A • rf t 1 I M-^; ■- ^ ^ ^ ' / «>. ,' ^ I • ^ * <1^ r* . r'-‘ j-a.. f ' i >, > V ,v f I .'. i-' :* • -'V \ ^ I ,* - <”• i > ¥orfe0i)ire ^i)ilosopJ)ifal ^acietg. ANNUAL REPOKT FOK MDCCCLXVIII. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY FOR MDCCCLXVIII. PEESENTED TO THE ANNUAL MEETINO, FEBRUARY 2nd, 1869. YORK; J. SOTHERAN, BOOKSELLER, CONEYSTREET. ] 8 n 9 . « TEUSTEE OF THE YORKSHIRE MUSEUM, APPOINTED BY ROYAL GRANT. EEY. WILLIAM VEENON HAECOUET, F. E. S. PATEONESSES OF THE HEE MAJESTY THE QUEEN. H. E. H. THE PEINCESS OF WALES. PATEONS. H. E. H. THE PEINCE OF WALES. THE AECHBISHOP OF CANTEEBUEY. THE AECHBISHOP OF YOEK. OFFICEES OF THE SOCIETY, 1869. PEESIDENT : His Grace the Archbishop of York. VICE-PEESIDENTS. The Earl of Zetland, K. T. The Lord Londesborough. The Hon. & Yery Eev. The Dean of York. William Eudston Eead, F. L. S. John Phillips, F. R. S. The Eev. W. Y. Harcourt, F. E. S. The Eev. Canon Hey. Thomas Allis, F. L. S. The Eev. John Kenrick, M. A., F. S. A. Robert Davies, F. S. A. W. Procter, M. D., F. C. S. TREASURER : William Gray, F. R. A. S., F. G. S. COUNCIL : Elected . G. Fitch, M. A. S. W. North. William Reed, F. G. S. George Shann, M. D. Elected 1868. .Alderman Weatherley. Rev. Richard Elwyn. Thomas Lockley, M. D. Henry J. Ware. Elected 1869. .The Hon. Pay an Dawn ay. John Ford. W. C. Anderson. J. H. Gibson, M. D. HON. SECRETARY: T. S. Noble, F. R. A. S. 6 OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. CUEATOES : Gteology and Mineralogy . Comparative Anatomy . . British Ornithology . . Insects and Crustacea . . Ethnographical Collection Antiquarian Department . Library . Botany . Observatory&Meteorology, under the care of a Committee consisting of . Wm. Procter, M.D., F.C.S. Thomas Allis, F.L.S. W. Eudston Eead, F.L.S. Eev. Canon Hey. S. W. North. ( Eev. John Kenrick, F.S.A. ( Wm. Procter, M.D., F.C.S. Eev. Gr. Y. Smith, M. A. William Matterson, M. D. Eev. W. Y. Harcourt,F.E.S. W. Cray, F.E.A.S., F.O.S. , John Ford. Eev. Canon Hey. .T. S. Noble, F.E.A.S. SUBCUEATOE OF THE MUSEUM & OAEDENS : Henry Baines. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OV THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Feb. 2nd, 1869. In their Eeport for the year 1868, the Council propose briefly to lay before the Members the present condition and prospects of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Although the Trea¬ surer’s statement to be appended to the Eeport discloses a small amount of expenditure in excess of income, the Council have every reason to congratulate the Members on the continued prosperity of the Society. The Curators of Antiquities have few additions to their Department to record during the past year. The tessellated pavement, transferred from Toft Grreen in 1853 to the lower room of the Hospitium, having been laid down below the level of the floor, had suffered greatly from two inundations of the river. It was determined, therefore, to take it up, and relay it at such a height as to prevent future injury from the same cause. This has been successfully accomplished, and in its new position, the design and execution of this valuable monument of Eoman Art may be better appreciated, than at any time since it came into the possession of the Society. Several silver coins of the class called Counterfeit Sterlings have been added to our Cabinet, of which a detailed notice will be found in the Eeports of the Monthly Meetings. The Anti¬ quarian Department of the library has been enriched by the present of the second volume of the “Sculptiu’ed Stones of Scotland,” by the Spalding Club, and ‘‘ Isca Silurum,” by the author, I. E. Lee, Esq., of Caerleon. Eobert Davies, Esq., has also Idndly presented to the Library a copy of his “ Memoir of 8 REPORT OF THE the York Press,” in which, with his usual accuracy and comprehensiyeness of research, he has established the claim of our city to have been the first place in the pro’vdnces in which the profession of a printer was exercised, and chronicled its productions from the close of the 15th to that of the 18th century. The only additions to the Gteological Department of the Museum, of sufficient importance to deserve notice, are some good specimens of Eocene Tertiaries, presented by Mr. J. F. Walker, and Mr. Barkas’ fish remains from the Low Main Coal Seams. The principal work done has been the naming, remounting, and rearranging of the Eocene Fossils in accord¬ ance with modern classification, and the rearrangement of the whole of the side of the Greological Room occupied by the Tertiary and Cretaceous Fossils, so as to get the deposits in their proper sequence, the tickets indicating the nature of the dej)Osits in each case and on each shelf being also inserted. The Ciu’ator of Comparative Anato:my reports that there has been no addition to the Osteological collection during the past year. The Typical value of our skeleton of Dinornis Robustus, presented to the Museum by Dr.* Gribson, has been remarkably illustrated during the past year. The Illustrated London News of the 8th of February last contained figures of the skeletons of six different species of Dinornis, then mounted and standing in the Canterbury Museum, New Zealand. The bones of which these skeletons are composed had been discovered, assorted and mounted, with much care, labour, and ability, under the auspices of Dr. Julius Haast, Grovernment Greologist for the Province of Canterbury ; but as he had not a typical form to which to refer, en’ors were committed in the construc¬ tion of the skeletons. The sternum was placed too high on the vertebral column, they all wanted the first pair of dorsal ribs, they also wanted a third pair of sternal ribs, and the Scapula coracoids, to which the bones of the wing should have been articulated, if the bird had possessed a ving, which however it did not. A friendly notice of these errors was sent to Dr. Haast, together with such photograplis of oiu’ skeleton as Avould enable COUNCIL FOR 1868. 9 him to correct them ; the communication was received by him in the same friendly spirit in which it was sent, and a letter was received from him expressing his cordial thanks, and accompanied by a copy of the photograph from which the figures in the Illustrated News were taken, together with the promise of another photograph of the same skeletons when restored to their normal condition. Dr. Haast says that 15 specimens of Dinornis were discovered in an area of peaty soil, six feet square and four feet deep ; other skeletons were however found separate ; he only succeeded in prociu’ing one perfect specimen of the Scapula coracoid, though he met with several fragments of that bone. It therefore appears that the Scapula coracoid belonging to our skeleton and the one found by Dr. Haast are the only two ^perfect bones of the kind known to be in existence. The Curator of Entomology reports that during the past year Mr. Dallas has completed the arrangement of a selection of specimens intended to illustrate the different orders, and to show their relation to one another. These have been placed in the gallery of the room containing the Eudston Bead collection of Birds. The general collections in the cabinets are in a fair state of preservation, but they are in much disorder. The rearrangement of them, so as to adapt them to the present state of science, will require much time and labour. The Curator of Botany, and Mr. Baines the Sub-Curator have examined the British Herbaria, presented by Mr. Dalton and Mr. Hailstone, and found them in a good state of preser¬ vation. Mr. Baines has also spent considerable time and labour in examining the Foreign Herbarium, and after removing a few specimens which had been affected by the damp, has left it in a very good condition. A miscellaneous collection of dried Foreign Plants, presented by Giles Munby, Esq., of Algeria, and some by the late S. Stapylton, Esq., from America, which had not been named and arranged, were found to have been attacked by moths. The Curator therefore advised Mr. Baines to destroy those that were thus rendered useless, as the exist¬ ence of the whole foreign Herbarium might have been en¬ dangered by their preservation. The Curator also thinks it 10 REPORT OE THE right to say that the pupils of the York School of Art have the privilege of visiting the Grardens and Conservatory for the pui’pose of drawing from nature as models for designs, and several have availed themselves of the privilege. In the Ornithological Department the Curator has only to repoid the addition of one valnahle specimen, the ‘‘ Little Kestril Hawk, Falco Cenchris” presented by John Hanison, Esq., of Wilstrop Hall, which is added to the Rndston collection. He takes the opportunity of referring to an ‘‘Association for the protection of sea birds on the English coast,” hoping that persons interested in natural history vail give their support to it. The Curators of Astronomical Instruments report that the large Telescope in the Observatory has been remounted equatorially by Messrs. Cooke. A Clock-work movement has been also added, and the instrument is now one of the most perfect of its class. The cost of this improvement has been upwards of £60. The adjustment of this instrument was superintended by our late honorary member and fellow- citizen, Mr. Thomas Cooke, whose death shortly after, at the compar¬ atively early age of 62, the Society in common vith all lovers of Astronomy has to lament. By the subjoined table, prepared by Mr. Ford, it appears that the mean Temperature of York for the year 1868 was 49 ’5 or two degrees above a mean of 30 years. This mean had only been surpassed three times in the last 37 years, viz., in 1831, 1834, 1846. The Thermometer denoted 80° and upwards, tvice in June, six times in July, five times in August, and twice in September. The highest point, 86°, was attained August 6th. The lowest temperature of the year was 24° on the 4th of January, and again on the 29 th of November. The rain-fall was below a mean eight months of the year ; above, in April, September, October, and December. In the last named month, six inches fell, being more than three times the mean of thirty years. This extraordinary amount carried the rain-fall to 25*8 inches, or two inches above a mean. In November and December the variations in barometrical pressui’e were extreme, the range in November being 1*6 inch, and in December 1*4 inch. COUNCIL FOR 1868. 