5- ' •• % % t /V ' ' d [■ -• I « v<'' ’, J ■ : \ ■fi: ■ ‘H’ <- ,> • • V' d A ■Jb ^ r- ^ ■ s \ '} f ^ • j' I t <> ■■■■'^ ■ -■ » ;i irjii Porfesfjire pi)ilosopi)ical SotiftS" I ANNUAL REPORT FOFv MDCCCLV. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL or THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY MDCCCLV. PRESENTED TO THE ANNUAL MEETING, FEBRUARY, 1866. YORK: H. SOTHERAN, BOOKSELLER, CONEYSTREET. 1856. X I TRUSTEES OF THE YORKSHIRE MUSEUM, APPOINTED BY ROYAL GRANT. CHARLES WILLIAM, EARL FITZWILLIAM. THOMAS PHILIP, EARL HE GREY. HON. AND VERY REV. HENRY HOWARD, D. D. SIR WILLIAM LAWSON, BART., F. S. A. ROBERT DENISON, ESQ. REV. WILLIAM VERNON HARCOIJRT, F. R. S. PATRONESSES or THE HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. H. R. H. THE DUCHESS OF KENT. PATRONS. THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, F. R. S. EARL OF CARLISLE, F.R. S. EARL FITZWILLIAM, E. R. S. LORD FEVERSHAM. OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY, 1856. PRESIDENT : Earl Fitzwilliam, F. R. S. VICE-PRESIDENTS : Lord Londesborough, F. R. S. Rev. C. Wellbeloved. John Phillips, F. R. S. Harry Stephen Thompson. John Ford. Rev. Canon Hey. Chas. W. Strickland. Rev. W. V. Harcourt, F. R. S. TREASURER : William Gray, F. G. S. COUNCIL : Elected 1854. . . .Thomas Barstow. Wm. Whytehead. Geo. Dodsworth. Wm. Procter. Elected 1855. . . .Wm. Anderson. Rev. Thos. Bayly. Rev. Thos. Myers. John Kitching. Elected 1856. . . .The Lord Mayor. H. P. Cholmeley. G. F. Jones. G. H. Seymour. 6 OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. SECRETARIES : Rev. J. Kenrick. Thos. Allis. ASSISTANT SECRETARY: Edw. Charleswouth. CURATORS : Mineralogy . Comparative Anatomy . . British Ornithology . . Insects and Crustacea . . Antiquarian Department . Library and Manuscripts . Observatory & Meteorology, under the Care of a Committee consisting of . William Procter. Thomas Allis. W. Rudston Read, F. L. S. Rev. Canon Hey. Rev. Charles Wellbeloved. Rev. J. Kenrick. (The Rev. W. V. Harcourt, F.R. S. T. S. Noble. Wm. Gray, F. G. S. j John Ford. 'Rev. Canon Hey. KEEPER OF THE MUSEUM: Edward Charlesworth, F. G. S. SUBCURATOR OF THE MUSEUM & GARDENS : Henry Baines. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Feb. 5, 1856. In presenting to the Annual Meeting the Report for the past year, the Council will first relate the ordinary operations of the Society, and then advert to the results of some important changes in its Laws, which have been carried into effect within the year. Numerous and valuable additions have been made during the past year to the Natural History Collections, both by donation and by exchange. Mr. Joseph Clark, of Cincinnati, who seldom allows a twelvemonth to pass without some proof of the interest which he takes in the progress of the Society’s Collections, has sent various American fossils and recent fresh¬ water shells, in extension of the beautiful series of specimens given by him in former years. A cast of the celebrated Plesiosaurus Macrocephalus belonging to the Earl of Ennis¬ killen, has been received from the Hull Philosophical Society in exchange for a duplicate specimen of the skull and horns of the extinct Irish Deer. The Committee of the York Medical School have presented a very perfect specimen of the skull of the Bos longifrons of Owen, found in digging a canal near Pocklington ; and Mr. Sharpin, a portion of the thigh bone of the Deinornis, or great extinct wingless bird of New Zealand — a valuable addi¬ tion to the casts of bones of this bird, previously presented by the Council of the College of Surgeons. From H. P. Cholmeley, 8 REPORT OF THE Esq., have been received various teeth and bones from the Kirkdale Cave, w^hich will he very acceptable to the Society, as this celebrated cave has long ceased to furnish specimens to the palaeontologist. Mr. Wood, of Richmond, has presented additional examples of the remarkable Encrinite discovered by him in the Mountain Limestone of that district.* An eminent foreign naturalist, M. de Koninck, by whom it has been described and figured, regards it as constituting a new genus, for which he proposes the name Woodocrinus. From Mr. Wood the Society has also received in exchange a remarkable fossil fish, probably of an undescribed species, from the Magnesian limestone of Ferry Hill. To Mr. Leckenby, of Scarborough, the Society is indebted for a beautiful specimen of the rare fossil fern, Orthopteris Beanii, from the oolitic shale of Gristhorpe ; to Mr. Bainbridge, junior, for a semi-fossil bone of a large whale from the neighbourhood of Selby ; and from the Rev. Geo. Row it has received in exchange a new species of Trigonia from the oolitic iron-stone of Marsk, a locality which promises to yield other novelties to the collector. The Zoological Department has been enriched by a donation from Win. Hewitson, Esq., of a beautiful and valuable collec¬ tion of foreign butterflies, all named and in high preservation. John Lister, Esq., of Doncaster, has presented, through Mr. O. A. Moore, a remarkable specimen of the gigantic sponge (Raphiopliora patera) commonly called Neptune’s Cup.” This sponge fills an important gap in the Society’s collections, as it is a recent species, presenting important points of agreement with some of the fossil sponges of Flamborough contained in the Museum. From W. C. Warren, Esq., of Dublin, the Society has received several rare British marine shells ; from Professor Melville, of Queen’s College, Galway, fine examples of Caryophyllia Smithii, and from Mr. James Backhouse, the rare and lately discovered British shell Limnaea Burnetti. It has long been a subject of regret with the Council that the visitor to the Natural History Department of the Museum, * See Report for 1S''^2. COUNCIL FOR 1855. 