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Report and Proceedings

OF THE

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BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

SESSION 1895-96.

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PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET

(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

18096.

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Report and Proceedings

OF THE

Bw i EAS Ee

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

SESSION 1895-96.

BE LEP AS Ee:
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET

(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1896,

CONTENTS.

Annual Report az ae 2. ne oe ee
Balancce Sheet ee Ss ae . ve oe
Donations to the Museum aie ke ae -- ve
Books Received 35 ats ms ae An A
The Migration of Birds, by R. Lloyd Patterson, F.L.S. ae Be
From Egypt to Ireland, by George Coffey, M.A., B.L. ea be

The Properties of the Surface of Liquids, by Joseph Barcroft, B.Sc. .,
Social Customs and Folk Lore of Tory, Innis Murray, and the South

Islands of Aran, by Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.I.A. at ae
The Production of Ability, by Conway Scott, C.K. “ os
Automobiles, or Horseless Carriages, by John Brown ee
List of Office-Bearers ... oa ah ae a

List of Shareholders and Subscribers

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Socisty.

ee
ESTABLISHED 1821.

ae

SHAREHOLDERS.

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

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum; the Proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum; the proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.

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

MEMBERS.

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

Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admittiug a friend thereto ; also of access to the
Museum and Library for himself and family, with the privilege of granting

admission orders for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in
Belfast.

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

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 10 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. « The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

Belfast Watural thistorp and Philosophical
Soctetp.

—- & ——
ANNUAL REPORT, 1805.
—— & ———_

Tue Annual Meeting of the Shareholders was held in the
Museum, College Square North, on 22nd July, at four o’clock.
Robert L. Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S., President of the Society,
occupied the chair, and there were also present Dr. J. A.
Lindsay, Dr. John MacCormac ; Messrs. Robert Young, J.P. ;
R. M. Young, J.P., M.R.LA.; W. H. Patterson, M.R.IA. ;
Wm. Swanston, F.G.S.; Thomas Workman, J.P.; J. H.
Greenhill, Mus. Bac., John Brown, Edward F. Patterson, and
John Horner.

Mr. R. M. Youne (Hon. Treasurer) having read the notice
convening the meeting, submitted the Council’s report for the
past twelve months, which stated :—“ The winter Session was
opened on the 5th November, 1895, in the Museum, when the
President of the Society, Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson, F.L.S.,
delivered an address on ‘The Migration of Birds,’ illustrated by
a series of special lantern slides. The second meeting was held
on the 3rd December, when Mr. George Coffey, M.A., B.L.,
Dublin, kindly gave an illustrated lecture—subject, ‘From
Egypt to Ireland, a chapter in the History of Ornament.’ The
third meeting was held on the 7th January, 1896, when a
lecture was kindly delivered by Mr. Joseph Barcroft, B.Sc.,
King’s College, Cambridge, on ‘ The Properties of the Surface
of Liquids,’ illustrated by a iarge number of experiments. The
fourth meeting was held on the 4th February, when Mr,

4~

2 Annual Meeting.

Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.I.A., lectured on the subject of
‘Social Customs and Folk Lore of Tory, Innis Murray, and
the South Islands of Aran, illustrated by numerous limelight
views and specimens. The fifth meeting was held on the 3rd
March, when Mr. Conway Scott, C.E., read a paper entitled
‘The Production of Ability.’ The sixth meeting was arranged
as a popular scientific lecture by Mr. John Brown, Hon.
Treasurer, on the subject of ‘ Automobiles, or Horseless Carriages,’
illustrated by a special series of limelight views and the
exhibition of a carriage just imported from France, shown with
its machinery working. This lecture was given on the 16th
April in the Ulster Hall Annexe, and the chair was taken by
the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of Belfast on the invitation of
the President. In addition to the members of the Society and
their friends, there was a large attendance of the general public
on this occasion. All the meetings of the Society were largely
attended some of them inconveniently so, as the Lecture
Hall in the Museum is inadequate for the accommodation of a
large audience. Owing to the number of lectures provided by
the Society for the Extension of University Teaching and other
bodies your Council did not arrange for any series of popular
scientific lectures last session. It will be observed from the
Treasurer's Statement of Accounts herewith submitted, as
approved by the Auditor of the Local Government Board, that
the finances of the Society continue in a fairly satisfactory
condition, with a balance on the right side. Nevertheless, for
many obvious reasons an increased membership is much to be
desired. The meetings of other kindred societies continue to
be held in the Museum. These include the Belfast Naturalists’
Field Club, for whom additional accommodation has been
' provided, the Engineers’ Society, and the University Extension
Society. The collections in the Museum were thrown open for
inspection at a nominal sum, as customary, on the Easter
holidays. Several novel exhibits, including some Réntgen ray
phetographs, kindly lent by Dr. Cecil Shaw, attracted much
attention, and the attendance of the public was large. The

Annual Meeting. 3

curator continues to discharge efficiently his duties, in which
he has the assistance of the sub-curator, Mr. Sinclair. The
Museum collection of local cretaceous fossils has been rendered
more complete by the identification of specimens which hitherto
could not be named with entire certainty. Dr. W. F. Hume,
F.G.S., of London, kindly undertook to examine these and
compare them with authentic examples. This has been done,
and the fossils will now be inserted in their proper order in the
collection, making an addition of some forty species to the
known fauna of the Irish cretaceous rocks. There still remain
a few specimens which cannot be identified with any described
forms, and Dr. Hume is of opinion that some of these may be
new and unpublished species. On a former occasion Dr.
Hinde, F.G.S., kindly revised the Museum collection of
cretaceous sponges, and gave authentic names to such as could
be determined with certainty. In this connection it may be
stated that our Museum shelves contain the most complete
series of Irish cretaceous fossils extant. The Council desire to
tender their warm thanks to the Press for their admirable
reports of the Society’s proceedings. In accordance with the
constitution of the Society, this meeting will be asked to elect
five members of Council for the ensuing year in place of the
following gentlemen, who retire, but are eligible for re-election,
viz.:—Messrs. John H. Greenhill, John Brown, Professor M.
F. Fitzgerald, Wm. Swanston, and Joseph Wright.”

Mr. JouHn Brown (Hon. Treasurer) submitted the Financial
Statement, which referred to the decrease in the Society’s
income, especially since 1892, and stated that the balance to be
carried forward was £9 13s 2d.

The PresIDENT, in moving the adoption of the Report and
Statement of Accounts, said he thought the diminution of
income just mentioned should receive their careful attention.
The Report was pretty much of the usual character. The
lectures were given in great variety, and the public attended in
very considerable numbers. He would like to throw out one
suggestion—viz., whether they should not initiate a movement

4 Annual Meeting.

for another visit of the British Association to Belfast. That
Association visited Belfast in 1852, and again in 1874. It was
twenty-two years since the last visit, and, as that learned body
were greatly in demand, if they were invited probably their
Committee of Management would not be able to fix a date
sooner than two or three years hence. The question, then,
was whether it was now desirable to invite the British
Association to this city.

_ Mr. THomas Workman in seconding the motion said he
quite agreed witn the President that the falling off in the
Society’s income should be looked into, and he also thought
the suggestion about the British Association should receive
their earnest attention.

The Report and Financial Statement were adopted.

Mr. R. M. Youne, referring to the donations which the
Society had received, directed special attention to aneight-legged
kid, received from Mr. Matthew Hall, of Doagh, and an Arab
gun, presented by Mrs. Walton Browne.

They were both exhibited on the table, and it was agreed
that the thanks of the Society should be sent to the donors of
these two interesting objects, and to others from whom
contributions had been received during the year.

The following five members of Council who retired by
rotation were re-elected:—Mr. J. H. Greenhill, Mr. John
Brown, Professor Fitzgerald, Mr. W. Swanston, and Mr. J.
Wright.

Mr. JoHN Brown moved a vote of thanks to Mr. R. L.
Patterson for the able manner in which he had filled the
presidential chair during the year.. Both in private and public
he had ruled over them with dignity, and their meetings had
‘gone on most pleasantly under his guidance. That was the
third occasion Mr. Patterson had been their President, and they
would all be glad to see him coming back again.

Dr. MacCormac, in seconding the vote, also referred in
eulogistic terms to Mr. Patterson, making very complimentary
reference to his presidential address.

The vote was passed by acclamation,

Annual Meetng. 5

Mr. R. L. PATTERSON, in acknowledging the vote, mentioned
that a considerable time since he presided for two years over
the Society, and it was a great pleasure to him to have now
had the privilege of occupying that position for another year.

The public proceedings then concluded.

Subsequently a meeting of the Council was held, when the
following appointments were made :—President, Professor
Everett, F.R.S. ; Vice-Presidents, Mr. John Brown, Dr. J. A-
Lindsay, Mr. W. Swanston, and Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P. ;
Hon. Treasurer, Mr. John Brown; Hon. Librarian, Mr. T.
Workman ; Hon. Secretary, Mr. R. M. Young.

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DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1395-96.

From W. C. Heron, Esq.
Two wooden spoons made and used in Lapland.

From Mrs. KENNEDY.
Old iron sign of Belfast Post Office.

From R. CAMBRIDGE, Esq.
An ancient roasting jack from Carrickfergus.
From R. J. WsicH, Esq.
A number of platinotype photos of Irish antiquities, and two
framed photos illustrative of Irish Ethnology.
From Lieutenant-Colonel Stone, Birmingham.
An enlarged instantaneous photo of Zulu Warriors, showing
their weapons.
From W. H. M‘LaueHtiny, Esq.
An ammonite (4. Fohustonz) from Lias rocks at Larne.
From F. O. OsBorne, Esq.
A stone axe found at Killinchy.
From Mr. Joun Moore, Donaghadee.
A fresh specimen of the allice shad (4/osa communis), caught
at Donaghadee.
From Mrs. Hewitt, Killinchy.
A lizard from New Zealand.
From W. T. Ciements, Esq.
A specimen of Verde antique porphyry from the Roman forum.
from THE CORPORATION OF THE CiTy oF LONDON.
A medal struck to commemorate the opening of Tower Bridge,
- London, 1894.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, rst MAY, 1895, TILL
ist MAY, 1896.

ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Aus-
tralia. Vol. 19, 1895. The Soctety.
AusTIN, Texas.—Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science.
Vol. 1, no. 3, 1893 ; and no. 4, 1894.
The Academy.
BERGEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog, for 1894-95.
The Director.
Beriin.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fir Erdkunde zu
Berlin. Vol. 22, nos. 4—10, 1895; and vol.
23, nos. I—3, 1896. The Society.
BirMINGHAM.—Proceedings of the Birmingham Natural History
and Philosophical Society. Vol. 9, part 1, 1894;
and part 2, 1895. The Soczety.
BoLtocna.—Rendiconto della R. Accademia delle Scienze dell’
Istituto di Bologna. Anno. 1892-93; and
Anno, 1893-04. The Academy.
Boston.—Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History.
Vol. 5, nos. 1 and 2, 1895; and Proceedings,
vol. 26, part 4, 1895. The Society.
BremMen.—Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Vereine zu Bremen. Vol. 13, part
2; and Beitrage, part 1,1895. Zhe Soczety.
Bres_tau.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie Herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlessiche Insektenkunde zu
Breslau. New Series, part 20, 1895.
The Society.
BricHton.—Report and Abstracts of the Brighton and Sussex
Natural History and Philosophical Society for
year 1894-95, and Catalogue of Books, 1895.
The Soctety.

Books Recewed. 9

Brussets.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de
Belgique. Vol. 33, 1894; and vol. 34, 1895.
The Soczety.
CatcutTta.—Records of the Geological Survey of India. Vol.
28, parts 2—4, 1895; and vol. 29, part 1, 1895.
The Director of the Survey.
CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical
Society. Vol. 8, part 5, 1895 ; and vol. 9, part
1, 1896. The Soczety.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 16, no. 15,:1895 ; vol. 25, no.
12, 1895; vol. 26, no. 1, 1894 ; and no. 2, 1895;
vol. 27, nos. {—6, 1895 ; and no. 7, 1896; also
Annual Report of the Curator for 1894-95.

Alex. Agassiz, Curator.

CarpiFF.—Report and Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’

Society. Vol. 26, part 2; and vol. 27, part 1,

1895. The Soctety.
CasseL.—Abhandlungen (40) des Vereins fir Naturkunde zu
Kassel, 1894-95. The Soctety.

CuHRISTIANIA.—En Rekke Norske Bergarter af Dr. Kjerulf,
1892. Royal University of Norway.
Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Danzig. New series, vol. 9, part 1, 1896.
The Society.
Dus.in.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society.
Series 2, vol. 5, parts 5—7, 1894 ; parts 8—11,
1895 ; and part 12, 1896. Proceedings, new
series, vol. 8, part 3, 1894; and part 4, 1895.
The Society.
EpINBuRGH.—Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society,
Session, 1894-95. The Society.
Empen.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Emden, for 1893-94. The Society.

10 Books Recewed.

Gernoa.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazioin
Scientifiche di Genova. Fasc. 1—3, 1895 ;
and anno 18, fasc. 1. 1896. The Society.

GisssEN.—Thirtieth Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft
fiir Natur und Heilkunde, 1895.

The Soctety.

GLascow.—Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Vol. 26, 1895. The Soczety.

Transactions of the Natural History Society of
Glasgow. New series, vol. 4, part 1, 1894.
The Society.

Goruitz.—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
zu Gorlitz. Vol. 21, 1895. The Society.

Hatirax, Nova Scotia.—Proceedings and Transactions of the
Nova Scotian Institute of Science. Vol. 8, part
4, 1895. The Institute.

Hattie. — Leopoldina Amtliches Organ der Kaiserlichen
Leopoldino-Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie
der Naturforscher. Vol. 30, 1894 ; and vol. 31,
1895. The Academv.

HamBurG.—Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissen-
schaften herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Vereinin Hamburg. Vol.14,1896;
also Verhandlungen, series 3, part 3, 1896.

The Soctety.

Ie.o, Austria-Hungary.—Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen

Vereines, 22nd year, 1895. The Society.
KrEw.—Memoirs of the Naturalist’s Society of Kiew. Vol. 13,
1894 ; and vol. 14, 1895. The Society.

LausANNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences
Naturelles. No. 116, 1894; and Nos. 117 and
118, 1895. The Society.
Leipsic.—Mitteilungen des Vereins fiir Erdkunde zu Leipzig for
1894. Wissenschaftliche Veroffentlichungen
des Vereins fur Erdkunde. Vol. 2, 1895.
The Society

Books Received. 11

Lreipsic.—Sitzungsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
zu Leipzig, 19th to 21st year, 1895.
A The Soctety
Mitteilungen des Vereins fiir Erdkunde zu Leipzig
for 1894. Wissenschaftliche Veroffentlichungen
des Vereins fiir Erdkunde, Vol. 2, 1895.
The Soctety.

Lonpon.—Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Vol.

51, 1895. Fhe Soczety.
Report of the 65th Meeting of the British Association
(Ipswich), 1895. The Association.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London. Vol. 51, parts 2—4, 1895; and vol.
52, part 1, 1896 ; also Catalogue of Geological
Literature added to the Library, 2 parts, 1895.
The Soczety.
Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Nos.
106—109, 1895 ; and 110,1896. The Soczety.
Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.
Vol. 13, parts 10 and 11, 1895. Proceedings,
part 4, 1894; and parts I—3, 1895.
The Society.
Mapison, Wis.—Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of
Sciences. Vol. 10, 1895. The Academy.

Mapras.—Report of the Madras Government Museum for 1895.
The Superintendant.

MANCHESTER.— Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society.
Vol. 10, nos. 4—12, 1896; and vol. 11, nos.

I—3, 1896. The Society.
Transactions of the Manchester Geological Society.
Vol. 23, parts 5—9, 1894-95 ; and vol. 24, parts

1—6, 1895-96. The Society.
MaArRSEILLES.—Annales de la Faculte des Sciences de Marseille.
Vol. 4, fasc. 4, 1894 ; and vol. 5, fasc. 1—3, 1895.

12 Books Recewed.

Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Meteorolgico
Central, September 1895 till January, 1896.
Also Boletin del Observatorio Astronomico
Nacional de Tacubaya. Vol. 1, nos. 21I—23;
and Anuario, ano. 16,1895. The Director.
MINNEAPOLIS.—Occasional Papers of the Minnesota Academy
of Natural Sciences. Vol. 1, no. 1, 1895.
The Academy.
Moscow.—Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de
| Moscou. Nos. 1—3, 1895; and no. 4, 1896.
The Society.
NanTES.—Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de I’
Ouest dela France. Vol. 4, part 4, 1894; and
vol. 5, parts I—3, 1895. The Society.
New Yorxk.-—Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 8. nos. 5—12; and Index, 1895. Trans-
actions. Vol. 14, 1894-95.
The Academy.
Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
Vol. 27, nos. 1--4, 1895. The Society.
ODESSA. —Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of New Russia.
Vol. 19, part 1, 1894; and part 2, 1895.
The Society.
Oporto.—Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Anno 2, nos. 3 and
4, 1895,and anno 3, no. 1,1896. Zhe Editor.
Ortrawa.—Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada.
New Series, vol. 6, for 1892-93; Palzeozic
Fossils, vol. 3, part 2, 1895; and Canadian
Palzontology, vol. 2, part 1. Also Mans 364—
372 and 379—390; also 550 and 551 ; together
with Easter Townships Map, Quebec, Rainy
River Sheet, and Sheet no. 11, Nova Scotia.
The Director.
PapuA.—Bullettino della Societa Veneto Trentina di Scienze
Naturali. Vol. 6,no. 1, 1895; and Atti. Series
2, vol. 2, fasc. 2, 1896. The Society.

Books Received. 13

PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences. Part 3, 1894; and parts I—2, 1895.
The Academy.
' Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
Vol. 32, no. 143, 18933 vol. 32, No. 146, 1894;
and vol, 34, nos. 147 and 148, 1895.
The Soctety.
Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of
Science. Vol. 3, part 3,1895. Zhe Institute.
Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Processa
verbali. Vol. 9, parts January to July, 1895.
The Soczety.
RocuesTer, N.Y.—Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of
science: Vol 2, brochpre <3; 1894- “and
brochure 4, 1895. The Academy.
Rome.—Journal of the British and American Archeological
Society of Rome. Vol. 2, no. 5, 1895.
The Soctety.
Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Series 4,
vol. 4, 1st semestre, fasc 8—12, £8953; 2nd
semestre, fasc 1—12, 1895. Series 5, vol. 5,
fasc I—6, 1896 ; also Rendiconto dell’ adunanza
sulenne del 9th June, 1895. The Academy.
Bollettino della Societa Romana per gli studi
Zoologici. Vol. 4, nos. 3—6, 1895; and
Zoologicae Res, an. 1, No. 2, 1894.
The Soctety.
San Francisco.—Proceedings of the California Academy of
Sciences. Series 2, vol. 4, part 1, 1894; and
part 2, 1895; also vol. 5, part 1, 1895.
The Academy.
STAVANGER.—Stavanger Museums Aarsberetning for 1894.
The Trustees.
SANTIAGO DE CuiLI.—Verhandlungen des Deutschen Wissen-
schaftlichen Vereins zu Santiago de Chile.
Vol, 3, parts 1 and 2, 1895. The Society,

14 Books Recewved.

Stirtinc.—Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and

Archeological Society for 1894-95.
The Society.

STOCK HOLM.—Handlingar of the Royal Royal Swedish Academy.
Vol. 26, 1894-95. Ofversigt, vol. 51, 1894.
Bihang, aol 20, parts I—4, 1895 ; also Sveriges

Zoologiska Hafsstation Kristineberg, 1895.
The Academy.

Toxto.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Natur
und Volkerunde Ostasiens in Tokio. Vol. 6,
parts 55 and 56 and supplement, 1895; and
part 57, 1896. The Society.

Upsata.—Bulletin of the Geological Institute of the University

of Upsala. Vol. 2, part I, no. 3.
The Institute.

Venice.—La Notarisia-Neptunia. Vol. 10, nos. 2—4, 1895.
The Editor.

ViennA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Zoo-
logisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Vol.
15, parts 4—10, 1895; and vol. 16, parts 1—3,
1896. The Society.
Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Geologis-
chen Reichsanstalt for 1895. Nos. 4—18 ; and
1896, nos. I—3. The Soctety.
W asHiInGTon.—Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1893.
North American Fauna, no. 8, 1895 ; and the

Common Crow of the United States, 1895.
The Secretary of Agriculture.

Eleventh and Twelfth Annual Reports of the
Bureau of Ethnology, 1894. Contributions to
North American Ethnology. Vol. 9, 1893.
Also the following Publications of the Bureau:—
An Ancient Quarry in Indian Territory,
Archeologic Investigations in James and
Potomac Valleys, Chinook Texts, The Siouan
Tribes of the East, and List of Publications,
1894. The Director of the Bureau,

Books Received. 15

Fourteenth Annual Report of the Geological Survey
of the United States. Part 1, 1893; part 2,
1894. Monographs, vols. 23 and 24, 1894.
Bulletins, nos. 118, 121, and 122, 1894.
Zhe Director.
Smithsonian Report for 1893. Report of the United
States National Museum for 1893. Smithsonian
Contributions to Knowledge, 980 and 989, 1895.
Miscellaneous Collections, nos. 854, 969, and
972, 1894; also 970 and 971, 1895. Proceedings
of the United States National Museum. Vol,
17, 1895, and Bulletin no. 48, 1895; also
Account of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895.
The Smithsonian Institution.
York.—Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
for 1894. Lhe Society.
ZuricH.— Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
in Zurich, 40th year, parts 2—4, 1895; and
Neujahrsblatt, No. 98, 1895. The Society
From Rost. Liroyp PATTERSON, Esq., J.P., F.L:S.—Journal
of the Linnean Society. Botany, vol. 30, no.
211, 1895; and vol. 31, nos. 212—214, 1895.
Zoology, vol. 25, no. 161, 1895.
From Don ALBERTO SANCHEZ, San Salvador.—La Cornoide,

1895.

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
SESSION 1895-96.

6th November, 1595.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT.

Rosert Lioyp Patrerson, Esqg., J.P., F.L.S.

THE PRESIDENT, in opening the proceedings, said his thanks
were due to his fellow-members of the Council for electing him
again president of that Society, and he could only say that he
should endeavour to discharge the duties connected with that
position to the best of his ability. His thanks were also due
to the members of the audience for their kindness in gracing
by their presence the opening meeting of the session. Before
proceeding with the business of the meeting, he thought it was
due to the memory of two great men, who had since the Society’s
last meeting there been removed from the scene of their earthly
labours, to make a brief allusion to those two men, who belonged
to different and sometimes antagonistic nationalities—England
and France. The Englishman was Professor Huxley and the
Frenchman was M. Pasteur. Both adorned the countries which
gave them birth; both were distinguished ornaments of the
sciences of which they were accomplished exponents. It was
not too much to say that the commanding genius of Huxley
shed lustre on the period in which he lived, and had exerted a
profound and lasting influence on the scientific thought of that
period. Of M. Pasteur they knew less, ‘except in connection
with the successful result of his researches into the combating

President's Address. 17

of one of the most terrible ailments by which mankind could be
attacked ; he referred to hydrophobia. He was glad to learn
that the Institute which grew up under his care and which
bears his name would perpetuate that name to posterity. In
connection with the late Professor Huxley, he might mention
that a committee had been formed in London with the object
of making arrangements for the erection of a national memorial
to perpetuate his memory, and he (Mr. Patterson) was asked to
join that committee, not in his private capacity, but as the
president of that Society. He regarded the request as a
compliment, and acceded to it. He was asked if he thought
it desirable to form a local committee for the object stated, and
he had replied that he scarcely thought it would be necessary
to do so, but that he would make it known through the Press
that he would be prepared to receive and acknowledge any
contributions received by him for the object in view. He
regretted to say, however, that this large, populous, and opulent
city of Belfast had not responded, through him at least, to that
appeal to the extent of one pound, one shilling, or one penny ;
but it was to the credit of an old and familiar Belfast gentleman
and a personal friend of his and his (Mr. Patterson’s family),—
Mr. James Herdman, now resident in Bath—who, having seen
the announcement already mentioned, sent him a contribution—
and that was the only contribution through his hands that had
reached the Committee.

The PresipENT then proceeded to deliver an address on
“The Migration of Birds,” which was effectively illustrated by
a series of special photo-lantern slides shown by Mr. A. R.
Hogg. Mr. Patterson commenced his paper by stating that of
the large number of birds which have now—many of them in
his opinion wrongly—been placed on the British list some are
mere accidental stragglers; and others, although met with
regularity, do not occur with sufficient frequency to be called
common ; so that the number of different species of our well-
known everyday birds is probably considerably below 200. Of
these some occur only in summer and others again only in

18 President's Address.

winter, these two sub-divisions going to form the division of
migratory birds, as compared with the other division, the
permanent residents. The lecture being only on the subject
of migration, classification was not alluded to; so, explaining
the difference and instancing some examples of the two sub-
divisions just mentioned—the summer migrants and the winter
migrants—the lecturer next proceeded to point out that even
among our so-called permanently resident birds migration
prevailed to a large extent ; and he illustrated this by reference
to the habits of the curlew, the starling, the skylark, and others.
The questions of what began the migration movement and
what leads to its continuance were next discussed at some
length, and the theories of different authorities on the subject
alluded to in detail. He differed from the authors whose works
he referred to or quoted from, and stated his own views on these.
two branches of the subject. He next proceeded to give a
comprehensive sketch of the great migratory movement—
“the mystery of migration,’ as he termed it—as observed in
various places, paying a high compliment to Mr. Seebohm and
Mr. Harvie-Brown for their investigations in this direction.
Mr. Seebohm he alluded to most particularly as having under-
taken a journey of over 15,000 miles to the mouth of one of
the great Siberian rivers—the Yenesei, falling into the Arctic
Ocean—in his endeavours to track some of our migrants to
their summer homes. The scenes witnessed by the intrepid
travellers were graphically described, and were admirably
illustrated by the lantern slides. Migration in the United
Kingdom, but in Ireland in particular, and in Continental
Europe, was next alluded to, the lecturer concluded with a
description of the wonderful migration which occurs in Heligo-
land, as recorded in a recently-published translation of the
great work on the birds of that island by a veteran resident
there, Mr Gatke. The nesting habits of some of the birds were
described, and views of some favourite nesting-places exhibited,
these and the other views adding an artistic attraction to an
interesting and instructive lecture, which was listened to with
attention throughout by a most appreciative audience,

President's Address. 19

Dr. REDFERN said that everyone knew that Mr. Patterson
was thoroughly acquainted with this subject, but he dared say
that no one was at all aware of the very lucid manner in which
he was likely to bring it before them. He was sure that the
very youngest present must have followed him with great
pleasure. In addition to the lecture, which was filled with
most instructive and interesting details, they had the pleasure
of viewing a number of very handsome photographs, which
would serve to engrave the lectureon their memory. It might
be said that Mr. Patterson was born a Naturalist, and could
not help being a Naturalist, but they could not but observe
and be grateful for the trouble he had gone to in order to
gather together a vast mass of information for their pleasure
and instruction. He thought therefore they were entitled to
give him a very hearty vote of thanks, and he had pleasure in
moving that they do so.