11 METEOEOLOaiCAL EECTSTEE, YOEK, 1868. BAROMETER. RAIN. THERMOMETER. Prevailing Wind. Highest. Lowest. — — " ■ — Mean. Inches. OQ P Average Mx. ' Average Mm. Mean Temp. Highest. Lowest. Jan. 30-260 28-744 29-787 1-45 17 41-5 33-9 38-2 53-5 24 S. & S. W. 17 Feb. 30-538 28-850 29-920 1-33 47-7 37-7 42-6 55-0 26 00 Mar. 30-584 28-942 29-792 1-52 16 49-8 37-2 43-2 60-0 28 „ „ 17 April 30-380 28-772 29-817 1-82 17 54-2 40-2 46-0 64-5 27 S.S.W.&W. 16 May 30-298 29-302 29-884 1-28 8 65-1 47-2 55-3 81-5 35 S. S. W. 21 June 30-390 29-636 30-026 1-26 6 69-0 51-0 59-6 81-0 43 S. S. W. W. 20 July 30-512 29-522 29-975 0-40 2 73-0 54-9 62-9 86-0 46 N. E. 17 Aug.' 30-312 29-050 29-770 2-56 11 69-5 54-9 61-2 85-0 46 S. S. W. W. 18 Sept. 30-498 29-106 29-791 3-24 15 65-0 50-6 56-7 83-0 41 E. S. E. 17 Oct. 30-260 29-014 29-792 2-89 14 52-3 39-6 45-9 58-0 29 S. S. W. 21 Nov. 30-638 28-932 29-913 2-00 17 45-5 35-8 40-5 65-0 24 E. S. E. 19 Dec. 30-012 28-588 29-838 6-07 29 46-8 35-1 42-7 56-0 27 S. E. S. W. 23 30-638 28-588 29-850 25-82 49-5 86-0 24 EAIN FALL, 1868. Scarbro’. Malton. Flaxton. 1 York. Ack worth. Sheffield. Settle. Jan. 1-75 2-21 1-63 1-45 2-45 2-47 4-37 Feb. 1-30 1-12 1-37 1-33 0-77 1-88 4-45 Mar. 1-16 1-84 1-36 1-52 1-27 2-64 4-21 April 2-01 1-66 1-90 1-82 1-77 2-17 3-10 May 1-10 1-59 0-89 1-28 0-765 0-94 1-56 June 0-40 0-88 1-50 1-26 1-40 0-47 0-20 July 0-78 0-92 0-62 0-40 0-24 0-09 0-35 Aug. 2-50 2-16 2-00 2-56 2-135 2-67 4-74 Sept. 2-72 2-81 2-00 3-24 3-975 3-32 2-82 Oct. 3-10 2-94 2-93 2-89 2-135 3-37 4-37 Nov. 2-14 1-58 1-31 2-00 1-01 1-99 3-05 Dec. 4-94 6-24 6-09 6-07 5-78 9-03 8-70 23-90 25-95 23-60 25-82 23-07 31-04 41-92 12 REPORT OF THE As has been stated before, the list of the Society’s Hon. Members has sustained a great loss in the death of Mr. Thomas Cooke, an Optician and Astronomical Mechanician of the highest repute. Mr. Cooke was born at AUerthorpe, near PockHngton, and resided nearly all his life in this city, where he settled as a mathematical teacher. Being possessed of great Mathematical and Mechanical talents, he turned his attention to 0]3tical researches, and began the construction of Achromatic Object Classes. It is interesting to record that the first telescope which he made for sale was for our former Secre¬ tary, Professor Phillips, and after more than thirty years it is as clear and good as ever : it was of 2 J inches aperture and 37 J focus. That which he was engaged upon at his decease was of 25 inches aperture and 30 feet focus. Besides the making of object glasses of large dimensions and unprecedented accuracy, by the aid of steam power, his genius was she^vTi in the improvement of the principal Astronomical Instruments — and certainly he deserved the praise of being one of the most ‘‘Scientific Opticians in Europe, perhaps the most able of them “ all for solid and perfect work.” J. D. Forbes, formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy and Principal of the United Colleges of St. Andrews, died on the last day of 1868. He was one of the originators of the British Association, and in company of Sir DaUd Brewster and Sir John Pobison, Secretary of the Eoyal Society of Edinbm’gh, came to York in September 1831, to concert with the Pev. Wm. Vernon Harcourt and Mr. Phillips the necessary measures for its establishment and organization. His name appears as an Honorary Member in the Peport of that year. While he was eminent in many branches of Natural Philosophy, his researches on the formation of Glaciers, and their influence on the ancient history of the Eailh’s smface, have chiefly contri¬ buted to the establishment of his scientific reputation. The Society have also lost by death during the past year another Hon. Member, who has won for himself a distinguish¬ ed reputation in the science of Archoeology. M. Boucher de Perthes died at Abbeville in August last, at the age of 80 years, and was the first to draw attention to the discovery of COUNCIL FOR 1868. 13 works of Art in the gravel beds of the Somme. He was the Author of several important works illustrating the Archseology and ancient literature of his native Province, Brittany, all of which he kindly presented to the Library of this Institution, along with a collection of flint implements found in the drift. A name of the highest renown will disappear this year from the Kst of Honorary Members, Henry Lord Brougham, who was elected an Hon. Member of this Society in 1860, died at Cannes last year at the advanced age of 89. The Council cannot close this part of the Eeport without drawing attention to the great loss the Society has experienced in the death of Eobert Denison, Esq., one of the Yice-Presidents of the Society. Mr. Denison was one of the first to enrol his name on the list of the Society’s members, and from that period to almost the close of his life always manifested a lively and active interest in the welfare of this Institution. The Council have to inform the Members that Mr. Dallas, the late keeper of the Museum, resigned his office at the close of the year on being elected Assistant Secretary to the Greolo- gical Society. On his leaving York the Council granted to Mr. Dallas £100, being half a year’s salary, in consideration of his services to the Society which extended over a period of ten years. The Council propose for election as Honorary Member, Mr. Norman Lockyer, Fellow and Member of Council of the Eoyal Astronomical Society. By his application of the Spectroscope to the observation of the sun’s disc, Mr. Lockyer’s name is associated with one of the most important discoveries in Solar Physics. It will suffice to state that he was one of the first observers to obtain evidence of the existence of the flame-colored prominences on the sun’s unobscured disc; phenomena which had hitherto been observed only during the time of a total eclipse of the sun. These prominences Mr. Lockyer identified, by the aid of Spectrum Analysis, as immense volumes of hydrogen gas, surrounding the sun’s photosphere in a state of intense combustion. The Council propose the Hon. Payan Dawnay, W. C. Anderson, Esq., John Ford, Esq., and J. M. Gibson, Esq., M.D., 14 REPORT OP THE COUNCIL FOR 1868. as new Members of Council in the room of the Yen. Archdeacon Jones, James Meek, Esq., J. Oldfield, Esq., and W. B. Eichardson, Esq., who retire by rotation. The following Lectures have been dehvered in the Theati’e of the Museum during the past Subject. Sponges . Lake Habitations . The Labours of Livingstone . . The Chemistry of Wines . . . Some Account of St. Leonard’s Hospital . A Cruise amongst the Light¬ houses . Electro-Magnetism and some of its apphcations . Analysis of Darwin’s variations of Animals under domestication The Portraits of the Yorkshire Worthies in the Leeds Exhibi¬ tion . year : — Naxe of Lecturer. W. S. Dallas, Esq., F. L. S. S. W. North, Esq. The Eev. L. J. Procter, M. A. W. Procter, Esq., M. D. I The Eev. Canon Ealnf:. J. H. Gtladstoke, Esq., Ph. D., E. E. S. j W. Procter, Esq., M. D. W. S. Dallas, Esq., F. L. S. E. Hailstone, Esq. An Abstract of Papers read will be appended to this Eeport. THE TREASUEER OF THE YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN ACCOUNT FOE THE YEAR 1868. INCOME. £. 8, d. £. s. d. Annual Subscriptions, ^'C. : Members . . . 624 3 0 Ladies . 63 1 0 Associates . 18 0 0 Arrears . 18 0 0 - 723 4 0 Admission Fees of New Members : Paid in full . 12 0 0 Paid by Instalments . . 23 0 0 - 35 0 0 Composition in lieu of Subscriptions 25 0 0 Keys of the Gates . 50 10 0 Temporary Subscribers . 4 0 0 Rents : New Manor Shore Pro¬ perty . 193 16 10 Miss Briskham’s House 48 15 0 Prof. Phillips’ House . . 15 0 0 Cottages in Mai^gate . . 31 13 4 - 199 5 2 Gate Money . 196 12 3 Swimming Bath . . 33 6 0 Sale of Guide to Antiquities, &c . 7 18 4 Use of Tent . 42 10 0 Donation from Mr. Kenrick, towards the reparation of the Koman Pave¬ ment . 