9 was not furnished with any printed Guide, to explain its general arrangement, and to point out those objects of special interest with which it abounds. A Catalogue of a collection so extensive and so varied, however valuable for scientific pur¬ poses, would be too bulky for general use ; but the Council believe that it is practicable to include within the compass of a Manual, a large amount of valuable information. Such a Manual the Keeper of the Museum has kindly undertaken to prepare, in conjunction with the Curators of the different departments, and the Council hope that it will be printed when that season of the year arrives, which usually brings an increase of visitors to the Museum. To the department of Antiquities few additions have been made during the past year. Some coins have been added to the cabinet by Members of the Society, but none of such a character as to require particular notice. From Lawrence Williams, Esq., of Pule Hill Hall, have been received the mummy of an ibis and some portions of a human mummy. From Lady Frankland Kussell and the Yorkshire Antiquarian Club, the umbo of a shield and the head of a lance, with some remains of Roman and Saxon pottery, found in a tumulus at Sowerhy, near Thirsk. To Mr. Thomas, of York, the Society is indebted for the donation of a Roman leaden coffin, lately discovered in his brickyard in Layerthorpe, near the spot in which, a few years ago, a Roman stone coffin was found, now in the possession of the Society, with other Roman remains. It lay seven feet below the surface, and from the nails and fragments of wood found with it, appears to have been enclosed in a coffin of that material. It is 5 feet 6 inches long and very narrow, containing a skeleton, at present enveloped in mud, supposed to he that of a young person. It has a leaden lid, but there is no soldering nor any inscription or ornament in any part of it. • In compliance with the request presented to him by the Council of the Society, George J. Jarratt, Esq., of Doncaster, has deposited in the Museum the Roman altar, dedicated to the Dese Matres, found at that place in 1781. It bears an inscription which may be read without difficulty, but the 10 REPORT or THE interpretation of one portion of it has exercised^ hitherto in vain, the ingenuity of several learned antiquaries. The Koman pavement at Oulston, near Easingwold, still remains in the state described in the last Report. The death of the late Sir George Wombwell, and the absence of his successor from England, prevented its removal during the favourable season of the year, but when this returns, the Council will proceed to act upon the permission which they have received to transfer it to the Museum of the Society. Towards the close of the year 1854 the Council were informed that it was intended to destroy the gateway of the ancient Priory of the Holy Trinity, in Micklegate. Desirous to preserve this last relic of the dependent buildings belonging to a religious house, which is connected with the history of York before the Norman Conquest, they addressed a representation to the pro¬ prietor of the ground on which it stood ; but were informed that its preservation was impossible, except on conditions with which it was not in their power to comply. While the Council deeply regret the destruction of another of those monuments which gave to our city its interesting and characteristic appear¬ ance, they may be allowed to congratulate the citizens of York and the lovers of antiquity in general, that so many of these are now secured from destruction, by being included within the precincts of a Society which appreciates their importance and is pledged to their preservation. Among the additions made to the Library in the course of the last year, the largest and most valuable is that of the Philosophical Transactions from the year 1835, the donation of the Rev. Wm. Taylor, P. R. S., an honorary member of this Society, who has promised to present the future volumes as they appear. Lord Londesborough has presented five more numbers of the Miscellanea Graphica, containing engravings of works of Mediaeval art from his Museum, recently enriched by many valuable additions from the collection of Mr. Bernal. This work is curious not only as illustrating the state of art in the middle ages by many exquisite specimens, but as exhibiting the perfection to which chromolithography has attained. Professor Sedgwick has presented a copy of the beautiful and elaborate COUNCIL FOR 1855. 11 work, by himself and Professor M^Coy, on the fossils of the palaeozoic period. The Council have received this present with peculiar pleasure, as an indication of his friendly feeling towards a Society, which has always made it a primary object, to illustrate the Geology of his native county. Since the preparation of this Report, the Society has been honoured by receiving from H. R. H. Prince Albert, a copy of The Natural History of Heeside and Braemar, by the late Dr. Win. Macgillivray ; the manuscript of which was purchased by the Queen from the family of the author, and has been printed by her Majesty’s command. The publication of a second part of the Papers read before the Society has afforded an opportunity of effecting an exchange with other bodies which publish reports of their proceedings. One of these is the Church Architectural Society