breadth,
13 inches,

66 to 108.

Polished Stone Celts, of various sizes, and different degrees of
excellence. No. 67 is a massive celt of unusual form. It is of
hard quartzite, straight, and nearly equally broad at both ends.
The thick rounded base is considerably bruised and broken.
It is like fig. 62 of Evans’s “ Stone Implements,” but the butt
end of our specimen is thick and hammer-shaped. It is 6 inches
long, 2} broad, 13 thick. 94 is an adze-like form, being made
from a curved piece of stone.

109.

A Celt of almost triangular form, with a straight, sharp cutting
edge. It closely resembles fig. 42 of Evans’s “Stone Implements.”
B786 to Bggo.

Polished Stone Celts, or Axes, made of various kinds of rock,
the best specimens being quartzites and porphyries. These
implements are of very different sizes. The smallest speci-

12

men measures 1% inches long, by 14 broad at the cutting
edge, while the largest example is 11 inches long, by 4 broad.
The average or prevailing size is from 4 to § inches long.

Bgg1 to B1,004.

Narrow-shaped Celts, or Chisels. The stones are polished, and
they have cutting edges similar to the preceding. Size, 3} to
43 inches long, 14 to 14 broad.

110 to 112.

Small Stone Chisels. 110 is a thin flat implement, 2 inches
long by 1 inch broad; 111 and 112 are fragments of thick,
narrow, rounded tools, like fig. 73 of Evans’s “Stone Imple-
ments.”

: LIB.

Chisel, or Pick. This finely polished implement is thickest
_ and broadest at the middle, and is brought at the point to a
sharp cutting edge, only $ inch broad. Length, 4$; breadth in
the middle, 14; thickness, 3 inches. Found in Tory Island,
County Donegal.

Bi,oo05 to B1,o18.

Polished Stone Celts, having a form somewhat adze-shaped.
One surface is either concave or else quite flat, while the oppo-
site face has the usual rounded outline of an ordinary celt.
No. B1,018 is figured on plate 1, No. 10. Size, 3 to 5 inches
long ; 13 to 3 inches broad.

B1,019 to B1,027.

Rude stone Ce/ts, which are either entirely unpolished, or
else have merely the edge slightly ground. Size, 35 to 5 inches
long.

139.

Axe-hammer, rectangular in section, and perforated above the
centre for insertion of shaft. The base is hammer-shaped, and
the opposite end has been ground to a vertical, axe-like edge.
Length, 13; breadth at middle, 4; thickness, 3 inches.

TAGs

Axe-hammer, like the preceding, but having a rounded instead
of a square section. Length, 11; breadth 4; thickness, 2}
inches. Found in a bog in County Down.

13

B1,028.

Oval-shaped /ammer, made of trap-rock. It is perforated for a
shaft, and is flattened at the extremities by use. Size, 45 inches
long, 1? thick.

B1,029.
Quartzite perforated hammer. Size, 3} x 2 x 1} inches.
B1,030.

A curious perforated Aammer. It is nearly cylindrical, with
both faces symmetrically rounded, and showing no traces of
wear. Resembles Fig. 151 of Evans’s ‘Stone Implements.”
Size, 3 x 2 inches.

Biot:

Perforated sandstone Aammer ; questionably authentic. Size,
10x X 34 X 34 inches.

134

Is a broadly oval implement of the class designated in the
Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy as punch-hammers. The
anterior margin has been ground to a rounded axe-edge, while
the butt-end is thick and blunt. It is encompassed by a broad,
flat groove above the base. A thong secured in this furrow
would afford the means of holding the tool while being struck
by a maul.

130.

A flat stone of hard slate, roundly triangular, polished smooth,
and perforated at one of the angles; most likely a slickstone or
polisher. Dug up near Killyleagh, County Down, in 1845.

: ae

A Sinker or Plummet of coarse schist. It is an oval-shaped
pebble, in which a hole has been made at one end. Length,
43; breadth, 22 inches.

Bro32.

Perforated Sandstone Hammer. Size, 3 x 24 x 12 inches.
Questionably genuine.

. B. 1,033 and 1,034.

Stone Sinkers, with groove around the centre; possibly
forgeries.

14
Br,035-
Small Sandstone Pounder. Size, 3 x 13 inches.
B1,036 to B1,038.
Implements formed of Schist. Somewhat like celts ; intended
to be used by grasping in the hand. Perhaps spurious.

B1,039.
A Hammer or Pounder, with a shallow transverse groove, as
if for using with a thong. Size, 7 x 33 inches,

B1,040.
A dumb-bell-shaped instrument of gneiss rock; perhaps a
Sinker, 12 inches long. May not be genuine.

135 to 138.
Perforated Hammer-stones (Tilhuggersteene) ; circular or oval
in outline. 136 is deeply countersunk on each side, but is not
quite perforated :—Diameter, 24 to 35 inches.

B1,041 to B1,088.

Hammer-stones (Tilhuggersteene), made of various kinds of
stone, and more or less oval or cyoid in form. Many of the
specimens are perforated for shafting ; others are imperforate,
but have deep hollows on each face; while many, especially the
large hammers, show only comparatively slight concavities.
The latter are well represented by Plates 13A, and Plate 23A
of ‘Reliquiz Aquitanicz.” Size, from 2 x 1g inches to 6 x 4
inches.

Querns.—Previous to the construction of the modern corn-
mills, the grain was made into meal by means of hand-mills,
designated querns. The simplest and most ancient form is
the saddle-quern, like B1io89, which consists of two pieces—a
large flat slab, somewhat concave on the upper surface, and a
smaller crushing-stone, which is plano-convex. The grain,
being placed on the lower stone, is reduced to meal by means of
the rubber. The ordinary and more modern querns have the
top stone, or rider, rotated upon the lower by means of a handle,
and the pot-quern has the lower stone deeply hollowed out, so

15

~

that the rider works in a cavity surrounded by a rim. This
primitive manner of grinding corn is still in use in many parts
of the world.

II4.

Upper Stone of Quern, made of micaceous grit, convex above,
flat below. There are two perforations—one marginal, for the
insertion of a handle, and one central and funnel-shaped, to
admit the grain. Diameter, 14; thickness, 5 inches.

11s.

Upper Stone of Quern, made of sandstone. It is disc-shaped,

and has a central and four marginal holes. Diameter, 14 inches ;

thickness, 24 inches.
116,

Upper Stone of Quern, similar in size and form to the pre-

ceding, but more rudely formed, and but one lateral aperture.
1

Upper Stone of Quern, made of sandstone, but of the same type
as the preceding. Diameter, 19; thickness, 2} inches. The three
last specimens were found in a bog at Maghera, County Derry.

Lacs

Upper Stone of Quern, of coarse granite, and very rude.

Diameter, 18 ; thickness, 33 inches. Found in County Down.
, 119.

Upper Stone of Quern, similar to 114. Diameter, 13 ; thick-

ness, 5 inches. Found at Saintfield, County Down.
120.

Upper Stone of Quern, like the preceding. It has had two
lateral holes for handle, but one has broken out in use.
Diameter, 134; thickness, 43 inches. Found in a bog at

' Randalstown, County Antrim.
121.

Upper Stone of Quern, of same type as the preceding. A
very fine, massive example, having carved decoration on its
convex surface. Diameter, 143; thickness, 53 inches.

1226
Upper Stone of Quern, having the same general characters as

16

the preceding, but rudely made of coarse granite. It has the
central funnel-shaped aperture, and several small holes for
handles, scattered irregularly over the surface. In this much-
worn specimen many of the holes had broken out, and thus new
ones had to be sunk as required. Diameter, 14; thickness, 4
inches.
23%
Upper Stone of Quern, rudely formed of granite. Diameter,
2; thickness, 24 inches.
124.

Pot Quern, made of sandstone. The lower stone stands on
three legs, and the stone is hollowed out, so as to leave a pot-
like cavity above, in which the rubbing-stone was rotated. The
upper stone is two inches thick, and has a central aperture.
The lower stone is perforated in the centre and the margin.
Diameter, 10; height, 6 inches.

| 125,

Lower Stone of Pot Quern, similar to the preceding. Dia-
meter, 10; height, 4 inches.

126,

Upper Stone Zs Pot Quern, made of sandstone. Size, 8} x 2
inches.

127.

Rubbing Stone of Saddle Quern, made of granite; oval in
shape, and plano-convex in section, Size, 15 x 10 x 29 inches.

128,

Grain Rubber, similar to preceding. Size, 8} x 7 x 2 inches.

Found at Ballintoy, County Antrim, 1881.
B1,089.

The Lower Stone of a Saddle Quern. It has a flat under-
surface and concave upper surface, which shows evidence of
having been used. The material is micaceous schist. Size, 23
inches long, 14 broad, and 2 to 3 inches deep.

B1,cgo.

The Upper or Rubbing-stone of a Saddle Quern, made of

coarse, reddish grit. Size, 103 inches by 83 broad.

17
B1,091
This is also a Rubdzng-stone. It is made from a fine-grained
grit. Size, 9 inches by 7.
B1,092.
Upper Stone of Quern, made of hard, coarse-grained trap-rock.
There is a central, funnel-shaped perforation for admission of

grain, and also a hole at one side for insertion of handle.
Size, 12 inches long, 9 broad, and 3 to 5 inches thick.
B1,093.

Lower Stone of Quern. This is a massive block, with a
convex under-surface. The upper side is concave, and has a
central perforation. Size, 21 inches long, 15 broad, and 5 inches
at thickest part.

B1,094.
Upper Stone of Quern, circular and perforated. Diameter,
> inches. ) '
B1,095.

The Lower Stone of a Pot Quern. It stands on three feet,
and has a central and also a lateral perforation. Diameter, 8
inches.

B1,096.

Upper Stone of Small Quern. Diameter, 44 inches; thick-
ness, 2 inches.

B1,097.

Complete Pot Quern, made of sandstone. The lower stone
stands on three feet, and is perforated in the centre, and also at
the margin. The upper stone is two inches thick, and has a
central perforation for feeding with grain, and two holes sunk
near the margin. Diameter, 10 inches; height, 5 inches.

B1,098 to B1,100,
Portions of Querns.
129.
Millstone of hard grit, and furrowed on the surface, as in
modern stones. Diameter, 23; thickness, 34 inches. Found
-in a bog at Maghera, County Derry.

18

B1,101 to B1,103

Round Stones, with deep cup-shaped hollows on the upper
surface. They resemble small mortars in form. Size, 2} to 3}
inches in diameter.

. B1,104.

A Ball of Sandstone, having the shape of an orange, and with

broad furrows passing around it vertically. Diameter, 23 inches.

BI, 105

A Chisel-shaped Implement. There is a hole for a cord to
pass through, and the edge is oblique, and quite sharp. Size,
3 inches long, 13 inches broad.

B1,106.

A smooth polished Implement of oblong form ; seems adapted
_ for rubbing or polishing. Size, 54 iuches long, by 1} at the
centre. ’
B1,107.

An oblong Implement of hard stone. It is somewhat polished ;
thin and knife-edged all round. Size, 63 inches long, by 14 at
the broadest part.

B1,108

A spherical object of hard stone, smooth and polished. Size,
1 inches in diameter.

B1,109 to B1,111.

Oblong Implements, with flat polished surfaces, as if for rubbing
or burnishing. They have been perforated so as to attach to a
cord. Size, 23 to 4 inches long; width, about one-half.

B1,112 to B1,115.

Oblong Burnishers, perforated at each end. No. B1,066 is
of coarse grained stone; the others are extremely fine, and
polished smooth. Size, 2 inches to 33 in length; $ to 1 inch
broad.

B1,116.

A Rubbing-stone or Burnisher, convex on one surface, and

19

quite flat on the other. It is finely polished, and is perforated
at one extremity, and has a hole at the other end, which does
not perforate thestone. Size, 3 inches long, by ¢ at the broadest
part.
B1,117
A Rectangular Burnisher, perforated at one end. Size, 3
inches long, by ~ broad.

B1,118 to B1,123

Whetstones, with perforations at the end. Size, 2 inches
to 34 long, 4 to 1 inch broad.

B1,124 to B1,127

|

Imperforate Whetstones. Size, 2 to 3 inches long, $ inch
broad, and 4 inch thick.
150.
Whetstone of fine slate. Size, 3 x 1 x 3 inches. Found at
Killiney Lough, County Down, 1839.
132:
A Touchstone, or possibly a polishing tool, of reddish coloured
quartz. It is rectangular, tapering to each extremity, and quite
smooth. It is exactly represented by Fig. 71, Royal Irish

Academy Catalogue. Length, 3 inches; breadth and thickness
at the middle, $ inch.

B1,128 to B1,133,

Smooth, Flattened Stones, nearly circular in outline, and
rounded off to the margins. On each face there is a shallow
groove, extending to rather more than half the diameter of the
specimen. They are of smooth quartzite rock, except Nos.
B1,086 and B1,087, which are of coarse sandstone, and possibly
only modern imitations. Diameter, about 2 inches; thickness,
I inch.

142.

Sandstone Mould for casting bronze celts. This is a thick

piece of sandstone, with moulds for flat celts on three faces.

20

The moulds measure 6 inches, 5 inches, and 3 inches respec-
tively. A fourth mould, measuring 4 inches, is now nearly
obliterated. Found at Ballynahinch, County Down, 1843.
143.
Fragment of Stone Mould. ‘This has been used for casting
various metallic objects, and the stone has thus become quite
black. On one side is the mould of a small cross; two others
are of round objects like coins or medals. Breadth, 2 inches ;
thickness, 13 inch; the fragment that remains is 2} inches
long. Found at the Antrim Round Tower.

Br,134 andybr,135
Quartzite Boulders, which have been used as journals or
bearings for spindles of comparatively modern mill machinery.
Deep, finely-polished holes have been worn in the stone by the
_ metal spindles. ‘They are, of course, of modern date.

141.
Granite Fournal of Corn Mill. Same as the preceding.

144.
Fragments of the Roof of the Round Tower formerly existing
at Trummery, County Antrim.

145.

Block of Sandstone, bearing on its principal face an Irish
Cross, sculptured in relief. ‘There are also five smaller incised
croses on the stone. Length, 13; breadth, 5; thickness, 3
inches. Found near foundations of the old church at Bangor,
County Down.

146 to 149.

Marble Carvings of Scriptural Subjects. ‘The workmanship,
which is exquisite, is probably Italian, of the 16th century.
Size, 5 x 32inches. Found at the ruins of the Abbey of Na
Fearta, Armagh. .

151 and 152.

Stone Beads, or Whorls. 152 has been turned, and bears
incised lines, Diameter, 1 inch.

21

12)

Fet Armlet, dug up in a bog at Derryavilah, 1866. Diameter
4 inches.

154.

Portion of Massive Fet Armlet.

155.

The Flat Flate of a fet Necklace, marked with series of
punctures. See Fig. 375, Evans’s ‘Stone Implements.” Found
near Carrickfergus.

156 to 160,

Stone Beads. 159 and 160 are encrinite joints, which have

been used as beads. Diameter, $ to I inch.

123
Flat Stone, having a rhombic outline. It is perforated hori-
zontally by a series of five slits, so narrow that they will not
admit a penknife blade. The use of this object is unknown.
Size, 13 x I x 3 inches.
161.

Grave Slab, made of sandstone, and sculptured with florid
cross, &c. Found at old burial-place, Ballymechin, near Holy-
wood, County Down.

162.

Cup-marked Stone. ‘This is a large slab, on which a number
of irregular, scattered cup-like hollows have been made. Use
unknown. Found at Drumsurn, Balteagh, County Derry.

163.

Sguare Stone, with inscription. Taken from the old “ Long
Bridge” of Belfast when it was being demolished. Size, 16 x
rx 8.

get ; birt rit wet
wigemitt &obe attr eroth — Rigi qu wy (oats Fer 1
i oy A 2) x Packie, 4 ts Ne
' iy cbs 7 ‘i
1a Saba ides we Fioniee Daye E
to “Borisey. iw, a ce sil, cs % + ‘ap, s Sah ‘
se Abagod , rte Gmt oro! Ned es, BL 39 hes \
: ee on Se een ot bi squsatioie wi i i,
‘iti ; ; : 3 {od ‘ os aL a4 it
ne 2 a riot thy eAiOY. asinine ch “POL, bie Q Ui wae
ue a en et , OE oe F ssforisit pee # sett
fv ; Fs’ . c ii) an : 7
: oe te i ‘ . a yen : ; ae ait bund O93 ot ; 4

seo giaeorg ai 1 sottestbhtisite ® ‘sntvity
3003 {iby vod asd) wotrn od- agile, ove’ te Qi TSeR
ago dk. ae. zislt tp ee chee. gain

a oO
aie oe
“aie * = -, ate x ihe, - Medea tower rn
‘= bing ag me . 3 here to- aban 4

ie. oe I Me ++ Mf, bees ewe bf Je bout

isis sec ae ac
SOU bess aud Syait™ 4 x ply
c : ee suvod iif: ,

P aiieni

Bs ie , a ;

7H a
Bi Na Reet

Fa)
tal
~~,
od
”
_

cr : 7"
MPS sie beiwrernn ;
Es :
irc yd NOM VIaeIsvVeargt} ot}
- <<“? o me r 4 £ v 4
renel vill ie) fy wet) vive ioe, Jolt ¢ ott

el tq Go dys - C1 aT
; pd oy oo bequicds yt (j
ert .otin2l brie 19qsI0e anita Wiivatiniy T

aul hs to baderre bao. to gar

Ho Tete qe Mhlid—1 v3

A iy toi
1H <i

ae tic ion hing »bin o, are) del ai
4 *10,38 Lrtor bdtl athe isd MOC Ur
sOieembislel moth tees V igi! 2 Kt TX |
2 ‘ a ft
‘ 2 F
‘
- \
°
ell >»! ; .

bs
‘
ie
Mio F

a

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 1

Fig. I.—Flint Scraper, almost circular. Ba219.

Fig. 108 Do elongated form. B235.
Fig. III. Do. transversely elongated form. B263.
Fig. [V.—Hollow Flint Scraper, typical form. Bz97.
Fig.-V. Do. Do. Double Scraper. B304.
Bio Vil. Do. Do. chipped on the back. B319.

Fig. VII.—Triangular Flint Scraper and Knife. B359.
Fig. VIII.—Spear or Arrow-head, serrated on the edges. B546.
Fig. IX. Do. Do. rude, and not barbed. B533.
Fig. X.—-Stone Celt, adze-like form. B1,o18.
Fig. XI.—Bronze Altar Vessel from Islandmagee. Series 2.
Bs.

: —S

PROCEEDINGS

OF ‘THE

aoe Pid Ac Sep

‘History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1881-82.

mt

er «e ad
a,

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BEL FAS TL

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1881-82.

BELEAS TL:

PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET.
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1882.

|. -eovidsaaom

’ Pic”

CONTENTS.

Annual Report Be ae “7 ai oe oe
List of Donations, presented in 1881-82 .. “2 ae cis
Presidential Address: A Historical Sketch of the Society, by R. L.

Patterson, Esq. ... 2. es oe oe as

Reminiscences of the Paris Electrical Exhibition and Congress, by

Professor Everett .. = ore ne are a

The Rainy or Post-Glacial Period, by Joseph John Murphy, Esq.

The Diamond, by Professor Letts ae ar ee oe
Corals and Coral Islands, by Professor Cunningham si
Island Life, by A. R. Wallace, Esq. (Title only) .. a oe

Notes on Bun-a-Mairge and its Surroundings, by Robert Young, Esq. ..
Linkages: A Recent Mechanical Invention by M. Peaucellier, by Isaac
J. Murphy, Esq. .. Hy On oe
(Diagrams to illustrate the foregoing paper.)

Forts, Houses, and Churches of Ancient Ireland, by Rev. R. Workman
List of Office-Bearers and Shareholders .. ee ee 6

ee ee

PAGE

81
87

Belfast Hatural History and Philosophical Society.

HS TABLE LST H DD a2S2 i

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares 5, sss cost £14.
3 Shares ,, 55 cost £21.

The proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum; the proprietor of three or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment. °°

Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management.

MEMBERS.

There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures
extends from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members,
Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due first November in each year.

PRIVILEGES.

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto; also of access to the
Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission orders
for inspecting the collections to any friends not residing in Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

Ey) Ty, BAS SE

Matural history and Philosophical Society,

MN NUALSREPORT, 1882.

THE Council for the past year, appointed by the Shareholders
at their annual Meeting, on the 7th June, 1881, desires to lay
before them its Report on their property, and the other interests
of the Society.

The Museum collections are in very good condition, and
much has been done during the past year by your curators,
with the assistance of some members of the Society, in the way
of re-arranging and labelling the specimens ; much progress has
also been made in the preparation of a catalogue of the collec-
- tions, the first part of which has been published this year.

The employment of two curators, although of undoubted
advantage, has entailed considerable additional expense on the
Society, which your Council regrets to say, has not yet been
met by any adequate increase of shareholders and subscribers.

A number of specimens have been added to your collections
during the past year, a list of which will be given at the end of
_ this report.

With regard to your library, the librarian has had the books
re-arranged and a full catalogue made of them, which he is ina
position to publish whenever desired. We continue to receive,
in exchange for our transactions, reports of proceedings from
the various leading philosophical and scientific societies in
Europe, Asia, Australia, and America; a list of these publica-
tions is appended to this report.

2

On Easter Monday the Museum was thrown open to the
public, as has been customary for many years, at a charge of
two pence for adults, and a penny for children, when about six
thousand persons visited it during the day. These evinced
much interest in the various objects displayed for their exami-
nation, and their conduct was most exemplary.

There have been seven ordinary meetings of the Society
held during the past session:—the first meeting, on the Ist
November, 1881, Mr. Robert Young, C.E., in the chair, when
an introductory address on the past history and present position
of the Society was read by your President, Mr. R. Lloyd
Patterson. ‘The second meeting, on the 6th December, 1881,
the President in the chair, when Professor Everett read a paper
entitled, “‘ Reminiscences of the Paris Electrical Exhibition and
Congress.” The third meeting, on the 1oth January, 1882,
the President in the chair, a paper was read by Mr. Joseph
John Murphy on “The Rainy or Post-Glacial Period.” The
fourth meeting, on the 7th February, 1882, the President in
the chair, when Professor Letts read a paper on “ Diamonds.”
The fifth meeting, on the 7th March, 1882, the President in
the chair, a paper was read by Professor Cunningham on
‘Corals and Coral Islands.” The sixth meeting, on the 4th
April, 1882, the President in the chair, a paper was read by
Mr. Robert Young, C.E., entitled, ‘“ Notes on Bun-a-Mairge
Abbey and its surroundings.” Mr. Isaac J. Murphy also read a
short communication on ‘‘ A Recent Mechanical Invention by
Monsieur Peaucellier.” The seventh meeting, on the 25th
April, 1882, the President in the chair, a paper was read by
the Rev. Robert Workman, of Newtownbreda, entitled, “ Forts,
Houses, and Churches of Ancient Ireland.”

As well as these ordinary meetings, a special meeting was
held on the 17th March, 1882, in St. George’s Hall, the Presi-
dent, Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson, in the chair, when a lecture was
delivered by Mr, Alfred Russell Wallace, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., on
‘Tsland Life.”

In August last Mr. A. O’D. Taylor, who had acted as Hon.
Assistant, Joint or Sole Secretary since the year 1849, a period

3

of thirty-two years, resigned his office, and shortly afterwards
went abroad.

To fill the vacancy thus created, your Council elected Dr.
Charles Workman to the Honorary Secretaryship of the Society,
and your Council congratulate the Society in having been able
to secure the services of a gentleman so eminently qualified in
every way as Dr. Workman has proved himself, to discharge
the duties pertaining to the office.

It will be seen from the Treasurer’s Report that there have
been some items of special expenditure during the past year,
but against these there have been some unusual sources of
income, so that the accounts show a small balance in our favour.

Your Council is sorry to have to report that your Treasurer,
Mr. John Anderson, after ably and energetically serving the
Society in that office since 1871, a period of eleven years, has
signified his desire to retire from the Treasurership.

Your Council now retires from office, and this meeting will
be asked to elect fifteen members to form a new Council in its
stead. Most of the members of the old Council, being eligible,
offer themselves for re election.

R. LLOYD PATTERSON,
14th Fune, 1882. PRESIDENT.

4

APPEND DOES:

Lig
Report from the Sub-Committee appointed to Superintend the
Curators.

THE NaturaL History COLLECTION.

During the past year Mr. Stewart being principally engaged
in arranging and cataloguing the Antiquities, &c., little oppor-
tunity occurred of having work done to the Natural History
Collections.

The Mammalia in the large case under the gallery of the upper
room, were, however, removed from their places, and cleaned,
the stands upon which the specimens are mounted were painted,
as was also the entire case ; several shelves were altered, and the
specimens were more fully displayed.

The horns and antlers in the opposite case were removed:
many of them were mounted and displayed on the cases and
walls of the Lecture-room, the case being afterwards painted
for the reception of foreign weapons, &c. The case from
which the foreign weapons were removed is now being prepared
for the reception of your large collection of exotic shells, at
present scattered in different cases and cabinets throughout
the building. This collection with others is much in need of
arrangement, and we look forward with confidence to Mr.
Stewart’s scientific knowledge soon shewing itself by a better
display of the objects under our care and the rendering them
more valuable for educational purposes.

ETHNOLOGY.

The foreign dresses, weapons, &c., have been numbered, and
all particulars entered in the register; the cases have been
painted, and the specimens have been cleaned. and re-arranged
in the cases under the gallery.

Signed, JOSEPH WRIGHT.
WILLIAM SWANSTON.

5

ANTIQUITIES.

The entire collection has been cleaned, numbered, and regis-
tered, z. ¢., entered in a book with all the information that can
be gained concerning them.

The stone implements, including those in the Benn collection,
have been catalogued, and the catalogue printed and issued.

Owing to changes which were made in the arrangement of
the catalogue, part of this work had to be gone over twice.

Signed, W. H. PATTERSON,

Tue LIBRARY.

Regarding the Library, I have to report that Mr. Stewart
has checked the old catalogue and made all entries of new
books up to date, so that a new catalogue may be printed at
any time you give me authority to do so. The books have
also been arranged in the cases in the new library as far as room
was available.

Signed, T. WoRrKMAN.

TT
DONATIONS TO MUSEUM, SESSION 1881-82.

From A. O’D. Taytor, Esq.
Red Backed Shrike—the first Irish specimen on record.

From W. H. Patrerson, Esq., M.R.LA.
Convolvulus Hawk Moth.

From SAMUEL SEAL, Esq., F.G.S., per W. H. PATTERSON,
Esq., M.R.IA.
Nine Specimens of Fossils, from the coal measures.

From CHARLES DuNDEE, Esq., fer BeLtFast NATURALISTS
FIELD CLUB.

Specimen of Basalt used for square sets, from Ballintoy, Co.
Antrim, with chemical analysis.

6

From A. W. Biackwe tt, Esq., ser BELFast NATURALISTS
FIELD CLUus.
Stone Grain-rubber, found in pre-historic dwelling at White-
park Bay, Ballintoy, 1881.

From Mr. Witit1aM MILLAR.
Skull, found at the pre-historic burial place at the “ Madman’s
Window,” Glenarm, 1880.

From SEATON F, Mittican, Esq.
Cinerary Urn, broken, found near Omagh.

From JoHN Ward, Esq., F.G.S., er RoBERT YOuNG, Esq., C.E.
Block of Sandstone, from Scrabo Quarries, displaying supposed
impressed footprints of an animal.

From WaAUTER JAMIESON, Esq.
A piece of Fossilized Wood embedded in bauxite, found near
Glenarm.

From THe Linen Hari Liprary.
“Hortus Siccus Britannicus,” of James Dickson, F.L.S., con-
sisting of 14 fasciculi of dried plants.

From Tue British Museum.
A Selection of the British Museum Duplicates, consisting of
Insects, Birds, Shells, and Echinodermata, amounting in
all to nearly 3,000 specimens.

III.
BOOKS RECEIVED, 1881-82,

From the Institutions whose names are stated below.

Batavia—Naturkundig Ligdschuft Voor Nederlandish, Indie.
Deel 40, Achste serie deel 1 1881. The Soctety.

BeLFasr.—Observations on Aulastoma Heluo. By Robert
Templeton, Esq., M.D. The Author.

7

BERLIN.—Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde.
Verhandlungen. Vol. 8, parts 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Do. Vol. 9, parts I, 2, 3, and 4, 1882.
The Society.

“Botogna.—Rendiconto dell Accademia delle Scienze, 1880-81.
The Society.

_Boston.—Science Observer. Vol. 3, parts 33, 34, 35, 36.
The Eattor.
BrREMEN.—Naturwissenchaftlichen Verein.
Abhandlungen. Bad. 7, heft 1, 2, and 3, 1882.
Do Beilage, No. 8, 1880.
The Soctety.
_BRIGHTON.—Annual Report of Brighton and Sussex Natural
History Society, 1881. The Soctety.

BRUSSELS.—Sociétié Entomologique de Belgique.
(Comptes Kendus). Series»3,.Nos..4,..5556, 7, 8, 9;

10, l4ob5,.and16, 1881. The Society.
Société Royal Malacologique de Belgique.

Tome Io and 11, 1881-82. The Society.
Société Royal de Botanique de Belgique.
Bulletin. Vol. 20, 1881. The Soctety.

CatcuTra.—Geological Survey of India.
Memoirs. Vol. 6, parts 2 and 3.
Palaeontologica Indica ; Fossil Flora of the Gondwanas.
Vol. 3, parts 2 and 3.
Index-to do. Vols. 1 and 2.
_ Fossil Flora of the Gondwanas. Supplemental Vol. 3,
part I.
Records. Vol. 13, parts 3 and 4; and Vol. 14, parts 1,
21 35.4:
Memoirs. Vol. 18, parts I, 2, and 3.
Do Palaeontologica. Series 13, vol. 1, part 3.
Do The Fossil Echinoidea. Series 14, 1882.
Do of the Geology of India. Part 3.
The Survey.

8

CarpirF.—Naturalists’ Society Report and Transactions.
Vol. 12, for 188), The Society.

CassEL.—Verein fiir Naturkunde.
Bericht, 1881. The Society.

CHERBURG.——Société des Sciences Naturelles et Mathematiques.
Memoirs, 3rd Series, part 2, book 22.
Library Catalogue. The Society.

CINCINNATI.—Ohio Mechanics Institute.
Scientific Proceedings. Vol. 1, 1882. The Institute.

Danzic.—Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.
Schriften, New Series, book 15, 1st and 2nd part, 1881.
The Soczety.

DuBLin.—Royal Dublin Society.
Scientific Transactions. Vol. 1, series 2, April and
October, 1880-81.
Scientific Proceedings, vol. 2, part 7, 1880; vol. 3, pts. I
to 4, 1881. Lhe Society.

EDINBURGH.—Botanical Society.
Transactions. Vol. 14, part 2, 1882. The Society.

Essex.—Epping Forest and County of Essex Field Club.
Transactions. Vol. 2, part 4, 1881. The Club.

FLoRENCE.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali.
Processi Verbali. Vol. 3, for 1881-82. The Society.

GENOA.—Societa di Letture e Conversazioni Scientifiche.
Giornale anno 6. Fasc. 1—4, 1882. The Society.

GIESEN.—Oberhessichen Gesellschaft.
Fir Natur und Heilkunde.. Vol. 20 1881. Zhe Soczety.

GLascow.—Natural History Society.
Proceedings. Vol. 4, part 2, 1879-80. The Society.
Philosophical Society.
Proceedings. Vol. 13, No. 1, 1880-81. The Society.

9

GLascow.—The Gas Question, 1882. James Adams, M.D.
Lhe Author.

Goruitz.—Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.
Abhandlungen. Vols. 17, 1881. The Soczety.

HampBurc-ALTONA.—Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.
Verhandlungen, 1880. The Society.

HarvarpD.—Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Annual Report, 1880-81.
Bulletin. Vol 8.
Bulletin. Vol 6, No. 12, October, 1881 ; Vol. 9, Nos.

I, 5, June, December, 1881. The Society.
HERTFORD.—Hertfordshire Natural History Society and Field
Club.
Transactions. Vol. 1, parts 2, 3,5, and 7, 1880-81.
The Club,
KLAUSENBURG.—Magyar Novenytanclopok.
Parts 4 and 5, 1880-81. The Society.

LAUSANNE.—=Société Vaudoise.
Bulletin. Vol. 17, Nos. 85 and 86, 1851.
The Society.

LiverPooLt.—Literary and Philosophical Society.
Proceedings. Vols. 33 and 34 for the Sessions 1878-79,

1879-80. The Society.
Split and Other Boulders. by Charles Rickets, M.D.,
B.G.S., 1881. The Author.

Lonpon.—Zoological Socicty.
Proceedings. Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, 1881.
The Soctety.
Royal Microscopical Society. Series 2, vol. 1, parts 3,
4, 5, and 6, 1881. Vol. 2, parts 1 and 2.
The Society.
Scientific Roll, “Climate.” Parts 1 to 4, 5, 6, 1882.
Lhe Editor.

Io

Lonpon.—Royal Astronomical Society.
Memoirs. Vol. 46, 1880, 1881. The Society.

MANCHESTER Geological Society.
Vol. 16, parts 10, 1880-81, parts 11, 12, and 13, 1881-82.
The Society.

New Yorx.—American Geographical Society.
Bulletin, “No: 4, 1860. No, 2, 3; and 4. Toor,
Bulletin... No. 6sef vel. 11, 1879,- Nos om vol. 12:
1880,
Journal. Vols. 11 and 12, 1879-80. The Society.

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali.
Adunanzia del di. 8 Maggio, 1881. The Soctety.

Rio JANEIRO.—Archives of the National Museum.
Vol. 3, 1878. The Museum.

Rome.—Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei.
Volume 6, Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10, 1882.
The Society.

SONDERHAUSEN.—Irmischia. No. 1, 1881 ; No. 65, 1, 2, 3,and 4.
The Editor.

StockHolM.—L’ Academie Royale Suedoise des Sciences.

Memoirs. No. 4 to 14.

Atlas of Plates of Seaweed.

Das| Gehororgan der Wirbelthere. Part 1. Von Gustaf
Retzius.

Bihang Fjeide Bandet. Part 1877.

Bihang Femte Bandet. Part 1878.

Oversight. No. 34, 1877-78; No. 35, 1878-79 ; No. 36,
1879-80 ; No. 37, 1880-81. ~

Lefnadsteckningar. Book 2, part 1, 1378.

The Soctety.

I!

ViennA.— K. K. Geologische Reichsanstalt.
Verhandlungen. Nos. 1 to 18, 1881.
Catalog der Austellungs Gegenstande bei der Weiner

Weltausstellung, 1873. The Society:
Warwick.—Warwickshire Field Club,
Proceedings, 1881. The Club.

WasuHIncTon, U.S.A.—Department of Agriculture.
Annual Report, 1878-79. ;
Memorial of Joseph Henry. The Department.
Smithsonian Institute.
Report, 1879.
Contributions to Knowledge, vol. 23.

Miscellaneous Collection, vols. 18 to 21. The Soczety.
Geological Society.
1st Annual Report, 1880. The Soctety.

YoKOHAMA.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir
Natur und Volkerkunde Ostasiens, 26stes Heft, 1882.
The Soctety.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:

AN, HISTORICAL SKETCH OF LE SOC URLY,

DELIVERED BY

R. LLOYD PATTERSON, Eso.,

On Tuesday Evening, 1st November, 1881.

ON assuming, for the first time at a public meeting, the Presi-
dential Chair of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical
Society, I feel it a primary duty sincerely to thank my fellow-
members for having conferred on me the honour of electing me
to that position. It were the merest affectation to profess my-
self otherwise than deeply sensible of the high compliment con-
veyed in such an appointment. ‘To be successor to those
gentlemen who have occupied the chair since the foundation of
the society sixty years ago, many of them men of the highest
eminence in different branches of science, is a position of which
any man, and particularly any business man, may well be
proud. Yet I am not so vain as to arrogate the compliment,
more than in a very minor degree, to myself; for I feel it is
mainly due to the kindly feeling still animating many members
of the society towards my father’s memory, and to a desire on
their part to honour it through me. But it is no affectation
to say, as I really feel, how utterly unfit I am for the position.
The cares and pressure of business and other engagements,
coupled, I suppose, with a want of proper application, have left
me in the position of not having cultivated any branch of
science. J am therefore quite unable to present you with any-

#3

thing like what an inaugural address should be; and I shall
not attempt to imitate the brilliant flights of some of my pre-
decessors in their opening addresses. Fortunately for me,
chance comes to my assistance, and, by acoincidence unknown
to my fellow members when they elected me, and only lately
and quite accidentally noticed by myself, it so happens that this
very evening is, to a day, the fiftieth anniversary of the public
opening of this Museum, that ceremony having taken place on
Tuesday, the 1st of November, 1831. It has therefore occurred
to me that an historical sketch of the society and of this build-
ing, to myself associated with lifelong, interesting, and plea-
sant recollections, might not be uninteresting to some of our
present members who know but little of our earlier history ;
and I hope that such a sketch may be allowed to pass on this,
the occasion of our jubilee, as a substitute for the usual opening
address.

This society, then, was founded on sth June, 1821, when, at
a meeting held at the house of Dr. James L. Drummond, he
and seven other gentlemen resolved to form themselves into
the ‘‘ Belfast Natural History Society.” These seven others,
named in the order in which they appear in the society’s re-
cords, are the following:—William M‘Clure, jun., George C.
Hyndman, James Grimshaw, jun., Francis Archer, James
MacAdam, jun., Robert Patterson, jun., and Robert Simms,
jun. The meetings of the society, for more than a year after
its foundation, were held at the house of its first president, Dr.
Drummond. Recourse was then had to one of the rooms in
the adjacent building of the Royal Academical Institution ; and
another year saw the necessity of still larger accommodation,
so that the winter of 1823 finds the society meeting “at their
rooms in the Commercial Buildings,” where also a collection of
objects of natural history, the nucleus of the present Museum,
began to be formed. ‘To some the names of a few of the earlier
members of the society may be interesting. There joined it in
the year of its foundation, 1821, William Tennent, the banker ;
and in the same year James Emerson, afterwards Sir James
Emerson Tennent, a life-long friend and supporter of the so-

14

ciety, and a most liberal contributor to its collections. Pro-
fessor Stevelly joined in 1824; William T. Harvey and Surgeon
M‘Gee in 1825; Robert James Tennent and S. K. Mulholland
in 1826; James Bryce and John Thomson in 1827; Dr. Mac-
Cormac and Robert S. MacAdam in 1828. The Marquises of
Donegall and Downshire became members in 1830; Mr. Grat-
tan in 1831; Dr. Andrewsin 1835; and Mr. Gordon Thomson,
of whom I may speak as I did of Sir James Emerson Tennent,
in 1837. Mr. William Thompson, certainly one of the most
distinguished men we ever numbered among our ranks, joined
the society in 1825. He was then in his twenty-first year;
and it is not long till we find him at his favourite subject,
as in 1827 he read a paper on “ The Birds of the Copeland
Islands.”

The society made rapid progress in popularity and member-
ship. Early in 1829, the first mention of any project for a
building appears in its records, although, from the way the
subject is then mentioned, it is evident it had been under con-
sideration previously. Thus I find on 17th January of that
year a resolution was passed declining, with thanks, an offer
from “the managers of the Savings Bank respecting the in-
tended building,’ and further resolved :— That Dr. Drum-
mond, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Getty, Mr. Hyndman, and Mr. Pat-
terson be appointed a committee to consider a prospectus to
be prepared for opening a subscription towards a building for
the purposes of the society.” The matter appears again in the
minutes of a meeting on 4th February, when mention is made
of some negotiations with Mr. Adam M‘Clean about a piece of
ground in Queen Street. The question crops up again at the
next meeting, on 11th February, 1829, when four out of the
five gentlemen just named “‘ were appointed to have the pros-
pectus finally arranged,” and on 21st February Mr. Getty read
a prospectus, which was approved of and ordered to be printed.”
This prospectus, the subject of so much anxious consideration,
was thereupon launched. It bears date 25th February 1829,
and to it areappended the names of James L. Drummond, M.D.
as president, and George C. Hyndman, as secretary, Dr. Drum-

15

mond having been re-elected president in 1827, after that office
had been held for five years by the Rev. Dr. Hincks. The
prospectus is evidently a very carefully prepared composition.
Commencing with an account of the origin, aims, and objects
of the society, it states that, from the original eight members in
1821, its numbers had then, in 1829, increased to sixty-one;
and an appeal is made to the public spirit of the townspeople,
to aid in the erection of the projected building, arguing that
the benefits conferred by such institutions are two-sided, z.2., to
the advantage both of the publicand the society. The orthern
Whig newspaper of the time, then, as ever since, in the fore-
front of enlightenment and progress, noticed this effort on the
part of the young society very favourably. “ We have re-
ceived,” it said, “much pleasure from a circular lately issued
by the Natural History Society of this town ;” and, after giving
some extracts from the circular, the Whzg continued : ‘“ After
having thus sketched the progress and objects of the society,
the circular proceeds in the following truly philosophical man-
ner.” Whereupon follow further extracts, the Whzg conclud-
ing as follows :—‘ Collections of this nature are now (ze. in
1829) to be found in most of the Continental cities, and in the
principal towns of the sister kingdoms, and when we consider
that Belfast is inferior to none in its liberality and public spirit,
we are convinced that no difficulty will be experienced in col-
lecting the funds necessary for so desirable an object.” On
13th May “a conversation took place on the subject of the
intended building for a Museum,” and it was unanimously
resolved that five gentlemen named be appointed a committee,
with instructions to conclude a bargain for a piece of ground in
College Square North for that purpose. Nothing further on
the subject appears till 21st October, when we find a record
approving of the action of the committee in calling a general
meeting of the subscribers for the following day ; and at the
meeting so held, William Tennent, Esq. was elected treasurer,
and a committee of fifteen subscribers was appointed “ to deter-
mine on a plan, to receive estimates, and take such other mea-
sures as may be necessary for the erection of the building.”

16

Matters progressed so that in January 1830, advertisements for
estimates for the proposed building appeared in the local papers,
Messrs. Duff and Jackson being the architects. The latter gen-
tleman, Mr. Thomas Jackson, is still among us. The founda-
tion stone of the building was laid by the Marquis of Donegall
on 4th May, 1830, the Belfast Commercial Chronicle of the
following day giving an interesting account of the ceremony.
After the introductory paragraphs this report proceeds to state
that ‘the foundation stone was then laid by his Lordship with
the usual formalities; the silver trowel employed being the
same which his Lordship had used in laying the foundation
stone of the Academical Institution, and of a number of our
other public buildings. Dr. Drummond, as president of the
Natural History Society, then stated that the bottle which was
deposited in the first stone contained, among many other things
- enumerated, ‘some verses from the twelfth chapter of Job, in
fifteen different lauguages.’ William Tennent, Esq., then
addressed his Lordship, and expressed, on the part of the Na-
tural History Society, their thanks for his Lordship’s attendance
on that occasion, and for his uniform attention to the welfare
of our various public institutions. The loud acclamations of
the concourse of spectators who had assembled to witness the
ceremony, evinced the interest they felt in the commencement
of a building which, we have no doubt, will be highly credita-
ble to the taste and liberality of our town.” The public open-
ing of the Museum took place on Tuesday, 1st November,
1831, and, from the length at which the proceedings are
reported in the local papers of the period, it is evident that the
event was regarded as one of no small interest and importance.
Mr. Edmund Getty, one of the vice-presidents, read the report,
which on an occasion of the kind was more than an annual
report, and gave a brief history of the society from its founda-
tion, ten years previously, by the eight gentlemen whom I have
already named, up to the period under notice. The number
of ordinary members at the time of the opening of the Museum
had increased to 91, and in addition, there were a number of
corresponding, visiting, and honorary members, residing in

17

other parts of the kingdom and in foreign countries. Up to
the day of opening, out of a total of about £2,000 required at
first, a sum of rather over £1,400 had been raised—a large
amount considering the number and means of the inhabitants
of the town at the time, and one which speaks well for the
liberality and public spirit of our ancestors. The report of the
council was followed by an address from the president, Dr.
Drummond, who, after expressing his pleasure at the state and
prospects of the society, alluded to the acknowledged fact that
the pleasure of seeing animals in their natural state is greater
than that excited by seeing the same objects preserved in a
museum, but rebutted the arguments of those who decry mu-
seums on that account, and who say that no one can be a natu-
ralist except those who become so by their own observations,
pointing out the advantages that museums afford in bringing
before us at one view the animals of the most distant quarters
of the world. Referring to the importance of books to the
naturalist, he remarked that, although observation is the only
way in which new facts can be acquired and existing errors
corrected, yet it is by books alone that those facts can be com-
municated to others. To men of business, whose occupations
debar them from opportunities of personal observation, books
supply the information they could not otherwise obtain. Next,
arguing that every branch of science is useful to every other
branch, he urged the propriety of adding a knowledge of natural
philosophy, chemistry, &c., to that of natural history, and con-
cluded by expressing a hope, with which, after the lapse of fifty
years, I entirely sympathise, that an occasional exhibition of
the fine arts might be held in the large upper room of the Mu-
seum. A Dublin journal of the period concluded a flattering
notice of the society and the Museum as follows :—‘ The Belfast
Museum is the first ever erected in Ireland by voluntary sub-
scription, and it has our warmest wishes for its success. We
have marked the progress of the society to which it owes its
origin with deep admiration, and we have sincere pleasure in
placing it before the public as an example worthy of imitation,
and deserving of national applause.”’
B

18

At a public meeting of the society, held on 19th September,
1833, a statement of the total receipts and expenditure to date
was submitted. From that it appeared that the total cost of
the building and of furnishing the parts then in use amounted
to £2,321 gs. 8d., and the receipts were £1,594 8s. 6d., leaving
a balance due of £727 1s. 2d. A new financial scheme was
proposed with a view of liquidating this debt, and this scheme
was so successful that by October it was announced that, through
the continued exertions of some members of the society, the
Museum was then absolutely free from debt.

Up to, and for some time after the year 1836 the large upper
room of the building continued unfurnished, but not entirely
unused, as during the period from 1836 to 1843, I find mention
of several exhibitions of paintings being heldinit. The follow-
ing paragraph is from the annual report presented in May,
1838 :— ‘‘‘ The Belfast Association of Artists,’ having applied
this session again for permission to hold another exhibition
of paintings in the Museum, the council agreed to their request,
and a large collection of paintings and statuary was accordingly
exhibited for six weeks. . . . The success of these exhibi-
tions has led to a proposal for erecting in Belfast a building
devoted entirely to the fine arts.” I observe that in 1842 the
“Northern Art Union” were having an exhibition of paintings
in the Museum, and a “fashionable promenade,” with a regi-
mental band in attendance, was advertised to take place on Ist
and 3rd December. In August, 1843, another exhibition of
paintings, this time got up by the “ Belfast Fine Arts Society,”
was opened in the Museum. Here within seven years there
appears to have been three bodies or associations holding art
exhibitions in our building. Meantime the meetings of the
society had become so popular and largely attended that the
accommodation in the ordinary lecture-room was inadequate,
and more space was wanted for the proper display of the
constantly increasing collections. It was therefore proposed (in
1838) “to erect in the rear of the Belfast Museum a spacious
lecture-room, with a laboratory and an apparatus-room attached.”
The estimated cost of this projected building was £800, towards

19
which, by February, 1839, £300 had been subscribed. Subscrip-

tions seem, however, to have come in but slowly, for in February,
1840, some reductions of expense in the erection of the projected
new building were discussed. The following month sees the
scheme again before the public, a circular respecting it, and
bearing the names of three prominent members of the society,
having been issued. The project seemed after this to lie in
abeyance for several years, till March, 1844, when it was revived,
and another circular on the subject appears in February, 1845 ;
but at the annual meeting held on 13th May, 1846, the report
stated that the views of the council had been modified by cir-
cumstances, and the council recommended instead that the
large upper room be fitted up for the reception of cases and
specimens. The report submitted to the annual meeting in 1847
stated that, owing to the “ distressing calamities ” under which
the country was suffering, no progress had been made ; and it
was not till 1850 (although frequent allusions to the subject
appear in the interim) that the fitting of the upper room was
definitely decided on, and ordered to be completed before the
next session opened. This was done; and accordingly in that
year, 1850, the upper room was fitted up in the manner in which,
with some minor changes, you still see it.

The idea of inviting the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science to hold its annual meeting in Belfast, which it
did in 1852, was first publicly mooted at a conversazione held in
the Museum on 16th January, 1849, and the invitation was
given at the meeting of the association in Birmingham that
year.

Nothing of special moment occurred in the society till 1852,
when, at the close of a meeting held on 18th February, it was
announced that ‘Mr. Patterson had just received a letter from
London,” communicating the melancholy intelligence of the
death there of Wm. Thompson, Esq., the president of the
society, on the morning of the previous day, the 17th. The
death of this eminent naturalist and accomplished gentleman
in the prime of life, his 47th year, inflicted an almost irreparable
loss on the society, of which he was such a distinguished orna-

20

ment. Many of his fellow-members were equally earnest ;
indeed it was hardly possible to come much into contact with
him without sharing his enthusiasm ; but of his colleagues on
the council at the time there was not one who had not either
business or professional engagements that had a first claim on
their time and thoughts ; Mr. Thompson himself being the only
member of the council possessing ample private means and
complete leisure. Both he placed freely at the disposal of his
fellow-members, and he formed a most useful connecting link
between the then still comparatively young provincial society
and the older and larger metropolitan societies, of England and
Scotland, as well as of this country. Our society lost no time
in taking steps to mark their sense of the loss they had sustained
in Mr. Thompson’s removal, and of their determination to per-
petuate his memory. The erection of the “Thompson room,”
to contain the collections bequeathed by him to the Museum,
was almost at once determined on and proceeded with, the
appeal of the council to the public for funds being so promptly
and liberally responded to that the room was completed by the
autumn of that same year—-1852—when the meeting of the Brit-
ish Association was an event of considerable importance to us,
giving a stimulus to scientific pursuits, and imparting a prestige
to the society that continued for long after.

The gentlemen who have held the office of president after
Mr. Thompson’ decease were Mr. Patterson, from 1852 to 54, and
on three subsequent occasions ; Dr. Andrews, from 1854 to 56 ;
Dr.Stevelly, from 1856 to 58; Mr. Hyndman, from 1858to60; Mr.
James MacAdam, from 1860 to 61, but he died a few days after his
re-election in the latter year. Dr., now Sir C., Wyville Thomson
was our president from 1862 to 64, and again later ; Professor
James Thomson, from 1864 to66; Mr. Joseph John Murphy,
from 1866 to 68, and again from 1871to 75. Mr. Murphy may
now be regarded as one of our older, and he certainly always has
been one of our most learned, useful, and energetic members.
We have also had Dr. Hodges; and since then Mr. Robert
Young, than whom we have had no superior in any time ;
Professor Purser ; and, finally, the individual who now has the

21

honour of addressing you. I hope I have not overlooked
mentioning anyone ; and, assuming my enumeration is correct,
it makes fifteen presidents in the sixty years of the society’s
existence.

I omitted mentioning in its proper place that very many years
ago, I think it was in 1840, the society changed its name from
its original appellation of the Belfast Natural History Society
to the more comprehensive title which it still bears, and at the
same time enlarged the scope of its operations in the direction
indicated by thischange. During the past five or six-and-twenty
years the society has experienced some vicissitudes of fortune.
About the time of the erection of the Thompson room, the funds
for which were easily obtained, a debt of about £300 due by the
society began to be increased by additional expenses being
incurred without any concurrent increase of income, so that by
June, 1855, the debts of the society had increased to £500 of
borrowed money and £168 due for accounts, a total indebted-
ness of £668. The council then became thoroughly alive to the
necessity of grappling vigorously with the evil of this insreasing
debt. In November and December, 1855, Mr. Patterson de-
livered a course of lectures, an example followed in subsequent
years by Mr. Richard Davison, M.P., and Mr. Hyndman, by
Dr. Andrews, Mr. James MacAdam, and Dr. Wyville Thomson,
all of which resulted in substantial benefit to the society. Con-
tinued efforts of this kind, and obtaining new shareholders and
subscribers, ultimately had the desired result, and the annual
report presented to the shareholders of the Museum in May,
1866, contained the satisfactory announcement that the institu-
tution was at that time perfectly free of debt. So it has almost
ever since remained ; but I regret to add that increased expen-
diture, without any additional income, begins again, the last year
or two, to put our balances on the wrong side; and without
additional income it will not be possible for the council to con-
tinue certain new arrangements entered into during last session,
with the intention of increasing the usefulness and attractiveness
of the Museum, and its varied and valuable collections, which
are being constantly added to, the last addition of much impor-

22

tance being the collection of Irish antiquities presented last year
by Mr. Benn, and now deposited in the new room downstairs.