10 0 0 £1327 6 9 Excess of Expediture 1868 . 2 15 11 £1330 1 8 Permanent Debt : Yorkshire Insurance Company . 1900 0 0 Due to Five Members, at £50 each . 250 0 0 - 2150 0 0 Balance due to Treasurer, 31st Dec., 1867 . . 237 8 9 £2387 8 9 Excess of Expenditure for 1868 .... 2 15 11 £2390 4 8 EXPENDITURE. IBr. £. s. d. Crown Rents . 118 0 0 Corporation Rent . 50 19 0 Rates and Taxes . 9 18 10 Insurance & Water Rent 23 1 10 Salaries and Wages : Keeper of the Museum 200 0 0 Subcurator . . 100 0 0 Servant . 20 0 0 Lodge Keeper ........ 39 0 0 Attendant (Museum) . . 10 : 14 3 Attendant (Hospitium) 7 4 0 Collector . 7 12 0 Labourers . 211 9 6 - 595 19 9 Interest to Insurance Co . 74 2 0 Interest, ifc. to Bankers . 10 8 0 Museum Gardens, Sfc. : General Expenses and Eepaii'S. .. . 146 10 8 Purchase ^ Preparation of Specimens 6 0 3 Librai'y for Books and Binding .... 38 5 10 Swimming Bath . 31 0 0 Miscellaneous Expenses : Printing Report . 15 10 0 Printing, Stationery, &c. 12 5 11 Coals and Gas . . 48 16 11 Expenses of Band .... 20 4 5 Expenses of Lectures 19 13 0 Expenses of Observa- tory . 70 15 5 Expenses of Tent .... 1 16 8 Trees, Shrubs, Seed, &c. 31 11 11 Postages and petty Ex¬ penses . 5 1 3 - 225 15 6 £1330 1 8 Permanent Debt : Yorkshire Insurance Company . 1900 0 0 Due to Five Members, at £50 each . 250 0 0 - 2150 0 0 Balance due to Treasurer, 31st : Dec., 1868 . . 240 4 8 £2390 4 8 W. GRAY, Treasurer. Audited and found correct, Feb. 12th, 1869, S. W. NORTH. IG MEMBERS ELECTED SINCE FEB. 1868. Capt. Benwell, Militia Depot. Mrs. Bolam, Bootham Terrace. Charles Croskell, Parliament Street. John Deighton, The Mount. Stephen Davis, St. Helenas Square. Miss Foster, Minster Yard. E. Eobinson, St. Anthonxfs Mall. F. Bawling, Swinegate. Henry Bichardson, Cherry Mill. Charles Smith, Portland Street. John Terry, Lord Mayor's Walk. Bev. J. Grilchrist Wilson, Ogleforth. J ames Wilson, St. Pauls Square. ASSOCIATES. C. E. Gouldsbnry, 8, South Parade. Bichard Thompson, 5, Park Street^ The Mount. LADY SUBSCEIBEES, ADMITTED 1868. Mrs. W. Fox Clark, The Mount. Mrs. Fowler, 1, St. Clave's Terrace. Mrs. Gouldsbnry, 8, South Parade. Miss Hanks, 1, St. Clave's Terrace. Miss Leetham, Monkgate. Mrs. Pritchett, St. Mary's. Mrs. Stevens, 16, Spurriergate. Miss Wombwell, 13, St. Mary's. 17 EESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, Feb. 2nd, 18G9. 1. That the Eeport of the Ooimcil now read be adopted and printed for circulation amongst the Members, Lady Subscribers, and Associates of the Society. 2. That the thanks of the Society be given to the Members of the Council retiring from ofB.ce, also to the Treasurer, Secretary, and Curators, for their valuable services, and that authority be given to the Council to hold Horticultural Meetings in the Museum Grounds, and to give admission to the Public to the Museum and Hospitium, on Whit-Monday and Tuesday, under the same regulations as last year. 3. That the thanks of the Meeting be given to the Chairman. B COMMUNICATIONS TO THE MONTHLY MEETINGS, 1868. January 7. — J. Ford, Esq., read some “Notes on Abraham Sharp and his equatorial.” He said that Abraham Sharp, an eminent mathematician, mechanist, and astronomer, descended from an ancient family at Little Horton, near Bradford, was born about the year 1651. He was put apprentice to a merchant at Manchester, but his genius led him strongly to the study of mathematics, both theoretical and practical. By the consent there¬ fore of his master, he quitted business and removed to Liverpool, where he studied mathematics, astronomy, &c., and where for a subsistence, he opened a school and taught writing and accounts, &c. He had not been long at Liverpool when he fell in with a merchant from London, in whose house the astronomer, Mr. Flamsteed, then lodged. To become acquainted with this eminent man, Mr. Sharp engaged with the merchant as a book-keeper, and soon contracted an intimate friendship with Mr. Flamsteed, by whose interest and recommendation he obtained a more jDi’ofitable employment in the dockyard at Chatham, where he continued till his friend and patron, knowing his great merit in astronomy and mechanics, called him to his assistance in contriving, adapting, and fitting up the astronom¬ ical apparatus in the Eoyal Observatory at Greenwich, which had been recently built, about 1676. He was principally employed in the construction of the mural arch, which in fourteen months he fiuished, greatly to the satisfaction of Mr. Flamsteed. According to Mr. Smeaton, this was the first good instrument of the land, and Mr. Sharp the first artist who cut accurate divisions upon astro¬ nomical instruments. When it was constructed Mr. Flamsteed was thirty, and Mr. Sharp twenty-five years of age. These two friends J9 continued together for some time, making observations on the meridional zenith distances of the fixed stars, sun, moon, and planets, with the times of their transits over the meridian ; also the diameters of the sun and moon, and their eclipses, and those of Jupiter’s satellites, the variation of the compass, &c. Mr. Sharp assisted Mr. Flamsteed also in making a catalogue of nearly three thousand fixed stars, with their longitudes and magnitudes, their right ascensions and polar distances, with the variations of the same while they change their longitude by one degree. Among other indications of great genius it was stated that Mr. Sharp made most of the tools used by joiners, clockmakers, opticians, and mathemat¬ ical instrument makers. The telescopes he made use of were all of his own making, and the lenses were ground, figured, and adjusted with his own hands. The quadrature of the circle was undertaken by him for his own private amusement in 1699, deduced from two different series, by which the truth was proved to seventy-two places. Mr. Sharp continued all his life a bachelor, and spent his time as recluse as a hermit. He was very irregular in his meals, and sparing in his diet. His breakfast, dinner, and supper often remained untouched when his servant went to clear away. He was of middle stature, of a delicate constitution, and very thin. He died July 18, 1742, aged 91. Mr. Ford described the equatorial of Mr. Sharp’s own making (in the possession of the Society), which had been purchased by the late Mr. W. L. Newman, and from his description it appeared that, notwithstanding some defects, the instrument had been considered a very fine one. Me. Ford alluded to another astronomer, who resided in this city, namely, John Goodricke, who was born at Groningen, on the 17th of September, 1764. At five years old he had scarlet fever ending in total deafness. His father removed to York in 1774, and he was three years in a deaf and dumb asylum at Edinbimgh. In 1778, he was under Dr. Enfield, at the Academy at Warrington, an accomplished mathematician and natural philosopher. In 1781, he returned to York, and made acquaintance with Edward Pigott, Esq., a gentleman well versed in astronomy, residing in the house now occupied by J. P. Mills, Esq., in Bootham. In the garden attached to this house Mr. Pigott’ s father had constructed an observatory, and here, in 1782, Mr. Goodricke observed variations in the star Algol, in the constellation Medusa. For this he was awarded the annual gold medal of the Poyal Society, when he was only eighteen years of age. In 1796, he was elected a Fellow of B 2 20 the Koyal Society, and died in the same year, April 20th, at the early age of thirty-t^o. Mr. Goodricke’s home was with his mother in Lendal. IMaech 3. — The Eey. J. Kexeick read a notice of some silver coins presented to the Society. The first of them is a penny of Edward the Confessor, found on Heslington Field. It has on the obverse the head of the King in profile, with the legend Aedwaed Kex. On the reverse Ulecetel ox Eoeei. The name of this moneyer does not occur in this form in Mr. Davies’s list, given in his paper, p. 210 of the volume of oiu* Proceedings, but the names IJlfcutel and XJlccetel, given by him, are probably the same. The name of the East Anglian chief who fought so valiantly against the Danes in A. d. 1004 is variously spelt IIKketel and IJlfcytel by the chroniclers. The name written as on our coin occurs on those of Harold II., and again on the coins of the Conqueror, found in 1845 at the corner of Coney-street, and what was then known as lubber- gate. Probably the same name should be read on an imperfect coin of Stephen, found at Watford. All the rest of the coins belong to the class which have been called ‘^Counterfeit Sterlings”^' — money coined in foreign mints, in imitation of genuine English silver pennies, but of inferior value to our currency. That they were meant to impose on the English appears from the image on the obverse being a manifest copy of that of our Edwards, and though the superscriptions are those of the Dukes and Counts by whom they were issued, there would not be many, in an unlettered age, who could read them. They were all of Princes of States in the Low Countries. Between these States and the English there had long been great commercial intercoiu’se. Them manufacturers were supplied with wool by the English. The Edwards endeavoured by law to prevent the exportation of this article, but at the same time invited the foreign manufactimer to transfer his industry to England. Political circumstances conspired to increase the intercoimse of England and the Low Countries under the Edwards. John II., Duke of Brabant, married a daughter of Edward I. ; a Count of Hainault another daughter ; the first wife of Edward III. was Philippa of Hainault. These petty princes seem to have made a profitable trade by coining below the standards of theii’ neighboims in Germany, Prance, and England. The Sovereigns of these countries were not scrupulous about robbing * Hawkins in Hum, Chron., xiu. 86. 