of the Counties of York, Lincoln, and the Archdeaconry of North¬ ampton, whose objects, as far they embrace the illustration and preservation of antiquities, correspond with our own. As the papers communicated to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society will not furnish for some time to come, the materials of another volume, it is the intention of the Council to intro¬ duce into the Annual Report, instead of the mere titles hitherto given, short abstracts of these papers, which will furnish to non-resident members information respecting the proceedings at our monthly meetings. The Council have observed, with regret, the limited use made of the Library by the members of the Society, who, as a body, are probably little acquainted with the number and value of the works which it contains. They have therefore determined to print the alphabetical part of the Catalogue, which they hope may appear in the course of the next few months, and which will afford to those members who have no opportunity of personally inspecting the library, the means of exercising a privilege which now is almost nominal. The following Meteorological Register has been received from Mr. Ford, by whom the series of observations is carried on. 12 REPORT OF THE METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, YORK, 1855. BAROMETER. RAIN. THERMOMETER. Nights at or below 32® Prevailing "Wind. -4^ CO O bO a Lowest. i Mean. Aver. Max. Aver. Min. Mean Temp. i Highest. Lowest. Inches. Days i Jan. 30*636 29*734 30*1168 •97 6 38*7 30*8 34*7 50 22 21 1 iN.&N.W. ! Feb. 30*208 29*320 29*7646 1*48 9 31*2 20*7 25*9 36 1*5 28 N. E. Mar. 30*538 28*650 29*6062 1*18 5 41*6 31*1 36*3 49 23 21 Various. April 30*634 29*098 30*0146 *18 2 51*6 35*1 43*3 65 26 11 I N. & E. May 30*328 29*444 29*7987 *88 9 54*0 37*7 45*8 75 25 7 N. &N.E. June 30*464 29*154 29*9006 2*04 14 63*2 46*9 55*0 78 38 — 1 Southerly. July 30*214 29*506 29*8068 4*10 15 68*0 51*7 59*8 77 46 — S. & W. Aug. 30*344 29*526 29*8735 3*20 9 66*4 52*2 59*3 75 43 — W. Sep. 30*624 29*472 30*0683 •26 5 60*8 45*2 53*0 69 33 — N. &E. Oct. 30*210 28*592 20*5216 2*90 19 53*2 40*6 46*9 67-5 28*5 8 s.w.&w. Nov. 30*414 29*438 29*9759 1*16 15 43*8 35*8 39*8 52*5 23*5 7 N. E. Dec. 30*358 28*926 29*7879 *95 9 37*8 28*7 33*2 47 19 22 N. & W. 29*8529 19*30 117 44.41 125 The Meteorological Register for the year 1855 exhibits a a lower mean temperature than that of any year in the last quarter of a century. Every month except August was below a mean. The average annual temperature for York, for a period of twenty years, is 47°5 ; for the last ten years, 47°2, and for the year 1855, 44°4. The day of lowest temperature was Feb. 16, when the thermometer denoted + 1°5. The day of highest temperature was June the seventh, 78® ; the range for the year being 76®5. The mean temperature for February was 25®9, being twelve degrees below a mean, and unprecedented in the registration of the Society. The amount of rain has again been below a mean. The quantity registered for the year is 19*8 inches. COUNCIL FOR 1855. 1:1 The annual mean for 20 years is . 24’2 inches. „ „ for the last 10 years . . 23’3 „ „ „ for the last 5 years . . 2T5 „ This series might lead to the conclusion that the annual amount of rain was decreasing in the plain of York, were it not for the compensations to be looked for in a longer series. The range in the amount of rain falling at York is very exten¬ sive, varying from 36 inches in 1848 to 18 inches in 1850. The annexed table exhibits a condition in regard to the prevalent winds, quite coincident with the diminished tempera¬ ture of the year. In 1854, there were 154 days of W. and S. W. winds against only 102 in 1855. The Gentiana verna flowered on the 18th of May against the 18th of April, 1854. Two thunder storms were noticed in June ; four in July ; and one on the 7th and one on the 8th August, a period, as we have formerly observed, of the almost regular occurrence of electrical display. The instruments in the Observatory have been kept in order by Mr. T. Cooke. Transits have been observed and true time registered. RAIN TABLE FOR 1855. Scarbro’. Huggate. Middleton. York. Wheldrake. Ackworth. Doncaster. Bradford. Sheffield. Settle. Todmorden. Jan. 1-19 0-75 0-90 0-97 0-43 0-44 1-66 0-77 0-59 0-63 0-28 Feb. 2-51 0-13 2-50 1-48 1-94 2-16 1-37 0-82 2-64 0-86 0-20 Mar. 1-51 0-87 1*80 1-18 1-25 1-09 1-35 0-47 1-93 2-74 1-89 April 0-33 0-50 0-39 0-18 0-32 076 0-41 1-05 0-74 0-98 0-75 May 1-30 1-38 1-52 0-88 1-19 1-53 1-19 1-06 1-38 0-79 2-09 June 3-36 2-37 2-73 2-04 1-85 1-30 1-52 3-25 3-33 4-19 1-74 July 3-03 5-13 5-79 4-10 2-95 6-06 4-56 2-73 3-50 2-97 1-42 Aug. 1-75 2-37 1-73 3-20 3-25 1-54 0-98 2-45 1-27 2-56 0-81 Sept. 0-33 0-37 0-35 0-26 0-34 0-48 0-47 0-64 0-99 0-70 0-26 Oct. 3-93 4-25 4-12 2-90 2-96 4-53 3-91 6-68 5-32 6-58 7-89 Nov. 2-29 2-25 1-93 1-16 109 0-74 1-04 1-12 0-88 1-47 1-74 Dec. 3-11 2-38 1-97 0-95 0-98 0-70 0-57 1-13 0-78 1-88 1-75 24-64 22-75 25-73 19-30 I8-55 21-33 19-03 22-17 23-35 26.35 20-82 t 14 REPORT OF THE The Provincial Medical Association of England met ao-ain O o in York in August last^ and on this occasion, as on that of their previous meeting in 1841, the Council gladly acceded to their request to be allowed to hold their sittings in the Library and Theatre of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The members of the Association inspected with much in¬ terest the Roman sui’gical instruments which are preserved in the Society’s Museum, and which they had an oppor¬ tunity of comparing with the engravings of similar in¬ struments discovered in Herculaneum, and Pompei, and figured in the dissertation of the Cavaliere Vulpes.