Mr. T. F. SHILLINGTON said he had pleasure in seconding
the motion.

Mr. PATTERSON pointed out that it was not their custom
to pass votes of thanks to their own members, but he was very
grateful for the kind words used by his friend Dr. Redfern and
to Mr. Shillington for seconding the motion.

This concluded the proceedings.

20

ord December, 1895.

Rogpert Lioyp PaTrTerson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S., President, in
the Chair.

Mr. GeorGE Correy, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, M.R.I.A., of
Dublin, delivered a Lecture entitled :—

“FROM EGYPT TO ITIRELAND—A CHAPTER IN
THE HISTORY OF ORNAMENT.”

THE lecturer in his preliminary remarks, said that the
subject which he had the honour to introduce to their notice
that evening formed one of the most fascinating chapters in the
history of ornament. It had an archzological and an historical
interest, and it had a decorative interest. He wauld be engaged
the greater part of the evening on the archzological and the
historical aspects of the subject, and if time permitted at the
close of the lecture he might be able to say a few words on the
purely decorative or ornamental side of the question. It was
usually assumed that primitive man in his first efforts in art
began to make geometrical patterns, zigzags, geometric circles
and spirals, but within the past fourteen years the subject had
been studied more closely, and they now knew, so far as
investigation had proceeded, that primitive man had never
begun art in that way. Geometrical patterns, simple as they
looked, represented an advanced stage of art, and they now
recognised that primitive man began by drawing graphic and
realistic representations of the things with which he was in
immediate contact—in other words, of the life that existed
around him, and if they considered fora moment they would
recognise that was the natural beginning of any form of art,

From Egypt to Ireland. 2%

Young children did not begin by drawing patterns or designing
geometrical combinations, but what might be called very
realistic representations of their near relatives—and it was at a
later stage that they proceeded to take an interest in design and
ornament, in combinations and beauty lines. And so it was
that the earliest records that primitive man had left behind him
were realistic representations of animals which he had hunted
and of people round about him. Additional proof of this fact
was supplied by the illustrations on the carved bones found in
the caves of France left therein by the cave men. These
represented the most primitive examples of art they had, and
they showed a great power of grasping the actualities of
the animals which they represented. Passing from realistic
representations, they came to the stage when man manifested
a desire to enrich the objects which he found around him in his
daily life, and to apply his power of drawing to the beautifying
of the object. The moment he reached that stage he was
constrained and limited by the shape of the object which
he was representing, and this constraining influence led him
to combination lines. The forms which he at first drew
realistically assumed a definite design. The design was evolved
until ultimately patterns were evolved, and at the last stage
they reached geometrical forms. They would see that if they
went on simplifying any design they would ultimately come
upon the right lines. Primitive man was now coming to the
stage in which he took pleasure in the beauty of lines, and not
merely in the graphic representations of things. He wanted to
put before them a definite historical fact, and to interest them
in what he might call the wandering of the spirals, and to show
them how certain patterns had travelled across the world, and
how even in Ireland, in the remote west, they found trimmings
of some of those early patterns beginning in far away
Egypt. Continuing, Mr. Coffey described the historical
sequence of some of the most characteristic Egyptian patterns
of the different dynasties. The series of slides illustrating these
patterns was especially interesting, many of the patterns being

22 from Egypt to Ireland.

of great beauty. Passing from Egypt to pre-historic Greece,
he showed several examples from the finds at Mycenz, and
traced the influence of Egyptian patterns in pre-historic Greek
ornament. Then following the path of the pre-historic trade
routes across Europe, he showed a series of slides exhibiting the
extension of certain of the pattern forms to the Baltic, and,
finally, to Britain and Ireland. The geographical distribution
of spiral patterns was most remarkable, and the strict limits
within which their extension across Europe was confined showed
that it was not due to chance or accident, but the result of
trade intercourse—a conclusion supported by other evidence.
It had been usual to assume that continental influence had
reached Ireland from Gaul through Britain. Mr. Coffey pointed
out that in the narrow seas and islands of the Baltic a civilisation
had been developed in bronze age times comparable, though
lower in order, to that of the Aigean; that in early bronze age
times Scandinavia had reached a higher civilization than Gaul
of the same period, and that to this northern centre of influence
was to be attributed important elements in the early culture of
Scotland and Ireland, which had come to those countries direct
by sea from the north in the bronze age.

Mr. Joun Warp, J.P., moved that the best thanks of the
meeting be given to Mr. Coffey for his fascinating and delightful
paper. He said the lecturer had a way of connecting his
information which made his remarks very interesting. As
the subject of the lecture tended to fix their attention upon
their native land, it was all the more welcome. It seemed
a very wonderful thing, as Mr. Coffey had pointed out, that
the golden age of Ireland, which, perhaps, might come
again, should have been found out by the intercourse with
Egypt. It was also rather extraordinary how all the
_ decorative art known to us could be traced as having proceeded
from certain simple original types. They had seen from the
lecture how the ancient Egyptian types were found in the
decorations in the Parthenon at Athens, and later in decorations
of the Renaissance period. While in Egypt he had been

From Egypt to Lreland. 23

greatly struck by the enlaced work of the decorations there,
and its similarity to that on the ancient Irish manuscripts.
The decorations of every kind seemed to him to have a
resemblence to the Book of Kells. He had also seen ancient
ornamentation which reminded him of the shrine of St.
Patrick’s bell, which they used to havein Belfast. He admired
the lucid way in which Mr. Coffey had traced the connections
between Ireland and Egypt, and hoped, in conclusion, that the
Society would have many more visits from him.

Mr. JouHN Worxman, J.P., seconded the vote of thanks,
which was passed with applause.

Mr. Correy, in acknowledging the compliment, said it was
a pleasure to him to meet a number of brother archeologists,
and exchange ideas with them. He did not think that any of
the people working in those fields in Ireland could forget the
debt they owed to the Northern archzologists. In the
prehistoric department several of their men had done work
that would always be classical, and it wasa delight to meet
kindred spirits in those studies. He would like to express the
hope that in Belfast there would develop a great school of
design. They had a great textile industry in this city ; they
had the conditions favourable to the growth of a great school of
design. If they were looking forward in that direction they
must keep in mind that to develop such a school they must
develop a tradition. Great schools of design had been slow in
forming while in their earlier stages, and they must remember
that the art of design had come down through the craftsmen
as a tradition, and that the great designers who had made
France what she was were men from the industries, from the
workers in the textiles. If they wanted to master design they
must narrow themselves in some particular school and class of
work. They must create an atmosphere in their city, a tradition,
and from that would come a great school of design.

Mr. Youne having announced that the next lecture would
be given on the sth January by Mr. J. Barcroft, of Cambridge,

The meeting terminated.

January 7th, 1895.

Rosert Lioyp Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S., President, in
the Chair.

Mr. JosEPH BaARcroFT, of King’s College, Cambridge, gave a
Lecture on

“THE PROPERTIES or toe SURFACE OF LIQUIDS.”

Tue PRESIDENT, in introducing the lecturer said they were
assembled that evening to hear a lecture from Mr. Barcroft.
His subject sounded rather technical, but he was sure he would
make it very clear to them.

Mr. BarcrorT then proceeded with his lecture, and prefaced
his remarks by stating that, although the title of his lecture
appeared to be of a somewhat technical nature, he had really
chosen the subject because it was one the knowledge of which
enabled us to account for a great many phenomena to be seen
every day, hence one not without interest to those who took a
pleasure in investigating what they saw around them. The
fact that if the surface was not penetrated a needle may be made
to float upon water at once shows a difference between the
properties of the surface and those of the general mass of the
liquid. The difference was explained by a model, in which
each of the indistinguishable particles of molecules of which
the water was composed was represented by a marble, from
which it appeared that while a particle in the body of the water
was equally attracted by particles all round it, those at the
surface were only attracted downwards by those below them.
All around the liquid its bounding surface is as it were
compressing the water, and acts in fact just as though the water
were entirely enclosed in a distended bag of india-rubber. The

The Properties of the Surface of Liquids. 25

resemblance between the surface film of a liquid, whether
exposed to air or to the sides of the vessel, and stretched elastic
was shown by some experiments. A piece of stretched elastic
tends to contract ; it would lift up a weight ; it would, in fact,
like a wound watch-spring, do work ; in scientific language it
possesses potential energy, energy being defined as ability to do
work. Now, potential energy when created always tends to
run down or become a minimum. The lifted weight will fall ;
the wound spring will unwind; the stretched elastic will
contract; and the energy of the liquid surface tends also to
become a minimum, this being effected, just as in the case of
the stretched elastic, by a reduction of superficial area. This
underlying principle will be found to explain many of the
phenomena due to surface tension. Why, for instance, is an
ordinary drop spherical? Because the sphere is that figure
which has the smallest surface for its volume, and surface
contraction can proceed no farther. Mr. Barcroft went on to
show by experiments the application of the principles. He
explained why water pouring out of a tap will sometimes
remain as a falling column, while at other times the column
will break up into innumerable drops. He also explained wiry
a liquid with small surface tension, such as oil, will if poured
on water, rapidly spread out into a thin film, while a liquid of
large surface tension would under similar circumstances gather
itself together into a compact mass. A film of water on a glass
rod will gather up into a number of drops. The spider avails
itself of this property of liquids in forming the necessary drops
of sticky liquid on its web. This liquid is secreted by the
spider as film, covering the cobweb evenly. The lecturer then
proceeded to show that the influence of surface tension largely
regulated some very important and familiar phenomena. He
showed that the presence of smoke in the air greatly facilitated
the condensation of moisture into drops, and connected this
fact with the foggy atmosphere prevalent in towns. By the
aid of another experiment he showed the important bearing of
surface tension upon filters. When a stream of impure water

26 The Properties of the Surface of Liguzds.

runs through one of the pores of a filter, the roughness of the
material of which the filter is made detains the external part of
the stream of liquid. It is a provision of surface tension that
salts dissolved in the liquid tend to aggregate at the exterior
rather than the centre of the stream. Hence they are caught
by the filter. He proceeded to illustrate the fact that the force
due to surface tension was by no means _inconsiderable,
contrasting it in this respect with gravitation, and demonstrated
by experiment how it was that straws, twigs, and other small
articles floating upon the water collected into clusters. Some
of the least complicated methods of measuring surface tension
were briefly referred to and illustrated, after which the lecturer
concluded with an experiment which showed that owing to
some occult cause the presence of electricity altered the size of
the drops composing a jet of water.

A vote of thanks to the lecturer was proposed by Professor
EverReETT, who paid a high compliment to Mr. Barcroft for the
manner in which he had dealt with a difficult and intricate
subject.

Mr. JoHNn Brown seconded, and the motion was passed by
acclamiation.

The proceedings then terminated.

27

February ¢th, 1895.

Lavens M. Ewart, Esq., J.P., occupied the chair.

Mr. S. F. Miniican, M.R.I.A., vice-president R.S.A., Ireland,
delivered a Lecture on

“ANTIOUITIES, SOCIAL CUSTOMS, AND FOLK
LORE OF TORY, INNISMURRAY, AND THE
SOUTH ISLANDS OF ARAN.”

Mr. Mituican said—Mr. President, ladies, and gentlemen, as
you are aware there was an excursion organised last summer by
the Royal Society of Antiquaries to start from Belfast by a
steamer calling at Tory Island, Innismurray off the coast of
Sligo, High Island off the coast of Mayo, and finally the three
islands of Aran lying across the entrance of Galway Bay.
These islands could only be visited by a sea-going steamer, and
the object of the visit was not an ordinary holiday cruise, but to
examine the ancient Pagan and very early Christian Churches
in these remote isles, and finally reach the city of Galway, where
the summer meeting of the Society was to beheld. The whole
affair was most successful and greatly enjoyed by the members,
who were fortunate enough to be of the party. To enable you
to understand the origin and objects for which the ancient
churches, altars, and other structures were erected on these
islands, you will require to take a long look backwards to the
time Christianity was introduced into Ireland. You have heard
of the Island Monasteries of the ancient Celtic Church of
Ireland ; if you have not, you will find in the pages of our
journal, third quarter, 1891, a very interesting and instructive

28 Antiqutties, Soczal Customs, Sc.

paper by the Rev. Dr. Stokes, and in his work ‘Ireland and the
Celtic Church ”’ you will find a further account of the origin of
monasticism in Ireland. About the middle of the third, and
the commencement of the fourth century, the Roman Emperors
sorely persecuted the Christian Church over the entire of their
dominions. Great numbers of Christians in consequence of
this, in Syria and Egypt particularly, left their homes and
retired to desert places to dwell. From this cause monasticism
originated. They lived in the deserts at first singly as anchorites,
who were the original monks, and at a later period in com-
munities under the rule of an abbot. St. Anthony is looked
upon as the founder of monasticism in Egypt, where he lived
in the desert to a very old age—I think some go years. This
example was copied in Ireland, and anchorite monks retired to
a place called a desert, where they lived a very ascetic life. Place
names commencing with desert, such as Desertmartin and
Desertcreat, derived the name from monks who had retired to
these places. Many in Egypt followed in St. Anthony’s foot-
steps, so that before his death he had thousands of followers.
In those times there was considerable commercial intercourse
between Alexandria and various Mediterranean ports, as far as
Gaul. Marseilles then as now was a great commercial port, and
along these trade routes the monks followed in tke course of
time just as our missionaries follow in the track of English
commerce. They founded communities along the islands,
avoiding the mainland, and the great cities until they reached
Gaul, from which they eventually came to Ireland. The islands
around the West Coast of Ireland suited their purpose admirably,
and in allthe principal islands from the Skelligs to the Copelands
they founded monasteries, the ruins of which after the lapse of
1,300 years we had on this excursion come to inspect. On
Innismurray there still exists in a wonderfully perfect state one
of these primitive monasteries, another on the Skellig Rocks,
off-the Coast of Kerry. The history of the ancient Irish Church
clearly shows it was derived from the Eastern not the Western
Church. The architecture is of an Egyptian type known as

Antiquities, Soczal Customs, &c. 29

_ the entablature style. The little primitive churches we visited
in Innismurray and Aran, with square-headed door-ways, and
inclining jambs, are Egyptian in their character. The stone
bee-hive huts are also of Eastern origin, similar structures
having been in common use in Syria at the same period. After
the islands around the coast were occupied, the islands of the
larger lakes of Lough Erne, Lough Ree, Lough Derg, in the
Shannon, and others were also occupied by these ancient order
of monks. The remains of their monasteries and anchorite
cells still remain as the most incontestable proofs of their
existence. The first churches were frequently erected within
arath or cashel. The reason is obvious. Ata time the country
was semi-Pagan, it was necessary to have protection, where life
and property were so insecure. The islands were chosen for
the security they afforded, as well as to be removed as far as
possible from the external world. The Celtic monasteries had
another important function to fill—they were the great schools
of the period. Bangor, County Down, had a celebrated school,
where Columbanus, the great apostle of Northern Italy, was
educated. On the mainland, where there was a good depth of
soil and timber was plentiful, the enclosure was an earthen
rampart, and the church probably timber and thatched. On
the islands the same conditions did not exist, there was no
timber, and very little soil, but plenty of stone ; hence the
churches were built and roofed with stone, not a particle ot
timber being used, and the enclosure was a cashel or stone wall
built without mortar and very broad. Views of the small
churches in the cashel at Innismurray, the stone bee-hive huts,
the altars, crosses, the holy wells, bath or sweating house were
allshown. The bee-hive huts, primitive church, incised crosses,
and holy well on High Island were shown. A series of views of
the churches, forts, and bee-hive huts were shown belonging to
the three Islands of Aran, as well as numerous views of the island
andthepeople. Thelecturer then proceeded as follows—Leaving
the antiquities of these islands to take a view of the social
condition of the people, they present to us a most interesting

30 Antiquities, Social Customs, &c.

study, with their old-world customs and modes of thought so
different from that of the 19th century elsewhere. Just now
they have commenced a transition stage; the steamboat and
the tourist are invading their retreats. Emigration to America,
and particularly the return of emigrants to visit their native
islands, all these combine to produce a change in the habits and
customs of the people, so that it may be expected further
changes will take place, and those interesting customs will
disappear. At present they fish in coracles similar to those
used by the ancient Britons made of a wooden frame work, the
only difference being that tarred canvas is now used for covering
‘instead of cow hides. They do not wear boots and shoes as we
do, but a sandal they call pampoodies, made of cow hide, with
the hair outside and tied across their instep bya thong. They
make all their own textiles, they spin the wool of their sheep,
weave and dye it suitable for the garments of either sex. Mr.
Milligan exhibited specimens of cloth, which is most durable
and well suited to its purpose. The men wear loose trousers
to the ankle, a vest, and sleeved homespun tweed jacket, and
for a head-dress a Tam o’ Shanter cap, knitted by the women
on the island. The women wear homespun, their petticoats
usually dyed red. The material is pure wool, and most enduring.
They all wear pampoodies, and can walk over the rocks and
stony ground of their Islands with a firm, elastic tread; even
the old men walk out witha springy, youthful step. The Irish
language is spoken invariably amongst themselves, but a great
many talk English to visitors. The largest island, Innishmore,
is nine miles long and about 13 miles broad. The population
at the last census was 1,996. Innishmaan, or the Middle Island,
is separated from Innishmore by a channel 24 miles broad. It is
24 miles long, and had a population of 456 in 1891. Innisheer,
the South Island is two miles long, and had a population of 455.
It is separated by a channel four miles broad from Innishmaan,
called the Foul Sound. The total population is about 3,000,
and the rental £2,085 10s 6d. The landlord is Mr. John W.
Digby, of Landenstown, County Kildare. The people live

Antiquities, Social Customs, &c. 31

2,

partly by farming and partly by fishing; the latter has great
room for development, as they fish only in their canoes, which
are not equal to Norway yawls for deep sea fishing. It is very
probable the Congested Districts’ Board will, in the near future,
assist the islanders to develop the fishing as they have done in
other places around the coast. Up to the reign of Queen
Elizabeth the islands were owned by the Teige O’Brien,
branch of the O’Briens of Clare, descendants of Brian Boru.
They passed to various owners afterwards, being mortgaged
and sold, until they came to the present owners. O’Brien’s
Castle still stands on the highest part of Innisheer, in
sight of the County Clare, the native county of the O’Briens.
Oliver Cromwell, in the time of the civil wars, took the
Islands, built a strong castle at Killeany, on the North
Island, which is still standing. He left a garrison in this
island, many of whom never left it, but intermarried with the
natives. The houses on the island are very clean. Women
attend to domestic duties, spin wool, knit, gather carrigreen
moss, weed their crops, and do other light work. The air on
the island is very pure, and there is scarcely any disease;
consumption and rheumatism are very rare. ‘The people
frequently live to a great age. On a stone in the churchyard at
Killeany is the following inscription :—“ Michael Dirrane, who
departed this life in the 119th year of hisage. Dated, 1817.”
Several wonderful stories are told of a greater age than this.
When the Land Bill became law the tenants took advantage of
it to get fair rents fixed. The result was a reduction of about
40 per cent. on the average rentals. Their mode of salutation
is worthy of note; the visitor, on entering a house, says, “ God
save all here.” Meet a man on the road, greet him with a
“God save you, sir,” he’ll remove his hat and reply, “ God save
you kindly, your honour.” If you pass them working in a
field always address them with a ‘‘ God bless your work, boys,”
they will answer, ‘‘ And you, too, sir.” They are an extremely
virtuous race, cases of illegitimacy being almost unknown.
There is neither a jail nor workhouse on the islands. One of

32 Antiquities, Social Customs, &c.

the magistrates of the old times used to summon his Court for
the first fine day, and hold it sitting at a table in the open air.
If there was a serious case that his Worship thought should be
punished, he would draw out a committal warrant, hand it to
the defendant, who, without the intervention of police, or
anyone else, would take the warrant, travel to Galway and
deliver himself up, warrant in hand, at the county jail. Stokes,
in his life of Dr. Petrie, says, “ If the inhabitants of the Aran
Islands could be considered as a fair specimen of the ancient
and present wild Irish, the veriest savages of the globe, as the
learned Pinkerton calls them, those whom chance had led to
their hospitable shores to admire their simple virtues, would
be likely to regret that the blessings of civilisation had ever been
extended to this very wretched country.” Mr. Milligan next
read several letters he received from a very intelligent native of
Innishmaan, whose acquaintance he made during his visit.
These letters are in reply to a series of questions Mr. Milligan
had asked, and are given verbatim as received :—“I beg to
acknowledge the receipt of your two letters and the books.
The delay in writing sooner is owing to the fact that there is
no post office in Innishmaan, and no nearer than Kilronan, in
the North Island, and the weather being so bad during the
~Christmas week that no canoe could leave our island. Your
last letter was four days in Galway before reaching North Aran.
With regard to the questions asked in your letter—first
courtship and marriage. In many instances the young couples
do have an eye on one another previous to the match-making,
but there is hardly any such thing as private meetings ever
takes place between them. They will meet on the road and
only exchange a few words, and the young man will often
drop into the parents’ house of an evening fora chat. But in
a great many instances a marriage is brought round in this
way. The young woman is in her father’s kitchen, may be
getting dinner ready, when in walks two or three neighbours—
elderly men in all cases. Intuitively the object of the visit is
known, particularly if it happens between Christmas and Ash

Antiquities, Social Customs, &c. 33

Wednesday. The object is soon made known. I should have
stated the girl’s parents are not quite taken by surprise, for
word is sent two days before that such an event may be looked
for. Then the terms of the marriage are talked over, over, may
be, a drop of drink. When all is nearly settled the girl is
called in and asked by the intended husband’s friends if she is
willing. She is asked then to taste whatever they may be
drinking, and the bargain is made. The marriage invariably
takes place the following morning; always provided there is
no close kinship between them, when the Archbishop’s (Tuam)
consent must be obtained. The marriage fees are increased by
a pound or more in such cases. The girl may or may not go
to the husband’s house that night, but if she does not go that
night, she does not go fora month. Second, there is always
a bonfire on the islands on St. John’s Eve, however scarce the
fuel may be, mostly one in each village. Third, games on a
winter night. Oneis popular. A number—say ten—youngsters
assemble ; they divide into groups of five. Lots are drawn to
see who gets in the centre of a circle. The person on whom
the lot falls stoops down. The nine stoop down-in the same
manner. ‘A soongawn, or thick straw rope, is then passed
quickly from one to the other, under their legs, whilst sitting
close together, so that the person in the middle cannot see who
has the rope. From some unexpected hand he getsa blow,
anywhere except on the face, which often pretty well hurts
‘ him. Outdoor games are chiefly ball-playing. Fourth, wakes
and funerals. There is always a supply of pipes and tobacco
and drink. Even when a near friend dies in America the
person is very often waked in the parents’ house (just as if the
body was present) for one night only. The people keen at
funerals always, both at the corpse’s house and at the grave.
There is no particular door for bringing out a corpse, but the
south door is most usual in our island. The persons who carry
the coffin from the coffin-maker’s house to the residence of the
deceased are the persons who invariably lower the coffin into
the grave. Ghost and Fairies—The Banshee is not understood

34 Antiquities, Social Customs, &c.

here ; never heard about her. The belief in ghosts and fairies
is vague, not a firm belief ; but there are many who would not
on any account go out alone at night, wnilst others will go out
in the darkest night anywhere. The devotion at holy wells is
still very great, and it was quite a common thing for people to
remain at a holy well all night during the summer season in
prayer ; but certainly this practice is getting less and less. As
regards May Day, it is an old habit not to change cattle from
one field to another on that day. Steamer coming in, and I
must.now conclude in haste; more next letter. There is no
poteen made in the Aran Islands, but it was made in Innishmann
until about eight years ago, when it ceased. Thereis a custom
of midwives. After the birth ot a child, if the labour has been
painful and the woman much exhausted, nine articles of the
husband’s clothing are brought and dropped over her as she
lies, one by one, saying three times, ‘Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost.’ Wooden drinking vessels, or methers, of one piece,
have quite disappeared. JI remember one in my father’s house
when I was growing up. In reply tothe question, Are the
people musical? It is a fact that there are no professional
musicians on any of the islands, nor have been in my recollection. .
We have always a visit from a piper or a fiddler on pattern
days. He comes sometimes from the County Clare, and some-
timesfrom Galway. But there are plenty of people who can sing
well and whistle. Some of the best whistlers one could hear are
to be found on the islands. The young people are beginning
to get melodeons, and are learning to play them. There is
occasionally a dance in the winter evenings, with the melodeon
playing. Some fishermen are in the habit of always bringing
with them a very small bottle of water from one of the holy
wells when going to fish. They keep it in the canoe under the
gunwale. A habit that used to prévail in some families, but
_the practice was not quite general, and is disappearing, was for
a person intending to go to America to remain up all night, if
in summer, in prayer beside one of the holy wells, the night
before leaving home. American thought and feeling, however,

Antiquities, Social Customs, &c. 35

has done a good deal towards effacing the practice, for there is
a regular stream of people going to and returning from
America. It is quite a common thing fora person who has
spent a few years in America to come home for a few months
and go away again. Some gentlemen come to this island and
stay for three or four weeks. There was a German gentleman,
Dr. Fincke, stayed for six months, and there is now a Dr.
Petersen, a Dane. Both these stayed in Kilronan. When
taking your holidays next year, you might spend a few days
i here.”