An important, but now by many almost forgotten, episode in
the history of the society was what is spoken of in our records as
“the Porter bequest.” This was a sum of £5,000, apparently
intended to be willed to the Museum by the late Mr. John
Porter of this town. The validity of this bequest was called in
question; and, after getting the best legal opinions obtainable
on the subject, the council of the society considered that
it would not be prudent to enter into litigation to support
theirclaim. They therefore abandoned it, and, having informed
the residuary legatee of their intention of doing so, this gentle-
man offered, on roth May, 1868—(1) To provide cases for the
proper display of the articles presented to the Museum by Mr.
Porter, (2) to pay the law costs incurred ; and (3) to present the
Museum with a sum of £500, which offers were duly accepted.
The gentleman who acted thus handsomely is my friend Mr,
Edward Porter Cowan,* the present excellent and popular Mayor
of Belfast.-’

In a brief sketch such as this of the history of the society and
the Museum it is not easy to adhere strictly to the chronological
order of events without increasing the tedium of the description.
However, I think that, except the addition to the building,
which was completed only last year, and which is so recent that
it need not now be alluded to, I have mentioned the principal
events in the material history if this Museum ; but the moral
history of the society that meets within its walls would not be
so easily written. That the society has exercised a considerable
influence towards the cultivation of natural science in the town
and district is undeniable, and the future historian of Belfast
will fail in his duty if he do not accord to many of those whose
names have been mentioned here this evening the acknowledg-
“ments that are due in this regard. I feel, however, and say it
with regret, that in my opinion, the society has perhaps passed
the zenith of its importance; and that its influence and the
interest excited by its proceediugs have latterly been on the

* Now Sir Edward Porter Cowan,

23

wane ; but let us hope not permanently so. For this waning
interest there are many reasons, most of them arising from cir-
cumstances beyond our control. Some ofthese I shall eudeavour
to point out. Firstly, this society has now to meet not only the
competing attractions of the young and vigorous Naturalists’
Field Club, of which my friend Mr. Robert Young is this year
the excellent president (a matter of congratulation both for the
club and himself), but also those of the societies connected with
places of worship in town, the young men of these congregations
associating themselves with the societies connected with those
churches of which they are members. Thus there is material
enough to make one large flourishing society, so scattered that
its energy, powerful for greater results if united, is in some de-
gree weakened in consequence of its subdivision. Again, sixty
years ago, when the society was founded, the population of
Belfast did not number more than 33,000, compared with
207,000, at the present time. But then the people, professional
men, merchauts, traders, and others, all resided in the town,
while now the large majority ofthese classes reside either in the
country or in suburbs sufficiently distant to make it inconvenient
for them to return after having left it at the close of their busi-
ness day. Even the last twenty or thirty years have made a
further great change in this respect. It is quite in my recollec-
tion when most of the leading members of the society resided
almost within call. Now only one member of the council
resides near us; the rest are so scattered that it has become
almost impossible for the council to hold their meetings for
the transaction of the society’s business at each other’s houses,
as was long their pleasant and social practice. Another and no
less powerful factor in the gradual decadence of such societies
is the recent enormous increase in the variety and circulation
of newspapers, reviews, and periodicals of all kinds. Most of
these are general, but many special, so much so that there is
hardly a leading science, and there certainly is no important
trade or industry, in the sister kingdom without its exponent
and reflex in the press. What the Aconomist is to the banker or
merchant ; the Hnugineer, the Grocer, or the Buzlder to those

24.

indicated by these names ; the Ratlway Times to the director ;
the Fze/d to the sportsman ; or the Zra to the actor, is the Art
Journal to the sculptor or painter, the Lancef tothe physician,
the /ézs to the lover of birds, or the Zoo/ogzst¢ to its namesake in
the flesh. The spirit of the age sympathises with this modern
luxury of different readers indulging their particular tastes at
their own fireside, while it is further stimulated by the freer
circulation of money as well as by the cheapness of some and
the excellence of many of the periodicals in question. When
it is borne in mind that the pages of some of the best modern
reviews are open to men of mark in politics, religion, literature,
art and science, and that the reader can thus have easy access
to the contemporary thoughts of the best men of the day, in
whatever direction he may choose to seek for mental recreation
or relaxation, it ceases to be a matter of surprise, not only that
the meetings of a society such as ours no longer possess their
old charm of attracting large audiences, but that public lectures
generally have ceased to be regarded as the most popular means
of imparting instruction by a large majority of those for whose
benefit they were intended. They no longer attract the au-
diences; are voted “slow ;” and are consequently neglected for
some other more attractive and amusing, even if less improving,
ways of spending time, these remarks applying. to other large
towns as well as to our own. In confirmation of this I may
mention having lately noticed an announcement of the closing
of the Polytechnic Institution—long one of the most popular
places of public resort in London. Here were delivered popular
lectures upon scientific or semi-scientific subjects, often illustrated
by attractive experiments. The Polytechnic did good work in
its time: but for some years back its audiences have been de-
clining, its work seemed to be done, and having attained to a
mature old age, it lately died a natural death. Another cause,
also leading in the direction we have been considering, lies
in the greatly increased modern facilities for travel. But per-
haps the most powerful factor of all is to be found in the greater
pressure under which most of us live nowadays. The style of
living among people in the same position is more expensive than

25

it was. Houses, equipages, dress, and entertainments are all
more costly ; the working hours are shorter, while the holidays
are longer ; and yet withal competition in most businesses is
keener, and the struggle in what Bret Harte has so aptly described
as “‘ the fierce race for wealth” more severe than ever. Hence
it comes that the exeitement of our days seems to demand a
reflex of excitement in our evenings; the quieter pursuits of
former times no longer suffice for the youth of the present day,
and I fear we cannot deny that the literary, scientific, and ar-
tistic character of the town has not kept pace with its rapid
growth in population and wealth. The age we live in seems
to be becoming more and more utilitarian ; we are forced to
admit this, and having to meet facts as they are, not perhaps
as we might wish them to be, it behoves us to pause and con-
sider whether, as we cannot lead as we might like, we might
not lead in the direction where we may beof most use. Whether,
in fact, we cannot use our organization here, partially at least,
for the furtherance of such useful objects as the material, as well
as the moral and intellectual, advancement of the community ;
and I believe we can aid towards the attainment of so desirable
an end by encouraging communications here dealing with the
application of science to, and combining of it with the practical
aims and objects of daily life.

Economic geology, for instance, teaches us how best 'to utilize
such deposits as the coal measures of Tyrone, the salt beds at
Carrickfergus, and the hematite iron ore fields of Antrim. Engi-
neering and applied mechanics serve not only to economise
the use and the wear and tear of, but even to raise the value of,
manual labour. The earnings of, say, mechanics or harvest
labourers, or indeed of any class of workmen, have not been
reduced in consequence of the invention of indoor labour-saving
appliances or of reaping or mowing machines, but are higher
now than formerly, while females can earn much better wages
in a mill or factory or in many other ways than they formerly
did while at the needle or with the spinning wheel. The dis-
coveries in magnetism and electricity are truly marvellous, and
their results are no less so. All the countries of the civilised

26

world are now united by materially slender, but morally power-
ful bonds, enabling persons in different hemispheres to converse
with one another across continents and through oceans. The
merchant in London can in a day buy a cargo of rice or
cotton in India, or tea in China; and, on the same day, can
arrange for the immediate payment of his purchase by a remit-
tance of silver direct from San Francisco. Important transactions
now are often done so closely that, in an operation of this nature,
sometimes involving delicate and intricate calculations in cross-
exchanges, the cost and time involved in remitting hard money
from this country would often be sufficient to render the
business unprofitable, if not impossible. Speaking the other
day at Birmingham, the eminent electrician, Dr. Siemens, said
that “ that form of energy known as the electric current was
nothing more than the philosopher’s delight forty years ago ;”
and long since that period it continued to be regarded as an un-
manageable element. Now it has been rendered tractable, forced
to admit the superiority of its master, and even submitting to
be stored and carried about for use when and where required.
The importance of these discoveries is only now being brought
home to some of usin the electric light and the telephone. One
of the spinning mills in town is now being lit by electricity: and
most of the arrangements for this meeting were made by our
hon. secretary, Dr. Workman, and myself conversing freely by
means of the telephone between his house in Balmoral Terrace
and my office in Corporation Street, far asunder at quite
different ends of the town. The high authority just named
(Dr. Siemens) considers electricity destined to supply both the
light and much of the power of the future.

I suppose there is no science, the pursuit of which and its
application to practical objects, has done more for the benefit of
mankind than chemistry. It has added to the productive
power of the soil, and thus aided agriculture by ascertaining,
pointing out, and supplying the constituents most wanted for
the production of any particular crop; by the manufacture of
phosphates, and in the utilisation of sewage, all of which tend,
by increasing the supplies, to reduce the prices of food for the

27

masses. This, the agricultural branch of chemical science, has
an able exponent in our fellow-member, one of my predecessors
in this chair, Dr. Hodges. There is scarcely an important
industry that has not felt the influence of chemistry ; it is brought
perhaps most home to ourselves by the assistance it renders in
the bleaching and dyeing of yarns and threads, linens, and other
fabrics ; while in the detection of adulteration of food, impurities
in water, or poisonous substances in the human frame, it comes
to the assistance of the social reformer, the physician, and the
jurist. ‘This society derives lustre from the fact that it reckons
among its now oldest members, and as a past president, one of
the most renowned of living chemists, Dr. Andrews. Again,
some branches of what is popularly known as social science,
such, for instance, as sanitary reform, and education, particularly
technical education, to which I purpose reverting later, would
not be out of place here ; and the somewhat neglected study of
one branch of zoology, I mean the natural history of fishes,
might be attended to with great advantage, with the view, by
the increased knowledge it would afford, to aid in the develop-
ment of the undoubtedly very valuable, but only partially worked
Irish fisheries. Although claiming as yet no place among the
exact sciences, it must be admitted that meteorology is pro-
gressing. Within our recollection weather forecasts were re-
garded as little better than mere speculations, but now, that
formerly mythical personage, the clerk of the weather, has
both “a local habitation and a name,” and the weather fore-
casts that daily issue from his office, although of course some-
times at fault, are so generally accurate that their value to
the seafaring classes, and especially to fishermen, will not be
disputed. In this connection, I think it only right to pay a
tribute to the courage and devotion of Mr. Clement L. Wragge,
F.R.G.S., a gentleman who has been lately carrying out a series
of meteorological observations on Ben Nevis, and who, at the
imminent risk of his life, ascended the mountain in the fearful
storm of last Friday fortnight, the 14th October, for the pur-
pose of taking some observations, from which his knowledge
and experience enable him to draw some valuable deductions as

28

to the operation of those hitherto hidden laws that govern the
course of storms. I might multiply examples, but these indica-
tions as to the direction in which I think we might endeavour
to influence discussions here, advocating the application of
scientific discovery to practical aims, may suffice for the present,
and I therefore pass on to another branch of my subject.

It is generally admitted that the United Kingdom has long
enjoyed a position of industrial and commercial supremacy over
the rest of the world. That position she still maintains, but
no longer so far ahead of some of her competitors as formerly ;
and it may not be unprofitable to inquire what first led to this
supremacy, and why it is now threatened. On both these
points, especially on the latter, differences of opinion prevail,
but I believe what mainly led to it was the partly natural and
partly acquired aptitude of the people to adapt themselves to
circumstances, and their ability to take full advantage of the
enormous mineral wealth with which the country had been so
richly endowed by nature. The people, too, had plenty of
working enterprise and energy, but along with this they
possessed the characteristic of seeing quickly, almost by intui-
tion, when their work ceased to be fairly reproductive, and
when it was time for them to turn and change. Then there
arose from time to time men of exceptional reflective, inventive
and mechanical talent, whose names will be remembered as
long as British science and British commerce endure; men like
Watt and Arkwright and the two Stephensons, like Davy and
Faraday and many others; men, I say, like these arose often
to have to combat prejudices and meet opposition, but finally
to conquer, and to find an army of workers ready to follow their
lead and to devote their own energy to the development of our
resources. Again, these countries have produced men of the
most profound genius in every walk of life—authors, poets,
statesmen, soldiers and sailors, historians, philosophers, artists,
and scientists in all branches. It is only with some of these
latter that we have now specially to deal, although all the rest,
and many others too numerous to mention, have not been with-
out much influence in moulding the national character, a pro-

29

minent feature in which, with, I regret to say, some foul
exceptions, has ever been a love of “fair play.” This latter
led to an early development of our liberties, and this again to
England long having been the refuge for the persecuted and
the exiles of other countries. It is too much a matter of history
to require further mention here how some new industries were
introduced and other older ones improved by some of these
refugees. It is in such ways and by such combinations of
circumstances as those now briefly indicated that our national
industrial character has been formed, and that character, coupled
with our insular position, our mineral wealth, and other natural
advantages, is what, in my opinion, has led to our commercial
supremacy. Having attained to a certain position, it is the duty
of every individual in the community to do what he can to
maintain it. Is then our position threatened or assailed? If
so, by whom, and how are we to meet and to defeat the attack?
In the first place, I do not consider that it is so seriously threa-
tened as some make out; but, granted that it is threatened to
some extent, how comes it? I believe it arises from different
causes in the different articles in which foreign competition
presses on us most severely. In some things, such, for instance,
as linen yarns and plain articles generally, the cause seems to
be found in the longer hours and lower wages that prevail in
the establishments of our Continental rivals. We cannot
expect, nor indeed do we wish for, any retrogressive legislation
with regard to hours of labour; so, I fear, unless we can further
lower the cost of production, we must let those rivals keep what
they have got, consoling ourselves with the reflection that what
they have got is what was least worth our while to keep. In
other articles, however, it is superior taste, and in others, again,
superior skill and the applied results of a carefully nurtured
system of technical instruction, that are causing us to feel
foreign competition as we do. The advocacy of scientific and
technical education comes so legitimately within the scope of
our operations that I proceed to allude briefly to the subject ;
doing so, indeed, requires no apology, as it is one of the
questions of the day. It was lately brought so fully before

30

the local public in a very able letter addressed by my friend,
Mr. Loewenthal, the President of the Linen Merchants’ Asso-
ciation, to that body, and shortly thereafter brought by deputa-
tion from that body before the Chamber of Commerce, that I
need not now refer to it at any great length. The importance
of the subject has long been recognised in several Continental
countries; the result being that in chemistry, and in the arts
as applied to decorative furniture and architecture, room-papers,
curtain and other fabrics, whether with designs woven into or
printed on them, and to other articles, we are simply beaten.
The manufacturing towns in England and Scotland are now
fully alive to the importance of not allowing themselves to get
further behind; and, in most cases, without waiting for Govern-
ment aid, the want has been supplied either by private libera-
lity, as in the case of the Mason College at Birmingham and the
intended Baxter College at Dundee, or by public subscription,
as in the case of the Yorkshire College at Leeds. The large
cities and towns of Glasgow, Bradford, Huddersfield, and others
have schools which make weaving and designing a speciality;
while Sheffield has one more devoted to its particular industries,
such as metallurgy, &c. Four months ago a new university
college was opened at Nottingham, part of the aim of which is
the teaching of technology. The instructions in this depart-
ment (as I learn from Mr. Loewenthal’s letter) will embrace the
manufacture of cloth, cotton, silk, lace and hosiery, bleaching,
dyeing and printing, mechanics, chemistry, light, heat, steam,
electricity and magnetism, machine drawing, principles of
mining, and almost as many more subjects, which I do not wish
to occupy more of your time in enumerating. I have to thank
my friend, Mr. John Marshall, of Leeds, for kindly sending mea
copy of the seventh annual report of the Yorkshire College (June,
1881); and from this I see that among many general subjects,
the following are prominent :—Experimental physics, chemistry,
geology and mining, and, separately, coal mining, and civil and
mechanical engineering. As might be expected in Leeds, the
capital of the immense woollen manufacturing industry of
Yorkshire, the textile industries and dyeing departments receive

31

special attention. The separate report on these is a very
interesting document; the weaving department had 78 and the
dyeing department 58 students. The second year students
made several of the coal-tar colours, starting with benzol, a
most important matter, to which I purpose reverting later.
Including a sum of £15,000 donation (besides an endowment of
£1,250 a year) from the Clothworkers’ Company of London,
the public subscriptions to the general and building funds of
the Yorkshire College, at the time the report alluded to was
issued last summer, amounted to over £82,000! Besides the
varied technical instruction given at Anderson’s College, Glas-
gow (for the calendar of which for the present session Jam
indebted to Mr. James Barnett), and which includes, with
special prominence, applied mechanics and chemistry, the city
of Glasgow has lately established its separate technical college ;
but up to the present the weaving branch is, I believe, the only
one that has got started. The syllabus for the present session,
which I have received, shows that full practical instruction on
the looms themselves, and in a great variety of fabrics, is here
given. It is satisfactory to know that the authorities of Queen’s
College here are alive to the necessity of keeping abreast of the
times in the proper teaching of those branches of science to
which I have been specially alluding. The accommodation and
appliances that were sufficient over thirty years ago for giving
instruction in natural philosophy and chemistry are now, with
the changes that have occurred within this period, no longer
adequate; and it is the intention of the college authorities,
supported by the Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, and
the borough members, to apply to Government for a grant of
some £10,000 to provide the additional accommodation and
apparatus required. On behalf of this, the oldest scientific
society in Belfast, I purpose also supporting the application.
In illustration of the want being actually felt, a friend of mine
who was commencing a certain kind of chemical business here
had to get a practical chemist as manager of his works from
England.

In connection with a local bleaching and printing company,

22

of which I have the honour to be chairman, I lately learned
some things that surprised me. When speaking just now of
the Yorkshire College, I alluded to a circumstance mentioned
in the report that some of the students there had made several
of the coal tar colours from benzol. That statement does not
convey much significance to the uninitiated without explanation.
Benzol itself, as 1 understand, is an extract from common coal
tar. What are known in the trade as the aniline colours were
the first dyes produced from coal tar ; but it was found by ex-
perience that while these suited very well for silk or woollen
fabrics, as they became fast without a mordant, they did not
answer for goods made from hard fibres, like flax and hemp.
The first aniline colour of commerce was mauve. This was
an entirely new colour; and I well remember the sensation
that its appearance created three or four-and-twenty years ago.
A German chemist, Hoffman, then brought out other colours,
rosaniline, magenta, &c. Another extract from benzol is an-
thracine, and from it are derived all the so-called alizarine
colours. The colour basis of alizarine is scarlet: it is largely
taking the place of madder, which was hitherto the principal
red dye, yielding derivatives of purples and down to chocolate
colours. From the alizarine scarlet as a basis the derivatives of
purples, lilacs, &c., can also be obtained. A German chemical
company have lately brought out an alizarine blue which seems
likely to supplant indigo, the latter being not only more ex-
pensive, but also more difficult to work. Again, we have ali-
zarine orange, and a variety of graduated shades derived from
it, down to brown. Other products from the same original
base—coal tar—are ceruline, which produces a green, and
mytheline green, from which also a blue can be derived. I
shall go no further into details, but the examples given will
suffice to show the variety and perfection of these new colours,
and the reason I mention the matter at all is partly to illustrate
the progress of chemical research in this particular direction,
and its use to commerce, and partly to state that these colours,
used so largely in our dye and print works, are all made in
Germany. We’'in our gasworks make the coal tar from which

33

the anthracine is derived. The Germans import the anthracine

_from us, make these beautiful colours from it, and sell them
back to us. We can bleach and print better than the Germans,
and the finish we put upon our goods is unrivalled; but so
much are we at their mercy for these colours that by a trade
combination they lately advanced their prices for some of them
fifty per cent.; and we are at present, and I suppose, till we
make the colours for ourselves shall continue, powerless to resist.
Where can we find a stronger argument than this in favour of
technical education ?

It is, however, not alone in manufacturing, but also in purely
mercantile pursuits, that technical instruction is given on the
Continent. I lately read in the Hconomist that a superior
school of commercial studies, created by the Paris Chamber of
Commerce, will be opened on the 3rd November. The Chamber
possesses already two schools of commerce; the new one, for
which a spacious building has been erected, is intended to com-
plete the studies of the pupils in the highest branches of com-
mercial, industrial, and financial knowledge, in order to qualify
them for the direction of banks, manufactories, or public com-
panies, or for consular posts. The teaching staff consists of
thirty professors. Among the other subjects comprised in the
programme are monetary systems, cheques, insurance, maritime
law, bourse operations, minerals and mines, yarns, tissues, and
dyes, patent laws, analyses, adulterations, &c.

We want, however, more than all that. While the school of
art is doing excellent work in its way, and work too that can-
not fail to be beneficial to the artistic departments of our busi-
ness, we want besides a permanent art gallery, which should be
supplemented by periodical loan and sale exhibitions. Access
to the beautiful in art, and education by the eye, cannot fail to
aid in elevating the public taste and tone; yet for any art ex-
hibitions worthy the name this large town has for several years
been indebted to the enterprise of a private firm, Messrs. Rod-
man, to whom I heartily wish every success in their spirited

undertaking. Although a majority of our municipal authorities
thought otherwise, I consider that we do want a free public library
€

34

too. Other towns of inferior size in England and Scotland
have their libraries, which are largely used, and evidently
highly appreciated, by the classes for whom they are intended.
Leeds, for instance, a town not much superior in size to Belfast,
had in its library at the date of the last report to which I had
access, Over 20,000 volumes in its reference department, and
Over 50,000 inits lending department. Four years ago, Dundee,
asmaller town than Belfast, had nearly 30,000 volumes in the
two departments. ‘These have been established under the Pub-
lic Libraries Acts, which some gentlemen not long since sought
to have applied to Belfast.

I shall not detain you much longer ; but there is one other
matter that I wish briefly to advert to. It will hardly be cre-
dited that our society’s membership now is virtually no larger
than it was when the Museum was built fifty years ago, and
when the population of the town was less than one-fourth of
what it now is. I do not expect to keep up the old proportion
of membership to population ; but Iregard with disappointment
the apathy of the public, and with more than disappointment
the not unfrequently expressed wish to put a commercial value
on membership here in return for the annual subscription.
We cannot offer a direct return in money, and it is very dis-
couraging when one is tfying to enlist new members to be met
with such selfish remarks as ‘It does me no good,” or “I get
nothing for my money.” If the Museum and the society are, as
I think they are, deserving of public support, they should get it
more freely and ungrudgingly than they do. Fifty or sixty
more members at an annual subscription of only a guinea each
would make us financially easy, but still with no margin for
incidental expenses, painting or repairs of buildings, &c. It
would seem strange if, in such a large community, such a com-
paratively small number could not be had notwithstanding all
the counter attractions alluded to. However, I feel strongly
that, as the Museum exists for the public, and not the public
for the Museum, if the public won’t support it, it will have to
go down, for I do not see the object of keeping it in being by
spasmodic efforts, from any mere sentimental or conservative

Sg

feeling. I confess I have been thinking that some parts of our
collection—such for instance as the quadrupeds—are so incom-
plete as to be of little value; and the necessity for these no
longer exists to the same extent as formerly, as there is now, I
understand, a more complete collection of such at the Queen’s
College. I speak only for myself, and am not to be understood
as making any proposal, as I have not mentioned the subject to
my colleagues, who may entirely dissent from me; but, for my
own part, I should not object to see the Museum handed over
as a present to the town, as the nucleus for a Free Museum and
Library. We have fine collections in ornithology, geology, Irish
antiquities, foreign arms and implements, and other things;
but in those departments where our collections are poor and
not progressive they might, with little disadvantage, be dropped,
and the space thus gained be devoted to books. There is room
enough at the rere for another pretty large building, part of
which might be arranged as an art gallery, and the remainder
to library purposes. I apologise to my fellow-members for
having said so much without first speaking to them; but they
may rest satisfied that I have not compromised them or the
society in any way, and what has been said may bear fruit in
one direction or the other. While I should much regret to see
the Museum terminate its independent existence, I should regret
still more to see that existence indefinitely prolonged if the
building could otherwise be devoted to more distinctly useful
purposes. Such a step as the giving up the ownership and
management of the Museum would by no means entail the
extinction of the society, which would go on, as I hope it will
in any case, prosperously and vigorously.

A great English statesman, who is a true friend of this coun-
try, alluded with regret in one of his recent public utterances
to the absence of a middle class in Ireland. Such is unfor-
tunately the case in the greater part of the country; but I claim
for this town and most of the province the possession of a middle
class—not so rich, truly, as the similar class in the sister island,
but not inferior to them in those qualities that go to make a

_ country prosperous and contented—I mean intelligence, indus-

36

try, and thrift. I have no doubt most of the proprietors of this
Museum, belonging, as they do, to the intelligent class referred
to, would consider the question of parting with their property,
if it came to that, in no narrow spirit, but with a primary view
of enlarging the sphere of usefulness of the museum, through
increased opportunities of giving instruction and imparting
knowledge to a wider circle than that of the society alone.
With that view, and in that spirit, I submit these concluding
sentences to the consideration of my fellow-members, and I
thank you all very sincerely for the patient hearing you have
accorded me.

37

6th December, 1881.
The President, R. L. PaTTerson, Esq., in the Chair.

A paper was read by PRoFEssoR EVERETT, on

REMINISCENCES OF THE PARIS ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION AND CONGRESS.

My first visit to the Exhibition was on Monday morning,
August 12, 1881, and on entering it I went at once to the
British Office to report myself. Lord Crawford, the Chief
British Commissioner, was there, with Professor Hughes, the
inventor of the printing telegraph and of the microphone, whose
acquaintance I had made in London two years before, on the
occasion of a visit which we both paid, by invitation, to the
Laboratory of Mr. Warren De La Rue, where we witnessed
the performances of Mr. De La Rue’s battery of 5000 chloride
of silver ceils, and saw the marvellously beautiful discharges in
his monster vacuum tubes. I received from these gentlemen a
warm welcome, combined with the information that on receiv-
ing my letter of acceptance they had written to ask me to serve
as one of the ten British Jurors of the Exhibition, which letter,
however, having been addressed to Belfast, had not yet reached
me. The jury were to begin work on the zoth September, and
continue three or four weeks. After taking a little time to
consider the matter as I walked over the Exhibition, I came to
the conclusion that I ought to make the most of such a splendid
opportunity of seeing what was doing in the electrical world.
The Congress was not to meet till Thursday, so I had Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday free to roam about in the Exhibition
at my own sweet will.

38

The building itself, the well-known Palais d’Industrie in the
Champs Elysées, is a Crystal Palace, and was built for the
first French Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations. It is
not near so large as the Sydenham Crystal Palace, but is per-
haps 200 yards long and 80 broad—a very good size for an
Exhibition, as it is big enough to hold all that one can see in
reasonable time, and is not so large as to fatigue one with the
mere physical labour of walking over it. »

The interior presented a bright and animated appearance,
even in the daytime, when there were not many electric lights
to be seen, and was still more striking with the blaze of the
lamps at night. It was tastefully decorated. The ground floor
was parcelled out among the different nations, and could all be
surveyed at a glance by a spectator in the gallery. There were
electric lamps, dynamo machines, telephones, telegraphs of
every form, some of them printing messages by putting down
keys like the keys of a piano, some of them producing copies
of pictures which were gradually built up line by line like
a piece of Berlin wool work. There were sewing machines
and weaving machines driven by electricity, and two great
pumps pouring fourth immense sheets of a bright red liquid
in a manner calculated to attract the attention of all beholders,
also driven by electricity. There were baths with spoons and
other articles suspended in them, undergoing the processes of
electro-plating and gilding ; and large plates of pure copper,
larger and thicker than any of the flagstones of our pavements,
which had been deposited by the electro-metallurgical machine
of Siemens. There were the newest and best forms of friction
machines, and improvements on the Holtz, which render it in-
dependent of frictional aid at starting. There was the gigantic
Ruhmkorff coil about six feet long, made for Mr. Spottiswoode,
by Apps; a specimen of Sir Wm. Thomson’s Siphon Recorder,
as well as of his large Absolute Electrometer ; cable-laying
apparatus, and a beautiful model of Messrs. Siemens’ cable-laying
steamer, the “ Faraday.” ‘There was the Phonograph, and the
still newer invention, the Photophone ; while among antiqui-
ties there were gigantic electrical machines and Leyden jars

39

belonging to the early days of electrical invention in Holland,
apparatus belonging to Volta, an autograph of Galvani, Wheat-
stone’s revolving mirror for measuring the velocity of electricity,
and Faraday’s iron ring with two coils of wire wound on it, by
the aid of which he made his first observation of induced
currents.

Outside the Exhibition there was the Electric Tramcar, con-
veying passengers over a tramway a quarter of a mile long, from
the Place de la Concorde to the Exhibition, and driven by an
invisible influence conducted to it by means of two travelling
wires, which had one end fastened to the car, while the other
end travelled along a light rail suspended on posts beside the
line. These two wires, it is to be remarked, did not drag the
car, but were visibly drayged by it, a circumstance which brought
home forcibly to one’s mind the mysterious character of the
unseen propelling agent. The current conveyed by these wires
passed through an electromotor beneath the floor of the car,
causing its armature to rotate and drive the wheels. The
current itself was produced by a dynamo machine in the centre
of the exhibition building, and this machine was almost precisely
similar to the electromotor ; for it is a general property of a
large class of electro-magnetic machines that they can either be
used for furnishing a current, or can themselves be driven by a
current supplied to them from without.

The Exhibition was open to the public from Io a.m. to 6
p.m., and then after being closed for two hours was open again
from 8 to 11. The evening was the time when it was most
crowded, and on three evenings in the week there was an extra
crowd in one of the galleries, where some hundreds of people
were standing in queues waiting their turn to be admitted to
one of four rooms which were inscribed with the words, ‘ Tele-
phone de l’Opera.”” In each of these rooms there were twenty
pairs of telephones hung on panels round the walls and having
flexible wire cords attached to them, which were in communi-
cation with the Opera House, some two miles distant. On
putting one of these pairs of telephones to your ears you dis-
tinctly heard the music that was being performed at the Opera;

40

and after hearing it for three minutes your party had to leave
and make way for another detachment. One gentleman of my
acquaintance heard the voice of a soprano singer with such
deafening loudness that he had to remove the telephone from
his ear. In taking my three minute turn I did not hear any-
thing so loud as this, but I heard each singer well, some of
them louder than others ; and what struck me most was that
some of them seemed to be singing into my right ear and some
into my left. The cause of this I afterwards learned, and it
_ was just what I at first surmised. ‘The telephone at my right
was connectcd with a transmitter in the right hand part of the
stage, and the telephone at my left ear with one in the left hand
part. There are altogether ten transmitters in the opera house,
five of them on the right and five on the left side of the promp-
ter’s box, just in front of the footlights, and each of tuese trans-
mitters supplies eight or ten telephones in the Exhibition
building. ‘The telephonic system employed is that of M. Ader.
The transmitter is on the ordinary microphonic plan first em-
ployed by Crossley, and contains several little bars of carbon,
which, by their vibrations under the action of the singer’s voice,
cause variations of resistance in the primary circuit of a small
induction coil, and thus produce currents in the secondary coil
which is joined on to the line wires leading to the distant
station. The receiving telephone which you hold to your ear
is very compact, and is shaped something like a stirrup, con-
sisting mainly of a steel horse-shoe magnet whose pole-pieces,
round which the current circulates, are close to a thin iron
diaphragm. ‘There is one special feature, and that is that on
the opposite side of the diaphragm there is a ring of soft iron
passing opposite the two pole-pieces, its function being to in-
tensify the magnetic force upon the diaphragm.

The electric lights were of two classes, which are called
respectively, “arc lights” and “incandescent lights,” The former
are the most powerful; the latter are the steadiest. ‘The in-
candescent lamps are all very much on one plan. They contain
a filament of carbon some few inches long, of about the thick-
ness of a piece of thread, which is suspended by its two ends in

41

the interior of a glass globe of about one-fourth pint’size, which
has been very perfectly exhausted of air by means of the effec-
tive mercury pump devised by Crookes, as an improvement on
the original mercury pump of Sprengel. There were four dif-
ferent forms of this incandescent lamp exhibited, bearing the
names of Edison, Swan, Maxim, and Lane Fox. Swan’s lamps,
which were used for lighting the Congress Room, the British
Bureau, and the Buffet, behaved exceedingly well all the time,
and, as far as I could judge, were absolutely free from any flick-
ering. Some of the others met with mishaps which prevented
them.from appearing to full advantage; but I believe that all
of them when properly supplied with current are equally steady.
Their light is yellower than that of an arc lamp, though not so
yellow as gas. The little carbon filament in its incandescent
condition is so bright that, by what optical writers call irradia-
tion, it appears from one-eighth to one-fourth inch in diameter.
You can light any number of them, or extinguish them in-
stantly ; and arrangements are sometimes provided by which
you can turn them up or down to any degree you please by
what looks like an ordinary tap. The Swan lamp has been
adapted by Mr. Crompton to miners’ use, and has been success-
fully employed in coal mines.

The arc lights require two rods of carbon, which must be a
small distance apart, and the current passes between their ends,
so that not only are the ends of the cartons luminous, but there
is also an incandescent space of air, filled probably with little
particles of carbon, between. Unlike the filament of carbon of
which I have just been speaking, these carbons burn away, and
need to be constantly fed forward towards each other, so as to
keep them at the proper distance, on which the brightness of
the light depends. This “feeding” of the carbons is effected
automatically by a great variety of regulators, bearing the
names of different inventors, the intention being that when the
distance is too great or too small it shall immediately be recti-
_ fied before the difference has produced any noticeable effect on
‘the amount of light. But it is very difficult to do this with
sufficient promptness and smoothness, and hence one can almost

42

always detect some fluctuation of brightness, which is often
aggravated by impurities and inequalities in the material of
the carbons. The diameter of these carbons is usually from ~
quarter inch to half inch, according to the power of the lamp ;
but there were one or two lamps in occasional use in the
Exhibition which had carbons of an inch or inch-and-half.. In
a few of the systems, the carbons are placed parallel to each
other with some contrivance for making the current pass across
the ends and not anywhere else. In Jablochkofi’s system this
is secured by interposing kaolin or plaster of Paris, which
reaches not quite to the ends, and burns away just as fast as
the carbons; but it was the universal verdict that of all the
lights in the Exhibition, the Jablochkoff were the most un-
steady. They are also said to be wasteful of power as compared
with other arc lights.

But I must stop for the present my description of the objects
in the Exhibition, and proceed to speak of the Congress. It
was called the International Congress of Electricians, and was
held under the auspices of the French Government, the Min-
ister of Posts and Telegraphs being its President.

Communications had been addressed to the Governments of
the various countries requesting each of them to appoint Com-
missioners whose business would be not only to select or make
provision for the selection of the members to be sent from their
own country to the Congress, but also to select their jurymen
and look after the interests of their country in the Exhibition
generally.

The French members of the Congress had a preliminary
meeting, and drafted a programme which was substantially
adopted. There were to be two kinds of meetings, viz.: plenary
meetings, and sectional meetings, besides public lectures.

The plenary meetings were for the discussion of questions
requiring an international agreement: and hence calling for a
vote of the Congress.

The sectional meetings were for discussion and interchange
of ideas upon various electrical questions, which might, in some

instances, prepare the way for laying a resolution before a
plenary meeting.

43

There were three sections: the first intended for the discus-
sion of questions of electrical theory; the second for applications
of electricity to telegraphy, telephony, and railway engineering;
and the third for the discussion of the electric lights and other
applications of electricity not included in the second section.

The general questions to be submitted to the plenary meet-
ings were thus specified ;—

I. The discussion of the measures to be taken for arriving at
the general adoption of an international system of electrical
units.

II. Measures to be taken for facilitating the service of inter-
national telegraphic lines.

III. Measures to be taken for facilitating scientific inter-
national relations as regards special applications of electricity.

The Congress was opened on the 15th September, by an
inaugural address from its President, M. Cochery, Ministre des
'Postes et des Telegraphes, and there was a splendid muster of
the savans of Europe.

From Germany, we had such men as Helmholtz, Kirchhoff,
Clausius, Wiedemann and Werner Siemens. From Italy, Govi,
Rosetti and Ferraris. From Switzerland, Wartmann and Hag-
genbach. From Sweden, Nrystrom and Thalen.. From Russia,
Stoletow and Avenarius. From the United States, Rowland
and Barker. From France, Berthelot, Wurtz, Becquerel, Cornu,
Dumas, Fizeau, Jamin, Marey, Allard, Blavier, Crova, Jabloch-
koff, Joubert, Le Roux, Lippmann, Mascart, Mercadier, Plante,
- Potier, Terquem, and Violle. From England, Abel, Adams,
Ayrton, Barrett, Sir Charles Bright, Chrystal, Latimer Clark,
Clifton, Crookes, De La Rue, Dewar, Fitzgerald, Carey Foster,
Dr. Gladstone, Gordon, Hopkinson, Hughes, Moulton, Preece,
C. W. Siemens, Smith of Oxford, Willoughby Smith, Spottis-
woode, Sir Wm. Thomson, and myself. The total number of
_ members was somewhere about 300.

The Congress Room or Salle des Séances was of an ample size,
and arranged so that every seat had a desk in front of it, each
seat and desk being intended for two persons. The platform
consisted of three tiers: the highest being for the President,

44

Vice-Presidents, and Secretaries ; the second (called the Tri-
bune), was for the speaker for the time being ; and the lowest,
for the Commissaire General, who may be described as the
Chief Clerk. There were no stenographic reporters ; but all
the front seats were allocated to La Chancellerie, that is to say,
to the staff of clerks charged with the duty of taking longhand
notes, and preparing an abstract of each discussion—a duty
which, being able scientific men, they performed with great
skill and judgment. The abstracts thus prepared were always
printed and submitted for approval at the next meeting.

All the proceedings were very orderly. If anyone wished to
speak, he had first to hold up his hand and say “je demande
la parole” ; and on the President granting permission in the
words, “ vous avez la parole,” he had to walk from his seat to
the Tribune, and thence address the assembly in French.

After the President’s opening address the hours of meeting
were arranged. M. Cochery recommended us to begin every
morning at eight, and this hour would have been the most
agreeable to the Frenchmen ; but, in deference to the protesta-
tions of the foreigners, it was made half-past nine. This was to
be the hour of meeting for the first section. The second section
was to meet at two, and the third at four. This division of
time appears at first sight to give an undue preponderance to
the first section, but it was not so in reality: for Frenchmen
leave off their business at half-past eleven and go to dejeuner.

It was well understood that the principal point to be- settled
by the Congress was the adoption of an international system of
electrical units.

English electricians have, now for several years, been agreed
among themselves in using a system, the history of which may
be summed up as follows :—For a long time the standard of
electrical resistance in this country as well as on the continent
was what is called Siemens’ unit. It is defined as the resistance
at temperature o°C of a column of mercury, a square millimetre
in section, and a metre in length. The column of mercury
itself was not in general use, but coils of wire were sold which ~
were guaranteed to have this amount of resistance.

45

With the progress of exact knowledge, it was shown that
a resistance is of the nature of a velocity, that it can be ex-
pressed as so many metres per second, and that there would
be great advantages for calculation in employing units of
resistance which were round numbers of metres per second.
To carry out this idea, three members of a Committee appointed
by the British Association carried out experiments, as the result
of which they issued certain standard coils guaranteed to havea
resistance of ten million metres per second. This amount of
resistance has since been called the Ohm, and certain amounts
of electro-motive force, of current, and of capacity, which, like
the Ohm, are expressible in round numbers in the metrical
system, have received the names of Volt, Weber, and Farad.

Another Committee of the British Association, subsequently
appointed for selecting and naming units, recommended that
everything should be based on the Centimetre, the Gramme, and
the Second, and that all units directly derived from these without
multiplication or division should be called C.G.S. units. They
recommended that in every branch of Physics the C.G.S. units
should be regarded as the chief units, though other units. which
are decimal multiples or submultiples of them, such as the
Ohm, which is 10° C.GS., and the Volt, which is 10° C.G.S.,
may conveniently be used for temporary or commercial pur-
poses.

I was the secretary of this committee, and wrote a little book
illustrating the application of these recommendations to various
branches of Physics. At the York meeting of the British As-
sociation I had the gratification of hearing this book commended
in the warmest terms both by Sir Wm. Thomson, who was
President of Section A, and Mr. Preece, the head of the Postal
Telegraphs, who said it had been of the greatest possible service
to him in teaching his clerks. Sir Wm. Thomson is in the
habit of carrying it always in his pocket, and produced and
referred to it several times during the discussions of the Con-
gress. I was accosted in Paris by one savant after another of
various nationalities who congratuated me on having produced
a book which was very much wanted.

46

The English electricians came to the Congress with the desire
of having the C.G.S. units generally adopted, together with the
multiples or sub-multiples of them known as the Ohm, Volt,
Weber, and Farad, which are in general use in England.

The Germans on the other hand ¢lung to the Siemens unit,
which had a German origin, and is universally employed in
their country, and they were for measuring currents by the
quantity of copper that a current would deposit in a given time.

The French, we understood, were on our side; but it was
feared that the German patriotism and tenacity of purpose
would prove formidable obstacles to a harmonious solution.

As every one felt that it would be frivolous to discuss other
points till this burning question was decided or put in train for
being decided, it was taken up as the first question in the first
section. Sir Wm. Thomson, at the call of the President of the
section, M. Dumas, opened the discussion in a very lucid and
able speech, in which he paid graceful compliments to the
founders of the metric system, and pointed out how that system
had been developed, and in one important respect simplified by
the British Association Committee. He concluded by moving
that a Committee be appointed to discuss certain questions of
detail, which were of too technical a character to be interesting
to the members of the section generally.

He was followed by Professors Wiedemann and Helmholtz,
who raised difficulties regarding the accuracy of the standards
which have been constructed by the British Association, and
recommended a complete separation between theory and prac-
tice—the practical unit of resistance to be Siemens’ mercury
unit. After one or two others had spoken, I ventured to de-
mand “ /a parole,” and threw out a suggestion which, I thought,
was calculated to form the basis of a satisfactory compromise.
While insisting on the importance of choosing units which had
the simplest possible relations among themselves, I pointed out
that this part of the work of the British Association Committees
was by no means bound up inseparably with their choice of
wire coils as standards, and that ifa mercury standard was more
permanent and more easily reproducible, there was nothing to

47

prevent the British Association units from being materially
represented by a column of mercury instead of by a coil of wire.
This is just what was agreed to in the end. (See the Resolu-
tions at the end of the present paper.)

Altogether, the Congress had seven what were called plenary
sittings—that is, meetings of the Congress asa whole. Besides
these, there were six sittings of the first section and a larger
number of the second and third.

Three International Commissions were resolved on. The
object of the first I have already stated.

Of the other two, one was for the selection of a standard
source of light, the English ‘‘candle” and the French “carcel”
being both of them unsatisfactory as standards for measuring
the power of electric lights.

The duties of the remaining commission are fourfold :—

(a) To prescribe a general plan for the observation of atmos-
pheric electricity.

(4) To compile statistics relative to the efficiency of the
different systems of lightning conductors, and to the question
whether the networks of aerial wires which traverse our cities

in connection with telegraphs and telephones are a source of

danger, or of additional security.
_ (c) To systematise the observation of earth-currents through
telegraphic lines.

They have, also, a fourth duty, for the imposition of which
Iam to some extent responsible. The circumstances were these.
There was exhibited in the Belgian department of the exhibi-
tion, by its inventor, M. Van Rysselberghe, a beautiful instru-
ment by means of which the heights of the barometer and
thermometer, and four other meteorological elements* could be
transmitted every ten minutes to a number of distant stations and
made to record themselves there, without the assistance of an
operator at either the receiving or the sending station; and
only one telegraphic wire was required for the whole six instru-
ments whose indications were transmitted. Its practical char-

* Namely, humidity, depth of-water in rain gauge, direction of wind, and velocity of
wind, See Nature, October 20, 1881, p. 588, for a fuller description.

48

acter was shown by the fact that every night, during a period
of some hours, it was in connection with the Observatory at
Brussels, and received a continuous record of the indications of
the Brussels instruments.

I had studied its construction with the benefit of M. Ryssel-
berghe’s explanations, and satisfied myself that it was an in-
valuable instrument for enabling a director at a central station
to obtain the best data for weather predictions; so when M.
Rysselberghe, in the fifth plenary sitting of the Congress, de-
scribed his system, and proposed that the Congress should re-
commend its general adoption, I was a sympathising listener.

M. Mascart, director of the French meteorological office,
opposed the motion on the ground of the great expense which
the general adoption of the system would involve, and the little
experience that had yet been obtained of its operation.

I saw that M. Rysselberghe was not likely to get what he
wanted, and I was loath to let so good a thing fall; so while
M. Mascart was speaking I hastily drafted in English a resolu-
tion of a more moderate character, which, after being put into
French, was unanimously adopted, M. Rysselberghe having
withdrawn his own proposition in favour of it. It was, that the
commission on earth-currents and atmospheric electricity be
also charged with the duty of reporting on the practicability
of the automatic despatch of the indications of meteorological
instruments to distant stations by means of telegraphic currents.

I may add that M. Rysselberghe, before leaving Paris, gave
me his warmest thanks both by letter and personally for my
action in the matter.

Before the Congress had finished its sittings, the labours of
the jury began. There were 150 jurors—75 for France, and 75
for the rest of the world ; England having 10; Germany, Io;
Belgium, 11 ; and the United States, 7.

Their first meeting was held on the 26th October, when they
divided themselves into five groups, which at the next meeting
were subdivided into fourteen classes, corresponding to the
classes in which objects were arranged in the official catalogue.

I was in group I, which included classes 3, 8, 9, 14, class 3

49

being magneto and dynamo machines, class 8 electric lights,
class 9 electromotors and the electric transmission of power,
and class 14 steam engines and gas engines which were employed
for driving the above named machines. My class was No. 3;
magneto and dynamo machines. Before proceeding to our
separate work in the classes, we appointed (upon my proposi-
tion) three small temporary Committees to draft a plan for
experimental measures in the three departments of mechanics,
electricity, and optics, and I was made chairman of the electrical
Committee. When these Committees had given in their
Reports, one large Committee, of which I was also a member,
was appointed to carry out the experiments, and these experi-
ments lasted for several weeks, having been concluded only
about a fortnight ago. For several days the fourteen classes of
jurors were busily occupied in visiting the objects in their
several departments, making notes as they went, and receiving
explanations from the exhibitors. Then each class spent some
days in deliberation and judging, the latter operation being per-
formed by a numerical process. Each juror stated a number
which in his opinion represented the merit of the object under
discussion. The average of these numbers was then taken and
recorded by the Chairman as the official verdict.

Our Chairman in class 3 was Professor Clausius, of Bonn,
well known as one of the pioneers of the modern science of
Thermodynamics. We also numbered in our ranks, Professor
Amsler, of Schaffhausen, inventor of the well known plani-
meter; Professor Kundt, of Strasbourg; Professor Potier, of
the Ecole Polytechnique ; Terquem, of Lille; Ferraris, of
Turin ; and Rowland, of the Johns Hopkins University, who was
afterwards replaced by Michelson, the measurer of the velocity
of light. The only Englishman besides myself was Major
Armstrong, who was well versed in the subject from having
superintended the experiments of the English Government on
the Electric Light at Chatham.

Our Secretary was an Italian Captain of Engineers, Botto
by name, who was exceedingly fluent in the French language,
and had made a special study of the subject of our class, having

D

5°

written a history of magneto and dynamo machines. We
worked most harmoniously together, and there was very little
tendency to national partizanship.

The Classes reported their judgments to their respective
Groups, and the results were finally revised by the whole jury.
The number of gold medals awarded was 79 ; of silver, about
150; and of bronze, about 250. The highest distinction of all,
not counting the complimentary awards to governments and
societies, was the Diploma of Honor given to inventors. Of
these there were only 11, which were awarded to Sir Wm.
Thomson, Dr. Werner Siemens, Professor Hughes, M. Gaston
Planté, Mr. Edison, Professor Graham Bell, M. Gramme, Pro-
fessor Pacinotti, Professor Bjerknes of Christiania, M. Marcel
Depretz,and M. Baudot. Most of these names will be well known
to you, but the last three or four are probably unfamiliar. M.
Baudot is the inventor of a very elaborate method of sending
several telegrams at once, and making them print themselves
in Roman letters. M. Marcel Depretz has paid great attention
to the theory of the distribution of electricity, and was the
organiser of a large proportion of the electrically driven appa-
ratus in the Exhibition. Professor Bjerknes was the exhibitor
of some very striking experiments on mutual attractions and
repulsions between vibrating bodies immersed in a liquid. He
had little drums, with indian rubber ends, which were made to
bulge out and draw in with rapid alternation by means of
quick-acting pumps which alternately forced air in and with-
drew it several times in a second. The little drums, being
immersed in water, attracted one another when their phases of
vibration were similar, and repelled when they were opposite.
He had many other experiments on the same subject, the action
in some being directive rather than attractive or repulsive.
The connection between these experiments and electricity con-
sisted in an analogy which they were supposed to bear to
electricity and magnetic actions. They were supposed, indeed,
to throw some light on the nature of electricity. They were
certainly very suggestive.

Some of you will remember the name of Pacinotti in con-

51

nection with a lecture which Dr. Andrews gave in this room
on the Gramme Machine. He was the first inventor of the
ring armature, which was afterwards reinvented and made a
great commercial success by Gramme. Pacinotti’s original
machine, and two others subsequently constructed by him,
were exhibited in the Exhibition: and special attention was
called to them by a lecture given upon them by Professor Govi,
at a meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers which was
held in the Congress Room. ‘The question of priority was
established by Pacinotti’s description of his first machine in the
“Nuovo Cimento” for 1864, which was put in evidence, and the
machine itself was carefully examined. Dr. Andrews gathered
from the information at his disposal that the contacts for col-
lecting the currents were made in the wrong places, but this
impression was erroneous, the contacts are made at the right
places, and it is clear that Pacinotti well understood the theory
of the machine. He was present at Professor Govi’s lecture,
and I met him several times afterwards.

As to addressing an audience in French, it is an exceedingly
formidable thing to contemplate for the first time, and I almost
shuddered at my own hardihood when I first said “ je demande
la parole,’ and proceeded to the tribune to address an audience
comprising the most eminent men of science of France and the
Continent. It was like plunging into deep water without know-
ing whether I could swim ; but after the first shock was over
I enjoyed the excitement ; and as the vocabulary of the subject
under debate had become familiar to me by listening to previous
speakers, my course was tolerably easy after I was once started.
The report in the official procés-verbal, as well as the resumé
with comments in La Lumiére Electrique, showed that I suc-
ceeded in making myself understood.

Indeed, I think that as a rule the English and German
speakers were better understood than the French; most of the
latter spoke too fast and in too low a voice to be clearly heard.

The leading spirit in the Congress was unquestionably Sir
Wm. Thomson. His masterly acquaintance with the various
subjects which came under discussion was very conspicuous, and

$2

the spendid pluck which he evinces alike in attacking a scientific
difficulty, or in plunging into the intricacies of a French sen-
tence, carries all before him. He told me he had never addressed
an audience in French before, but he is evidently thoroughly at
home in French scientific terminology; and his clear ringing
voice was of great advantage in the Congress Room, which,
having a lofty canvas roof, and draped walls, was very stifling
to sound.

Next to him was Professor Helmholtz, who has likewise a
masterly acquaintance with every branch of Physics.

Among the Frenchmen M. Mascart appears to be the leading
spirit. He is an energetic man of business, a ready and lively
speaker, with a particularly clear articulation, and has done
some good work in inventing and simplifying apparatus for the
observation of atmospheric electricity. He is young enough to
have a.long future before him, and he has taken the leading
part in putting his countrymen ez rapport with the progress of
electrical science in England. He is Regnault’s successor at the
Collége de France.

M. Cornu, of the Ecole Polytechnique, is another rising man.

The venerable M. Dumas, one of the two perpetual secretaries
of the Academy of Sciences, made a very popular President in
the first Section of the Congress as well as in the first Group of
the Jury.