21 their subjects by debasing their own currency, but did not like them to be robbed by foreigners, and very stringent laws were passed in England to prevent these coins from being imported. No man was to bring more with him than sufiicient for his necessary expenses, nor land elsewhere than at Dover, Sandwich, Southampton, or St. Botolph’s, London, unless he could prove that he had been driven by stress of weather to some other port. The practice of counter¬ feiting the English sterling seems only to have ceased when the petty States of the Low Countries merged into the Duchy of Burgundy in the fifteenth century. No. 2 is a coin of John Duke of Brabant, having on the obverse a head copied from that of an Edward, and the legend Moneta Beijxellei ; on the reverse in the field I. Dux ; round the edge De Beabaxtie. The first of the Dukes of Brabant who bore the name of John succeeded in 1261, and he had two successors of the same name, the third having died in 1355. As no number is joined to the name we do not know to which of them to assign this coin; it is probably the second or the third. No. 3. Three coins of Graucher de Ohatillon, Count of Porcien, Neufcha- teau and Ive in Lorraine. The legend on the obverse is GtAlch. Comes Poeo. ; on the reverse Moxet. Nova Yve. Where Yve was is not certainly known. It is supposed to have been on the Moselle. Nova probably stands for Neufchateau; in Latin, Nova Castra. Galcher succeeded to his dominions in 1313, and died in 1329, between which dates these coins fall. No. 4 are two imperfect coins of William, Count of Namur. There were two of this name ; the first succeeded in 1337, the second in 1390. We see therefore that this whole class belongs to the time of our Edwards. Besides those which were issued from known mints and bore the titles of known rulers, there are many which seem to have fictitious names. Such is No. 5, which has the usual head of an Edward with the the legend on the obverse Haxs Dxs de Soxek; on the reverse Moxeta Delise. Hans, the vulgar German for John, would be a singular designation of a prince on his coin, and Sonek, of which he is said to be lord, is unknown. So is the meaning of Delise. In the Numismatic Journal (xiii. 67) there is a communication from Professor Thomsen, of Copenhagen, giving an account of the discovery of coins in Denmark, closely resembling the long-cross pennies of Henry III,, but with such variations as to render it improbable that they can have proceeded from an English mint. They seem to show that the practice of imitating the English coin prevailed even before the Edwards. 22 Perhaps the most singular example of the imitation of the coin of one nation by another is that practised by the Arab Moslems, 'vrho placed on their coins the heads of the Byzantine Emperors nrith Latin letters on the reverse, forming the initials of a Mahommedan confession of faith, In Nomine Domini Non Est Dens Nisi Dens, or In Nomine Domini Miserentis Misericordis.^*' In this case the object of the imitation does not appear to have been to defraud, but merely to take advantage of a type generally recognised in the commercial dealings of the East. It is possible that this may have been the case with some of those which we call Counterfeit Sterlings, and that they only prove the estimation in which the English silver coinage was held in the Low Countries. The coinage of Edward the Confessor appears to have been imitated by a contemporary King of Ireland. Num. Chron. I., 78. Oim English Kings struck coins for their dominions in France. Hemy II. acquired by marriage the duchy of Aquitaine, and put Aquitaxie on his coins. On Henry the Sixth’s coronation, a. d. 1423, coins were issued with the Legend, Ebaxcouijm et Axglie Eex and Sit Nomex Dxi Bexedicttjm, and the shields of England and France, the lilies being placed quarterly in the shield of England. April 7. — The Pev. J. Kexrick read an extract from a commu¬ nication he had received from the Pev. W. GreenweU, relative to the explanation of the devices on the boss of a shield found in the Tjme, together with one of the cheek pieces of a hehnet. “The shield has eight divisions, each containing some device. 1. A naked figure, holding something over his head, which appears to be blown out by the wind. 2. A figure with a spear and shield, possibly Mars. 3. A naked figure with a scjdhe. 4. A naked figure, holding a bunch of grapes in one hand and a basket in the other. 5. A bull, above it a crescent. 6. A figime, clothed appar¬ ently in skins. 7. The standard of the legion. 8. A boss, with an eagle, and a wreath round it. 1, 3, 4, 6, I take to be the four seasons ; 5, the emblem of the legion. The owner has rudely punched his name where I have placed a row of dots. So far as I can make it out, for there is a slight damage at the commencement, it reads ON MAGN E IVNI DYBITATI. f Circular bosses have been frequently found, but I believe this is the first instance of the * Salatier, Monnaies Byzantines i. 89. t Dulitatns is a name whicli occurs in inscriptions. Grater, dccxxxi. 1. MCXXXI. 8. occurrence of one of tliis shape. The chest piece has a naked figure, standing by the side of a horse. The eighth legion was in Grermany, but never in England, and it is probable that a soldier belonging to it, coining on business to England, may have been wrecked at the month of the Tyne, where the boss was found, and that the rest of his equipment is still lying at the bottom of the river, whence the boss and chest piece were dredged up.” Mr. J. F. Walker read a paper on some Terebratulse which he had presented to the society. He said : — On a former occasion I communicated to this society some account of the discovery of a deposit of lower greensand at Upware. This deposit is remarkable for the numerous species of Brachiopoda which occur in it, and also for the numbers of specimens found. I have been able to obtain several specimens of the Waldheimias which I described under the name of W. Woodwardii. I am therefore able to present a speci¬ men to the Society. I have been able to see the loop, which justifies me in having regarded this shell as a Waldheimia. I also present to the Society some specimens of W. pseudojurensis. This fossil occurs in Neocomian deposits in France, and has never before been found in England. This species was descrbed by Lejnnerie in the Memoirs of the Geological Society of France. He gave it this name on account of the shell possessing a Jurassic aspect. He thought it was nearly allied to T. (or more properly) W. ornithocephala, a s^^ecies found in the Kelloway rock, and in the Cornbrash. D’Orbigny says that it is nearly allied to W. tamarindus. I have also seen the loop of this shell which is that of a Waldheimia. I think that there will be nearly twenty species of Brachiopoda in this deposit, a larger number of species than occui’s in any other English locality. It is also interesting to observe the influence of this locality on the development of the shells. The plentiful supply of calcareous matter was highly favourable to the proper growth of the shells, hence the individuals attain a very large size. The contrast of the shells of this deposit with those found at Earringdon is very striking, showing the power of favourable conditions at least to modify species. May 5. — The Eey. J. Kekrick read a paper on the foundation and history of the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Oassino of which the following is an abstract : — After a description of the site of the Abbey, and the descent and early history of St. Benedict, the author gave an account of tlie principles of liis Eule, and its relation to others previously in existence. It was less severe and ascetic, gave a greater prominence to labour and study, and was altogether more adapted for practical and missionary work. Being favoured by Gregory the Great and other pontiffs, many of whom had been Benedictine Monks, it spread rapidly throughout Europe, several other orders being merged in it. The chief rivalry was on the part of Columbanus, an Irish Monk, who founded Luxeuil, in Erance, and Bobbio, in Italy ; but the Benedictine rule ultimately prevailed. In England it was strenuously upheld by Dunstan and Wilfrid. Most of our old cities became the seat of Benedictine monasteries, and all the mitred abbots were of this order. Monte Cassino suffered by the Italian wars of the middle ages, especially