Mr. ALEXANDER TaTE, C.E., in proposing a vote of thanks
to the lecturer, said he had very great pleasure in doing so, as
he happened to be one of those who had visited the islands on
the occasion which formed the subject matter of Mr. Milligan’s
lecture. For that reason he could testify to the faithful way in
which the representations had been given, and he thought that
the description of the enjoyable trip which he had given them
that night would enable those who had not had the privilege to
join in the expedition to form a very accurate idea of its
pleasurable nature. Mr. Tate then referred to. the valuable
impetus which had been given to the movement for the better
recognition of the Irish West Coast as a pleasant summer resort
by the British Association, and said that many persons paying
a too hasty visit to these islands returned home, bringing with
them ideas about the character and habits of the population
which had no possible foundation. Therefore, gentlemen like
Mr. Milligan, who visited these interesting spots, possessing, as
he did, a keen intelligence, and making a careful investigation
of the customs of the people of the district, gave valuable help
indeed, and assisted to counteract many groundless statements.
Professor Hodden and others, he thought, had come to hasty
conclusions.

Mr. JoHN Workman, J.P., seconded. He said he had
listened with the greatest pleasure to Mr. Milligan’s remarks.
The description which he had given them, and the pictures
which illustrated his remarks, gave them an admirable idea of

36 Antiguitics, Social Customs, &c.

the wonderful character and manner of the inhabitants of these
islands.

The resolution was passed by acclamation.

Mr. Milligan, in acknowledging the vote, referred to the
intention of the society to visit the Galway coast on their next
cruise.

The proceedings then concluded.

Sy,

4th March, 1896.

Rosert Lioyp PaTTerson, Esq., J.P., M.R.IA., President,
in the Chair.

Mr. Conway Scott, C.E., gave a Lecture on

“THE PRODUCTION OF ABILITY.”

Mr. ScoTT introduced his subject with the remark that
many historians and students of history had asked the pregnant
question, why it was that at certain stages of the world’s history
certain men had appeared whose lives and actions had changed
and moulded the age in which they lived and irfluenced
subsequent ages and peoples. A man called Alexander the
Great, after about twelve years of incessant labour, died at the
early age of thirty-two, and, as if by magic, the whole face of
the world was changed. The old chapter of the world’s history
was closed, and a new and very different one commenced, and
the lives and conditions of many generations of men were very
different because that single man once lived and laboured in
this world. A man called Julius Cassar was born in Rome.
He fought and conquered all over the earth, and at the age of
fifty-six he died by the assassin’s dagger. But his work was
done. Many millions of humanity would have lived very
different lives from what they had done if that great Roman
had not once lived and acted as he had done. Napoleon I. was
born in semi-civilised Corsica, and although he died a lonely
exile in St. Helena his work was done. The old chapter of
feudalism closed for ever, and for good or for evil the reign and
triumph of democracy commenced. It was the same within
the sphere of religion. The lecturer instanced the cases of

38 The Production of Ability.

Martin Luther, to whose lifeand labours they owed Protestantism,
civil and religious liberty, and modern civilisation to some extent;
and John Knox, from whom Scotch Presbyterianism and Scotch
education had sprung, and many generations of Scotchmen had
had their lives greatly altered by the fact that that man lived.
Having referred to Homer and Plato, Mr. Scott proceeded to
emphasise the results, so far as the history of humanity is
concerned, which have been derived from the lives and actions
of the great men who had lived and worked in this world.
‘he next question considered was what produced those great
men, why they appeared at particular times, and why it was
that there were long stretches of time in which such men did
rot appear? Every man and woman had several things in
common, and the basis of the child’s character and intellect was
derived from his parents and from no other source. The
necessary qualities were energy, courage, force of character,
industry, perseverance, and capability. Those qualities were
distinctly hereditary. No man could attain any eminence or
success in this life without those qualities developed in a greater
or less degree. He called these qualities the practical qualities
of life, and many men possessed of high intellect, imagination,
and deep feeling had become hopeless wrecks in this world
from the want of those great qualities. Intellect was that
godlike power which raised men above the mere animal
creation. Intellectual power was derived from the in-
dividual’s parents. No education, training, or surroundings
could change a man born with feeble intellect to the level of
the man born with a large amount of intellect. Uhe great
power was imagination, and this great power was also
strictly hereditary. Parents of little imagination would have
children of little imagination, and vice versa. Imgination was
the great creative powerin man. Shakspere’s creative imagina-
tion saw before his mind’s eye the great figures in history, and
his intellect and literary skill gave them true form. Thousands
of men before James Watt saw steam issuing from a kettle, but
his great imagination pictured the problem in very many forms,

The Production of Ability. 39

and the result was the first steam engine. Millions of men
before Newton saw apples fall from the tree to the ground, but
his imagination took it up, his great intellect worked out the
problem, and the result was his discovery of the law of
gravitation. Imagination in its proper place was the greatest
blessing to humanity, but misplaced it became a curse.
Tremendous injury was the result of work done by imagination,
which ought properly to be performed by intellect, education,
and experience. How were great men produced? The answer
was very simple—by well-assorted marriages. The old Jewish
Rabbi was right when he said—“ Give me the arrangement of
the marriages, and I will change and ennoble the whole human
life.’ The lecturer illustrated his argument by quoting the
cases of great men who were celebrated in arms, literature, and
politics, and showed that an examination of the characters of
the parents of those men proved that ability, greatness, and
even genius were the result of the union on the one side of
intellect, imagination, and feeling with strong energy and force
of character on the other. Nearly all the qualities that had
made England a great nation were derived from the old
Scandinavian pirates, and the blending of the celtic and English
races invariably resulted in the production of distinguished
ability. In a country where marriage was a mere barter for
wealth, station, and titles such a country would soon cease to
produce a large crop of ability.

Dr. SHELDON thought that the members of the Society
might congratulate themselves on the fact that the essayist was
one of their number. He might remark that, while he
considered the basis of the lecture correct, the lecturer had
driven the theory to the far end, and he thought they might set
to work and have a companion paper on those great men who
did not owe their greatness to their parents, and endeavour to
ascertain if the converse of the picture would hold good. They
owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. Scott for his admirable and
interesting essay.

40 The Production of Abidity.

Professor FITZGERALD joined with the previous speaker in
thanking Mr. Scott for his valuable address.

Mr. Fk. W. Lockwoop and Mr. Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A., having
made some observations on the lecture,

The PRESIDENT conveyed the thanks of the meeting to Mr.
Scott, who briefly replied, and

The meeting concluded.

41

16th April, 1595.

The Lorp Mayor in the Chair.

Mr. JoHN Brown gave a Lecture on
“ AUTOMOBILES OR HORSELESS CARRIAGES.”

Mr. Brown has for some time past given considerable attention
to the subject of motor carriages, and during a recent visit to
France purchased one, which is believed to be the first
introduced into this country. It is driven by a Serpollet steam
motor, and was last night on exhibition at the hall, where it
was inspected with much interest by a large and representative
audience, which included many leading local scientists. In
addition to the carriage itself, Mr. Brown employed to illustrate
his lecture a numerous collection of excellent lantern slides
showing the history and development of this application of
mechanical ingenuity.

The Lorp Mayor, who was cordially received, said he had
always taken a very deep interest in all kinds of mechanical
progress, and it wasa matter for extreme regret that while
great developments had taken place during recent years in
mechanical contrivances for a variety of purposes, in one
particular—namely, that of horseless carriages—British skill
and enterprise has not only been discouraged, but positively
checked and thwarted by an antiquated Act of Parliament that
should have been repealed long ago. He had alluded to this
subject at the Council meeting on the first of the year, when he
was installed into office as Lord Mayor, expressing the hope
that before the century was out they would see horseless
carriages going through the streets of Belfast as well as in other
cities of the United Kingdom, and he at the same time crew

42 Automobiles or Horseless Carriages.

the attention of the local M.P.’s to the importance of the
matter, and urged them to take to themselves the credit of
getting a Bill passed through the House of Commons legalising
this mode of conveyance. This was not a question merely of
amusement and recreation, but also one of utility and economy.
In fact, automobiles were required chiefly for business purposes,
and therefore the restriction on their use in this country placed
its inhabitants at a great disadvantage, and at the same time
entailed considerable loss. There was, however, a far more
serious aspect of the question, and that was the effect upon
British industry to which he had already referred. ‘The design
and manufacture of these carriages in their own country should
have received every encouragement, whereas the very opposite
had been the case, and the result of course was that an enormous
industry has been built up on the Continent—a proof of which
Mr. Brown had given them by the excellent specimen which,
he understood, he had imported from France. Even when
they got permission from their tardy legislators to use auto-
mobiles it would, he feared, take a very long time to make up
for the ground they had lost and successfully compete with
their Continental friends, who had already attained great
perfection with their carriages, and who no doubt would have a
tremendous stock ready to pour into the English market. The
subject of the lecture was so interesting to him that he feared
if he began to go into details he should require Mr. Brown to
remain seated while he gave the lecture himself, so he had
better ask Mr. Brown to proceed at once, and no doubt he
would say a good deal both to interest and instruct them.

Mr. Brown then proceeded with his lecture, which was
listened to throughout with deep interest and was frequently
applauded. In introducing his subject, Mr. Brown drew
attention to the importance of rapid, convenient, easy, and
cheap means of transit as having been recognised by the most
important peoples of all ages. The greatest modern nation, our
own, had produced, for instance, the steamship, the locomotive,
the macadamised road, and the finest breed of horses as motors

Automobiles or Horseless Carriages. 43

for the road traffic. That Britain was not a pioneer in the
employment of the mechanically-propelled road carriage was
due not to any want of ingenuity in her sons, but solely to
popular opposition and prohibitive legislation in favour of the
horse, regarded as he is with so much sentimental tenderness,
and, as it were, hereditary gratitude, for his great services of
many kinds. Hence the mechanically-propelled road carriage,
which approached practical completion sixty years ago, has not
yet been allowed to perform the good services which other
nations have now shown to be possible. While the horse would
now to a certain extent be superseded, it would be chiefly in his
more menial duties that he would be relieved. The tram horse,
*bus horse, and cab horse would disappear. The hunter, the
race horse, the cavalary charger, and, to a considerable extent,
the carriage horse would remain, an ennobled race of noble
animals at present often ignobly used. Among the numerous
names suggested for the new form of vehicle the lecturer
preferred the French term automobile as more etymologically
correct than “ horseless carriage,” ‘‘non-equine,” ‘‘ motor-car,”
&c. For valuable information on the historical part of his
subject the lecturer was indebted to the Cantor lectures of Mr.
Worley Beaumont, who sent also a fine set of lantern slides.
For other sets he had to thank also Sir David Solomons, Bart ,
of Tunbridge wells; Mr. Shrapnell Smith, of Liverpool; and
Mr. J. H. Knight, of Farnham, the inventor of a successful
motor tricycle. Mr. T. F. Shillington had also given a valuable
suggestion for heating the steam generator of the carriage
exhibited, and had kindly lent the apparatus for carrying it
out. It was pointed out that the desire for automobiles dated
from early times as shown by the great appreciation of the
enchanted horse or the seven-leagued boots of the fairy tales.
In Chaucer’s ‘‘ Canterbury Tales” we hear of a “‘ steed of brass,”
the presentation of which made ‘‘ful glad and blithe this noble
doughty kynge.” It was not, however, till 1769 that the first
practicable automobile was invented by Cugnot,a native of
Lorraine. It was a steam tricycle, and ran about Paris at a

44 Automobiles or Horseless Carriages.

speed of three or four miles an hour—a speed which would not —
seem excessive at all events to our modern police. The
machine is preserved in the Musée des Artset Metiers. Fifteen
years later William Murdock made a model steam carriage. It
is related that when trying it in a churchyard at night it greatly
frightened the vicar, who met it accidentally on its fiery way,
and at once concluded it to be of the evil one. In 1802
Trevestried constructed a steam carriage that attained a speed
of ten miles an hour. A little latter Gurney constructed
passenger coaches, which plied between Gloucester and Chelten-
ham, and covered some 4,000 miles before they were stopped by
public opposition and the extravagantly high tolls charged at
the turnpikes forthem. Views of numerous other early coaches
were shown, including one called the Fly-by-night. After
having been summoned for too high speed several times, its
owners rigged it up to look like a fire engine, donned brass
helmets, and thus contrived to escape legal interference for some
months. ‘The great weight of the machinery in nearly all these
early forms was prohibitive. This difficulty is now surmounted
by using the oil motor, recently so generally applied. The first
automobile propelled by an oil engine was brought out by an
Englishman, Mr. E. Butler, in 1883. Many of its details were
similar to those now employed in the Continental forms, but
Mr. Butler, like all other Englishmen, was obliged to give up
making automobiles because of the illegality of using them in
England. In considering the history of English effort in
this direction, one cannot help being struck by the undaunted
enthusiasm which induced men time after time to spend
so much thought and money, sometimes to the complete
emptying of their pockets, notwithstanding the complete
discouragement with which the law oppressed them. One
can only imagine what might have been if the law had
been encouraging instead of the reverse. As the automobile
is on account of this discouragement not a British product,
it was necessary to study it elsewhere, and for that purpose the
lecturer had made a trip last autumn to Paris, calling on the

Automobiles or Horseless Carriages. 45

way at St. Omer to visit a French gentleman, M. Doazan, well
known in the world of automobiles in France. M. Doazan, in
the most hospitable and kind way, gave most valuable help in
Mr. Brown’s investigations. A graphic description was given
of a ride on a Serpollet carriage, then owned by M. Doazan,
afterwards purchased by the lecturer and now exhibited in the
hall. The driving gear of this carriage was explained as
resembling that of an ordinary tricycle, if we substitute for the
pedals a little steam engine placed under the seat. This is
supplied with steam from a Serpollet’s instantaneous steam
generator at the back of the carriage. This generator is
virtually a series of steel tubes heated by a coke fire to a
considerable temperature. When the engine is to start a little
water is pumped into these coils by hand, and is instantaneously
converted into steam, which passes at once to the engine and
starts it. A feed pump, worked by the engine, then keeps up
the supply of water to the generator, unless it is desired to
‘decrease the power or slow down, when a valve under the
control of the driver allows the water to escape by a by-pass
back to the tank. This gave great ease of control of speed and
power, the want of which to the same extent is a defect in
other forms of automobile. The exhaust steam is used to
create a draught as in ordinary locomotives. When running,
however, no steam or smoke was visible, and there was very
little noise. The steering was managed by the front wheels,
each wheel working independently, and arranged so as to steer
with the least possible drag or friction. The brake was
necessarily a very powerful one. It consisted of a band of wire
rope, making two turns round a drum on the driving-wheel on
each side. One end of the wire rope was attached toa foot
lever, the other to a lever acting on an ordinary brake on the
rim of the wheel, which it pulled on as well when the foot
lever was depressed. The brake is thus really of a quadruple
nature, and can bring the carriage to a stand almost at once.
The lecturer then described a drive in a phaeton belonging to
a friend of M. Doazan, which was propelled by a Daimler

46 Automobiles or Horseless Carriages.

petroleum motor. The speed was not so easily controlled as
in the Serpollet, and not so great over the rather heavy roads
tried, being only eight or nine milesan hour. It was explained
that, though this might be considered satisfactory in a horse,
one expected more from a mechanically-propelled vehicle.
One sees perhaps that the horse is struggling painfully and
one pities him, and prefers a modest six miles per hour to
inflicting pain. There are no such feelings towards steel and
steam or oil power. Ten to fifteen miles an hour should be
attainable, and more is perhaps neither desirable nor necessary.
For this a five-horse-power engine is believed to be required
for a carriage for four people, although one old-fashioned horse
is all that we frequently allow for the same task. The ex-
planation of the apparent anomaly appeared to be that we do
not expect so much from the horse, and also that the horse is
able at a pinch and for a short time to exert much more than
one theoretical horse-power, although the average of his whole
journey would not be more than one. We class engines,
however, not by their average, but by their maximum horse-
power, and this maximum power might be required only once
or twice on the journey. The oil motor was referred to at
considerable length, and described as an offspring of the gas
engine, in which a combustible mixture of air and oil vapour is
set on fire in the cylinder of the engine, giving thereby an
increased pressure on the piston to be transmitted in the usual
way to the working parts of the engine. The advantages of
the oil engine for automobiles are—1. Its readiness to start at
any time on the shortest notice. Our professional coachman
will feel insulted if required to turn out a carriage and
pair in less than thirty or forty minutes, while the automobile
may be started in two or three. This is obviously very
advantageous for doctors, firemen, and others who require
to lose no time at any call night or day. 2. The small
weight and bulk of the oil motor, say from 70 to Ioo lb.
per horse-power. The room occupied by the horse both
in the stable and on the street is thus saved, and this

Automobiles or Horseless Carriages. 47

latter is of no small importance in crowded thoroughfares.
3. It does not tire. 4. Its power for speed is quite double that
of the horse. 5. It does not eat, and requires no attention
unless while working, and when it is working costs about half
as much as live horse-power. The engine chiefly used for
carriages is the Daimler, a two-cylinder vertical engine, working
on the Otto cycle and using benzoline. It runs at about 700
revolutions per minute. The speed of the carriage is reduced
and varied at will by gearing under the control of the driver.
In the great race from Paris to Bordeaux and back, in which
forty-six carriages entered for prizes value £ 2,680, the first four
carriages to arrive were propelled by Daimler engines, much to
the chagrin of the French, who had hoped much from their
native steam and electric carriages, the Daimler being of
German origin. The fastest of the four was a carriage for two
persons, and covered the 744 miles in 48h. 47m., or at the rate
of over 154 miles per hour for the whole journey. Among the
others several were propelled by steam and one by electricity.
This last, however, met with an accident and did-not complete
the course. It is sometimes popularly supposed that electricity
should be the power par excellence for such carriages. It is
forgotten, however, that, firstly, the electric motor is of itself a
heavy machine ; and, secondly, one cannot buy electricity by
the pint at the wayside shops as‘one can buy petroleum oil.
One must carry all one wants, and the means of doing so, the
electric accumulators, are also extremely heavy. The accumu-
lator for the carriage referred to, which was built by
Jeantaud, of Paris, weighed 173 cwt., the 7-h.p. motor 44 cwt.,
and the whole carriage 3 tons 3 cwt. The speed was 7 to 15
miles per hour, according to the quality of the road. Numerous
limelight views were shown, including carriages of all kinds
from a Pennington bicycle, said to run a mile in one minute,
to an immense coach with over a dozen passengers. Mr.
Brown’s own carriage, which arrived from St. Omer on the 6th
March last, and is believed to be the first automobile imported
into this country, was shown with its engine running, so as to

48 Automobiles or Horseless Carriages.

illustrate its working. In concluding his remarks the lecturer
pointed out that the tendency for people to crowd into towns
would be relieved by the cheaper means of transit that would
allow them easy access to town while living in the country ;
that the advent of cheap power in small portions might lead to -
the re-establishment of some ‘cottage industries,” which had
been concentrated into factories, because power can only be had
cheaply inlargeengines. The application of motors to waggons
will enable producers of all kinds to send products to markets
cheaply and quickly. Each man may thus have his own light
railway wherever there is an ordinary road. The benefit to
our fisheries and to farmers at distant points is obvious. Oil
motors would no doubt also be applied to agricultural machinery,
to navigation, and would make aériel navigation possible, if
not probable. For tramway purposes there were great
possibilities, and the lecturer ventured to say that our own city
was possibly somewhat behind the times in adopting a system
which, although admittedly preferable to horse traction, might,
in the rapid march of invention to-day, almost be called
antiquated already. The attention of so many engineers was
now directed to small and powerful motors that one need not
be surprised to see in a year or two motors that could be put
into our present cars with very little alteration of the car, with
no alteration of the track, with no encumbrance on the street,
with no extensive outlay on a central power station and electric
conductors, and with the assurance that we could feel our way
by trying one car at a time, and if unsuitable abandon or alter
it without incurring any important outlay of capital to begin
with.

At the close of the lecture,

Mr. GEoRGE ANDREWS moved the following resolution :—
‘That this meeting approve of the proposed modification of the
Locomotive Acts so as to promote the use of mechanically
propelled carriages on public roads, subject to suitable provisions
for the safety and convenience of the public.” Such an
amendment of the Acts as the resolution approved was, he

Automobiles or Horseless Carriages. 49

considered, necessary. Though all sorts of motors might not
be an unmixed benefit to the public, yet he felt, and he thought
it was the feeling of the meeting also, that if these machines
could be used safely in other countries they could be used with
equal safety in this, and though they might be unsuitable for
crowded towns there could not be any reasonable objection to
their use under proper provisions in the country districts.

Professor EVERETT seconded the motion. He believed he
was right in saying that a measure for the amendment of the
Acts on the lines of the resolution was at present in the way of
being passed in the Lords, and he hoped it would pass the
Commons also, as he believed these carriages had a great future
before them.

The resolution was passed unanimously.

President HAMILTON, in proposing a vote of thanks to the
lecturer, said Mr. Brown was one of that class of Belfast men
who found time after the business of the day to take up some
branch of science or literature—a class of men which in old
times gave to Belfast the name of the Athens of the North,
and a class which he was glad to say was still very largely
represented in the city. None could have helped being struck
by the lucid, comprehensive, and concise manner in which Mr.
Brown had dealt with his subject. He believed it would be
only a matter of time before the law would be altered so as to
remove these restrictions, and he felt sure the local members of
Parliament when they heard of that meeting would give a
helping hand to the movement, so as the English manufacturers
might not be longer placed at a disadvantage. He trusted, too,
that the Lord Mayor in his years of office—for he thought they
did not intend to let him go after one year—would have the
gratification of inaugurating a system of horseless carriages in
the city.

Mr. A. HAMILL seconded the motion, which was passed with
acclamation, and briefly acknowledged by Mr. Brown, who
took the opportunity of expressing his acknowledgements to,
in addition to the gentlemen already named, Mr. T. F.

50 Automobiles or Horseless Carriages.

Shillington for his valuable suggestion with regard to heating
the furnace with gas in order to show the motor carriage
working, and also for the apparatus to carry it out ; Messrs. H.
& J. Martin for the staging on which the carriage was raised,
and the Edison-Swan Electric Company for supplying an
electric fan.

Mr. PATTERSON, amidst applause, conveyed the thanks of
the audience to the Lord Mayor for presiding.

BHELEAST

Patural History & Whilosophical Society.

Officers and Council of Management for 1896-97.

President:
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., &c.

Bice- Presidents :
JOHN BROWN, Esa. J. A. LINDSAY, Esa., M.D., M.A.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esc., J.P. WM. SWANSTUN, Esa., F.G.S.

son. Sreasurer :
JOHN BROWN, Esa.

Hon. Assist. Greasurer :
W. H. F. PATTERSON, Esq.

Son. Librarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa., J.P.

son. Secretary:
ROBERT M. YOUNG, Ese., B.A., J.P., MLR.LA.

Gouncil :
JOHN BROWN, Ese.
PROFESSOR J. D, EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L.
LAVENS M. EWART, Esq., J.P., M.R.I.A.
PROFESSOR M. F. FITZGERALD, B.A., M.I.M.E.
JOHN H. GREENHILL, Ese., Mus.Bac.
JOHN HORNER, Eso.
JAMES A. LINDSAY, Ese., M.D., M.R.C.P.Lond.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, Esa., J.P., F.L.S.
WM. H. PATTERSON, Ese., M.R.I.A.
THOMAS F. SHILLINGTON, Ese.
WM. SWANSTON, Esa., F.G.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa., J.P.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esa., F.G.S.
ROBERT YOUNG, Esa., J.P., C.E.
R. M. YOUNG, Esa., B.A., J.P., M.B.LA.

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SHAREHOLDERS.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

*Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast.
Allworthy, Edward, Mosaphir, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., East Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrew, John, J., L.D.S., R.C.S., Eng. Belgravia, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, J.P., Ardoyne, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J.P., London.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun., Donegall Square West, Belfast.
Barbour, James, J.P., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., J.P., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H., Cultra, Holywood
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill, Belfast.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield. do.
Braddell, Edward, The Limes, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretten Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Brett, John H., C.E., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burden, Henry, M.D., M.R.I.A. (Representatives of), do.
Burnett, John R., Rostellan, Malone Road, do.

Byers, Prof. John W., M.A., M.D., University Road, do.

Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.A., M.D., College Square North, do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.

4 Shareholders.

Ul

Campbell, John, College Gardens (Reps. of), Belfast.
Carlisle, A. M., Elmwood House, do.
Carr, A. H. R., Rathowen, Windsor Avenue, do.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Clarke, George H., J.P., Roseville, Lisburn.
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.A., J.P., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
Cowan, P. C., M.I.C.E., College Gardens, do.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, do.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.

Cuming, Professor James, M.A., M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Montpellier, Malone Road, do.
Davies, John H., Glenmore Cottage, Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representatives of), | Newtownbreda.
Dods, Robert, B.A., Dunluce Terrace, Belfast.
*Donegall, Marquis of, do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Fountain Street, Belfast.
Dudley, Rev. Freeman, B.A., The Rectory, Kilkeel.
Duffin, Adam, LL.D., University Square, Belfast.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Everett, Professor Joseph D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.,

Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast.
Ewart, G. Herbert, Firmount, Antrim Road, do.

Ewart, Lavens M., J.P., M.R.I.A., Glenbank House, do.
Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., J.P., Glenmachan House, do.

Fagan, John, F.R.C.S.1., J.P., Great Victoria Street, do.
*Fenton, Francis G., Ligoniel.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Robert H, F., Hughenden Avenue, do,

Shareholders. 55

Finlay, Fredk. W., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel.
FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.A., M.I.M.E., Assoc.