M. Cochery, who was Minister of Posts and Telegraphs in
two Cabinets, and now retains the same office in a third, is an
able administrator, and took us rapidly through our business in
his discharge of the duties of President of the Plenary meetings.
I seem still to hear his cheery voice putting questions to the
vote, in the words, ‘‘ Ceux qui sont de cet avis veuillent bien
lever les mains.”

I had once the honour of dining at his official residence with
a party of eighty, and he also favoured me on one occasion with
a ticket admitting six to the Ministerial box at one of the
theatres.

I met numerous old friends with whom I had much pleasing
intercourse, and made several new friends both among my own
nation and foreigners.

53

It affords me much satisfaction in looking back upon this
active period, when there was necessarily much discussion and
difference of opinion, to reflect that I cannot recall a single
instance of an unkind word given or received, and that some of
those with whom I had the keenest controversy were after-
wards the most marked in their demonstrations of friendship.

[Reference may be made to an article in Zhe Times, of June
13, 1882, page 4, by the author of the present paper, for an
account of the various kinds of magneto and dynamo machines. ]

Resolutions adopted by the International Congress of Elec-
- tricians at the sittting of September 22nd, 1881.

1. For electrical measurements, the fundamental units, the
centimetre for length, the gramme for mass, and the second
for time, are adopted.

2. The Ohm and the Volt (for practical measures of resistance
and of electromotive force or potential) are to keep their existing
definitions, 10° for the Ohm, and 10% for the Volt.

3. The Ohm is to_be represented by a column of mercury of
a square millimetre section at the temperature of zero centi-
grade.

4. An International commission is to be appoined to deter-
mine, for practical purposes, by fresh experiments, the length
of a column of mercury of a square millimetre section which is
to represent the Ohm.

5. The current produced by a Volt through an Ohm is to be
called an Ampére.

6. The quantity of electricity given by an Ampére ina second
is to be called a Coulomb.

7. The capacity defined by the condition that a Coulomb
charges it to the potential of a Volt is to be called a Farad.

54

10th Fanuary, 1882.
The President, RopertT Lroyp PaTTErRson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by JosepH J. Murpuy, Esq., F.G.S., on
"THE RAINY OR POST-GLACIAL PERIOD.

THE views of the lecturer on the nature and cause of the glacial
climate were submitted to the Society, on the ist Dec., 1875,
and on the 21st December, 1880;—both papers were fully
printed in the Proceedings, so that it is not necessary to say
anything here respecting the astronomical causes of glaciation.
It is enough to repeat the conclusion there stated, that glacia-
tion was due neither to great winter cold nor to low mean
annual temperature, but chiefly to a cold summer which left
the snow of winter unmelted, and partly to a great snowfall
during winter. If any form of the astronomical theory of
glaciation is true, the whole earth was never glaciated at the
same time, but the northern and southern hemispheres were
glaciated alternately ; the epochs of maximum glaciation of the
two hemispheres being separated from each other by an interval
of 10,500 years. In each hemisphere there was consequently a
succession of glacial periods, with a succession of non-glacial
periods alternate with the glacial ones. Mr. Croll, in his work
on Climate and Time, has submitted evidence of this inter-
mittent character of the glacial climate.

On the astronomical theory of the glacial climate, these alter-
nate glacial periods in the two hemispheres succeeded each
other during the continuance of a much longer period, during

55

which the excentricity of the earth’s orbit was unusually great.
Of course, the excentricity, and with it the intensity of the
recurrent glacial periods, increased and decreased gradually; and
the glacial periods which occur while the excentricity is attain-
ing, or has passed, its maximum, and which consequently never
attain a maximum of glaciation, are what I ‘call rainy periods.
In strictness, the title of this paper ought to be “ The rainy, or
pre- and post-glacial periods”; but I say post- rather than pre-
glacial, because pre-glacial deposits, or any evidence of the pre-
glacial state of things on the surface of the earth, are likely to
have been destroyed by the glaciers of the period of maximum
glaciation ; while the surface of the earth has been in many
places preserved just as it was when the glaciers of the last
glacial period disappeared.

As a rainy period was only an imperfectly developed glacial
period, it follows that, in eacii hemisphere, rainy periods were
alternated with dry or at least not-rainy periods; and I have
now to state what appears to be geological evidence of this.
Professor Blytt, of Christiania, appears to have discovered in
the great bogs of his own country evidence of alternate wet and
dry periods of considerable length, and beginning from the
subsidence of the last glacial period. The following is from
Nature, of 29th December, 1881 :—

“Tn a recent number of Waturen, Prof. Axel Blytt concludes
the highly interesting series of papers in which he has at some
length expounded his theory of the immigrations into Norway,
of different floras, during early dry and wet periods. On care-
fully examining the oldest Norwegian turf-bogs, he finds, as
Prof. Steenstrup has shown in Denmark, that four distinct
turf layers may be traced, between which there are frequently
two or even three equally distinct deposits, composed of the
roots and other remains of trees. The latter are found 27 sztu,
and by the undisturbed condition of the turf-beds above and
below them, they afford a conclusive proof that such severed
trunks cannot have been cut down by human agency. These
separate tree-beds the author regards as mementoes of long
periods of dryness, which may have endured for thousands of

56

years, and during which the formation of turf was arrested, to
be resumed again when a wet period supervened. Such inter-
rupted periods of dryness and wet he considers to be closely
related to the several long-interrupted glacial periods which,
according to Geikie, have succeeded one another. In accordance
with Herr Blytt’s view, the close of the first glacial age was
followed by a dry period, in which an Arctic flora appeared in
Scandinavia, traces of which, as leaves of Dryas octopetala and
Salix reticulata, have been found in the clay underlying the
bogs in Denmark and Southern Sweden, in the latter of which
the same flora is to be seen interposed between two ancient
moraines. The boreal flora, the author is of opinion, we may
refer to a dry period, characterised by great summer heat; and
in the deposits belonging to this age we find abundant remains
of such deciduous trees as the hazel and the Prunus avium,
which are now of rare occurrence in Norway, while many other
vegetable forms represented in these beds have been long extinct.
The differences observable in the bogs of Denmark and Norway,
Herr Blytt refers to the fact that while the former has under-
gone very little if any elevation, the latter has risen since the
glacial age 600 feet above the level of the sea. In Norway the
formation of the turfbeds may be gauged by their varying
elevations. Thus in South-east Norway, where the old sea-
level has been raised to a height of 600 feet, the turf is from 20
to 26 feet deep, while at low levels, as 30 feet above the strand,
the bogs are seldom more than from two to four feet deep.”

In Sir Joseph Hooker’s address to the Geographical Section
of the British Association, in 1881, he thus resumes Professor
Blytt’s facts respecting the stratification of the bogs :—

‘The proofs of the alternating wet and dry seasons rest on
the fact that the different layers of peat in each bog present
widely different characters, and these characters recur in the
same order in all the bogs. First, there is a layer of wet spongy
peat, with the remains of bog mosses and aquatic plants; this
gradually passes upwards into a layer of dry soil containing
the remains of many land plants and prostrate trunks of trees,

+ Reported in Nature, 8th September, 1881,

57

showing that the country was forested. To this succeeds wet
spongy peat as before, to be again covered with dry Beaty soil
and tree-trunks, &c., and so on.’

Respecting the et precipitation of the glacial climate—
including in precipitation, of course, both rain- and snow-fall—
I take the following evidence from Professor Geikie’s paper on
“The Geysers of the Yellowstone,” in Macmillan's Magazine,
May, 1881:—

The Great Salt Lake of Utah, North America, is 5,250 feet
above the sea, and is at present without outlet, and only 80
miles long by 52 broad. But at a height 940 feet above its
present surface, a terrace has been discovered which is without
doubt an ancient shore of the lake, and corresponds in height
with a gap in the rim of the lake-basin, by which the lake over-
flowed in a river which was a tributary of the Snake River or
Upper Columbia. An examination of the terrace shows that
the lake then extended 300 miles by 180, so that its area was
then, speaking roughly, about twenty times what it is now.
The moraines of ancient glaciers show that the glaciers which
produced them came down to the lake from the Wahsatch
mountains, which are only about 3,000 feet higher than its sur-
face at thattime. Freshwater shells are found along the terrace,
but they are not needed to prove that a lake with an outlet
must have been of fresh water.

We see from these facts that whereas the precipitation of
Salt Lake Basin is now carried off by the evaporation of the
Salt Lake, at a recent geological period, which was probably
the glacial, the precipitation of the same area filled a lake of
twenty times the extent, and was not all carried off by its eva-
poration, but part of it overflowed in a river. This proves
either that the quantity of precipitation must have been much
greater than now, or the force of evaporation much less ;—
probably both.

58

7th February, 1882.

The President, RoperT Ltoyp Patrerson, Esq., in the Chair.

PROFESSOR LeTTs, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., read a Paper on
THE DIAMOND.

Tue Diamond, on account of its great beauty, rarity, and extra-
ordinary hardness, has been held in high estimation from very
early times. The word diamond is derived from the Greek
‘‘adamas,” indomitable, a term applied to it on account of its
real property of extraordinary hardness and its supposed property
of resisting fire—that is, of not becoming hot when heat was
applied to it. But its hardness was exaggerated by the ancients.
For instance, Pliny says: ‘‘ The best of all these diamonds is
made upon an anvil by blows of the hammer, and their repulsion
for iron is such that they make the hammer fly in pieces, and
sometimes the anvil itself is broken.” This statement is still
believed in by some people, and has occasioned a considerable
loss of property.

By the ancients precious stones were regarded as possessing
supernatural powers, and they were accordingly employed as
talismans, each species possessing its own peculiarities. The
diamond was carried as an antidote to poisons and a preservative
against insanity. As an ornamental stone, the diamond was
highly esteemed during the early times of the Roman Empire.
As early as the first century diamonds had already been brought
from India, and from that time till the eighteenth century, prac-
tically, the whole supply of diamonds was brought from the

59

East Indies. The most celebrated of all the Indian diamond
mines were those in the neighbourhood of Golconda, near
Hyderabad, which have yielded the finest diamonds in exis-
tence ; among others, the Kohinoor. In the 17th century as
many as 60,000 people were employed in the mines of Golconda,
and in the 13th century upwards of 4oolb. of the precious stones
which had been taken from the mines were stored in Sultan
Mahmoud’s treasury. The Golconda mines were ceded many
years ago to the English, but they are believed to be exhausted,
and have long since been abandoned.

In the 18th century diamonds were discovered in Brazil by
gold-seekers, who were in such ignorance of their nature that
they employed them as counters in card-playing; but at last a
native, Bernard Lobo, who had visited the East Indies, recog-
nised the true nature of the counters, and immediately the news
spread like wildfire, occasioning a panic in the diamond market.
Upon the inhabitants of the diamond district the discovery
acted like a curse, and to the bitter sorrows of persecution were
added the horrors of earthquake and drought. The existence
of diamonds in South Africa had been several times asserted
before the English conquest of Cape Colony. The re-discovery,
however, took place in 1867. At that date a shrewd trader,
passing through a country forty miles to the west of Hopetown,
saw the children of a Boer called Jacobs playing with pebbles
picked up along the banks of the Orange River. Struck with
the appearance of one of the playthings, the trader told Jacobs
that it reminded him of the white shining stones mentioned in
the Bible. As he uttered the words, an ostrich-hunter named
O’Reilly chanced to pass the door-way of the house, and over-
hearing the remark, he entered, and was also impressed. Vague
ideas of a diamond, which none of the three had ever seen, passed
through their minds. They tried the pebble upon glass, scratch-
ing the sash all over. A bargain was struck; O’Reilly took
the stone for sale, each of the parties present to have a share.
At Capetown, on the verdict of Dr. Atherstone, Sir P. E. Wode-
house gave £500 for it. The news spread fast.

At the moment of this discovery there was something exceed-

60

ing a panic in the colony. Wool, the staple product of the
colony, was at a hopelessly low price ; a murrain was thinning
the sheep ; never had merchants known such a time of anxiety ;
and this great excitement overtook the colony, and search was
made for diamonds in all directions. In 1869 a Hottentot
shepherd discoverd the far-famed ‘‘ Star of South Africa.” He
first offered it in a store for £200, but the assistant, in his
master’s absence, refused the offer ; eventually he sold it for
4 400 to the trader who saw the Boer’s children playing with
diamonds. The fortunate purchaser disposed of it next day for
£12,000. In December, 1870, it was whispered that the children
of Duboit, a Boer, were in the habit of picking up diamonds on
their father’s farm, which was situated twenty miles from any
river. The farm was ‘‘rushed,”’ and thousands of diamonds
were soon unearthed from these “dry diggings” or beds, in
which many believe the diamond was created. A tremendous
rush to the diamond fields occurred, adventurers crowded thither
from all parts of the world, and with such extraordinary rapidity
that in 1872 there were 50,000 souls engaged in digging. An
eye-witness says that about this time New Rush alone was
yielding from £12,000 to £15,000 a day. One of the most
striking peculiarities of some of the African gems is their liability
to crack or explode spontaneously. Some Indian diamonds also
have been known to explode.

Diamonds have been found in other places besides those I
have mentioned. It has been stated that a diamond was once
found in a brook in Ireland, but the statement requires con-
firmation.

The lustre of the diamond, or the manner in which light is
reflected from its surface, is very characteristic, and is one of
the reasons of its popularity asa gem. The diamond possesses
another optical property in a high degree, a property in which
it is prominent among precious stones—the power of changing
the course of a ray of light. The extreme hardness of the dia-
mond affords a ready means of distinguishing between it and
other stones. But, although very hard, the diamond may be
broken into fragments in a steel crushing mortar, and the frac-

61

ture of the diamond thus effected occurs in directions parallel
to the faces of the octahedron, which proves the octahedron to
be its primary form. A great many crystals admit of being
fractured in certain directions, which are, therefore, called planes
of cleavage. Advantage is taken of the brittleness of the dia-
mond in roughly shaping it previous to its being polished.

The colour of the diamond is a matter of considerable impor-
tance as regards its value. When the diamond is colourless
and perfectly transparent, it is said to be of the “ first water,”
and is highly prized. But it frequently happens that the stone
is slightly yellow or brown, technically called ‘ off colour,” and
this is éspecially the case with Cape diamonds. An “off colour”
stone is, comparatively speaking, of little value, unless the tint
is very pure. Diamonds are sometimes found coloured green,
blue, rose, and even black. They then become fancy stones,
and their value is greatly beyond the first-water gems. The
lovely blue diamond formerly owned by Mr. Hope, and called
the Hope diamond, is quite unique. I believe it was purchased
for £18,000, and sold to the Duchess of Newcastle for £25,000.
Its value may be even greater. The colour of certain diamonds
may occasionally be modified by heat, and a remarkable exam-
ple of this was observed in France some time ago.

Months of labour, even years, with the improved machinery
of the present day, must be expended on a stone of large size
in order to convert it from the rough natural form into the
polished brilliant. During the whole of this time, the greatest
care must be bestowed on the manipulation, as a single mis-
take would mean the depreciation of the value of the stone to
the extent of hundreds or even thousands of pounds. The
natural shape of the diamond is but little fitted for displaying
the full beauties of the stone, and it generally happens that the
diamond in its rough form has certain imperfections which
greatly detract from its appearance. The object of the diamond
cutter is to remove those portions of the jewel in which the
flaws occur, to give the crystal a symmetrical and elegant shape,
and, by multiplying the faces of the diamond, to cause it to
reflect as much as possible of the light which falls on it, and

62

thus to produce the beautiful flashing effect and play of colours
which can be obtained with no other stone, at least to nothing
like the same extent, owing to its great refractive power. Dia-
mond cutting and polishing were practised in India and China
long before its introduction into Europe, which is stated to
have been done by Louis de Berguem, an inhabitant of Bruges,
towards the latter part of the 15th century. At all events, he
appears to have been the first to employ a polishing wheel with
diamond dust, and, when suggested, a suitable arrangement of
facets for displaying in a high degree the reflecting and refract-
ing powers of the diamond. Berguem’s pupils emigrated to
other European towns, and established workshops for cutting
the diamond; and at the present day such workshops can be
found in London, Paris, New York, Boston, and especially
Amsterdam, which is the seat of the diamond cutting industry,
and in which the largest establishment for the purpose exists,
namely, that of Mr. Coster. The diamond is cut in several
different forms, but only two of these, the brilliant and the rose,
are common. The brilliant is derived from the octahedron, the
natural form of the diamond, by replacing the point of inter-
section of four of its edges by one or by several faces. The
brilliant complete has 66 faces. In the rose one surface is quite
flat ; the other is convex, and is divided into a variable number
of facets. The Holland Rose has 24; the semi-Holland, 18 to
20.

The operations by which the rough diamond is fashioned
into the brilliant, rose, or other form are splitting, cutting, and
polishing. In splitting the diamond it is first embedded by
means of cement into a wooden handle, and the workman then
scratches a deep V-shaped notch on its surface at the place where
he wishes the fracture to occur. This he does by means of a
sharp-pointed diamond, which is fixed into. a handle. When
the notch is sufficiently deep, the handle embracing the diamond
is placed in a hole in a block of lead, and with one hand the
workman applies the edge of a small steel ruler to the notch,
whilst with the other he gives a tap to the ruler, and the stone
is split, A spectator says: “It is not without emotion that

=

63

one sees the blow given, for the slightest error may prove fatal
to the value of the diamond for ever; but it is given without
hesitation and with perfect composure. The future of a rough
diamond is very much at the mercy of the splitter; for it is he
who decides what shape the stone is to take, and how the flaws
and other imperfections are to be removed so as to retain the
utmost weight with the most brilliant effect. The split dia-
mond is next passed to the cutter, who operates upon two
stones at the same time, each being cemented into wooden
handles. These he grinds together, so as to accomplish their
mutual smoothing. His labour, which is of a very heavy
description, has given rise to the saying, ‘diamond cut dia-
mond.’ ‘The cutter, having roughly fashioned the diamond
into the desired form, passes it to the polisher, whose business
it isto smooth the rough parts which the cutter has formed,
and to give each a bright polish. The diamond is first em-
bedded with great care and judgment in an oval mass of tin
and lead to serve as a support, this in its turn being fixed into
a brass cup, which is provided with a handle. The polishing
wheel consists of a disc of steel, revolving in a horizontal
direction at a speed of 2,000 revolutions per minute. The po-
lishing is effected by smearing this wheel with diamond powder
and oil, and then pressing each part of the diamond against it.
The eyes of the polishers seem of little use compared with their
sense of touch, which has been exquisitely educated. It is by
the instinct of their finger ends that the point of the diamond
is adjusted with determinate exactness of position to the face of
the revolving disc.”

It is now time for me to tell you the histories of some of the
more celebrated diamonds, several of which are quite romances,

and unfortunately, too often tragic ones. Of course such a

theme has not escaped the notice of the novelist, and in support
of my statement I need only remind you of Wilkie Collins’s
celebrated book ‘The Moonstone,” the plot of which is con-
cerned with the diamond which is now in possession of the
Russian Crown, and is called the Orloff. It is the most re-
markable of the Crown jewels of Russia, and forms the end of

64.

the Imperial sceptre. It is of Indian origin, and for a century
and a half formed one of the eyes of the famous idol Serring-
ham or Sherigam, in the famous temple of Brahma, another
and similar diamond forming the second eye. At the com-
mencement of the eighteenth century, a soldier, who was one
of the French garrison in India, determined to get possession of
both eyes of the idol. With this object he pretended to be a
convert to the Hindoo religion, and to show extraordinary zeal
in its behalf. Eventually he so cleverly imposed on the priests
of the temple that he was entrusted with the care of the temple.
He waited patiently for his opportunity, and on a dark and
stormy night he succeeded in wrenching one of the eyes from
its socket, but failed in his attempt to remove the other. Tak-
ing to flight, he reached Madras, where he disposed of the
diamond to a captain in the English navy for £2,000. On its
arrival in England the diamond was purchased for £12,000 by
a Jewish merchant, and sold by him to Catharine II. for £4,000
and a title of nobility.

Another diamond with an interesting and romantic history is
the Sancy, which is not cut as a brilliant, but in a special and
peculiar manner, and is said to have been the first stone cut in
Europe, the act having been accomplished by Louis de Berguem.
Charles Duke of Burgundy wore it in his helmet at the battle
of Morat in 1476, and after the Duke’s defeat it was found in
the battle-field (another account says removed from the corpse
of Charles) by a Swiss soldier, who sold it toa priest for a couple
of francs. It was not heard of for some time, but in 1589 it was
pledged by King Anthony of Portugal to De Sancy, a Huguenot
gentleman, and treasurer of the King of France, who retained
it in payment of 100,000 livres. In this family it remained
until Henry the Third commissioned a descendant of the pur-
chaser to raise recruits in Switzerland ; and very shortly after-
wards, driven from the throne by his subjects, the King borrowed
the stone to pay his troops, but the servant who was carrying it
to the King disappeared, and was not heard of for some time.
At last it was discovered that he had been assassinated in the
forest of Dole, and buried in a native village. “Then, my

65

diamond is not lost,’ said De Sancy, and so it turned out, for it
was found in the stomach of the faithful servant. In 1792 the
Sancy once more disappeared, and was found by the Paris
police.

The next celebrated diamond I have to mention is a brilliant of
almost unrivalled beauty called the “ Pitt,” or “‘ Regent,” which
is in possession of the French Government. It was found in the
mines of Parteal, near Golconda, in 1702, by a slave, who, in
order to conceal it, wounded himself in the thigh, and hid the
diamond in the wound. He promised the stone to a sailor if he
would gain him his liberty. The sailor got the slave on board,
then took the diamond from him, and drowned the unfortunate
wretch. The sailor sold the stone to Pitt, grandfather of the
Earl of Chatham, and Governor of Fort St. George, for £1,000 ;
then spent the money, and eventually hanged himself. Pitt
sold the diamond to the Duke of Orleans (Regent of France
during the minority of Louis XV.). Since then the “Regent”
has had many curious adventures, and has passed very literally
through many hands. For in the days that followed the fall
of Louis XVI. the “Regent,” carefully chained and guarded by
gendarmes, was exposed to the people of Paris, and every half-
starved workman who chose might hold the symbol of Royal
splendour in his hands for afew minutes. The ‘“‘ Regent,” pawned
to the Bavarian Government by Napoleon I., stolen by robbers,
and its hiding place revealed at the gate of death by one of the
reckless band, and mounted in the state sword of Napoleon I.,
glittered in the imperial diadem through the palmy days of
Napoleon III., and is now likely to pass through a new cycle of
adventures, as it is to be disposed of with the other jewels of
the French Crown.

The history of one more celebrated diamond must detain us
for a few moments, that which is the chief ornament of our own
crown and which glitters in it along with many other gems.
Every one of you has heard of the Kohinoor, or “ mountain of
light.” The history of it is obscure, and is traced back to the
legends of India. According to one of these it was worn by
Carna, one of the heroes of the Indian epic poems, and if this is

E

66

the case it must heve been unearthed about 4,000 years ago. It
was in possession of the Rajah of Ujazin, 56 B.c. It was re-
garded as a talisman of power, and was always the booty of the
conqueror. It passed to the Sultans of Delhi, and at length
came into the possession of Runjeet Singh, and in 1850, after
the formal cession of the Punjaub to British India, it was pre-
sented to Lord Dalhousie as Viceroy to her Majesty. In its
original form as brought from India the Kohinoor was valued
at £140,000. [t had several surface flaws, and was by no means
of an elegant shape. It was therefore decided to re-cut it, and
it was sent to Cosler’s establishment at Amsterdam in 1852.
The Duke of Wellington was the first to place it on the cutting
wheel, and, after thirty-eight days’ of incessant labour, the
diamond was fashioned into a magnificent and perfect brilliant,
but its weight was reduced from 186;; to 1223 carats. How-
ever, the improvement in its shape and brilliancy fully compen-
sates for this.

The ‘‘ Hope” diamond is quite unique, as it is of a beau-
tiful sapphire blue colour. Its weight is 443, carats, and it
was purchased by Mr. Thomas Hope for £18,000. It has been
sold to the Duchess of Neweastle for £25,000. Among the
diamonds found in Brazil is one which belongs to the King of
Portugal. It is said to weigh 1,680 carats, and in Brazil its
value is estimated at three hundred million pounds ; but it has
been suggested that this diamond is topaz, in which case the
millions vanish.

The concluding portion of the lecture consisted of asketch of the
diamond from the chemist’s point of view, showing that chemists
had demonstrated it to be carbon :—“ As to the origin of the
diamond there is little to be said, for nature seems to have de-
cided that the operations which she employed for producing it
shall remain a mystery. Many attempts have been made to
obtain the diamond by artificial processes, and I venture to
think that if chemists have not triumphed already, they will
do so eventually. Whether diamonds will ever be obtained of
large size artificially is a question that time alone can de-
cide,”

7th March, 1882.
The President, R. L. Patrerson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by PRoFEsSoR CUNNINGHAM, M.D., F.L.S., on

CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS.

ABSTRACT.

AFTER a reference to some popular misconceptions with respect
to the nature alike of corals and coral-forming animals, and a
short notice of certain calcareous bodies, animal and vegetable,
liable to be confounded by the uninstructed with these forma-
tions, it was stated that all true corals were the internal secre-
tions of animals included in the sub-kingdom Ccelenterata, the
great majority being the skeletons of Actinozoa, while a cer-
tain number, as revealed by recent researches, are those of Hy-
drozoa.

The Actinozoan corals were first treated of, the typical
structure of an Actinozoon, as illustrated by a common Actinia
or Sea-Anemone, being described ; and it was shown that, in
accordance with the number of tentacles and of the vertical
radiating partitions (or mesenteries) of the body-cavity, the
members of the class might be included in one or other of
two groups—z.e., those possessed of numerous tentacles and
mesenteries (Polyactinia or Zoantharia), and those with only
eight tentacles and eight mesenteric folds (Octactinia, or
Alcyonaria).

Of the coralligenous Polyactinia, some resemble the Sea-
Anemone in being so/i¢ary animals, each. living being having a

68

separate and independent existence, and developing a simple
coral in its body-wall, while the larger number are social, being
composed of numerous living beings in organic union with each
other. In this latter case we meet with a compound coral,
certain parts of which are formed in the bodies of the various
members of the colony, while others are the secretion of the
soft bond of union which binds the colonists together.

The more important points of the structure of simple and
compound Polyactinian corals were indicated, and it was pointed
out that in the same manner that a hexamerous symmetry was
usually distinguishable in the number of the tentacles and
mesenteries, the hard septa or vertical radiating portions of
the coral exhibited a corresponding arrangement. Notice,
however, was taken of the fact that in a considerable number
of extinct forms of Polyactinia (those designated Tetracoralla
or Rugosa) the septa formed multiples of four, and that in some
of the species the coral exhibited the singular peculiarity of a
calcareous plate or operculum, with which its calice was closed.

The Octactinian corals were next examined, and the various
modifications examined. Beginning with the very rudimentary
peculiar skeleton of Alcyonium, the various forms of skeleton
possessed by the Pennatulidae, Gorgonidae, Tubiporidae, and
Helioporidae were exhibited and described ; and reference was
made to the important discoveries of Professor Mosely in con-
nection with the last family.

The first part of the lecture was brought to a conclusion
with a brief notice of the Hydrozoan corals, of which two
recent families, Mzl/eporzdae and Stylasteridae, are now known ;
and it was stated as not unlikely that the problematical extinct
Stratoporidae belonged to the same class.

The second portion of the lecture was occupied with a resumé
of some of the more important points connected with the
structure, the geographical and bathymetrical distribution, and
the growth of coral reefs; a sketch of Mr. Darwin’s hitherto
generally accepted subsidence theory: being given, and certain
objections to it recently advanced by Mr. Murray, of the
Challenger expedition, shortly noticed.

69

Corals of one kind or another are more or less plentiful
throughout the seas of the globe, but the reef-forming species
are restricted to certain regions, and the areas which they oc-
cupy are determined by the temperature of the ocean, depth,
nature of the shore of the adjoining land, and other circum-
stances. All appear to require an equable and elevated tem-
perature in order to flourish—this temperature, according to
Dana’s observations, being not below 68° F. Further, no reef-
form seems to be capable of living and thriving, except at
depths exceeding 20 to 4o fathoms; and in some cases the
growth of reefs appears to be prevented by the nature of the
coast, though additional researches are required on this point.

Navigators have been long accustomed to divide coral reefs
into three groups, namely, fringing or shore reefs, barrier reefs,
and atolls, or lagoon islets. Of these, the first are found skirt-
ing the coasts of islands and continents at distances varying from
less than half a mile to one or two miles. The outer portion of
such reefs is higher than the inner, in consequence of the
stronger corals growing more vigorously where they are exposed
to the wash of the waves, and the channel between the reef and
the land has in most cases a sandy bottom. The second class
(barrier reefs) either extend in straight lines in front of the
shores of a continent or great island, or encircle smaller islands,
being separated from the land by a broad and rather deep
channel, the calm water of which usually presents a striking
contrast to the violent surf which breaks on the outer margin
of the reef. In some cases the entire line of reef is converted
into land, but usually only limited portions of it are so, assum-
ing the form of low islands more or less clothed with vegetation,
of which the cocoa-nut palm is a prominent feature. The last
kind of reefs—atolls, or lagoon islands—are annular in form.
They vary much in dimensions, and surround calm expanses of
water destitute of islands. A considerable portion of their
surface is raised above the sea-level, usually presenting the
appearance of a chain of small islets.

A considerable number of theories have been advanced to
account for the different peculiarities of these three kinds of

70

reefs. Mr. Darwin’s attention was attracted to the subject in
the course of his voyage in the Beagle, in the years 1831-6, and
his theory is based upon the facts—firstly, “that reefbuilding
corals only flourish at a very limited depth; and secondly, that
throughout areas of vast dimensions none of the coral reefs or
coral islets rise to a greater height above the level of the sea
than that attained by matter thrown up by the winds and
waves.” These reefs, consequently, must have foundations ;
and what is their nature? Are they formed of great banks
of sediment, or do they consist of solid rock? Mr. Darwin
contended that the form or disposition of the groups of atolls
afford no countenance for the first suggestion, and that the
latter alternative must accordingly be adopted. Fringing reefs
present no difficulties for solution, as they simply occur in those
limited depths where coralligenous Actinozoa are capable of
flourishing, and barrier reefs and atolls represent successive
stages of subsidence of the floor on which fringing reefs were
erected. As the foundation sinks the coral-formers are obliged
to build upwards to maintain the level at which they can exist.
The upper parts of such reefs are, then, the living portions,
being built upon the skeletons of their predecessors. The
above view of the formation of the varied forms of coral-reef,
although very generally adopted, has not, however, satisfied all
those naturalists who have bestowed attention on the subject ;
and Mr. Murray has recently stated, as the result of his obser-
vations on board the ‘‘ Challenger,” that he has arrived at the
conclusion “ that it is not necessary to call in subsidence to ex-
plain any of the characteristic features of barrier reefs or atolls,
and that all these features would exist alike iu areas of slow
elevation, of rest, or of slow subsidence.” He thinks that he
has succeeded in proving that foundations have been prepared
for these two classes of reefs by the disintegration of volcanic
islands, and by the building up of submarine volcanoes by the
deposition on their summits of organic and other sediments,
maintaining that when “ coral plantations build up from sub-
marine banks they assume an atoll form, owing to the more
abundant supply of food to their outer margins, and the re-

71

moval of the dead rock from the interior portions by currents,
or by the action of carbonic acid dissolved in sea-water ;” fur-
ther, that “ barrier reefs have built out from the shore on a
foundation of volcanic debris or on a talus of coral blocks, coral
sediments, and pelagic shells, and the lagoon channel is formed
in the same way as a lagoon.”

72

7th March, 1882.

PUBLIC MEETING IN ST. GEORGE’S HALL.

The President, RopertT Lioyp Patterson, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. A. R. Wattace, Lectured on
ISLAND LIFE.

73

4th Abril 1882.
The President, Ropert Lioyp Patrerson, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. R. Youne, C.E., read

NOTES ON BUN-A-MAIRGE ABBEY AND ITS
SURROUNDINGS.

THE reader at the outset referred to the great interest which
the north-eastern coast of the county Antrim possesses for the
artist andthe antiquary. The cliff scenery all the way from
Larne to Portrush is probably unrivalled in respect of variety
and colouring, and the mural precipices of columnar basalt,
which attain their greatest height in Fair Head, near Bally-
castle, add a character of peculiar solemnity to the landscape.
Forming, as it did, a part of Dalriada, this portion of Antrim
was in very early times brought into close relations with the
western side of Scotland, and the little town which was founded
at the mouth of the Mairge river, and was known subsequently
as Markstown, seems to have been the chief port of communi-
cation on the Irish side. Ata later time, the district of which
Ballycastle may be considered the centre, became the battle-
ground on which the rival clans of MacDonnels and M‘Quillans
engaged in deadly strife, which only ended in the complete de-
feat of the M‘Quillans in the year 1559, on the slopes of Slieve-
an-Aura, at the head of Glenshirsk.

There seems no reason to doubt that it was one of the chief-
tains of the M‘Quillans who erected the little Franciscan
monastery, of which we now see only some fragments in the
picturesque remains on the banks of the Mairge river.

74

After giving a minute description of the Abbey Church and
the monastic buildings now traceable, which was illustrated by
several plans and sketches, the reader proceeded to discuss the
question of the age of the foundation. He exhibited a careful
drawing he had lately made of the exterior of the east gable of the
church, and pointed out the evidence it contained in the remains
imbedded in it of an earlier and larger window, and by a refe-
rence to drawings of similar portions of abbey churches in other
parts of the North of Ireland, and specially that of Killydonnel,
in county Donegal, of which the date is known, he concluded
that the first building was certainly not later than 1450, and
probably a good deal earlier, and that the alterations made by
Roory M‘Quillan about 1500, as recorded in a MS. in the
British Museum, are the only and quite insufficient grounds on
which to base his claims to be the original founder of the
abbey.

In addition to the reader’s own drawings, Mr. Lockwood lent
a large plan of the abbey buildings, from actual measurements;
and Dr. James Moore, R.H.A., exhibited a coloured sketch,
taken a great many years ago, showing that a great deal of
dilapidation had occurred since.

75

4th April, 1882.

The President, RopERT Ltoyp PATTERSON, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. Isaac J. MurpHy, read a Paper on

LINKAGES: A RECENT MECHANICAL INVENTION,
BY MONSIEUR PEAUCELLIER.

AxourT fifteen years ago Mons. Peaucellier, a lieutenant in the
French army, living at Rennes, in Brittany, invented a simple
machine by the use of which the power is obtained of producing
perfectly straight lines, derived from acting on the motions of
radii of circles. It appears that he remained for a considerable
time, even some years, unaware of the magnitude of the im-
portance, as of the novelty, of his invention—it may be said,
of his discovery. About 1870, a student in the University of
St. Petersburgh, named Lipkine, without communication with
the prior inventor, made precisely the same discovery ; and
this at the very time when his preceptor, in all likelihood with
his knowledge, was engaged in trying to prove that it is not
possible to convert circular into correct lineal motion.

The machine of Peaucellier (fig. I.) is very simple ; and the
mathematical proof of its correctness is easy to master. It has
since its first invention been subjected to various modifications,
and with these modifications it has been found capable of pro-
ducing circles of any radius, as well as many other curves, if
not of producing any and all curves in the region of plane
geometry. I wish to limit my present scope to the points I
have already examined into. I therefore quote only, without
following the unlimited road with all its branches which he

76

opens, Professor Sylvester’s words:—‘ We are able, by this
machine, to bring about any mathematical relations that may
be desired between the distances of any two of the poles of the
linkage (the name of the machine) from a third, and are thus
potentially in possession of an universal calculating machine.”

I proceed to speak of the practical and obvious use of Peau-
cellier’s machine as applied in mechanics. The parallel motion
of Watt, adopted for the purpose of giving as much directness
as he was able to do to the pushing of a piston by the end or
centre of a beam moving in the arc of a circle, is not perfect.
As applied in the ordinary beam engine to the cross-head proper,
it is so ; but as applied to the air-pump piston, the supposed
straight line through which its cross-head is directed is really a
figure of 8. Accordingly, its frequently uneven (or wabbling)
motion is apt to react on the head of the steam-cylinder piston,
and to produce a tremulous vibration ; which movement is
sometimes incorrectly supposed to be due to a mechanical error
in the parallel motion itself. The Peaucellier method has been
applied with admirable success to cross-heads; in particular,
the steam-engine which performs the work of the Houses of
Parliament is so geared. There is, in fact, no common pump
to which the plan is not applicable. It is evident that there
must, in all cases, be a saving of power by substituting a direct
for a crooked pushing motion.

Peaucellier has constructed linkages, or “ cells,” of two for-
mations, each of seven bars; and a third linkage, based on the
same mathematical principle as Peaucellier’s, has been shown by
a Cambridge man, consisting of only five bars—the smallest
possible number capable of affording a true straight line. The
original cell is (fig. I.) two equal bars (a), and four equal
ones (4), connected by two equal ones (c and d), d@ being
properly not a bar or rod, but the fixed distance equal to c.
The two long bars move as the radii of a circle ; the two bars
(4) joined to c, move from the circumference of a circle
whose radius is c or d; and the further end of the rhombus
whose sides are 6, moves, as c moves in its centre, so far as the
limits of the machine permit, in a straight line perpendicular to

77

that diameter of the circle of which dis one-half. For (fig. II.)
if ABC be a circle of which ABP is a diameter, produced to
£, and ED perdendicular to that diameter ; if AD be joined by
a line ACD, the angle ACB being in a semicircle is a right
angle ; and the angle BAC is common to the two triangles,
ABC, ADE ; therefore
MiAD. .; AC + ABs: and AF-AB=ADAC;

so that the locus of D, when the above rectangle is a
constant quantity, is in a straight line perpendicular to the
diameter AC; and equally so whether D be within or without the
circle. Bisect CD in G; and draw any line G/F perpendicular
to CD; and join DF and CF. Then the difference of the
squares of dG and GD is equal to the difference of the squares
of df and FC (or FD): and is also equal to the rectangle under
their sum AD and difference AC; which has been shown to
be constant. But Af and /D are equivalent to the aand 6 of
Peaucellier’s linkage ; which accordingly succeeds in drawing a
mathematically correct linein DH. Peaucellier’s other cell
(fig. III.) differs from this in that the four equal bars (4) have
the pair of bars (a2) inside them ; when, to produce the straight
line, the fixed bar or distance @ must be linked to the pair a.
If otherwise, and the bar c in either linkage were the fixed one,
the traversing point D would describe a very curious curve ;
the law of which I shall presently state.

Peaucellier calls the original cell—that with the smaller rhom-
bus—his positive cell ; and that with the rhombus outside the
pair of bars, negative. It was some time before I recognized
the appositeness of these terms; preferring the more obvious
ones of “ external” and “internal.” But Iam convinced, by the
consideration of the geometrical proposition on which the proof
is based, that Peaucellier’s names are the most logical. The
proposition, stated to cover all the cases, is :—If straight lines
be drawn from any point to the extremities of any diameter of
a circle in the same plane as the point, the rectangle under each
of such lines and its segment (or segment produced) intercepted
in the circle is equal to the rectangle under the diameter of the
circle and its segment towards that extremity met by each

78

straight line respectively, formed by the falling of a perpendi-
cular upon such diameter (or diameter produced) from the given
point;—and;—the sum of such rectangles is equal to the square
of the diameter if the perpendicular falls within the circle, and
their difference if it falls without it ; or their sum in both
cases if one of the segments has its place in the semicircle
furthest from the point, and is therefore regarded as munus.
Now the demonstration of Peaucillier’s first, or positive cell,
depends on that case of this proposition in which the per-
pendicular from the given (or as I have shown, traversing)
point on the diameter does not pass it, and its segment within
the circle is part of itself, or positive ; while the demonstration
of the negative cell depends on the other case. In investigating
the curve produced by fixing the bar c, and moving dj, as also
in the case of other curves produced by the machine, I met
with confirmation of this view.

If ¢ and @ are made unequal, D will describe an arc of a
circle the centre of which is in d or d produced ; its radius de-
pending on the magnitudes of the various bars of the linkage,
and on the distance d, viz.:—

c(a? a b*)*

cd?
Accordingly, when ais greater than 6, and c greater than d, the
concavity of the arc is towards the figure (positive cell); the centre
of the circle lying in d produced in the direction of A (fig. VI.)
and in the same cell, if c is less than @, the concavity of the arc
is from the figure. In the negative cell, c must be less than
dto draw an arc with its convexity towards the figure ; and
the minus sign appears when the centre of the circle lies in
the part of d produced which is away from A. I believe this is
the first time in the history of mathematics that a circle has

* Assuming that the path of the point D in fig, VI. is an arc of a circle, and taking
any distance e, the dotted line between C and 4 as a variable, we can obtain expressions

for the sine and versed sine of the arc in terms of a, b,c, d, and e; then, as
“has =e
sin versin
BIR SISVaEID os aa
2versin
in the simplest form of which fraction the variable e disappears, the assumption must

be true,

79

been described from a centre (if we may so speak) not within
itself. This property of Peaucellier’s invention has been put
to practical use.

The curve which D describes when c is fixed and d is moved
is a curious one (fig. IV.) ad infinitum in each direction, always
approaching but never reaching a straight line at right angles
to the axis of the curve, the axis being 2C. The figure is under
the curve. In the negative cell its inclination is reversed. The
conjugate is

a’ — 6?
2G
If, in the positive cell, the transverse and conjugate be made
equal, the two arms of the curve will meet in a cusp; andif the
conjugate be the less, they will formaloop. Ihave been unable
to find an expression for the ordinate without using a variable.
The law of the curve is :—

Abscissa : axis: : ordinate? : ordinate? + (abscissa + conju-
gate —transverse axis)”.*

It remains to describe the five-linked cell. If two pairs of
bars (a a and 4 8) cross one another as in fig. V., at whatever
angle they may be, the product of the distances dB and CD is

*The ordinate, using e¢ as a variable, is
M/ (26 yp #(a*—- b?—e?) ;
~ 20e-
the abscissa
(2c17—e’)
2c
squaring the ordinate and dividing, we obtain

(a?— b?— ¢*)? ord”

2ce? abs”
which is equal to
diag of rhomb?
: axis
But an examination of the figure (VII.) will show that the diagonal of the rhombus
is equal to the square root of the square of the ordinate + the square of the abscissa +
conjugate — transverse. If the conjugate be less than the axis of the curve—that is
if D be nearer to 4 than C is, this last quantity may become minus ; but this does not
affect the law of the curve, as it must be squared.

80

constant, being=AD?—AC*®. Taking any four points in a
straight line parallel to the dotted lines 4B and CD, viz., HFG
and #, #F has a constant ratio to 4B, and ZG has a constant
ratio to CD, wherefore ZF, ZG is constant ; also HF, FA is
constant. Thus by fixing equal links to Z and F, according to
the proof in the proposition, the link attached to & being sta-
tionary and that attached to # moving from the centre K, G
will always traverse in a straight line perpendicular to EK, or,
the link attached to / being made stationary, H will traverse,
as in the negative cell, in a line perpendicular to 7K.

44 dip

81

25th April, 1882.
The President, RopERT Litoyp PaTTERSON, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Rev. RopertT WoRKMAN, on

FORTS, HOUSES, AND CHURCHES OF ANCIENT
IRELAND.

Mr. Workman began by directing attention to the raths, duns,
and caishels as being from their number and antiquity among
the most important monuments of our country. These forts
consisted of an earthen or loose stone dyke, enclosing a cir-
cular space. The dyke originally had a height of from eight to
twelve feet. Beehive-shaped huts have been found in several
of these encampments, and there is often an underground
passage or chamber beneath them. These were doubtless the
fenced camps of the Irish tribes; the chief and his immediate
- followers harboured within them, and in time of war they shel-
tered the clan and the cattle against a sudden attack. Earth
forts were the strong places of the Irish from the most remote
antiquity till the end of the thirteenth century, but when the
English appeared upon the scene they lost their importance, as
being unsuitable to the new modes of warfare then introduced.
_Mr. Workman then referred to ancient houses as throwing
light upon the condition of the country, since a few Irish houses
with their furniture would enable us to know what were the
habits and the civilisation of the people. Here, however, was
the difficulty, for Irish houses were of such frail materials that
they have perished. Mr. Workman held that the body of the
common people in the interior of the country had scarcely any-
F

82

thing worthy of the name of houses towards the close of the
sixteenth century. The English penetrating to the centre of
Ulster, in 1542 found it ajungle. Tyrone’s country is described
as “not containing a single castell, nor yet one walled town ;
nothing but bogs of water, so that it would be hard to have
it inhabited.” Sir Fulke Conway, one of the principal settlers
in King James’s Plantation of Ulster wrote home saying:
“This part of ye country is bleak and desolate as though foot of
man had never penetrated the wilderness.’”’ The English
Government described Derry as we would now describe the
most remote and unappropriated colonial fields; and English
captains, finding no spoil of war, complained that “the Irish in
the interior lived without houses, and that O’Neill kept his
people and cattle in such wild places that the English could not
reach them, nor even certainly know their whereabouts.”
Traps to catch wolves were part of the provision made for Ire-
land by Cromwell’s Government ; and in the year 1683 a con-
siderable quantity of fox and other skins was exported from
Belfast to England, Holland, and the Baltic.

Mr. Workman showed that Irish houses were built of wood,
wattles, and mud, and in some cases of loose stones, till long
after the English invasion. Tara Hill, which was the abode of
kings and chieftains, and a place where the most substantial
buildings might be expected, had nothing but houses of wood
and clay, and there is no evidence that mortar was ever used in
pagan times. Irish houses were beehive-shaped, probably be-
cause wattles and clay were most readily fashioned into a house
of such a form.

Mr. Workman here exhibited a fac-simile of a map of Carrick-
fergus in Elizabeth’s time, in which, side by side with the cas-
telled houses of the English, the primeval cabins of the Irishry
were depicted. ‘These huts were half globes, without eaves or
chimney, a single aperture serving for door and window. The
reader also showed a sketch of a: stone house of similar form
from Arran, in Galway Bay, which is believed to date from
pagan times, and gave it as his opinion that these were the
dwellings of a people who lived in the open air, and were stran-

83

gers to sedentary pursuits. Cattle-tending and hunting were
their constant occupations. Forays and skirmishes with neigh-
bouring clans were the scenes in which the men delighted to
display their strength and skill.

In referring to the architecture of early Christian times, Mr.
Workman said that the monastery characterised the Irish Chris-
tianity of the sixth century. The primitive Irish monasteries
were very practical institutions. Having no missionary societies
to aid them, the brethren supported themselves cultivating the
soil, rearing cattle and fowl, and fishing the loughs and seas.
Their spiritual work was the instruction of Christian converts
and the training of young evangelists. Division of labour de-
veloped the gifts of individuals: the ready writer copied manu-
scripts, the artist illuminated them, and the man skilled in
metals wrought the croziers and relic shrines which display
such care and taste.

There is ground for considering that these monastic institu-
tions were peculiarly adapted to the state of the country. Ire-
land was peopled by a number of independent tribes continually
at war. Plunder and slaughter were the serious business of the
chieftains and the work they demanded oftheir followers,
How were Christian converts to live in societies where they
must follow these practices? And how, on the other hand,
could they exist outside the protection which the clan afforded
to its members? Both missionaries and converts required the
protection and encouragement which the monastic community
afforded. The monks adapted themselves to the customs of
the people, and adopted the rath as a defensive enclosure of the
space on which they erected their chapel and cells; and the sole
distinction of the monastic rath is the presence of a chapel of
rectangular form, in a few instances cemented with mortar.
The monks dwelt in globular cells, armed similarly to those
already described. Thus the ecclesiastical establishment was a
half military camp down to the twelfth century, for the Irish
Church was truly a Church militant, and her chapels and houses
had need of all the protection the rath could afford. As
to materials, Mr. Workman showed that Irish ecclesiastical

84

bnildings were commonly recognised as of a peculiar construc-
tion, which had come to be designated as the Scotic manner;
that one peculiarity of the Scotic method consisted in the ma-
terials employed, which were not stone and mortar, but wood
and earth; and that a quadrangular building was a great novelty
in early times. Mr. Workman held the small solid-roofed
church to be the earliest type of ecclesiastical building. Its
average size was sixteen feet by ten feet; it was destitute of
ornament, and of a stern simplicity. It had one door and one
window, and in it the distinction between nave and chancel is
still unknown. There is an extreme rudeness of form, for
many of these churches are built of dry stone, without cement
of any kind.

- Mr. Workman undertook to show the gradual transition from
the round cell of pagan times to this primitive chapel, and ex-
hibited drawings of chapels in which the corners had been
rounded off so as to make the ground plan approach the circular
form, and the walls had been made to converge from the very
ground till they met in an arching roof. He held that in such
instances we actually find the pagan cell passing over and being
transformed into the rectangular perpendicular-walled chapel.
We have thus pushed back our inquiry till we touch pagan times,
and cannot doubt that we have in these single chambered
churches the primitive type of Irish Christian sanctuary.

- In regard to the round towers, Mr. Workman held it had
been established that they were belfries and places of refuge,
and believed they were erected about the tenth and eleventh
centuries. Endeavouring to show how the idea of the round
tower had originated, he pointed out that the peculiar features
which distinguished it, its circular form and solid pointed roof,
lay ready to hand, and were familiar in the monastic rath.
The beehive cell suggested the round form, and the solid pointed
roof of the primitive chapel only required to be raised in the
air and placed upon the summit of the lengthened column.
When the ravages of the Danes made them feel the need of a
temporary defence, it was the most natural thing in the world
that, taking the circular foundation of a cell as the ground plan,

85

they should build upon it high enough into the air” to form a
comparatively safe refuge and storehouse against their assailants.
The round tower is, therefore, to be regarded as a genuine
original Irish development from architectural forms already
present.

Mr. Workman considered that the civilization of Ireland
was almost entirely an ecclesiastical civilization. The Church
and the world were in contact, but they did not blend.
During the period when Ireland was looked on as an island
of saints and scholars, and Irish monks were evangelising the
barbarous hordes abroad, there does not appear to have been
any corresponding manifestation of culture amongst Irish laics.
Irish secular life has left no trace behind, and almost all
remains, architectural or artistic, are ecclesiastical remains.
Irish Church antiquities, however, do possess an interest all
their own—the primitive stone-roofed churches, as substantial
as if they had been hewn out of the rock; the isolated pillar
tower, which in other days sheltered the monks from the
furious Northmen, and which now stands grey and solitary and
mysterious, the most prominent object upon the plain; the
crosses, which commemorate the early founders of Christianity.
These interesting memorials are only to be found in our country
and in those parts of Scotland which came under the influence
of Irish Christianity.

a» OF | mene * ee 5>
f 9 Y

ee oo B ws a oe dricee 4 heptane
(odor des ‘ wie 2h fhOT. fi seqolevab. ¥ Hal

: 2 é pes
- ze a . err » a * sha “?
tres? } : reinun 4 sie ‘ 3 pie oT
‘4 4 iA my 4 Am? ee |

ap, 8 ‘ele

iL y al we A 3 oa ba"
» BAP boiiag<oelts ait in
ge ‘a lea q pee A] ai 8,

‘ os | : *

nee a

sore

rain

“nullity -bosgloe: of) 4 logon, 0 to cura gnaehe
dt mont, etsront orf} ph a t eypb tals fis
etetth i ‘bas EOI. bripiew Kf ‘didwS 12
Eads goqu faoigle Bee er ae
sais {Fania des giobopoly is D: ash, 2) Ietommmncieg: Len
Noi: 192 tio ni bauct ad of gre, “ABR elatzrna: x Bat:
«, Satoulios a 3 bas omega dais Aaghone ag}

ae \ og z

a
=
=
-
*
S
-

BHULEFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Officers and Council of Management for 18&2-83.
President.
ROBERT LLOYD PATTERSON, Esa., J.P.

Bice- Presidents.
J. ANDERSON, Esa., J.P., F.G.S. Pror. J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.R.S.

ROBERT MacADAM, Ksa. Pror. R. 0. CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
Secrefary.
CHARLES WORKMAN, Esa., M.D.
Treasurer.
JOHN BROWN, Esa.
dibrarian.

THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

embers of Council.

JOSEPH J. MURPHY, Esa., F.G.S. | JOHN PURSER, Esa., M.A.

JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esa., F.G.S. ROBERT YOUNG, KEsa., C.K.