those of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, but it always recovered itseff. Its discipline, however, and that of the Benedictine order generally, became relaxed, and various reforms were undertaken to re-establish its primitive character. Of these the most remarkable was that in which the Cistertian order originated. It was not acceptable to the Benedictine Monks generally, and the history of St. Mary’s Abbey shows with what violence they could contend against its intro¬ duction. After a vain struggle the monks who desired reform seceded and established the Cistertian Abbey of Fountains. During the 17th century, Monte Cassino maintained its character as a learned establishment; the course of events, and the progress of ideas in the 18th century, were unfavourable to it, as to all monastic institutions. It suffered no outward violence, however, till the war of the French Eevolution brought the French armies into Southern Italy. The Monks favoured the Pope and the Eung of Naples, and were threatened and plundered by the French. King Joachim Murat, though he abolished the order in his king¬ dom, allowed Monte Cassino to retain fifty Monks, who were charged with the care of the library and archives. The financial wants of the newly- established kingdom of Italy led to the secular¬ isation of all ecclesiastical establishments, and it was feared that even the venerable Abbey of Monte Cassino might be involved in the general fate. Eemonstrances were addressed to the Itahan Government by various archaeological bodies in England, and the result has been that it is to be preserved as a repository for the national monuments and archives. The Benedictine order has been conspicuous for the persevering labour which it has bestowed in past times on literary undertakings, prolonged through many years ; 25 and it liad been feared tbat no successors would be found to carry on tbeir work. This apprehension, however, has proved unfounded, and it is not probable that any really useful work will drop for want of hands to carry it on. June 9. — De. Peoctee read a paper ‘‘On SiKca and the Porm- ation of Granite,” of which the following is an abstract: — He remarked, that as facts in geology accumulate, new explanations of them are demanded, and this, coupled with the advance of experi¬ mental science, renders many theories at one time universally accepted, at the present time untenable, and the object of his present paper was to show that the generally received opinion in respect to the origin of certain so-called igneous rocks, admitted of some doubt. After stating the more general constituents of the crust of the earth, silica was said to be one of the most common under the form of quartz, flint, &c., and the object of the present paper was an endeavour to show that the arguments are stronger which give to that substance an aqueous origin than those which refer it to the result of cooling from a former fusion by heat. Silex exists in two conditions, crystallized and amorphous : the former has a speciflc gravity of 2*6, the latter from 2*2 to 2*3. M. Senarmont has obtained crystals of Silex by acting upon a solution of that substance at an elevated temperature in closed tubes, and these crystals were in every respect identical with those of rock crystal. The same results have been obtained by other experiment¬ alists, but up to the present time all attempts to obtain silica in crystals by fusion has failed, for when intensely heated, it runs into small globules of an amorphous character, and acquires the low specific gravity. Quartz contains a large number of substances imbedded in it, and amongst them water and other comparatively volatile substances ; if, therefore, in the very centre of the crystal matter is found which cannot exist at a high temperature without being dissipated, the conclusion is justified that rock crystal could not have been subjected to a very considerable heat. If Silica is supposed to be the product of igneous action, the same difficulty is present in explaining the preservation of the ligneous structure in silicified wood, the presence of infusoria, &c., in flint, and the general fossilization of organic remains. Other arguments were then drawn from the pseudomorphic crystals of quartz and the loss of water, changes of colour, specific gravity, &c., which varieties of that substance undergo by the action of heat. The great interest 26 Tvliich attaches to the formation of silica is especially in relation to the origin of numerous so-called igneous rocks, of Trhich granite may he taken as the t3rpe. It is Trell known that the theory of Werner on the Ne]3tunian origin of granite was afterwards aban¬ doned by geologists, and replaced by the Plutonic theory, and for a long time it has been the received opinion that all granite has been the result of rock fusion at a very high temperature. But those persons who have been accustomed to make experiments on the fusion of mineral substances at high temperatures have been familiar with certain difficidties which stood in the way of accepting this view of the formation of the so-called igneous rocks. Dr. Procter then considered the formation of the other constituents, and showed that felspar and mica could be formed by both the diy and wet method, but more readily by the latter. In exaniining the structure of granite, it is always found that quartz, the least fusible of the three constituent minerals, appears to have been the last to crystallize, whilst felspar, the least fusible of them, appears to have crystallized first ; the felspathic crystals being imbedded in those of mica and quartz. Hence it would appear that the constituent minerals of these rocks are not crystallized in such an order of succession as would be indicated by their relative degree of fusibil¬ ity, and as might be expected if they were of igneous origin. It was then shown that the doctrine of superfusion was insufficient to account for the phenomena, besides certain chemical reasons which rendered such explanation highly improbable. Other arguments were drawn from the presence of certain minerals in granite, such as allanite, gadolinite, which become altered by the action of heat in their chemical and physical characters. It was then shown that lava, the well-known result of fusion, rarely, if ever, in the recently ejected strata, contained crystals of any size. Such are most frequently found in old lavas, and are formed by accretion, ffiom the water permeating and taking up the necessaiy ingredients to produce the special crystal by deposition from the solution, in the same manner that crystals of calc-spar have origin¬ ated from coralline limestones. Hence there is no real analogy between the crystalline granite and lava. An extract was then read from a paper by Mr. Sorby, in which he concludes that granite has originated from aqueous solution under great pressure. In con¬ clusion, it was said that it can scarcely be conceived that the elements of granite have been in a complete state of watery solution, from which by degrees they have been separated by crystallization. 27 It is possible that these elements are derived from an anterior rock which had an igneous origin, and have assumed the crystalline state under the influence of heat, water, and pressure, as explained by Mr. Sorby, or as in the experiments by which M. Daubree succeeded in obtaining several crystalline minerals. November 3. — The following paper on ‘‘The State Swords of the York Corporation,” contributed by Eobert Davies, Esq., E. S. A., was read : — Mr. Drake, in his “History of the City of York,” informs us that in his time the Corporation had four state swords, and that the least sword among them, but the greatest in value, was that which King Eichard the Second, in the year 1389, took from his side and gave to be borne before Wflliam de Selby, as fii’st Lord Mayor of York. Another, and the largest, was that which had belonged to the Emperor Sigismund. The third, which was the most beautiful, was given by Sir Martin Bowes, Lord Mayor of London. The fourth (to use Mr. Drake’s peculiar phra¬ seology) ‘ ‘ was formerly made use of whenever the Lord Mayor went abroad or stirred from home.” (^') In another chapter of the same work we read that “ the Mayor of York by ancient prescrip¬ tion assumes the title of Lord in all writing or speaking to him, which honour was bestowed on our chief magistrate by King Eichard II. That monarch after granting the citizens a new and most extensive charter of privileges in the year 1389, at his coming to the city that year, took his sword from his side, and gave it to ’VYilliam de Selby, then Mayor, to be borne before him and his successors: — “From this emblem of justice (Mr. Drake tells us) we deduce our title of Lord Mayor, he being by it constituted the king’s more immediate vice-gerent than before.” (f) This state¬ ment of our venerable historian is not free from inaccuracy. The great charter of privileges he alludes to was not granted until the year 1396, seven or eight years subsequent to the presentation of the sword, which took place in 1388, during the thii’d mayoralty of ’Wilham de Selby. In a clause of that charter the fact of a sword having been given to the citizens by King Eichard the Second is expressly mentioned, and authority is given to the Mayor and his successors for the time being to have that, or any other sword they pleased, borne before them with the point erect in the presence of all persons whatsoever, the sovereign himself and his heirs only Elboracum, p. 223. (f) Ibid, p. 181. 