M.I.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, Belfast.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Gibson, Andrew, Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant,
Gordon, Robert W., J.P., Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A.

(Representatives of), Broughshane.
Gray, William, M.R.I.A., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road,

Belfast.

Greenhill, John H., Mus. Bac., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.I.A., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
*TIall, Frederick H., Waterford.
*Hamilton Hill, J.P., (Representatives of), Belfast.
Harland, Sir E. J., Bart., J.P. (Representatives of),
Heburn, William (Representatives of), Belfast.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of), do.
Henderson, James, A.M., Oakley, Windsor Park, do.
Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), London.
Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Ernest, Rosano, Cultra.
Heyn, James, A.M., Strandtown House, Belfast.
Hind, John, jun., Clifton Park Avenue, do.
Hodges, Professor John F., M.D., F.C.S., F.LC., J.P.,

Sandringham, Belfast.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, Mount Clifton, Cliftonville, do.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., V.L., Orangefield, do.
*Hughes, Edwin, Mertoun Hall, Holywood.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Windsor, Belfast.

Inglis, James, J.P., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.

56 Shareholders.
Jackson, A. T., C.E., Tighnabruaich,

Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast.
Jaffé, Otto, Kin Edar, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., J.P., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Kennedy, James, J.P., Richmond Lodge, Belfast.
Kennedy, William (Representatives of), Kenbella House, do.
Kertland, Edwin H., Malone House, do.
Kidd, George, J.P., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, Rev. John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Ardstratha, Antrim Road, do.
Lanyon, John, C.E., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Larmor, Joseph, M.A., St. John’s College, Cambridge.

Leathem, John G., Victoria Gardens, Windsor Park, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlap, J.P., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Lepper, F. R., Elsinore, Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E. A., Ph.D., F.C.S., Avonmore, Craigavad.
Lindsay, James A., M.A., M.D., Victoria Place, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., J.P., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H., J.P., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.I.C.E., Stanley House,

Holywood.
Macfarlane, John, Blandon Park, Belfast.
Mackenzie, John, C.E., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, Ashley Park, Antrim Road, do.
Maxton, James, The Elms, Strandtown.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.I.A., Alberta, Malone Road,
do.
Mitchell, Robert A., Marmont, Strandtown.

Montgomery, Henry C., Newton Lodge, Newtownbreda.

Shareholders. 57

Montgomery, H. H., Magee’s Road, Strandtown, Belfast.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain House, Dunmurry.
Moore, James, The Finaghy, Belfast.
Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do.
Murney, Henry, M.D., J.P., Tudor House, Holywood.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.
*Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, J.P., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, James, J.P., Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of), do.
M‘Bride, Henry James, Glenalina, do.
M‘Bride, Samuel, Westbourne, Windsor, do.
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London.
*M‘Cammon, Lieut.-Col. Thomas A., Woodville, Holywood.
MCance, H. J.,-J.P., D.L., Larkfield, Dunmurry.
M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., D.L. (Reps. of),

MacColl, Hector, Saxonia, Strandtown, Belfast.
MacCormac, John, M.D., Victoria Place, do.
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara, Craigavad.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),

M‘Gee, James, Woodville, Holywood.
M‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street, Belfast.
Macllwaine, John H., Upper Crescent, do.
“MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen’s Elms, do.
M'‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do.
M‘Knight, John P., Nevara, Chichester Park, do.
Neill, Sharman D., Rowandean, Marlborough Park, do.
Nicholson, Henry J., West Elmwood, do.
O’Neill, James, M.A., College Square East, do.
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Tinnamara, Greenisland.

Park, Rev. Wm., M.A., Somerset Ho., University St., Belfast.

58 Shareholders.

Patterson, Edward Forbes, College Gardens, Belfast.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany.
Patterson, Richard, J.P., Kilmore, Holywood.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.P., F.L.S., Croft House, do.
Patterson, Robert, Osborne Park, do.
Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., Garranard, do.
Patterson, William R., College Park East, do.
Pim, Edward, W., Elmwood Terrace, do.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.
*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Pooler, Rey. L. A., BVA.) LakerCottage: Downpatrick.

‘Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.E., M.R.I.A., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, LL.D., M.R.I.A., Queen’s College, Belfast.

Rea, John Henry, M.D., Shaftesbury Square, do.
Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H., J.P., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddel, William, J.P. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.P., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derrivolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon Charles, M.A., D.Lit., B.Sc., Royal Acad.

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, Dromart, Antrim Road, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair, Prof Thomas, M.D., F.R.C.S. Eng., Howard St., do.
Smith, John, Garmoyle Terrace, do.
Smyth, John, M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.Sc., Riversdale, Holywood.
Steen, Robert, Ph.D. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.

*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

Shareholders. 59

*Tennent, Robert James (Reps. of), Rushpark, Belfast.
Thompson, E. M‘C., Waring Street, do.
*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of), do.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Valentine, G. F., Sandhurst, Knock, do.
Walkington, Mrs., Thornhill, Malone, do.
Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.P., M.R.I.A., Elmwood Avenue, do.
Ward, Isaac, Lisburn Road, do.
Ward, John, J.P., Lennoxvale, Malone Road, do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, M.D., J.P., College Sq. North, do.
Wilson, James, M.E., Oldforge, Dunmurry.
Wilson, John K., Inch Marto, Marlborough Park, Belfast.
Wilson, Walter H., Stranmillis House, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*W olff, G. W., M.P., The Den, Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, J.P., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, M.A., Rubane House, Glastry.
Workman, Rev. Robert, B.D., The Manse, Newtownbreda.
Workman, R. D., Upper Crescent, Belfast.
*Workman, Thomas, J.P., Craigdarragh, Craigavad.
Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, C.E., Rathvarna, do.
*Young, Robert Magill, B.A., Rathvarna, do.

HONORARY MEMBER:

Stokes, Miss M., Hon. M.R.I.A., Carrig Breac, Howth,
Co. Dublin,

60 Annual Subscribers.

HONORARY ASSOCIATES:

Gray, William, M.R.I.A., Mountcharles, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel Alex., F.B.S. Edin., Belfast Museum, do.
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.G.S., F.L.S., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Alfred Street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Company, Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA.

Allan, C. E., Stormount Castle, Dundonald.
Armstrong, William, Fortwilliam Terrace, . Belfast.
Barnett, R. M., M.D., M.R.C.S.Eng., Pakenham Place, do.
Barr, James, Beechleigh, Windsor Park, do.
-Barton, H. D. M., The Bush, Antrim.
Boyd, John, Southview Villas, Strandtown, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, J.P., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Belfast.
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.A., Dunraven, do.
Craig, James, J.P., Craigavon, Strandtown, do.
Crawford, F. H., Chlorine House, Malone Road, do.
Dalton, J. P., M.A., Roseberry Villa, Antrim Road, do.
Davidson, S. C., Killaire House, Crawfordsburn.
Davies, A. C., Glenmore Cottage, Lisburn.
Dunville, Robert G., J.P., D.L., Redburn, Holywood.
Foster, Thos. A., Clonsilla, Antrim Road, Belfast.

Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do.

Annual Subscribers.

Green, Isaac, Ann Street,

Hanna, J. A., Marietta, Knock,

Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville,

Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park,

Johnston, James, Ivy Dene, Antrim Road,

Jones, A. L., Waring Street,

Jones, R. M., M.A., Royal Academical Institution,

Kelly, W. Redfern, M.I.C.E , F.R.A.S., Dalriada,
Malone Park,

Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace,

Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville,

Matier, Alexander S., Lorne,

Milligen, John, Clonavor, Strandtown,

Murdoch, James, Ponsonby Avenue,

M‘Causland, William, Cherryvale House,

M‘Kee, William S., Fleetwood Street,

M‘Laughlin, W. H., Brookville House,

Paul, Thomas, Redcot, Knock,

61

Belfast.
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Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.C.S.I., Lower Crescent, do.

Ross, Wm. A., Iva Craig,

Scott, Conway, C.E., Annaville, Windsor Avenue,
Swiney, J. H. H., B.A., B.E., Bella Vista, Antrim
Tate, Alexander, C.E., Rantalard, Whitehouse,
Thompson, John, Limestone Road,

Turpin, James, Waring Street,

Walkington, R. B., Carriggorm,

Withers, James, Lawrence Street,

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Heport and Proceedings

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BELEAST

NATURAL HISTORY PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

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FOR THE

SESSION 1896-7.

¥ BELFAST :
| PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET

(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1897.

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Deport and Proceedings

OF THE

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

SESSION 1896-'7.

| BELFAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1897.

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CONTENTS.

Annual Report ee ee oe ee ee
Balance Sheet SEAS oe 50 oe oo ae
Donations to the Museum ye Sc oo we
Books Received Ay ots eo oe oC

Recent Advances in Electricity, by Professor J. D. Everett, F.R.S. ..
Report of the Society’s Delegate to the British Association, by Alexander

Tate, M.I.C.E. be se ats ag sc

A Recent Discovery of Worked Flints in Submerged Peat at Poach:
by W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A. oe oe .

Dante, by J. A. Lindsay, M.A.. M.D... 00 ae

A Run Through the Mourne Mountains, by L. L. Macassey, B.L.
The Mystery of Indian Fakirism, by Hermann Walter, M.A., Ph.D.
Contouring with Barometer in the Mourne Mountains, by Professor M. F.
Fitzgerald, B.A. .. ve ee x0 Oe ae
Treland, Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs, by S. F. Milligan,
M.R.I.A. is oe a 5S fh sis
Boulder Clay : a Marine Deporits with special reference to the Till of
Scotland, by Joseph Wright, F.G.S. ee ee -
The History and Properties of Rontgen eee by John Finnegan, B. So.
Starfish and Sea Urchins, their Haunts, Habits, and History, by E. W.

MacBride, M.A. .. ae Bic pn ae
The Cinematograph, by W. Nicholl + a ef we
List of Officers ; oe 3c +e ate

List of Shareholders and feces

In om

17

31

32
34
36
38

39

40

52
55

60
62
67
69

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.

ESTABLISHED 1821.

ofa
SHAREHOLDERS.

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

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the Proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum; the Proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.

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

MEMBERS.

There are two classes—Ordinary Members, who are expected to read papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures extends
from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members, Ordinary

or Visiting, pay £] 1s. per annum, due 1st November in each year.
Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto ; also of access to the
Museum and Library for himself and family, with the privilege of granting
admission orders for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in
Belfast.

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

The Museum, College Square N orth, is open daily from 10 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

Belfast Watural history and Pbilosopbical
Society,

—— @ ———_

ANNUAL REPORT, 1896.

>

THe Annual Meeting of the Belfast Natural History and
Philosophical Society was held yesterday at the Museum,
College Square North. Professor Everett, President, occupied
the chair, and the attendance included—Messrs. T. F. Shilling-
ton, John Brown (Hon. Treasurer), Robert Young, J.P.; Robert
Lloyd Patterson, J.P., F.L.s.; W. H. Patterson, Wm. Swanston,
j.e.; John Horner, Robert M. Young, J.p., M.R.1.A. (Hon.
Secretary) ; Thomas Workman, J.p.; Lavens M. Ewart, j.p.;
Isaac Ward, William Farren, Ed. Allworthy, John Finnegan,
B.sc.; Dr. Sheldon, Dr. Leathem, Dr. MacCormac.

The Hon. Secretary read the report of the Council, which
was as follows :—‘‘ The Council of the Belfast Natural History
and Philosophical Society desire to submit their report of the
working of the Society during the past year. The winter
session was opened on the 3rd November, 1896, in the Museum,
when the President of the Society (Professor J. D. Everett,
F.R.S.), delivered an inaugural address — subject, ‘Recent
Advances in Electricity.’ The second meeting was held on
Ist December, when the following papers were read :—‘ Dante,’
by Dr. J. A. Lindsay ; ‘A Recent Discovery of Worked Flints
in Submerged Peat at Portrush,’ by Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.14A.;
and ‘ Report of the Society’s Delegate to the British Association
Meeting, 1896,’ by Mr. Alex. Tate, mic. The third

2 Annual Meeting. |

meeting was held on sth January, 1897, when Mr. L. L.
Macassey, B.L., read a paper entitled ‘A Run Through the
Mourne Mountains,’ illustrated with a series of photo slides by
Mr. R. Welch. The fourth meeting was held on 9th February,
when the following papers were read ‘The Mystery of Indian
Fakirism, by Dr. Hermann Walter, and ‘Contouring with
Barometer in the Mourne Mountains,’ by Professor M. F.
Fitzgerald, p.a. The fifth meeting was held on znd March,
when Mr. S. F. Milligan, M.R.1.A., gave a lecture—subject,
‘Treland, its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs,’ illus-
trated with a series of photo slides. Mr. Joseph Wright,
F.G.S., also read a paper on ‘ Boulder Clay: A Marine Deposit,
with Special Reference to the Till of Scotland.’ The sixth was
a special meeting, held on the 17th of March, when Mr. John
Finnegan, B.sc., read a paper—subject, ‘The History and
Properties of Réntgen Rays,’ fully illustrated, with special
experiments and lantern photo slides. The seventh meeting
was held on 6th April, when Mr. E. W. MacBride, M.a., kindly
lectured on ‘ Starfish and Sea Urchins, their Haunts, Habits,
and History,’ illustrated by special lantern slides. In addition
to the foregoing lectures, your Council arranged for two
lectures on the Cinematograph, which were given by Mr. W.
Nicholl in the Ulster Minor Hall on 27th and 28th February to
appreciative audiences. All the meetings of the Society were
well attended, and at several numbers had to be refused
admittance owing to the want of accommodation in the lecture-
hall. The meetings of kindred societies continue to be held in
the Museum, and the Ulster Medical Society, after some years of
absence, has again rented the room known as the library, with
daily access for its members. The Belfast Naturalists’ Field
Club, Ulster Amateur Photographic Society, also the Belfast
Mechanical and Engineering Association continue to meet
regularly in your rooms. The Museum collections have been
augmented by some valuable additions, which are incorporated
with the pre-existing series, and displayed as well as space
limits permit. It is, however, to be regretted that the specimens

Annual Meeting. 3

have to be very much crowded, which makes their seemly
arrangement a matter of difficulty. Some examples of the
rarer local mollusca have been placed in the conchological
cabinet, also a few further geological specimens have been
added, and some imperfect fossils have been replaced by others
in a better state of preservation, and a good number of plants
have been added to the local herbarium. It will be observed
from the Treasurer’s statement of accounts that the finances of
the Society continue in a satisfactory condition, with a sub-
stantial balance in hands. Several new members have joined
the Society. As is customary on Easter Monday and Tuesday,
the Museum was opened to the public at a nominal charge.
Several interesting objects were lent by Mr. W. Swanston,
F.G.S., and the attendance of the public was considerable. The
duties of the Curator continue to be efficiently discharged by
Mr. S. A. Stewart, in which he has the assistance of Mr. Sinclair,
sub-curator. On the occasion of the meeting of the Journalists’
Institute in Belfast last September a selection of valuable
newspapers and books from the library were exhibited, and
attracted much attention. Your Council unanimously elected
the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava as an honorary member on
his Lorship’s return to Clandeboye. The Council desire to
render their best thanks to the local Press for their admirable
reports of the various meetings of the Society. In accordance
with the constitution of the Society, this meeting will be asked
to elect five members of Council for the ensuing year in place
of the following gentlemen who retire by rotation, but are
eligible for re-election :—Thomas Workman, J.P.; R. M.
Young, Professor J. D. Everett, F.r.s.; T. F. Shillington,
Lavens M. Ewart, J.P.”

The Hon. TREASURER submitted the financial statement,
which showed a small balance to credit.

The PRESIDENT, in moving the adoption of the reports, said
he thought they had had a fairly satisfactory year. The papers
had been up to the average, and the subscriptions showed a
move in the right direction,

4 Annual Meeting.

Dr. MacCormac seconded the motion, which was adopted.

The meeting then proceeded to ballot for five members of
Council in room of those who retired by rotation. Messrs.
Horner and Swanston, who acted as scrutineers, reported the
result of the ballot to be the unanimous re-election of the
retiring members.

Mr. ALLWorRTHY, in moving a vote of thanks to the Presi-
dent for his services during the past year, said he had known
Professor Everett almost from the time he first became connected
with the Queen’s College—nearly thirty years ago. He was
sorry to hear that he had resigned, or was about to resign, that

‘connection. Professor Everett had added lustre to the history

of the College during that long period, and had distinguished
himself not only in connection with that institution, but
throughout the United Kingdom in regard to the metric
system, shorthand, electricity, and cycling. He possessed in
fact a record which very few would be able to equal. With
regard to his position as President of that Society, a better
man could not have filled the chair, and it was to be hoped that
they would not be asked to part with him at the expiration of
his year of office. |

Mr. Wm. Faren seconded the proposition, which was
passed with acclamation.

This concluded the business of the meeting.

Subsequently a meeting of Council was held, at which the
office-bearers were all re-elected—Professor Everett as President,

’ Mr. John Brown as Hon. Treasurer, and Mr. R. M. Young as
Hon. Secretary.

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DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1896-97. .

From MatTTHEw HALL, Esq.

A goat’s kid which was born with eight legs.

From Mrs. Dr. J. WALTON BROWNE.

An inlaid Indian Matchlock.

from Lieut.-Col. G. BERESFoRD Knox, J.P.

A wooden mether filled with Bog Butter, found in Co. Derry.

A number of Irish stone celts and stone beads; also, Italian
carvings and medals, and a large number of Italian
geological specimens.

From W. J. M‘KinneEy, Esq., Ballyvesey.

A badge and buttons ot Whitehouse Volunteer Company, 1782,
also, specimen of a Coral (Zudipora musica) dug up at
Ahoghill in 1848.

From JosEPH ENGLISH, Esq., Crumlin.

The skin of a Zebra (4guus zebra) from South Africa.

From CHARLES BUuLLA, Esq.

Two univalve fossils (Zurbo tiara) from the Carboniferous
Limestone near Enniskillen.

From THE DEAN OF DROMORE.

A specimen of the mink (Puteolus vison) from Tambillo, °.
America.

From W. H. M‘Laueu.uin, Esq.

a. carved stone (grotesque lon’s head) from the old Belfast
Castle, Castle Place; also, piece of an oak beam from same

castle.
From WIiuiaM GRAY, Esq., M.R.I.A.

Five enlarged photographs of animals in the London Zoological
Gardens.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, ist MAY, 1896, TILL
ist MAY, 1897.

ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Aus-
tralia.” Vol. 16; part. 3, 1896; vol: 20, parts
I and 2, 1896. The Society.
ALBANY.—Forty-seventh Annual Report of the Regents of
New York State Museum, 1894.
The Director.
Austin, Trxas.—Transactions of the Texas Academy of
Science. Vol. 1, no. 5, 1897. Zhe Academy.
Betrast.—Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club.
Ser. 2, vol. 4, part 3, 1896. The Club.
BERGEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog for 1896; also, Account
of the Crustacea of Norway, by G. O. Sars.
Vol. 2, Isopoda, part 1.
Zhe Director of the Museum.
Beruin.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fir Erdkunde zu
Berlin. Vol. 23, nos. 4—10, 1896; and vol.
24, nos. I—3, 1897. The Soctety.
BotoGna.—Rendiconto delle Sessioni della R. Accademia delle
Scienze dell’ Istituto di Bologna. Anno 1895.
The Academy.
Boston.—Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.
Vol. 27, pp. I—241, 1896. Lhe Soczety.
BrEMEN.—Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Vereine zu Bremen. Vol. 13, part
3, 1896; and vol. 14, part 1, 1895.
The Society.
Brestau.—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie Herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlessiche Insektenkunde zu
Breslau. Part 21, 1896; also Festschrift, 1897.
The Society.

8 Books Recewwed.

BricHTon.—Annual Report of Brighton and Sussex Natural

History, 1896. The Society.
Buenos Ayres.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires.
Ser. 2, vol. 1, 1895. The Director.

CatcuTTa.—Records of the Geological Survey of India. Vol.

29, parts 2—4, 1896; and vol. 30, part 1. 1897.
Also, Memoirs. Vol. 27, part 1, 1895. And
Palzontologia Indica. Ser. 13, vol. 2, 1895;
and ser. 15, vol. 2, part 2, 1895.
lhe Director of the Survey.
‘CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical
Society. Vol. 9, part 2, 1896; and part 4,
1897. The Soctety.
CamBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 28, no. 1, 1895; and nos. 2 and
3, 1896; vol. 29, nos. I—6, 1896; vol. 30,
nos. I—3, 1896; and no. 4, 1897. Also,
Annual Report of the Curator for 1895-96.
Alex. Agassiz, Curator.
CarpiFF.—Report and Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’
Society. Vol. 27, part 2, 1895; and vol. 28,
part 1, 1896. The Soctety.
CasseL.—Abhandlungen and Bericht (41) des Vereins fiir
Naturkunde zu Kassel, 1896. The Society.

Cuicaco.—Thirty-eighth Annual Report of the Chicago
Academy of Sciences, 1895. Also Bulletin.
Vol. 2, no. 2, 1896; and Journal of Geology.
Vol. 4, no. 5, 1896. The Academy.

CHRISTIANIA.—Forhandlinger i Videnskabs Selskabet i Chris-
tiania. Nos. 1—10, 1894; and no. 11, 1895
Also volume of Forhandlinger for 1895, and
Oversigt for 1894. . Videnskabs Selskabets
Skrifter, 10 nos., 1894, and 2 nos. 1895. Also
Samlede Philologiske Afhandlinger, of Prof,

Books Received. 9

P. O, Schjott, 1896; and Fauna Norvegiz, of
Prof. G. O. Sars. Vol. 1, 1896.
The Royal University of Christiania.
CoLorabo Sprines-—Colorado College Studies. Vol. 6, 1896.
Colorado College Scientific Soczety.
EDINBURGH.—Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh. Vol. 20, part 2, 1895 ;
and part 3, 1896. The Soczety.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Vol 20, 1893—95. The Soczety.
Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society.
Session 1495-6. The Soctetv.
ELBERFELD.— Jahres Bericht de Naturwissenschaftlichen
Vereins zu Elberfeld. Part 8, 1896.
The Society.
EmpEN.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Emden, pro 1894-95. 1896. The Society.
GENOA.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazione
Scientifiche di Genova. Anno 18, fasc. 2 and
3, 1896; fasc. 4, 1897 ; and anno‘ 19, fasc. 1,

”

1897. The Soctety.
GrEssEN.—Bericht der Oberhessischen Gesellschaft fiir Natur

und Heilkunde, 1896. The Soctety.
Giascow.—Transactions of the Glasgow Geological Society.

Vol. 10, part 2, 1896. The Soctety.

Transactions of the Natural History Society of
Glasgow. New Series, vol. 4, part 2, 1896.
The Society.
Proceedings of the Glasgow Philosophical Society.
Vol. 27, 1896. The Society.
Hauirax, Nova Scotia.—Proceedings and Transactions of the
Nova Scotian Institute of Science. Vol. 9,
part 1, 1896. The Institute.

Iegto.— Jahrbuch des Ungarischen — Karpathen Vereins.
Twenty-third year, 1896. The Society,

10 Books Received.

JALAPA, VERA Cruz.—Boletin Mensual del Observatorio
Meteorologico Central del Estado de Veracruz.
Feb.—Dec., 1896; and Jany.—Feby., 1897.

The Director.
KHARKOW—Travaux de la Société de Medecine Scientifique.
Two parts, 1896-97. Also Travaux dela
Société des Sciences Physico-Chimiques. Part

1, 1895. The Oniverstty.

LausaNNE. — Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences
Naturelles. Series 4, vol. 31, no. 119, 1895 ;
and vol. 32, nos. 120—122, 1896. Zhe Soczety.

Index Bibliographique de la Faculté des Sciences
de la Université de Lausanne, 1896.
The University.

Lerpsic.—Mitteilungen des Vereins fiir Erdkunde zu Leipzig.
Two parts, 1896 and 1897. Also Baumann,
‘Die Insel Sansibar,” part 1, 1896 ; and part 2,
1897. The Society.
Lonpon.—General Index to vols. 30—-42 of Monthly Notices
of the Astronomical Society, 1896. Zhe Soczety.
Report. of the Meeting of the British Association at
Liverpool, 1896. The Association.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London. Vol. 42, nos. 206—z208, 1896; and
vol. 43, no. 209, 1897. Also Geological Litera-
ture added to the Library during 1896, and
General Index to First Fifty vols. of Journal,
part I, 1897. The Soczety.

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Parts
1II—115, 18960; and part 116, 1897.

The Society.

Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.
Vol. 14, part 2, 1896; and part 3, 1897. Pro-
ceedings, part 4, 1895; parts I—4, 1896; and
List of Animals, 1896. The Soczety.

Books Received. i

Maptson.—Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts, and Letters. Vol. 10, 1896.
The Academy.

Mapras.—Bulletin of Madras Government Museum, Anthro-
pology. Vol. 1, no. 4, 1896; and vol. 2, no. 1,
1897. Also Administration Report for 1895-96.

The Superintendent.

MANCHESTER. — Transactions of the Manchester Geological
Society. Vol. 24, parts 8—10, 1896 ; and vol.
25, parts I—3, 1897. The Soczety.

Journal of Manchester Geographical Society. Vol.
Io, nos. 9—12, 1894; vol. 11, nos. 4—9, 1895 ;
and vol. 12, nos. I—3, 1896. The Soczety.

Transactions and Report of Manchester Microscopical

Society, 1895. The Soctety.
MarSEILLES.—Annals de la Faculte des Sciences de Marseillé.
Vol. 5, fasc. 4, 1896; and vol. 6, fasc. 1—3,

1897. Also vol. 7, 1896. The Librarian.

MELBouRNE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria.
Vol. 4, 1895 ; and Proceedings. New Series,
vol. 8, 1896. The Soctety.

Meripen, Conn.—Transactions of the Meriden Scientific Asso-
ciation. Vol. 7, 189s. The Association.