WM. SWANSTON, Esa. F.G.S. W. H. PATTERSON, Esa., M.R.LA.
E. A. LETTS, Esa., Ph.D., E.R.S.E,

SHAREHHOLDERS.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

muen, W. J. Ci Ji P., Faunoran, Greenisland.

Badsewsy Michael (Representatives of), Ardoyne, Belfast.
Andrews, (Thomas, M. D. AF. R S., &c., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J.P., Wistoiia Stier, do.

Archer, S., J.P. (Representatives of), Wellington Place, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Holywood. §
“Alexander, James, J.P. (Representatives of ), Holywood,

88

*Bateson, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.P., J.P., D.L., Belvoir Park,

Belfast.
“Batt, Thomas G. (Representatives of),
Bland, Rev. W., J.P. (Representatives of).
Bottomley, Henry H., Ulster Street,
*Bottomley, William, J.P.,
Brett, C. H., Chichester Street,
Bristow, James R., Northern Bank,
Barbour, James, Falls Foundry,
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill,
Boyd, W. S., Donegall Quay,
Brown, John Shaw, J.P., Bedford Street,
Brown, John, Bedford Street,
Burden, Henry, M.D., Alfred Street,
Burnett, John R., Gamble Street,

*Campbell, James (Representatives of).
Campbell, John, Lennoxvale.

Connor, Charles C., White Linen Hall,
Carlisle, James, J.P., Donegall Street,
Carson, John, Church Lane,

Charley, John (Representatives of),
*Charley John (Representatives of}, Finaghy,
*Clermont, Lord, Ravensdale, Park, Newry.
Coates, Victor, Rathmore, Dunmurry.
*Charters, John (Representatives of ).
Crawford, William, Calender Street,
Cuming, James, M.D., Wellington Place,
Combe, James, J.P. (Representatives of).

Connor, James (Reps. of), Great George’s Street,
Calwell, Alexander, McD., College Square North,

Belfast.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.

Belfast.
do.

Cunningham, Robert O., M.D., F.L.S., Queen’s College, do.

Clarke, Edward H., Elmwood,

Darbishire, James M., Lombard Street,
*Donegall, Marquis of, K.P., &c., &c., London,

do.

do,

89

Drennan, Dr., Chichester Street, ; Belfast.
*Drummond, Dr. James L. (Representatives of), do.
Duffin, Charles, J.P., Waring Street, do.

Dunville, William, J.P. (Representatives of), Calender St., do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough.

Dixon, Thomas S., York Street, Belfast.
Emerson, William, Donegall Quay, do.
Everett, J. D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Queen’s College, . do.
Ewart, William, J.P., M.P., Bedford Street, do.
Ewart, W. Quartus, Bedford Street, do.
*Fenton, Samuel G., J.P. (Representatives of), do.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do,
Forsythe, R. H., Holywood.

Finlay, William Laird, Windsor, Belfast.
Finlay, William Laird, jun., 16, Corporation Street do.
Fuller, Professor George, Queen’s College, do.
Fagan, John, F.R.C.S.I., Glengall Place, do.
Garrett, Thomas, Gamble Street, do.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Broughton Maxwell, Manchester.
Gordon, Alexander, M.D., Howard Street, Belfast.

Gordon, R. F., J.P., D.L., Florida Manor, Killinchy.
*Grainger, Rev. John, D.D., Broughshane, Ballymena.
Gray, Robt. (Representatives of ), College Square North, Belfast.

Gordon, Robert W., Falls Road, do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.P., Seapark, Carrickfergus.

Gray, William, C.E., M.R.I.A., Mount Charles, Belfast.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.

*Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Mount Vernon, do.
Hancock, John, J.P., Lurgan.

Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), High Street, Belfast.
*Henry, Alexander, Manchester.

*Herdman, John (Representativesof), College Sq. North, Belfast.

2

Hind, James, Durham Street, | Belfast.
Hind, John, J.P., Durham Street, . do.
Hind, John, jun., College Street South, do.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, Waring Street, do.
*Houston, John B., J.P., D.L., Orangefield, do.

Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
Hamilton, Sir James, J.P. (Reps. of), Corporation St. Belfast.

Harland, Edward J., J.P., Queen’s Island, do.
Hodges, John F., M.D., F.C.S., Queen’s College, do.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.B., Waring Street, do.
Henderson, W. D. (Representatives of), Victoria Street, do.
Henderson, James Alexander, J.P., Donegall Street, do.

Holford, T. & A., Dorsetshire (Cern Abbas).

Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Corn Market, Belfast.
Jackson, W. R., Corn Market, do.
Jaffé, John, Donegall Square South, do.
Jaffé, Otto, Donegall Square South, do.
*Johnson, Sit Wilham’G:, J:P., D: ie , College Sq. North, do.
Johnston, Samuel A. jennyen cute Mill, do.
Johnston, David W,, Jennymount Mill, do.
Kennedy, James, Falls Road, do.
Keegan, John J., High Street, do.
*Kinghan, Rev. John, Deaf and Dumb Institution, do.

Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.

Lepper, F. R., Ulster Bank, Belfast.
Lakin, Mrs. John, Tamworth.

Lamb, William W., Divis View, Belfast
Letts, Professor E. A., Queen’s College, do.

Lytle, David B., Victoria Street, do.

*Macrory, Adam J. (Representatives of ), Ulster Chambers, do.
Mitchell, W. C., J.P., Tomb Street, — do.
*Mitchell, George T. (Representatives of),. do.

gI

Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain, Belfast.
Moore, James, J.P., Dalchoolin, Craigavad.

*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Mulholland, J., J.P., D.L., M.P., Ballywalter Park, Ballywalter.

Mullan, William, J.P.; Victoria Street, Belfast.
Murney, Henry, J.P., M.D., Donegall Square East, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Ann Street, do.
Murray, Robert (Representatives of), Arthur Street, do.
*Murphy, Joseph John, F.G.S., Old Forge, Dunmurry.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Glenburn, do.

Musgrave, Henry, Ann Street, Belfast.
Musgrave, Edgar, Ann Street, do.
Moore, James, Donegall Place, do.

*M‘Calmont, Robert, London.

*M‘Cammon, Thomas, Dublin.

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., V.L., M.P., J.P. Belmont, Belfast.

M‘Cance, Finlay, J.P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*M‘Cance, J. W. S. (Representatives of), Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of), Donegall St., Belfast.

MacAdam, Robert, College Square East, do.

MaclIlwaine, Mrs. Jane, do.

Macllwaine, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.LA., Netherville Terrace,
Belfast.

*MacLaine, Alex., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
M'Gee, John G., High Street, do.
Neill, John R., Queen’s Arcade, do.
Patterson, E. Forbes, High Street, do.
Patterson, Mrs. M. E., Ardmore Terrace, Holywood, do.
Pim, Edward W., High Street, do.
Pim, George C., Corporation Street, (Representatives of), do.
*Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Purdon, Charles D., M.D. (Reps. of), Wellington Place, do.
Purdon, Thomas Henry, M.D., do. do.

Patterson, William R., Lower Crescent, do.

92

Patterson, R. Lloyd, J.P., Corporation Street,
Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., High Street,
Purser, Professor John, M.A., Queen’s College,
Porter, Rev. J. Scott (Representatives of),
Patterson, Richard, High Street,

Patterson, David C., Corporation Street,

Riddell, William, Ann Street,

Rowan, John, York Street,

Ritchie, W. B., M.D., J.P., The Grove,

Ross, William A., J.P., Clonard, Falls Road,
Rea, John Henry, M.D., Great Victoria Street,
Robertson, William, J.P., Bank Buildings,
Robinson, John, York Street,

Simms, William (Reps. of), White Linen Hall,
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., Tomb Street,

Suffern, John, Windsor,

Suffern, William, Windsor,

Steen, Dr. Robert, Ph.D., Academical Institution,
Smyth, John, jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.
Smith, F. Chaloner, Sandymount.

Swanston, William, F.G.S., King Street,

Belfast.

do,
do.
do.
do.
do.

do.
do.
do.
do.
do
do.
do.

do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.

*Tennent, R. J., J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark,
Thompson, Robert, J.P., Fortwilliam Park,
Thomson, Charles, College Gardens,

*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
*Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of).
*Thompson, William (Representatives of),
*Turnley, John (Representatives of),

Torrens, James, J.P., Wellington Place,

Valentine, James W., Custom House Square,
Valentine, Thomas, J.P., The Moat, Strandtown,

do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.
do.

do.
do,

95

Walkington, Thomas R., Waring Street,
Workman, William, Corporation Street,
Workman, Rev. R., Newtownbreda.
Wilson, John K., Donegall Street,

*Wilson, Robert M.

*Workman, Thomas, Bedford Street,
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank,

Ward, Fras. D., J.P., Bankmore,

Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Donegall Street,
Workman, Charles, M.D., Balmoral Terrace,
Workman, Rev. R., Glastry, Kirkcubbin.
Walkington, D. B., Windsor,

Young, Robert, C.E., Donegall Square East,
Young, Robert M., Donegall Square East,

HONORARY MEMBERS.

Robinson, Hugh, Donegall Street,
Stewart, Samuel A., F.L.S., North Street,

Belfast.
do.

do.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.

do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.

Tate, Professor Ralph, F.G.S., Adelaide, South Australia.

ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS.

Barber, J.. County Down Railway,

Bruce, James, J.P., Calender Street,

Bulloch, A., Donegall Square South,

Corry, James P., J.P., M.P., Dunraven, Windsor,
Craig, James, J.P., Calender Street,

Corry, Thomas H., Benvue, Malone,

Collier, W. F., LL.D., Belfast Academy,

Carr, James, Ulster Bank,

Dinnen, John, Chichester Street,

Dunville, Robert G., D.L., J.P., Calender Street,
Finlay, Alexander, Ann Street,

Glass, James, Bedford Street,

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

94
Glover, G. T., Ballymacarrett,
Graham, O. B., J.P., York Street,
Liversedge, H. J., Lagan Foundry,
Loewenthal, J., Linenhall Street,
Lynn, William H., C.E., Calender Street,
Matier, Henry, J.P., Clarence Place,
Mulholland, J. R. T., J.P.,
M‘Auliffe, George, J.P., Calender Street,
Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace,
Pring, Richard W., Corn Market,
Redfern, Peter, M.D., Professor Queen’s College,
Reade, Robert H., York Street,
Seeds, William, Corn Market,
Taylor, David, J.P., Windsor,
Tate, Alexander, C.E., Queen’s Elms,
Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., Bridge Street,
Watt, R., Donegall Place,
Wolff, G. W., Queen’s Island,
Wilson, James, Skipper Street,
Ward, John, F.G.S., Lennoxvale,
Ward, Marcus J., Bankmore,

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

95

a I I I SI EE TE ET a, I TE BT IEE SREY FT ES BEE ORLY PEF LEE ELS TE EE I ED TPE IEEE I LY Po TT TT
‘SMIaNY THANVG "C881 “pig sung

"Mu ° ¢ "Sy wn
aInsvasy, “UuoTT ‘NOSUMUNY NHOF OWE ) ‘xosamLLy gq ‘H KAL {001100 punofy pue pourmMmexny

9 -Gi 0 ac as sie sourreg Aq-—TPhen

———— “G88T —
9 LI O8tF 9 LI OSG
Oy Che ay 29 Spaut SJOIMsSvoly, Ul sOURTeg OJ, af
TG PS ces, oe “OR “PS SOT LF
SUISTILIOAPY ‘POT 86 TF SeBeIsOg Sur
-pnpour‘syunoooy Arpung ** &
LESh Srl si P9 SLI OF
suor}diiosqng SurjoeT[o9
‘pes, LF sesuodxy r9jseqe SS oe wt
p y $1 ee ‘S189 pue n=: (07@) ‘s[BO0Q “cc (9 24
Ee “omy ‘ULIO 372 Tq
IT € Te Axepuoy 19)8e a ue e m4 “op » Avrmyy yroqoy *° i! Aer
9 LI LI Aci IST 1m “t00q] ye soo, oouvajugq S se OL SI IZ “ow ‘surerq ‘1040814
0 ST 16 he IS8T- -WoD ‘puommen,W_ “mA * ~ “QT
“sony Surpua reef tof suorduosqnyg “ ¥ “S881
OmGu ae ToTngTquOD QNIO PPL systpemyeyy “ < O10. SS 22s" oS) AOI IS
0 ¢ ¢g me Teer ny, Ysnory} wor, TH Azepeg ‘qseueq sm SS ee ae
-euog, pur ‘reoity ur suoydiosqng “ Avy (I). Gli tsp 28 Tady 481 11
Chae (en om Ie OSsT ‘dn uexe} sorvyg Moy “ uer Arvepeg “qremeyg -y ‘gs GG Ot
“881 GES RON a wfke_ “Tow “ff o
it tlh jp =O WeO'T 70038 YIOX wo ysereyuy “ *AONT 0 €12@0 °° sunuug ‘eudey sy “ “
® Fore es 800,J Joy 6-0 G2) .Z88h Gem as 1 jue 2
“SURI, puv “IvaITy ul suotydtiosqng “ a Sie OP sceiet? uetreiqry ysnorqy ** “ss “AON,
OLS geF °° es ** spuey ut sourjeq Aq—] Av (1k a : soouvinsuy pied yseg OF — “Sny
*“S LCISZ0AY “T881 “AHO LIGNAdXa “1881

‘JoInsead | YJIM JUNOIIP Ul 1G

‘2991 ‘Ae JS) Sulpua sweax ay} sof ‘AJ9/909 jealydosojlyg pue AsOJSIy /esnzeN WSeLEg oY f

a ee y oT, ¢ : ——" ZZ
WV :

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

By 1 BA Ss

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1882-83.

1p dip Sd Dag ee De
_ PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET.
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE. )

* 1883.

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

BHLEAST

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1882-858.

BEeELPAS TT:
PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET,
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1883.

'
‘
j
: 3

-apnibossottf hast
Bhs ay 7 ;, 2 are a0 Pa a

5 si? leiden ns.

Annual Report oe
Balance Sheet oe
List of Office-Bearers ..
Donationsto Museum .,.

Books Received a0

CONTENTS.

A Recent Visit to Brazil, by Thomas Workman, Esq.

Deltas, by Joseph John Murphy, Esq.
The Atmospheric Feeding of Plants, by John Brown, Esq.
Notes on House Drainage, by William Gray, Esq.

eo ee

Rathlin Island, with Notes on its Natural History and Antiquities, by

8. A. Stewart, Esq.

Etching on Copper, by William H. Patterson, Esq. ..

The Spectroscope, and its Uses, by Professor E. A. Letts (Title only)

Warfare of Ancient Ireland, by Rev. R. Workman

ge

ee

PAGE

Belfast Yatural History and Philosophical Society,

HSTABULUISBHD 1282.4,

SHAREHOLDERS.
1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares ,, » cost £14.
3 Shares ,, 9 ©Cost G2,

The proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of three or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment,

Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management.

MEMBERS.

There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures
extends from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members,
Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due first November in each year.

PRIVILEGES.

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto ; also of access to the
Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission orders
for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o’clock,
Admission for Strangers, 6d, each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

REPORT OF JHE COUNCIL

TO THE

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY,

Feld at the Museum, 19th Fune, 1883.
CEES +

Tue Council for the year 1882-3, appointed by the Shareholders
at their annual Meeting, on the 14th June, 1882, desires to lay
before them its Report on their property, and the other interests
of the Society.

The Society’s Museum and collections are in very good
condition ; and during the past year your curators, with the
assistance of some of the members, have been able to get much
further work done in the way of re-arranging and labelling the
specimens in certain departments. A number of specimens
have been received from various friends during the year, and
have been added to the collections. A list of these additions
will be given at the end of this Report.

On Easter Monday, the number of visitors to the Museum
was very large, the charge being as usual, two-pence for adults
and a penny for children. The several rooms were specially
arranged for such visitors, and these showed much interest in
the collections displayed for their examination.

Seven ordinary meetings have been held during the late
session, at which nine papers have been read by members of
our Society, as follows :—

The first meeting was held on the 7th November, 1882,
when a paper was read by Mr. Thos. Workman on “A recent
visit to Brazil.” The second meeting was held on the sth
Dec., when (1st) a paper was read by Mr. Joseph John Murphy

6

on ‘ Deltas,” and (2nd) a paper by Mr. John Brown on “The
Atmospheric feeding of plants.” The third meeting was held
on the 30th January, 1883, when a paper was read by Mr.
Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A., entitled ‘“ Notes on House Drainage.’
The fourth meeting was held on the 6th February, when a
paper was read by Mr. S. A. Stewart, F.S.B.E., on “ Rathlin
Island, with notes on its Natural History and Antiquities ;”
also a paper by Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.LA., on “Etching
on Copper.” The fifth and sixth meetings were held on the
27th February and the 6th March, when two lectures were
delivered by Professor Letts, on “ The Spectroscope and its
Uses.” These lectures were illustrated by experiments, with the
assistance of the electric arc. They were very well attended,
the large lecture-room being crowded to inconvenience on both
occasions. The seventh meeting was held on the 1oth April,
when a paper was read by the Rev. Robert Workman, New-
townbreda, on “‘ The Warfare of Ancient Ireland.”

In addition to these ordinary meetings, two special meetings
were held under the auspices of our Society, in St. George’s
Hall, on the 24th and 26th April, when Mr. Richard A. Proctor
delivered two lectures—the first on “The birth and death of
Worlds,” and the second on “ The Sun: the Ruler, Light, and .
Life of the Solar System.’ These lectures proved highly
successful, being very largely attended, and giving the greatest
pleasure and instruction to the audiences.

On the occasion of all the above-mentioned meetings, special
as well as ordinary, except one, the chair was occupied by the
President of the Society, Mr. Robert Lloyd Patterson. The -
exception referred to was the meeting of the 30th January, when
the Rey. Canon Grainger presided. At all the meetings the
attendance was above the average of recent years, and the
Council feel that they may congratulate the shareholders and
members generally on a distinctly increasing public interest in
our proceedings. To assist in making the meetings more
social and attractive, and also to render attendance more
convenient for the increasing number of our members who
reside in the country, the Council during the past session

7

provided tea in the Museum on the evenings of meeting for the
members and their friends. The thanks of the Council are due
to those who so kindly aided in giving effect to this new
arrangement, which has entirely come up to the expectation of
those who suggested it. The ordinary hour of meeting has
been changed from 8 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., as it was found this
would suit most of the members better.

Your Council now retires from office, and this meeting will
be asked to elect fifteen members to form a new Council in its
stead. The members of the outgoing Council, being eligible,
offer themselves for re-election.

The Report of the Treasurer stated that the balance against
the Society was £15 7s. 6d., and as they had commenced the
year with 15s. in hand, the income had been £16 3s. od. less
this year than last year. Some outstanding accounts still due
left the deficit about £20.

‘SMEUGNY THAWVY

“MaWNSMa4T, “UOFT ‘NMOUG.* *s.40z0pn {
iL “WOH q."f HPYW ) ‘wosumnivd “TH WAL ‘4901100 punoy pue pouTurex

2 ————————————————————— ees

9 je CLF ese ee ee ee gouvleq or
Se eS Se
9 9 6815 9 9 68IF
OPO STS aH * Av
ST 1 Axereg qiemajg yg f¢ sf
0 0 8F . Avy
9 Baise rs IaInsvery, onp soureg * IST 1 Arereg ‘qseareqg ‘uA *S sf
TL -c29e _Aepwon Joysep “1oop ye soa,q oouvyuy “ 8 08 ; syuN0DDy Teg ig 3
€ Cl OL key SST FOO Tessa souvyuy S Pe On 6] seg pure ‘axon ‘eog = ‘* es
0 @ @. —" quo 9 OLL °° sosuedxg Avpuoyy rojseay ‘‘ ae
POLE PiSTeINIEN TOIT SUOTINGEH UO 024 9 °** suondinosqng Suyeog ‘‘ as
0 FI 98 . ZSST ‘t9q 0. s0ukez: =" -" “Kem st To qey “
“ISAO NT _suypie reaX of suoydrrosqng “ aia Ui dy Cr a ae ylodey sunumg * ce
0 L 0 ee ee ee $93,7 IOJSUBL I, iT G CL Z ee ee oe a8R4S0q ce ce
0: GatGeee: Be sreelty ut suordriiosqng “ OMB Ne 5 ** soap ‘Aaa
Aa, sl, ** UOT JooT]g FIO wo ysoroquy “ Sues): suryuLt OUISTHOADY ss ps
0 Ga fe "* —- B8-188T 1oF ‘uory OL 8 OT ‘ow ‘roquiry, ‘esuvy
-elNOssy ,SlooUISU WoOIT UoTINGIIyUOD “ ne NI BEmowe pue sada ‘* as
9 Gt oF": oeryh | Us spuvy ut eouvpeg Aq— 6 SI LF "* gouvmnsuy pred yseQ o—
"S Ld IS0aa “6881 “AM OLIGNAdDKaA “C881

of E99) ‘Kew Sp Sulpua sea, ay} 104 IG
"JaJNSeA | YIM JUNIE UF ‘A2aID0g JeIIYdoso/IYd pue AJOISI] feINJeN Wseseg ay]

BHLEFAST

Patural History & htlosowhteal Soctety,

Officers and Council of Management for 1883-4.

President :
PROFESSOR CUNNINGHAM, M.D.

Dice- residents :

JOHN ANDERSON, Ksa., F.G.S. Pror. J.D. EVERETT, M.A., F.R.S.
ROBERT MacADAM, Esa. THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

@reasurer:
JOHN BROWN, Esa.

dibrarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

Secrefarp:
CHARLES WORKMAN, Esa, M.D.

Council :

PROFESSOR CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
JOHN ANDERSON, Esa., F.G.S.

ROBERT MacADAM, Esa.

PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.R.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

JOHN BROWN, Esa.

CHARLES WORKMAN, Esa, M.D.
PROFESSOR E. A. LETTS, Ph.D., F.R.S.E.
JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Hsa., F.G.S.
ROBERT LLOYD PATTERSON, Esa.
WILLIAM H. PATTERSON, Esa., M.R.LA.
PROFESSOR PURSER, M.A.

WILLIAM SWANSTON, Esa., F.G.S.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esa., F.G.S.

ROBERT YOUNG, Esa., C.E.

Io

LIST OF DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1882-83.

From JOHN ANDERSON, J.P., F.G.S. |
Sundry ancient papers, being petitions and statements concern-
ing the woollen and linen manufactures.

From Miss Benn, Fortwilliam Park.
Several specimens of ancient Peruvian pottery.

From Captain RoBERT CAMPBELL, Dundee.
Two Indian weapons; vertebral column of a shark; skin of a
peacock pheasant; skull of an Indian tiger; antlers of
.an Indian deer (Cervis rusa), three specimens ; skull and
horns of a Gyal.

From Mr. J. S. CATHCART, Belfast.
Two Indian idols of bronze; snuff-box carved in turtle’s shell;
parasol handle finely carved in ivory; thirteen coins;

iron ball found in a field in County Derry.

From Mr. M‘Dowe LL, Loughmourne.
Portion of an ancient canoe, and a rubbing stone, found at the
Loughmourne crannoges.

From Mr. W. Swanston, F.G.S., Belfast.
A pair of Indian sandals; a cinerary urn.

From Mr. S. A. STEWART, Belfast.
Several rude stone implements, found by him in Rathlin
Island.

From Mr. THomMas Workman, Belfast.
Three stone arrowheads from Oregon.

Ii

LIST OF BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE YEAR,

ADELAIDE.—Transactions and Report of the Royal Society
of South Australia. Vol. 4, 1882. The Socvety.

Be.trast.—Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club Annual Report, 1882.
The Soczety.

BrEMEN.—Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenchaftlichen Verein.

Band 8, Heft 1, 1883. The Soctety.
Batu.—Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Anti-
quarian Field Club. Vol. 5, 1882. The Soctety.

BEuorr, Wisconsin, U.S.A.—Survey of the Geology of Wisconsin,
1873—79. Vol. 3, Atlas of Maps, 1880. Zhe Survey.

BgeRLIN. — Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde.
Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 1882. The Soczety.

Botocna.—Accademia delle Scienze Rendiconto delle sessioni,
1881-82 The Soczety.

Boston, U.S.A.—Science Observer. Vol. 4, nos. I, 2, 5, 6.
The Editor.

Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.

Vol. 20, part 4; vol. 21, parts 1, 2, and 3, 1881.
The Soczety.

BricHton.—Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex Natural

History Society for year ending 30th September,
1882. The Soczety.

BrussEts. —Société Entomologique de Belgique, Comptes-

Rendus, Series 3, nos. 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, 1882.
The Society.

12

BrussELs.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgi-

que. Vol. 21, 1883. Lhe Society.
Société Royale Malacologique de Belgique, proces-verbal,
1883. The Society.

CatcuTTa. — Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India.
Vol. 19, part 1 (Palaeontologica Indica), series 10;
vol.2, parts 1 and 2; series 14, vol. 1, part 3 (Fas.
2 records); vol. 15, parts I and 3. Lhe Survey.

CarpirF.—Cardiff Naturalist Society. Vol. 1 for 1881.
The Society.

CassEL.—Botanisches Centralblatt. 3rd year, Book 10, No. 10,

1882. The Society.
CHERBURG.—Société des Sciences Naturelles. Vol. 23, series 3;
Vol. 3, L0ol. The Society.

CincINNATI, U.S.A.—Ohio Mechanics’ Institute, Scientific Pro-
ceedings, 1882. Vol. 1, nos. 2, 3. The Soczety.

Danzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. Vol.
15, part 3, 4, 1882-83. Lhe Soctety.

DAVENPORT, U.S.A.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences. Vol. 3, part 1, 2, 1882. Lhe Society.

Dus.in.—Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society. Vol. 1,
series 2, 15, 16, parts 17 and 18.
Do. Aquatic Carnivorous Coleoptera, by
Dr. D. Sharp.
Scientific Proceedings. Vol. 3, part 5,1882. Zhe Soczety.

Ea.inc.—Micrescopical Natural History Club Conversazioni,
1880, 1881, and 1882. Lhe Society.

EDINBURGH.—Royal Society of Edinburgh, Proceedings of.
Vol. 11, No. 108, series 1880-81. Lhe Society.

GENOA.—Gziornale della Societa di Letture Conversazionie
Scientifiche di Genoa. Vol. 7, parts 5, 6, 7, and 8,
(Fasc.), parts I, 2, and 3. Lhe Soctety.

13

‘GIESSEN.—Oberhessischen Geselleschaft for Natur- und Heil-
kunde, 21st Report, 1882. The Soczety.

Giascow.—Proceedings of the Natural History Society, 1882.
Lhe Society.

- Goruitz. — Jahresbericht de Naturforschenden Gesellschaft,
1880-81. The Soczety.

Hampurc-ALTona.—Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Nat-
urwissenschaften vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein

Vol. 7, part 2, Verhandlungen new series 6, 1882.
The Society.

Harvarp, U.S.A.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 9, parts 6, 7, and 8; vol. 10, parts I,
2, 3, 4, Annual Report of the Curator of the Museum,
1882, The Soczety.

KoLozEvART.—Magayr Novenytain Lapok. Vol. 6, Flora

Europaea fragmentum auctore Augusto Grisebach,
1882. The Soczety.

LAUSANNE.—Bulletin de la Société vaudoise des Sciences Natur-
elles. 2nd series, vol. 18, nos. 87, 88, 1882. Zhe Society.
Lerpzic.—Sitzungsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft,
1881. The Society.

Do. do. gth year, 1882, 1883. The Soczety.

Lonpon.—Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Index, 1871,

1880. Parts 1, 2, and 3, 1882. The Society.

Royal Microscopical Society, Journal of. Parts 29, 30,_

Blea? pal. 335 Lhe Society,
Scientific Roll (Climate). Vol. 1, part 21, 1882.

The Editor.

Withered Leaves, by J. W. Fisher. The Author.
MANCHESTER. -— Transactions of the Manchester Geological

Society. Vols. 16, 17, parts 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1882 ;
parts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1883. The Soctety.

14

New York, U.S.A.—Bulletin of the American Geographical
Society. Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5:

Journal of same. Vol. 13, 1882. The Soctety.

Fingal’s Cave, by F. C. Whitehouse, M.A. The Author.

Pisa.—Atti Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali. Vol. 3,
Adunza, 12th March to 7th May, 1882. The Soczety.

Rome.—Atti della Accademia dei Lincei, 3rd Series. Vol. 6,
parts 11, 12, and 14; vol. 7, parts 1 to 8, 1882.
The Society.

ROTTERDAM.—Programme de la Societe Batave de, 1882.
The Society.

SONDERSHAUSEN.— Irmsichia Korrespondenzblatt des Botanichen
Vereins fur Thuringen. No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 12;
Abhandlungen, parts 1 and 2, 1882. The Society.

TRIESTE.—Societa Adriatica di Scienze Naturali. Bollettino
della Societa. No. 1, vol. 7, 1882. The Soctety.

VienNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaizerlich Koniglichen Geolog-
ischen Riechsanstalt. Parts I to 11, and 12 to 16,
1882. The Soctety.

Warwick.—Proceedings of Warwickshire Field Club, 1881.
The Club.
Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological So-
ciety. 46th Annual Report, 1882. The Society.

WasuincTon, U.S.A.—Smithsonian Institute. List of Foreign
Correspondents’ Publications of the Bureau of Ettin-
ology. Part 1, Report for 1880-1881. The Soczety.

Department of Agriculture. Report, 1880.
The Department.

15

“th November, 1882.
The President, R. L. PATTERSON, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Mr. THomas WoRKMAN, on

A RECENT VISIT TO BRAZIL.

I ARRIVED in Brazil on the roth of February, 1881, and landed
at Para, at the mouth of the Amazon. On my voyage out I
was much struck with the brilliant colouring of the Physalia
or Portuguese Man-of-war, and it appeared to me that it owes
its safety partially, strange though it may appear, to the fact
of its possessing bright colours. If, for instance, a bird were
so foolish as to swoop down on one of these dwellers on the deep,
it would simply burst the bubble, for the Physalia is nothing
more, and have its labour for its pains, even possibly getting
stung by some of the stinging filaments that float in the water
from the lower side of the Physalia, and to that bird the bright
colours would ever after act as a danger signal. Fish, no doubt,
would fiy from the Physalia’s lovely colours, as it offers nothing
in the way of food, and any near approach would certainly
bring the too curious observer into unpleasant contact with the
stinging threads streaming below. Dull and insignificant colours
would always leave an uncertainty in the minds of birds and
fish as to what the creature was, making it more liable, on
that account, to be attacked ; thus, I think, can be seen the direct
advantage and safety that brilliant colours give their possessor.
All bright coloured Physaliae, having therefore fewer dangers,

16

would be more likely to survive and propagate ; and by the
survival of the fittest they would continue in the struggle for
existence, while the darker varieties disappeared.

I set out on Friday, 11th February, at six o’clock in the
morning, for a stroll in the woods. The following are some of
the notes taken at the time. “I have just beaten into my
umbrella two curious insects, one of them allied to the Phasmidae
or walking-leaf insects, black in colour, 2 inches long, the abdo-
men terminated by a round knob. The other insect I thought
was one of the same class, but when I went to lift it, it emitted
a silken thread, and I saw to my great delight that I had cap-
tured one those curious spiders belonging to the genus Ariamnes,
first found by Doloschall in Java. I have got specimens of the
same genus from Madagascar, but I think they have not been
noted as having been found in South America.* This Spider
moves very cautiously, drawing the hinder half of the abdomen
along the ground. The abdomen and legs are of a light green
colour ; the cephalothorax is darker ; the body is rather more
than half an inch long ; the first pair of legs nearly as long
as the body. It was living ina long grass-like plant growing
on a species oflaurel. Around meat the moment are numerous
curious and beautiful plants, many of which seem familiar to
me in greenhouses. At my feet isa plant with a banana-like
leaf, but on a long stalk ; in the centre of the plant the flower, of
a brilliant red, is shooting up. There is a cicada or some other
insect that goes on Ping-ing-ing-ing like a fine wire vibrating
and a liliputian triangle working at the same time; there is also
another insect making a somewhat similar sound, but not so
mechanical or peculiar. Among the bushes I found an enormous
spider’s nest, or spidarium, if I can so coin the word, as it was
the home of quite a large number of small and reddish brown
coloured spiders probably allied to our Linyphia, at least so I
think from the style of nest, a huge net resembling a bag, 3 feet -
in diameter at the bottom and 6 or 7 feet high, not an ordinary

* This is probably the Spider described by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, M.A., in the

Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London, for June, 1881, under the name of
Ariamnes Attenuata,

17

nest of regular circular threads but zig-zag every way and of great
strength, equal to about ordinary tissue paper. The spiders
seemed to live at the bottom, as there were none at the upper
part. Their cocoons were circular and about a quarter of an inch
in diameter, fastened to the lower side of leaves, which were curved
round so as to form a protection to them. Under these leaves
the spiders were mostly congregated, 8 or 9 together, male and
female. This is the only instance that I know of really grega-
rious spiders; though Mr. Darwin gives an instance in his
‘Voyage of a Naturalist,’ of a South American spider, a
species of Epeira that makes its webs in close contiguity, and
all attached to certain common lines of great length, and
extending to all parts of the community ; of which he says,
‘These gregarious habits in so typical a genus as Epeira, present
a singular case among insects which are so bloodthirsty and
solitary, that even the sexes attack each other.’ The spiders
which I describe were more remarkable even than these, for they
were living in a common nest, freely mixing, young and old.

I have just caught a handsome greenish beetle. It was moving
slowly along the top of the grass-like plant mentioned before,
also another curious spider, a male, formed so exactly like an ant
that I mistook it for one, and would likely have thrown it away
as an ant; only I am bottling any new species of ants that I see,
and noticed that this one was differently coloured from other
ants I had captured. It is light brown, with white spots on
the abdomen; and ants, as is well known, have the body divided
_ into three parts, joined by small petioles, the head forming the
first part, the thorax the second, and the abdomen the third ;
while spiders have but two divisions of the body, the cephalo-
thorax and the abdomen; however, this spider had a contraction
in the abdomen making it appear in two. I also noted that this
spider had not the restless, fearless habit of the ant, but crept
under a leaf and hid there. In front of me there is a curious
tree about 30 feet high, up the trunk of which, to the height of
8 or 9 feet, there are strong, sharp pointed spines, like nailsona
telegraph post, only they havea large round base. Possibly they
are to serve the same protective purpose. I have just come in

18

contact rather unpleasantly with a curious climbing plant, the
stalk not thicker than fine cord ; it is exceedingly strong, so that
it is not easily broken; all along this stalk are fine-recurved
spines which hold on most tremendously, so that one is obliged
to disentangle it carefully from one’s clothes, otherwise the
clothes would go first. The leaves, which are placed every 6
inches along the stem, are large, and resemble the convolvulus.
I believe itis a palm, probably Desmoncus, figured in Bates. On
the trunk of a tree I have picked up an enormous ant, a species
of Dinoponera, about 14 inches long. They run with great
rapidity. This is the first of them I have seen; I do not know if
they bite, nor do I like to try.. [ have procured two more of
the long sharp-tailed spiders, and find that these specimens hold
the abdomen right off the ground; indeed one of them carries
it almost perpendicular ; these two are only half the size of the
former one, they seem to hold the abdomen sharply bent at the
spinnerets, which are situated about one fourth of the length
from the front of abdomen. When hanging from their thread
they often remain horizontal, being nearly equally balanced at
the spinnerets, probably thereby more resembling a broken piece
of grass.

19

5th December, 1882.
The President, R. L. Patrerson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by JosEPH J. MurpHy, Esq., F.G.S., on
DELTAS.

_ TuIs paper was illustrated by a map of the Delta of the Nile.

A Delta was defined as consisting of one or more alluvial
islands formed at the mouth of a river.

Running water is constantly wearing away the surface of the
ground, and depositing elsewhere the material so carried away.
The former of these actions is known as denudation, the latter as
deposition. As the quantity of matter is unchangeable, the total
amount of denudation effected by any river with its tributaries
must be exactly equalled by the deposition effected by the same.
This however is not always visible to the eye, because part of
the deposition takes place at the bottom of the sea, beyond the
mouth of the river. Denudation preponderates in the upper
part of the valley of a river, and deposition in its lower part.
In that part of a valley where there is more denudation than
deposition, which is the state of things with which we are
familiar, the slope of the ground is towards the stream ; but
where deposition exceeds denudation, and where consequently
the land on each side of the river consists of its own alluvium, the
_ immediate banks of the river are the highest part of the country,
and the slope of the ground is away from the river. This is
well known to, be the case along the lower Mississippi. The
reason obviously is, that silt is deposited during inundations

20

most abundantly nearest to the river, on its immediate banks.
The tendency of the banks to be raised in this way is greater in
the climate of the Mississippi than in that of the Nile, because of
the abundant vegetation of the former, which during inundations
acts in some degree as a filter, detaining the mud and letting the
water pass through.

The part ofa river valley where there is more deposition
than denudation may be called the alluvial part. In connexion
with the fact that in the alluvial part of a valley, the banks of
the river are generally higher than the rest of the country, is
the fact that in such regions the stream often divides or bifur-
cates, without uniting again. The district lying between the
arms of the river below its first or highest bifurcation, constitutes
the delta. The delta of a river is of course included in that part
of its valley where there is more deposition than denudation.

The writer mentioned having once stood on the Roth-
horn mountain above the lake of Brientz in Switzerland,
and seen as in a map the little delta formed by the Aar as it flows
into the lake. It showed him the way in which deltas appear
to be formed, which he believes to be as follows :—

It is well known that the quantity of silt which running
water is able to carry in suspension, depends on the velocity of
the current ; and consequently when the velocity of a stream
is checked by its flowing into the comparatively still water of a
lake or sea, a great part of its silt is deposited. When the sea
is not too deep, and the silt not removed by currents, an alluvial

island is thus formed in front of the mouth of the river. By
this island the stream of the river is divided into two, forming
two mouths ; in front of each of these mouths another island
is formed, producing further divisions ; and so on indefinitely.

It frequently happens that these islands are separated, not
merely by river channels, but by extensive shallow lakes. Such
lakes are characteristic of deltas; of this kind are the Sea of
Haarlem in Holland, now drained and converted into land, and
Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans. But Lake Mareotis,
and the other lakes of the Egyptian delta, appear to be formed
in quite a different way, by the action of wind and surf throwing

21

up sand-banks on the coast of a shallow sea, and thus cutting off
the lakes from the sea.

POSTSCRIPT.

In the discussion that followed the reading of this paper, the
opinion was advanced that an island cannot be thus formed in
the mouth of a river ; and that the bifurcation of a river must in
every case be due to the river having at some past epoch burst
its banks and formed a new channel without deserting the old
one. This no doubt is possible, and probably common, in
regions where the banks of the river, and the surface of the
river, when full, are higher than the neighbouring country.
But the possibility of an island being formed in the stream of a
river appears to be proved by the instance, to mention only one,
of the islands in the Rhine above Bingen. It isscarcely possible
for any one to steam past those well known islands without
feeling certain that they never were part of the mainland, but
have been formed in the middle of the river by its alluvial
deposit. Every bar at the mouth of a river may also be regarded
as an incipient island so formed, or rather so forming, which
has not yet risen above the water.

22

5th December, 1882.

The President, R. L. PATTERson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Mr. JoHn Brown, on

THE ATMOSPHERIC FEEDING OF PLANTS.

THE reader referred to the fact that though much care was taken
to provide plants with soil which should supply them with the
various salts and other matters necessary to their growth, carbon,
which forms so large a portion of organic tissues, could not be
so supplied, since it is obtained from the air, where it exists in
the form of carbon dioxide or carbonic acid gas. On consider-
ing the small quantity of this gas present in the air, representing
only 14 part of carbon in 10,000 of air, it had occurred to him
that plants must have considerable difficulty in obtainiug
sufficient for their wants, and they would probably thrive better
and grow faster in air atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide. To
test this supposition six young pea plants were planted in pairs
in three garden pots, covered with bell glasses, and all under like
conditions, except that No.1 bell glass had a current of carbon
dioxide constantly passing into it; and under No. 3 was placed
a dish containing solution of caustic potash, to absorb, if
possible, all carbon dioxide in the air within it. No. 2 was left
normal for comparison. In four days after the gas had been
admitted there was a decided difference between Nos. 1 and 3.
A week after this the difference was very striking. No. 1 had
vigorous large dark leaves and stems half as thick again as No,

23

3, which was lanky and pale, with the edges of its leaves much
serrated, as if the veins were growing on, but could not find food
for the fleshy part of the leaf. No. 2 resembled No. 3 more
than No.1. Six days after this, or eighteen days after the gas
had been applied, the plants were taken up, when the results
given in the following table were obtained :—

STEMS. LONGEST LEAF. WEIGHT.
Length. | Thickness. | Length. | Thickness. Fresh, Dry.

Me, 1/TA:25 in.| °128 in. | 1°56 in. | ‘O11 in. | 148 grs.| 19
Sets 25 I.) “log in. 1 1°07 in. | “006 in. | 115°5 16°4

ma i4-25- in| (oo in. | 1°15 10. |)"oo8'in. | 87 13

24.

30th Fanuary, 1883.

The Rev. CANON GRAINGER in the Chair

A Paper was read by Mr. Wittiam Gray, M.R.LA,, entitled
NOTES ON HOUSE DRAINAGE.

THE object of Mr. Gray’s communication was to show that all
house drains should be simple in construction, effective in
operation, and, above all, arranged so that the house should be
completely cut off or disconnected from the town sewers.
Having referred to the medical testimony as to the many evil
consequences resulting from defective house drains, Mr. Gray
described a number of cases within his own knowledge in Belfast,
where, in otherwise well ordered houses, the drains were in a
stinking condition of filth and neglect, and calculated to promote
disease and death ; Mr. Gray strongly recommended every house-
holder to examine his drains, and if this was done it would be
found that grossly defective drains were the rule, and not the
exception. When drains are entirely covered up, as they
commonly are, the householder cannot examine them as fre-
quently as he should do ; indeed, he is thereby often prevented
from looking after them atall. Nosystem of drainage therefore
can be complete that is not ofen for examination, and it cannot
be too generally known that it is possible to have a most effective
and simple plan of drainage, gute ofen for thorough examination.
Any drain will occasionally go wrong; if hidden, that wrong or
defect will increase, and if the arrangements are complicated,

25

the defect cannot readily be discovered ; but if simple in con-
struction, and open for inspection, the defect can be seen at
once and removed.

All house refuse should be djscharged into the open air as
quickly and completely as possible. It is confined refuse, allowed
to ferment, that generates injurious gas and poisonous air. All
liquid refuse, or what is carried off by water drainage, should
first be received into a trapped receptacle, like a water closet
or jaw-box, (scullery slop tank). Such receptacles should be as
near the external wall of the house as possible, and through this
wall the refuse should be discharged into an ofen pipe, such as
a soil pipe, for example. This pipe should be open at fof and at
- bottom. The upper portion of the pipe, to ventilate the top, should
be sufficiently large, and carried above the eave of the house,
and so long as the external soil pipe is thus ofez and therefore
ventilated it cannot contain injurious gas; but if it is closed at
top or bottom, or at both ends, it must generate foul air. The
more common practice is to have the soil pipe closed at top,
carefully closed by an expensive lead bend, and at the bottom,
discharging directly into the main sewer ; thereby conducting
all the abomination of sewer gas as effectively into the dwelling
as the town water is laid on. This arrangement cannot be too
strongly comdemned. Sometimes the soil pipe is trapped at the
bottom, yet directly connected with the sewer. This arrange-
ment is also defective, because, first, the soil pipe is not properly
ventilated, as there is no circulation of air throughout it, and
secondly, the trap at foot is not sufficient to prevent the return
of sewer gas from the main drain. Mr. Gray very strongly
recommended the adoption of an ofen sozl pipe—that is, open at
top and bottom. This soil pipe should be discharged directly
into an ofen gully trapped at the town side. The ofen gully
is simply an ofez chamber forming a quick connexion between
the foot of the soil pipe and the mouth of the syphon trap, and
for this purpose the bottom of the gully has a rapid fall, so that
nothing could rest upon it. The syphon trap should be as
near the gully as possible, so as to be reached from the gully
for cleansing, and by this very simple arrangement all local

26

pollution will be prevented, and the dwelling cut off from the
main sewer. The local pollution that collects about ordinary
bell traps and catch-pits, is as offensive and injurious to health
as the direct flow of sewer gas. Mr. Gray advocated that the
open gully just described, should, if possible, be the receptacle
for all the drainage of the house, from closet, bath, and scullery,
and that, by this means, the seat of the one trap cutting off the
town sewer would be always charged, and thereby prevent the
return or absorption of sewer gas. The gully should be covered
by a moveable open grate which will admit of removal for exam-
ination, and will also allow the syphon trap to be cleared in case
of obstruction. With this arrangement it would simply im-
possible for any injurious sewer gas to return into or about the
dwelling, and the open character of the system admits of com-
plete supervision and therefore the immediate detection of any
local pollution that may collect from carelessness.

Mr. Gray described the several patented and other devices
for accomplishing the same end, but all were more or less
defective, or too complicated for practical application, and there-
fore he strongly advocated the adoption of his system, which was
simple in construction and thoroughly effective in its operation.

27

6th February, 1883.
The President, R. L. PATTERSON, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Mr. 5S. A. STEWART, F.BS.E., on

RATHLIN ISLAND, WITH NOTES ON ITS NATURAL
HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.

SOME attention has been paid, of late, to the botanical character-
istics of the islands lying off the Irish coasts, and investigations,
set on foot by the Royal Irish Academy, have been carried on
by Mr. A. G. More, in Inisbofin and Inishark; by Mr. R. M.
Barrington, in the Blasquets and Skellog ; and by Mr. Hart,
in Tory Island. The lists already published have proved inter-
esting, and have thrown much light on the distribution of
plants in this country, and it was considered desirable to have
a botanical survey of the Island of Rathlin. This work occupied
three weeks : one week in April, another at the end of June,
and again at the commencement of August. In this way it was
possible to note the various plants of Spring, Summer, and
Autumn, as well as to note many points of interest in other
departments of natural science.

Rathlin lies off the Antrim Coast in 55° 15’ N. latitude, 6° 10’
w. longitude. The most southerly point of the island ap-
proaches to less than four miles from Fairhead, on the main-
land ; but the distance from the quay at Ballycastle to the
usual landing place in Church Bay, is about seven-and-a-half

28

miles. The western extremity of Rathlin, called Bull Point,
looks away to the Atlantic Ocean, while the eastern side faces
Cantyre in Scotland, distant about fourteen miles. The island
presents steep escarpments to the sea throughout nearly the
entire extent of its coast line, Church Bay, opposite to Bally-
castle, being the only exception of any consequence. At the
south or Ushet end the cliffs are comparatively low, but they
rise steadily to the north and west until they attain an altitude
of 300 to 400 feet. The geological structure of the country is
simple, but nevertheless possesses many points of interest ; and
the cliffs afford the very best sections for this study. Two
classes of rocks are developed—the igneous and the sedimen-
tary. The stratified rocks consist of the white limestone of the
cretaceous series, and differ in no way from the white rocks so
conspicuous on the Antrim coast. Theigneous rocks consist of
several varieties of trap, in some cases hard and compact, in
others amygdaloidal. Ash beds of considerable thickness are
to be seen at the north-east. Iron is an important constituent
of these rocks, some of the sections being coloured by the red
oxide. In several places at the south-east a columnar structure
is developed like that at the Giant’s Causeway. Though the
pillars are often quite regular, yet the peculiar horizontal
jointing so beautifully displayed at the Causeway is here only
a subordidate feature, or exists in an imperfect form. Dr.
Hamilton stated that the Ballycastle coalfield extends to Rath-
lin, but I could not discover the coal-measure rocks any-
where.

By reason of the isolation of Rathlin, its natural history
possesses more interest than that of a similar area on the main-
land. In such a place we expect to find only the really native
animals and plants: the indigenous fauna and flora of the
country, venerable by reason of antiquity, and cut off to a great
extent from the immigration of strangers. This is well seen in
Rathlin. Thus the common frog, an importation to Ireland
of recent time, has not yet made its way into the island, though
so abundant on the mainland a few miles off. And the same
is true of the water thyme (Azacharis), which is not to be

29

found in the Rathlin waters. The brown rat, however, whose
power to spread and increase seems unlimited, is common on
the island, and a decided pest there as elsewhere. Dr. Hamil-
ton, in his account, says there are no mice in Rathlin ;—if that
were so in 1784 it is not the case now, as at present they are
only too plentiful.

As may be expected where the limits are so narrow, there
are few really native quadrupeds. There are indeed wild goats,
but they are domesticated animals, turned out by Mr. Gage,
to live ina state of nature. The place occupied by the goats
is naturally inaccessible on the land side, but a wire rope hung
over the cliff by the proprietor, enables the firm of nerve and
sure of foot to descend. In this secluded spot grows the grass
of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), almost the only place on
the island where this beautiful flower can be found. Owing
to their atrocious slaughter by a person who would like to be
considered a sportsman, the “ wild goats” have heen reduced
to two animals only. The hare has also been introduced, and
is not uncommon on the heaths. But it is the sea-birds which
may be regarded as the glory of Rathlin Island. The west and
northwest, where the cliffs are highest, is their favourite locality.
Here they congregate in thousands, and he must be hard to
please, indeed, who would not be delighted with the scene on a
midsummer day. Dunmore, on the west, is a sight to see in
June. This a great stack or pillar detached from the cliffs, and
rising to somewhere about Ioo feet high. It is so close to the
shore that its base can be reached at low water, but its perpen-
dicular sides forbid any attempt at climbing beyond a few feet.
This rock is the headquarters of the puffins and guillemots, and
at the end of June was so closely packed on the top and on the
numerous ledges down the sides, that it seemed as if there was
not room for another bird. Storms and high winds are con-
tinually sweeping over this bare exposed crag, and it is a marvel
that the birds are able, notwithstanding, to keep their places,
and bring out their young. At the end of July, not more than
the tenth of the birds remained, and the base of the rock was
strewn with empty egg shells. The Cornish Chough is a con-

.

30

spicuous feature in the ornithology of Rathlin. It is called, by
the natives, the Jackdaw, and is plentiful over the island.
Eagles are said to frequent Rathlin, but they may be deemed
rare visitors now.

The plants collected, or noted, during my three visits, number
320 species, being about one third of the members of the Irish
flora. The list may be taken as representing nearly everything
that grows spontaneously on the island: and includes a good
number of plants which are not commonly met with. Two of
these, viz.: Potamageton pseudaniteus, and Stachys ambigua,
though not raised by British botanists to the dignity of species,
are yet well marked and interesting varieties which had not
been recognized in Ireland. Miss Gage, an accomplished lady,
who resides in Rathlin, has an album filled with sketches,
executed by herself. These sketches, which are accurately drawn
and beantifully coloured, represent the greater part of the Rathlin
plants. Miss Gage has also figured, ina similar manner, the
birds and the butterflies found there, and to one interested in
such subjects it is really a treat to be permitted to look over
these albums.

Rathlin, like every other place, has been credited with plants
that do not really grow there, and from the previously published
list a good many species must be deleted, the most important
of these being the pipewort (Aviscaulon septangulare). The
flora of Rathlin is, on the whole very good, considering that
owing to the want of woodlands, or even thickets, there is ne-
cessarily a nearly total absence of sylvan species. A few plants
that love the shade manage to exist in the shelter of the rocks,
but they are only a small number. Cold and boisterous
weather also excludes such as require warm sunny conditions.
Owing to the rocky surface, and uneven form of the country,
small lakes and ponds abound, and in. consequence, we get in
Rathlin, a lacustrine flora of more than average extent and
interest. The Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum), occurred
in the large lake at Ushet, and pondweeds are abundant and
varied. The limited time available for the investigation, did not
allow of full justice being done to cryptogamic plants, and

31

nothing was attempted except the moss-flora. The collection
amounts to about 70 species, and though by no means exhaustive,
it contains some of the rarer and more interesting of our mosses,
and indicated that the bryology of Rathlin would repay a more
systematic search.

32

6th February, 1883.
The President, R, L. Patterson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Mr. Wm. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., on
ETCHING ON COPPER.

Having enumerated the various ways of engraving on metal
plates for the purpose of producing printed impressions, Mr.
Patterson described more particularly the process of etching on
copper. Ordinary etching, in the different positive and nega-
tive manners, was described, as well as soft ground etching,
aquatint, &c. Copper plates were exhibited in various states,
with prints from the same ; and some of the needful utensils of
the art were shown. Mr. Patterson showed a series of printed
etchings, from plates which he had completed, printed in
different coloured ink, &c.

a...