28 excepted. Mr. Drake’s account of the origin of tke title of Lord Mayor rests entirely upon tradition, and must be received witb some qualification. No record or document is known to be now extant from wliich it can be sbown that tbe title of Lord was con¬ ferred upon tbe Mayor of York by King Eicbard II., or that tbe title was first assumed upon tbat monarch’s presentation of a sword to tbe citizens. But there is no doubt tbat our chief municipal officer for tbe time being has been styled Lord Mayor of York for many centuries past. His right to enjoy tbat dignified title has never been disputed, and on numberless occasions has been recognised by tbe highest authorities in the realm, and especially by tbe Sovereign, the fountain of all honour. Tbe most satisfactory evidence we possess of tbe time of tbe presentation of tbe sword is afforded by a document which was entered upon tbe records of tbe Corporation in the reign of King Henry tbe Sixth, within half a century after tbe date of the charter of 1396. It is there stated that tbe late King Eicbard tbe Second, being desirous of conferring honour upon tbe city of York, in the year of our Lord 1388, and in tbe tweKtb year of bis reign, and in tbe time of Wilbam de Selby, then Mayor, among other gracious gifts, did confer upon tbe Mayors for the time being tbe privilege of having borne before them tbe sword which was then by tbe King himself first given to tbe citizens. Hence we are enabled to ascertain that tbe presenta¬ tion took place during tbe latter half of tbe year 1388, and this date is confirmed by tbe circumstance tbat at tbe annual election of civic officers on the 3rd of February, 1389, the Oorjporation appointed for tbe first time a person to perform tbe special duty of carrying tbe sword before the Mayor ; ‘‘ Servientem ad portandum gladium coram Majore.” It is much to be lamented tbat tbe identical sword which was presented to tbe city by King Eicbard II., and was in existence in tbe latter part of tbe last centuiy, ('*') is not now in tbe possession of its rightful owners. At what time, or by what means, this ancient symbol of dignity passed from tbe bands of tbe Corporation is not known. Of the two swords now remaining in tbe city treasury, one is tbat wliicb belonged to the Emperor Sigismund ; tbe other is that wliicb was tbe gift of Sir Martin Bowes. I propose first to offer you some account of tbe sword which is of the earliest date. (*) See tbe 8vo. edition of Drake — Vol. i., page 7, note. 29 The Swoed of the Empeeoe Sigismund. Tlie circumstances attending the presentation to the citizens of York of an ensign of dignity, which had originally belonged to a personage of such exalted rank as Sigismund, Emperor of Grermany and King of the Eomans, were deemed worthy of being recorded in the archives of the Corporation with great particularity. The document, composed in the Latin of that period, is drawn up in a very formal manner, most probably by the Town-Clerk of the city, who appears to have been somewhat of a humoimst. It runs thus : — In the name of the Lord, Amen. Whereas many Catholic kings in the exercise of their most valued prerogative of love, have in former times granted ensigns of honour to their cities and other places, yet it happens that with the lapse of years not only the names of such benefactors, but often the dates of their gifts, have passed away from the minds of men. That such noble grants might be more firmly held in remembrance, the wisdom of our ancestors devised a precaution of this kind, namely, that what is worthy of commendation should be reduced into writing, so that by frequent perusal it might obtain more serious attention ; and by the aid of reflection even this present slight written memo¬ rial may be impressed upon the minds of posterity. In the year of our Lord 1421, and in the eighth year of the reign of Ehng Henry the Fifth, it happened that the most Christian Prince Sigismund, by divine permission Emperor of Grermany, and King of the Eomans, came into England, and was forthwith constituted a knight and brother of the military order founded in the royal chapel of Saint Greorge at Windsor, where all the knights of the same order, upon their reception, offer their swords to be there suspended during the life of the offerer, upon whose decease such swords are at the disposal of the Deans of the same chapel for the time being, according to the custom of the chapel hitherto observed : and the aforesaid Emperor being now dead, the sword by him offered in the said chapel the Dean of the same chapel presented to that discreet person, .Master Henry Hanslap, canon of the same chapel and prebendary of the prebend of Skip with, in the collegiate church of Howden, and rector of the church of Middleton, near Pickering, and not far from the city of York, from whence he sprang, as it pleased him to say. Therefore the aforesaid Master Henry, preferring in his mind as a man of much gratitude to dis¬ tinguish his own country by such a gift, on the 5th day of May, in 30 the year of oiir Lord 1439, and in the 17th year of the reign of King Henry the Sixth, came to the city of York, as the chief place of aU the north, and the same sword formerly of the aforesaid Emperor, covered with ruhy-colonred velvet upon the scahbard thereof, together with red scorpions worked in silk thereupon, he delivered to that honourable man Thomas Eidley, then Mayor of the same city, and gladly presented the same to be borne for ever before every Mayor of the same city for the time being at their pleasure. So that every Mayor in his time should rejoice in a variety of so many principal swords, and thence praise and honour should increase and multiply to all, and the people in passing might exclaim with joy and commendation, ‘Behold the two swords of the city of York, the fii’st, namely, of Elng Eichard ; the other, indeed, of the Emperor.’ A third sword remains for daily use, not obtained by the gift of a king, but, truly, provided at the cost of the citizens. And thus the city of York is adorned with as many as three swords, each having two edges.” Such is the account of the presentation of the sword of the Emperor Sigismund as it appears in the contemporary record entered upon the archives of the Corporation. The visit of the Emperor-elect to England, a few months after the victory achieved by Eung Hemy the Eifth at Agincourt, was an event of deep significance in the eyes of all Europe. It took place during the sitting of the Council of Con¬ stance, that solemn ecclesiastical congress which had been brought about chiefly by the exertions of Sigismund, who was intrusted by the Council with the task of effecting a union of all the western powers of Christendom to support the Pa23al authority, and to arrest the progress of those heretical doctrines of which Huss in Grermany, and Wickliffe in England, were the great teachers. He found the English monarch but too ready to listen to his overtures, and to enter into any engagement that might contribute either to the sup¬ pression of the new heresy, or to the accomplishment of Henry’s favourite design of subjecting France to his sway. Sigismimd landed at Dover on the 30th of April, 1416, and was welcomed by the English monarch with the most elaborate pomp and magnifi¬ cence. He was entertained with a succession of those sjDlendid feasts and knightly sports which the Enghsh court was so well able to devise. Soon after his arrival the Emperor was created a knight of the Carter. He was solemnly enstalled on the 7th of May, the day on which the festival of St. Ceorge was celebrated at "Windsor. In an account of his master’s visit to England, given by Sigismimd’s 31 German secretary, he speaks in raptures of the festivities, and of the honours conferred upon the Emperor, and especially of the gorgeous collar and garter richly adorned with jewels, with which the Sovereign of the order himself invested his illustrious guest. In compliance with the statutes of the Order of the Garter the newly created knight made an offering of a sword, which, with other achievements, was to be suspended above his stall in the chapel of St. George, at Windsor, and to remain there during his lifetime. The death of the Emperor Sigismund took place on the 9th of December, 1437, and within two years afterwards the sword which he had offered at Windsor became one of the state swords of the municipality of York. Of Master Henry Hanslap, the generous donor of the Sigismund sword, who boasts that he was a native of York, little can be told more than is stated in the document by which his gift is recorded. Eung Henry the Sixth presented him to his canomy in the chapel of