* With that friendly feeling which they ^vill always entertain towards every Society which has for its object either the discovery of truth or the diffusion of knowledge, the Council opened its collections to the members of the Yorkshire Union of Institutes, which met here in the month of May under the presidency of Lord Goderich. By an arrangement with the York Horticultural Society, a Flower Show was held in the grounds of the Museum, on the 3rd and 4th of July. The display of flowers was very brilliant, the weather was auspicious, and nearly 4000 persons were present. The Treasurer’s accomits will show that the result was in a small deorree bene- O ficial to the finances of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. From the register kept at the gates it appears that nearly 4000 persons annually pay for admission : 7000 more are admitted by written orders. The strangers introduced personally by members, though their numbers cannot be accurately ascer¬ tained, probably exceed those who pay for admission ; and if to these be added the multitudes who throng the Musemn and Gardens on the days of free admission at Whitsimtide, it will be seen how largely our Institution ministers to the instruction and gratification of the public. MTien the new arrangement, sanctioned by the last Amiual Meeting, was made with Mr. Charlesworth, he undertook to give some lectures, bearing on those facts in Natural History which could be illustrated by specimens in the Museum. He * Illustrazione di tutti gli stnimenti chirui’gici scavati in Ercolano e in Pompei, Napoli 1847. COUNCIL FOR 1855. 15 accordingly delivered four evening lectures in successive weeks in the months of October and November. The numerous attendance, which continued undiminished to the close, attested the interest excited by the subject and the ability and success with which it was treated by the Lecturer. The Museum was lighted up for the inspection of the audience at the close of each lecture, and one evening was specially devoted by the Curators of the several departments of Natural History to the illustration of the collections under their charge. The Council look forward with pleasure to the frequent employment of the beautiful theatre of the Museum, for the purpose of scientific instruction. Mr. Procter has commenced a course of Four Lectures on Water, the Atmosphere and their constituents, with illustrative experiments ; other members have promised their assistance, and Mr. Charlesworth is prepared to proceed at the direction of the Council with further lectures in his own branch of science. The Treasurer’s Report shews an excess of £52. 18s. in this year’s expenditure above the receipts, which is to be added to the sum of £56 11s. lid. due to the Treasurer in January, 1855. The receipts at the gate, which have varied in the course of the last ten years between £148 and £212 (not including the year of the Agricultural Meeting)^ amount this year to £160. The receipts from the swimming bath, from the sale of the descriptive account of the Antiquities and the hire of the tent, exhibit an increase compared with last year. The general financial result would have been much more favourable, but for the heavy items of the cost of the Second Part of the Proceed¬ ings, the repairs and painting of the Museum and Cottages in Marygate, and the repairs of the House occupied by Major Mein, amounting together to upwards of £170. It must also be observed that the entrance fee being now spread over three years, the Society will not have derived, till 1857, the whole benefit of the admissions which have taken place in 1855. Although the balance due to the Treasurer, therefore, is large, the Council hope that they shall be able to restore the equilibrium of receipts and expenditure, without neglecting any of the great objects for the promotion of which the York¬ shire Philosophical Society was established. 16 REPORT OF THE The result of the changes in the laws which were made at the last annual meetings and of some new regulations adopted by the Council has been upon the whole very satis¬ factory. The return to the original plan of receiving written orders of admission at the gate has met with general appro¬ bation, and has removed some causes of complaint which formerly existed. By the system of filing the orders it has been found easy to check any infringement of the rule which limits the admissions of each member to one hundred persons. The extension of the hours during which the Museum and Hospitium are kept open through the Summer months, has not only been acceptable to the members of the Society, but has proved a great accommodation to strangers, making a short stay in York. By far the most important of these changes, however, is that which was adopted at a special general meeting, and w^hich allows the entrance money to be spread over three years, instead of being added to the first year’s subscription. To this change, and to the zealous exertions of Mr. Charlesworth, it has been chiefly owing that the accession of new members since the last annual meeting has exceeded the experience of any year, since the first establishment of the Society. Besides Associates and Lady Subscribers, thirty-six new Subscribers (including those elected this day) have been admitted. It is unfortunately true that this increase is in some measure balanced by an unusual number of deaths, resignations and removals during the year 1855 ; but the true mode of estima¬ ting its importance is to consider what the state of the Society’s finances would have been, if this decrease had taken place without any countervailing accession. The total number of members at the commencement of 1855 was 311 ; it is now 328. These accessions have been derived chiefly from residents in York, and the attention of the Council has been anxiously directed to the means of arresting the rapid diminution of county members. For this purpose it was determined to submit to a special general meeting, a proposition that no admission fee should in future be required from candidates residing seven miles from York. This meeting was held on Oct. 3rd, Lord Londesborough in the chair ; and the measure COUNCIL FOR 1855. 