33

27th February and 6th March.

The President, R. L. Patterson, Esq., in the Chair.

Two Lectures were delivered by Professor E. A. LETTS, on the

SPECTROSCOPE AND ITS USES.

34

10th April, 1883.
The President, R. L. Patrerson, Esq., in the Chair.

A Paper was read by Rev. R. Workman, Newtownbreda, on

THE WARFARE OF ANCIENT IRELAND.

THIS paper was the result of an inquiry into the facts and
practices of Irish warfare, from the English invasion till the
settlement of Ulster, with a view to throw light on the social
condition of Ireland during this period.

Three races made this country their battle ground ; ;—the
English, the native Irish, and the Scots from the Western Isles.
Besides this, the native Irish, divided into hostile clans, made
constant war upon one another, to such an extent as reduced the
country to desolation, and made improvement impossible.

The native Irish soldiery were hardy and irrepressible, able to
dispense with shelter, and to bear hardships to an extraordinary
degree. They had neither castles nor forts to stand a siege,
their plan was to make sudden raids on the English, and carry
off the cattle into woods and bogs that were inaccessible.

The dress and accoutrements of the Irish and Scots were very
primitive, and they had little mercy for the vanquished.

The reader showed that the English also treated their Irish
foes with great cruelty, which he attributed to their regarding
them as barbarous beyond possibility of civilization.

Under such circumstances, very little tillage was practised ;—
the population was too moveable, and the chance of being

a3

allowed to reap what was sown was too small, to encourage men
to labour. The natives depended on their cattle, which they
drove about with them ; hastily built huts sheltered them, and
indoor life was practically unknown during the day time.

Under such circumstances, man must sink into the lowest
state of civilization ; industries and arts of all sorts were
impossible ; accordingly this period of Irish history has left no
memorial ; population decreased, and wild beasts multiplied so
that the skins of foxes were sent over from our island to the Low
Countries. Even religion itself seemed to have lost all power
to influence the community, as might be expected when the
sole occupation of the people was war.

“pros ened. bowHede etud dlind: zlizesd sad citiw:
>a yeh ont grinb wording yllaotiosig: eR 8

teSwot sit ofai Antiz 20 S01 PIOGBieiFSTIO Asue

etae adios Hise: 16 aig Ted Sie hint j nolnastiviy 30°

sai daha Ltesct ajeaad ihe bos. 5 ety sovsls
: at oy ot baalei aio m1 WS¥o Mtse Sot) weet ION
tow eG fis teot ovetl of homdaatloetinacighos covek,
seit eu botoagxs ad tigign: Bie agihiuenmo9 ort.
Y eieene ge ony Toc

ial ick > a
* oP Prt a gk
B-asaphis Feist he Bie ee,
ip BE at" (Grae: pepe Lee

Beet ie Bak iad
Lite? -wetery fo the vange ‘
‘ meet Ping Fite iam iets
poe J es is oa ve

apy ” get SRS ca Single =
mee B03) Ae Se : - ayers Fe

OF THE

BELFAST

‘Natural History and Philosophical Society,

SESSION 1883-84.

(PRINTER TO THE guinen a COLL Peek

bi Si, aie.
— za...

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

BELFAST

Natural History and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SESSION 1883-84.

BELFAST:
PRINTED BY ALEXANDER MAYNE, CORPORATION STREET,
(PRINTER TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1834,

SRY AO

di 1902 {soirlgoeg lig” his. th

ane
Si
< qe e
‘

+

[Asa
™
.

“VTaAN IEE:
maaars 3 ‘HOUeAsoTOD AATAM
. (8071109 dunug nar or’

ee
+ ‘ y Z
i per
/ “5 yr
7 bia) . :
i ate .
») > il y fee Ye) b
a ‘ v7 vv i) ae
ah ee ‘ ’ se }
a. = 7
pee te aa | i By) - ay
b chihe nat | eS, ee ee

CONTENTS.

Annual Report

Balance Sheet

Donations to Museum ...

Books Received a ase

Presidental Address, by Professor Cunningham

An Ancient Altar Stone, by W. H. Patterson, Esq. ...

Agates, by Professor Heddle of St. Andrew’s, communicated by Joseph
John Murphy, Esq. bee =!

The Sand Hills of Ballintoy, by William Gray, Esq.

Foraminifera, by Joseph Wright, Esq.

Occurrence of Rare Bird of Lough Neagh since 1786, by the Rev. Geo.
Robinson oes

Heathen Remains in Christian Churches, by Professor Meissner

North Formosa, by William Hancock, Esq., F.R.G.S.

Sanitary Protection Associations, by F. W. Lockwood, Esq. ...

Stone Implements and Fragments of Pottery from Illinois, U.S.A., by
R. Young, Esq., C.E. ne

Migratory Birds, by Robert L. Patterson, i

List of Office-Bearers ae

List of Shareholders and Subscribers

Belfast F)atural History and Philosophical Society.

ESTABLISHED 182821.

SHAREHOLDERS.
1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares ,, » cost £13,
3 Shares ,, js COR al.

The proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of three or more shares stands exempt from
further payment.

Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management,

MEMBERS,

There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures
extends from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members,
Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due first November in each year.

PRIVILEGES.

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto; also of access to the
Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission orders
for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o'clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

BHLEAST

“Watural thistory and Philosophical Society. -

ANNUAL REPORT 1884,

THE Council for the year 1883-4, appointed by the Shareholders
at their annual Meeting, on the 19th June, 1883, desire to
present to their meeting the Report of the working of the Society
during the past year.

The Winter Session was opened on November 6th by an
address by the President, Professor Cunningham, the subject
selected being ‘‘The Extinct Floras of the British Islands.’’ The
second paper was read on December 4th, by Mr. Joseph John
Murphy, and was a communication from Professor Heddle, of
St. Andrew’s, on “ Agates.” Mr, William Gray followed with
a notice of “The Sand Hills of Ballintoy.” On January 8th,
1884, there were two papers, one by Mr. Joseph Wright—
“Remarks on the Tendency to Variation in Foraminifera, as
illustrated in the Genus Lagena”’ ; the other by the Rev. George
Robinson, on “ The Occurrence of some Rare Birds at Lough
Neagh since 1876.” On February 5th, a paper was read by
Professor Meissner, Ph.D., Queen’s College ; subject : ‘‘ Heathen
Antiquities in Christian Churches.” On February 12th, Mr.
William Hancock, F.R.G.S., of the Chinese Imperial Customs
Service, read a paper on “ North Formosa ; its Physical Geo-
graphy, Flora, Fauna, and Aborigines.” On March 4th there
were two papers ; the readers were Mr. F. W. Lockwood, on
“Sanitary Protection Associations ; their Success and Mode of
Operations,” and Mr. Robert Young, who gave “A Notice of
some North American Stone Implements.” The concluding

2

paper of the Session was by Mr. Robert Lloyd Patterson ;
subject : ‘Migratory Birds.” On each of these evenings,
except the last, the chair was occupied by the President,
Professor Cunningham ; on the last evening, Professor Everett
presided, in consequence of the President’s absence from Belfast.
The attendance of members and visitors at the evening meetings
was fairly maintained.

The Secretary, Dr. Workman, having resigned his office, in
consequence of leaving Belfast, Mr. W. H. Patterson was ap-
pointed to the vacant post.

A list of Donations to the Museum, and of Reports and other
Publications for the Society’s library, is to be printed with the
present Report. The Council would thank the various donors
for their valuable gifts.

The Museum was opened on Easter Monday to the public, at
a charge of two pence for adults, and one penny for children,
and the attendance was, as usual, very large.

The storms of last Winter occasioned some damage to the
roof and walls, but these, along with some defects that came to
light in the curator’s house, have been made good. ‘The Council
reports that the buildings are in good order, and that the
collections are also in good order, and in several respects in an
improved condition.

The re-arrangement of the Foreign Shells in the Museum
has, with a small exception, been completed. This large col-
lection has been removed to the gallery, and now occupies the
wall cases on the south side. The series includes represen-
tatives of all the great families of testaceous Mollusca. The
total number of specimens mounted at present is very nearly
7000, made up as follows :—Gastropods, genera 131, species 1320,
specimens 5467. Bivalves, genera 75, species 584, specimens
1362. These have been completely classified, mounted in their
proper order, and, with the assistance of Messrs. Workman and
Swanston, labelled with dates and localities, as far as could be
ascertained. The fine set of American fresh-water shells is
displayed in the gallery flat cases. The cases which contained
the general collection of minerals have been re-painted, and the

3

specimens are being arranged according to the sequence of
Dana’s manual. The labels, which were becoming illegible
through age, are being renewed, and the specimens displayed to
the best advantage. It would seem that the four cases which
this collection of minerals has hitherto occupied, will not now
suffice to hold all the specimens, unless they be very much
crowded. It, therefore, becomes a question whether some of
them shall be left out, or whether it may not be advisable to
make use of one or two of the flat cases at present in the lecture
hall, filled with miscellaneous matter.

The Treasurer’s Account is submitted herewith.

Your Council now retire from office, and this meeting will be
asked to select fifteen members to form a new Council.

; : ; { : ‘SMIMGNY THOAWVG
daunswary, “WOH “NMOUE “Lf SMORPNY ) ‘nosuaLivg “HWA —-“J0L100 punog puv pourmexny
@ LL oF °° = a: ab eourjeg Ag
8 ¢ I61F 8 ¢G I61F
¢ LI 0 ee ee puey ut qourleq ce 4 ce
OL 0 L oe ea syUN0D0V Tews ce ce ia}
6 LI ral ee ee seg pue =>: (0Y@) 7vog ce 66 cé
a ie On 2 Lo Aepuoy s9yseq uo sesuedxm “S Sf SS
G H1teso S A Avpuoyy, Tose, . Gaa9nee 2 OAvI| STJUOUI MOF 889]
9: Se oT °s Aon 4ST [[1} ‘toop 4e sea,q courzjuq ‘ ‘ “Ae ST 1 Arepeg aremagrytg “Oe
0 568 3865 "= 4 BS8T “ToquIeAON, 0 0 8F Ae
Surpuo weoA IO} sively pue suordrosqng ‘ 81 TH Arepeg qa urn « & &
OF 0- eh Pre = Plosereys uO . 9 F19 suondimosqng suyoeton “f ‘ S&F
9 ST Z oe ee ee ee E00) aU eLUCOYG | $ 0 0 C% ale oe ew 4ST 19 query 66 (73 «c
Oo) 20 wens ue a ** soaq sojsuery, ** 019 ¢ °° "© om Gooy oy suede “ESS
00 “te % 7% S *& -Gunoooy Se et ae sSuneomt voy toy ygInQ “ “«
uo) “Aqoq00g oWfeo-OTTYd Wory suoLNgLUOD es 8 stg ° ‘ ‘hroworye)s pur Suyuumg “ “«
0: go =8 ; b-S88I ‘E-Z88T (bon Lt °* Susnioapy “ “ &
‘moryeloossy SI9eUISUG WOT #8 & er te nee es yodey Suyumg “ “«
QO S92 GRIOMIShL S/SHe Tye N: mers mer NgTAROD ’ GIs °° ** SUINTWeTg eoUBMST] pred yseg *
6 IL 61 * 3G ULO'T J90I}G FOX WO 4sor0yuy re 9 2 cg’ . ee gouryeg OJ,
“SLA ISD “AU OLIGNADXA
‘aD 7884 ‘Kew 48} sulpua sea; 404 3 IC.

‘JaINnseas] YjIM JUNo9Ie UI ‘A}aI909 JeoIydoso/Iyd pue AJO}SIH jeunzeN ASejeg ay]

DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1883-84

From Mr. JoHN Browne, M.R.I.A., Cooxsrown.

Antique steel sword, dug up in the City of Londonderry, in
October, 1836.

From CAPTAIN ROBERT CAMPBELL, OF THE SHIP SLIEVE DONARD.

Twenty-five figures of Natives of India, in their usual costumes ;
two necklaces, two pair of bracelets, and one string of
beads, made of Delhi grass ; One Indian hookah, one
Indian mat, and one Indian weapon; specimen of
pumice, from the recent eruption at Karakatoa, found
floating at sea, 1200 miles from Java.

From Major CrawrForp, J.P., D.L.
A curiously twisted branch, found at Rademon, County Down.
From Mr. DaniEL DEVLIN, COALISLAND.
A nodule of decomposing coral (Lithostrotian).
From Mr. Wi ttiam Gray, M.R.IA.

A stone muller from North America ; five specimens of reversed
helices.

From Rev. H. W. LETT, ARDMORE.

Specimens of mosses for the bedieriam:

From Dr. JAMES Moore, M.R.IA.

Fragments of ancient sepulchral urns ; feck and fetters used in
the old County Gaol at Saarel aynck some ancient
military accoutrements.

From Mr. R. Lioyp Patterson, J.P., F.L.S.

Male and female specimens of the upland goose.

From Mr. ALEXANDER RICHARDSON, LAMBEG.

A lizard’s skin, and two snakes’ skins.

from Mr. Ropert YounG, C.E.

Specimens of flint instruments, and of ancient pottery, from
North America.

From Mr. R. M. Youna.

A collection of cryptogamic plants, made by the late Mr. John
Templeton, mostly during the years from 1804 to 1809.

LIST OF BOOKS RECEIVED, 1883-84.

ADELAIDE. — Transactions of the Royal Society of South
Australia. Vol. 5, 1882; vol. 6, 1883. Zhe Soczety.

Description of new species of Squilla, by Professor Ralph

Tate, F.G.S., F.L.S. The Author.
BELFAST.—Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club,
1882-3. The Club.

BrerLin—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde. Nos,
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of vol. 10, 1883, and number 1, vol. 11,

1884. The Society,
Botocna.—Accademia delle Scienze, Rendiconto delle sessione,
1882-3. The Society.

Boston.—Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Boston.

Part 4, vol. 21 ; and part 1, vol. 22, 1883. Zhe Soczety.

BRIGHTON.—Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex Natural

History Society, 1883. The Soctety.

BRUSSELS.—Bulletin de la Societe Royale de Botanique de

Belgique. Vol. 22, 1883. Lhe Soczety.

Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de Belgique.

Series 3, nos. 41, 42, 43, 1884. The Society.

Societe Royale Malacolgique de Belgique, proces-verbal.

August, 1882 till July, 1883. The Soctety.

CaLcuTTa.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. Parts
2, 3, 4 of vol. 19 ; and parts 1 and 2 of vol. 20.

Palzontologia Indica, series 10; vol 2, parts 4, 5, 6;

vol. 3, part I ; series 12, vol. 4, part 1 ; series 13, vol.

I, part 4, fasc. I and 2 ; series 14, vol. 1, parts 3 and 4.

Records, vol. 15, part 4; vol. 16, parts 1, 2, 3, 4; vol. 17,

part I. Lhe Superintendent of the Survey.

7

CHRISTIANIA.— Jahrbuch des Norwegischen Meteorologischen

Instituts for 1877-78-79-80-81.

Etudes sur les Mouvements de Atmosphere, deuxieme
part, 1880.

Fortegnelse over den Tilvzest som det Konelige Frederiks
Universitets Bibliothek har erholdt, 1879.

Det Kongelige Norske Frederiks Universitets Aarsberet-
ning, 1878-79-80-81-82.

Enumeratio Insectorum Norvegicorum, fasc. 5, pars. 1,

1880
Forhandlinger Videnskabs Selskabet, I., Christiania, 1878-
79-80-81-82. The University.

Dus.in.—Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society. Series 2,
vol. 1, part 19. The Society.

EDINBURGH.—Transactions and Proceedings ofthe Royal Society

of Edinburgh. Part 3, vol. 14, 1883. Lhe Society.

List of Council and Members of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, 1883.

Transactionseand Proceedings of the Botanical Society.

Vol. 15, part 1. The Soczety.

ENDEN.—Siebenundsechszigster Jahrebericht der Naturfors-
chenden Gesellschaft, 1881-2. The Soctety.

GENOA. — Giornale della Societa di Letture Conversazione
Scientifiche. Vol. 7, parts 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; vol. 8,

FASCes FeiAonSs) Oy 7~ The Society.
GiESssEN.—Oberhessischen Gesellschaft fur Natur und Heilkunde,
22nd Report, 1883. The Society.
GLascow.—Proceedings of the Natural History Society of
Glasgow. Vol. 5, part 2, 1883. The Society.
Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Vol. 14, 1883. The Soczety.

HarvarD, U.S.A.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 10, nos. 5 and 6 ; vol. 11, nos. I, 2, 3, 4,
5 6,5 98 89k The Museum.

8
LAUSANNE. — Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des Sciences
Naturelles. No, 89, December, 1883. The Society.

LIvVERPOOL.— Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical
Society. Vols. 35, 36, 37, 1831-83. The Society.

Lonpon—Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Series
2, vol. 3, parts 3, 4, 5, 6, 1883 ; vol. 4, parts 1 and 2,

1884.
List of Fellows, 1384. The Society.
Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Vol. 47,
1882-3. The Society.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Part 4, 1882 ;
parts I, 2, 3, 4, 1833.

List of Fellows, 1883.

List of Animals, 1883.

Catalogue of Library—Supplement, 1883. Zhe Society.

Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. Vol.

I, parts 2 and 3. The Society.
Scientific Roll (Climate). Vol. 1, part 2, no. 10, February,

1883. The Editor.
Mapison.—Geological Survey of Wisconsin. Vols. 1 and 4,
with Atlas of Maps, 1882-3. The Survey.

MANCHESTER.—Transactions of the Geological Society of Man-
chester. Vol. 17, parts 8—15, 1883-4. Zhe Soczety.

New York.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.

Nos. 2, 3, 4, 1883. _ Lhe Soczety.
PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of
Natural Sciences. . Lhe Academy.

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscani di Scienze Naturali, several
parts. Processi Verbali Adunanza del di, 13th January,
1884 and 2nd March, 1884.
RomE.—Atti della Accademia dei Lincei. Vol. 7, fasc. 9—16;
vol. 8, fasc. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 1883-4. Zhe Academy.
Atti Parlimentari, ccxliii, 15 Marzo, 1884.

9

SACRAMENTO.—Third Annual Report of the State Mineralogist,
1883. HI. G. Hanks, State Mineralogist.

ScARBOROUGH.—Report on the Sanitary Condition of Scar-
borough during the Year 1883.
Scarborough as a Health Resort.
Dr. F W. Taylor, D.Sc., Medical Officer
of Health, Scarborough.

SONDERHAUSEN.—Irmischia. Nos. I to 12, 1883 ; nos. 1 and 2,
1884.
Die Torfmoose der Thuringischen Flora.

VienNnA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolog-
ischen Reichsanstalt. Parts 17 and 18, 1882; and
parts 1 to 18, 1883. Lhe Soctety.

Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Zoologisch-
botanischen Gesellschaft. Vol. 32, 1882. Zhe Soczety.
Mittheilungen des Ornithologischen Vereins, Nos. 1 to
12, F063 ; NOs, 1, 3;-4, 5, 1884; Lhe Soctety.
Maygar Novenytani Lapok. Vol. 7, 1883. Zhe Soczety.

Warwick.—Proceedings of the Warwickshire Field Club, 1882.
The Society.

WasHINGToN.—Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881.
The Institution.

YokouAma.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur
Natur and Volkerunde Ostasiens, Band 3, 1882.
Lhe Society.

Jepoterianlh sinie-eds tn trodeth fai A idle omnia
AETyeryprewethy ee eluckts a ; st AEE Dy

” -] nortsag.. RG ig ati hoO_e@te Tose, binges |
ah Gs | te ost piri OTe Bus sy
. sw 7 Sijgok] i ob th puotod wage it

: a Wy ‘ >< can os Pats Ak BY x a. . a «| ’ M5

WY WWI ¥ eb o ‘oe

ae it j > ae fat with) 1b,

ae hero iaidon LARS | fee "i hd, tia i> Ben, ol
a OS es ee ie aly he), adtonerioight evel ae 4 ot
TDTROF, sit 2 ik £881 ft of te AS ad
iminalons nodoigmiad Maina ely srry : of ;
PRA BAL VEST oe" do eae tables tY pen folie
Seo € Hoe anata naioah ah nirtey Beh is: jit
‘ Sih hua he / cos t Fae
| Ok’, (AB lee aoe Gehpeeyo, ee
: vient J Let tor ese any i egebsesoae v i
: os gee st aor tP: ae Seiden Re? ort: Yo bt ibaer
2 = yore ert oe pan tue
YL et a Oe inet eae hat nee
Ser brrdel aap sboisbY aad
nition oe vt f+ Sa ha oe

“
t
~

‘

1
of

=
rc
S
7 4 id +>
~ a, . a
: + i
nb i
ah ? Se ats =] ee
iota ost ‘wk ae t 1s s
= Gt. =
Ra ; ep i. ior eh tas) =
wae ~
fy “ mo 7
© = . =*
“. = Te ee (we ay A Pt
y=. “ ae Bey 4
oe bd
‘ : ae $55
ce < ge VE ie: mee iy r REes4)

{1

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS :
THE EXTINCT FLORAS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS,

ROBERT CUNNINGHAM, Esgq., M.D., F.R.U.I.,

Professor of Natural History and Geology, in Queen’s College,
Belfast,

On Tuesday Evening, 6th November, 1883.

a

THE President commenced his address by making a compli-
mentary reference to the interesting historical sketch of the
rise and progress of the Society with which his respected pre-
decessor, Mr. R. L. Patterson, inaugurated his presidency.
He (the President) thought nothing could be more appropriate,
coming as it did from a gentleman the memory of whose father
they all honoured, he having been one of the original founders
and also one of the most vigorous supporters of the Association.
He (Dr. Cunningham) had chosen as his theme the “ Extinct
Floras of the British Islands.” In order clearly to understand
the relationship existing between the different extinct floras, it
was necessary to place before them the great sections into which
the rocks have been divided—Palzozoic (primary), Mesozoic
(secondary), Kainozoic (tertiary), with their different divisions
into strata, beginning with the oldest, the Laurentian, and ending
with the Quaternary. The President pointed out that the
Laurentian are so called from extensive beds which had been
discovered near the St. Lawrence River, and that little of this
formation has been discovered in the British Islands. He also

12

referred to the various extinct floras found in the Cambrian and
Silurian formations, and dwelt at length on the flora of the
Devonian and Old Red Sandstone, in describing which he paid a
passing tribute to the memory of the late Hugh Miller, with
whose name this stratum is intimately connected. As might
be expected, the coal-producing strata in the lower part of
the carboniferous formation is very rich in fossil plants.
The lecturer entered into a lengthened description of these
fossils, pointing out many of their distinguishing and more
interesting characteristics, including their agreement with cer-
tain species at present existing in the southern hemisphere, a
circumstance which proves that our country at that time
_ possessed a much warmer climate. The Permian, of which very
little is found in these islands, is very deficient in extinct floras.
The second and third great section of rocks have fossil plants
more nearly approaching those still growing in our islands.
As a general rule, while the plants that were in existence during
the formation of rocks in the Primary section were Monocotyle-
donous, those in the Secondary and Tertiary were principally
Dicotyledonous. The lecturer concluded by a graphic descrip-
tion of the leaf beds of Bovey Tracey, Island of Mull, and the
northern part of County Antrim.

; T 3

6th November, 1883.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

AN ANCIENT ALTAR STONE.

Tue Hon. Secretary directed the attention of the meeting to
a very curious object of Irish antiquarian interest, an ancient
altar stone, the property of Mr. Robert Brown, Kildrum, Kells,
near Ballymena, which Mr. Brown had very kindly deposited
in the Museum for exhibition.

14

4th December, 1883.

The President, DR. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

Mr. JosEPH J. Murpuy read a letter from M. Foster Heddle, on

AGATES.

Tue following letter was addressed by the writer in 1871 to
Mr. Joseph John Murphy, and though not originally intended
for publication, is now submitted to this Society with the
writer’s consent :—

St. Andrew's, November 4, 1871.

Dear Sir,—I have on my return found your note as to
Agates. Though I have been at work on the subject in different
ways for many years, I have not found myself in a position yet
to publish. In fact I cannot yet say that I 4zow much as to
how they have been formed, though I do know, or rather am
able to show, that they have not been made in the manner
usually supposed.

The late Principal Forbes conceived that they had been
formed by concentric deposition round a central nucleus :—this
I showed him to be untenable. Others conceive that siliceous
matter in a state of fusion has been poured into cavities through
an opening, such opening being called the “ point of infiltra-
tion.” Iam able to show that this so-called point of infiltration
is an orifice of escape or exit of something.

Fully to state how (from examination of their mode of occur-
rence, experiments upon the decomposibility of trap rocks under
the action of carbonated water, section of agates in every con-
ceivable direction, experiments upon their powers of absorbing
liquids, and from microscopic examination) I conceive agates to
be formed, would call for indeed a long statement.

15

I will attempt briefly to put it thus:—

Igneous rocks are being poured forth from a volcanic vent, in
perfectly fluid or at least plastic flow; some are dense, some
scoriaceous, some frothing, and so wher solidified are vesicular,
or perchance even hold in suspension bubbles of included water,
this latter holding in solution (red-hot solution) solids after-
wards to separate as rheolites. Should the air-bubbles of the
vesicular rocks arise through the plastic mass while it is motion-
less, these bubbles will be more or less rounded or pear-shaped.
Should the solidifying rock, however, become crystalline or
porphyritic, as generally is the case with amygdaloids, the sepa-
rating crystals of labradorite, &c., will more or less roughen the
sides, and so destroy the smooth and rounded figure of the
cavity ; while, if the lava-flow continues its motion while the
bubbles are still rising, their shape will be more or less flattened
or altered :—try bubbles in flowing treacle.

Stage the firs.—An empty cavity of any shape.

Stage the second.—The rock, while solidifying, may contain
an excess of a magnesian mineral, which is exuded into the
cavity ; or this excess of magnesian compound (magnesia not
being, to any large extent, a zatura/ constituent of the mass of
a trap) may be held as vapour in the cavity, to be, on cooling,
deposited on its sides. This forms in Scotland, Faroe, Iceland,
&c., the layer of celadonite or delessite ; at Giants’ Causeway,
of chloropheite, which, on the extraction of the afterwards
filled-up cavity, forms the “ skin of the pebble.”

Stage the third.—One of two processes, the first very doubtful.

The cooling and shrinking rock holds in a state of Aguzdity,
SJrom heat, an excess of colloidal silica, which is exuded into
the cavity, forming a chalcedonic druse. But, admitting the
process, it must here stop, and a so/d agate could not thus
be formed. This seems to have been the view of Sir George
Mackenzie.

The other process I pin my faith to. The thoroughly solidi-
fied—indeed the now o/d—rock is having its felspar (labradorite
or other) decomposed by water holding carbonic acid in solution.
I have proved that this process is rapid and continuous, and

16;

agate-holding traps are all rotten; the colloidal silica, with a
certain quantity of ¢ridamyte, is taken up by this water, and
transfuses into the cavity; the silica is there solidified —probably
the layer of delessite is the coagulation. We have now a cavity
slightly lined with chalcedonic matter, containing, within,
water more or less pure, while without (that is outside of the
now double skin, delessite and first layer) we have a strong
solution of colloidal silica constantly supplied. Endosmose and
exosmose are set up with all their resistless force. The strong
solution finds its way through the two or any number of
increasing skins: the weak water is forced out through the
“point of infiltration,” and so in its passage out thins all the
successively deposited layers at that place. By this continuous
flow of colloidal silica (held in solution by liquid) through the
already coagulated or deposited layers, continuous coagulation
of the silica in the yet hollow agate, and continuous extrusion
of the residual water, we have the ultimate filling up of the
cavity, and a solid agate formed.

The adhesion of agates to the containing rock is slight in
most cases, from the so-called “skin” being magnesian and
soapy.

The “ point of infiltration,” instead of being at once filled up,
as would result from the inflow of coagulable silica, is in reality
the last point filled up, being truly the point of escape: indeed
it frequently is not altogether filled up, remaining an open
tube.

The microscope shows on a cross section the concentric layers
of coagulated silica, soluble in alkalies; the crystals or fibres of
tridamyte cross these layers at right angles, radiating like a
rheolite from the skin, and it is always along the sides of these
crystals that intruding and staining liquids find a way; pro-
bably, therefore, along their sides also did the ingress of chal-
cedonic fluid find entrance.

I remain very truly yours,
M. ForsTER HEDDLE.

17

4th December, 1883.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

Mr. WILLIAM GRay read a Notice of

THE SANDHILLS OF BALLINTOY.

Mr. Gray exhibited a curious urn of rough earthenware, from
the north of the County Antrim. Mr, Gray was not quite
certain that the urn was genuine, but he explained that a
large number of objects of antiquity are found at Whitepark
Bay, Ballintoy, including a number of urns, some quite perfect,
and containing burnt bones. They are generally found along
the slopes of the undercliff, or talus between the sand dunes and
the cliff face. The sand dunes are extremely rich in flint and
stone implements, and the number of cores, hammers, flint chips,
and fragments of food vessels that are collected here from time
to time, indicate that the bay was the site of ancient settlements
which were occupied for a very long time. There are many
remains of antiquity in the neighbourhood. In the bay there
are the remains of an ancient burial place, within a rude stone
circle, and above the bay there are no less than three fair crom-
lechs ; one of them is a little above the rectory, and this too is
enclosed by a rough stone circle.

18

8th Fanuary, 1884.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

Mr. JosEPH WRIGHT, F.G.S., made a statement concerning

FORAMINIFERA.

Mr. WRIGHT referred to his investigations on Foraminifera,
especially in connexion with the genus Lagena. He mentioned
interesting results of dredgings made by himself and Mr. Balk-
will, off the coast of Dublin, when, amongst other species, was
found the Lagena Castrensis, known previously only as a recent
species from off the Australian coast.

19

8th Fanuary, 1884.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

Rev. GEORGE Rosinson, Armagh, read a Paper on the

OCCURRENCE OF RARE BIRDS AT LOUGH NEAGH
SINCE 1876.

THE reader mentioned, with special reference, seven rare birds
which had occurred at Lough Neagh since 1876. These were
—the Canada goose, the black tern, the pigmy curlew, the long-
tailed duck, the ruff, the eider duck, and the scoter duck. It
was at first supposed the Canada goose, which was observed on
the southern shore of the Lough in 1877, was an escape, but
that idea has since then been abandoned, and it is now
established that the Canada goose which occurred at Lough
Neagh was a truly wild bird. But a somewhat strange circum-
stance is that a wild goose has never been procured in that
district, and although wild geese have been often observed flying
over the Lough, they are never seen to alight, and he never
knew of one being shot on the southern shore. The black tern
is a very rare bird. It does not breed in Ireland, but it
occasionally occurs on our coast about the autumnal migration.
He had only seen one of them before, and that was a bird shot
at Plymouth. The pigmy curlew was observed in 1878. It
usually occurred on the seashore of Ireland and also in Eng-
land. The long-tailed duck was shot in a locality between
Portadown and the Lough, alongside the River Bann, where,
no doubt, it had been driven by stress of weather. The eider
duck was purchased by a gentleman in Armagh, who takes a
great interest in ornithology, (Mr. Templar,) from a woman

20

who was selling ducks. He had seen in the /e/d that an eider
duck was recently found near Norwich, twenty miles from the
sea coast. The next of the rare birds to which he would call
attention was the scoter duck, which is also a true sea bird.
The seventh of the rare birds is the ruff. It is a very
strange-looking bird in its summer plumage, a curious frill
appearing along its neck, which it can puff out to a
surprising extent. It, too, is confined to the autumnal migra-
tion. The only specimen he ever saw was one in a market in
Dublin. Two of these birds were shot near Lough Neagh.
The ruff belongs to the eastern districts of England, but the
species is rapidly disappearing there, owing to the reclamation
of the marshes which it frequents. He regarded it as an
interesting addition to the birds of the County Armagh.
Having gone over the list of rare birds which had occurred
at Lough Neagh within a very recent period, covering about
seven years, at the rate of one each year, he would now refer
to some birds that are disappearing from the Lough and the
district about it. Among these are the grey-crested grebe, a
most beautiful water fowl ; the yellow wagtail, a bird peculiar
to Lough Neagh; and the quail, formerly very abundant in
Ireland. One of the most characteristic qualities of the quail is
its fighting capabilities. At the same time, there are
some species of birds which are on the increase. One of
these is the water-rail, which is quite as valuable for the
table as snipe.

The President, when inviting members of the Society who
took a special interest in this subject, made some remarks, and
described the statement of Mr. Robinson as very interesting
indeed. He was surprised to hear that the yellow wagtail had
so restricted a distribution. With regard to the grey-crested
grebe, perhaps its most remarkable characteristic is the peculiar
formation of the patella, which-extends considerably upwards
above the knee-joints.

Rev. Mr. Robinson asked permission to interrupt the President
in order to state that he sent a grebe to Dr. Haughton, of Dub-
lin, which died shortly afterwards, and was dissected. Dr.

21

Haughton appreciated the bird very much, and in dissecting it
he was greatly interested with the peculiarity which the Presi-
dent had just spoken of.

The President said that the peculiar formation of which he
had been speaking was known long before Dr. Haughton was
heard of. Resuming his observations, Dr. Cunningham said he
was amused to hear of the fighting qualities of the quail.
Concluding his observations, Dr. Cunningham referred to a very
interesting species of grass mentioned by Mr. Robinson as
occurring at Lough Neagh, and in this connection he paid a
becoming tribute to the late Mr. Corry and Mr. Dickson, who,
if they had been spared, would have been yet amongst the most
eminent botanists in Ireland.

Rev. Dr. Grainger, calling attention to the statement with
reference to Dr. Haughton, observed that, of course, Dr. Haugh-
ton was too able a scientist not to know that the peculiar
formation of the patella of the grebe was not his discovery ;
but what Dr. Haughton desired to establish in connection with
that fact was that the variation in that particular is attended
by variations in the form of the entire bird.

The President then requested Mr. R. L. Patterson to favour
the meeting with some observations, the subject being one to
which Mr. Patterson paid much attention.

Mr. Patterson expressed his appreciation of the interesting
statements made by Mr. Robinson. He was much gratified to
find amongst the seven rare birds three that were thoroughly
oceanic birds. The long-tailed duck is a very rare bird, and
he, in the course of some fifteen years, had met with only three
specimens in the Belfast Lough. They are known on the west
coast of Scotland, and Mr. Gray, a Scotch naturalist, has pub-
lished very interesting accounts of their occurrence on the
Western Isles. It was, indeed, a novelty that such a thoroughly
oceanic bird as the eider duck should have occurred in fresh
water. He was not surprised to hear that the scoter duck was
found at Lough Neagh, and had often been surprised to hear
that it was not seen at that Lough, because it occurs so
abundantly in Belfast Lough, sometimes in numbers covering

22

an enormous area, and the distance from Belfast Lough to
Lough Neagh is comparatively short. Mr. Robinson had said
that the scoter duck is tame. Well, that is to be accounted
for by the circumstance that they are not sought after by the
gunners, because of the rank food on which they live. Probably,
however, when they become accustomed to the better food which
can be had in Lough Neagh they will be more valued by
sportsmen, and then probably they will not be so easily
approached. Regarding the disappearance of the grey-crested
grebe, that is largely, he believed, the result of the mania for
egg collecting that takes possession of some persons nowadays.
He knew one gentleman who last spring took all the eggs which
he found in four grebes’ nests. Mr. Patterson then called atten-
tion to two species of geese which were recently shot near
Comber. They were Antarctic species. He could easily under-
stand that a North-American goose could be found in Lough
Neagh, but it was impossible that Antarctic species could have
crossed the equator. It was therefore concluded, and correctly,
as subsequent inquiries proved, that the two specimens now on
the table were escapes. They had escaped from Hillsborough
Park. Mr. Patterson concluded by stating that about fifteen
months ago.a woo-whoop was shot near Lurgan, and a large
number of petrels of both species were got recently in the
neighbourhood of Toome, their presence there being attributed
to the recent severe storm.

The President thanked Mr. Patterson for his interesting
remarks, and said that there could be no doubt that the two
specimens of geese which were referred to by him were Antarctic.

Rev. Mr. Lett, who was allowed to speak, although not a
member, mentioned that he had often seen wild swans to the
number of 500, on Lough Gullion, in County Armagh.

Mr. Mulholland agreed with Mr. Robinson that the wagtail
is becoming scarce, and he had observed the fact with reference
to the common black wagtail. The lark, quail, and partridge
are also becoming very scarce. He ascribed the fact to an
increase in the number of starlings in the country, which birds
usually destroy the nests of the ground birds.

23

5th February, 1883.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair,

PROFESSOR MEISSNER, Ph.D., read a paper on

HEATHEN REMAINS IN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

THE early Christians did not all at once renounce all Jewish
and heathen customs and beliefs. For along time the Church
celebrated two masses on the first of January, the first the mass
for circumcision day, and the second a missa ad prohibendum
de idolis. Many heathen temples were converted into Christian
churches, and places which were considered holy by the Gentiles
were chosen as the sites of churches. Constantine the Great
built a church in the plains of Mamre, on a spot holy alike to
Jew, Gentile, and Christian. St. Boniface built a chapel out of
the oak of Thor, at Hofgeismar. Wittekind, Duke of the Sax-
ons, built churches on every spot on which, before his conversion,
he had erected idols). The Cathedral of Cordova stands on a
spot which has been succesively occupied by a heathen temple,
a Christian church, and a mosque.

Many heathen remains have been found at restorations
embedded in the Christian structure. At S. Martin, near
Tréves, a Roman altar; at Gersthoven, near Augsburg, two
statues of Mercury ; on the Domberg, near Augsburg, sacrificial
knives and vessels ; at Compton Dando, Somerset, an altar of
Venus is walled into the east end of the parish church ; at the
church of S. Mathias, at Tréves, an image of Venus or Diana
stood for centuries in the porch ; the custom of the people was

24,

to fling a pebble at the image on entering the church. Sub-
sequently this image was hung in chains in the churchyard, and
is now to be seen in the diocesan museum.

The early Eastern Church anxiously removed all vestiges of
idolatry from buildings dedicated to Christian worship, but the
Western Church allowed a greater latitude. S. Augustine, in
a letter to Publicola (No. 154, ed. Vulg., No. 47, ed. Bened.), jus-
tifies the retention of heathen works of art by reference to
Joshua vi., 18, 19. ‘To avoid any temptation to man-worship,
symbols were chosen to represent the persons of the Trinity;
a hand reaching out of the clouds for God the Father, the
Agnus Dei for God the Son, the dove for the Holy Ghost.
Heathen symbols, such as the Phenix, the Unicorn, the Sirens,
the Basilisk, became Christian symbols with a new and deeper
meaning. Medieval art and poetry developed this kind of
symbolism with special predilection. The fabulous history of
the Unicorn as a symbol of the incarnation and death of Christ,
became one of the most frequent sculptural ornaments of our
churches.

The well-known reference to the Cumzan Sybil in the fourth
Eclogue of Virgil had early struck the Christians as greatly
resembling the prophecy of Isaiah. The Sybils were introduced
into the Christian tradition as prophetesses, as early as the
second century. They even are appealed to in one of the most
solemn hymns of the Church, the Dzes zrae. They are found
frequently represented holding in their hands the instruments
of the Passion, at Badninch and Ugborough in Devonshire,
on the panels of the Rood-screen; and at Auch in the Pyrenees,
on the stalls, and in a painted window.

Of heathen origin are, likewise, the oldest images of the
Saviour. The oldest type is the Jupiter type ; next the Helios-
Mithras type, from which the halo (originally a attribute of
Kings and Gods), has been imported into Christian art, the
crossed nimbus being reserved for the figure of Christ. The
last type is the Semitic, which has been finally accepted as
the traditional portrait of Christ. This type we can trace
distinctly back to the famous miraculous image of Edessa. Dr.

25

Meissner here sketched the subsequent history of this image at
Constantinople, Rome, and Genoa.

Gems, on which are carved heathen deities and scenes from
heathen mythology, have been frequently used in the ornamen-
tation of shrines, processional crosses and other church furniture,
such as the Theofanu-cross, and the cross of Mathildis at Essen,
the shrine of S. Elizabeth at Marburg, the pulpit at Aix-la-
Chapelle. As late as the 17th century a similar ornamentation
was employed in the sacramental plate of the Protestant Church
at Hermannstadt. The use of secular dyptichs as covers for
mass and gospel-books is well known.

Holy wells were frequently enclosed in churches, and their
real or supposed miraculous powers hallowed by the church.
Most of these have been now covered up—e.g., Strassburg,
Wiurzburg, Freiburg in Baden, Carlisle. On the enclosure of
the well in Ratisbon Cathedral are sculptured Christ and the
Samaritan woman.

Idols were mostly destroyed, but the few remaining ones are
of the greatest interest. Chief ofall, the famous Irminsul which
Charlemagne overthrew in 772 at Eresburg, and is now in the
cathedral at Hildesheim. After the dissolution of the Abbey of
Corvey, this idol was removed to its present position. A heathen
idol, formerly in the Conventual Church of Colbatz in Pomerania,
is now in the Vaterlandisihes Museum at Berlin. Also the
Wendic idol, the Pisterich, has been removed to the Museum
at Sondershausen. But the old idol Swantevit still occupies its
place in the east end of the Church at Altenkirchen, in the
island of Rigen. The brazen serpent, which Archbishop Arnulf
brought, in the year 1001 from Constantinople, fondly believing
it to be the brazen serpent which Moses erected in the wilderness,
still occupies its old place in the Church of S. Ambrogio at
Milan. It most probably belonged to a temple of Aesculapius,
or was, as some think, an Egyptian talisman of the third or
fourth century.

26

12th February, 1884.

The President, Dr. CunninGHaM, in the Chair.

Mr. Witiiam Hancock, F.R.G.S., of the Chinese Imperial
Customs Service, read a Paper on

NORTH FORMOSA.

TuE lecturer sketched the leading geological features of the
district, describing the remarkable steam geysers and extinct
craters which he had investigated during his residence on
the island. Comparison was made between the flora of North
Formosa and other parts of China, and a description was
given of the plants from the sea level to the mountain
summits, with special mention of the extraordinary variety
of ferns, of which Mr. Hancock collected nearly. 70 species
in one glen alone, and no less than 129 within a radius of
twenty miles round the treaty port of Tientsin. Amongst
these the rare Dipteris Wallichii was discovered, which, the
lecturer observed, was closely allied to the extremely rare
Dipteris Horsfieldii discovered by Dr. Horsfield in only four
places in Java during fourteen years’ travel, and specially
referred to and figured by Wallace in his Malay Archipelago.
The typhoons and earthquakes of Formosa were discussed,
mention being made of the earthquake of December, 1867,
when the sea ran out of Kelung Harbour, and, returning, swept
the junks on to the houses, and when the towns of Kelung
Kimpaoli, Pachena, and Tientsin were partially ruined, and
many hundred lives were lost. Various interesting varieties of
birds were described, including the exquisite Pericrocotus

27

brevirostris, of Hindostan. The reptiles and insects were com-
pared with those of Hainan and the East Indies, and attention
was drawn to the remarkable marine fauna on the east coast of
the island, which, in consequence of the high temperature of
the Kurosiwo current, exhibits close affinity to that of Singa-
pore and other tropical seas. The variations of climate were
mentioned, and the intense heat of Hainan was described.

In conclusion, the lecturer said that the impression left on his
mind was a mixed and rather sad one. He had been amongst
a people whose days are numbered, a people who show various
kind and amiable traits of character, but whose natural.tem-
perament, even were they disposed to work, seems unfitted for
the systematic toils of civilised nations ; whose ignorance and
simplicity permit them to barter away their noble forests for a
mess of pottage, who are steeped in poverty and ignorance, the
constant dupes of unscrupulous and mercenary neighbours, the
victims of strong passions; without friends, without help, with-
out sympathy, children of the present hour.

28

4th March, 1884.

The President, Dr. CUNNINGHAM, in the Chair.

Mr. F. W. Locxwoop read a Paper on

SANITARY PROTECTION ASSOCIATIONS.

THIs paper was the legitimate outcome of one by Mr. W. Gray,
C.E., M.R.I.A., in the previous session, upon the sanitary con-
struction of houses, and described the operation of the various
societies formed in England and Scotland to protect householders
against the evils described in Mr. Gray’s paper.

The principle of all these societies may be briefly described as
being similar in nature to the Steam Boiler Protection Associa-
tion, viz :—to secure to the members, for a moderate annual
subscription, the benefits of inspection and report, with disinter-
ested advice, and subsequent periodic inspection.

The modus operandi is generally as follows :—A person
wishing to become a member applies at the office, pays down a
small entrance fee, anda sum, generally £1 Is. od., as annual
subscription, and arranges for an inspection of his house by the
engineer of the Association. When this takes place, it is
desirable that the member should have a plumber, one who
knows the house being preferred, in attendance, and that the
main drain from the house should be opened at some convenient
place. These are the only expenses beyond the subscription,
which are unavoidable, any further outlay is entirely at the
discretion of the owner. The engineer examines all the closets,
pipes, traps, cisterns, &c., and tests the drains under the house

29

by pouring paraffin or other strong smelling volatile substance
down them from the roof. In a large number of cases this test
reveals the existence of one or more defective joints through
which sewer gas may make its way inside the house; and in
most houses built previous to the last eight or ten years, the
examination discloses faulty construction or arrangements in one
or other particular. In due time the member receives a detailed
report, and a sketch plan of the house, showing the position of
the drains, closets, &c., with suggestions, if needed, for improve-
ments. These the member can make or not as he may choose,
and by whom he may choose :—the Association does not under-
take them, or derive any profit from the works. Thesesuggestions
further distinguish between the more or less necessary alterations.
Should the member decide upon making changes, the engineer
will visit them during progress, or on completion, and advise as
to their efficiency. No less important than to have the sanitary
arrangements of a house set right as described above, is it to be
assured that they remain so. Here it is that the advantage of
continuous membership is to be found. During each year a
person remains a member of the Association he is entitled to at
least one visit and inspection as thorough as the first, to ascer-
tain whether any of the complicated arrangements of modern
sanitation have got out of order through decay, settlement of
pipes, action of rats, weather, or other causes, thus giving the
member a guarrantee not merely his house has been put into a
fairly healthy condition, but that it remains so.

Should a member require inspection of more than one house,
he pays for each a separate annual subscription, but no further
entrance fee. Special buildings, or those at a distance, are dealt
with according to arrangement, or by a tariff fixed upon terms as
moderate in proportion as those above.

Two simple arguments may be given in favour of such associa-
tions. |

The first is that ofexample : they have already been instituted
in Edinburgh, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow,
Newcastle, Bradford, Brighton, Dundee, Wolverhampton,
Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Bedford, which, as their scope takes

30

in a large radius of the country round each of these places,
cover no inconsiderable area of the more populous parts of
Great Britain. The Associations in these places embrace in
their membership a large number of hospitals, banks, schools,
asylums, and country mansions, in addition to private dwelling-
houses ; their popularity is rapidly increasing, and their sphere
of usefulness widening. Medical men especially have been
prominent in seeking the benefit of the inspection for their own
residences.

The second argument may be docu from the facts told in
the reports of the Associations themselves. The London report
for 1883, for instance, shows that their engineers had examined
during the year 404 houses. Nine of these were found to have
their drains entirely closed up, and o connection whatever with
the main sewer, all the foul matter sent down the sinks and soil
pipes simply soaking into the ground under the basement of the
houses. In ninety-three houses, or twenty-three per cent., the
overflow pipes from the cisterns were led direct into the drains
and soil pipes, allowing sewer gas to pass up them and con-
taminate the water in the cisterns, and in many cases to pass
freely into the houses. In seventy-nine houses, or about twenty
per cent., the soil pipes were found to be leaky, allowing sewer
gas, and in many cases liquid sewage, to escape into the houses.
In two hundred and sixty-nine houses, or about sixty-seven per
cent, the waste pipes from the baths and sinks were found to be
led direct into the drains or soil pipes (presumably, doubtless,
with the usual inadequate S trap), thus allowing the possibility
of sewer gas passing up them, instead of these pipes being led
outside the house, and made to discharge over trapped gullies as
they should be.

A very similar condition Be things is revealed by an exami-
nation of the reports of the Edinburgh Association. Of the
houses inspected by its officers for the first time, seventy-five
per cent. were found to have the cistern overflows connected
with the foul or drainage system, which practically means that
in each of these cases a direct channel existed for the introduction
of poison into the house, arranged in a manner which did not

31

even admit of being partially guarded by the oldfashioned,
and too often inefficacious, trap of the ordinary plumber.
Other defects were found to exist in very much the same
proportion as recorded in the case of London.

A paragraph from the report of one of the annual meetings
of the Edinburgh Association describes a principle of action
on the part of most of these Societies, well calculated to recom-
mend them to the confidence of the public. It says “ the
Association did not exist for making employment for plumbers.
They advised people, told them what was wrong, and left them
to employ whoever they liked. They had also guarded against
touting for the employment of patents. The number of patents
which claimed to put sanitary matters right was legion, and if
they were to take up any one of these, they would raise a pretty

‘nest of hornets about their ears for overlooking the special
patents of others.”

In conclusion, it may be pointed out that these Associations
occupy an intermediate position between that period of darkness
when prince and peasant were by the universality of ignorance
alike exposed to a foe as deadly as it was treacherous, and that
happy time when, by the enlightened action of municipal
authority, such a thing as an unsanitary house shall be an im-
possibility. During that interval, which, if human nature does
not radically change, bids fair to be a long one, these sanitary
associations are likely to fill a place the value of which can
hardly be over-estimated.

32

4th March, 1884.

The President, Dr. CunninGHAM, in the Chair.

_Mr. Rosert Youne, C.E., read a Paper on

STONE IMPLEMENTS AND FRAGMENTS OF
POTTERY,

Which he had lately procured from the State of Illinois, U.S.A.

THE writer described the usual character of the prehistoric earth-
works which are so numerous in the great central States of North
America, specially in those drained by the Ohio River, and in
which stone implements are usually found associated with
evidences of human burial, making it evident that they are the
analogues of the tumuli and cairns of this country.

He compared the implements which are composed of chert,
quartz, and obsidian, with those most nearly resembling them in
the Benn collection laid beside them on the table, and pointed
out their peculiarities. None of the arrow-tips in this collection,
however, are finished with the very singular spiral curve
which characterizes some of those he had obtained from Ohio,
and presented to the Museum in 1879. He offered what he
had now shewn to add to the former gifts.

In conclusion, he said the Society was very anxious that it
should be known throughout Belfast and Ulster generally, that
they would be very glad to receive and exhibit, not only speci-
mens of ancient Irish weapons and implements, but also those
of aboriginal tribes in foreign lands, with many of which they
knew that friends of this Society had business connexions. If

oh)

a little trouble was taken in this direction by merchants, ship-
owners, and captains, in a few years they might hope to have,
in addition to their already most extensive and valuable collec-
tion of native antiquities, an interesting and instructive series
of objects of comparative archeology, such as the increasing
interest of this subject demands.

34

Ist Abril, 1884.

Professor EVERETT in the Chair.

RosertT Lioyp PaTTeErsOoN, Esq., J.P., read a Paper on
MIGRATORY BIRDS.