St. George, at Windsor, on the 23rd of April, 1437. In June, 1448, he exchanged his prebend of Skip- with, and his rectory of Middleton, for the prebend of Langstowe, in the diocese of Lincoln, which was then held by Mr. William le Scrope. There is reason to believe that the dignitary, by whom the sword was presented to Hanslap, was himseK a native of York¬ shire, and was not unacquainted with the disposition intended to be made of his splendid gift. It is upon record that Bobert Ayscough was the name of the ecclesiastic who was Dean of Windsor, in the year 1447, and as his predecessor, John Arundel, was appointed in 1417, and is not named as Dean later than 1428, we may reason¬ ably infer that Dr. Ayscough had succeeded to the Deanery pre¬ viously to the death of the Emperor Sigismund in 1437, and that he was the same person who in 1441 was made a prebendary of Eenton, in the Cathedral church of York, and at the time of his death in 1448, was a prebendary of Southwell, and rector of Campsall, near Doncaster, to which he had been presented by the Crown, in 1443. There can be little doubt that the Dean was a member of the well-known family of Ayscough, of tke parish of Bedale-ciim- Ayscough, or Aiskew, in the North Biding, from which sprang two x^ersons bearing the same Christian and surname, each of whom was twice Lord^ Mayor of York : Bobert Askwith, the father, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and Bobert Askwith, the son, in the reign of her successor. King James the Eirst, at whose hands he received the honour of Knighthood in the year 1617. Perhaps neither of them was aware that one of the swords of State 32 borne before him as an ensign of bis civic dignity bad once be¬ longed to a dean of Windsor, wbo was bis collateral ancestor. Tbe Sigismnnd sword is a two-band one, tbe blade is double-edged, tbe bilt bas a plain cross-guard, and a pear shaped pommel ; tbe grip is wrapped witb silver wire. Tbe scabbard is covered witb ruby coloured velvet and decorated witb ornaments of silver, or some other metal, gilt, representing dragons or scorpions. In 1478, preparatory to a visit ]3aid to the city by King Edward tbe Fourth, tbe Corporation bad the velvet covering of the scabbard renewed, and tbe metal ornaments regilt. Tbe blade now bears an inscription which was engraved upon it in tbe year 1586, during tbe mayoralty of Henry May, when tbe sword was newly decorated, preparatory to the reception of tbe Earl of Huntingdon, Lord President, in bis official character of Lord-Lieutenant of tbe city and county. Tbe inscription in Eoman capitals is tbe same on both sides. It runs thus : — Sigismundi imperat. dat. M. 0. Eb. 1439. Ornat. Hem?i. May Maior. 1586. A shield of tbe royal arms, England and France quarterly, sim- mounts tbe inscription on one side, and a shield of tbe armorial bearings of tbe city on tbe other. Sir Martin Bowes’s Sword. Tbe State Sword, which Mr. Drake pronounces to be ‘‘ the most beautiful,” was a memorial of tbe donor’s love for bis native city. We have its history in tbe inscription engraved upon tbe blade : — ‘‘Syr Martyn Bowes Knight borne within this citie of Yorke and Maior of tbe citie of London 1545, for a remembrance gave tbys sword to tbe Maior and Communaltie of this said honorable citie.” Sir Martin Bowes sprang from a family of eminent York merchants wbo bad resided for several generations in tbe parish of St. Cutbbert, — very probably in tbe picturesque timber-house witb its two gables that now stands much defaced and altered opposite to St. Anthony’s Hall on Peasbolme Green. Wilbam Bowes, wbo was Sheriff in 1402, and Lord Mayor in 1417, and again in 1428, represented tbe city in foim of tbe parliaments held in tbe reigns of IHng Henry V. and bis successor. He built a mansion for bis own residence on Peasebolme, in tbe parish of St. Cutbbert, upon the site of a bouse which bad previously belonged to Sb John Langton, Knight. He died in tbe year 1439, and was succeeded by bis eldest son, a second Wilbam Bowes, to whom be devised by bis 38 will Lis capital messuage in Peaseliolme. William Bowes, tlie son, was Sheriff in 1432, sat in parliament for the city in 1434, and was Lord Mayor in 1443. He had a numerous family, and one of his sons was the father of Sir Martin Bowes, Knight, the donor of the sword. At an early age, Martin Bowes was transplanted from the quiet home of his fathers to the great and busy metropolis of the kingdom, where, in the reign of King Henry the Eighth, he was established as a goldsmith and attained a high degree of honour and prosperity. He was a member of the goldsmith’s company, and an Alderman of the Corporation of London, and in the year 1545 was elected to the office of Lord Mayor. Under King Henry VIII. and King Edward YI., he held the important appointment of sub¬ treasurer of the royal mint, which he resigned in the year 1551. He was jeweller to Queen Elizabeth, and in right of certain duties performed by him at the coronation of his royal mistress, he had for his fee a splendid cup of gold and crystal, out of which the Queen drank during that ceremonial. In the midst of his pros¬ perity, Sir Martin Bowes was never forgetful of the city of his birth, nor did he ever neglect any opportunity of promoting its welfare. Upon several occasions of difficulty the Corporation sought his advice and assistance, which he always afforded them with the utmost kindness and alacrity. After the accession of King Edward the Sixth, when the act of parliament for the union of churches and parishes in York was about to be put into execution. Sir Martin Bowes manifested great anxiety lest the church of his native parish of St. Cuthbert, where the remains of many of his ancestors and near relatives were deposited, should be removed or desecrated. On the 8th of March, 1548-9, he addressed a letter to the Lord Mayor of York and his brethren, earnestly entreating that the parish church of St. Cuthbert might be one of those which should be allowed to stand, and representing to them that although it was then something decayed, yet it was a new church and strong ; able with a little help to stand longer than any church near thereabouts. We have it upon record that to the gentle request contained in this letter the Corporation did fully consent and agree ; and we may doubtless ascribe it to the pious reverence for the memory of his ancestors thus displayed by Sir Martin Bowes that the picturesque little church of St. Cuthbert, in Peaseholme, is now in existence. In the following year Sir Martin Bowes testified his gratitude to the Corporation for their ready compliance with his wishes, by present¬ ing to the city the beautiful sword of state, which has now for more c 34 than three centuries been borne, as an ensign of authority, before those eminent persons who have been the successors of his grand¬ father and great grandfather in the office of Lord Mayor of York. The letter which accompanied this “ pretty token of remembrance,” as the donor himself calls it, was dated the 20th day of September, 1549. When that letter was written. Sir Martin Bowes had been nearly forty years a resident of London, yet it is obvious that his memory often carried him back to the city of his birth, and “ Told of days long past, when there he roved With friends and kindred tenderly beloved.” The scenes and incidents of his early youth — the old house in Peaseholme where he first saw the light — the quaint little church of St. Cuthbert, where he was first taught to worship — the narrow streets where “oft his careless childhood strayed ’’-—were present to his recollection long after he had taken rank among the merchant princes of the great metropolis. The wealthy goldsmith retained these feelings of veneration for the place of his nativity tmtil the very close of his prosperous career. By his last will he bequeathed a sum of money to be given yearly to the parson and wardens of the parish church of St. Cuthbert, in the city of York, for the relief of the poor of the same parish, and for the main¬ tenance of the same church and ornament of the same. Sir Martin Bowes died in the year 1566, in the 70th year of his age, and was buried in the parish church of St. Mary Woolnoth, in Lombard- street. The Bowes sword is much smaller than that which belonged to the Emperor Sigismund. The blade is about 3ft. 2in. long, and the whole length of the sword about four feet. The sheath was originally covered with crimson velvet, garnished with pearls and stones set upon silver gilt. In the early part of the 17th century the sword appears to have sustained considerable injury. The velvet of the scabbard required to be renewed, and the orna¬ ments to be re-gilt. The gems and pearls with which it was decorated had disappeared, and new stones were pni’chased of a London lapidary to replace them. There is reason to suppose that the sword had been carried away by some officer of the Coui’t of Efing James the Eirst, during that monarch’s visit to the city in the year 1603, and that it was not recovered without much delay and difficulty. Mn. Noble read, on behalf of Eobt. Davies, Esq., the following notice