Mexico.—Boletin del Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de
Tacubaya. Vol. 1, Nos. 24 and 25, 1896.
Also, Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Metero-
logico Central de Mexico. Jany.—Dec., 1896
and Jany., 1897. The Director.

MINNEAPOLIS.—Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural
Sciences. Vol. 4, no. 1, part 1, 1896.
The Academy.

Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of
Moscou. Nos, 1—3, 1896. The Soctety,

12 Books Received.

NanTES.—Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de
’ Quest de la France. Vol. 5, no. 4, 1895; and
vol. 6, nos. 1 and 2, 1896. The Society.

New York.—Annals of New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 9, nos. 1—3, and Index to vol. 8, 1896.
Also Memoir 1, part 1, “ Declinations and
Proper Motions of fifty-six stars,” 1895.
The Academy.

Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
Vol. 28, nos. 1—4, 1896. The Society.

Opgssa.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of New Russia.
Vol. 17, part 1, 1895; and vol. 20, part I, 1895.
The Soczety.

Oporto —Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Anno 3, nos. 2—4,
1896, and anno 4, no. 1, 1897. The Editor.
Ottawa.—Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada.
New Series, vol. 7, 1894. Also Geological
Maps, nos. 556, 557, 561, 562, 563, 567, 571.
The Director.
Papua.—Bullettino della Societa Veneto Trentina di Scienze
Naturali. Vol. 6, no. 2, 18960. Zhe Soczety.
Penzanck.—Report of Penzance Natural History and Anti-
quarian Society, 1894—97. The Soczety.
PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. Parts 1 and 2, 1896.
The Academy.
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
Vol. 34, no. 149, 1895; and vol. 35, nos. 150—
152, 1896. The Society.
Transactions of Wagner Free Institute of Science.
Vol. 4, 1896. The Institute.
Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Processi
Verbali. Vol. 10, Nov. 1896 till Jany. 1897.
The Soctety.

-Books Received. £3

REIGATE.—Proceedings of Holmesdale Natural History Club,
for years 1893—95. The Club,

Rocuester, N.Y.—Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of
Science. Vol. 3, brochure 1, 1896.
The Academy.

Rome.—Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Series 5, vol.
- 5, semestre 1, fasc 7—12, 1896; and ‘semestre
2, fasc I—12, 1896; vol. 6, semestre 1, fasc I—
7,1897; also Rendiconto dell’ adunanza Solenne,
June, 1896, The Academy.
Bullettino della Societa Romana per gli studi
Zoologici. Vol. 5, fasc. 1—6, 1896.
The Soctety.
San Francisco.—Proceedings of the California Academy of
Sciences. Series 2, vol. 5, part 2, 1896.
The Academy.
SanT1IaAGO DE Cuitt,—Verhandlungen des Deutschen Wissen-
schaftlichen Vereins zu Santiago de Chile.
Vol. 3, parts 3 and 4, 1896. The Society.

- SHEFFIELD.—Annual Report of Sheffield Naturalists’ Club,
1895. The Club.

STAVANGER.— Stavanger Museums Aarsberetning for 1895.
2 The Museum Trustees.

STIRLING.—Transactions of Stirling Natural History Society,
1895—96. The Society.

StockHoLmM.—Handlinger of Royal Swedish Academy. Vol.
27,1896. Ofversigt, vol. 52,1895; and Bihang,
vol. 21, parts 1—4, 1896. The Academy.

Toxio.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft ftir Natur
und Volkerunde Ostasiens in Tokio. Part 58
and Supplement, 1896-97. The Scctety.

Topeka, Kansas.—Transactions of Kansas Academy of Science.
Vol. 14, 1896. The Academy,

14 Books Received.

ToroNTO.—Transactions of the Canadian Institute. Vol. 4,
part 2, 1895; and vol. 5, part 1, 1896.
The Institute.
UpsaLa.—Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the University
of Upsala. Vol. 2, part 2, no. 4, 1896.
The Institution.
VENICE.—La Notarisia Neptunia. Vol. 11, no. 1, 1896.
The Kditor.
VIENNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo-
gischen Reichsanstalt. Nos. 4—18, 1896; and

nos. 1—5, 1897. The Society.

’ Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Zoolo-
gisch-Botanischen Gesellscha‘t. Vol. 46, parts
4—10, 1896. The Society.

WasHINGTON.—Fifteenth Annual Report of the Geological
Survey of the United States, 1895. Sixteenth
Annual Report, part 1, 1896; part 2, 1895;
part 3, 1895; and part 4, 1895. Seventeenth
Annual Report, part 3, 1896. Bulletin of
the Geological Survey, nos. 123, 124, 125,
126, 128,129, 131 and 133, 1895); saison 132
and 134, 1896. The Director.

7 Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, North
American Fauna. No. 10, Shrews; no. 11,
Weasels of North America; no. 12, Voles and
Lemmings, 1896.
The Department of Agriculture.

- Report of the American Historical Association
for the year 1894. The Association.

i Smithsonian Report for year 1894. Smithsonian
Contributions to Knowledge. Vols. 30—32,
1895; and no. 1033, “Argon, a New Con-
stituent of the Atmosphere,” 1896. Smith-
sonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1031, “‘Genera

Books . Received. 15

and Species of Foraminifera,” part 2, 1896.
Also no. 1037, ‘Determination of Organic
Matter in Air,” 1896.
The Smithsonian Association.
S Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, for the year 1891-92.
The Director of the Bureau.
York.—Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
for year 1895, The Soctety.
ZuricH.—Festschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Zurich, parts 1 and 2,1896. Vierteljahrschrift,
supplement, 1896 ; and 99th Neujahrsblatt, 1897.
The Soczety,
From Mons, CHARLES JANET.—Les Fourmis. Les Guepes.
Les Abeilles, etc.; four papers, 1895—97.
From R, Luoyp Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S.—Journal of the
Linnean Society (Botany), Vol. 31, nos, 215—
218, 1896, 219, 1897; and vol. 32, 1896.
From THOMAS WorREMAN, Esq., J.P.—Spiders, by T. Workman.
Vol. 1, Malaysian Spiders, 1896, Also Explor-
ation Scientifique de la Tunisie, Echinides

Fossiles des Terrains Jurassiques de la Tunisie,
1896,

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. be oa
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ee
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NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
SESSION 1896-97.

grad November, 1890.

ProFeEssor J. D, EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., delivered an
Inaugural Address on

“RECENT ADVANCES IN ELECTRICITY.”

QUITE a revolutionary change has come over the theory and
practice of electricity and magnetism during recent years. It is
not my purpose to-night to speak of the enormous advance which
has been made in the means of producing electricity, and in
modes of applying it to human wants, but rather of the change
which has come over the thoughts of electricians in regard to the
nature of electrical phenomena. Faraday laid the foundation
of this change, and urged his views strongly in many passages
of his “Experimental Researches ;” at the same time that, by
his discovery of the production of electric currents in wires
by moving them ina magnetic field, he laid the foundation of
the methods by which electricity is now universally supplied.
According to the old views, non-conducting substances were
regarded as simply blocking the way and preventing the
escape of electricity from charged conductors. Faraday upset
this view by showing as an experimental fact that the capacity
of a condenser, though it is not changed by substituting one
metal for another in the conducting portions of the arrange-

ment, is materially changed by substituting one material for
B

18 Recent Advances in Electricity.

another in the non-conducting portion. The best modern
measurements have shown that the capacity is about nine
times as great when the insulator is glass as when it is air.
Faraday rejected as unthinkable the notion of direct attraction
and repulsion between two things at a distance from one
another, and maintained that they could only act upon one
another through the co-operation of the intervening medium.
Apparent attraction might be produced by a diminution of the
pressure of the medium against the bodies on their near sides,
and apparent repulsion by an increase of this pressure. He
made great use of the conception of “es of force extending out
all round an electrified conductor through the surrounding
medium and connecting it with conductors at a distance which
are charged with the opposite kind of electricity. These lines
are not usually straight, but curved, and at every point in their
length the resultant force is in the direction of a tangent.
According to Faraday, these lines of force act like stretched
strings which are tending to pull their two ends nearer
together, but, unlike strings, each line repels its neighbours.
Or, to state the view more precisely, if we divide up the whole
non-conducting material into filaments, running in the
direction of the lines of force, each filament is in a condition
- of longitudinal tension and is at the same time in a condition
of lateral compression. These filaments are called tubes of
force.

Clerk Maxwell, the great prophet of the modern school of
electrical thought, adopts this view in every particular, and
makes it mathematically precise. According to him, if you
select any point at random in the air or other insulator
through which the lines of force run, the tension at this point
in the direction of the line of ‘force is exactly equal to the
pressure at the same point in every perpendicular direction.
‘This tension (and its equal pressure) is not, however, the same
at all points in the medium, but is greatest where the electrical
force, as usually understood, is greatest, being, in fact, propor-
tional to the square of the electrical force. If we travel in

Recent Advances in Electricity. 19

imagination along one filament from end to end, the force
varies inversely as the cross section of the filament ; hence the
tension and pressure vary inversely as the square of the section.
In the case of a liquid, or a gas, like the atmosphere, we must
understand by tension a diminution of pressure, so that ina
space pervaded by electrical force it is no longer true that a
gas or liquid exerts equal pressure in all directions at a point ;
on the contrary, it exerts minimum pressure in the direction
of a line of electrical force, and maximum pressure in all
directions at right angles to this. Such a distribution of
mutual forces can be shown to be consistent with itself, and
consistent with the? equilibrium of the fluid. Any one who
wishes for satisfaction on this point will find a very compact
and intelligible proof in Prof. J. J. Thomson's recent book,
‘“EKlements of the Mathematical Theory of Electricity and
Magnetism.” He supposes a filament, or ‘‘ tube of force,” cut
across by two sections near together, and shows that the
forces which act upon the whole surface of the intercepted
portion of the filament form an equilibrating system. The
energy of a charged leyden jar, or of any system of charged
conductors separated by an insulating medium, is to be
regarded as of the same kind as the energy of a compressed or
extended spring, and as residing not in the conductors, but in
the intervening medium; and calculation shows that, when
systematic units are employed, the numerical value of the
energy, per unit volume, at any point of the medium, is the
same as the numerical value of the tension and pressure at
this point. This also is proved very neatly and clearly in J.
J. Thomson’s book. Some kind of elastic yielding must be
supposed to accompany the tension and pressure, otherwise no
work would be done and no energy stored up. In one and the
same substance the yielding is proportional to the force ; but
in different substances it is very different for the same force,
being proportional to the “specific inductive capacity.” The
yielding is not a distortion of the substance as a whole, but
of its separate molecules. Its exact nature we do not know,

20 Recent Advances in Electricity.

but whatever it is, the metals, if they undergo it, do not oppose
elastic resistance to it; hence the kind of energy which it
involves cannot be stored up in metals.

I have now to explain how the theory is applied to electric
currents. Consider the case of an electrical current flowing
through a wire which joins the two terminals of a galvanic cell.
We must suppose each tube of force to stretch across in the first
instance from the positive to the negative plate of the battery,
and then to move along in such a manner that its ends or feet
slide along the wire until they meet at the middle of its length.
As its feet approach each other the tube shrinks in length, till it
vanishes altogether. This operation of sliding warms the wire,
the heat thus generated being the equivalent of the energy of
the tubes which have disappeared. In like manner, in the
discharge of a leyden jar, the force-tubes, which previously
stretched across from one coating to the other, slide up to the
place where the spark passes, and there shrink into nothing
in mid-air, thereby heating the air. When a telegraphic
current runs through a submarine cable, the tubes of force,
which extend radially from the copper core to the external
iron sheath through the intervening insulator, must be
regarded as travelling along through the insulator, so that
their two ends slide along these two conductors. The use of
the copper core is to furnish a slide for one end of
the tubes of force, for without two slides, one for each
foot, they cannot travel. Here let me notice a remarkable
result which has been brought out in the supply of elec-
tricity to a district by means of alternating currents. It is
found that when the alternations are rapid it is a mistake
to employ solid wires or rods for the mains, and that much
less material will suffice if the mains are tubular. The
axial portion of a solid wire is, practically inoperative when
the alternations are rapid ; and it is possible for alternations to
be so rapid that the currents are practically only skin deep.
From the point of view of modern theory, the action on the
wire begins at the surface, where the force-tubes slide upon it,

Recent Advances in Electricity. ZX

and, with rapid alternations, has not time to penetrate to the
axis.

Maxwell developed Faraday’s views, not only in the way of
giving greater precision to the statement of them, but also by
extending the meaning of the phrase, ‘electric current,” to
include certain electrical changes in non-conductors, and
extending Faraday’s laws for currents to these changes. He
thus built up a theory of electro-magnetic waves in non
conductors, according to which the magnetic force is perpen-
dicular to the direction in which the wave advances, and the
direction of electrostatic force is perpendicular to both of these.
Thus, when there is a regular succession of waves of the
simplest kind, there will be, at any given point in the medium,
a magnetic force acting along a fixed line, and increasing from
zero to a maximum, then diminishing to zero, increasing to a
maximum in the opposite direction, and returning again to
zero, to go through the same changes again. Similar remarks
will apply to the electrostatic force which will also exist at
the point acting along a line at right angles to the magnetic
force ; while the direction in which the waves advance
will be perpendicular to both. Further, Maxwell deduced
from his theory that the velocity with which electro-
magnetic waves travel in air is the same as a certain velocity
which electricians very frequently have to speak of, because
they have to use it as a multiplier or a divisor whenever they
want to pass from_ the electrostatic system of units to the
electro-magnetic, or wice-versa. This velocity has been
measured by electrical experiments in several different ways,
and has been found by all experimenters to be about equal to
the velocity of light. But if electro-magnetic waves travel
with a velocity which is nearly or exactly the same as that of
light, may not waves of light themselves be electro-magnetic
waves? Maxwell says they are; and it is now established
by a method of experiment originated by Hertz, that electro-
magnetic waves very closely resemble waves of light in
their behaviour, and that they travel with a velocity which
is nearly or exactly that of light.

22 Recent Advances in Electricity.

Hertz, though quite a young man, died a year or two after
the publication of his remarkable results, which form an era in
the history of electricity, but his work has been zealously taken
up by others, and his methods of experiment have been in some
respects improved. The favourite method now of obtaining
Hertzian waves is to discharge the secondary coil of a Ruhmkorff
through three metal knobs, of which the two outside ones, which
are connected with the ends of the coil, are small, and the
middle one much larger; the discharges being taken one at a
time by hand, instead of being allowed to run on rapidly by
the automatic make and break. Asa receiver or analyser, to
reveal the presence of the waves, one of the best methods is to
employ a short tube of glass, filled with metal filings (called
‘““Branly’s coherer’’), and to make this mass of filings form part
of the circuit of a battery and galvanometer. When Hertzian
waves fall upon the filings they give an instantaneous increase
of conductivity, so that the galvanometer shows a stronger
current. An improvement on this has been devised by Prof.
Chunder Bose, of Calcutta, and consists in using, instead of a
mass of filings, a row of small spiral springs, which are held at
the ends by fixed supports, and touch each other at the sides
with a contact which can be made more or less close by an
adjusting screw, putting on more or less pressure.

Hertz showed that his rays could be reflected from metal
plates, that they could be brought to a focus by a concave
reflector, and that they could be refracted through a prism of
suitable material. One of the best materials is pitch, which,
though opaque to luminous waves, is transparent to Hertzian
waves. Hertz also found that his waves were able to pass through
brick walls and through floors and ceilings. In connection
with such facts as these, we must remember that a piece of
ordinary red glass is opaque to yellow and green light, though
transparent to red. It is a question of the length of the waves ;
the yellow and green waves are not of the right length to get
through. Hertzian waves are many thousands of times longer
than light waves, and it is not surprising that media which are
opaque to the one are transparent to the other.

Recent Advances in Electricity. 23

The best determinations with which J am acquainted of the
length of Hertzian waves are those which Prof. Bose has made
by means of a diffraction grating. Hertz’s own determinations
were chiefly made by means of resonators, that is to say, by
causing the waves to excite oscillating currents in a conductor,
and choosing this conductor of such dimensions as would give
the strongest oscillations. This method has been found so
uncertain in its results as to excite a suspicion that the waves
have not in each case a definite wave length. We know that
the waves of light from incandescent sodium vapour have a
definite length, but that those emitted by incandescent iron or
charcoal have all possible lengths lying between certain limits.
The spectroscope, when applied to light from such a source,
shows a continuous spectrum, whereas when applied to sodium
light it shows the well-known sodium line. It is conceivable
that Hertzian rays have a continuous spectrum, and Bose
wanted to test this point. The spectrum of a beam of light
can be obtained either by means of prisms or by employing
a diffraction grating, which usually consists of a plate of
speculum metal, on which, by means of a dividing engine, a
number of equidistant scratches are ruled with a diamond
point, so close together that there are sometimes ten thousand
or twenty thousand to the inch. Bose imitated this arrange-
ment on an enlarged scale, suitable to the different magnitude
of the length to be measured. Instead of scratches some
thousands to the inch, he used metallic strips an inch or so
apart, arranged so as to form a concave cylindrical grating,
analogous to the concave gratings employed by Rowland for
light. No slit was necessary, as the line of discharge of the
sparks was’ sufficiently narrow of itself, and was kept parallel
to the strips of the grating. A cylindrical grating focuses the
spectrum without the aid of a lens, and when the distances
are properly adjusted the various colours are brought to a focus
at successive points on the circumference of a certain circle.
Professor Bose made his observations by moving his spiral-
spring receiver slowly along this circle, and he found that the

24 Recent Advances in Electricity.

effect was only obtained in one definite point on the circle—
a fact which indicates that there was not a continuous
spectrum, but one definite wave length. In his principal
experiment the wave length thus found was 1°48 cm,
which was about double of the nearest distance between the
two outside balls. With a larger central ball, and a greater
distance between the two outside balls, the wave length was
found to be 2°36 c.m. These lengths, one being about ? in.
and the other about 1 in., are gigantic when compared with
wave-lengths of light, of which, roughly speaking, it takes
50,000 to make an inch. Another curious effect obtained by
Prof. Bose was that yarn wound regularly upon a flat spool of
wood acts upon the Hertzian rays in the same way that
tourmaline acts upon rays of light, that is to say, it transmits
only a portion of the incident radiation, and this transmitted
portion is polarised. The polarisation was tested by the usual
reflection test.

To the general public the most interesting of recent
electrical discoveries is that of the Rontgen rays —rays
which, though they do not directly affect the eye, are
capable of affecting photographic paper, and also of pro-
ducing fluorescence in certain substances, especially in
platino-cyanides. Unlike rays of light and Hertz rays, they
cannot be refracted, and hence cannot be focussed by a lens.
The pictures which are obtained by their aid are accordingly
not images, but only shadows. Whatever sharpness they may
possess is due on the one hand to the smallness of the source
from which the rays proceed, and on the other to the nearness
of the object to the paper on which its shadow falls. Their chief
interest with the public lies in the fact that flesh is very trans-
parent to them, while bone is comparatively opaque, so that the
shadow of the skeleton is cast by the living body. Lenard
had previously found that when the cathode stream in a
Crookes’ tube was directed against the side of the tube, some
influence, which might be regarded as a continuation of the
cathode rays, could be detected outside the tube. This

Recent Advances in Electricity. 25

influence is now known as the “Lenard rays.’’ He found that
it could affect a photographic plate, and could also produce
fluorescence. Shortly afterwards Réntgen found that along
with these ‘“‘Lenard rays” there were present other rays
possessing still more remarkable properties, and to these he
gave the name of the X rays, X being adopted as a convenient
designation for an unknown quantity. One may be disposed
at first to think that the Lenard rays and the X rays are not two
things, but one and the same thing investigated by two different
people. This, however, would be an erroneous impression.
There are two distinct kinds of rays mixed up together. One
test for distinguishing them is the influence of a magnet.
When lines of magnetic force run across a moveable wire
through which a current is passing they make the wire move
sideways. The visible discharge in an ordinary Geissler tube
is moved in the same way, and so is the cathode stream ina
Crookes’ tube, and so also is the stream of Lenard rays outside
the Crookes’ tube; but the stream of X rays is unaffected—
the X rays cannot be deflected by a magnet. I may mention,
in passing, some particulars which I heard from Prof. Lenard’s
own lips at the recent meeting of the British Association, and
which were new to most of his audience. The Lenard rays, when
they have to pass through air at atmospheric pressure, behave
very much like rays of light passing through a turbid medium,
such as muddy water or a dense fog ; but when the pressure is
reduced to about + of an atmosphere they begin to show a
definite track, and the more the pressure is diminished the
more definite they become. When you have sufficiently
diminished the pressure to obtain a well-defined and narrow
stream, it is found, on bringing magnetism to bear upon it,
that the stream is not only deflected to one side, that is to say,
curved towards one side, but that it is widened out by unequal
deflection of its different constituents—an effect precisely
analogous to the widening out of a narrow beam of solar light
into a spectrum by unequal refrangibility. he interpretation
put upon this phenomenon is, that the stream is a stream of

26 Recent Advances tn Electricity.

electrified particles travelling with various velocities, and those
which travel slowest are most deflected.

But what theory are we to form as to the nature of X rays,
and in particular how are we to accou1t for the fact that they do
not undergo refraction? Refraction is explained on the wave
theory of light as being due to difference of velocity in different
media. If the index of refraction in a piece of glass is 1°5, light
travels 14 times as fast in air or vacucm as in this glass. Light
of short wave length, such as violet light, is more refracted
than red, because the difference between velocity in vacuum
and velocity in glass is greatest for the shortest wave lengths.
In vacuum long and short waves travel with one and the same
velocity. In glass the shortest waves travel slowest. Absence
of refraction indicates that if the X rays are a manifestation of
wave motion, the waves are propagated with one and the same
velocity inallsubstances. The view which has been almost unani-
mously adopted by the highest authorities appears at first glance
very paradoxical. They maintain that the X rays represent
waves of much shorter wave length than those which constitute
light. They explain the absence of refraction by the shortness
of the wave length, in spite of the fact that in the case of light
the shortest waves are the most refracted. This looks like
madness, but there is method in it. The most successful
attempts that have been made to explain by mechanical analogies
the dependence of refrangibility on wave length are discussed by
Lord Kelvin in his Baltimore lectures. He works out in detail
the suggestion that each particle of matter is to be regarded
as having a heavy nucleus in its centre, which is elastically
connected with its outside. The waves of ether, which consti-
tute light, are hampered by the presence of the particles of
matter between which they have to pass, and, as a result of
continually repeated impulses given by the ether to the
material particles, the particles are set in forced vibration.
‘These forced vibrations of the particles of matter react upon
the ether, and as the result of an elaborate mathematical
investigation it comes out that the velocity of propagation of

Recent Advances in Electricity. 27

the waves is modified. The influence of the particles will be
greatest when the natural period of vibration of the nucleus
(or one of its natural periods, if it have more than one) is
nearly or quite the same as the periodic time of the incident
waves, and this explains the intensely black absorption bands
and other singular phenomena exhibited in the spectra of certain
substances, such as fuchsine, phenomena known by the name of
“anomalous dispersion.”’ In the case of an ordinary transparent
substance the theory tells us that this coincidence would occur
at a certain wave length, far beyond the hitherto known ultra
violet ; but beyond this point the influence of the nucleus will
diminish, and for wave lengths within a certain range the
influence on velocity of propagation will be practically nil,
which means that there will be no refraction. We are familiar
in many applications of science with actions which go on
increasing up to a certain point, and beyond this point diminish
again ; and it isclaimed that this may be true for refrangibility
as dependent on wave length.

Among recent advances I must not omit to mention
the brilliant experiments exhibited by Tesla about five
years ago. They relate to the modification which takes
place in the ordinary discharges in vacuum tubes, when the
frequency of alternation is greatly increased. The fullest
account I have seen of his results is contained in the
“Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers,” vol. 21,
No. 97, issued April, 1892; but several of his experiments
have become common property, and you may _ probably
have seen them at conversaziones. [le is rather indefinite
in his information as to the actual frequency of his alter-
nations, but he speaks of 10,000 per second and 20,000 per
second as low frequencies. One remarkable result concerns
the physiological effect. It is well known that alternating
currents give, as a rule, a severer shock than direct currents ;
but with the extreme rapidity of alternation employed by Tesla
no shock is felt at all. In many of the well-known Tesla ex-
periments the operator allows his own body to form part of the

28 Recent Advances in Electricity.

circuit for the currents which produce the visible luminosity.
It would seem that the human organism is not able to vibrate
fast enough to respond to such an excitation. This is in accor-
dance with other well-known facts in connection with nervous
stimulus. The bobbing of a gas flame is very annoying when
it is slow, and increasingly painful when it is a little faster ; but
when it is as fast as 1co bobs per second it is not perceived at
all. Another noteworthy result is the ability to dispense with
conducting communication. It is not necessary to have wires
passing through the ends of a vacuum tube, or if such wires are
present it is not necessary to connect them witn the terminals
of the source of electricity. The influence which produces
luminosity in the tube is able to make its way through the
glass. A large cubic space of air can be filled with the influence
by hanging up a large sheet of metal on insulating supports and
connecting it with one terminal of the source, while a similar
plate connected with the other terminal hangs at the other side
of the space. Any vacuum tube held in the intervening space
will become luminous. It appears from these experiments that
air, or at all events rarefied air, is very easily thrown into such
a state of vibration as to become luminous, by an exciting cause
which operates by an extremely rapid succession of impulses—
that, in fact, very little energy is required to produce light if
we can only find the means of applying our energy in the right
way. Other facts may be quoted confirming the same view.
Every one must have seen the phosphorescence of fish lying
on a shelf in a dark pantry, and many of us have seen beautiful
displays of phosphorescence on the surface of the sea—due, I
believe, to a small animal called the moctsluca. I have
scooped up phosphorescent water from Kingstown harbour,
and seen the little bright objects with which it abounded.
The glowworm is well known by name, though many people
have never seen it. I have seen it once or twice in England
and taken it in my hand, its light continuing all the time to be
emitted. It was a wingless beetle, about an inch long. Much
more vivid is the light of the firefly, which I have seen on

Recent Advances in Electricity. 29

summer evenings in Nova Scotia. Its flashes suddenly appear-
ing and as suddenly disappearing in mid-air are quite startling.
I caught one, and should describe it as a flying beetle or
cockchafer, the luminous part being under the wings, so as to
be sometimes covered and sometimes exposed. The appearance
which it presents when on active duty is very similar to the
sudden striking of a match. In these cases there seems to be
very little energy available for producing the observed lumi-
nosity, and the same remark applies to the phosphorescence of
several well-known salts of calcium and of strontium, which,
after being once exposed to the sun, remain self-luminous when
seen in a dark room for months or even years afterwards.
There is a shrewd suspicion in many minds that our present
methods of producing artificial light are excessively wasteful
—that we produce an enormous quantity of heat, of which
only a small part is utilised as light.