Mr. PATTERSON said, among the many beautiful objects with
which. nature has so richly endowed this world, there are none
more attractive than birds. To the lovers of nature there is
no more interesting occupation than to observe their elegant
forms, beautiful colours, and graceful movements, while their
varied habits and the periods of arrival and departure of those
species that are migratory, invest the study with a fascination
all the greater on account of the mystery in which some of
these movements are still involved. The number of different
species of birds hitherto recorded as inhabiting the entire globe
amounts to about 6000; those inhabiting Europe to 624, and
those found in the British Islands to 376; but of these 165
are only occasional visitors, thus reducing the number of regular
British birds to 211 species. Some of these have been obtained
in England but not in Ireland, and vice versa. Of the migra-
tory species the larger number are summer migrants, coming
in the spring to build their nests and rear their young, and
departing in the autumn to spend the winter in warmer climes.
Others again come in the late autumn or early winter, and leave
in spring. There is almost an infinite variety in the size,
form, and habits of birds. The disparity between the largest
bird, the ostrich, and the smallest, the humming bird, is
almost as great as that between an elephant andamouse. The
mutual adaptation of form and habit all through the animal

35

creation is wonderful, but in no department is it more marked
than in birds. This was illustrated by the heron, the curlew,
the swallow, and raptorial birds, such as eagles, hawks, and
owls. The short-eared owl is an occasional but erratic migrant
to Ireland in winter. The present ‘season is a great owl year.
Mr. Darragh, the excellent curator of our Museum, has got
about twenty specimens, and Mr. Sheals about six or eight.
After treating of the family of vultures, and of the adaptation
of water-fowl to their modes of life, the writer stated that
the variety of colour among birds is no less striking than that
of form and size. As with tropical plants, so among tropical
birds are to be found the most gorgeous in colour as well
as the richest in plumage. The variety of movement, too,
is considerable. Of the 211 species of British birds, 128 are
permanent residents, 52 summer, and 31 winter migrants. The
numbers of many of the resident species are largely reinforced
by migration. The causes that induce birds to undertake
long, fatiguing, dangerous journeys over thousands of miles of
sea and land are principally their search for food and their
natural desire to reproduce their species under the most favour-
able conditions. The writer then dealt with the habits of the
more conspicuous summer migrants—the barn swallow, the
house martin, the sand martin, and the swift, afterwards men-
tioning the wheatear, whinchat, and stonechat. The warblers
are very unobtrusive, and so shy in their habits as seldom to be
noticed. The most distinguished member of this family is
the nightingale, which sings during the day as well as the night.
Sometimes an extraordinary “rush” of some species of birds
occurs, and it may not be seen on migration again for some
years. Such a migration of golden-crested wrens, one of the
smallest of British birds, occurred in 1882. The writer then
treated of the habits of the corncrake, the cuckoo, and those
birds that from a summer home farther north come to our
latitudes as a comparatively temperate climate in which to spend
the winter. In consequence of the large extent of coast line,
in comparison with the superficial area, in Ireland the avifauna
is especially rich in marine species, as compared with France

36

and other less maritime countries. As to the general question
of the migration of birds, it has been argued that the lines of
flight followed by birds in migration, especially when crossing
seas, are the same lines that were taken by the remote ancestors
of these same birds ages ago, when it is believed much land
was above water which is now submerged. It has been further
argued that the habit of taking particular lines of flight has con-
tinued for thousands of years, and still exists, notwithstanding
the altered physical and geographical conditions. Plausible
and even attractive as that theory is, the essayist could not
coincide with it. The theory that the flight of birds in mi-
gration ordinarily takes place at high elevations is supported
by the fact that it is only in dark or cloudy weather that
migration on a large scale is observable. It has been noticed
that a stream of migration seemed suddenly to stop when the
moon rose. From its geographical position, Ireland is out of
the tract of migration. The uncertainty still attaching to some
of the migratory movements of birds invests them with an
interest, indeed we may say a charm, peculiarly their own, and
the study is one which, while it tends to the development
of both the observant and the reflective faculities, elevates the
mind, and leads us to regard with renewed admiration the
mysterious ways of nature.

BELEAST

Patural History & Whtlosowhical Society,

Officers and Council of Management for 1884-5.

President:
PROFESSOR CUNNINGHAM, M.D.

Dice- Presidents :

JOHN ANDERSON, Esa, F.G.S. Pror. J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.R.S.
ROBERT MacADAM Esa. THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

@reasurer :
JOHN BROWN, Esa.

dibrarian :
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

Secrefarp :
WILLIAM H, PATTERSON, M.R.I.A.

Council :

PROFESSOR CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
JOHN ANDERSON, Esa., F.G.S.

ROBERT MacADAM, Eso.

PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.R.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Eso.

JOHN BROWN, Esa.

JAMES WILSON, Esa.

PROFESSOR E. A. LETTS, Ph.D., F.R.S.E.
JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Esa., F.G.S.
ROBERT LLOYD PATTERSON, Eso.
WILLIAM H. PATTERSON, Ese., M.R.I.A.
PROFESSOR PURSER, M.A.

WILLIAM SWANSTON, Esa., F.G.S.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Eso., F.G.S.

ROBERT YOUNG, Eso., C.E.

38

SHAREHOLDERS.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

Allen, W. J. C., J.P. (Representatives of), Faunoran, Green-

island.
Andrews, Michael (Representatives of), Ardoyne, Belfast.
Andrews, Thomas, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J.P., Victoria Street, do.

Archer, S., J.P. (Representatives of), Wellington Place, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Holywood.
*Alexander, James, J.P. (Represenatives of), Holywood.

*Bateson, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.P., J.P., D.L., Belvoir Park,
Belfast.

*Batt, Thomas G. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bland, Robert Henry, Lisburn.

Bottomley, Henry H., Garfield Street, Belfast.
*Bottomley, William, J.P., do.
Brett, C. H., Chichester Street, do.
Bristow, James R., Northern Bank, do.
Barbour, James, Falls Foundry, do.
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill, do.
Boyd, W. S., Donegall Quay, do.
Brown, John Shaw, J.P., Bedford Street, do.
Brown, John, Bedford Street, do.
Brown, William K., Rushmere, do.
Burden, Henry, M.D., Alfred Street, do.
Burnett, John R., Gamble Street, do.
*Campbell, James (Representatives of).

Campbell, John, Lennoxvale, Belfast.
Connor, Charles C., White Linen Hall, do.
Carlisle, James, J.P. (Representatives of), Donegall Street, do.
Carson, John, Church Lane, do.

*Charley, John (Representatives of), Finaghy, do,

39

*Clermont, Lord, Ravensdale Park, Newry.
Coates, Victor, Rathmore, Dunmurry.
*Charters, John (Representatives of).

Crawford, William, Calender Street, Belfast.
Cuming, James, M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Calwell, Alexander McD., College Square North, do.

Cunningham, Robert O., M.D., F.L.S., Queen’s College, do.
Clarke, Edward H., Elmwood,

Darbishire, James M., Lombard Street, do.
*Donegall, Marquis of, K.P., &c. (Representatives of), London.
Drennan, Dr., Chichester Street, Belfast.
*Drummond, Dr. James L. (Representatives of), do.
Duffin, Charles, J.P., Waring Street, do. .

Dunville, William, J.P. (Representatives of), Calender St., do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough.

Dixon, Thomas S., York Street, Belfast.
Emerson, William, Donegall Quay, do.
Everett, J. D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Queen’s College, do.
Ewart, William, J.P., M.P., Bedford Street, do.
Ewart, W. Quartus, Bedford Street, do,
*Fenton, Samuel G., J.P. (Representatives of), do.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do.
Forsythe, R. H., Holywood.

Finlay, William Laird, Windsor, Belfast.
Finlay, William Laird, jun., Royal Avenue, do.
Fuller, Professor George, Queen’s College, do.
Fagan, John, F.R.C.S.I., Glengall Place, do.
Garrett, Thomas (Representatives of), Gamble Street, do.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Broughton Maxwell, Manchester.
Gordon, Alexander, M.D., Howard Street, Belfast.

Gordon, R. F., J.P., D.L. (Representatives of) Florida Manor,
Killinchy.

40

*Grainger, Rev. John, D.D., Broughshane, Ballymena.
Gray, Robt. (Representatives of), College Square North, Belfast.

Gordon, Robert W., J.P., Falls Road, do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.P., Seapark, Carrickfergus.

Gray, William, C.E., M.R.I.A., Mount Charles, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.

*Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Mount Vernon, do.
Hancock, John, J.P., Lurgan.

Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), High Street, Belfast.
*Henry, Alexander, Manchester.

*Herdman, John (Representatives of), College Sq. North, Belfast.

Hind, James, Durham Street, do.
Hind, John, J.P., Durham Street, do.
Hind, John, jun., College Street South, do.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, Waring Street, do.
*Houston, John B., J.P., D.L., Orangefield, do.

Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
Hamilton, Sir James, J.P. (Reps. of), Waring Street, Belfast.

Harland, Edward J., J.P., Queen’s Island, do.
Hodges, John F., J.P., M.D., F.C.S., Queen’s College, do.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Waring Street, do.

Henderson, W. D. (Representatives of), Victoria Street, do.

Henderson, James Alexander, J.P. (Reps. of), Donegall Street,
Belfast.

Holford, T. & A., Cern Abbas, Dorsetshire.

Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Corn Market, Belfast.
Jaffé, John, Donegall Square South, do.
Jaffé, Otto, Donegall Square South, do.
*Johnson, Sir William G., J.P., D.L., College Sq. North, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., Jennymount Mill, do.
Kennedy, James, Falls Road, do.
Keegan, John J., High Street, do.

*Kinghan, Rev. John, Deaf and Dumb Institution, do.

41
Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.

Lepper, F. R., Ulster Bank, Belfast.
Lakin, Mrs. John, Tamworth.

Letts, Professor E. A., Queen’s College, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., Victoria Street, do.

*Macrory, Adam J. (Representatives of), Ulster Chambers, do.

Mitchell, W. C., J.P., Tomb Street, do.
*Mitchell, George T. (Representatives of), do.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain, do.

Moore, James, J.P., Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Belfast.
*Mulholland, J., J.P., D.L., M.P., Ballywalter Park, Ballywalter.

Mullan, William, J.P., Victoria Street, Belfast.
Murney, Henry, J.P., M.D., Donegall Square East, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Ann Street, do.
Murray, Robert (Representatives of), Arthur Street, do.
*Murphy, Joseph John, 2, Osborne Park, do.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.

Musgrave, Henry, Ann Street, Belfast.
Musgrave, Edgar, Ann Street, do.
Moore, James, Donegall Place, do.

*M‘Calmont, Robert, London.

*M‘Cammon, Thomas, Dublin.

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., V.L., M.P., J.P., Belmont, Belfast,
M‘Cance, Finlay, J.P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*M‘Cance, J. W. S. (Representatives of), Suffolk, Dunmurry.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of), Donegall St., Belfast.

MacAdam, Robert, College Square East, do.
Macllwaine, Mrs, Jane (Representatives of), do.
Macllwaine, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A., Mount Charles, do.
*MacLaine, Alex., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
M‘Gee, John G. (Representatives of), High Street, do.
M‘Neill, George Martin, Beechleigh, Windsor, do.

Neill, John R., Queen’s Arcade, do.

42

Patterson, E. Forbes, High Street, | Belfast.
Patterson, Mrs. M. E., Ardmore Terrace, Holywood.

Pim, Edward W., High Street, do.
Pim, George C., (Representatives of), Corporation Street, do.
*Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Purdon, Thomas Henry, M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Patterson, William R., Lower Crescent, do.
*Patterson, R. Lloyd, J.P., Corporation Street, do.
Patterson, William H., M.R.LA., High Street, do.
Purser, Professor John, M.A., Queen’s College, do.
Porter, Drummond, Waring Street, do.
Patterson, Richard, High Street, do.
Patterson, David C., Corporation Street, do.
Riddel, William, Ann Street, do.
Rowan, John, York Street, do.
Ritchie, W. B., M.D., J.P., The Grove, do.

Ross, William A., J.P. (Representatives of), Clonard, Falls
Road, Belfast.

Rea, John Henry, M.D., Great Victoria Street, Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.P., Bank Buildings, do.
Robinson, John, York Street, do.
Simms, F. B., 39, Prospect Terrace, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., Tomb Street, do.
Suffern, John, Windsor, do.
Suffern, William, Windsor, do.
Steen, Dr. Robert, Pb.D., Academical Institution, do.

Smyth, John, jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.
Smith, F. Chaloner, Sandymount.

Swanston, William, F.G.S., King Street, Belfast.
*Tennent, R. J., J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
Thompson, Robert, J.P., Fortwilliam Park, do.

Thomson, Charles, College Gardens, do.

43
*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
“Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of).

*Thompson, William (Representatives of), Belfast.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), do.
Torrens, James, J.P., Wellington Place, do.
Valentine, James W., Custom House Square, do.
Valentine, G. F., The Moat, Strandtown, do.

Workman, John, J.P., Windsor.
Wilson, James, Old Forge, Dunmurry.

Walkington, Thomas R., Waring Street, Belfast.
Workman, William, Corporation Street, do
Workman, Rev. R., Newtownbreda.

Wilson, John K., Donegall Street, do.
*Wilson, Robert M.

*Workman, Thomas, Bedford Street, Belfast.
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank, do.
Ward, Fras. D., J.P., Bankmore, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Donegall Street, do.
Workman, Charles, M.D., Balmoral Terrace, do.
Workman, Rev. R., Glastry, Kirkcubbin.

Walkington, D. B., Windsor, do.
Young, Robert, C.E., Donegall Square East, do.
Young, Robert M., Donegall Square East, do.

HONORARY MEMBERS,

Robinson, Hugh, Donegall Street, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel A., F.L.S., North Street, do.
Tate, Professor Ralph, F.G.S., Adelaide, South Australia.

ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS.

Bruce, James, J.P., Calender Street, Belfast.
Corry, James P., J.P., M.P., Dunraven, Windsor, do.

44

Craig, James,.J.P., Calender Street,
Corry, Thomas H., Benvue, Malone,
Collier, W. F., LL.D., Belfast Academy,
Carr, James, Ulster Bank,

Dinnen, John, Chichester Street,
Dunville, Robert G., D.L., J.P., Calender Street,
Glass, James, Bedford Street,

Glover, G. T., Ballymacarrett,

Graham, O. B., J.P., York Street,
Liversedge, H. J., Lagan Foundry,
Loewenthal, J., Linenhall Street,

Lynn, William H., C.E., Calender Street.
Matier, Henry, j.P., Clarence Place,
Milligan, S. F., 1, Royal Terrace,
Moreland, John H., Co. Down Co., Donegall Square,
Mulholland, J. R. T., J.P.,

Murray, Robert, Corporation Street,
M‘Auliffe, George, J.P., Calender Street,
M‘Causland, John K., Lennoxvale,
Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace,
Pring, Richard W., Corn Market,
Redfern, Peter, M.D., Professor Queen’s College,
Reade, Robert H., York Street,

Rogers, John, Victoria Street,

Seeds, William, Corn Market,

Stannus, A. C., Chichester Street,

Steen, William, Donegall Quay,

Taylor, Sir David, J.P., Windsor,

Tate, Alexander, C.E , Queen’s Elms,
Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., Bridge Street,
Watt, R., Victoria Street,

Wolff, G. W., Queen’s Island, -

Ward, John, F.G.S., Lennoxvale,

Ward, Marcus J., Bankmore,

Young, Samuel, Talbot Street,

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

me Hie BOATS TL

| ATURAL HISTORY & PHLOSOPHIGAL SOGIETY,

FOR THE

SESSION 1884-85.
. ae BELFAST: |
| PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET.

(PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1885.

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

eS aE) Ty Ee ASS

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOGIETY,

FOR THE

SESSION 1884-85.

BELFAST:

_ PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET.
(PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1885.

5 .
} ~ FA
: . *
- : . .
*
'
\
2 *
. - { 4 j
‘
a 4 * 7 +
}
B = : =
.
:
14 iy .,
*
Ts © nal N
= nt i +
. vg
+ eo” & rg
{ F ’
it 5
| a
en aS f
& ‘ A =
Crk Mt ane
ae . . “a
rf au ‘ '
Rg SY {
aha B \
i ; A
. { ral
4 ~ ‘
CAM) A ‘ < fp é
= 4 *
- i - j mL
ie ie Pa! , " ae
\ = y t » f , :
hts | i
‘ ae 4 > A 4 r } Vi- TOPS s
‘ - ae ~ . Bi 3 ’
. ' LS é :
i
, % n . :
Py
cs i
4 v \ /
the |
.
4 5 ! 4 ;
ey ul my A # oe

CONTENTS.

Annual Report ace coc cbc nc soc tee

Balance Sheet ane sc pot ope eee tee

Donations to Museum

Books Received

The Construction and Use of Induction Coils, by John Brown, Esq.

Old Japanese Art, by Robert M. Young, Esq.

mn Recent Visit to America, by James Musgrave, Esq.

Eastern Reminiscences, with Lantern and Photographic Ilustrations, by
Thomas Workman, Ksq. (Title only)

Electric Light, and Transmission of Power by Electricity, by J. A.
Greenhill, Esq. ... test

Formation of a Stalactite by Vapour, by J. Brown, Esq.

Ventilation and Heating of Churches and Drying Rooms, by William

é Workman, Esq. ... ae peo afc ans

Land Tenure and Culture in Ancient Ireland, by the Rev. Robert
Workman, B.D.

List of Office-Bearers Se: i ee co an

List of Shareholders and Subscribers

-

Cen

lor)

11
12

21

22

34

4]
42

Belfast Hatural Bistory and Philosophical Society,

ESTABLISH HD AS2e.

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.

2 Shares ,, », cost £14.
3 Shares ,, » cost £21.

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of three or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.

Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management.

MEMBERS.

There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood
to intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures
extends from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members,
Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due first November in each year.

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto; also of access to the

Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission orders |
for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary. —
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

BELFAST

Matural History and Philosophical Society.

PO NUALORE POR T1885.

Tue Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of the Society was held
on the i4th May, 1885, at three o’clock, in the Boardroom of the
Museum, College Square North. The following were present:—
Professor Cunningham, M.D.; Messrs. R. L. Patterson, J.P. ;
F. D. Ward, J.P.; James Henderson, W. H. Patterson, How.
Secretary ; John Brown, Hon. Treasurer ; Robert Steen, Ph.D. ;
William Swanston, John Hind, Jun. ; and Joseph Wright.

On the motion of Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Henderson,
the chair was taken by Mr. R. L. Patterson.

The Hon. Secretary (Mr. W. H. Patterson) having read the
advertisement calling the Meeting, submitted the Annual
Report, which was as follows :—

The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical
Society have now to present to the Members their Report of
the working of the Society during the year now ended.

The Winter Session was opened on November 4th, . 1884,
with a paper on “The Construction and Use of Induction
Coils,’ by Mr. John Brown. The second paper was read on ©
the evening of December 2nd, by Mr. Robert Young, on “ Old
Japanese Art,” and was illustrated by a series of very fine
bronzes and other specimens, lent for the occasion by Mr.
Henry Matier, and other gentlemen. The next paper was read
on January 6th, 1885, by Mr. James Musgrave, on “A recent
visit to America, including the Yellowstone Park and Colorado.”
The next paper was read on February 3rd, by Mr. Thomas
Workman, the title was “ Eastern Reminiscences.” The paper

2 Annual Report.

for the next evening was read by Mr. John H. Greenhill, on
the 3rd March, the subject was ‘Electric Lighting and Trans-
mission of Power by Electricity.” The attendance on this
occasion was so large that many persons were unable to gain
admittance to the lecture-room; Mr. Greenhill, therefore, kindly
consented to repeat the lecture. This was done on Thursday,
the 5th of March, before a very numerous audience. The next
evening of meeting was March 24th. This was extra to the
programme arranged at the commencement of the Session. The
readers were Mr. John Brown, who made a communication on
‘CA Stalactite formed by a Vapour ;” and Mr. Wm. Workman,
who read a paper on “ The Ventilation and Heating of Churches
and Drying-rooms.” The last paper of the session was read
by the Rev. Robert Workman, on “ Land Tenure and Culture
in Ancient Ireland,” on April rath

The work of re-arranging the Museum collections has, during
the past year, been confined to the extensive series of ee
specimens. This valuable collection has been classified accord-
ing to the system adopted in “ Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy,”
and, with a few exceptions, each specimen has been furnished
with a label stating name and locality. Some of the minerals
recently received from the British Museum have been inserted
into their proper places, and it is intended that the remainder
shall in like manner be incorporated with the general collection.
This will have the undesirable effect of still further increasing
the present overcrowding ; but in the absence of additional
cases there is no more satisfactory method of displaying these
specimens, which include several nptgwonthy additions to the
existing stock.

A list of donations to the Museum, and of reports and other
publications for the Society’s hoaaey is to be printed with the
present Report. The Council would thank the various donors
for their valuable gifts, and would call particular notice to the
series of Eastern weapons and works of ornament, presented by
Captain Robert Campbell, of the “ Slieve Donard.’’ The mem-
bers will recollect that in the previous years Captain Campbell
was also a donor of a number of interesting opjects, collected by

Annual Report. 3

him while on his voyages at foreign ports. It is by taking an
interest in this way of a practical nature in the Museum of the
town with which they areconnected by birth or residence, that
persons can cause local collections to be substantially benefited.
The Council would be gratified if other persons who have
opportunities would follow Captain Campbell’s example.

On Easter Monday the Museum was opened to the public at
at charge of twopence for adults and one penny for children, and
the attendance was, as usual, very large.

Your Council now retire from office, and this Meeting will be
asked to select fifteen Members to form a new Council.

( ‘SMauaNy TaaKvg

*“aANsD “uo § : 2
at, “uo ‘NMOUT °¢ ree NOSUALEVT “H “KAN

‘oo1100 punoy pur ‘s1oTONOA YALA pouLMIexD

6 9 OL oa = = ‘+ —- gourpeg Ag
L 8 GLiF L 8 GLIF :
6 9 OT Ks oo ie e soured OF,
neeee ee oe syuNOooV TTeUg 66 66
Sey ad oe oe on ‘ a8uysog “cc 6“
8 al ie = ‘+ Aepuoyy J0yseqy od a 8 fF FI a ** sey pur ‘ayog eog . “ “
§ I1 Gt Sag Av 381 [[} 10op ye soaq oourrjuq SS On a ++ Avpuop s1oyseq wo sosuodxq #§ st
9 OL 8 LB PSSt “ coe: Teorpe WoOIF WONqyU0D ** 0 0 age OAV] SYJUOW XIS SSOT
0 ¢ ¢ “* G-F881 ‘AoW IST [13 Arvypeg “qaemeyg “y “sg « es
ANTS, Pea Flo.) NU Wlorz woTyNqIayUO0g ** 0 0 Av IST [1 Aaepeg ‘yserreg * A ee ae
9 CLs "* $8-EQgl - 9 es suorjdiosqng Zury09][09 & sg
‘Aqetoog on1e0- ond Wolf WoTNquyW0OD ‘ 0 0 sie a ABW IST 11} quey " My
Ye & seo,q tojsuvry, ‘‘ 9 0 a ris ‘+ sogo “Bay, i es
Oe Oy iC a PlOs cra S ORD) FO Spoon org fs 9 0 os uF *3 suredoy “
0 OL F 5 4 ‘+ suoryruog ‘* Ol Z ad Arouoyyeyg Bee SuIyULIg se se
$26. 488 a" 5 eo suorjdiosqny ‘* Cle 06 oe * SUIST}IOAPY aa s
6 GI 6I = _ uEor 49 YOK Uo ysoroquy SS 0 9 ys ve qlodey Suyuitg & of
& LT OF a a Spee. ut oourreg Ag 0 ¢ ae 3 ** suInImerg sourimsuy pred yseg Oy,
“SLdIBXOFY “AYO LIGNAdA Xa
A) ‘C89, ‘Aew JSp sulpua sea; Joy 1G

‘uainseal | Y}IM juNooIe U! ‘AjaIN0g Jealydosojiyg pue AJoRSIH jeunzeN yseyjag ay]

DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1884-5.

From Tue Natura History Museum, SoutH KENSINGTON.
380 specimens of minerals.

Frrom Mr. GEORGE DoNALDSON, BELFAST.
Portion of a plank taken out of the barque Rose on her return
from the West Indies, and found to be completely perfor-
ated by the teredo.

From CHARLES Murpuy, Esq., RATHFRILAND.
Four ancient querns formed of granite.
From Joun Moore, Esq., Moore Fort, BALLYMONEY, AND
Hawks Bay, NEw ZEALAND.
Two skins of Huias (wingless birds) ; one specimen of Jade.

From JosepH Wricut, Esq., F.G.S.
A set of fossil sponge spicules from Ben Bulben.

From W.H. PaTrerson, Esq., M.R.ILA.

Portions of an ancient urn found at Dundrod, County Antrim.
From CAPTAIN ROBERT CAMPBELL, MASTER OF THE SHIP
(SLIEVE DoNARD.”

Two Malay shields, three Malay spears, one Malay walking-stick,
one Japanese walking-stick, one Chinese walking-stick,
two Japanese bronze candlesticks, one Chinese opium
pipe, one Chinese tobacco pipe, one Chinese fancy dress
sword made of cash, one Japanese fancy bowl with lid,
three foreign bird skins, one Malay hat as used in the
field.

from Rev. W..H. Lert, M.A., F.C.D.

Portions of antlers of deer, found in gravel at Maralin.

From Beurast NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB.
Ancient boat with square stem and stern, formed out of an oak
tree ; found at Lough Mourne, County Antrim, when
the lake was drained in 1883.

LIST OF BOOKS RECEIVED, 1884-85.

BatH.—Journal of Microscopy. Vol. 3, part 9, January, 1884 ;
and Rules, January, 1884. The Editor.
BELFASsT.—Guide to Belfast, &c., by Dr. Esler The Author.
Naturalists’ Field Club, Proceedings for 1879-80, 1881,
1882. The Club.
Jardine’s Humming Birds T. F. Muliigan.
BERLIN.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde. Band
II, nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1884 ; band 12, nos. 1,
2, 3, 1885. The Society.
Boston.—Science Observer. Vol. 4, 43, 44, nos. 7, 8, 1884 ;
vol. 4, nos. 9, 10. ‘
Society of Natural History, Proceedings. Vol. 22, parts
2 and 3, 1883-84 . The Society.
BREMEN.~Abhandlungen vom naturwissenschaftlichen Verein.
Band 8, znd heft, and band 9, Ist heft, 1884.

BresLau.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie; Neue Folge Neuntes

Heft, 1884.
BRIGHTON.—Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society,
- Annual Report, 1884. . The Soctety.
BRUSSELS.—Société Entomologique de Belgique.
(Comptes Rendus). 1884. The Soctety.
’ Comptes-Rendu des Séances. Series 3, nos. 44, 45, 46,
1884. The Soctety.
Société Royal de che de Belgique.
Bulletin, 1884. The Society.

Buenos AyrgES.—Accedemia Nacional de Ciencias en Cordoba
(Republica Argentina).
Tomo 6, entrega 2, 3, and 4, 1884.
do.- 7, = do. - 1,%2,-and' 3; a3eea-
do. 8, de. 4, 1885:

Books Recetwed. 7

Buenos AyrEs.—Boletin de la Accedemia Nacional de Ciencias
en Cordoba (Republica Argentina). Tomo 6, entrega
iePeoAs The Academy.

CatcuTTa.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey.

Palaeontologica Indica. Series x, vol. 3, parts 2, 3, and
4, 1884.

Records. Vol. 17, parts 2, 3, 1884.

Geological Survey of India, Memoirs. Series 6, vol. 1,
part 4. The Labyrinthodont, from the Bigoro Group.
Series 10, vol. 3, part 5. Mastodon Teeth, from Perim

‘Island.

Series 13, vol. 1, part 4,-fascicule 3. Brachiopoda.
Do. 13, vol. 1, part 45- fasciculus 4. do.

Do. 14, vol. 1, part 5, dot5 eed The fossil
Echinioida.

Do. vol. 21, parts 2 and 3.
Report, vol. 17, parts 4 ; and vol. 18, parti. Zhe Survey.
CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.—Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Vol. xi., no. 10, part 3. “Acalephs,” 1884:
Museum of Comparative Zoology. No. 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, and 11 of Geological Series, vol. 1, 1881 to 1884.

Annual Report, 1883-84. The Museum.
CarpiFF.—Report and Transactions Naturalists’ Society. Vol.
MERIT OS2. oh 188A, The Society.

‘DAVENPORT, U.S.A.—Proceedings Davenport Academy of
National Science. Vol..3, part 3, 1879-81. 1883.

Elephant Pipes in the Museum. 1885. Zhe Academy.
Dawnzic.—Schriften Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.

Neue Folge Sechsten Bandes Erstes Heft. 1884.

The Soczety.

DusLin.—Royal Dublin Society, Scientific Proceedings.

Vol. 1, series 2, parts 20, 21, 23 and 24, and 25.

Vol. 3, series 2, parts I, 2, and 3.

Vol. 3, new series, parts 6 and 7.

Vol. 4, do. parts I, 2, 3, and 4. The Society. ~

8 Books Received.

EDINBURGH.—Royal Physical Society, Proceedings 1858-59,

1859-60, 1860-61, 1861-62, 1874-75, 1875-76, 1876-78,

1878-79, 1879-80, 1880-81, 1881-82, 1882-83, 1883-84.

The Society.

ELBERFELD.— Jahres Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlichen
Vereins, sechstes Heft. 1884.

Empen.—Achtundsechszigster Jahresbericht Naturforschenden

Gesellschaft, 1882-83. 1884. The Society.
Ess1a.—Essex Field Club, Transactions. Vol. 3, part 8; and
Appendix, no. I. The Club.

FLORENCE.—Bulletino della Societa Entomologica Italiana.
Anno sedicesimo Trimestri, 1 and 2. 1884.

Trimestri, 3 and 4. 1884., and
Atti Anno, 1882 to 1883. The Society.
GeEnoa.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazioni
Scientifiche. Anno 8, fasc. 8 and g. 1884.
Societa di Letture, &c.
Anno 8, fasciculus 12.

Anno 9, fasciulus 1 and 2, 3, 4 and 5, and 1 Supplement.

The Soczety.

GLasGcow.—Proceedings Philosophical Society. Vol. 15, 1883-
84. 1884. The Society.

Natural History Society, Proceedings. Vol. 2, parts
1 and 2; vol. 3, parts 1 and 3; Vol. 4, part I.
The Society.

Gorvitz.—Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. Vol. 18, 1884.
HamBurG.—Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein.

Abhandlungen. Vol. 8, parts 1, 2, and 3. Zhe Soczety.
LAUSANNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences
Naturelles. 2nd series, vol. xx, no. 90, 1884.

2nd series, vol. 20, no. 9, 1885. The Soctety.

Lrrpsic.—Sitzungsberchte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
Zehnter Jahrgang, 1883. 1884. . Lhe Society.

Books Recetwed. 9

LivErPoot.—Museums of Natural History, by the Rev. H. H.

Higgins, M.A. The Author.
Lonpon.—Memoirs of the Astronomical Society. Vol. 48,
part 1, 1884. The Soctety.

Journal Royal Microscopical Society. Series 2, vol. 4,
parts 3, 4, 5, and 6, 1884; vol 5, parts 1 and 2.
The Soctety.
More Leaves from the Journal of the Life in the High-
lands, by the Queen. 1884. The Publishers.
Proceedings Zoological Society. Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.
List of Fellows, to June, 1884. 1884. The Soctety.
Illustrations of British Fungi, by M. C. Cook, M.A.
4 vols, and 13 parts, no. 18 to 31. Lord Clermont.
Diurnal Birds of Prey, by J. H. Gurney. Zhe Author.
Asclepiad, by B. W. Richardson, M.D., F-.R.S.
The Author.
Stoechiological Medium, by J. F. Churchill, M.D.
The Author.
A Guide to the Mineral Gallery, British Museum, South
Kensington. L. Fletcher.
MANCcHESTER.—Transactions Geological Society, Session 1883-34.
Vol. 17, parts 16,17, and 18. 1884.
Vol 18, nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The Soctety.
Medical Chronicle. Vol. 1, no. I.
_ Mitwavkee.—Natural History Society, Proceedings, 1885.
The Soctety.
New York.—Bulletin American Geographical Society. Parts
I, 2, 5, 6, 1884. The Soczety.
Microscopical Society Journal. Vol. 1, no. 2, 1885.
The Soctety.
American Geographical Society, Bulletin. No. 3 and 4.
The Soctety.
PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences.
Parts 1, 2, and 3, JanuarytoApril, 1884. TheAcademy.

10 Books Received.

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali. Vol. 4,

3 parts, 1884-85 The Society.

Roma.—Atti della R. Accademia die Lincei Anno 281, Serie
Tereza. Vol. 18, fascicolo 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1884.

The Soctety.

Reale Accademia dei Lincei Atti, 3 Series. Vol. 8,

Fas. 16 Atti; 4 Series, vol. 1, Fas: 1, 2, 3).4, 5) ©,

7, 8, 9 The Soctety.
SONDERSHAUSEN.—Irmischia. No. 1 and 2, 5, 6 and 7, 8,9,
hOal hy, G2 The Editor.
StockHoLmM.—Das Gehororgan der Wirbelthiere. Von Gustaf
Retzius. Part 2. The Soczety.

TRIESTE.—Bolletino della Societa Adriatica di Scienze Naturali,
Volume Ottavo, 1883-84.
ViennA.—Mittheilungen des Ornithologischen Vereines, 1 Jahr-
gang. Nos..6, 7, '8,°9, 10) 1%, 12, 13) 04, geto, lz.
1819, 20, 21,322, 23, 24, 25520, 27, 28, woods
2 Jahrgang. Nos 1,3, 45 5, 6, 7, 6, Gheteaal, 22.
i ae Be Popol The Society.
Verhandlungen der K. K. Geologischen Reichsanstalt.
Nos. 4,5) 6, 7 8, 9, Io, II, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1884 ;
No: 1552) 2.49 SwOsss5. Lhe Society.
Verhandlungen der K. K. Zoologish-botanishen Gessell-
schaft. Band 33, 1884 ; and Band 34, 1885.
Brasilische Sudgethiere, 1383. The Soctety.
Verhandlungen der K. K. Zoologishen Reichsanstalt.
Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1884. The Society.
_~Warwick.—Proceedings Warwickshire Naturalists’ and Arche-
ologists’ Field Club, 1883. The Club.
W ASHINGTON.—Geological Survey.
Second Annual Report, 1880-81. 1882. The Survey
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1883.

II

BPA Sr

NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY,
SESSION 1884-85.

4th November, 1884.

PROFESSOR EVERETT in the Chair.

Joun Brown, Esg., read a Paper on

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF INDUCTION
COILS,
IMustrated by Examples and Experiments.

_ Tue reader exhibited a large coil of his own construction, with
others of various types made by Mr. John Edgar and Mr. John
H. Greenhill. The principles and action of coils, and the
advantages of the disc method of building up the secondary
were explained, as well as the most efficient disposition of a
given amount of secondary on a given magnetic cone.

Some of the uses of the Induction Coil were illustrated by the
illumination of a beautiful set of Crookes’s tubes lent by Dr.
Everett, the firing of submarine mines by the secondary cur-
rent, etc.

12

2nd December, 1884.

James WItson, Esg., in the Chair.

Rosert M. Youne, Esg., B.A., read a Paper on
OLD JAPANESE ART.

Mr. Youna divided his paper into different sections. The first
was devoted to a short sketch of the history of Japan from the
time of the Emperor Jimmu, 660 B.c., to the year 1863, when
the country was opened to foreigners, and that marvellous series
of changes was inaugurated which has transformed the country
from being the most backward to the position of the most
civilised and enterprising State in the whole of Asia. The
lecturer then proceeded to treat of the feudalism which formed
so curious a part of the internal economy of Old Japan. He
showed that it was almost identical with the military feudalism
prevalent in medieval Europe. The daimio, or baron, was then
described. His territory and castle, with the dwellings of his
vassals, the samurai, were shown completely to resemble the
strongholds of the middle ages, as depicted in the pages of
Froissart and Scott. The outline of the most popular Japanese
tale of chivalry, the History of the 47 Ronin, was given to show
what loyalty and devotion were displayed by the retainers to
their lord in critical times, death being always preferred to
dishonour. .

The swords of the various periods were described in detail,
and some interesting facts given of the etiquette practised with
regard to that national weapon. A quotation was given from
the ‘“ Romance of Prince Gengi,” written by a learned Japanese

Old Fapanese Art. 13

lady in the 1oth century, to show what advanced ideas were
prevalent at that remote period with regard to art. Even the
modern catchwords of “correct taste and high esthetic prin-
ciples” are found in this remarkable novel. A few of the leading
facts in the history of Japanese art were then noted, particularly
as regards the life of the Hogarth of the country, the renowned
Hokusai. By the kindness of Mr. W. H. Patterson, his famous
work, “The 100 views of the mountain Fusiyama,” were
exhibited, to show his skill. After a full explanation of the
general principles on which their art is founded, and a descrip-
tion of the way a Japanese artist works, a quotation was given
from Mr. W. Anderson, illustrating the distinction between the
ordinary artisan and the inventor artist, who, gifted with talents
of a very high order, designed and carried to completion the
splendid works in bronze, porcelain, and lacquer which have
reached Europe. Some amusing instances of the marvellous
skill said to have been attained by the old masters were cited,
such as that of the artist who drew a dragon, and, as he com-
pleted the eye of the monster, it rose and flew away. The
famous horse painted on a temple screen was also mentioned, -
which was nightly accustomed to leave the picture and roam
the rice fields, but was at last recognized, and its ravages stopped
by blotting out the eyes of the masterpiece. The different
substances employed in their art industries were indicated, and
the’concluding portion of the lecture was devoted to describing
the more important, such as lacquer, ceramics, metalwork, and
enamels. A concise history of the methods employed in lacquer
was given, and examples of this beautiful art shown, more
particularly on sword mountings. A fine example in the
possession of the reader was exhibited, with eight distinct
varieties of lacquer used on it, beside many other processes of
inlaying and other arts peculiar to Japan. The remarks made
on the various kinds of pottery and porcelain were illustrated by
specimens of each manufacture. The stone wares of Bizen,
Raku, and Soma were discussed, and the porcelain of Kaga and
Kioto ; whilst the famous Satsuma and its imitations were fully
explained, The subject of metal work occupied some time, as,

14 Old Fapanese Art.

by the kindness of Mr. Henry Matier, J.P., a very choice
collection of the finest old bronze and inlaid work was exhibited
and described. Much satisfaction was expressed among the
audience that the late disastrous fire at Dunlambert had not
materially injured any of these masterpieces. The subject of
bronze casting was entered into, and a brief account given of the
Japanese process of founding, which is similar to that known
in Europe as “‘cire perdu.” The different subjects commonly
chosen for delineation by their craftsmen were mentioned
at length. The religions and mythology of the country were
briefly touched on, the seven favourite divinities and the five
monstrous animals frequently found on their art productions
being remarked on, and examples of some of them pointed
out as fashioned in bronze, pottery and enamels. The subject
of enamels was taken up in the last place. The superiority
of Japanese work was indicated by the comparison of some
examples of the middle period, in the form of, plaques and vases,
with old Chinese work. The lecturer then‘concluded by giving
a short description of some of the beautiful works in bronze
and other metals kindly lent for exhibition on the occasion by
Mr. Henry Matier, J.P. A large flower vase from a Japanese
temple, cast in bronze, and properly inlaid with silver, having
panels on each face in raised metals, one representing a god
seated beside the national vehicle, the jinrishka, was much
admired. Another was particularly noticeable for the skill
with which a dragon, encircled by clouds, was depicted. A.
large plaque, with a monstrous cuttle-fish seizing an unfor-
tunate wretch, who has endeavoured to pilfer a vase lying
on the sea beach, was much remarked for the masterly skill
displayed in its manipulation and the precious metals used.
Specimens of the best work, in wrought iron, inlaid with gold,
and chased in high relief, were alsoshown. The incense burners,
of elaborate bronze work, are unique of their kind.

15

6th Fanuary, 1885.

PROFESSOR EVERETT in the Chair.

JAMES MusGRAVE, Esq., gave an account of
A RECENT VISIT TO AMERICA,

Including the Yellowstone Park and the Colorado, illustrated
by Photographs.

Mr. MuserRaveE said, on the 7th August last he left Liverpool
with one of his brothers, for New York, in the Germanic, one
of the finest of that White Star line of steamers of which the
people of Belfast had reason to feel proud. His object in pro-
ceeding to America was two-fold; first, to attend the meeting
of the British Association at Montreal, which would give him
an opportunity of gaining some knowledge of the Dominion of
Canada; and, second, to visit, amongst other places, the scenery
which the writings of Washington Irving and Fenimore Cooper
had invested with the true spirit of romance, and to observe for
himself, even superficially, the people and the institutions of
that wonderful country. _

Mr. Musgrave then described a visit to the Yellowstone Park,
which a few years ago was set apart by Act of Congress as a
national park for the American people. Mr. Rigg, president of
the London Association of Engineers, had joined in the trip.
A circular tour was arranged with the Northern Pacific, the
Union Pacific, the Chicago and Alton, and the Baltimore and
Ohio Railways, a tour which, with an extension into the
Denver and Rio line, he could recommend to any one desirous
of seeing that country. He wished to thank Mr. Mackenzie, of
the Baltimore and Ohio in Philadelphia, and Mr, Macdougal,

16 A Recent Visit to America.

of the Northern Pacific in Montreal, for their attention and fore-
thought, which enabled the party to accomplish the journey
without a single hitch. After giving some account of the
journey through the older parts of the United States, he said that
at Rock Island they crossed the Mississippi, which, even at that
distance from New Orleans, is a broad navigable river. There
they saw the Government arsenal and armoury, which, as well
as many private factories, are worked by water-power, derived
froma greatdam at Molines. St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota,
is one of the most thriving towns in America, containing 100,000
inhabitants. Minneapolis, another town of almost equal impor-
tance, is only eight miles distant, and, though some jealousy
exists, they are no doubt fated to become one town. St.
Anthony’s Fall is the overflow from what was said to be
the greatest waterflow in America. It drives a large number
of flour mills, one of which they examined carefully. It was said
to turn out more flour than any other place in the world,
and that they could well believe. What surprised them most
was that the country appeared richer than that to the east of
Chicago. There were rich corn crops on either side of the
railway, interspersed with small towns devoted to various manu-
factures. He was shown a factory where one thousand ploughs
were turned out every day.

From St. Paul they entered upon the vast tract of prairie
land now so actively developing by the Northern Pacific Rail-
way, through their commissioner, Mr. Lamborn, of St. Paul,
who gave him the maps now on the table. Travelling day and
night through the territories of Minnesota, Dakota, and Mon-
tana, they stopped at Amnabar, the nearest station to Yellow-
stone Park, which lies principally in the territory of Wyoming.
The prairie was not so flat as he expected ; every here and there
are hillocks, with occasional groups of small trees. The
Missouri River is navigable for steamers up to the town of
Bismarck, and there is a fine suspension bridge across the
Missouri, connecting Bismarck with Mandan. At Dickenson
they parted with a fellow-traveller, who was president of several
large cattle ranches, and the groups of head ranchemen and —

A Recent Visit to America. 17

cow boys who were waiting to receive him gave them:a very
- favourable idea of the class of men engaged in developing that
country. He produced a newspaper called the Bad Lands
Cow Boy, which gave some idea of the state of society in that
region. <A special Pullman car was provided for members of
the British Association at St. Paul. Sir Richard Temple and
some of his friends from the Winnipeg excursion joined them
at Targo, and the novelty and excitement of conveying so large
a company in four-horse “stages” from the railway terminus
over the rough roads and through the wild scenery leading to
the Mammoth Springs Hotel was a fitting preparation for the
extraordinary country they were about to see. They had been
told that that hotel cost £40,000. Everything was on a large
scale, and the electric light was used. It was crowded with the
most picturesque assembly of men he had ever seen. Members
of the British Association bargaining for carriages to convey
them for a week through the park ; stage coach owners and
drivers, ranchemen, cowboys, trappers ; most of them in dis-
tinctive and picturesque dress, formed a scene he enjoyed
greatly. At dinner they noticed a party of six dining together.
His brother fell into conversation afterwards with one of them,
_ who, when he knew that they were Britishers, stepped out in
- front of them and exclaimed, ‘ You are English ; I love the
English ; Iam an Englishman myself ;” and then he described
how he had been taken prisoner while serving in the army of
Maximilian in.Mexico, and obtained no relief from the American
Consul, but when he applied to the British Consul he was
immediately released, and added, “ Is itany wonder I am proud
of being an Englishman?” In the morning they visited the —
Mammoth Springs, which the lecturer then described, and
_ exhibited photographs ofthem. In the course of their visit to the
boiling springs, they met a noted photographer, Mr. Watkins,
of California, who was so particular as to his atmospheric effects
that he kept his camera ready in front of ‘‘Old Faithful” (the
_ name of one of the springs) for two days, waiting for a clear
sky, as clouds would have marred the picture. Having stopped

at ‘‘ Marshall’s,” where they met travellers of various nationali-
B

18 A Recent Visit to America.

ties, they made an early start. for a long day’s drive through the
forest to the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone. The forest
consisted mainly of young trees. In some. parts there were
miles of space covered with the black stems of trees, the result
of forest fires, while the surface underneath was covered with
young trees a foot or two high. Their coachman was invaluable
in these long drives, of a class one rarely meets with at home.
He was familiar with English literature, and full of curiosity as
to England and the mode of life there. He had a capital tenor
voice, and they asked him to sing the American National
Anthem. He struck up the air of ‘‘ God Save the Queen”’ to
words which were new to them, and which, he thought, were
little known in this country. He would give them the first
verse :—
“¢ My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died—

Land of the pilgrims’ pride—

From every mountain side

Let freedom ring.”

They all joined in a hearty chorus, recognising in such an
apostrophe to liberty wedded to our own national air, another
tie of sympathy between the American people and the mother
country, which has been the parent of liberty in its best and
broadest sense. Although very tired when they reached the
tents near the Grand Canon, they started off to the Falls. The
Yellowstone was a considerable river, and the height of the
lower fall is 350ft., more than double that of Niagara. The
Grand Canon, of which many people spoke with the greatest
rapture, surpassed anything he had seen of rugged scenery. A
canon is a water course of immense depth. In Colorado and
Wyoming there is so little rain that the river banks are not,
as in this country, worn to an easy slope, but are so precipitous
that they cannot be climbed. In Yellowstone Canon they
could not get even half way down to the river, but, standing on
a projecting point, they saw the river below, with steep cliffs
rising to a height of some 1,200 feet on either side. The rocks

A Recent Visit to America. 19

were worn into pinnacles of the most fantastic forms, the pre-
vailing tone a rich yellow, but stained in parts with colours so
brilliant that they saw Mr. Thomas (an accomplished artist
whose pictures he hoped to see at the Academy), who joined
their party, use carmine and other vivid colours to produce
his effects.

They next journeyed to Helena, Salt Lake City, the Rocky
Mountains, the Colorado Springs, and back to New! York by
way. of Kansas City, St. Louis, and Baltimore. Such were some -
of the physical characters of the portion of the American con-
tinent through which they travelled. He would conclude with
a few words regarding the people. Owing to the unfortunate
tendency of able writers to make amusing books of travel, the
American people had been-too often presented to them in a
grotesque attitude. He expected to see them boastful, talking
through their noses, and speaking a language which was a
travestie of the English tongue. He found them free from
“brag ;” the men particularly expressed themselves on all
subjects with moderation, and had much repose of manner,
while their provincialisms were not more numerous than in
England. He was glad to observe everywhere a tone of sym-
pathy for the ‘Old Country,” and a desire to have the good
opinion of the “ Britisher.” The American people are tho-
roughly imbued with the spirit of the best English literature.
Their principal class-books are English. Sir Henry Roscoe
found his “Chemistry,” and their companion, Mr. Rigg, found
his history of the steam engine, in daily use in the Boston
colleges. In the gallery at Washington devoted to mementos
of those who worked for the independence of the United States,

the portrait of Lord Chatham is placed by the side of Lafay-
ette, and the speeches of the former, and of many other great
English speakers, give the keynote of the best American ora-
tory. A St. Louis gentleman told him that Thackeray’s portrait
of Colonel Newcome was his ideal of what a man should be.
He was not long in America till he almost forgot he had crossed
the Atlantic, and he came back from Canada and the United
States impressed with the hope that we may neyer do any-

20 A Recent Visit to America.

thing to forfeit our position as the friends and natural leaders
of the English-speaking race throughout the world. .

The lecture was illustrated by large photographs of scenery,
by geological specimens, and by diagrams, which were explained
by the lecturer.

21

3rd February, 1885.

Rosert Younc, Esq., C.E., in the Chair.

THoMas WoREMAN, Esq., read a Paper on

EASTERN REMINISCENCES, WITH LANTERN AND
~PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS.

22

3rd March, 1885.

R. Lioyp Patterson, Esq., J.P., in the Chair.

J. H. GREENHILL, Esg., read a Paper on

ELECTRIC LIGHT AND TRANSMISSION OF POWER
BY BEECTRICITY:

And Repeated (dy request of the Council) on 5th March, when
Dr. EvERETT, F.R.S., presided.

FRICTIONAL Electricity is always of high tension, but of small
quantity. Thermo-Electricity has, up to the present, been of
comparatively low tension, but.of large quantity, whereas Voltaic
and Magnetic Electricity may combine within certain limits
both tension and quantity.

Metals in their relation as conductors of electricity may be
compared to pipes for the conveyance of water, but with this
notable difference, that whereas pipes of a given diameter or bore,
whether made of lead, iron, copper, or fire-clay, will convey an
equal quantity of water at a given pressure, metallic conductors
of electricity vary enormously in this respect. For instance, a
pure copper wire will conduct about seven times as much
electricity of a given tension or pressure as an iron wire of the
same size ; hence if iron cables were used instead of copper, they
would require to be of much larger size where much current
would be passed along, as in the case of central district lighting.
No economy in the first cost would therefore arise, and it is this
difficulty which operates so strongly in preventing stations for
the supply of electricity being established.

Electric Light. 23

Any fatal accidents which have occurred have invariably
arisen with high tension currents, but it is noteworthy that
currents of a certain tension may be practically harmless if
continuous or unbroken, whereas the same “pressure” may
produce most serious results if intermittent or alternating ; in
other words, if there are periods of cessation in the flow of the
current, or if it is made to pass in one direction and then in the
opposite. The Board of Trade stipulated, in the Act of Parlia-
ment passed for permitting companies to supply electricity from
central stations for domestic use, that the tension for adzrect
currents inside the house should not exceed 300 volts (the volt
is a term applied to the unit of tension), whereas, with alternating
currents, the limit should not exceed 100 volts. One advantage
gained in the use of high pressure is that the sectional area
of the copper wires for conducting the electricity may be
much less than what would be necessary for low tension, thus
reducing the first cost of the installation; and, up to certain
limits, there is greater economy in the working; but on the
other hand there are certain objections to very high tension
(besides the danger), as the light produced when arc lights are
employed is of an unpleasant blue or violet colour.

Frictional Electricity, because of its high tension, has not been
used to any great extent, except for experimental purposes, or
for the explosion of mines ; but latterly a new field has. been
opened for its employmeut by a little apparatus for lighting
gas.

It is noteworthy that although the so-called “storage” of
electricity has created a great deal of interest of late, yet as a
matter of fact the “ bottling up” has been known for centuries
in respect to Leyden jars, whereas the “storage” of the present
day is not a material accumulation of the current, but merely
changing the chemical condition of lead plates and the acid in
which they are immersed, by the action of a current of electri-_

__ city when passed through them, and it is the tendency for the

lead plates and acid to return to their original condition, which
again gives rise to new electrical currents when a connection is
made to permit the currents to flow. The action which takes

24 Electric Light

place in the lead plates and acid in the act of charging and dis-
charging, is as follows, according to Dr. Frankland (see the
report published in ‘‘ The Electrician” of 31st March, 1883):
“Occluded gases play no part, practically. The active material
on lead plates is lead sulphate. ‘The initial action in charging
the battery is the electrolysis of sulphuric acid into hydrogen,
sulphuric anhydride, and oxygen. The hydrogen decomposes
the lead sulphate on the negative plate into spongy lead and
sulphuric acid, whilst the oxygen decomposes the lead sulphate
on the positive plate into lead peroxide and sulphuric anhydride.
All sulphuric anhydride is at once converted into sulphuric acid.
In discharging, the initial action is again the electrolysis of
sulphuric acid, which restores the coating of the two plates to
the original condition of lead sulphate. As the charging of a
cell is attended with the liberation of sulphuric acid, and its
discharge with the abstraction of this acid from the liquid con-
tents of the cell, it is only necessary to ascertain the specific
gravity and consequent strength of the acid, to determine the
amount of charge in a cell at any given moment, provided that
the specific gravity of the acid in the charged and uncharged
conditions of the cell be previously known. In the-case of a
cell with which Frankland experimented, each increase of 0-005
in the specific gravity. of the dilute acid, meant a " Storage’ of
available energy equal to 20 amperes we one hour.”

“ Thermo-electricity,” by reason of its low tension, has only
been used for electro plating, as in this process high tension is
not admissible. ‘‘ Voltaic electricity” has been employed to a
limited extent for electric lighting; but one serious drawback
to its general adoption for this purpose is the great expense
entailed, as electricity produced by the consumption of zinc and
acid in a battery costs, in round numbers, about ten times more
than the same amount of electricity obtained by the use of a
dynamo machine.