17 recommended by the Council was unanimously adopted. A circular letter was subsequently addressed to all the members residing in the county, informing them of this change, and earnestly appealing to them to exert their personal influence in order to effect an object, the accomplishment of which the General Meeting had declared to be essential to the well-being of the Society. The time that has elapsed has been too short to allow of a conclusion as to the ultimate success of this appeal ; but the election of five or six county members which has already taken place is an auspicious beginning, and appears to the Council to warrant the hope of a revival of that zealous support which the Society formerly enjoyed on the part of the inhabitants of the county, and deprived of which it must contract the sphere of its operations, and abandon the high position which it has hitherto maintained. The Council consider the arrangement made with Mr. Charlesworth at the commencement of 1855, in other respects very satisfactory, but since its success, as regards the finances of the Society, is still doubtful, they have for the present only extended it to another year. The Honorary Secretaries offer the continuance of their services for the same period. B 18 THE TEEASUEEE OF THE YOEKSHIEE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN ACCOUNT FOU THE YEAR 1855. RECEIPTS. 1855. £. s. d. Annual Subscriptions and Ai-rears 495 1 0 Admission of New Members . 78 0 0 Composition in lieu of Subscription 25 0 0 Associates . 8 0 0 Ladies’ Subscriptions . 43 0 0 Eents . 101 3 6 Money i-eceived at the Gate . 160 3 8 Swimming Bath (deducting expen¬ ses) . 45 17 3 Keys of the Gates . 36 15 0 Sale of Guide to Antiquities . 15 17 0 Temporai'y Subscribers . 3 0 0 Sale of Proceedings . 0 10 0 Horticultural Show . 14 16 7 Use of Tent . 17 0 0 Total Income . 1044 4 0 Excess of Expenditure . 52 18 0 ^1097 2 0 Permanent Debt : Yorkshire Insurance Company . £1900 0 0 Five Members at £50 each . 250 0 0 2150 0 0 Balance due to the Treasurer Jan. 1856 109 9 11 Total Debt of the So¬ ciety, Jan., 1856 .. £2259 9 11 EXPENDITURE. mx. 1855. £. s. d. £. s. d. Crown Rent . 1 0 0 Rent to Corporation .... 51 11 3 Rates and Taxes . 4 8 6 Insurance & Water Rent 11 6 0 68 5 9 Salaries and Wages : Keeper of the Museum and Assist. Secretary 200 0 0 Sub- Curator . 100 0 0 Servant . 20 0 0 Lodge Keeper . 20 0 0 Labourers . 152 17 0 Clerk, half year due Feb., 1855 . 12 10 0 Collector . 5 0 0 Attendant, Hospitium 7 16 0 518 3 0 Intei'est on Debt to Dec. 31, 1855 : Insurance Company . . 71 2 1 Museum Gardens, &c. : General Repairs . 153 2 9 Purchase and Prepara- tion of Specimens . . 11 5 6 164 8 3 Library, Books and Binding . 32 8 8 Publication of Pi’oceedings 83 2 0 Incidental Expenses ; Printing, Advertising, and Stationei’y .... 29 5 9 Coals and Gas . 75 2 9 Postage, Carriage, and Sundries . 55 3 9 ' 159 12 3 Total Expenditure . . . . . . £1097 2 0 Permanent Debt : Yorkshire Insurance Company . 1900 0 0 Due to Five Members £50 each . 250 0 0 2150 0 0 Due to Treasurer Jan., 1855 . 56 11 11 Total Debt of Society, Jan., 1855 . 2206 11 11 Excess of Expenditure 1855 . 52 18 0 £2259 9 11 Feb. 4th, 1856, Audited by me, WM. L. NEWMAN. WILLIAM GRAY, Treasurer. 19 MEMBERS ELECTED SINCE FEB., 1855. 1 8 5 5. Agar, John, Brookfield. Bagley, Richard, York. Bainbridge, John, jun., York. Brown, James, Rossington, Bawtry. Cattle, Miss, York. Collier, William, York. Cookson, Edw. B., York. Coultas, John, York. Dale, Robt., York. Farrar, Jas. W., Inglehorough. Greenwood, Wm., York. Hill, Samuel, North and East Riding Asylum. Hotham, Capt., York. Jackson, Henry, F. R. C. S., Sheffield. Matthews, John, M. D., York. Milbanke, Lady, York. Noble, Thos. S., York. Palmer, Rev. H. V., York. Phillips, Mrs. Thomas, York. Porter, Septimus, York. Prance, Robt. R., York. Pritchett, J. B., York. Robinson, Rev. H. G., York. Simpson, J. H., York. Short, Rev. H., York. Smithson, Robt., York. Swaine, Edwd., York. Thompson, Edwin, York. Thompson, H. S., Fairfield. 1856. Copley, Geo., Nether Hall, Doncaster. Creyke, Ralph, Ra?vcliffie Hall, Selby. Lawson, Andrew S., Boroughbridge. Markham, Hy., Robt. Tabor, John, York. Wilkinson, Joseph, York. Wightman, John, York. 20 ALTERATIONS m THE LAWS OF THE SOCIETY, MADE AT SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS, IN 1855. March 6th.—Tliat Rule 1, Section IV., be amended by adding “but a Member, instead of paying £5 on Admission, may pay £3 Sub¬ scription for the first three years.” October 3rd.—- That Rule III., Section lY., be altered so as to stand thus : “ Honorary Members and Contributors of fifteen pounds and upwards to the Building Fund, shall, on becoming Subscribing Members, be exempted from the payment of the admission money of three pounds. Subscribing Members residing seven miles and upwards from Y'ork, and Widows of deceased Members desirous of continuing their Husbands’ Subscriptions, shall also be exempted from the pay¬ ment of admission money.” RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, Feb, 6ih, 1855. 