In connection with all our progress in the theoretical
knowledge of electricity and of the closely allied subject
of light, the question of the nature and constitution of
what we have been accustomed to call the luminiferous ether
is becoming increasingly prominent. We can no longer afford
to regard it as a mere working hypothesis, a fiction of the
imagination, or a thing of doubtful reality—a mere ghost ; for
we are giving it more and more work to do, and all our phil-
osophy breaks down without it. But it is in many ways a
puzzle. It allows all sorts of bodies to move through it without
any sign of resistance, and yet it serves for the propagation of
transverse vibratioas—a property characteristic of a solid, as
distinguished from a liquid or a gas. The nearest approach to
it in ordinary substances is a jelly. A jelly possesses the right
kind of elastic properties ; but bodies cannot move through a
jelly without very considerable resistance, and it is not self-
healing when ruptured by their passage.

Modern mathematicians would like to reduce all nature
to a frictionless, incompressible fluid, possessing certain in-
ternal motions—eddies, vortices, and so forth, which in

30 Recent Advances in Electricity.

virtue of known properties, directly deducible from Newton’s
three laws of motion, and roughly illustrated by smoke-rings,
spinning tops, and gyrostats, will, when properly looped
together and interlaced, give us a variety of structures
corresponding to the different kinds of matter. One of the
latest and most elaborate attempts to devise a structure for the
ether has been recently published in the Phil. Trans. by our
fellow townsman, Professor Larmor, under the title “A dyna-
mical theory of the electric and luminiferous medium.” Much
yet remains to be done before any such theory can be said to be
established, or even to have met with very wide acceptance.

PROFESSOR REDFERN, in moving a vote of thanks to the
lecturer, expressed regret at Professor Everett’s withdrawal from
the Queen’s College, and hoped that it would not mean his
withdrawal from the neighbourhood of Belfast.

Mr. J. Brown seconded. He remarked that the discovery
of the Réntgen rays, though “made in Germany,” had very
narrowly missed being made in Ireland, Professor George
FitzGerald, of Dublin, brother of their ex-president, having
twelve years ago expressed the belief that, under certain con-
ditions, the effect could be obtained.

The vote of thanks was passed unanimously.

PROFESSOR E:\VERETT having replied,

he proceedings then terminated.

31

Ist December, 18906.

_ProFessor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

REPORT OF Mr. A. TATE, M.I.C.E.,
Delegate to Conference of British Association, 1890.

Mr. ALEXANDER TATE first submitted his report of some
matters which were considered at the meetings in Liverpool.
He asked the special attention of the Society to two schemes
affecting the working of societies like theirs which were
discussed at considerable length at those meetings. [he object
of the first of those schemes was to promote the formation of
district unions of natural history societies. It was drawn up
and submitted by Mr. George Abbott, General Secretary of the
South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, and it proposed the
division of the United Kingdom into fifteen or twenty districts,
in each of which the societies should be grouped together for
mutual aid, counsel, and work, any existing unions to be taken
advantage of and not disturbed, each union to have an annual
congress, held year by year in different towns, and to be
attended by delegates and members from the affiliated societies.
A further suggestion was that each local society should have a
corresponding member in each village in its district to look
after its interests and forward in every way its objects. The
working of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union had been very
successful, one important result being the training of a number
of skilful workers in the various departments of natural science.
What had been done in regard to the Irish Union of Natural
History Societies was clearly stated by Professor Johnston, the
delegate from Dublin Natural History Society, and was corrobo-

32 A Recent Discovery of Worked Fizts.

rated by himself (Mr. Tate). The second proposal was made
by Professor Petrie, its object being to provide a federal staff
for local museums. He alleged that the main difficulty in the
management of local museums was the securing of sufficient
work for and means of paying for services of highly-trained and
competent men as curators, and he considered that this would
be obviated if there was co-operation. The opinion of speakers
who took part in the discussion was generally favourable to the
scheme. It appeared that a somewhat similar idea had been
mooted some years previously, and had been reported on by a
sub-committee of the Museums Association, without, however,
leading to any definite result. A strong protest was made by
Professor Johnston, of Dublin, against the suggestion that the
curators of the local museums should be converted into mere
caretakers, and referred in terms of high commendation to the
abilities of a curator in the North of Ireland.

The PRESIDENT was sure they were all very much indebted
to Mr. Tate for the manner in which he had represented their
Society at the conference.

Mr. W. H. PaTTERSON, M.R.1.A., read a Paper entitled—

“A RECENT DISCOVERY OF WORKED FLINTS IN
SUBMERGED PEAT AT PORTRUSH.”

Mr. W. H. PATTERSON, M.R.LA.. then read the following
account of a recent discovery of worked flints in submerged
peat at Portrush. He explained that the West Bay at Portrush
had long been known as the site of an exposure of submerged
peat. The winter storms of the last two years had, by washing
away great quantities of sand, caused a much larger section of
peat to be visible. The thickest masses of peat were at high-
water mark, in one place forming a perpendicular face of nearly
six feet high. In other places the peat showed an exposed face
of three or four feet, and from that down to one foot or less,

A Recent Discovery of Worked Flints. 33

according to the extent to which the sea carried away the
shelving sand which sloped from the peat down to the sea.
There was also a good exposure of the peat and numerous
remains of large trees between tide marks. Here one walked
on the top of the deposited beds, which were probably thinned
away by marine denudation. The beds of compact peat higher
up on the beach which present faces of various heights, as
referred to before, were overlaid by banks of sand from fifteen
to twenty feet high, with vegetation on their surface. The
sand was fine, and seemed to be chiefly blown, but in some
places a slight stratification showing pebbles was noticed. This
sand had been deposited over the peat, but was now being
removed by the action of the winds and waves. The peat was
exceedingly compact, but contained sand, showing that it was
formed within the influence of winds carrying sand, doubtless
from some sea strand. The peat could not possibly have been
formed at its present level as regards sea; the land here had
probably experienced a downthrow, or possibly alterations of level
had taken place, and thus the sea had been enabled to encroach
very considerably upon the land. ‘lhe remains of the forest of
large fir trees between tide water-marks at a level where such trees
could not be grown made the matter of the downthrow very
evident. In many places around our shores submerged peat
with tree remains was found. On the occasion of a visit to
Portrush in April, 1896, he was examining the exposed sections
of peat at the West Bay, when he noticed the point of a piece
of flint projecting from the weathered face, and on pulling this
out it proved to be a well-formed flint flake. A little examina-
tion with the blade of a knife showed that there were more flakes
behind the one first noticed, and the result was that in two
visits he collected about eighty flakes, about twelve cores, and
a considerable quantity of chips, but no axes, scraps, nor any
examples showing secondary workmanship. With theexception
of two or three outliers the flints were confined to an area of
not more than two feet square. They formed a flattened heap;

they rested on peat, and were overlaid by about one foot of
~~

34 A Recent Discovery of Worked Fiints.

exceedingly compact peat, and this in turn had been covered
by about 20 feet of sand, now partially removed by sea action.
The flints were firmly packed together ; in fact, they were
interlocked with one another, so that when working into the
face it was sometimes difficult to get one out until the adjoining
ones had been loosened and dislodged. The whole find was
evidently the heap which the old flintworker had formed at his
feet while he sat at his work on the hard surface of the ground
before some of the changes of level took place, which enabled a
later growth of peat to come and cover up the surface, including
the heap of flints. The flints were quite unweathered and
unrolled, and had their edges as sharp as if they had been just
-made. Their colour was quite unchanged, being the same dull
black or dark grey that freshly-broken flint presented. Many
of the flakes were of exceptionally large size, with great heavy
butts, while others were thin and delicately formed, reminding
one of the modern gun-flint makers’ flakes. The cores also
resembled those from which modern flakes were struck. On
the whole, the flakes and cores were much like those found in
the Larne gravels, with the marked difference that instead of
being rolled and weathered they were perfectly sharp and fresh.
The flakes measured from one inch to five inches long, most of
them, however, being about three inches. He noticed that
some of those flints were marked with spots or splashes of a
clear vitreous glaze, exceedingly thin and transparent, as if
liquid glass had been dropped or splashed upon them. This
glaze reflected the light, but seemed to be without any appreci-
able thickness. He presumed that silica in solution must have
come in contact with some of the surfaces of the embedded
flints, but further than this he could suggest no explanation of
the matter.

Dr. Linpsay subsequently read an essay on ‘‘ Dante,” which
was warmly praised by the President and other members.

Mr. R. M. Youna, J.P., M.R..A. (Hon Secretary), read the
following letter which he had received from the Marquis ot

A Recent Discovery of Worked Fints. a5

Dufferin and Ava, from whom, he added, they hoped to have
the pleasure of a paper next year :—
‘‘Clandeboye, County Down,
November 6th, 1896.

“ Sir,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communi-
cation of the 4th November, and I would ask you to be good
enough to convey to the Council of the Belfast Natural History
and Philosophical Society the expression of my thanks for the
honour they have conferred upon me in electing me an
honorary member of the body they represent. Itisa compliment
which I very much appreciate.—Believe me, yours sincerely,

‘‘ DUFFERIN AND Ava.”

This concluded the proceedings.

36

5th January, 1597.

PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. L. L. Macassey, Barrister-at-Law, M.INST.C.E., read a
Paper entitled—

“A RUN THROUGH THE MOURNE MOUNTAINS.”

THE CHAIRMAN having briefly introduced the lecturer,

Mr. Macassey then proceeded with his paper, in the course
of which he said that when the Secretary of the Society asked
him some little time ago to read a paper he felt great difficulty
in giving an answer. The secretary had suggested that he
should take up the subject of the Mourne district, because it
had a special interest to residents and ratepayers in Belfast.
The Mourne country possessed very fine natural features, and
the district had been selected by the water authority in Belfast
as the source of the future water supply for the city and district.
For these two reasons he had given his lecture the title it bore.
The lecturer then referred at length to the scenery of the
various interesting points of the Mourne district, his remarks
being illustrated by a number of fine lantern slides from original
photographs taken by Mr. R. Welch. A word of praise was
given to the manager and officials of the County Down Railway
Company for the excellent and comfortable train service the
public enjoyed on their line. Views were shown along the
coast road from Newcastle past Bloody Bridge and towards the
water shed the Mourne drainage scheme is designed to tap.
Mr. Macassey also described at length the Silent or Happy
Valley, which will be used as an immense natural reservoir for
storing the water from the surrounding couutry, and said when

A Run Through the Mourne Mountains. 37

completed the lake thus formed would be one of the most lovely
spots in Ireland, and even unsurpassed by the scenery of the
lake district of Cumberland.

On the motion of Dr. REDFERN, seconded by Mr. WILLIAM
Gray, a cordial vote of thanks was passed with acclamation to
the lecturer, and

The proceedings terminated.

goth February, 1897.

Professor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. HerMANN WALTER, M.A., PH.D., read a Paper entitled—

“THE MYSTERY OF INDIAN FAKIRISM.”

THE CHAIRMAN, in introducing him, said Mr. Hermann Walter,
who had recently come to Belfast, was an acquisition to Belfast
literary society. He was a distinguished linguist, and had made
a close study of the subject of which he would speak to them
that evening.

The lecturer prefaced his paper by stating that the Indian
Fakirs, or Yogins, were every now and then attracting un-
merited attention, chiefly owing to the efforts of theosophists,
who were the European relatives of the Indian Yogins. These
Yogins were Pantheists, believing in the doctrines of the
transmigration of souls and the Jaw of Karma, and holding that
the only possibility of salvation lay in the identification with
Brahma, the only true existence. This Brahma was a purely
philosophical conception, and not in any way connected with
Brahma of the Hindu Triads. The identification with Brahma
could only be brought about by concentration of the mind on
the fundamental doctrine of their system—that there is only
one true existence, and that all individual existence is illusory.
To facilitate this concentration the Yogins have invented an
elaborate system of!physical training ; everything tending to
bring about a cataleptic’state. Instances were given of the
postures in which the aspirant would have to remain motionless
for days and weeks. In connection with the practice of res-

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The Mystery of Indian Fakirism. 39

training the breath, the lecturer referred to the erroneous
anatomical and physiological notions of the Hindoos in general
and the Yogins in particular—notions on which the whole of
their system was based. The object of the various practices
seemed to be to concentrate the breath at a mysterious spot at
the crown of the head corresponding to the anterior fontanelle,
but by these practices the Yogin was supposed to acquire also
various superhuman faculties. When the aspirant has thus
carefully trained himself he may proceed to the concentration
of his mind on different mystic sounds, and he will then attain
what he imagines to be the final salvation, but what is really
nothing more than a cataleptic state. The lecturer concluded
by pointing to the probability of these phenomena being of a
hypnotic character. .

The hearty thanks ot the audience were accorded to Mr.
Walter, on the motion of Dr. SHELpon, seconded by Professor
PURSER.

Professor FItzGERALD, B.A,, A.M.I.C.E. (Queen’s College),
followed with a Paper under the title of “Contouring with
Barometer in Mourne Mountains,” which was illustrated by
diagrams and maps. The learned professor has made a careful
investigation of this most attractive portion of County Down,
and the results of his survey of the mountains had a special
significance on account of the fact that it is from the many
springs in which they abound that Belfast will for generations
to come derive its water supply.

40

2nd March, 1897.

ProFessor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. SEATON F. MILLIGAN, M.R.I.A., read a Paper on

“TRELAND: ITS ANCIENT CIVILISATION | AND
SOCIAL CUSTOMS.”

Mr. MiLyicAN said—The subject on which I will address
you is of great interest, from the fact that Ireland was the
only country in Western Europe whose civilisation was un-
influenced by the great Roman Empire. It retained the
ancient laws and customs of the Celtic race unimpaired,
when Britain, Gaul, and Central Europe had accepted Ruman
laws and customs. In Ireland only were the ancient laws
and customs of the Celt preserved pure without foreign
mixture. The Brehon laws, as they are called, remained in
force, and were the only laws which Irishmen recognised in a
great portion of this country up to the beginning of the 17th
century. It is by studying the Irish language and Brehon laws
we can form a correct view of the social condition, modes of
thought, and civilisation of the inhabitants of Western Europe
before the rise of the Roman power. A Scot of Ireland in
Pagan and early Christian times could make himself understood
in his own language through Britain and Gaul. This country
was known to the ancient Greeks in the earliest period as the
country of the hyperboreans (the Romans called it Hibernia),
but the natives Scota, and the people were called Scots. It was
also called Eire, Erin, Innisfail, and Banba, and now for many
centuries past Ireland. It has beautiful and diversified scenery,

Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs. 41

a sinuose coast line, pierced by bays and fjords; its lakes,
rivers, mountains, glens, all contribute to make it one of the
most charming countries in Europe. Those who possess an
antiquarian turn of mind have a great choice of ancient monu-
ments, including round towers, Celtic churches, beehive huts,
and other vestiges of an early Christian period. ~The monu-
ments of pre-Christian times, duns, raths, and cashels, which
were the homesteads and stronghold of the Celtic people, that
remain as landmarks in every corner of the island, indicative of
the large population that once resided in it. Ireland is the
most western part of Europe, a fragment of a great continent
that in pre-glacial times stretched westward for several hundreds
of miles, which the poetic imagination of the Celt still points to
as the fairyland, Tyrnanoge, which may be seen sometimes
beneath the waters of the western ocean as the sun sinks beneath
its surface. The brilliant green of its fields in summer, and the
purple of its heath-clad hills in autumn, have a charm for all
who are lovers of the beautiful in nature. I shall only have
time to skim the surface of a subject brimful of interest. It is
gratifying to know that an effort is being made to revive the
ancient language and music of Ireland, which for the past century
and more have been slowly dying out. Scholars whoare competent
to form a correct opinion state that it is most important that Irish
should be preserved, that it is in some respects more interesting
than either Greek or Latin, and probably an older member of
the Aryan group than either. In addition to the great store of
Celtic manuscripts, we have a collection of antiquities in the
Royal Irish Academy that illustrates our ancient civilisation
from the most remote times. Ireland is now a comparatively
poor country, but it would seem to have been a rich country
in the early ages, if we take into account the great variety
of ancient gold ornaments that still remain. No other country
in Europe possesses a tithe of the ancient gold ornaments
that Ireland has, dating back to the most remote times.
The exquisite workmanship displayed on the very oldest of
these is a proof of a very high order of artistic skill of ancient

42 Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs.

Ireland. The personal ornaments, such as torques, lunalae,
and fibula, exhibit most intricate and exquisite workman-
ship and ornamentation of a very high order of merit.
The later metal work from the tenth to the twelfth centuries,
such as croziers, shrines, book-covers, crucifixes, and vessels,
such as the Ardagh chalice, show that Irish artists, before
they came in contact with the Anglo-Norman, were able to
produce work of rare excellence. Irishmen excelled all com-
petitors in the art of illuminating vellum manuscripts. Dating
from the middle of the 6th century onwards we have a
collection of these manuscripts that no other country in Europe
can equal either in antiquity or workmanship. The initial
letters in the Book of Kells are exquisite works of art. This
manuscript is a copy of the Gospels which belonged to the
Monastery of Kells, County Meath, supposed to have been
written in the 8th Century. It fell into the hands of Primate
Ussher, whose library was acquired by Trinity College, where
it is now kept. The book of Durrow, which belonged to
Durrow in the Queen’s County, is another fine manuscript.
So highly were the Irish scribes thought of that the Eric, or
penalty for killing a scribe, was the same as for an abbot or a
bishop. We will refer to our subject under four periods—viz.,
the Pagan, early Christian, Anglo-Norman, and modern. The
oldest records do not refer to the people who made the rude
stone implements, and who cremated their dead. The theory
commonly accepted is, that not alone Ireland, but the entire of
Western Europe, was at one time peopled by a small-sized
Iberian race, whose present representatives are the Lapps and
Finns. It is supposed that the underground caves, so well
known as souterraines, may have been dwelling places of this
race, as only men considerably less in stature than Irishmen of
to-day could stand upright in them. They were not agricul-
turists, but hunters and fishers; they used flint and stone
implements, probably cremated their dead, and they may have
been the first to raise Cromleachs. There is no reference in
our annals to cremation, though cinerary urns and calcined

Treland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs. 43

human bones are frequently found in every part of Ireland ;
nor is there any reference to the bow and arrow until the 5th
century, though such large quantities of flint arrow heads and
spear heads are found. The shooting of Niall of the Hostages
by a Leinster Prince with an arrow on the banks of the Loire
is the first reference to this weapon in Irish history. The
Fribolg and Danaan tribes succeeded the men of the Stone
Age; they built raths, duns, and cashels, in which stood their
wattled huts. They were a pastoral people mainly, and pro-
bably tilled the soil a little. Their weapons were bronze, and
are accurately described in the annals. The Danaans were the
more skilled, had better and sharper weapons than the Fribolgs,
whom they conquered. They are supposed to have come trom
North Europe or Scandanavia. The Milesian race came from
the south ; their ornaments were Egyptian in character, both
in shape and ornament. It is said they came from Spain, where
they would have been in touch with North Africa and Egyptian
influence. The religion of these tribes was Druidical; they
worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, and the forces of nature,
as the wind and lightning. They had groves on the hills sacred
to Baal ; their brehons, or judges, held their courts in the open
air in the eye of the sun, where it was supposed no magic spell
could influence their judgments. The Danes did not reach
Ireland till the 8th century, and the Anglo-Normans in the
12th century, and the Irish of to-day are the descendants of all
these various races. We do not include the Scots of the
plantation, as they were our own kith and kin, who emigrated
to Scotland in the sth, and returned to the old land again in
the 17th century. It may be interesting to inquire as to what
stage of civilisation was attained in Ireland before the intro-
duction of Christianity. A number of families closely related
or descended from a common ancestor formed a tribe or clan,
which was ruled over by a chief. The clans occupying a large
territory, equivalent to a province, owed allegiance to a higher
chief, or Provincial King. There were five of these kings, one
of whom was elected Ardrigh, or High King. The Provincial

44 Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs.

King was supreme in his own territory, and the chief had the
power of life and death in the clan. The relative duties of the
Provincial Kings to the Ardrigh, and his relation to them, are
clearly set forth in a book called the ‘‘ Book of Rights.”’ The
tributes paid to the Ardrigh by the Provincial Kings consisted
of mantles, swords, spears, shields, cattle, hogs, cauldrons, and
also certain entertainments when making a royal progress
through the kingdom. The grades of society beneath the
kings and chiefs depended on the ownership of land in fee, or
the tenancy of land and the number of cattle a man owned.
The owner in fee of land who paid no rent, be his property
either large or small, had the rank of Flaith, equivalent toa
noble. The other grades paid rent to this order. Rent-paying
farmers were divided into a great many grades or classes,
regulated by the extent of the holding and the numbers of their
flocks and herds. They were called Celies, some of whom, like
the middlemen of recent times, rented large tracts and sub-let
at a profit tothose below them. The lower class of farmers
had special designations depending on the number of cattle they
owned. Below these were the free labourers, and next the bond-
men, or slaves, who received no wages, and were usually captives
taken in war or on plundering expeditions. Of the learned
classes, Druids, poets, and brehons, there were seven grades, and
their services were paid for by grants of land and special gifts.
The greater chiefs and kings have hereditary bards, who re-
corded their genealogy and history. The ranks of men in
those days were distinguished by the number of the colours
in their garments, the greatest number—seven—were worn
by kings. The Royal Stuart Tartan has seven colours, which
had its origin in this way. Before a new law was promulgated
it was read before an assembly of all ranks, and had to be
approved of by a majority. As already mentioned, the form of
religion was what we know as Druidical. At midsummer fires
were lighted on the hills, and a varied ceremonial was gone
through in honour of the sun god.’ The worship of wells also
' was another Pagan cult, which has survived to modern times.