Soft iron, after being magnetised, loses sa all its magnetism
as soon as the exciting agent is removed ; but it retains a
very minute trace, although perhaps not sufficient to indicate
its presence to a marked degree, and it is this residual trace
which plays so important a part in dynamo machines.

and Transmission of Power. 25

All magnets have innumerable “ lines of force,” as they are
technically called, in their vicinity; and unmistakable evidence
of their existence is obtained when iron filings are brought
within their influence. The filings cluster more densely near
the ends of the magnet than at the centre, and they appear to
arrange themselves in arcs of curves from one extremity to the
other. In Fig. No. 3 on the screen, a novel arrangement of
apparatus is shown, consisting of a magnet held between two
sheets of glass. There isa third sheet of glass fastened at a
little distance from the others, thus allowing a space in which
iron filings can be scattered ; thus the process in which they
arrange themselves in the direction of the lines of force can be
observed.

Soft iron or steel may not only be magnetised by proximity
to another magnet, but it may also be acted upon to a far greater
extent by wrapping insulated wire upon it, and sending a current
along the wire. Ifthe current is again passed along the wire’
in the opposite direction, the end which was formerly a North
Pole is now a South. Faraday made the discovery that ifa coil
of wire with its ends connected together was moved in acertain
manner near to a magnet, a powerful current was generated in
the wire. Of course if the ends of the wire were not joined, no
current was developed, as in all cases where a current passes
along a wire, the circuit must be completed, either by direct
connection of the ends, or by the interposition of some con-
ducting medium, such as the earth or liquids, more especially
if the latter are acidulated. Even in the case of “arc” electric
lighting, although it may at first sight appear as if the circuit
was broken between the carbons, as indicated by Fig. 4 on
the screen, yet the continuity of the conducting medium is
maintained by the intensely heated air at the point of sepa-
ration, and by the particles of carbon which jump across the
space. As the polarity of the magnet can be changed by
reversing the direction in which the exciting current flows, so
can the direction of the current in the coil be altered by changing
the position of the poles of the magnet. In Fig. 5, the coil is
supposed to move from left to right, or from the North pole

26 Electric Light

of the magnet to the South. The current flows in the ring
downward in the side nearest tous. When the ring approaches
the centre of the magnet, the current gradually gets weaker, by
reason of the fewer number of “ lines of force” being embraced
within it. The current begins to circulate in the ring in the
opposite direction, after the centre of the magnet has been
passed. The intensity at which the current flows in the ring is
due to two things, namely the speed at which the movement is
made along the magnet, and the “strength” of the magnet
itself. A similar result occurs if the ring is made to move in
the arc of a circle between the poles of a horse-shoe magnet, as
shown in Fig. 6. In the next diagram (Fig. 7), the horizontal
lines between the poles of a horse-shoe magnet are supposed to
represent the “ lines of force”; it will be observed that when
the ring is perpendicular to these lines, it encircles the largest
number ; but when angled, the number decreases, thus pro-
ducing a fall in the potential of the current.

It is possible to obtain all the effects of a magnet, although
no iron or steel may be present. If, for instance, a wire is coiled
into a ring or helix, and a current is caused to traverse it, the
air space in the centre becomes filled with magnetic lines of
force. Some electrical machines are constructed in this manner,
so that lightness of the moving parts and ventilation may be
obtained, besides avoiding what are termed Foucault or wasteful
currents, which sometimes arise if iron is employed without due
precaution having been taken in the construction. In the
earlier machines, these wasteful currents in the iron itself proved.
highly objectionable, causing much power to be absorbed use-
lessly ; but in good machines of the present day, iron is em-
ployed with great advantage, and without any wasteful currents
being generated to signify.

Machines may be divided into two classes—direct current and
alternating—and these may be subdivided into magneto and
dynamo generators. In direct current machines, the electricity
always flows along the conductor in one direction, but with
alternating dynamos, the current flows in one direction, and
then in the reverse, but the changes in direction amount to an
immense number per minute, up to ten or twenty thousand.

and Transmission of Power. ay

In magneto machines, the magnets are permanent steel ones,
but in dynamos the magnets are of iron, with. coils of wire
wrapped upon them, and the magnetism is produced by currents
of electricity passing along the wire : such currents may either
be produced by the machine itself, or by a separate “exciting”
machine or battery. Again, in direct current dynamo machines
in which the magnets are excited by their own currents, the
magnets may be coiled with comparatively thick wire, and made
to receive all the current generated, which, after passing along
the coils surrounding the magnets, proceeds to the lamps or
external circuit, thence back tothe machine. These are termed
“series”? machines. Instead of the magnets having a com-
paratively short length of thick wire, thus producing but few
turns, they may have an immense length of fine wire coiled
upon them, and returning direct to the revolving armature
(which is the name applied to the rotating coils of wire in which
the currents are generated), with a separate set of conductors
leading to the lamps; thus only a very small proportion of the
current generated in the armature passes round the magnets, in
consequence of the fineness of the wire and its extreme length.
These are termed “shunt wound” machines. It is noteworthy
that the small amount of current which passes round the
magnets ina “shunt” machine is quite as effective as the large
or total amount of current which flows round the magnets of
a “series” machine, in consequence of the greater number of
turns in the case of a “shunt” arrangement, as one ampere
(the unit applied to guwantity) passing along one hundred turns
of wire on a magnet is as effective, practically, as one hundred
amperes passing owce round the iron. Frequently machines
have their magnets coiled both with a fine ‘‘shunt” wire and
a thick “series” one, and the current passes along both, but in
inverse ratios to the relative resistances. They are thence
termed ‘‘compound,” ard are generally employed for incandes-
cent lighting, as they are more nearly self-regulating, provided
a regular speed is maintained, whereas with ‘‘shunt”’ machines
it may happen that if a great number of lamps are switched off,
too much current passes through the remainder, thus injuring

28 Electric Light

or utterly destroying them. The action of a dynamo machine is
as follows:—When the armature is caused to rotate, the residual
magnetism in the iron induces a feeble current in the revolving
coils ; this current passes along the wire encircling the magnets,
and strengthens the magnetism, which in turn induces a stronger
current. Thus an action and reaction take place, but with such
amazing rapidity that practically the machine is enabled to
generate its maximum strength of current instantaneously.

I have referred to both the “arc” and “incandescent” forms .
of electric light. The former is that produced by the separation
of two carbons after the current has been established ; it meets
with great resistance at the point of separation, and thereby
heats up the ends of the carbon to an enormous temperature,
thus producing a light of intense brilliancy. Both carbons
consume away, but not at the samerate. The one at which the
current enters from the machine, and called the “ positive”
carbon, is consumed twice as fast as its neighbour or “negative”
carbon. The “ positive” has a concave or hollow-shaped end,
whereas the negative is pointed. A portion of the positive is
carried to the negative by the action of the current. This is
only the case when direct currents are used, but with alternating
currents both carbons consume alike.

‘With “incandescent” lighting, the lamp consists of a small
glass globe, from which all the oxygen has been exhausted.
Inside the globe there is a fine filament of a carbonised material,
made by different inventors from various products, but in the
final condition reduced to carbon. The current traverses this
filament, which being of considerable resistance, becomes heated
to whiteness, and thus gives offa beautifully clear and soft light
With reference to the power required to drive an electric
machine employed for generating currents of electricity for
‘Carc” or for “incandescent” lighting, the same power will
produce about ten times the aggregate light with an “arc”
compared to “ incandescent,” hence it is more economical where
large spaces have to be illuminated; but for confined spaces,
especially where there is not much head room, the arc light is
far too brilliant. Under these conditions, the loss of power can

and Transmission of Power. 29

be submitted to in the employment of the “incandescent” light.
As a rule, one actual horse-power will give from 1,500 to 1,800
candle power by arc lighting, or from 160 to 180 candles by
incandescent lamps. Another system of lamp, somewhat be-
tween the arc and the incandescent, is what has been termed
‘““semi-incandescent.” It consists of a thin rod of carbon which
is caused to press against a heavy block of the same or other
material, and the light is emitted where the two unite; but
this method has not been much employed.

The method in which an installation of arc lighting is carried
out is quite different from that which has to be adopted for
mmcandescent. In the former, the lamps are arranged in “ series,”
that is, the current is driven through the first lamp, then
through the second, and so on, finally returning to the machine.
The guanitity of electricity required is always the same whether
one or forty lamps are used, but the potential or pressure of the
current has to be increased for every lamp. With incandescent
lighting, a portion of the current is sent through each lamp
independently of its neighbour. The cables are arranged in
parallels, very similar to the sides of a step-ladder, and the
incandescent lamps are attached between them, thus being
analogous to the steps of the ladder. It is obvious by this
arrangement that the pressure or potential of the current should
remain constant, but the guwantity should be in proportion to the
number of lamps, ten lamps requiring ten times as much current
as one lamp.

Now, as regards the danger of fire in connection with electric
lighting, there is no artificial mode of illumination so safe if
properly installed, and none so dangerous if erected in ignorance
of what is necessary. The danger arises from what I may term
the insidious nature of the current. If there is a leak in a gas
pipe, it can generally be detected without the reprehensible
method of trying for it with a light, but there may bea condition
of affairs with an improperly erected installation of the electric.
light which will give no warning before damage is done. For
instance, cables may be dangerously near to iron without being
_ properly protected; in course of time they may come into metallic

30 Electric Light

contact with the iron, and serious results may happen. Now
it is possible so to arrange matters that even if all the cables or
wires in the building were adjacent to metallic materials, no
serious harm could happen; and the method is to insert in
various parts of the building safety fusible connections, so that
if any accidental “ short-circuiting” should occur, the safety fuse
would instantly melt, and thus stop all further progress of the
current. Another ingenious method is by using patent safety
cut outs, which consist of a magnet and counter weight or
spring. The latter overpowers the magnet’s influence under
ordinary circumstances, but if the current, from any cause,
increases beyond its normal strength, the power of the magnet
is increased, and overcomes the weight or spring, and thus stops
the current altogether. Again, the cables and wires may all be
well protected from any external metallic fittings, and yet there
may be danger of the wires getting very hot by reason of them
being far too small in sectional area for the current they have
to carry. The fusible connections are equally effective in this
event.

As to the advantages of using the electric light for mills,
factories, business premises, and private houses, there are
numerous cases where electricity is infinitely superior and very
much cheaper than gas; and on the other hand, there are many
places where gas is cheaper, and good enough as an illuminant.
Wherever power is available, either by water or steam, then
the electric light is by far the best, especially if the hours of
lighting are sufficient to permit only a small per-centage of
. interest on first cost to fall upon each hour’s lighting. Flour
mills, which generally work all night, are well adapted for the
electric light, whereas large factories, whose ceilings are so low
that arc lights are not suitable, and where light is required for
only a few hours daily, even in the winter months, do not offer
such a good opportunity to make the incandescent electric light
pay. Again, in shops, the cost of gas may possibly be somewhat
less than the electric light, especially if power has to be specially
provided, but the gain annually in the preservation of the fragile
goods by the use of the electric light compared to the destruction

and Transmission of Power. 31

caused by gas, (not to speak of the unhealthiness by the latter
to the employés), is so enormous, that many firms who have
adopted electricity, in London and elsewhere, have increased
the original installations four-fold. With respect to the employ-
ment of incandescent lamps in houses, I have had personal
experience of the benefit arising by the use of electricity over
other artificial modes of lighting, as I have had the electric light
in my house for several months, with most satisfactory results.
A careful perusal of the following table will no doubt prove
instructive. It was read by Mr. Crompton at the Health
Exhibition in London; the results were the work of Dr.
Meymott Tidy and others :—

Heat
: Cubic produced

Burned to give light of 12/Cubic feet/Cubic feet] feet of | Cubic feet | jn Ibs.
candles, equal to 120 |of Oxygen} ofair [Carbonic] ofair | of water
grains per hour. consumed.iconsumed,| Acid vitated. raised. 10°

produced Farht.
Cannel Gas coalh SegO.| hO-5On) 2:OL, | 27-50: || hog Oo
Common Gas ~™..:| 5°45 | 1725} 3°21 | 348°25'| 273'60
Sperm Oil «|. -4°75 | 23°75 | 3°33 | 356°75 | 233°50
Benzole zeal 4246) \) 2220)" 2°54 || 376°30' | 232760
Paraffin sealPtOgods | a4-On, | 4s5oO- | A8A"O5 “e361 "90
Camphine MIG OGM a aie. kA ire:2 bi! |032 571
Sperm Candlées1a-|.) 7°57 9) 27850 (5:77) |0614°85 351-70
Wax Candles =... 6:41.|.42°05, |..5°90..|.632:25.| 383°10

Stearic Candles ...| 8°82 | 44°10 | 6°25 | 669°10 | 374°70
Tallow Candles ...| 12°00 | 60°00 | 8°73 | 933.00 | 505°40
Incandescent

Electric Light

none none | none none I 3°80

It will be seen by the above that bad as gas may be, it is not
nearly so injurious as oil and candles, but the electric light is
far superior to them all.

With reference to the use of electricity as a transmitter of
power, the machinery employed is a double set of dynamos, —
practically the same as used in electric lighting. By driving
one machine, the current is generated, and by allowing this
current to pass through another machine, its armature revolves,

32 Electric Light

and either propels a car, or turns other machinery. When
electricity is employed for the propulsion of tramcars, the
current may be conveyed along an insulated rail or cable, and
collected by the running vehicle by means of a brush of copper
wires made to press on the conducting rail. As a rule, only
from 50 to 60 per cent of the original power can be utilized when
transmitted by electricity, but even this small percentage may
be most valuable in certain cases, especially if the original power
is obtained from a waterfall which would otherwise go to waste,
such, for instance, as the electric tramway at Portrush.

Another method tor making use of electricity for motive
power is by using accumulators or storage batteries. The
objection to these at present is their weight and size, but I
believe there is a great future for the employment of storage
batteries, and it would not surprise me to find the tramcars of
Belfast and other towns propelled by electricity before many
years pass by. Storage batteries are of immense service where
temporary stoppages of the machinery occur, or for the regu-
lation of the light when the power is ofa fluctuating nature ;
also, where a few lights are required to be kept in operation all
night.

The lecture was illustrated by numerous photographs thrown
on a screen by dissolving lanterns, operated by Mr. R.W. Welch. .
Not only were there diagrams for shewing the special parts of
the machines, but the various types of the leading dynamos of
different construction were illustrated. The experiments, named
by Mr. Greenhill in the early part of the paper, were most
successfully carried out.

At the conclusion, on the second evening, Prof. Everett, F.R.S.,
in proposing a vote of thanks, said, that he felt great pleasure
in presiding that night, and he-was very much pleased that the
lecture had been repeated, as it gave him and others who were
not present on the first evening, an opportunity of hearing it on
the second occasion. He had to congratulate Mr. Greenhill for
the lucid explanations of what some might think rather complex
matters, and for the successful way in which the experiments

and Transmission of Power. 33

had been carried out. He was sure that it must have been a
matter of surprise to many to witness the very steep gradient
which the small electric car had been able to ascend, and he
also wished to direct the attention of the audience to the
extremely small dimensions of the dynamo which Mr. Greenhill .
had constructed for his experiments, but which proved so
remarkably powerful.

34

24th March, 1885.

JosepH J. Murpuy, Esg., in the Chair.

J. Brown, Esg., read a Paper on

FORMATION OF A STALACTITE BY VAPOUR.

THe reader described a curious phenomenon which he had
observed during the electrolysis of the double chloride of
aluminium: and sodium fused in a small porcelain crucible
provided with a porous partition. The anode was of carbon,
and the cathode platinum-foil.

A considerable quantity of vapour was given off, especially
from about the anode, forming a white smoke and depositing a
white substance, doubtless mainly hydrated aluminium chloride,
on the carbon rod, and about the mouth of the crucible,
ultimately closing up the latter all but a small hole, through
which the vapour poured rapidly. From this hole there grew
out a beautifully delicate little tube about 1$ inch long, and
tapering from about @ inch at the base to ;5 inch in the middle
of its length, after which it increased in diameter, and also
flattened out owing to the vapour-jet coming close over the
bend of the platinum-foil cathode, which seemed to cause, by
‘some kind of eddy current, a flattening of the stream of vapour.

Soon afterwards the supply of vapour slackened, and there
was a corresponding diminution in the size of the tube in the
last quarter-inch of its length till the end became almost closed.
The formation of this tube seems quite analogous to that of the
ordinary tubular lime-carbonate stalactite deposited from drop-
ping water by contact with the atmosphere ; only we have here
a tubular deposit of hydrated aluminium chloride by the
combination, at the edge of the growing tube, of the water-
vapour in the air with the anhydrous chloride contained in the
vapour-stream,

24th March, 1885.

JoszepH J. Murpuy, Esg., in the Chair

WILLIAM WorkmaN, Esg., read a Paper on

VENTILATION AND HEATING OF CHURCHES AND
DRYING ROOMS.

HEATING and ventilation are mostly in inverse ratio to one
another. If ventilation be good, heat is little, and draughts
great, coughs, both loud and deep, vie with the speaker for the
attention he should have, and never fail to get more than an
intelligent audience should give to inarticulate sound. If heat
be good, carbon acid rapidly accumulates, and heads nod more
familiarly than reverently towards him who desires their lively
attention. The problem to be solved may be thus stated :—How
to obtain air without coughs, and heat without headaches ;—or,
ventilation without draughts, and warmth without running it
to waste through ventilators.

I suppose achurch or assembly-room to be air-tight as buildings
go, that there be no ventilating openings except where indicated,
and that the seams of the ceiling, if sheeted with wood, be fairly
close and tight. At one end the heating apparatus is placed.
There is no reason why it should not be inside the building
instead of attached, should circumstances make that arrange-
ment desirable. To the heating chamber a flue leads to supply
fresh air. Opening below the level of the apparatus from it
ascends another close to the level of the ceiling, where it dis-

36 Ventilation and Heating

charges freely the hot air into the building. The outlets for
the cold air are through the floor, numerous and moderate in
size, opening into a flue below the floor, and carried to an up-
right flue, ending at or above the top of the building like a
chimney. The expected result from this arrangement, tracing
the air from its inlet, is—the air being admitted below the level
of the heating apparatus—none of the heated air is likely to
escape from a blow-down ;—also, having a flue full of heated air
of considerable height, force is added to the current in pro-
portion to the height. When discharging into the church
according to the law of lighter fluids, it will float on the colder
air, forming a sheet of warm air close under the ceiling. This
will constantly be supplied and displaced downwards by the
continuous flow of hot air from the flue, until ultimately all the
original cold air is displaced by the warm air. While this is
going on above, the coldest air is continuously being driven
down through the openings in the floor, carried through the
horizontal flue to the upright one, where, still having some
ascending power from the remains of its heat derived from the
apparatus and that added to it by the assembly, it will assist in
keeping up the circulation. The draught towards an outlet for
air is of a very different nature to that from an inlet, being more
diffused and tending to flow in radii towards the centre, namely,
the outlet. Those from an inlet may pass for a considerable
distance in an unbroken stream, and, if passing in with much
velocity, may stir up a wide area of draught by its friction.
This may be observed on a stormy night by opening a window
half-an-inch wide when the wind is blowing against it: this
will stir the whole air of a moderate sized room so that a draught
may be felt in almost any part of it. The two flues, when no
heat is being used, would still act to some extent as ventilators.
In the case of a room full of people, if there were only a very
slight current at first, it would soon increase by the heated air
from the assembly passing up the outlet flue, the pure cool air
being, as it were, pulled in up the inlet flue. The air in the
building should be as much as possible under the same condi-
tions as in that a diving-bell, where the only escape is at the

of Churches and Drying Rooms. a,

bottom. The same plan, it would seem to me, would be the
most economical method of applying heat in drying rooms for
yarn, &c., as none but the coolest air could escape, and the
‘amount of hot air admitted could be regulated, so that no air
would leave the apartment until completely saturated with
vapour. By the ordinary method in use, for heating both drying
rooms and churches, the hottest air immediately makes its
way to the highest part of the building, and escapes by the
nearest outlet before it has done much of its intended work.
A method which has been successfully tried in our iron war
ships, but not yet in our churches—that is, to coat the interior
with a non-conducting paint—would be worth the experiment ;
it would likely prove a means of saving fuel and adding con-
siderably to comfort. Every one knows how much more
comfortable a new house seems, and no doubt is, after it has
been papered and painted, and how one will almost be inclined
to shiver on going into a new house with its bare plastered
walls. It is not a mere imagination that drawing the curtain
close adds to the comfort of a sitting-room on a cold winter
night. The curtains are really like blankets, only more distant
from the body than would be comfortable in bed. Let anyone
try sleeping in a room with the blind up in the cold weather
instead of drawn down. ‘The difference in temperature will be
quite perceptible without the help of a thermometer, a difference
hardly to be expected from a thin piece of cotton hanging in
front of the window, or the loosely-fitting slips of a Venetian
blind. We have all noticed the dew forming on the carafe
of cold water on a dining-table. Often it will trickle down in
streams. Did anyone ever notice the table-cloth or napkin in
that state, or even damp, from the samecause? In former days
tapestry must have added materially to the comfort of rooms,
acting as a non-conductor between the cold walls of the building
and the bodies of its inmates.

38

April 14th, 1885.

W. H. Patrerson, Esg., in the Chair.

The Rev. Ropert Workman, B.D., read a Paper on

LAND TENURE AND CULTURE IN ANCIENT
IRELAND.

THE Rey. Mr. Workman in the first half of his paper endeavoured
to show that all the peoples of Christendom originally held the
land in common, and that the institution now known as “the
village community” prevailed amongst them. This, he said,
“was originally the condition of Ireland. In Ireland every
“community” became a clan, and the chief soon gained a position
of great power. In the primitive period, the members of the
clan were comparatively independent of the chief, who was
merely their headman or leader ; but by the sixteenth century
the chief had become chief lord and absolute owner of the land,
which he rack-rented. Having referred to the circumstances
which brought about this change, Mr. Workman made a
lengthened and interesting reference to some curious customs
pertaining to agriculture that existed among the ancient Irish.
It was perfectly evident, he said, that only a small part of Ireland
was cultivated during the 16th century. If they were to credit
the high authority of Sir W. Petty, the population at that period
could not have been very much above a million. Such a
population did not require a large area of tilled land, and no
works of supererogation were performed by them. From an
early period, moreover, Ireland was a country of forests. In

Land Tenure in Ancient Ireland. 39

1542, “the English troops, penetrating to the centre of Ulster,
found itajungle. Tyrone County is described as not containing
one single castle, nor yet one town walled, but full of wood,
great bogs, and waters, here called loughs.” The English, whose
appetites were proverbially good, could hardly understand how
the Irish got a living in so desolate a land. In 1560, Lord
Fitzwilliam, Governor of Dublin, in great fear about rebellion,
wrote—“ The country is for the most part a wilderness, but the
desolation is no security ; the Irish would keep the field when
the English would starve. No men of war ever lived the like,
or others of God’s making, touching feeding and living.” In
ancient times the good cheer of Tara consisted in devouring
great quantities of meat, for neither bread nor drink were
mentioned. Nor did bread appear to have been the staff of
life to the Irish people of the 16th century. Export of hides
was the mark of a pastoral flesh-eating people ; and about the
middle of the 16th century “the Irish sent great quantities of
raw and tanned hides and sheepskins and some furs to Antwerp,
also some coarse linen and woollencloths.” Fish were exchanged
with France and Spain for wares by chieftains on the coast.
They must suppose that after the Plantation, Ulster rapidly
prospered in agriculture, and became largely a grain-producing
country ; but the records of the exportation from Belfast in 1663
showed by their preponderance of flesh, tallow, and skins that
the greater part of the land was untilled. Having further
referred to the character of the exports at later periods, with a
view of indicating the condition of the land as regards cultivation
and the pursuits of the people, Mr. Workman, in conclusion,
said the subject affords fresh illustration of the persistent
tenacity of the characteristics that distinguish the different races
ofmankind. We are assured that the negro race is as old
as the Egyptian monuments, and we know that the Jews have
continued to be the world’s greatest merchants for more than
2,000 years. So here in Ireland we may regard the eagerness
with which our peasantry cling to the soil as a survival of the
spirit of the ancient village community, the absolute owner of
itsown land. Moreover, the pastoral instinct has prevailed over

40 Land Tenure in Ancient Ireland.

the agricultural amidst all the changes of Irish history. Atthe
present day, Ireland is specially a grazing country, and the
Irishman has a proverbial liking for cattle, and pigs, and horses,
and must be regarded as one of the least successful agriculturists
of the Old World, whilst we are told that it is the Scotch-
man or the Englishman, rather than the Irishman, who becomes
the great cultivator of the boundless grain-growing prairies of
the New World. ;

BELFAST
Matural thistorp and Pbilosophical Society.
; hoya
Officers and Council of Management for 1885-6.

President :
WILLIAM H. PATTERSON, M.R.I.A.

Dice- Presidents :
JOHN ANDERSON, Esa., F.G.S. Pror. J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.B.S.
ROBERT MacADAM, Esa. THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

@reasurer:
JOHN BROWN, Ese.

Librarian :
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

Secretary :
ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A.

Council :

PROFESSOR CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
JOHN ANDERSON, Ese., F.G.S.

ROBERT MacADAM, Eso.

PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, M.A., F.RB.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa.

JOHN BROWN, Esa.

JAMES WILSON, Eso.

PROFESSOR E. A. LETTS, Ph.D., F.R.S.E.
JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Esa., F.G.S.
ROBERT LLOYD PATTERSON, Esa.
WILLIAM H. PATTERSON, Esa., M.R.L.A.
WILLIAM SWANSTON, Ese., F.G.S.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esa., F.G.S.

ROBERT YOUNG, Ese., C.E.

ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.A.

42

eA ear EoD ae Se

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. }

Allen, W. J. C., J.P., (Representatives of), Faunoran, Green-

island.
Andrews, Michael (Representatives of), Ardoyne, Belfast.
Andrews, Thomas M.D., F.R.S., &c., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J.P., Victoria Street, do.
Archer, H. PAvolinecon Place, . do.

Anderson, Jona, J.P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Heim
Meander, James, J.P. (Repreentaines of ), Holywood.

*Bateson, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.P., J.P., D.L., Belvoir Park,
Belfast.

*Batt, Thomas G. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bland, Robert Henry, Lisburn.

Bottomley, Henry H., Garfield Street, Belfast.
*Bottomley, William, J.P. do.
Brett, C. H., Chichester Street, do.
Bristow, James R., Northern Bank, do.
Barbour, James, Falls Foundry, do.
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill, do.
Boyd, W. S., Donegall Quay, do.
Brown, John Shaw, J.P., Bedford Stteet, do.
Brown, John, Bedford Street, do.
Brown, William K., Rushmere, do.
Burden, Henry, M.D., Alfred Street,. do.
Burnett, John R., Gamble Street, do.
*Campbell, James (Representatives of).

Campbell, John, Lennoxvale, Belfast.
Connor, Charles C., White Linen Hall, do.

Carson, John, Church Lane, do.

Shareholders. 43

*Charley, John (Representatives of), Finaghy, Belfast.
*Clermont, Lord, Ravensdale Park, Newry.

Coates, Victor, Rathmore, Dunmurry.

*Charters, John (Representatives of).

Crawford, William, Calender Street, Belfast.
Cuming, James, M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Calwell, Alexander McD., College Square North, do.
Cunningham, Robert O., M.D., F.L.S., Queen’s College, do.
Clarke, Edward H., Elmwood, do.
Darbishire, James M., Lombard Street, do.
*Donegall, Marquis af KP ac (eewesneiive: of), London.
Drennan, Dr., Chichester erect, Belfast.
sittinmond, Dr. James L. (abeeentaaves of), do.
Duffin, Charles, J.P., Waring Street, do.

Dunville, William, J.P. (Representatives of), Calender St., do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough.

Dixon, Thomas S., York Street, Belfast.
Emerson, William, Donegall Quay, do.
_Everett, J. D., M.A., D.C.L., F.8.S., Queen’s College, do.
Ewart William, J.P., M.P., Bedford Street, do.
Ewart, W. Quartus, Bedford Street, do.
*Fenton, Samuel G., J.P. (Representatives of), do.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do.
Forsythe, R. H., Holywood.
Finlay, William Laird, Windsor, ; Belfast.
Finlay, William Laird, jun., Royal Avenue, do.
Fitzgerald, Professor Maurice, Queen’s College, do.
Fagan, John, F.R.C.S.I., Glengall Place, do.
Garrett, Thomas (Representatives of), Gamble Street, do.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Broughton Maxwell, Manchester.
Gordon, Alexander, M D., Howard, Street, Belfast.

*Grainger, Rev. John, D.D., Broughshane, Ballymena.

44 Shareholders,
Gray, Robt. (Representatives of), College Square North, Belfast.

Gordon, Robert W., J.P., Falls Road, do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.P., Seapark, Carrickfergus.

Gray, William, C.E., M.R.I.A., Mount Charles, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., New King Street, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.

*Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Mount Vernon, do.
*Hancock, John, J.P., Lurgan.

Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), High Street, Belfast.
*Henry, Alexander, Manchester. :
*Herdman, John (Genre ean of), College Sq. Noes Belfast.

Hind, James, Durham Street, do.
Hind, John, J.P., Durham Sure do.
Hind, J oka adn. College Street South, do.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, Waring Street, do.
*Houston, John B., J.P., D.L., Orangefield, do.

Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
Hamilton, Sir James, J.P. (Reps. of), Waring Street, Belfast.

Harland, Sir Edward J., Bart., J.P., Ormiston do.
Hodges, John F., J.P., M.D., F.C.S., Queen’s College, _— do.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Waring Street, do.
Henderson, James, Donegall Street, do.

. Holford, T & A., Cern Abbas, Dorsetshire.

Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Corn Market, Belfast.
Jaffé, John, J P., Donegall Square South, do.
Jaffé, Otto, Donegall Square South, do.
*Johnston, Sir William G., J.P., D.L., College Sq. North, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., Jennymount Mill, do.
Kennedy, James, Falls Road, Sa do.
Keegan, John J., High Street, . do.
*Kinghan, Rey. John, Altona, Windsor, do.

Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.
Lepper, F. R., Ulster Bank, Belfast.
Lakin, Mr. John, Tamworth.

Shareholders. . 45

Letts, Professor E. A., Queen’s College, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., Victoria Street, do.
Lemon, Archibald D., J.P., Edgecumbe, Strandtown.

*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), Ulster Chambers, Belfast.

Mitchell, W. C., J.P., Tomb Street, do.
*Mitchell, George T. (Representatives of), do.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain do.

Moore, James, J.P. (Representatives of), Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Belfast.
*Mulholland, J., J.P.,D.L., M.P., Ballywalter Park, Ballywalter.

Mullan, William, J.P., Victoria Street, Belfast.
Murney, Henry, J.P., M.D., Donegall Square East, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Ann Street, do.
Murray, Robert (Representatives of), Arthur Street, do.
*Murphy, Joseph John, 2, Osborne Park, do.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.

Musgrave, Henry, Ann Street, Belfast.
Musgrave, Edgar, Ann Street, do.
Moore, James, Donegall Place, do.

*M‘Calmont, Robert, London.

*M‘Cammon, Thomas, Dublin. ’

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., M.P., V.L., J.P., Belmont, Belfast.
M‘Cance, Finlay, J.P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*M'‘Cance, J. W. S. (Representatives of), Suffolk, Dunmurry.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of ), Donegall St., Belfast.

MacAdam, Robert, College Square East, do.
Macllwaine, Mrs. Jane (Representatives of), do.
Macllwaine, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.LA. (Representatives of),
Mount Charles, Belfast.
*MacLaine, Alex., J.P., Queen’s Elms, __ do.
M‘Gee, James, High Street, do.
M‘Neill, George Martin, Beechleigh, Windsor, do.
Neill, John R., Holywood.
Patterson, E. Forbes, High Street, Belfast.

_ Patterson, Mrs. M. E., Ardmore Terrace, Holywood.

46 Shareholders.

Pim, Edward W., High Street, Belfast.
Pim, George C. (Representatives of), Corporation Street, do.
*Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Purdon, Thomas Henry, M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Patterson, William R., Lower Crescent, do.
*Patterson, R. Lloyd, J.P., Corporation Street, do.
Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., High Street, do.
Purser, Professor John, M.A., Queen’s College, do.
Porter, Drummond, Waring Street, do.
Patterson, Richard, High Street, do.
Patterson, David C., Corporation Street, do.
Riddel, William, Ann Street, do.
Rowan, John, York Street, do.
Ritchie, W. B., M.D., J.P., The Grove, do.

Ross, William A., J.P. (Representatives of), Clonard, Falls
Road, Belfast.

Rea, John Henry, M.D., Great Victoria Street, Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.P., Bank Buildings, do.
Simms, F. B., 39, Prospect Terrace, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., Tomb Street do.
Suffern, John, Windsor, do.
Suffern, William, Windsor, do.
Steen, Dr. Robert, Ph.D., Academical Institution, do.

Smyth, John, jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.
Smith, Travers, Sandymount.

Swanston, William, F.G.S., King Street, Belfast
*Tennent, R. J., J.P., D.L. (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
Thompson, Robert, J.P., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Thomson, Charles, College Gardens, do.

*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.

*Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of).

*Thompson, William (Representatives of), . Belfast.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), do.
Torrens, James, J.P., Wellington Place, do.

Shareholders. 47

Valentine, James W., Custom House Square, Belfast.
Valentine, G. F., The Moat, Strandtown, do.

Workman, John, J.P., Windsor.
Wilson, James, Old Forge, Dunmurry.

Walkington, Thomas R , Waring Street, Belfast.
Workman, William, Corporation Street, do.
Workman, Rev. R., Newtownbreda.

Wilson, John K., Donegall Street, Belfast.
*Wilson, Robert M.

*Workman, Thomas, Bedford Street, Belfast.
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank, do.
Ward, Fras. D., J.P., Bankmore, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Donegall Street, do.
Workman, Charles, M.D., do.
Workman, Rev. R., Glastry, Kirkcubbin.

Walkington, D. B., Windsor, Belfast.
Workman, Francis, College Gardens, do.
Young, Robert, C.E., Donegall Square East, do.
Young, Robert M., B.A., Donegall Square East, do.

HONORARY MEMBERS,
Robinson, Hugh, Donegall Street, Belfast.
Stewart, Saaiuél Aa, BLS; North: Street, do.
Tate, 2 ee Ralph, E.G: o Adelaide, South Australia.

ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS,

Bruce, James, J.P., Calender Street, Belfast.
Corry, Sir Jas. P., Bart., M.P., J.P., Dunraven, Windsor, do.
Craig, James, J.P., Calender Street, do.
Carr, James, Ulster Bank, ~ do.
Dinnen, John, Chichester Street, do.
Dunville, Robert G., D.L., J.P., Calender Street, do.
Glass, James, Bedford Street, do.

Graham, O. B., J.P., York Street, do,

48 Annual Subscribers.

Loewenthal, J., Linenhall Street,

Lynn, William H., C.E., Calender Street,
Lindsay, John, Donegall Place,

Matier, Henry, J.P., Clarence Place,
Milligan, S. F., 1, Royal Terrace,
Muthoiland, J. Re @.; J.P,

Murray, Robert, Corporation Street,
M‘Auliffe, George, J.P., Calender Street,
M‘Causland, John K., Lennoxvale,
Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace,
Pring, Richard W., Corn Market,
Redfern, Peter, M.D., Professor Queen’s College,
Reade, Robert H., York Street,
Rogers, John, Victoria Street,

Seeds, William, Corn Market,

Stannus, A. C., Chichester Street,

Taylor, Sir David, J.P., Windsor,

Tate, Alexander, C.E., Queen’s Elms,
Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., Bridge Street,
Watt, R., Victoria Street,

Wolff, G. W., Queen’s Island,

Ward, John, F.G.S., Lennoxvale,

Ward, Marcus J., Bankmore,

Young, Samuel, Talbot Street,

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

cn AS oe

FOR THE

_SESSION 1885-86.

i Pi rT a J
" fi . ‘nh *,
9 ais
i

ahs
£ la
a . ep ER ACS Te

©

\| ay "PRINTED BY ALEXr. MAYNE & BOYD, 2, CORPORATION STREET,
4 x (PRINERS TO THE QUEEN'S COLLEGE).
R

1886.

||, Metra soy and hina Sui

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

BELFAST

Natural tlistory and Philosophical Society,

FOR THE

SHSSION 1885-86.

BELFAST:
PRINTED BY ALEXr. MAYNE & BOYD, 2, CORPORATION STREET,

(PRINERS TO THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1886,

—
a
.
Soe
= “¢
2, hy be
‘ ‘
NY a) >
oN «
i
\
i ~
, fl ™,
-
*
ay ee .
;
,
\
! -
j
nr s
. ”
" Pa
car
+t ’
a =
. ye
e ~ =

ee ; *T FAM ILE -
‘ae ise HOUPA HOTLOG y £ ra i. GAY AM se
ce et ERM a> bp TOF: Fh)

ay

a ee

CONTENTS.

Annual Report cee 8 Las vex me ise aa3
Balance Sheet eae ae eee aed ae on
Donations to Museum ... . ai «se ee.
Presidential Address, by Mr. W. i. a thccons M.R. 1. A. ate sa

Eastern Reminiscences—Aden, India, and Burmah, by Mr. Thomas

Workman, J.P. wae

The New Bridge over the Firth of Forth, by Puatasiot Fitzgerald “ee

| Important Local Geological Discovery, by Mr. William Swanston, F.G.S.
A Human Skull found at Tillysburn

An Experimental Fishing Trip off the North and East Coasts of Fase

by Mr. John Brown its i oe bs
The Ancient Civilisation of Pau ee its Textile nce by

Mr. F. Mulligan ... = 7a aes awe ec
The Old Gate at Carrickfergus oe : aes
The Old Cross at Dromore ee : P =
Wet and Dry Weather, by Mr. Joseph J ni hme mae ve
A Recent Visit to Tory Island, by Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson a
List of Office-Bearers ... << oe ae aga
List of Shareholders and <iiatasay as aaa act

Books Received mete ees aes eee “Ce eee

Belfast Hatural History and Philosophical Society.

HSTABERESEED Le2yT,

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares ;, * . cost £13,
3°Shares 4, » °, cost 21.

The propriétor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
‘pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of — or.more Shares stands exempt from
further payment. . *

_ MEMBERS.

There are two classes,.Ordinary Members, sin are expected to read Barer
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures extends
from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members, Ordinary
or Visiting, pay.£1 1s. per annum, due 1st November in each year.

PRIVILEGES.

Fach Shareholder and Member has the right of pee attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto ; also of access to the
Museuih for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission’ orders
- for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in Belfast
Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer. .

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

BELFAST

Matural history and Philosophical Society.

ANNUAL REPORT, 1886.

Tue Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of the above named
Society was held on the 3rd June, 1886, at three o’clock, in the
Museum, College Square North. There were present :—The
President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.LA.; Mr. R. L. Patter-
son, J-P., PLS. ; ‘Mr. Robert Young, C.E.; Mr. Robert M.
Young; Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P.; Mr. Wm. Gray,
M.R.IA.; Mr. Wm. Swanston, Rev. John Kinghan, Mr. W.
Meharg, and Mr. Isaac Ward.

The Secretary (Mr. R. M. Young) read the report as follows :—
“The Council of the Natural History and Philosophical Society,
appointed by the shareholders at their annual meeting on the
14th May, 1885, desire to submit their report of the working of
the Society during the past year. The winter session was
opened on November 3rd, 1885, with an address from your
President, Mr. Wm. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., the subject selected
being ‘The History and Legends of some Irish Lakes.’ The
second meeting was held on January 5th, 1886, when Mr.
Thomas Workman, J.P., read a paper on ‘ Eastern Reminis-
cences, Aden, India, and Burmah.’ The lecture was illustrated
by a series of admirable photographs and lantern views. The
third meeting was held on February 2nd, 1886, when Professor
Fitzgerald read a paper on ‘ The Forth Bridge,’ illustrated by
a model and diagrams. Mr. Wm. Swanston, F.G.S., also gave
a paper on ‘Supposed Saurian Remains from the Antrim Chalk.’
A short communication by Mr. John Anderson, J.P., F.G.S.,
on ‘A Human Skull Recently Found at -Tillysburn,’ was also

2

read. The fourth meeting was held on March 2nd, 1886, when
Mr. John Brown read a paper on ‘An Experimental Fishing
Trip off the North and East Coast of Ireland.’ Mr. Seaton F.
Milligan also gave a valuable paper on ‘The Ancient Civilisa-
tion of Peru, including its Textile Industries,’ illustrated by a
large collection of specimens of woven and dyed fabrics, patterns,
personal ornaments, &c., excavated from the Huacas. Samples
of modern artistic linen goods were also exhibited for comparison.
The fifth meeting was held on April 6th, 1886, when Mr.
Joseph J. Murphy, F.G.S., read a paper on ‘Wet and Dry
Weather,’ and Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson, J.P., F.L.S., another on
‘A recent Visit to Tory Island,’ illustrated by photographs.
A short notice of some moths new to Ireland, by Rev. John
Bristow, A.M., was also read. Owing to the Parliamentary
general election falling about the same date, it was considered
advisable to hold no meeting of the Society in December. In
addition to these ordinary meetings, your Council arranged for
a special series of popular scientific lectures similar to those
given in former years. These were well attended, both by
members of the Society, who were admitted free, and by the
general public. The first of these special meetings was held on
January 7th, 1886, in St. George’s Hall, when a lecture was deli-
vered by the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S., on ‘Pond and Stream
Life.’ The second meeting was held on February 4th, 1886,
when the Rev. W.S. Green, M.A., gavea lectureon ‘My Adven-
tures in the New Zealand Alps.’ The concluding meeting of
the series was held on March 4th, 1886, in the Ulster Minor
Hall, when Mr John Greenhill, Mus. Bac., most kindly gave a
lecture on ‘Music : Its Science, Theory, and Practice,’ with
numerous experiments and illustrations.

“Tt will be seen from the treasurer’s report that the financial
condition of the Society continues to show improvement. In
addition to sale of new shares, all those available which had
fallen into arrears within the last six or seven years have been
transferred to new holders, who have paid all arrears, and will
continue the subscriptions. The number of smaller societies

3

holding their meetings in the Museum had also greatly in-
creased. The balance now carried forward will, no doubt,
enable the Council of next year to carry out some of the much
needed work so often deferred for want of funds.

“A list of donations to the Museum and of foreign and home
societies, with other publications for the library, is to be printed
with the present report The Council would thank the various
donors for their valuable gifts, and particularly Lord Claremont
for his thoughtful kindness in presenting six volumes of the
Ray Society publications and other valuable books. Captain
Robert Campbell, of the ship Slieve Donard, has also supple-
mented his previous generous donations by further interesting
specimens collected at foreign ports.

“‘On Easter Monday the Museum was opened as usual at a
nominal charge, and the attendance was, as is always the case,
very large.

“The ceiling in the lecture hall, having shown some defects,
has been repaired, and some other improvements effected of a
trifling kind.

‘The library having become overcrowded, arrangements are
being made to increase the accommodation for books and
pamphlets, of which a large number have been received during
the year.

‘Your Council now retire from office, and this meeting will
be asked to select fifteen members to form a new Council.”

¢
“Madnswady, “uoFT ‘NMOUG ° : { pare Re “988 “yrhe Aon
iL WOH ae “f SHORPUV \ (xosumnivg “FH ‘WAN "J001100 PUNOF pue poulmrexy
0 Pv CEF ee ee ee ee
IL FI 000F
0 Pp ge ee ee ee ee sourleg OL
Q1.6. 9) °° % syuOs0V [Teg a
6 ¢ 9c °° Axepuoy, 10}seq TO ‘0g v (2) a ee) Ee qs "* seg pure jen ss
Onzecr = Aen 481 [1 Joop ye soo oourxua ‘ ODO ‘¢.-- 2" ** Aymyern remagg ‘yg.
0=0 0G °* savedy ‘0d G Gouge Ge = s2 ‘QAvd] SY}UOUI 19} 880]
Oz oIm068 7s ma a a suoljdiszosqng s ‘ACT IST Ty Arepeg 4reMolg “y “9 Sf
Cal 2 eae "¢ 5 $00,] JofSURLy, 0 0 gF °° Avy ST 1 Arereg “Ysereg “A oo
0 cit e as 98-GS8T ea Qe Ope ** TOISSTULMLOZ) §,10}09][09 a
‘Ageroog ory dersojou Jo}S[Q Woy UoTJnquyU0D ‘* Oni oF Aepuoy 10}seqy uo sesuedxny sf
Qo one. ** - 98-E88T () 0) hefgn ale ACW IST 11} 30 “6
‘qn10 PML SISHeKpeND Urey Locoyahatep ealecoygy 2 ae -| Jundupyacmbosn), remndog WO SSO'T i
9 IIT & 98-4881 OS ge esv4sog eC
‘MOT}RIOOSSY arodaoxo°q Woz woynqimyuoy ‘‘ 0 010 °* swI0,7 Joysuvry, wo sdureyg <
0 SIF ; ‘ aie Bc 98-FS88I1 00 8 TmOO1- eel JO Sur[Ioy 04 sutedoy ee
Ayersos) FonleD: ord On Locoyahatep mane Cog) = 8 918 a “sage yy 109e AA ¢
9-8-0 mwoTyeuo(y 0 ££ G ++ AJouoT{e}g pue suTULG as
0 0 1 °° “ie Plog soreyg OMT, Jo sposoorg “* Ce Te Ge se ** - SUIST}IOAPY <
Thelen 20D ous is Fito mso) wLOT TO qysoroqut ‘¢ Oh. Poe Wo qlodey Suryutg -
eas orm °* spuvy ut oourpeg Ag 0: 0. 6 <° ** = suInTmerg eouvinsuy pred yseg OJ,
"SLdIa0aa “AYN LIGNaAdxXa
"ID "9891 ‘key 38) Suspue see, 404 1G

‘JOINSBOI] YRIM JUNODOY UI AJAIN0g fealydososiYq pue AJOWSIH feunjeN yepyeg ay]

DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1885-6.

From PEARSON ANDERSON Esg., DENVER, COLORADO.

Specimen of prairie dog or barking squirrel (Conomys Colum-
bianus), shot near Denver.

From CapTaIN ROBERT CAMPBELL, MASTER OF THE SHIP

“¢ SLIEVE DONARD.”

One Malay fighting knife, one pair Afghan boots, one Burmese
figure (idol), from the caves at Moulmain, one skin of
wild cat, and the skin of the feet of an albatross.

From Miss GRATTAN, COOLGREANY, FORTWILLIAM PARK.

Craniometer used by the late John Grattan Esq., in his cranio-
logical researches.

Frrom Mr. J. KERNAHAN, GLENAVY.
Two flint arrow-heads, found near Glenavy.
From Captain W. H. Lowry, Sincapore. PER W. H. K.
Lowry, Esqg., KILLYLEAGH.

One Indian snake preserved in spirits.

from CapPTaAIn M‘Cancez, J. P. KNOCKNAGONEY, STRANDTOWN.

Human skull found when excavating near the shore at Tillys-
burn.

From WIiLLiaAM SWANSTON, Esgq,., F. G. S.

Collection of fossil fish remains (66 specimens, representing 36
species) from the carboniferous limestone of Armagh, and
a number of molluscan remains from the same beds.

From JAMES TuRNER, Esg., Mountain Busu.

Portion of vertebral column of mososaurus from the hard chalk
of Whitewell.

From THomas Watson, Esg., LONDONDERRY.

Upper stone of an ancient quern, found at St. Johnston, County
Donegal.

From Tuomas WorxnaN, Esgq., J. P.. CRAIGDARRAGH.

Specimen of Gecko preserved in spirits.

ie

i yee ee
i »' a
peut ma er
ee a

5 ‘ J ; ,"
} : f oe oe |
F PAS 4 l OL? or b a 7a
+ - ; 5
;
f

: \ r 7 anf, al
=, Sas : | {OUTCRGRET TD
. 1eMG:
é ay ~ on
. ml

;

}
ead
3 ‘
fe
as i > aj ;
;
: . £C')
sit ey z ‘2 Be + |
j
' _
i
\
1
+ 7 :
2 ,
Spe ne” E
1 .
j .
: PE Fo oe
: a, am |
Pe { Te inte
af rane pasiaht i
a3 q
oe ‘
i ] i D
a fat E j T es
4 , ‘40.
my Ue tial we ave “f % oS eee
he ai 7
§ F m J
T=." ;
pyle , i NTC!
. se : :
¥ ‘
wh
La 7
rm '
mye ‘
rs _ *y ¥ : =
. i > ‘f
iy ;
‘ By
a x
i ty,
3 a ee a ;
“ ve “i f
FSi ae “ i
* ”

BHELEFTAST
NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY,
SESSION, 1885-86.

3rd November, 1885.

The President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.LA., read a
Paper on

THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF SOME IRISH
LAKES.

THE leading idea in olden times about a lake was that it came as
an intruder to the place in which it rested, and that up toa certain
period in the history of the country no lake was there. Regard-
ing the origin of Lough Owel, in Westmeath, there is a legend
which tells how a certain fairy or witch who presided over the
fertile valley where Lough Owel now rests went on a visit to
another witch, who lived in the County of Roscommon, near
Athlone, and a very agreeable visit she had till near the end,
when her heart became stirred up with envy ofa fine lake that the
Connaught witch had in her territory, for not only did the lake
supply the owner with fish and wild fowl, but by means of it
she was enabled to curse her enemies, a practice that witches
have been fond of in all times. The cursing was managed by
turning certain flat stones at the edge of the water, and ever as
the ninth wave lapped over them she pronounced her maledic-
tions. The Westmeath witch determined upon a bold step.
She asked for the loan of the lake, saying she wished to see how
well it would look in her own valley, and she promised that she

8

would return it on the very next Monday. The Connaught
witch was willing to oblige. “ But how, dear, will you take it
or send it back?” she asked. ‘Oh, easy enough; in my pocket-
handkerchief,” was the answer. And, sure enough, this was
the way she managed ; and passing safely over Lough Ree and
several trifling obstacles, such as rivers and mountains, with a
slip of the corner of her handkerchief she let the lake out quietly
into the valley of the Owel, where it settled itself as if it had
been born and bred there, and there it may be seen to this
day ; for the Westmeath witch snapped her fingers at her
Connaught sister and flatly refused to bring the lake back. Of
course there was a terrible row, but the end of it was that the
lake was lost to Roscommon for ever, and the former owner
had to content herself with as ugly a hollow as anyone ever
saw, where once those sweet waters used to flow, all covered
with limestone flags as waste asa graveyard. But the lough
itself did not like to stay on the Leinster side of the Shannon,
and so it sent forth two streams—one from its northern, and
another from its southern end—both of which, bounding west-
wards—and they are called by the people the gold and silver
bands—stretched towards Connaught, forming the head waters
of the Inney and the Brusna.

However, the Ordnance Survey and the Geological Survey,
having passed over the whole of the land, furnished some very
clear ideas as to how the lakes of Ireland have been formed.
Professor Hull, Director of the Geological Survey, in his work on
the physical geology of Ireland, says :—‘‘All the lakes of Ireland
may with great probability be classified, as regards their mode of
formation, under the three following heads, viz. :—1, lakes of
mechanical origin ; 2, lakes of glacial origin ; 3, lakes of chemical
solution.” Under the head of mechanical origin, Dr. Hull
includes lakes ‘‘ which, while they may have been modified in
form by other agencies, are primarily due to the faults or dis-
locations of the strata,” and in that division he places Lough
Neagh and Lough Allen, two remarkable examples of lakes
formed in that way.