1. That the Report of the Council be adopted and printed for the use of the Members. 2. That the thanks of the Society be given to the Vice-Presidents, and Members of Council retiring from Office, and to the Secretaries and Curators, for their valuable services. 3. That the authority given to the Council last year, with respect to the holding one or more Horticultural Meetings in the Society’s Grounds, and the admission of Strangers and temporary Subscribers, be continued. 21 COMMUNICATIONS TO THE MONTHLY MEETINGS, 1855. April. — The Hev. John Kenrick read the first part of a paper on Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions. Those which are found in Britain are usually brief and chiefly military, and devoid of any beauty of sentiment, though the Society’s Museum contains one of touching simplicity, that on Simplicia Florentina, by her father. The number and length of such records is usually an indication of the extent of the prevalence of the Latin language in any country, and the wealth of its population. Hence, after Rome itself, the North of Italy, the South of Gaul, and the Spanish Peninsula have furnished the largest number of inscriptions. Britain was poor, and the Latin language not widely diffused nor deeply rooted. The Latin sepulchral inscriptions were designed not only to commemorate the age and station of the deceased, but to secure the ground from being claimed by the heirs, to warn passers by against violation, to perpetuate the performance of funereal rites and honours. Besides the light which they throw on manners and sentiments, they illustrate the orthography and etymology of the language, preserving ancient forms, which have been obliterated in MSS., from the tendency of transcribers to accommodate these things to the usage of their own times. Examples were given of the senti¬ ments expressed on Roman tombs, by parents towards children, children towards parents (which are comparatively rare), husbands and wives towards each other ; the latter class indicating, that what¬ ever might be the laxity of morals among the higher orders, or the abuse of divorce, mutual affection and happiness were the general characteristics of the conjugal relation among the Romans. May. — The Rev. John Kenrick concluded his observations on Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions, treating particularly of the indications 22 of religious belief and feeling which they contain. The usual heading of D. M. (Diis Manibus) might seem a proof of the universal belief in the existence of the disembodied spirit, but we know from the Latin writers that such a belief had worn out, and that few had any faith in the separate existence of the soul, or a state of retribution. The sentiment of submission to the Divine will is wholly unknown in the Roman inscriptions. The gods are accused, in no measured terms, for their cruelty in blighting the hopes of parents or interrupting the happiness of matrimony. The only topics of consolation adverted to are, that longer life might have been only a calamity, or that the survivor would soon rejoin those for whom he mourned. Excess of sorrow is forbidden, on the ground that what was suffered was only the common lot of humanity. A remarkable difference is observable between the characters of deceased persons, as delineated on Roman and on Christian monuments. In the former, we find mention made of the erection of a fountain, the dedication of a temple, the bequest of a public legacy ; but none of acts of social benevolence, of a life devoted to the alleviation of misery, or the removal of ignorance. The general conclusion drawn from the indications of the state of religious faith and moral feeling, conveyed by the Roman sepulchral inscriptions was, that the time was fully come when Revelation was needed to prevent mankind from being divided between scepticism and superstition. The principal collections of inscriptions were enumerated, with a caution against the forgeries which have been mischievously obtruded upon the world. June. — A paper by the Rev. John Ward, of Wath, near Ripon, on the encaustic tiles of Jervaulx Abbey, was read by the Rev. J. Kenrick, who prefaced the reading with some remarks on the origin of this manufacture, examples of which have been found at Nemroud, and which was introduced into Spain by the Moors, who may have learnt it from the remains of the Assyrian cities, during the residence of the Caliphs at Bagdad. It was introduced into England in the thirteenth century, and splendid examples of it are found in various churches and chapter houses, but none which equal in beauty and richness those which a few years ago remained at Jervaulx, and of which drawings, on the scale of the original, had been presented to the Society by Mr. Ward. The Abbey was founded in 1166, and the whole pave¬ ment had been laid with encaustic tiles of a great variety of design. Eight large patterns had been introduced in various parts, the drawings of which were exhibited to the meeting. It is remarkable. that there does not appear to be any religious symbolism, either in the design or their arrangement, though Mr. Ward thought that the tiles might contain an allusion to the chequered path of life, and that the narrow course in one part of the church might typify the straight