Lreland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs. 45

The Brehon laws are most voluminous, and cover every possible
crime, to which adequate punishment was awarded. The duties
of the various classes of society, from the head king downward,
towards each other were clearly defined. There were laws
regulating the military system and defence of the country.
Laws dealing with engagements and bargains, and relating to
property entrusted or given in charge to others ; laws dealing
with gifts, presents, and alms; of loans, pledges, and securities;
laws stipulating the fees of doctors, lawyers, teachers, and judges,
and all other professional people; laws dealing with trades,
such as weaving, spinning, building, and brewing; laws relating
to fosterage, and the relative duties of parents and children, of
foster fathers and foster mothers, including details respecting
the training, food, and clothing of all children, from the King
down.. A very complicated, yet clearly defined, series of laws
regarding landlords and tenants, master and servant, explaining
the various classes of lords, and of masters, and of servants, and of
tenants, and the origin and termination of tenancy and service.
They had schools, and orders of learned men equivalent to our
collegiate degrees, in addition to teaching the youth they recorded
historical events, and preserved the genealogies. They taught
the whole course of Gaelic literature in prose and verse. The
sons of the nobility, in addition to literature, were taught horse-
manship, chess, swimming, the use of arms, chiefly casting the
spear. Their daughters were taught sewing, cutting, and em-
broidery. The sons of the farming classes were taught the same
as the nobles, excepting horsemanship. When enumerating a
few of the ancient Brehon laws, I omitted one regarding a free
pass around the sea coast of Ireland. This law states—‘' That
the space of the cast of a dart from high-water mark towards
the land shall be left for a road, which may be enclosed in by a
bank, one next the land, and the other next the sea.” If the
Brehon laws were still in force in Ireland such an action as
that pending about the Causeway could not be brought. Several
Irish customs are similar to those of ancient Greece. Certain
families in both had cures for certain diseases, the receipt for

46 Lreland. Its Ancient Cwilisation and Social Customs.

which was handed down from father to son. The Olympian
games had their counterpart in Ireland at Telltown. The
aenachs or fairs were held annually, and sometimes triennially.
The games consisted of horse and chariot races, running and
wrestling, athletic games, and musical festivals. Christianity
was introduced into Ireland in the middle of the fifth century
but it is generally believed some slight knowledge existed of it
before that time. There was a Celtic Church in Britain long
before this, that the Irish must have known somewhat of. The
mission of Saint Patrick is well known, and his success in
christianising Ireland. His knowledge of the language and the
habits of the people, which he had acquired in captivity, eminently
fitted him for this mission. The Pagan laws which had been
in force up to the time of Patrick naturally clashed with the
more benign spirit of Christianity. Through the influence of
Saint Patrick they were modified and altered by a committee
appointed for that purpose, and had afterwards to be ratitied by
a national convention, in which all classes were represented.
This was done, and the laws thus amended remained in force to
the beginning of the seventeenth century. Saint Patrick was
followed by Columba, who converted the Picts of Scotland.
Columbanus followed next. He was educated under St. Molaise,
in the island of Devenish, Lough Erne; afterwards he came to
our own locality, to the great school of Bangor, and after re-
maining here for a length of time he decided on going asa
missionary to the Continent. When he left Bangor, towards
the end of the sixth century, he brought with him several
brethren, amongst whom was Gaulus, known afterwards as
Saint Gall, who founded a monastery in Switzerland, and
the town of that name still records the name of the Irishman
who over 1,200 years ago founded its monastery. Columbanus
and his Irish monks preached through Burgundy, went up the
Rhine in coracles to Switzerland, crossed over into Lombardy,
and founded a school and monastery in North Italy, at Bobbio.
This monastery remained all through the ages up to the year
1803, when it was suppressed by Napoleon on his invasion of

Ireland: Its Ancient Cwilisation and Social Customs. 47

Italy. To this monastery the Irish monks brought from Bangor
a manuscript containing the Liturgy of the ancient Irish Church,
which has been translated in recent years. The ancient monastic
schools perpetuated the teaching of the older Bardic schools, with
this difference—that Christian ethics were taught instead of
Pagan. Some instances were given of how exceedingly careful
were some of the ancient Irish teachers of the strict observance
of Sunday, in which all manual labour was totally avoided. The
first great breach in the progress of civilisation in Ireland was
the invasion of the Danes. They arrived first in the year 795,
first coming as maurauders, and returning with their plunder.
They next came to remain and take possession of the country.
It was at this period the round towers were built, as places of
refuge, as the churches and monasteries were the first places
the Danish invaders attacked, being possessed of the greatest
wealth and the least power of resistance. The Danes largely
influenced Irish affairs ; they were great sailors and traders, as
well as pirates. he founded all the Irish towns, as Dublin,
Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Carlingford, and others.
The Irish were a pastoral people, living in the country, tending
their flocks and herds, so that the founding of trading stations
around the coast was a-great innovation on the old system.
The Danes became Christianised, and though finally beaten at
Clontarf, they did not wholly leave Ireland, but many remained
and inter-married with the natives, so that the Irish to-day are
the descendants of the various races referred to, as well as of the
Anglo-Normans who came later. When the Normans came
they built strong castles to defend their territory. The Irish
preferred the wooded fastnesses of the country, and it was a long
time before they erected stone castles. The Anglo-Normans
brought over English monks, who built the Franciscan and
Cistercian monasteries and the Dominican friaries. The old
Celtic monasteries gradually disappeared, as Irishmen were
thought to be too favourable to the Irish cause and native
Princes, When the monasteries were suppressed by Henry
VIII. a great blow was given to learning and culture, as the

48 Ireland: Its Ancient Cwilisation and Social Customs.

monks were schoolmasters and model farmers of the period, and
were centres of civilisation in their various localities. Nothing
was done to supply the want caused by this act, which was an
immense loss to the country. The Bardic schools were few and
far between, and no system of national education existed.
What a change this was from the earlier period, when the Irish
schools were crowded with pupils. The condition of Ireland
was referred to at the close of the Elizabethan wars and the
decadence in the social condition of the people. The houses of
the best people in the reign of Elizabeth were generally one
storey and thatched ; the floors, if they had any covering, were
strewed with rushes. The Irish chiefs imported Spanish wines
in exchange for wool and hides, drank heavily, and usually lived
in rude plenty. The first reference to usquebagh, or whisky,
is in the year 1405 ; tobacco had been only recently introduced.
Men used their skeans or daggers for cutting their meat, and
there were no forks. Potatoes were not in common use. Milk,
flesh, bread, and butter were the staple articles of diet. The
peasantry usually took only two meals in the day; they were a
hardy race, could work or fight for a long time on very scanty
allowance. Watercress was a favourite vegetable. The young
Irish nobility were allowed to run barefooted up to fifteen or
sixteen years of age tomake them hardy, and were usually
reared by foster-parents. The Lord Deputy generally held
hostages of all the great Irish families as a guarantee of their
obedience. ‘Whe usual decoration over the gate of Dublin
Castle in Elizabeth’s reign was a row of heads of the Irish
nobility stuck on spikes, just as scarecrows are put up now to
warn maurauding rooks. ‘The face of Ulster was totally
different from what it is now ; it was then densely covered with
natural forests, through which paths were cut as roads. The
few towns were all walled, with a deep trench or fosse filled
with water all round, and were usually held for the English.
The little town of Killmallock, in the south of County Limerick,
is still a good example of an Elizabethan town. One of the
town gates still remains, as well as a considerable portion of the

Ireland: Tis Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs. 49

wall and fosse. It was the residence of the President of
Munster, and a place of importance 300 years ago. The
following is an English writer’s description of the dress of the
Irish at this time :—“ They generally go bareheaded, save when
they wear a headpiece, having a long head of hair with curled
glibs, which they highly value, and take it heinously if one
twitch or pullthem. They wear linen shirts, very large, with
wide sleeves down to their knees, which they usually dye with
saffron. They have woollen jackets, but very short ; plain
breeches close to their thighs, and over these they cast their
mantles, fringed with an agreeable mixture of colours, in which
they wrap themselves up and sleep on the bare ground. Such,
also, do the women cast over the garment, which covers down
to their ankles, and they load their heads, rather than adorn
them, with several ells of fine linen rolled up in wreaths, as
they dotheir necks with necklaces, and their arms with bracelets.”
An English writerin 1566 gives the following account of the arms
of the Irish in his day—“ Their armies consist of horsemen
and of veteran soldiers reserved for the rear, whom they call
gallowglasses, and who fight with sharp hatchets; and of
‘light armed foot they call Kernes, armed with darts and
daggers. They usethe bagpipesin their wars instead of a trumpet;
they carry amulets about them, and repeat short prayers, and
when they engage they shout their warcry as loud as possible.”
There is a very interesting account of a journey into Lecale,
County Down, by a Captain Bodely, an officer of Queen
Elizabeth, in the second volume of the old Ulster journal -of
Archeology, commencing at page 73, from which extracts were
read. Sir Richard: Morrison, an English officer, residing in
Downpatrick, invited his brother officers who were at Armagh,
to spend a few days with him. Bodely, who is rather a
humorous writer, givesa very minute sketch of the journey, which
illustrates very clearly the customs of the times. They rode to
Newry, thence through the wild mountains, where they lost their
way, until they came to Magennis’s Island, which was a Cran-
noge stronghold near Castlewellan. Lady Sarah, the wife of
D

50 Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs.

Magennis, who was a daughter of the Earl of Tyrone, enter-
tained them. They describe her as a very beautiful woman,
and they all duly kissed her when leaving. They proceeded to
Downpatrick, and Bodely describes their supper, drink, bedroom,
their dinner next day, and all the small details that add such
interest to a story of 300 years ago. Reference was next made
to the state of Irish society about 100 years ago. Jonah Bar-
rington has left some interesting details of the customs of his
own times. Speaking about the year 1788, and how the gentry
occupied their time, he says they were principally occupied with
hunting, but when the ground got hard from continuous frost,
and hunting had to be stopped, various modes of killing time
were adopted, of which I give the following :—‘‘A lodge near
the kennel of his father’s hounds was occupied by an old hunts-
man, his wife, and nephew, who was whipper-in. To this lodge
his brother sent a hogshead of superior claret; a fat cow was
killed, skinned, and hung up by the heels. All the windows
were closed to exclude the light. One room was filled with
straw and numerous blankets, destined fora common bedroom;
another was laid off for a kitchen for the use of the servants.
Claret, cold, mulled, or buttered was to be the beverage for the
whole company. In addition to the cow, already mentioned,
chickens, bacon, and bread were the only viands admitted.
Two pipers and a fiddler were engaged to attend and enliven
the banquet, which was to continue till all the viands were
consumed. A number of leading sportsmen were invited, when
‘the festivities commenced, and extendec over several days.
When they had eaten and drunk to excess they tumbled into
the straw, and were covered by a servant with a blanket.
When the last drop of claret was finished and the cow reduced
to a skeleton, and all the other eatables had vanished, only then
did the festivities terminate. The intervals between the meals
were enlivened by cock-fighting, and the whole was wound up
with a dance, to which all the boys and girls of the neighbour-
hood were invited. It was by gross and extravagant living of
this sort that the Irish landlords, in the good old times, got

Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs. 51

into debt and managed to get rid of their estates. Three classes
of gentlemen, who were known under the following titles, were
described, viz. :—Half-mounted gentlemen, second, gentlemen
every inch, and third, gentlemen to the backbone. A description
by Barrington was given of Donnybrook Fair as it was in his
day. Hesays :—Toys and trinkets were on sale in great variety,
and in the evening, when the parents had given the children a
glass each of the ‘cratur,’ to keep the cowld out of their little
stomachs, every trinket, or drum, fiddle, whistle, or pop-gun,
which the fond mothers had bestowed, was set sounding, all
together, over the green, and chimed in with a dozen of fiddles
and as many pipers, jigging away for the dance—an amalgam-
ation of sounds among the most extraordinary that ever tickled
the ear of a musician. Everybody, drunk or sober, took a share
in the long dance, and I have seen a row of a hundred couple
labouring at their jig steps till they fell off actually breathless,
and rather better than if they had been tiver deities of the
Donnybrook.’ These fairs were the modern survival of what
was once a semi-religious festival of the great aenachs, or ancient.
games. Owing to the amount of drinking that was indulged in,
the clergy of all denominations used their influence to suppress
them, so that they are now almost extinct. I recollect a fair of
this kind held in the County Tyrone up to about forty-five
years ago. A similar fair was held at the Giant’s Causeway up
to about 1849 or 1850; tents were spread on the face of the hill
where the hotels now stand ; refreshments were on sale, fiddlers
aud pipers supplied the music, people flocked from far and near,
and this continued for a couple of days. Boys strolled over the
Causeway enjoying the fresh sea breezes, accompanied by their
sweethearts. These annual fairs were looked forward to as the
great social event of the year, and greatly stimulated the mar-
riage market. Thecostume of the country people in the North
of Ireland in my earliest days was, for men, swallow-tail coats,
knee breeches, long woollen stockings, and laced shoes. The hat
was felt, made in the neighbouring town ; it was high-crowned,
narrow leaf, and heavy, made from lamb’s wool, and was useful in

52 Ireland: Its Ancient Civilisation and Social Customs.

protecting the head from the blow of a stick, which was then a
common form of amusement. The women wore large cloaks for
an outer garment. A great portion of the cloth used in the family
was home-made, and the tailor was brought to the house to
make it up. I remember one old man who wore a queue—
viz., his hair plaited in a long tail and tied with a black ribbon.
The blue cloaks, knee breeches, and home-made hats have
disappeared from the North of Ireland, but in County Kerry,
near Dingle, a few years ago, I saw men and women apparelled
in the old style. The blue cloaks are still worn in the south of
County Cork, and also in County Waterford. Englishmen
have blundered in the past when legislating for Ireland from
utter want of knowledge of its people. Under the more benign
influence of recent legislation many of the old grievances have
been redressed, so that it is now possible for those who choose
to live happy and prosperous in their own little island, where
there is ample room for many years to come for all who may
remain.

At the conclusion of Mr. Milligan’s lecture a large number
of interesting lantern slides were exhibited descriptive of Irish
antiquities, ancient weapons, churches and monasteries, taken
in various parts of Ireland. Amongst the views were many
pictures of the Irish peasantry, which were much enjoyed by
those present.

Mr. JOSEPH WRIGHT, F.a.s., read a Paper entitled—

“BOULDER CLAY—A MARINE DEPOSIT, WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ‘TILL’
OF SCOTLAND.”

Tue LecrureR after describing the chief characteristics
of boulder clay, said :—that geologists all agreed that this
clay, which formed the greater part of the subsoil of the
British Isles, was the result of ice action, and that it was

Boulder Clay—A Marine Deposit. ne

deposited at a time when an Arctic climate prevailed
somewhat similar to that at present existing in Spitzbergen.
But geologists were not so unanimous in their theories explain-
ing its formation, some holding that it was the result of the
action of land ice, and others that it was of ‘marine origin.
Special attention had been given to this subject by geologists
in the North of Ireland. Major-General Portlock’s opinion was
that these clays were of marine origin, and in his report on the
geology of Londonderry, published in 1843, he gave a list of
fossil shells found by Messrs. Brien and Hyndman in boulder
clay which was cut through when the reservoir for the Belfast
Waterworks was being excavated. Mr. S. A. Stewart, the
curator of the Museum, published in 1880 a list of mollusca
from Irish boulder clay, in which he recorded sixty-nine species
of shells. Examples of Leda permula and Leda pygmea were
obtained both at Woodburn and the Knock with their valves
attached, which proved that they must have lived on the spot
where found. Mr. Wright then proceeded to describe his
examination of boulder clay from the vicinity of Glasgow, and
expressed his indebtness to Mr. James Nelson, vice-president
of the Glasgow Geological Society, for his kindness in supplying
him with samples of typical Scottish boulder clay. Material
from eleven different localities had been examined, and in all of
these foraminifera were found. These specimens were all of
the same species as those found at present in shallow water off
the Irish coast, and, with the exception of dzscorbina parzistensis,
had all been found in Irish boulder clay. Rotalia becearu,
nonionina depressula, and polystonulla striata punctata were
the most abundant in the clay, and the same species were the
most common amongst our shallow-water forms. Mr. Wright
concluded by saying that the result of his examination of both
the Scotch and Irish boulder clays, and the finding in them of
many shallow-water organisms, forced him to the conclusion

that the boulder clay both in Scotland and Ireland was of
marine origin.

54 Boulder Clay—A Marine Deposit.

On the motion of Mr. Frank Ward a cordial vote of thanks
was passed to Mr. Milligan, and Mr. Wright was also formally
thanked for his interesting lecture.

The proceedings then terminated.

I7th March, 1897.

Proressor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. JOHN FINNEGAN, B.A., B.SC., delivered a lecture on

“THE HISTORY AND PROPERTIES OF THE
RONTGEN RAYS.”

Mr. FINNEGAN said—About sixteen months ago Réntgen read
a short paper before the Physico-Medical Society at Wurzburg,
to which he gave the title, ““A new kind of rays.” They all
remember the great excitement produced by his discovery, and
how eagerly experiments were made in almost every scientific
laboratory in the world. He would lay before them the most
prominent steps in the history of that discovery—show them
some experiments on the X rays, and finally discuss their
nature. The apparatus required consisted of an induction coil
and exhausted glass tubes, of which he should show them several
in the course of the evening. The lecturer here showed a glass
tube thirty inches long and two inches diameter. Into its ends
were fused platinum wires. These were connected with the
coil. The positive terminal was called the anode, and the
negative the cathode. The air could be removed from the tube
by this pump. When 1‘Ioo part of the air remained, a thin
purple line of light traverses the tube. As the pump continued
to work this line got wider, and filled the tube, and when about
1°1500 of the air was left a velvety glow covered the cathode.
Then they had a dark space, called the Crookes’s space. Adjoin-
ing this space was a luminous column—the negative glow, then
another dark space, and finally a luminous column stretching
right up to the positive electrode. The positive column was

56 The History and Properties of the Rintgen Rays.

beautifully striated, the striations having an irregular motion
backwards and forwards along the tube. When the pump was
worked so that about 1'10000 of the air was left, the dark space
round the negative electrode expanded and filled the whole tube.
The light only came from the surface of the glass. The dis-
charge now seemed to come off entirely from the cathode. It
moved in straight lines, and did not curve back to the anode.
When it struck the glass the glass gave a brilliant phosphor-
escence ; if it fell upon platinum, the platinum became hot. A
radiometer in its path rotates and phosphoresces beautifully.
These cathode rays cast a shadow of a solid object placed in their
path, and, lastly, they were deflected by a magnet like a flexible
wire conveying a negative current. Those were the discoveries
of Hettorf, Goldstein, and Crookes, and were made fourteen or
fifteen years ago. Crookes’s explanation of these phenomena
was—The molecules of the gas remaining in the tube are
drawn towards the cathode, get charged, are so violently repelled
that their shock against the glass caused it to phosphoresce and
the radiometer to rotate.’ In 1892 Hertz showed that, while
many substances transparent to ordinary light were opaque to
cathode rays, thin sheets of metal were very transparent to
cathode rays. Hitherto those rays had only been examined in
a vacuum. Lenard now pierced a hole in the tube opposite the
cathode, and closed this hole with a thin leaf of aluminium.
The cathode rays now passed out of the tube, and he found that
they caused fluorescence on a prepared screen. They discharged
a gold leaf electroscope and blackened a photographic plate, and
were mostly deflected by a magnet. Lenard used a tube with
a very small window, and only worked a few seconds at each
experiment, and so narrowly missed anticipating Réntgen.
R6ntgen’s discovery was simply that when thecathode rays struck
a solid substance the point struck became an origin of an entirely
newset of rays. Thetubesforthe production of Réntgen rays were
mostly modifications of the so called focus tube invented by Mr.
Jackson, of London. The tube he, (Mr. Finnegan) was using

had a spherical bulb. At one side there was a cap of aluminium

The History and Froperties of the Rontgen Rays. By

forming the cathode. In the centre of the bulb facing the
cathode was a square piece of platinum foil forming the anode.
These were connected with the coil by platinum wires fused
into the glass. The tube was well exhausted; only about
I'10000 of the original air remained. When the coil was
working the negative rays passed out normally from the
cathode, and were focussed upon the platinum anode, which
became an intensely strong source of Réntgen rays. These
rays then travelled out into space, just as light rays did from a
lamp. (1) R6ntgen rays were invisible. The tube was
enclosed in a wooden box, and giving rays out freely, and yet
they could see nothing. (2) They made certain substances
luminous when they fell upon them. The best substance was
barium-platino-cyanide. Mr. Finnegan produced a paper screen,
coated on one side with this salt. When the X rays struck it
the screen was quite bright, almost as bright as if it were
illuminated by a candle. (3) Many substances transparent to
ordinary light were quite opaque to X rays When a glass
bottle containing water was held between the Réntgen tube and
the screen, a very dark shadow was cast on-the screen. On the
other hand, many substances quite opaque to ordinary light
were transparent to X rays. This wooden box, containing
cotton wool allowed most of the rays to pass through; the nails
which fastened it, and an iron bicycle wrench in it, were
opaque, and cast a deep shadow. Flesh was much more
transparent than bone, and so, if he held his hand in front of
the Réntgen lamp, there was a faint shadow of the flesh and a
deep shadow of the bone. With this tube and coil could be
easily seen the shadow of the ribs and the motion of the
diaphragm. After long and frequent exposures the skin gets
irritated, affected with something like acute sun-burning. The
nails might even be shed. (4) X rays acted on an ordinary
photographic dry plate. The pictures they saw were produced
by wrapping a plate in black paper. Place upon it the object,
and expose it to the X rays a few minutes, then develope it in
the usual way and they had a picture, the difference in density

58 The History and Properties of the Réintgen Rays.

of the various parts corresponding to the differences of opacity
of the various parts of the object. (5) A curious effect of X rays
was their power of discharging electrified bodies. When a
gold leaf electroscope was charged, and the X rays fell upon it,
immediately the leaves collapsed. (6) X rays suffered very
little reflection or refraction, and thus they could not bring
them to a point by mirrors or lenses. (7) Unlike cathode rays
or Lenard rays they were not deflected by a magnet. Turning
next to the question of theory, he wished to say, first, a few
words about light. They knew that light consisted of transverse
vibrations in the ether, the rate of vibration varying with the
colour ; thus violet rays had about twice as many vibrations
per second as red rays. Now, besides those visible rays there
were rays of the same intrinsic nature, some of fewer vibrations,
the infra red, which had been carefully measured by Langly in
America ; others of a greater number of vibrations per second,
the ultra violet, which had been investigated by Schuman in
Austria. Taking the analogy of sound, and remembering that
when one note had just twice as many vibrations as another,
they called it an octave of that note. They could easily imagine
a scale of light consisting of six octaves, like the notes on a
piano—three octaves of infra red ; then in the centre the
seven colours : red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet,
and next two octaves of ultra violet. Now, violet and ultra
violet rays falling on a fluorescent substance made it luminous—
indeed, this was how ultra violet rays were discovered. X rays
did the same. Ultra violet rays discharge a negatively electri=
fied body. They had seen the effect of X rays. From these
analogies they might say that there was a strong presumption
that X rays are of the same intrinsic nature as ordinary light.
On the other hand, the absence of reflection and refraction in
X rays seemed to go against this. Now, Helmholtz, a few
months before his death, a good while before the discovery of
X rays, published a paper in which he proved that for extremely
rapid vibrations there would be no refraction. Various con-
siderations lead them to think that X rays were of this nature;

The History and Properties of the Réntgen Rays. 59

that, in fact, they were about eight octaves above the green in
our colour scale. There was reason to believe that a portion
of the gap between the ultra violet and X rays had been filled.
Becquerel, inside the past year, had shown that if uranium salts
were scattered over a wooden box containing a photographic
plate, and exposed to sunlight, the salts acquired and retained
for more than fifteen days the power of giving out rays, which
passed through the box and blackened the plate. He had also
proved that these were most probably ultra violet rays of very
high number of vibrations.

At this stage a number of pictures were thrown upon the
screen for the purpose of showing what are the applications of
X rays in surgery. They could all see, said Mr. Finnegan,
that physical science had received by this discovery an agent
which promised to be of great service in investigating some of
the outstanding problems in the properties of matter.

The lecture, which was profusely illustrated, was listened to
with great attention ; and

On the motion of Mr. John Brown, seconded by Professor
FitzGerald, a vote of hearty thanks was passed to Mr. Finnegan.

60

6th April, 1897.

ProrFessor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. Ernest W. MacBripe, M.a., B.SC., delivered a lecture on

“STARFISH AND SEA URCHINS: THEIR HAUNTS
AND HISTORY.”

Mr. MacBripDE proceeded with his lecture, which was illus-
trated by a special series of lantern slides thrown on the screen
by Mr. Nicholl. He prefaced a most interesting discourse,
which described in detail the various species of starfish and
sea urchins by pointing out that the investigation of these
animals proved the fact that nature did not consist of isolated
things, but was a coherent whole; that the laws of life which
had fashioned the sea urchins were the same which had operated
in human history. The lecturer then described in popular
fashion the life history of starfish and vertebrate animals with
the view of showing that both emerged from the same ancestors.
Even if this, however, were not the case, the identity of the
laws of life governing our own frame with those which had
moulded the humblest denizens of the sea would justify
Tennyson when he with true philosophical insight said of the
flower.

“Tf I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and Man is.”

“There is more difference,” said the great German naturalist
Nagele,“ between the simplest microbe and dead matter than
between the microbe and man.”

Starfish and Sea Urchins: their Haunts and History. 61

On the motion of Dr. SHELDON, seconded by Professor
Byers, and supported by Mr. R. L. PaTTerson, J.P., the hearty

thanks of the meeting were accorded to Mr. MacBride for his
lecture.

62

27th January, 1897.

Proressor J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., in the Chair.

Mr. WIxLuIAM NICHOLL delivered a lecture on the

“KLECTRIC CINEMATOGRAPH.”

Mr. Witiiam NICHOLL said the wonderful development which
the projection of pictures on the screen had received by the
perfecting of the optical lantern, and the adaptation to it of the
electric arc lamp had enabled the inventor to construct a
mechanical contrivance which would project pictures, and
change them at the rate of from twenty to forty per second of
time. Those machines had been named by their various
makers the cinematograph, the theatograh, the vitagraph, and
a variety of other titles, but the principle was always the same,
only the mechanical parts varied. To project pictures and
exhibit them on a screen they must first take them, and to do
so had only been possible for a very limited period. With the
old collodion process of photography this was quite impossible.
When the extremely rapid gelatine plate was introduced, the
pictures could be taken quick enough, but the glass plates
could not be changed in the camera, so that it needed not orly
the quick emulsion but a quick flexible support, and this was
supplied by the celluloid ribbon, and it was now possible to
take photographs at the rate of some forty per second. Before
describing the pictures he proposed to glance at the early
attempts to produce the effect of life or motion by means of
pictures. A retrospect of some sixty years would cover the
time when those attempts had been before the public. Some-

Electric Cinematograph. 63

where about 1835 the management of the Polytechnetic
Institution of London introduced into their exhibition an
invention of Dr. Paris called a thaumatrope. This was quickly
superseded by another called the phenakistascope or wonder
turner. The Instrument that was shown upon the,screen was
made by Dubose, the optician, of Paris, from details supplied
by the inventor, Plateau, who was a blind man. In this there
was a disc of glass, on which was painted the picture in a series
of stages, and also a wheel having a number of lenses on the
edge, and as those were made to revolve the pictures and lenses
met opposite the tube when the picture was projected on the
sheet, and as those must coincide the mechanism had to be
very carefully made. The circle and pictures in one form of
this device was below the slits, and to use it it was necessary to
stand before a mirror and look at the reflected image through
the slits, and make the disc revolve when the circle of pictures
all seemed in motion, but should they look over the edge no
pictures would be visible, only a confused series of eccentric or
circular blurs. That was due to the well-known law of the
persistence of vision, and it was that law which made it possible
to construct those instruments at all. Most of the audience
knew that any changes occurring at a greater speed than about
eight in a second the eye could not perceive; so, in order to
make the rapid changes visible, they must interpose a period of
rest or darkness having a certain ratio to the time the object
was visible. That proportion he had not found stated in any
text-book, and he had not had anyone to work it out, but he
was sure it would-vary in different individuals. Having pointed
out some peculiarities about the old familiar zostrope, Mr.
Nicholl went on to explain that in all those appliances there
was a similiarity of design, and as the principle was a fixed one
there was little room for change. In the wheel-of-life lantern
slide there was a small circle of glass 2} inches in diameter
having the figures photographed on it, and another circular
plate of metal with one cut in it. When that was made to
revolve the figures seemed all to be in motion. He next

64 Electric Cinematograph.

referred to the work of Mr. Maybridge, an American gentleman,
who made the study of motion a speciality. He had constructed
a sort of battery of cameras, and a kind of racecourse prepared
opposite them, and with an electric arrangement he could
reverse the shutters of the lenses at fixed points, so as the horse
or any other kind of animal passed in front there was recorded
the exact attitudes, and although his results were very
surprising, indeed, considering he had only the wet collodion
process of photography, and the fact that each picture required
a separate camera, and those cameras required a considerable
time to recharge them with the sensitive plates, it was quite
evident he could never hope to produce anything like the
results that had been achieved since. Alluding to Mr. Edison,
the lecturer said, in ‘‘ Cassells’ Magazine ” he was credited with
stating that in the year 1887 the idea occurred to him that it
was possible to do for the eye what the phonograph had done
for the ear, and by combining them both motion and sound
could be reproduced simultaneously. Edison’s first attempt
was of a microscopic character. It was stated that in his
practice there was an exposure given to each of nine-tenths of
one-forty-sixth of a second, and that the mechanism in the
machine moved the sensitive tissue forward the breadth of the
picture in the remaining one-tenth of one-forty-sixth of one
second, so there were forty-six distinct pictures taken for each
second of time. That would make 2,760 pictures per minute,
and 165,000 in one hour, and short as those exposures seemed,
the photographers present knew that it was quite possible to
get good pictures full of detail in that time at somewhere about
the one-hundredth of asecond. The lecturer described Edison’s
studio or theatre, which was specially erected to produce these
pictures. Both the phonograph and kinematoscope were
driven by electric motors, and the entire building was poised
on acentre, and could be made to turn round, and thus keep
the sun shining on the stage all the day. Of course, the
ribbon of pictures, as taken in the camera was a negative image,
and there must be printed from it a positive, so the making of

Electric Cinematograph. 65

those pictures would never be a very simple process. The
developing and printing the stripes would always be a difficulty,
for they had to handle and manipulate in the chemical baths a
piece of tissue about 75 feet long, and if any part was too long
in those baths it would, be spoiled, and should a single ray ot
white light get to it, no matter how faint, it would be destroyed.
In conclusion, Mr. Nicholl explained the movements of the cine-
matograph.