9

Dr. Hull says :— The origin of Lough Neagh has been a
subject of much speculation and of some mystery, because, being
older than the glacial epoch, it cannot be referred to glacial
agency, and, being situated on deposits other than limestones,
it cannot be considered as the result of chemical solution. Its
proximity to the old volcanic region of Antrim has naturally
led to the inference that it was in some way connected with
local sinking of the surface through volcanic agency. It was
not, however, till the geological structure of the adjoining
districts of Tyrone on one side, and Antrim on the other, had
been accurately laid down on the maps of the Geological Survey,
that a key to the history of its origin was found ; and Mr. W.
E. T. Hardman, one of the officers of the Survey, has very ably
applied the results of his examination of the district surrounding
that lough to the determination of its mode of formation. Its
northern portion is bounded by the miocene basalts of Antrim ;
its southern, partly by alluvial tracts, partly by masses of drift
resting on pliocene clays, which in turn overlie the triassic or
carboniferous strata. Its length from north to south is fifteen
miles, and its breadth twelve, giving an area of nearly one
hundred and fifty square miles. The general depth is only from
20 to 40 feet, gradually increasing towards the northern shore ;
and the surface is 48 feet above that of the sea. Mr. Hardman
shows that along the southern shores the pliocene clays origin-
ally deposited under the waters of the lake rise to a level of 120
feet above the sea, or 72 feet above the existing surface of the
lake, showing how much greater the area of the lake must
have been in this direction.

“During the progress of the survey it was found that the strata
on both sides of the lake are traversed by several large faults
ranging in E. N. E. directions. One of these ranges through
the basaltic plateau of Antrim by Templepatrick, where the
vertical displacement is about 500 feet, the downthrow being
on the south side. These faults are later than the basaltic
sheets of the miocene age which they displace, and of older
date than the pliocene clays, which are not affected by them,

Io

the ground having been smoothed down, and the inequalities
caused by the dislocation of the beds having been worn away,
by denuding agencies before the clays were deposited. It was
to the depression of the surface through the agency of these
faults that, according to Mr. Hardman, the formation of the lake
is due. ‘This lake, therefore, forms an illustration of a basin
formed by the mechanical action of faults in the strata, assisted
by the action of running water.”

Lakes of glacial origin are found in many parts of Ireland, but
chiefly among mountain glens and in front of valleys. These
lake-basins are hollow, scooped out of the rock by the action of
ice passing over its surface, or else, as Dr. Hull has pointed out,
“where moraine matter or boulder clay has been heaped up across
a valley or hollow so as to form an embankment for the streams
_which enter the depression from above.” ‘Theclass of lakes which
are due to chemical solution are chiefly found in the great central
plain of Ireland, but they are met with in all limestone districts.
They are, ‘strictly speaking, irregular hollows dissolved out of
the limestone floor and filled with water.” Dr. Hull says that
in examining the form of these lakes of chemical solution,
“from the manner in which they widen out in some places, and
in others become contracted, it will generally be found that they
spread themselves out over the ground formed of limestone,
and contract where non-calcareous rocks form the bed and
margin of the lake. Lough Derg is an illustration of this.”

Mr. Patterson then directed attention to the mention made
in the ‘‘ Four Masters” concerning the eruption of lakes, the
first eruption being in the year of the world 2532. The passage,
as translated by O’Donovan, reads—“ The age of the world
2532. The eruption of Loch Con and Loch Techet in this
year.” O’Donovan explains that Loch Con is a large lake in
the barony of Tirauley, and County of Mayo. In the age of
the world 3506 the eruption of a large number of the Irish lakes
took place. Amongst these was Loch Laogh, the ancient name
of Belfast Lough, and which means in Irish the Lake of the
Calf. The early monkish writers translated the name into

I!

Latin, and called it Lacus Vituli. In the concluding portion
of the lecture Mr. Patterson brought under the attention of
the meeting a most interesting collection of legends concerning
many of the Irish lakes. There were two aspects in which the
Irish loughs must be considered when looked at historically.
In connection with the many invasions of Danes and North-
men mention was made of the terrible sea fights that had often
occurred. Such loughs as Foyle and Swilly, Larne and Belfast,
Strangford and Carlingford, Waterford, Wexford, and the
estuary of the Shannon, were so many open gates by which
these sea rovers entered our country, and from whence they
ascended by the river valleys to the more central parts of the
island. The other aspect, which he could only mention, was
that of the fortified islands, of which such numbers exist in
the smaller Irish lakes, most frequently artificial ones, or cran-
nogs. These crannogs were the strongholds of provincial chiefs.
They were places of great security, and took the same place
among the Irish as the stone castles of the Anglo Normans
among the English of the Pale.

12

5th Fanuary, 1886.

Mr. JosepH J. Murpuy, in the Chair.

Mr. THomas WorKMAN, J.P., read a Paper on

EASTERN REMINISCENCES—ADEN, INDIA, AND
BURMAH.

Mr. Thomas Workman stated that his lecture was a con-
tinuation of a former one, descriptive of his voyage to and residence
in different parts of India and Burmah. He commenced by a
description of the shores of the Red Sea, referring to the gorgeous
colouring of the mountains which crown them. One of these
mountains is the famous three-peaked Jebel Katharina, better
known by its ancient name of Mount Sinai. The Red Sea,
though fog or snow are utterly unknown and storms are very
rare, is, nevertheless, one of the most dangerous seas known to
navigators, and in it the seaman is never free from anxiety on
account of the haze and mirage which prevail. At the island
of Perim, where the Red Sea narrows to the straits of Bab-el-
Mandeb, or the Gate of Tears, the hulls of many steamers may
be seen along the shore as warning beacons to the careless navi-
gator. Its name of Gate of Tears is said to have been given to
it because of the disasters sailors met in its vicinity. A short
distance round the projecting coastline from the straits of Bab-
el-Mandeb is the port and town of Aden, which in Arabic means
Paradise, though to the British traveller another name would
seem more suitable. The town is situated in a valley—ap-
parently the crater of an extinct volcano—and is surrounded by

13

mountains of volcanic trap, without vegetation. The water for
the supply of the town is collected in the rainy season, in
enormous tanks, formed by walls of concrete built across the
lower ends of the valleys. In the Bay of Aden the weather is
usually lovely. Many beautiful jelly-fish, of every possible hue,
may here be seen “ within the shadow of the ship ”—
‘¢ Blue, glossy green and velvet black,
They coiled and swam, and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.’’

The town and precincts of Colombo, in the island of Ceylon,
are exceedingly interesting, both from the richness of the tropical
scenery and the picturesqueness of the Kanarese, as the natives
of Ceylon are called. The native boats, which are long and
narrow, and have a curious outrigger to keep them from cap-
sizing, have always attracted attention from the passing traveller,
both from their peculiar construction and their great speed. The
Mohammedans have a legend that the Garden of Eden was in
heaven and not on earth, and that when Adam and Eve were
cast out Adam fell on Adam’s Peak, the highest mountain in
Ceylon, where the mark of his foot can be seen at the present
day to attest the truth of the legend. Eve, they say, fell some-
where else, and she and Adam went about the world for 200
years seeking foroneanother. Fortunately, by a happy accident,
they met in the neighbourhood of Mecca, after an amount of
journeying to which the wanderings of Evangeline were but a
trifle. The lecturer next gave an account ofa visit to the temple
of Kali, at Calcutta, and a description of the effigies and pictures
of this hideous goddess and her fabled attributes. Kali or Kali
Ma—“ the black mother,” as she is called—is represented as a
female with four arms. In one she holds.a sword, in another
the head of the giant Ravena, whom she has slain ; with the other
_two she is encouraging her worshippers. For earrings she has
two dead bodies, and she wears a necklace of skulls. Her only
clothing is a girdle made of human hands. She stands with one
foot on the thigh and the other on the breast of her husband
Siva. It seems impossible to realise that such a hideous figure
could be an object of reverence or love to any human being.

14

The lecturer made some observations on the serious danger
of a State education that refuses to deal with religion. Though
the Hindu religion seems so terribly degrading that one might
at first sight be inclined to say that no religion would be pre-
ferable to it, yet it is a grave question whether human nature
is not better with a religion of a very low type than without a
religion at all, and, of course, when our scientific education
comes to these people their present faiths must disappear,
leaving nothing under the present system to take its place but
blank atheism.

The lecturer described his journey, after leaving Calcutta,
to. British Burmah, and his visits to the three principal
towns—Rangoon, Bassein, and Moulmein. He was much im-
pressed with the enormous size and magnificence of the Showay
Dragon Pagoda, or great golden temple of Godama, at Rangoon.
The area on which this pagoda stands is 800 feet ‘square. The
entrance is approached by an enormous flight of stairs, which
is guarded by two huge mystical figures about fifty feet high,
with blue heads and red mouths. The pagoda itself is a
stupendous mass of solid masonry tapering gradually from an
octagonal base, 1,355 square feet in extent, to a spire of small
circumference, surmounted by the sacred “ tie” or umbrella, of
open ironwork. The umbrella is said to be studded with jewels
of very great value, and the whole building is one blaze of gold.
The “ Pooh Yees,” or Buddish priests, dress in a long yellow
garment, and live in monasteries called kouyns, made of wood,
and richly carved. At Maybin, a village on the Irrawaddy,
the mosquitoes are so fierce and numerous that large fires have
to be lighted by the natives in the evening to keep them away,
and even the horses and milch cows are sheltered by mosquito
nets. The Burmese seem to lead a quiet, contented life, and,
as far as one can judge, are fairly satisfied with the British rule.
The women, unlike their sisters in India, are allowed much
freedom by social custom, and many of them take an active and
independent interest in business affairs, such as the sale of rice
and other produce.

15

Mr. Robert L. Patterson, J.P., F.L.S., said they were all
indebted to Mr. Workman for his interesting lecture. Mr.
Workman did not appear to have ventured very far into the
interior, but the information he had been able to gather was
particularly interesting just now, as the attention of everybody
in this country had lately been attracted to the action of the
British Government in Burmah, and in annexing upper Bur-
mah, in order to put an end to the misrule, the bloodshed,
and the cruelty that had obtained there. A friend of his who
visited Burmah last year told him a rather curious circum-
stance, which, in connection with what they had heard
that evening, it might not be uninteresting to repeat. Mr.
George Burns, of Glasgow, being in Burmah, wished to pay a
visit to Mandalay, but was informed that the journey was not
unattended with some risk. However, he determined to go.
He discovered that on the Irrawaddy navigation could only be,
carried on by day, as the river was not lighted and was full of
obstructions. The journey occupied ten or eleven days. One
night they observed a curious object on the shore at some dis-
tance from the water edge, and on their going near it they
were horrified to find that it was a man who had been crucified
that morning. He (Mr. Patterson) was unaware until he
learned this that the horrible punishment of death by crucifixion
obtained in any country, even in an uncivilised country, at
the present day. The man crucified was a dacoit or robber,
who, as a rule, scrupled little about committing murder for the
purpose of accomplishing their ends. After the dacoit was
crucified he had been speared to death, and the vultures were
at the time gathering to pick his bones. Mr. Burns, when in
Mandalay, had an interview with the Prime Minister, but he
was not given an interview with the King. Mr. Burns de-
scribed the country as being very fertile, and was of opinion
that it only required a strong and stable government to bring
it to a state of civilisation, in order to make it a good customer
of ours. Such a government, he hoped Burmah would have
in the future.

16

3rd February, 1886.

Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.ILA., in the Chair.

PROFESSOR FITZGERALD read a Paper on

THE NEW BRIDGE OVER THE FIRTH OF FORTH,

Which 1s now in process of erection.

HAVING stated briefly the greater difficulties which presented
themselves in the task of bridging the Forth than even those
which had proved so seriously formidable in the Tay, Prof.
Fitzgerald said that the former work when finished will be the
largest girder bridge in the world, there being no other bridge of
that class having so wide aspan. The engineer, Mr. Baker, had
very considerable difficulties in selecting a design that could be
actually carried out. The great difficulty to be dealt with in
constructing bridges of long span is the weight of the bridge
itself. By means of steel, though not steel of the ordinary kind,
being more like fine wrought iron, that primary difficulty was
overcome. In large bridges the weight increases faster than
the strength, and the advantage of steel is that it gives greater
strength than iron, with the same weight. The entire length
of the new bridge will be about one mile, and the main span
1,700 feet. The Admiralty required that the bridge should be
150 feet above the water. The depth of the water itself is
150 feet. The foundations rest on solid rock in some parts,
and in others in a peculiar clay.

The lecturer then entered into a detailed description of the

17

character of the foundations and the process by which they
were laid. He showed that every test to provide for resistance
to wind pressure was being applied. The main span is sup-
ported by two huge piers—one at Inchgarney Island—each
pier being composed of four towers as large as four ordinary
martello towers rolled into one. Having described the plan
followed in the forming of the piers and the supports carrying
the girders, the Professor, in order to illustrate by a familiar
example the extraordinary dimensions of the bridge, supposed
an observer standing at the Methodist College looking at a
bridge extending to the military barracks in North Queen
Street, the rail-level being as high again as the Albert Memorial.
He also applied a map of the Boyne Viaduct to the map of the
Forth Bridge, and it was seen that the entire of the former
structure could be easily accommodated within the main span
of the latter. The cost of the new bridge will be about
£1,600,000, and the work will probably be completed at the
end of two years from the present time.

18

3rd February, 1886.

The President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., in the Chair.

WILLIAM SwansTon, Esgq., F.G.S., read a Paper upon an

IMPORTANT LOCAL GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY.

Mr. SwANsTON stated that the notes he had been requested
to bring forward referred to a fossil that had been found
some time since in the white limestone, or chalk, quarry
at Whitewell, and which had now been presented to the
Museum by the proprietor (Mr. Turner, of Mountain Bush).
The fossil was portion of the vertebral column of a huge reptile,
known to the geologists as Mosasaurus gracilis, of Owen, and
whose nearest living representative is the crocodile. MJosasaurus
gracilis belonged toa family of giants, remains of specimens
having been found that must have measured fully 25 feet
in length ; while its better known relative, Mosasaurus princeps,
attained the extraordinary length of 75 feet. The first record
of our species as British was made by Dr. Mantell, in his
“Geology of the South-East of England.” Detached frag-
ments have from time to time since been found in English
and Continental strata, and from these it has been pretty
clearly made out that the creature’s head formed about one-
sixth of its entire length, in which respect it resembled the
crocodile, but in the shortness of its tail and other respects it
wasialtogether unlike it. From the examination of its remains
it can be pretty safely conjectured that it was aquatic and
possibly marine in its habits. Its feet were paddle-like in form
—more adapted for swimming than for progression on land ;

19

its vertebral column, too, from its apparently extreme flexibility,
would tend to confirm this view. The specimen on the table
was extremely interesting, as being—so far as can be traced—the
first fragment from Irish strata, and from the additional reason
that it tends to confirm the view long since advanced that our
chalk may be considered as perhaps the highest member of the
cretaceous system in the British Islands, and most nearly
correlated with the chalk of Maestricht, in Belgium, in
which this species attained its maximum of development, and
which is considered the highest known zone of the cretaceous
system.

A HUMAN SKULL FOUND AT TILLYSBURN.

Mr. Rosert M. Youna, 8.A., read a communication from Mr. J.
Anderson, J.P., Holywood, regarding a human skull which had
been found on the 17th January by Captain M‘Cance, J.P.,
about eighteen inches below the surface of the slob, some ten
or twelve yards inside the railway embankment, and immediately
at the foot of Captain M‘Cance’s windmill.

Dr. Malcomson, taking the skull in hand, stated to the
meeting that the skull was apparently that of a man sixty years
of age, and had been dead for probably fifty years. Although
it had been suggested that some violence was used to the person
who owned the skull, he did not think there was any mark to
justify that opinion.

20

2nd March 1886.

Mr. W. Swanston, F.R.G.S., in the Chair.

Mr. JoHN Brown read a Paper on

AN EXPERIMENTAL FISHING TRIP OFF THE
NORTH AND EAST COASTS OF IRELAND.

Mr. Brown said that in 1882 he purchased a small steam vessel
for the purpose of trawling off the Irish coasts. He had tried
most of the trawling grounds along the coast from St. John’s
Point to Innishowen Head, but without sufficient success on
the whole to warrant a continuation of the enterprise. Lough
Foyle and the banks outside it were perhaps the best places he
had tried. He referred to the decadence of fishing in Belfast
Lough, and believed it was due to the trawling on the upper
flats and banks in the lough, by which large quantities of small
fish were taken, which brought only a nominal price, and such
fish were prevented from attaining maturity in the lower portion
of the lough. He suggested that one or other of the scientific
societies of Belfast should take this matter up, obtain evidence
from the fishermen, and, if desirable, take steps to have the
upper part of the lough closed to trawlers.

The paper was suitably illustrated with nets and other fishing
tackle suspended in the room.

21

2nd March, 1886.

Mr. W. Swanston, F.R.G.S., in the Chair.

Mr. SEATON F. MULLIGAN read a Paper on

THE ANCIENT CIVILISATION OF PERU, INCLUD-
ING ITS TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

Mr. Moutiiean illustrated his lecture with a very interesting
and valuable collection of woven and dyed fabric patterns and
personal ornaments. This collection of Peruvian antiquities
was brought to Ireland by a friend of the lecturer, whose
duties as an engineer in Peru gave him opportunities to gratify
his archzological taste, and in so doing to make excavations in
the ancient Huacas of the people who inhabited that country
in ante-Columbian times. Having given a sketch of the
civilisation of the ancient Peruvians, the lecturer said he
had been requested to compare our modern productions with
the ancient fabrics of Peru. There are some lessons to be
learned from those ancient fabrics, and there are lessons to
be learned from our foreign competitors in the same field.
The Ulster manufacturers have not yet got the linen trade of
the world entirely to themselves, and it would be well to know
what their opponents are doing. The ancient cloths seem to
have been finished in the most perfect manner. How different
from the fustian of the present day. A very few years ago
Manchester goods were almost unsaleable in the India and

22

China markets, for the natives found their home-made calicoes
much better, and the outcry that was raised at the time taught
the Manchester manufacturers that honesty was the best policy.
During the American war the linen trade in Belfast was parti-
cularly good. Cotton could not be procured, and linen had to
make up the deficiency. To supply the place of domestic calico
a kind of half bleached linen was introduced. No doubt, so far
as home consumption was concerned, a splendid opportunity
was lost of placing the linen trade on a more extended basis.
When cotton again became plentiful it was bought in preference
to linen. It seemed to him that we do not sufficiently introduce
art in connection with our local linen manufacture, the bulk of
our production being plain goods. This did very well so long
as a good demand existed for white goods, but unfortunately
the white linen trade has been a decreasing one. As far as his
experience goes, in the home trade there is not one piece of
white linen sold in Ireland for the dozen pieces sold twenty five
or thirty years ago. People now order their shirts from the
manufacturers, and the latter have introduced a variety of other
fabrics which have taken the place of linen. The peasantry of
Connaught, who are very conservative in the matter of cloth-
ing, are the only people in the country who to any extent wear
white shirts. He had brought with him a variety of samples
of linen goods, and goods made of linen and cotton, in which a
considerable amount of skill and artistic taste was displayed.
These goods are made in Germany, and are sold by the
agents of German houses both in England and Ireland. The
Germans are now pushing the English manufacturers very
close in many things. There is in this country a favourable
opening for dress fabrics in linen, and mixtures of linen and
cotton. For some time past the Irish people have given the
preference to home made goods of a suitable kind. There has
not been much done in Belfast in this direction yet, and he
thought there would be a considerable outlet if some good
designs were introduced.

5,
THE OLD GATE AT CARRICKFERGUS.

On the motion of Mr. Gray, seconded by Mr. Mulholland, it
was resolved that this Society co-operate with the Naturalists’
Field Club in opposing the intended action of the Grand
Jury to remove the old gate at Carrickfergus.

THE OLD CROSS AT DROMORE.

Tue Chairman intimated that he had received from one of the
Dromore Town Commissioners a letter stating that the old cross
of that town would be preserved in the changes that were about
to be made, and that the wishes of the Naturalists’ Field Club
in the matter were being carried out.

24
6th April, 1886.

The President, Mr. W. H. Patrerson, M.R.I.A., in the Chair.

Mr. Jos—EPH JOHN Murpny, read a Paper on

WET AND DRY WEATHER.

THE treatment of the subject was chiefly based on some pub-
lications by Dr. Hann, printed in the journal of the Austrian
Meteorological Society.

The motive power of all winds ultimately consists in the heat
of the sun. When one region becomes warmer than another,
as, for instance, land heats more rapidly under the sun than
water, or bare ground than ground covered with vegetation,
the air flows upward over the heated space, and a wind is formed
by the inflow of air along the surface of the earth ; just as the
fire in a room draws the air towards it in a draft along the
floor. The trade winds consist of such a draft towards the
warm regions of the equator.

Storms, as distinguished from mere winds, are due to the
condensation of watery vapour in ascending currents of air,
When air flows upward the pressure on it from the air above is
diminished, because of the less thickness of the aerial strata
above it; the diminution of pressure causes expansion, and the
expansion produces cold, whereby the heat that was latent in the
vapour is liberated :—and though when vapour is condensed
into water the volume of the water is destroyed, yet this is com-
pensated for four or five times over by the liberated heat expand- _
ing the air ; which expansion increases the force of the ascending
current, and the consequent indraft of wind at its base. The
motive power of storms is thus steam power. But storms would
not be produced but for another agency, namely, the earth’s
rotation; which, though it has no power whatever to set a wind
in motion, has a most important modifying influence on winds,
as is to be explained further on.

25

The pressure of the atmosphere on the earth is equal to that
of an ocean of quicksilver thirty inches deep, and it is a fact
which from its familiarity does not excite the wonder due to it,
that this atmospheric ocean is liable to be disturbed by waves,
which, as the barometer shows, sometimes attain to a height of
at least one fifteenth of its depth. Regions of high barometer
are generally those of fine weather, and regions of low barometer
those of wet weather, because in the latter ascending currents
of air are formed, which are due to the pressure of the air in
the neighbouring regions of high barometer. These as they
ascend become cooled, and condense the watery vapour which
they contain into clouds and rain. At the equator, where the
rain-fall is very great, the fluctuations of the barometer are very
slight, and it would be the same in all parts of the world were
it not for the deflecting effect of the earth’s rotation. The
simplest instance of this effect is that, as theory and observation
alike show, in the northern hemisphere a cannon ball fired at a
sufficiently distant mark strikes a point a little to the right of
the mark. In the southern hemisphere the corresponding de-
flection is to the left ; and at the equator, where the earth has
no rotation in relation to an axis vertical to the horizon, there
is no deflection. The deflection is caused by the earth moving
in its rotation under the cannon ball ; the cannon is in fact fired
ata moving mark ;—and in thesame way, the earth rotating under
a current of wind deflects the wind in the northern hemisphere
to the right ; so that every north wind tends to become an east
wind, and every south wind tends to become a west wind.
In the southern hemisphere, this effect is of course reversed.
This effect of the earth’s rotation on the winds was first pointed
out by Professor Dové, of Berlin, forty or fifty years ago, and
is called Dové’s Law; but Mr. Murphy said he believed Dr.
Hann had been the first to see the full importance of this law.
Theory and observation alike show that the fluctuations of the
barometer increase as the distance from the equator increases.
They are almost nothing at the equator. At a latitude of 65
the average monthly fluctuation is nearly an inch and a half.

26

When the most powerful ascending current, and consequent
indraft, are set up at the equator, no storm is produced ; but
when the same occurs far enough from the equator to enable
the earth’s rotation to have effect, every current of air as it flows
in towards the centre is deflected to the right (or, in the southern
hemisphere, to the left), and thus a vortex, or cyclone, is formed,
with a rotatory velocity which may be very much greater than
the original velocity of indraft. This may be illustrated by
filling a wash-hand basin with water, removing the plug at the
bottom, and then giving the water a slight rotatory impulse
with the hand, when the water will begin to rotate with an
impulse very much greater than the force with which it was set
in motion. The mechanics of such a water vortex, or whirlpool,
closely resemble those of a cyclone or revolving storm ;—the
ascending current at the centre of the storm corresponds to the
current out through the hole in the bottom of the water basin.
Although the earth’s rotation in relation to an axis vertical to the
horizon is less in tropical than in European latitudes, yet the
storms of the tropics are more violent, in consequence of the
greater steam power of the atmosphere, due to the hotter
climate. On the equator, however, cyclones are not found,
because there the earth’s rotation does not deflect the wind,
either to right or to left.

Dr. Hann has made a mathematical examination of the
observed data of some European storms, which shows that the
barometric gradient—that is to say the ratio of the difference
between the height of the barometer at different places to the
distances between those places—is greater than is due to the
centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the storm, and he
infers that the excess is due to the deflecting force of the earth’s
rotation.

Mr. Murphy concluded by expressing the opinion that the
origin of those fluctuations of the barometer, or barometric
waves, which accompany and bring storms, is to be found in
the inter-action of currents of air flowing side by side in opposite
directions, modified by the earth’s rotation.

27

6th April, 1886.

The President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., in the Chair.

Mr. Lioyp PaTTeErRsON, J.P., F.L.S., read a Paper on

A RECENT VISIT TO TORY ISLAND.

SOME merchants and shipowners of Derry, prominent among
whom was Mr. James M‘Neil, of that city, conceived the idea
that it would be a very important matter, not only for the
shipping interest, but also for the country at large, that a
telegraph and signal station, connected by sub-marine cable
with the telegraph system of the United Kingdom, should be
established at Tory Island to report passing vessels, being able
to communicate with the mainland in case of any shipping
disaster or peril, and for such and kindred purposes generally.
A meteorological station was also spoken of. Now, as to the
value of the signal station there can hardly be two opinions.
Situated, as the island is, off the north-west coast of Donegal,
it lies in the track of all vessels going north about from any
port in the United Kingdom to any port in America. It is the
last land they see on their outward voyages, and often the first
land they make on their homeward runs. A number of wrecks
formerly took place on the island, but these have greatly
diminished since the erection there, in 1832, of what was then
considered a very fine lighthouse. This lighthouse, one of the
usual tower shape, and of enormous strength, is pretty lofty ;
its lantern, a powerful one, stands 122 feet above the high-water
level of the sea, and is visible at a distance of seventeen or

28

eighteen miles in fair weather. The Commissioners of Irish
Lights have been improving and re-erecting lighthouses at
various important points round the coasts, and Tory is now
having their attention. But I am unable to say whether or not
this had been decided on prior to the loss of the gunboat Wasp
on the island on the 22nd September, 1884. This melancholy
event, by which no fewer than 52 persons lost their lives,
directed much attention to this lonely island, and invested it
with a melancholy interest at the time of our visit. Had a
powerful siren, such as has lately been erected on Ailsa Craig,
been then in existence at Tory to warn off vessels in thick
weather when the light cannot be discerned, the loss of that
vessel and so many of her gallant crew might have been averted.
Well, it was to awaken more general interest in the establish-
ment of such a signal station, the utility of which, both from
a practical and humane point of view, I think, had been
demonstrated, that Mr. M‘Neil organised the trip to the island,
in which it was my good fortune (as representing, at the request
of its President, my friend Mr. Megaw, the Belfast Chamber of
Commerce) to take part. After glancing briefly at the early
history of the island, Mr. Patterson went on to give an account
of his personal experiences of the place, as related by him
shortly after the visit in the columns of the WVorthern Whig.
Referring to the vicissitudes which the inhabitants of the
island have suffered from time to time, he said in unfavourable
seasons it is next to impossible for the small amount of arable
land to produce food enough for even a small population. In
recent years more than once the people were reduced to the
verge of starvation. On one occasion a severe gale swept
immense waves over the island, and carried the greater portion
of the crop of corn, which had been partially cut, but not housed,
into the sea, washed the potatoes out of the ground, and
rendered the fresh water undrinkable ; and on other occasions
a more or less partial failure of the crops left the poor people
partially dependent on the outside world for the supplies which
nature denied them at home.

29

Kelp burning was formerly carried on on the island to a
considerable extent. This product of the sea, fresh out of the
strong, deep waters of the North Atlantic, was rich in iodine,
and found a ready market at remunerative prices in the great
chemical works at Glasgow, to which port it was conveyed by
the Sligo steamer calling off the island. But the demand for
kelp has fallen off, and prices have become so low that it is no
longer produced, and the island can export little now except
lobsters, as it is difficult to get a quick market for perishable
fresh fish, such as mackerel.

There are about fifty houses or families and about 350 or 360
inhabitants on the island. In 1841 the population was returned
at 391 males and 200 females, and at that time there were
eighty inhabited houses. Speaking of the social condition of
the people, he said—There is not a policeman in the place, and
there seems to be little or no social distinction as among the
people themselves. Till lately there was a “ King” of Tory,
so called because the other islanders acknowledged his authority
and bowed to his decisions in the settlement of disputes; but
since the decease, now some years ago, of the last monarch, the
authority in such matters seems to have passed into the hands
of the resident Catholic curate, the island being in the parish of
Cloughnahuly, on the mainland of Donegal. The parish priest
here, Rev. Mr. M‘Fadden, has two curates, each of whom, it is
said, takes about a six months’ turn on the island and then on
the mainland.

The people pay no taxes. A few years ago the grand jury of
Donegal proposed to levy county cess on the island—a gross
injustice, as the people make, practically, no use whatever of
the roads and bridges of the mainland, and they have none of
their own to keep in repair. This unreasonable demand was
not persisted in. The rent question is different. The rental
of the island, including one penny per annum for the grazing
of each sheep, used to be about £240 a year. When good
prices were no longer obtainable for kelp the people were
unable to pay their former rents, and made, through their

30

clergyman, an offer of £100 a year to the present proprietor of
the island, the Rev. B. St. John Joule. This offer the agent
declined ; and since then, five or six years ago, the people have
paid no rent at all, and do not apparently expect to have to pay
any more. I have a copy of some very acrimonious cor-
respondence that passed between the landlord and others on
this subject. The matter seems to have ended—at least for the
present—in the landlord’s rights being entirely set aside.
Before concluding, let me take a brief glance at the island.
Its surface, including three small lakes, two of them brackish,
comprises about 1,200 acres, of which perhaps less than one-sixth
may be under cultivation. Of wild quadrupeds there are only
two—the rabbit and the common mouse—found. There are
no reptiles—not even a frog; and except the sea fowl in the
breeding season, when they are numerous, not many birds, and
those almost exclusively ground or cliff breeding birds, as there
is not a tree and hardly a bush on the island for the arboreal
species. I saw some wheatears, buntings, sparrows, and pipits,
grey crows, and starlings—the two latter probably visitors from
the mainland. The storm petrel still breeds there ; but, from
what I could gather, not in the same numbers as they were
found by Mr. Hyndman and his companions in 1845.. The
person I was speaking to about them knew the birds quite well,
and called them “ Mother Carey’s Chickens.” There are a
good many poultry and domestic animals on the island; among
these some small sized horses, which are used sometimes with
panniers, one suspended on each side, or sometimes in carts
without wheels, ‘slipe” carts as they are called. The shafts of
these carts are lengthened backwards, and drag along the
ground. Mr. Patterson concluded a highly interesting paper
by relating a humorous story by the Rev. John Brown con-
cerning the introduction of the horse into Tory.
A number of photographs, taken rye Mr. Stelfox during the
visit, were exhibited.

BELFAST

Patural History & Wbhtlosophical Society,

Officers and Council of Management for 1885-6.

President :
W. H. PATTERSON, Esa., M.R.IA.

Dice- Presidents :

ROBERT MacADAM, Esa. Pror. E. A. LETTS, Ph.D.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa, J.P. JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esa., F.G.S.
@reasurer :

JOHN BROWN, Esa.,

dibrarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, Ksa., J.P.

Secretary:
ROBERT M. YOUNG, Esa., B.A.,

Council :
PROFESSOR KE. A. LETTS, Pu. D.
PROFESSOR R. O. CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
W. H. PATTERSON, Esq., M.R.I.A.
ROBERT MacADAM, Ksq.
PROFESSOR J. C. EVERETT, F.R.S.
R. L. PATTERSON, Esq., J.P., F.L.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Ksq., J.P.
ROBERT YOUNG, Hsa., C.E.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esq., F.G.8.
JOHN BROWN, Esq.
J. H. GREENHILL, Esq., Mus. Bac.
JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Esa.
WILLIAM SWANSTON, Ksg.,_F.G.S.
JAMES WILSON, Esq., M.E.
R, M. YOUNG, Esq., B.A,

32

SHARHEHODLDEHES.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares].

*Alexander, James, J.P. (Representatives of), Holywood.

Allen, R. H., Mus. Bac., College Green,

Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrews, Elizabeth, College Gardens,

Andrews, George, Ardoyne,

Andrews, Samuel, J.P., Seaview,

Archer, Henry, Orlands, Carrickfergus.

Barbour, James, Ardville, Marino.
*Batt, Thomas G..(Representatives of), Stranmillis,
Bland, Robert H., Woodbank, Whiteabbey.

Bottomley, Henry H., Hughenden, Fortwilliam Park,

*Bottomley, William, J.P.,

Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street,

Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield,
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road,
Bristow, James R., The Park, Dunmurry.

Brown, John Shaw, J.P., Edenderry House,

Brown, John, Jun., Bedford Street,

Brown, William K., Rushmere,

Burden, Henry, M.D., Alfred Street,

Burnett, John R., Martello House, Holywood.

Calwell, Alex. M‘D., College Square North,
*Campbell, Miss Anna, Howard Street,
Campbell, John, Lennoxvale,

Carson, John, Church Lane,

*Charley, John (Representatives of), Finaghey,
*Charters, John (Representatives of),

Clarke, Edward{H., Elmwood, House,
*Claremont, Lord, Ravensdale Park, Newry.
Coates, Victor, J.P., Rathmore, Dunmurry.

Belfast.

Belfast.
do.
do.

Belfast.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.

33

Connor, Charles C., Nottinghill House, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calender Street, do.
Cuming, James, M.A., M.D., Wellington Place, do.

Cunningham, Robt. O., M.D., F.L.S., College Gardens, do.

*Deramore, Lord, D.L., Belvoir Park, do.
*Donegall, Marquis of.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle.

Drennan, John S., M.D., Prospect Terrace, Belfast.
*Drummond, Dr. James L. (Representatives of), do.
Duffin, Charles, J.P., Strandtown Lodge, do.
Emmerson, William, Donegall Quay, do.
Everett, Joseph D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Lennoxvale. do.
Ewart, Lavens M., J.P., Glenbank House, do.

Ewart, William, J.P., M.P., Glenmachan House, Strandtown.
Ewart, William Quartus, Schomberg, Strandtown.

Fagan, John, M.D., F.R.C.S.I., Glengall Place, Belfast.
*Fenton, Samuel G., J.P., Windsor, do.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do.
Finlay, William Laird, Arlington, Windsor, do.
Finlay, William Laird, Jun. (Representatives of), do.
Fitzgerald, Professor Maurice, Botanic Avenue, do.

Forsythe, Robert H., Holywood.

*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), Belfast.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Broughton Maxwell, Manchester.
Gordon, Alexander, M.D., Fitzroy Avenue, Belfast.

‘Gordon, Robert W., J.P. Summerfield, Dundonald.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A., Broughshane, Bally-

mena.
Gray, William, M.R.I.A., Mountcharles, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., Mus. Bac., Richmond Terrace, do.

Greer, Thomas, J.P., Seapark, Carrickfergus.

*Hamilton, Hill, J.P.( Representatives of), Mountvernon, Belfast.
Hamilton, Sir James, J.P. (Representatives of), do.

34
Harland, Sir E. J., Bart., J.P., Ormiston, Strandtown, Belfast.

Heburn, William, Clonard Mill, do.
Henderson, Miss Anna S., Windsor Terrace, do.
Henderson, James, A.M., Norwood Tower, Strandtown, do.
Henderson, Robert, High Street, do.

*Henry, Alexander, Manchester.
Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.

*Herdman, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, do.
Hind, James (Representatives of), do.
Hind, John, J.P., do.
Hind, John, Jun., College Street South, do.
Hodges, John F., M.D., F.C.S., J.P., Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.

Holford, Thomas & Arthur, Cern Abbas, Dorsetshire.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., D.L., Orangefield, Belfast.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Livingstone Terrace, do.

Inglis, James, Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.

Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Altona, Strandtown, Belfast.
Jaffé, John, J.P., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Jaffé, Otto, Canadian Villas, Strandtown, do.

* Johnson, Sir William G., J.P., D.L., College Square North, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.

Keegan, John J., Brooklyn, Holywood.

Kennedy, James, Richmond Lodge, Belfast.
Kennedy, William, College Park East, do.
*Kinghan, Rev. John, Altona, Windsor, do.
Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.

Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, J.P. , Edgecumbe, Belfast.
eae F.R., Ulster Bank, do.

Letts, Prrofosseiti A., Ph.D., F.C.S., Viewmount, Windsor, do.
Lyle: David B., University Square, do.

35

*Macrory, A.J. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Malcolm, Bowman, Richmond Crescent, do.
Meharg, James, Ardlussa, do.
*Mitchell, George T. (Representatives of), do.
Mitchell, W. C., J.P., Ardilea, do.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain House, do.
Moore, James, J.P. (Representatives of), Craigavad.

Moore, James, College Gardens, Belfast.
*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P. (Representatives of), do.
Mulholland, John, J.P., D.L., Ballywalter Park.

Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, Belfast.

Murney, Henry, M.D., J.P., Donegall Square South, do.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.

*Murphy, Joseph John, Osborne Park, Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, J.P., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert, College Square East, do.

*M‘Calmont, Robert, London.

*M‘Cammon, Thomas, Dublin.

M‘Cance, Finlay, J.P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.

*M‘Cance, J. W. S. (Representatives of), Suffolk, Dunmurry.

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., V.L., Belmont, Belfast.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of), Donegall Square, do.
M‘Gee, James, High Street, do.
M‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, Clifton Park Avenue, do.
*Macllwaine, Mrs. Jane (Representatives of), Ulsterville, do.
*Macllwaine, John H., Brandon Villa, Strandtown, do.
MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen’s Elms, do.
M‘Neill, George Martin, Beechleigh, Windsor, do.
Neill, John R., Roseville, Windsor, do.

Patterson, David C., Craigavad.
Patterson, Edward Forbes, Holywood.

36

Patterson, Mrs. M. E., Ardmore Terrace, Holywood.

Patterson, Richard, J.P., Kilmore, Holywood.

*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.P., F.L.S., Croft House, Holywood.

Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., Garranard, Strandtown,
Belfast.

Patterson, William R., College Park East, Belfast.
Pim, Edward W., Elmwood Trrace, do.
*Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Porter, Drummond, Botanic Avenue, do.
Purdon, Thomas Henry, M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Purser, Professor John, M.A., M.R.I.A., Queen’s College, do.
Rea, John Henry, M.D., Great Victoria Street, do.
Riddel, William, J.P., Beechmount, do.
Ritchie, William B., M.D., J.P., The Grove, do.
Robertson, William, J.P., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, St. James’ Crescent, do.
Rowan, John, York Street, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, Castleton Park, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Prospect Terrace, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., Hopefield, do.
Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do.
Smith, Travers, Sandymount, do.
Smyth, John, Jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.

Steen, Robert, Ph.D., Academical Institution, Belfast.
Suffern, John, Windsor, do.
Suffern, William (Representatives of), do:
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

*Tennent, Robert James, J.P., D.L. (Representatives of),
Rushpark, Belfast.

Thomson, Charles, College Gardens, Belfast.

*Thompson, James, J P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.

*Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of).

37

Thompson, Robert, J.P. (Representatives of, Fortwilliam Park,

Belfast.
*Thompson, William (Representatives of), :
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H., Edenmore, Whiteabbey.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of),

Valentine, G. F., The Moat, Strandtown,
Valentine, James W., Cromwell Terrace,

Walkington, D. B., Thornhill, Malone.

Walkington, Thomas R., Laurel Lodge, Strandtown,
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank,

Ward, Francis D., J.P., Clonaver, Strandtown,
Ward, Isaac W., Colin View Terrace,

Wilson, James, Old Forge, Dunmurry.

Wilson, John K., Marlborough Park,

*Wilson, Robert M., Dublin.

Workman, Charles, M.D., Newton Terrace, Glasgow.

Workman, Francis, College Gardens,
Workman, John, J.P., Windsor,

Workman, Rev. Robert, Glastry, Kirkcubbin.
Workman, Rev. Robert, Newtownbreda,
*Workman, Thomas, J.P., Craigdarragh,
Workman, William. Nottinghill,

Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., York Street,

Young, Robert, C.E., Rathvarna,
*Young, Robert Magill, B.A., Ardgreenan,

HONORARY ASSOCIATES.

Robinson, Hugh, Clive Villas,

Tate, Professor Ralph, F.G.S., F.L.S., Adelaide,

Australia.

Belfast.

Belfast.

do.
do.

Belfast.
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.

Belfast.
do. .

Belfast,
do.
do.
do.

Belfast.
do.

Belfast.
South

38
ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS.

Bruce, James, J.P., D.L., Thorndale House, Belfast.

Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.

Corry, Sir James Porter, Bart., J.P., M.P., Dunraven, Windsor,
Belfast.

Craig, James, J.P., Craigavon, Strandtown.

Dunville, Robert G., J.P., D.L., Redburne, Holywood.

Glass, James, Carradarragh, Windsor, Belfast.
Graham, O. B., J.P., Larchfield, Lisburn.

Lowenthal, J., Ashley Avenue, Belfast.
Lynn, William H., C.E., R.H.A., Crumlin Terrace, do.
Marsh, John, Glenlyon, Holywood.

Matier, Henry, J.P., Dunlambert, Fortwilliam, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forrest, Royal Terrace, do.
Mulholland, J. R. T., J.P., Northumberland Street, do.
Murray, Robert, Corporation Street, do.
M‘Auliffe, George, J.P., Southbush, Greenisland.

Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace, Belfast.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.

Pring, Richard W., Firmount, Fortwilliam Park, Belfast.

Reade, Robert H., Wilmont, Dunmurry.

Redfern, Professor Peter, M.D., F.R.C.S.L., Lower Crescent,
Belfast.

Rogers, John, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.

Ross, William A., The Ivies, Craigavad.

Stannus, A. C., Greenisland.

Taylor, Sir David, J.P., Bertha, Windsor, Belfast.

Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., Drum House, Dunmurry.

Tate, Alexander, C.E., Longwood, Whitehouse.

Watt, R., C.E., Victoria Street, Belfast.
Webb, Richard T., Greenisland.
Wolff, G. W., The Den, Strandtown, Belfast.

Young, Samuel, Huntly Villas, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.

39

LIST OF BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE YEAR.

ADELAIDE.—Transactions, Proceedings and Report of the Royal
Society of South Australia, 1885. The Soctety.

BERLIN.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde. Vol.
127 NOSs 4y,55 05-7509, LO, Teoh, VOL. taaeNOs, 1, 25

3, 4, 1886. The Soctety.
BotoGna.—Rendiconto delle sessioni delle, R. Accademia della
Scienze, 1884-85. The Society.

Boston, U. S. A.—Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural
History. Vols. 22 and 23, 1884-85. The Soctety.

Science Observer. Vol. 4, 47, no. II. The Eattor.

BrEMEN.—Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenchaftlichen Vereine.
Vol. 9, part 2, 1885; part 3, 1886. The Society.

BrESLAU.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie, (new series), part 10,
1885. The Soczety.

BRIGHTON.—Inaugura] Addresses, Brighton and Sussex Natural
History Society, 1884-85. The Society.

Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex Natural
History Society, 1885. The Soctety.

BrussELs.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de
Belgique. Vol. 24, part 1, 1885. The Society.

Comptes-Rendu de la Société Entomologique, 3rd series,
mes. 57 to 72; 1985. The Soctety.

Comptes-Rendu de la Société Royale de Botanique de
Belgique. Vol. 24, part 1, 1885. The Soczety.

40

BRUSSELS— Continued.
Annales de la Société Malacologique de Belgique. Vol.
13, 18785.14,.1879.; 15, 1880; 18, 1883: 19) 1684.
Proces Verbaux des Séances. Vol. 14, 1885.
é The Society,

Buenos Ayres.—Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Actas. Vol.
5, part 2, 1884; Boletin, Vol. 8, parts 2 and 3, 1885.
The Soctety.

CatcuTTa.—Geological Survey of India, (Palaeontologica
Indica), series 4, vol. 1; series 10, vol. 4; series Io,
vol. 3, parts 7 and 8 ; series 13, part 4, fas. 5; series
13, vols, 1 and 5; series 14, vols. 1 and 3, 1885.
Records vol. 18, parts 2, 3 and 4; records vol. 19, parts
1 and 2; Memoirs, vol. 21, parts3 and 4. The Survey.

CamprincE#, U. S. A.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 11, no. 11, 1885 ; vol. 12, no. I, 2, 3,
4, 1886 ; Annual Report, 1884-85. The Soczety.

-CarpiFF.—Report and Transactions of the Naturalists’ Society.
Vol. 16, 1884-85. The Soctety.

Corposa.—Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias. Actas
vol. 5, part 1, 1884; vol. 7, part 4,1885. The Soczety.

CHRISTIANIA.—Forehandlinger i Videnakabs Selskabet, for 1884.
Do. Do. 1885.
The Soctety.

Danzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. New
Series, 6th book, parts 2, 3, 1885-86. The Soctety.

Dusiin.—Royal Dublin Society’s Transactions. Vol. 3, series 2,
parts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1884-85 ; Proceedings, vol. 4,
parts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1884-85 ; Proceedings, vol. 5, parts
I, 2, 1886. The Society.

‘Epinsurcu.—Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical
Society. Vol. 15, part 2, 1a vol. 16, part 1, and 2,
1886, The Sees.

4t

EMDEN.—Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 69th year, 1883-84;
70th year, 1884-85. The Soctety.

EssEx.—Transactions Essex Field Club. Vol. 4, part 1, 1885.
Journal of Proceedings, 1885 ; Appendix. The Soczety.

FLORENCE.—Bulletino della Societa Entomologica Italiana,
Trimestri, I, 2, 3, 4, 1884; Statuto, 1885. The Soczety.

GeENoA.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazioni
SCleMmuMChe: NNO -O. EasG.)) 14.24 Judas, 0; TSO5
anno 9, 2° Semestre, (/asc.), 6, 1885 ; supplement to
(fasc.)s anno 9, 1° Semestre, (/asc.), 1, 2, 1886.

GIFSSEN.—Oberhessischen Gesslleschaft for Natur-und Heil-
kunde, 23 vol, 1884. The Society.

GLascow.—Proceedings and Transactions of the Natural
History Society. Vol. 5, part 3, 1882-83; vol., 1,
(N.S.) part 2, 1883-4-5. Index, vols. 1 to 5, 1 1884
and 2 1886. The Soctety.

Proceedings Philosophical Society. Vol. 16. The Soczety.

Ko.ozsvart.—Magyar Novenytani Lapok. (8 évfolyam), 1884,
and (9 évfolyam), 1885. The Society.

LAUSANNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Natur-
elles. znd series, vol. 21, no. 92, 1885 and no. 93,

1886. The Soctety.
LeEIpzic.—Sitzungsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft,
11th year, 1885. The Soczety.

LIvVERPOOL.—Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical
Society. Vol. 38, for 1883 and 1884. The Soctety.

Lonpon.—Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Series .
2, VOl. bs patts lee, 4, 4.5, aaa. O, Leos ; series 2 vol.
6, parts 1 and 2, 1886 ; 49a index, The Society.

a
LonDoN— Continued.

Zoological Society’s Proceedings. Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4,

1885. j The Society.
Illustrations of British Fungi, by M. C. Cooke. Nos. 31
to 41, 1885. Lord Clermont.

On some recently discovered Insecta from Carboniferous
and Silurian Rocks, by Herbert Goss, F.L.S.
The Author.

Ray Society, Allman’s Freshwater Polyzoa, 1856; Cetacea
- 1866; Allman’s Hydroids, part 1, 1871 ; Allman’s
Hydroids, part 2, 1572; M'‘Intosh’s Monograph of the
British Annelids, part 1, The Nemerteans, 1873; part
z, The Nemerteans, continued, 1874.
Lord Clermont.
MANCHESTER.—Transactions of the Manchester Geological
Society. Sessions 1885-86; parts 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
E4515, 16; F753 18,19, 0085-80: The Soczety.

. MELBOURNE.—Proceedings of the Victorian Branch .of Geo-
graphical Society, 1886. The Soctety.

Moscow.—Bulletin de la Société Imperiale Des Naturalistes.
No. 4, 1884. The Soctety.

“New Yorx.—Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
Nos. 1 and 2, 1885. The Society.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 3,
parts 7, 8, 1885.

Transactions of same. Vol. 3, 1885-86; vol. 5, no. 1,
1885-86. - . The Soczety.

Oprssa.—Memoirs of the New Russian Society of Naturalists.
Vol. 9, parts E, 2, 3, 1884, The Soczety.

OsnaBRicK.—Sechster Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaft-
lichen Vereins, 1883-84, 1885. The Soctety.

Fo

Papua.—Bulletin, Societa Veneto Trentina di Scienze Naturali.
Vol. 3, no. 3, 1885 ; Atti, vol. 9, ( Fasc.) 2, 1885.
The Soctety.

PHILADELPHIA (U.S.A.)—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural

melemces. Nos. I, 2,2. 4,, 5,6, 1862's nos, Tt, 2.35 Asn5,

ROOK. tos. I, 2, LSS. | No. 3,.1802 + part 1, 2, 1655.
The Society.

-Pisa.—Atti Della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali Processa
Verbali. Vols. 4 and 5, 1885-87. The Society.

Ricumonp (Indiana, U.S.A.)—Bulletin of the Brookville Society
of Natural History, 1885. The Soczety.

Rio DE JANEIRO.—Conference Faite au Museum National, 1885.
The Soctety.

Romx.—Atti della Realle Accademia dei Lincei. Series 4, vol.
1, parts 10 to 18, and 20 to 26; 27, 28, 1885.
Wo. -Val.2, (/ase.). VT, 3; 5; 0; 730, 9» 10, 1880.
Osservazioni Meteorologiche, 1885. The Soctety.

SONDERSHAUSEN—Irmischia Korrespondenzblatt des Botanischen
Vereins fur Thuringer:)\ Parts 4, °55.6,'7598, 9; 10, 11,
12, WSO5s The Soctety.

_STockHotmM.—Das Gehororgan der Wirbelthiere, von Gustaf
Retzius. Vol. 2, 1884. The Author.
Academia Royale des Sciences Handlunger, (Memoirs).
Vols. 18, 19, 1880, parts I, 2, 1881.
Bihang, (Supplement to the Memoirs). Vol. 6, parts 1,
2; vol. 7, parts 1, 2, 1885 ; vol. 8, parts 1, 2, 1880-84.
Ofversigt, (Bulletin), 1381, 1882, 1883.
Lefnadsteekningar, (Biographies) of Members. Vol. 2,
part 2, 1883. The Soczety.

STUGGTART.—Europaische Fauna oder Verzeichnung der Wir-
belthiere Europa’s. Vol. 1 and 2; by Dr. Heinrich
Schinz, 1840. Lord Clermont.

44

Toronto.—Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. Vol. 2,
part 2, 1884 ; and vol.3, part 3, 1886. The Society.

VENICE.—Notarisia Commentarium Phycologium. Vol. 1, nos.
I and 2, 1886. The Soctety.

ViENNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Ké6niglichen Zoolo-
gischbotanischen Gesellschaft. Vol. 35, 1st half year;
vol. 35, 2nd half year, 1885. The Society.

Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Ké6niglichen Geolo-
gischen Reichsanstalt. No.1 to 18, 1885; no. 1 to 16,
1886. The Society.

Annalen des Kaiserlich K6niglichen Naturhistorischen
Hofmuseums. Band 1, nos. 1, 2, 1886. The Soctety.

Mittheilungen des Ornithologischen Vereins. Nos. 1
to 18, and. 20 to 32, 1885; 1 no. 1886; Section fur
Geflugelzucht, 2nd year, nos. I to 26. The Soctety.

Warwickx.—Annual Report of the Warwickshire Natural His-
tory and Archaeological Society, 1884-85.

The Soczety.

Proceedings of the Warwickshire Naturalists’ and Arch-

aeologists’ Field Club, 1884. The Club.

WASHINGTON.—Report of the Department of Agriculture, 1884.
The Department.

Geological Survey. 4th Annual Report, 1882-83.
The Survey.
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Vols. 24 and
25, 1885 ; Annual Report, 1883. The Society.
Bureau of Ethnology. 2nd Annual Report, 1880, 1881,
1883 ; 3rd Annual Report, 1881, 1882, 1884.
The Soctety.

ZurRicH.—Vierteljahrschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.
26th year, 4 parts, 1881 ; 27th year, 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts,
1882 ; 28th year, 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts, 1883 ; 29th year,
I, 2, 3 and 4 parts, 1884. The Society,

ty en aii migra

SS ee inn a

fe

if

"

.

a

‘.

ifs
rats ote
styeat can

i

+
Cate

a
f

’

stat

See an -