of the fragment from the Porcelain Tower at Nankin, con- tributed by Mr. G. R. Davies : — This block of composition formed a portion of the once famous porcelain tower at Nankin, which was destroyed by the rebels in 1851, and of which scarcely a vestige now remains. This fragment was sent to York by my relative, Mr. Geo. Robt. Davies, lately residing at Shanghai and since at Yokohama, who desires to present it to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Captain Blakiston, in his book on the Yangtaye, says : — Passing by a wall and strong stockade you enter into a space formerly covered by the southern suburb, in which rose the Porce¬ lain Tower. This splendid pagoda, once reputed to be one of the wonders of the world, is now a white hill of ruins. Two immense walls, divided by a narrow aperture, are the only portions of the tower now standing. Every ship that has touched at Nankin, has made a looting excursion to the white heap, and boat-loads of por¬ celain bricks have been carried away. Now, unless by bribery, not a brick can be got. Mr. Noble also read the following extract from Notes and Queries^ January, 1867, respecting the Porcelain Tower : — The Lew-le-paon-t’ah, or Yitreous precious-stone pagoda, was built about a. d. 200, and rebuilt as it recently stood a. d. 1400, occupied nineteen years in construction, and cost £600,000. Height, 261 feet; diameter at base, 96 feet; 150 bells, and 40 lamps in it. In 1856 it was blown up with gunpowder, and nothing of it remains but fragments. The fragment now presented to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society was purchased upon the spot by Mr. George Robert Davies, then residing at Shanghai, and afterwards at Yokohama, from whence he has recently returned. W. Barney, Esq., gave a brief notice of the virginals presented by him to the Society, stating that it was supposed that only two were to be found in this part of the country. The date of the virginals in question was 1651, and they were considered as the oldest form of piano-forte. After referring to the fact that Queen Elizabeth is said to have excelled in performances on the virginals, he explained some of the peculiarities of the instrument. December 1. — W. S. Dallas, Esq., said that Mr. Barkas, the donor of the specimens of fossil bones and teeth of fishes from the coal measures of Northumberland, presented at this meeting, had offered prizes to the workmen employed at the Northumbrian collieries for the best collection of fossil bones, &c. This plan had been so successful that he gave an intimation, through the medium 36 of tlie Geological Magazine^ to tlie effect that he had a quantity of fossils from the coal measures, for distribution amongst those interested in such objects who should make application for them. As keeper of the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, he (Mr. Dallas) applied, and in return received the specimens which were exhibited to the meeting. Mr. Dallas then gave some par¬ ticulars respecting them, and stated that several were very distinct teeth, scales, vertebrae, rib bones, and other miscellaneous remains of fossil fishes, and that although the Society had in its collection duplicate specimens of some of them, the donation would prove a very acceptable acquisition to the Museum. 37 DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. GEOLOGY. Walker, J. F., Esq., B. A., ) Claw joint and tooth of Igmnodon F. Q-. S . ) from Potton. Specimens of Waldheimia pseudo-jurensis and W. Woodwardi from Upware, Fossils from the Bracklesham Tertiary beds. Barkas, T. P., Esq., (New- ^ Fossil bones and teeth of Fishes from castle ). . ) the Coal measures (Lower Main) of Northumberland. ZOOLOGY. Dallas, W. S., Esq., (Yorh) . A Specimen of Euplectella aspergillum. Harrison, J.Esq., ) A Specimen of Tinnuneulus Cencliris Hall . . j killed near Greenhammerton (new to Britain). Reilly, Mrs., (Heworth Moor) Two Scorpions from India. Knocker, Comm. H. H., ) Shells and Crustacea from various (Bridlington Quay ) . ... j parts of the World. Simpson, Mr., (PetergateJ Three young Hedgehogs. Daway, Payan, \ ^ q£ Sphinx Convolvuli. Purchased . A specimen of Euplectella aspergillum. ,, Thirty-six skins of Mexican Birds. Procter, W. Esq., M. D., ) A curiously marked and wrinkled ( Yorh) . . j Hen’s Egg. 38 ANTIQUITIES. Kenrick, Eev. John .... A Eoman Vase from the Crescent, York. A Coin of Quintillus. Barnby, W., Esq., fYorhJ Virginals, dated 1651. Morrell, Mr. W. W . A bead from a coflBn found at Church Hill, Selby (see Eeport Y. P. S. 1860). Holmes, Eev. Q-. S . Owles, A. J., Esq., {Qth ) Enniskillen Dragoons ) . , ) Eeynard, E. H., Esq., ) f Sunderlandwick J . ) Pui’chased . A Eoman Vase from Holme-on- Spalding-Moor. A Horse Shoe from Marston Moor. A stone Axe found at Hutton Crans- wick. Vases fi’om St. Mary, Bishophill Junior. MISCELLANEOUS. Monkhouse, Mr. W., A sketch of the Hospitium of St. Mary’s Abbey, taken in 1832. Davies, G. E., Esq . Fragment from the Porcelain Tov^er at Nankin. Eaper, Mr. G., (Wigginton) Piece of Bark Cloth from the Friendly Islands. Jessop, Eev. W. ( Stockport) Two large Wooden Bowls united by'a ring and cut out of the sohd wood, from West Africa. Bayly, Eev. Thos., ( Clifton^ ) A model of a Boat and an iron Water York ) . j bottle from India. LIBEAEY. Admiralty, Lord of the . . . .Greenwich observations for 1865 and 1866. Association, British, for the ^ ,, ’ .PCI. f Eeport for 1867. Advancement oi Science ) 39 The Author . A Memoir of the York Press ; by Pobert Davies, Esq., F. S. A. The Author . The authorship of the Practical Electric Telegraph of Great Britain ; by T. Fothergill Cook, M. A. The Author . Three Addresses to the Members of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire ; by Joseph Mayer, Esq., F. S. A. The Author . On the Preparations of the County of Kent to resist the Spanish Armada ; by Joseph Mayer, Esq., F. S. A. The Author . . Essai sur la Metaphysique des Forces, par Alexandre Schyanoff (de Kiew) . The Author . On the Species of Brachiopoda which occur in the Lower Greensand at Upware ; by J. F. Walker, Esq., • B. A., F. G. S. Davies, Pobert, Esq., f Bishop Percy’s Folio MS. Ballads and Pomances ; 3 vols. Gray, W., Esq., ( York ) . . The Puins of Palmyra and Balbec, by Pobert Wood. The Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857, by Pobert Mallett. India, Geological Survey of Memoirs, vol. v. 1 — 4 and vi. 1 and 2. The Gasteropoda of the Cretaceous Pocks of India. Catalogue of Meteorites. Annual Peport for 1866 — 67. Institution, Poyal, of Great ) ^ , , _ ^ . \ Proceedings, vol. v., parts 3 and 4. Britain . ; Monkhouse, Mr. W., f York ) Peport of the Executive Committee of the Yorkshire Fine Art and Indus¬ trial Exhibition. Pead, W.H. P., Esq., ForXJ Journal of the Linnean Society, Zoology, Nos. 39, 40, 41, 43 ; Botany, Nos. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47. Transactions of the Linnean Society, vol. XXV., part 3, vol. xxvi., part 1 and index to vols. i. — xxv. 40 Eead, W. H. E., Esq.,/' ForX-y> Journal of tlie Eoyal Horticultural Society, vol. ii., part 5. Society, Chemical . Journal for 1868. Society, Geological . Quarterly Journal, Nos. 93, 94, 95, 96. Transactions, vol. vi., parts 5, 6, 7. Society, Geological and \ Polyteclinic of the West ! Eeport of Proceedings for 1867. Eiding . ) Society, Leeds Literary and ) . , ^ Annual Eeport for 1867—68. Philosophical . ) Society, Eipon Scientific . . On Eoman Camps in the neighbour¬ hood of Eipon, by T. C. Heslington. Tyneside Naturalists’ Field 1 Natural History Transactions of Club . ) Northumberland and Durham, vol. ii. BOOKS PUECHASED. The Origin of Species by Natural Selection ; by Charles Darwin, F. E. S. The Variation of Animals and Plants under domestication ; by Charles Darwin, F. E. S. The Principles of Geology ; by Sii’ Charles Lyell, F. E. S. ; 2 vols. Paleeontological Memoirs ; by the late Hugh Falconer, M. D., F. E. S. ; 2 vols. Ornithologie Eimopeenne ; par C. D. Degland et Z. Gerbe ; 2 vols. SEEIAL WOUKS SUBSCEIBED FOE. Birds of Australia, by John Gould, F. E. S., supplementary parts (4 published). Birds of Asia, by the same (20 parts published). Exotic Butterflies, being Illustrations of New Species chiefly selected from the Collection of W. Wilson Saunders and W. C. Hewitson. By W. C. Hewitson. (23 nos.) Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, or Geology of the Sewalik Hills, in the North of India, by Dr. Falconer and Major Cautley. (Parts 1 to 9 of Hlustrations, and part 1 of Letter-press.) Proceedings of the Zoological Society, with Illustrations. 41 Publications of the Palaeontographical Society. Publications of the Pay Society. Sowerby’s Thesaurus Conchyliorum, col. plates (25 parts published). The Zoological Record f Annual ). London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Archiv fiir Naturgescbichte. Berlin, von Troschel. Geological Magazine. Gentleman’s Magazine, from 1862. Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Numismatic Chronicle. V’ i' V>rr ’ a . •' <»*>-' If ''i ■ .' - ; ..'•■■V'S \ , r. fr >-- f. I r , ' n' < \ N ■( • -.'7:' .■*-■< ;