gate and narrow road which lead to heaven. Mr. Pritchett called attention to the revival of the manufacture of encaustic tiles in modern times, especially by Mr. Minton, of the Staffordshire Potteries, and produced a number of patterns of his workmanship, far exceeding in colour and design any remains of mediaeval art. December. — The Rey. J. Kenrick read a paper on the Sarco¬ phagus of a king of Sidon, called Asmunezer, recently discovered in the neighbourhood of that city, and exhibited a facsimile of the inscription, in the Phoenician character, with a transcript in Hebrew and a translation by Dr. Dietrich, Professor at Marburg, in Germany. The first part contains a warning against the violation of the tomb, enforced by a variety of imprecations ; the second, an account of the great works which the king had performed for Sidon, and a supplica¬ tion to the “ Lord of kings” on behalf of its inhabitants. The age of the monument is not easily ascertained, as the name of Asmunezer does not occur in any list of kings, and he dates by his own regnal years. But it is probable that he lived between the conquest of Phoenicia by Cambyses, 526 B.C., and that by Alexander, S32 B.C., therefore during the time when the kings of that country enjoyed their titles and power, though dependent on Persia. The language is closely allied to the Hebrew, and several instances of correspondence between this inscription and the Scriptures were pointed out. January, 1856. — A drawing was exhibited of an altar, recently deposited in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, by Geo. J. Jarratt, Esq., of Doncaster, in whose house it was found in 1781 . By the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Hunter, Y.P. S.A., the Society is enabled to give the annexed wood-cut, originally used in his History of the Deanery of Doncaster. This altar is dedicated to the Dese Matres, goddesses not known in the older Roman Pantheon, but extensively worshipped at a later period in Gaul, Germany and Britain. The inscription has been variously read: Matribus • Magnis • Nonnius • Antonies ob • Romanorum • totam • ALAM • VOTUM * SOLVIT * LUBENS * MERITO * Or MaTRIBUS * MaRCUS * 24 Nantonius * Orbiotalis V. s. l. m., or lastly, by a transposition of the fourth line, to follow the first, as suggested by Mr. C. Roach Smith, Matribus * Orbis • totalis • Marcus Nantonius v. s. l. m. Mr. Procter then read a paper on the result of the examination of a tumulus lately opened at Sowerby, near Thirsk. The investigation was begun by Lady Frankland Russell, and continued by the York¬ shire Antiquarian Club. The tumulus is 140 yards in circumference and 18 feet high. Three male skeletons were found in it, laid E. and W., but two of them with their heads to the E. and one to the W. There were discovered also masses of calcined bones, fragments of Roman pottery, three Roman coins of a late age and a small fragment of Samian ware. Near one of the skeletons was found the boss of a shield of the ordinary Saxon character, seven inches across, composed of iron, the brass rivets still remaining by which it had been attached to the wood. The head of a spear, seven inches in length, lay by the side of this skeleton, and the remains of a knife or dagger of iron across the hip of the second. Portions of broken urns were found 25 beneath the head of the third skeleton ; the jaws of a boar, the antlers of a deer, the tooth of a horse and the bones of other animals were found in different parts of the tumulus. Mr. Procter concluded from the various indications offered by these remains, that the tumulus was neither British nor Roman but Saxon. The boss of the shield was decidedly indicative of a Teutonic tribe ; the spear and the dagger are the usual accompaniments of a Saxon interment, as seen in the Driffield graves opened by the Antiquarian Club. It is true the pottery and the coins are Roman, but the Saxons at this time generally used the Roman pottery, and Roman and Byzantine coins are frequently found in graves, which other circumstances prove to be Saxon. The presence of the bones of animals is an indication of the feasts which our pagan ancestors celebrated over the graves of their dead. The Germans, as we learn from Tacitus, committed the warrior s horse along with his own body, to the flames. The Sowerby tumulus presented traces both of cremation and interment, and Mr. Procter was therefore disposed to refer it to the sixth or seventh century, when cremation, which had been the general practice of the Saxons, began to give way to interment, as practised by the Christians and later Romans. The remains found in the tumulus by Lady Frankland Russell and the Yorkshire Antiquarian Club, have been presented to the Society, and will be placed in its Museum, beside the similar objects derived from the Driffield graves. c 26 DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. GEOLOGY. Committee of York Medical School . Hull Philosophical Society Bainbridge, Mr. John, jun. Cholmeley, H. P., Esq.... Harcourt, Rev. Canon . Leckenby, John, Esq . Sharpin, Mr. S . Statham, Rev. F., (Wal¬ worth ) . Row, Rev. Geo . . ... Wood, Edwd., Esq., (Rich¬ mond ) . j Fossil cranium of Bos longifrons. Cast of the Earl of Enniskillen’s Plesiosaurus macrocephalus (in ex¬ change.) Semifossil bone of a large Whale. Various mammalian Fossils from the Cave at Kirkdale. Various Fossils. Fine example of Orthopteris Beanii from Gristhorpe. Portion of the femur of the Deinornis, from New Zealand. 'i Bulimus ellipticus, from the Isle of 1 Wight. New Species of Trigonia from the Marsk Iron Stone (in exchange.) ) Specimensof the New Encrinite (Wood- ; ocrinus, see p. 8.) Fossil Fish from the Magnesian Lime¬ stone (in exchange.) ZOOLOGY. Clark, Joseph, Esq., ( Cin- \ Additional American Land and Fresh- cinnati) . . . . ) water Shells. Hewitson, W. C., Esq . Collection of Foreign Butterflies. (See page 8.) Lister, John, Esq., (Doji- ) Fine example of Neptune’s Cup Sponge. caster) . ; (See page 8.) Melville, Profr., ( Galway ) Irish examples of Caryophyllia Smithii. Swaine, Edwd., Esq . Specimen of the Blind Worm, in Spirits. Osmant, Miss, ( Cirencester) Specimen of the Sea Mouse ( Aphrodita). Warren,T.W.,Esq.,('BM5/mJ Several rare British Shells. 27 ANTIQUITIES. Davies, Robt., Esq . Harcourt, Rev. Canon . Club, Yorkshire Antiquarian Russell, Lady Frankland ... Meyers, Rev. Thos . Munby, Joseph, Esq . Read, Wm. Rudston . Shann, Dr . Thomas, Mr . Wellbeloved, Rev. C . Williams, Lawrence, Esq. Coin of Canute, and one of Edward the Confessor. A Coin of Henry II. Various objects found in a Tumulus near Thirsk. (See page 9.) Small mediaeval urn, found at Ipswich. A Jetton. Coin of Gallienus III., brass. Various Coins from near Tadcaster. Roman leaden Coffin, containing a Skeleton. (See page 9.) A Penny of Henry III., and a York Half-penny, Samuel Saire, 1669. Mummy of an Ibis, and parts of a human Mummy. Admiralty, Board of . Association, British, for the Advancement of Science Society of Antiquaries, of London . Society, Geological, of Lon¬ don Society, Chemical,of London Society, Royal, of Edinburgh Society, Numismatic . Society, Literary and Phil¬ osophical, of Manchester Society, Llistoric, of Lan¬ cashire and Cheshire . Society, Liverpool, Literary and Philosophical . Liverpool Archseological and Architectural Society ... LIBRARY. Greenwich Astronomical and Magne- tical Observations, 1853. I Report for 1 854. j ArchaBologia, vol. 36. j Quarterly Journal, 1855. Quarterly Journal, for 1855. Transactions, vol. 21, part 1. Proceed¬ ings, 1853 — 54. Proceedings of, for 1 853 — 54. j Memoirs, vol. 12. j Transactions, vol. 7. j Proceedings, 1854 — 5. [ Vol. 1 and vol. 2, part 1. 28 Society, Architectural, of York, Lincoln, North¬ ampton, Bedford, and St. Albans . United States, Patent Office Albert, H. R. H. Prince ... Baker, Mr. J. G. Thirsh ... Charlesworth, Edwd., Esq. Christmas, Rev. Hy . Clark, Joseph, Esq., Cincin- 'j nati . . j Cooper, E. J., Esq . Forbes, Professor J. D., 'j Edinburgh . j Rollings, J.F.jEsq., Leicester Londesborough, Lord Mayer, Joseph, Esq. Rhind, Hy., F. S. A. Sedgwick, Professor Smith, C. R., Esq. . Taylor, Rev. Wm., London Wood, Edwd., Esq., 'Rich¬ mond . . . 5 vols. of Reports and Papers. Reports of the Commissioners of Patents for 1854. The Natural History ofDeeside, by the late Wm. McGillivray. (Seepage 11.) An attempt to classify the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Great Britain, according to their Geognostic Re¬ lations. Hope’s Coleopterist’s Manual. De Koninck on the Encrinites of the Mountain Limestone of Belgium. Letter to the President of the Society of Antiquaries. Lea’s Rectification of the Naides. Markree Catalogue of Stars, vol. 3. The Tour of Mont Blanc and of Monte Rosa. Roman Leicester. A Paper read before the Leicester Literary and Philoso¬ phical Society. Miscellanea Graphica, parts 2 — 6. History of the Art of Pottery in Liver¬ pool. British Antiquities; their present treat¬ ment and their real claims. British Palssozoic Fossils, by Sedgwick and Me Coy (See page 11.) Antiquities of France. On Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, by Thos. Wright, M. A., with a particular reference to the Faussett Collection. Transactions of the Royal Society from 1836 to 1854. (See Page 10.) Memoir by De Koninck, on a new genus of Encrinites. SERIAT. WORKS SUBSCRIBED FOR. A Monograph of the Trochilida) or Humming Birds, by John Gould, F. R. S., (10 parts published). Birds of Australia, by the same, supplementary parts, (2 published). Birds of Asia, folio, by the same, (7 parts published). Churton’s Monastic Ruins of Yorkshire, fob, (6 parts published). Exotic Butterflies, being illustrations of New Species chiefly selected from the Collections of W. Wilson Saunders and W.C. Hewitson. By W. C. Hewitson. (14 Nos. published.) Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, or Geology of the Sewalik Hills in the North of India, by Dr. Falconer and Major Cautley. (Part 1 to 9 of Illustrations, large folio, and part 1 of Letterpress, 8vo.) Proceedings of the Zoological Society, with Plates. Publications of the Palseontographical Society, received in 1855. British Cretaceous Brachiopoda, part 2. Reptilia of the Wealden Formations, part 2. Mollusca of the great Oolite, part 3. British Fossil Corals, part 5. British Fossil Balanidao and Yerrucidm. Fossil Mollusca of the English Chalk, part 2. Fossil Shells of the London Clay, part 3. Publications of the Ray Society. No issue in 1855. Reliquise Antique Eboracenses, by Wm. Bowman, (3 parts published). Sowerby’s Thesaurus Conchyliorum, 8vo. col. plates, (l6 parts pub- blished). PERIODICALS. London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, monthly. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, monthly. The Phytologist, monthly. London Geological Journal, (3 parts published). WORKS PURCHASED. Conchiologia fossile subapennina con osservazioni geologiche sugli Apenini. By G. Brocchi. 2 vols. 4to. Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs. By John Kenrick, M. A. 2 vols. 8vo. Phoenicia. By the same. 1 vol. 8vo.