The lecture was profusely illustrated, and at its conclusion
a series of splendid views were shown. The lantern was
manipulated by Mr. Drennan and Mr. Haffron, and the electric
light was kindly supplied by the Messrs. Wm. Ewart & Son,
Limited, the cable being lent by Mr. Greenhill.

On the motion of Professor Redfern, seconded by Mr.
George Andrews, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr.
Nicholl.

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BELFAST

Patural Pistory & Whilosophical Society,

Officers and Council of Management for 1897-98.

resident :
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L., &.

BDice- Presidents :

JOHN BROWN, Esa. J. A. LINDSAY, Eso., M.D., M.A.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Ksa., J.P. WM. SWANSTON, Esa., F.G.S.

Hon. Wreasurer :
JOHN BROWN, Ese.

fon. Assisf. Dreasurer :
W. H. F. PATTERSON, Esa.

Son. Librarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa., J.P.,

soon. Secretarp:
ROBERT M. YOUNG, Esea., B.A., J.P., M.R.LA.

Gouncil :
JOHN BROWN, Ese.
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S., D.C.L.
LAVENS M. EWART, Esa., J.P., M.R.I.A.
PROFESSOR M. F. FITZGERALD, B.A., M.I.M.E.
JOHN H. GREENHILL, Ese., Mus.Bac.
JOHN HORNER, Ese.
JAMES A. LINDSAY, Ese., M.D., M.R.C.P.Lond.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, Ese., J.P., F.L.S.
WM. H. PATTERSON, Ese., M.R.I.A.
THOMAS F. SHILLINGTON, Ese.
WM. SWANSTON, Esa., F.G.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esa., J.P.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Ese., F.G.S.
ROBERT YOUNG, Esa., J.P., C.E.
R. M. YOUNG, Esa., B.A., J.P., M.R.LA.

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SHAREHOLDERS

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares.)

*Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast.
Allworthy, Edward, Ardgreenan, Cavehill Road, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., East Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrew, John J., L.D.S., R.C.S. Eng. Belgravia, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, J.P., Ardoyne, do.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun., Donegall Square West, do.
Barbour, James, J.P., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., J.P., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H., Cultra, Holywood.
Boyd, William, Blackstaff Mill, Belfast.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Braddell, Edward, The Limes, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, MaiGne Road, \ do.
Brett, John H., C. E., Fortwilliam Bare do.
Bristow, ics R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burnett, John R., Rostellan, Malone Road, do.
Byers, Prof. John W., M.A., M.D., University Road, do.
Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.A., M.D., College Square North, do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.
Campbell, James, Strandtown, do.

Carlisle, A. M., Elmwood House, do,

70 Shareholders.

Carr, A. H. R., Rathowen, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.A., J.P., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
Cowan, P. C., M.LC.E., College Gardens, do.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, do.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.

Cuming, Professor James, M.A., M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Montpellier, Malone Road, do.
Davies, John H., Glenmore Cottage. Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representatives of), | Newtownbreda.
Dods, Robert, B.A., Dunluce Terrace, Belfast.
*Donegal, Marquis of, do.
*Downshire, Marquis of, The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Fountain Street, Belfast.
Duffin, Adam, LL.D., University Square, do.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Everett, Professor Joseph D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.,

Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast.
Ewart, G. Herbert, Firmount, Antrim Road, do.

Ewart, Lavens M., J.P., M.R.I.A., Glenbank House, do.
Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., J.P., Glenmachan House, do.

Faren, Wm. 45, Waring Street, Belfast.
Pagan; John, F-RiC. ogee, Dublin.
*Fenton, Francis G., London.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Robert H. F., Hughenden Avenue, do.
Finnegan, Johr, Botanic Avenue, do.

Finlay, Fredk. W. Wolfhill House, Ligoniel,

Shareholders. 71
FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.A., M.I.M.E., Assoc.

M.I.C.E,, Eglantine Avenue, Belfast.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Gibson, Andrew, Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant,

Gordon, Robert W., J.P. (Reps. of), Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.LA.,
(Representatives of), Broughshane
Gray, William, M.R.I.A., Glenburn Park, Cavehil! Road,
Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., Mus. Bac., do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.I.A., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
*Hall, Frederick H., Waterford.
*Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Iarlar d, Sir E. J., Bart., J.P. (Representatives of),
Heburn, William (Representatives of), Belfast.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of), do.
Henderson, James, A.M., Oakley, Windsor Park, do.
Henderson, Robert (Representatives of), London.
Herdman, John, J.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Ernest, Rosavo, Cultra.
Heyn, James, A.M., Strandtown House, Belfast.
Hind, John, jun., Clifton Park Avenue, do.
Hodges, Professor John F., M.D,, F.C.S., J.P.,

Sandringham, Belfast
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, Mount Clifton, Cliftonville, do.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., V.L., Orangefield, do.
“Hughes, Edwin, Mertoun Hall, Holywood.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Windsor, Belfast.
Jackson, A. T., C.E., Tighnabruaich,

Derryvolgie Avenue, . Belfast

Jaffe, Otto, Kin Edar, Strandtown, do,

92 Shareholders.
Inglis, James, J.P., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.
Johnston, Samuel A., J.P., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.

Kennedy, James, J.P., Richmond Lodge (Reps. of), __ Belfast.
Kennedy, William (Representatives of), Kenbella House, do.

Kertland, Edwin H., Chlorine Gardens, do.
Kidd, George, J.P., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, James, Altoona, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Ardstratha, Antrim Road, do.
Lanyon, John, C.E., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Larmor, Joseph, M.A., St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Leathem, Dr. Robert, Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlap, J.P., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Lepper, F. R., J.P., Elsinore, Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E. A., Ph.D., F.C.S., Dunavon, Craigavad.
Lindsay, James A., M.A., M.D., Victoria Place, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., J.P., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H. J.P., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.I.C.E., Stanley House,

Holywood.
Macfarlane, John, Bladon Park, Belfast.
Mackenzie, John, C.E., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of) do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, M.I.C.E., Ashley Park, Antrim Road, do.
Maxton, James, The Elms, Strandtown.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.I.A., Alberta, Malone Road,
do.
Mitchell, Robert A., Marmont, Strandtown.
Montgomery, Henry C., Newtown Lodge, Newtownbreda.
Montgomery, H. H., Magee’s Road, Strandtown, Belfast.

Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., Ballydrain House, Dunmurry.

Shareholders. 73

Moore, James, The Finaghy, Belfast.
Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do.
Murney, Henry, M.D., J.P., Tudor House, Holywood.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.
*Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, J.P., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, Sir James, Bart., J.P., Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of), do.
M‘Bride, Henry James, Hyde Park, Mallusk, do.
M‘Bride, Samuel, Westbourne, Windsor, do.
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London.
*M‘Cammon, Lieut.-Col. Thomas A., Woodville, Holywood.
M‘Cance, H. J., J.P., D.L., Larkfield, Dunmurry.
M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., D.L. (Reps. of),

MacColl, Hector, Saxonia, Strandtown, Belfast
MacCormac, John, M.D., Victoria Place, do.
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara, Craigavad.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),

M'Gee, James, Woodville, Holywood.
M‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street, Belfast.
MaclIlwaine, John H., Upper Crescent, do.
*MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen’s Elms, do.
M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do.
M‘Knight, John P., Nevara, Chichester Park, do.
Neill, Sharman D., Rowandean, Marlborough Park, do.
Nicholson, Henry J., West Elmwood, do.
O’Neill, James, M.A., College Square East, do.
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Dunratho, Craigavad.

Park, Rev. Wm., M.A., Somerset Ho., University St., Bel fast.
Patterson, Edward Forbes, College Gardens, do.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany.

74 Shareholders.

Patterson, Richard, J.P., Kilmore, Holywood.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.P., F.L.S., Croft House, do.
Patterson, Robert, Osborne Park, do.
Patterson, William H., M.R.I.A., Garranard, do.
Patterson, William R., College Park East, do.
Pim, Edward W., Elmwood Terrace, do.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.
*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Pooler, Rev. L. A., B.A., Lake Cottage, Downpatrick.

Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.E., M.R.I.A., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, LL.D., M.R.I.A., Queen’s College, Belfast.

Rea, John Henry, M.D., Shaftesbury Square, do.
Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H., J.P., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddel, Samuel, Beechpark, Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.P., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derrivolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon, Charles, M.A., D.Lit., B.Sc., Royal Acad.

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, Dromart, Antrim Road, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair. Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.C S. Eng., Howard St., do.
Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do.
Smyth, John, M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.Sc., Riversdale, Holywood.
Steen, Robert, Ph.D. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

*Tennent, Robert James (Reps. of), Rushpark, do.

Shareholders. 75

*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of), do.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Valentine, G. F., Sandhurst, Knock, do.
Walkington, Mrs., Thornhill, Malone, do.
Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.P., M.R.I.A., Elmwood Avenue, do.
Ward, Isaac, Lisburn Road, do.
Ward, John, J.P., Lennoxvale, Malone Road, do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, M.D., J.P., College Sq. North, do.
Wilson, James, M.E., Oldforge, Dunmurry.
Wilson, John K., Inch Marto, Marlborough Park, Belfast.
Wilson, Walter H., Stranmillis House, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*Wolff, G. W., M.P., The Den, Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, J.P., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, M.A., Rubane House, Glastry.
Workman, Rev. Robert, B.D., The Manse, Newtownbreda.
Workman, R. D., Upper Crescent, Belfast.
*Workman, Thomas, J.P., Craigdarragh, _ Craigavad.
Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, C.E., Rathvarna, do.
*Young, Robert Magill, B.A., Rathvarna, do.

HONORARY MEMBER.

Stokes, Miss M.,¢ Hon. M.R.I.A., Carrig Breac, Howth,
Co, Dublin.

76 Annual Subscribers.
HONORARY ASSOCIATES.

Gray, William, M.R.I.A., Mountcharles, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel Alex., F.B.S. Edin., Belfast Museum, do.
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.G.S., F.L.S., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., Alfred Street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS.

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Company, Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA.

Allan, C. E., Stormont Castle, Dundonald.
Armstrong, William, Fortwilliam Terrace, Belfast.
Barr, James, Beechleigh, Windsor Park, do.
Barton, H. D. M., The Bush, Antrim.
Boyd, John, 20 Cyprus Gardens, Bloomfield, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, J.P., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Belfast.
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.A., Dunraven, do.
Crawford, F. H., Chlorine House, Malone Road, do.
Dalton, J. P., M.A., Roseberry Villa, Antrim Road, do.
Davidson, S. C., Sea Court, Bangor.
Dunville, Robert G., J.P., D.L., Redburn, Holywood.
Foster, Thos. A., Clonsilla, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Frizelle, Rev. C. Ww. , 2, Cyrene yal ees Avenue, do.
Fulton, E. F., ~a do.

Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, - re do.

Annual Subscribers.

Green, Isaac, Ann Street,

Hanna, J. A., Marietta, Knock,

Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville,

Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park,

Johnston, James, Ivy Dene, Antrim Road,

Jones, A. L. Waring Street,

Jones, R. M., M.A., Royal Academical Institution,

Kelly, W. Redfern, M.LC.E., F.R.A.S., Dalriada,
Malone Park,

Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace,

Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville,

Matier, Alexander S., Lorne,

Murdoch, James, Ponsonby Avenue,

M‘Causland, William, Cherryvale House,

M‘Kee, William S., Fleetwood Street,

M‘Laughlin, W. H. Brookville House,

77

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

do.

do.

do.
Craigavad.
Belfast.

do.

do.

do.

Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.C.S.I., Lower Crescent, do.

Scott, Conway, C.E., Annaville, Windsor Avenue,

Swiney, J. H. H., B.A., B.E., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, do.

Tate, Alexander, C.E., Rantalard, Whitehouse, do.
Taylor, John, Brown Square Works, do.
Thompson, John, Limestone Road, do.
Turpin, James, Waring Street, do.
Walkington, R. B., Carriggorm, Helen’s Bay.
Walter, Hermann, M.A., Ph.D., Botanic Avenue, Belfast.

Poet

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Report and Arogecdings — |

OF THE

BELFAST

FOR THE J
SESSTON 1897-98 4

yg BELFAST:
_ PRINTED BY ALEXR, MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET

' (PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

: 1899.

a

Apr

i |
i

- WATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

PHeport and Proceedings

OF THE

BHOUPAST

SESSION 1897-98.

BELFAST:
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1899.

ee ee tan ra

CONTENTS.

Annual Report

Balance Sheet

Donations to Museum

Books Received

Industrial Training and Technical Education—Major-General Geary, ..

Abnormal Id2as and Nervous Super-Excitability—J. M. MacCormac,
M.D. :

Ireland as a Tourist Resort—S. F. Milligan, M.R.I.A.
The Eisteddfod and the Feis Ceoil—EKdith Oldham, A.R.C.M.
Railways and their Practical Working—W. H. Morris, C.E.... eae

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks—James Maxton, M.I.N.A.
Notes on some Recent Deep Borings for Water at Belfast—R. Young, C.E.

List of Office-Bearers ... a zee ae iss
List of Shareholders and Subscribers bo wes ise ies

Oo ot >

17

36
45
54
60
62
80
84
85

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares in cost $14.
3 Shares os cost £21.

The proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.

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

MEMBERS.

There are two classes— Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining under the latter title, are understood to
intimate that they donot wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures extends
from November in one year till May in the succeeding one. Members, Ordinary
or Visiting, pay £1 1s. per annum, due Ist November in each year.

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

Belfast.

Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.

It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 10 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

Belfast Watural thistory and Philosophical
Society.

———_ o--—

ANNUAL REPORT, 1807.

THE Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of the Society was
held yesterday afternoon in the Belfast Museum, College Square
North—Mr. R. Lloyd Patterson, F.L.S., J.P., presiding. The
attendance included—-Dr. Robert Leathem, Messrs. G. Kidd,
JeP.; R. M. Young, B.A., J.P.. Robert Young, J.P.; Robert
Patterson, W. H. Patterson, M.RI.A., E. F. Patterson, Isaac
Ward, J. E. Magill, and Edward Allworthy. Letters of apology
were received from Professor Fitzgerald and Dr. Sheldon.

The Secretary (Mr. R. M. Young) having read the notice
convening the meeting, submitted the Report of the Council
for the past year, which was as follows :—The Council of the
Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society desire to
submit their Report of the working of the Society during the
past year. The winter session was opened on the 9th
November, 1897, in the Museum, when Major-General
Geary, C.B., kindly delivered a lecture on the subject of
“Industrial Training and Technical Education,” which was
followed by a discussion. The second meeting was held on
3rd December, when Dr. John MacCormac read a paper—
subject, “Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super Excitability.”
The third meeting on the 4th January, 1898, was devoted to a
popular lecture, “‘ Ireland as a tourist resort, and what is being
done to develop it,” delivered by Mr. S. F. Milligan, M.R.LA.,
in aid of the Causeway defence fund. The chair was occupied
by the Lord Mayor. The fourth meeting was held on

I

2 Annual Meeting.

Ist February. when Miss Edith Oldham, honorary secretary,
Feis Ceoil, Dublin, delivered a lecture on “‘ The Feis Ceoil and
the Eisteddfod,’ with musical illustrations. At the fifth
meeting, on the Ist of March, Mr. W. H. Morris, M.I.C.E.L,
gave a lecture on ‘“ Railways and their Practical Working,”
illustrated by lantern views. The sixth meeting was held on
26th April, when Mr. James Maxton, M.I.N.A., read a paper—
subject, ‘ihe Evolution of Dry Docks ”’—followed by a dis-
cussion. Mr. Robert Young, J.P., gave “ Notes on the Geo-
logical Bearings of recent Deep Borings at Belfast,” illustrated
by specimens. The meetings continue to be well attended, and
the lectures attract the general public, particularly when dis-
cussions are invited. Kindred societies continue to make their
headquarters at the Museum, and the Feis Ceoil was added to
their number last autumn.

From the Treasurer’s Statement ot Accounts it will be
seen that a satisfactory balance remains in his hands. All the
collections were thrown open to the public at a nominal charge
on Easter Monday and Tuesday, and the attendance was large.
As to the Museum specimens, there are no important changes
to report. The stone Inauguration Chair from Castlereagh has
been mounted on a stand, and has a suitable place amongst the
other Irish antiquities. The stand, however, is not a fixture,
but moveable, and the chair, though weighing some 6cwt., can
be shifted as required on special occasions. The valuable set of
Snakes from Assam, presented by Mr. A. de Wind, have had
the preservative spirit renewed, and will be permanently
arranged with the existing series of foreign reptiles. The
Society is to be congratulated on the acquisition of the ancient
stone chair of the O’Neills, of Castlereagh, which was purchased
from Mr. W. Walker, J.P., of Sligo, by a number of friends of
the Society, and presented on their behalf, to the Museum by
the late Sir Wm. M‘Cammond, at the opening meeting of the
Session. A number of early Christian antiquities from Oxy-
rhynchus have been presented by the Egyptian Exploration
Fund. Several other notable donations have been made by

Annual Meeting. 3

Messrs. Victor Coates, D.L. ; G. Donaldson, and others. The
Council desire to thank most heartily the local Press for the
admirable reports of the meetings of the Society. In accordance
with the constitution of the Society, this meeting will be asked
to elect five members of Council for the ensuing year, in place
of the following, who retire by rotation, the first four of whom
are eligible for re-election :—viz., Messrs, R. L. Patterson, W.
H. Patterson, J. Horner, R. Young, and Dr. J. A. Lindsay,

The SECRETARY also presented the Treasurer’s Report,
from which it appeared that there was a credit balance of
£45 Is. odd.

Mr. E. ALLWorTHY, in moving the adoption of the Report
and Statement of Accounts, said he did so with much pleasure.
They had had for many years very great pleasure in coming to
the meetings, and they always had the satisfaction of finding
the balance on the right side. They were making satisfactory
progress, and it only remained for him to congratulate the
officers, who had done their duty so well during the year.

Mr. Gzorce Kipp seconded the adoption of the Report
which was passed unanimously.

The retiring members of the Council were re-elected, Mr.
J. H. Davies taking the place of Dr. Lindsay.

The following office-bearers were elected :—President, Mr.
Thomas Workman, J.P.; Vice, Presidents, Professor Fitzgerald,
Messrs. J. Brown, W. Swanston, R. Young, J.P. ; Honorary
Treasurer, Mr. John Brown ; Honorary Secretary, Mr. R. M.
Young, J.P.; Honorary Librarian, Mr. Thos. Workman, J.P.

On the motion of Mr. R. Young, J.P., seconded by Mr.
Isaac Ward, acordial vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman
for presiding.

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5

DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1897-98.

From RoBertT J. WetcH, Esq.
Specimens of Hydvobia Fenkinsit, Vertigo angustior,and other
land and freshwater shells.

From R. M. Youna, Esq., J.P.
A fibre cap from the Sandwich Islands.

From Representatives of the late THos. G. FLEMING, Esq., F.G.S.

Ancient quern, blunderbuss, musket, fowling piece, Colt’s
revolver, sword, stone celts, arrowheads, umbrella 150
years old.

Also, Arab weapon, fossils, minerals, etc.

From Miss Mackay.
An old engraving, “The Blind Leading the Blind.” It was
originally the property of her grandfather, Alex. Mackay,
then proprietor of the Belfast News-Letter.

Presentation from a number of Subscribers.
The ancient stone chair used in the installation of the O’Neills
of Castlereagh and Clannaboye.
From Major GENERAL GEARY, C.B.
An ancient cannon dug up at Victoria Barracks, Belfast.
From N. I. Hitt, Esq.

Stone carving of a human hand found about 1827, near Cush-
endall. Supposed to have formed part of an ancient
monument.

From J. H. GREENHILL, Esq., Mus.Bac.

Some relics of the Armagh railway accident.

From W. F. M‘Kinney, Esq.
A bronze battleaxe from Lough Erne.
From A. de Winp, Esq.

Thirty specimens of snakes preserved in spirits, also some other

reptiles, and some insects from Assam.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, ist MAY, 1897,
TILL 1st MAY, 1898.

ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Aus-
tralia; Vol.,21, parts, 1 and 27;1c97:
The Soctety.

ALBANY.—Forty-eighth Annual report ?of the Regents of the
New York State Museum. Parts 1—3,
1894-95. The University of New-York.

Austin, TExas—Transactions of the Texas Academy of Science.
Vol 25 10), 807 The Academy.

Betrast.—Transactions of the Ulster Medical Society, Session,
1896-97. The Soctety.

BrerGcEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog for 1897, and Account of
the Crustacea of Norway, by G. O. Sars. Vol.
I, part 3—8. Zhe Director of the Museum.

Beriin.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fir Erdkunde zu
Berlin. Vol. 24, nos. 4—10, 1897; and vol. 25,
nos. I—3, 1898. The Society.

BoLtoGNa—Rendiconto delle Sessioni della R. Accademia delle
Scienze dell’ Istituto di Bologna, Anno 1895-
96; and New;Series, vol. 1, fasc. i—4, 1897.
The Academy.
Boston—Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.
Vol. 27, no. 14 ;,and vol. 28, nos. I—5, 1897.
The Soctety.
BREMEN.—Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. Vol. 14, part
2, 1897. Lhe Society.

Books Recewed. 7

BresLau—dZeitschrift fiir Entomologie Herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlessiche Insektenkunde zu Bres-
lau. New Series, part 22, 1897.
The Society.
BrisBANE—Annals of Queensland Museum. No. 4, 1897.
The Trustees.
Brussets.—Bulletin de la Société Botanique, de Belgique. Vol.
35, 1896; and 36, 1897. The Soczety.
Annales de la Sociétié Entomologique de Belgique.
Vol. 40, 1896 ; and 41, 1897. The Soczety.
Buenos AyrEs.—Annales del Museo Nacional. Series 2, vol.
5, 1896-97; and Memoria, 3 parts, 1894-97.
The Director.
CatcutTra.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. Vol.
25, 1605) VOl. 20, KO90>, and Vol. 27, part.2.
1897. Palzontologia Indica. Series 15, vol.
I, part 1 ; and vol. 2, part 1, 1897. Series 16,
vol. 1, part 1, 1895; and parts 2 and 3, 1897.
Records. Vol. 30, parts 2—4, 1897.
The Director of the Survey.
CAMBRIDGE. — Proceedings of the Cambridge Philsophical
Society. Vol. 9, part 3, 1896; part 6, 1897;
and part 7, 1898. The Soctety.
CamBripGe, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 30, nos. 5 and 6, 1897 ; vol. 31,
nos. I—5, 1897; and no, 6, 1898. Also
Report of the Curator for 1896-97.
Alex. Agassiz, Curator.
CassELL.—Abhandlungen und Bericht (42) des Vereins fiir
Naturkunde zu Kassel, 1897. The Soctety.

Cuicaco.—Bulletin No. 1 of the Geological and Natural
History Survey, 1896. 39th Annual Report
of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, 1897;
and Journal of Geology. Vol. 4, No. 3, 1896.
The Academy.

8 Books Recewed.

CHRISTIANIA.—Forhandlinger i Videnskabs Selskabet i Chris-
tiania for 1896.
The Royal University of Christiania.
DantTzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Danzig. New series, vol 9, part 2, 1897.
The Soctzety.
DavenporT, lowa.—Proceedings of the Davenport Academy
of Natural Sciences. Vol. 6, 1897.
The Academy.
DusLin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society.
Series 2, vol. 5, part 13, 1896; vol. 6, parts
2—7, 1896; and parts 8—13, 1897. Scientific
Proceedings. New series, vol. 8, part 5, 1897.
The Soctety.
Empen. — Eighty-first Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden
Gesellschaft in Emdem, 1897. The Soczety.
Genoa.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazione
Scientifiche di Genova. Anno 19, fasc. 2 and 3,
1897, and fasc. 4, 1898; also Anno 20, fasc. I,

1898. The Society.
GLascow.—Proceedings cf the Philosophical Society of Glas-
gow. Vol. 28, 1897. The Society.

Hauirax, Nova Scotia.—Proceedings and Transactions of the
Nova Scotian Institute of Science. Vol. 9, part

2, 1896, and part 3, 1897. The Institute.
Hatite.—Leopoldina Amtliches Organ der Kaiserlichen Leo-
poldino Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie
der Naturforscher. Vol. 32, 1896, and Nova
Acta, vol. 66, no. 3, 1896, and vol. 67, no. 1,

1895. The Academy.
Hampure.—Abhandlungen ans dem Gebiete der Naturwissen-
schaften, herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Verein in Hamburg. Vol. 15, 1897.

Also Verhandlungen, Series 3, part 4, 1897.

The Soctety.

Books Recewed. 9

INDIANOPOLIs.—Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science,
Volumes for 1894, 1895, and 1896.
The Academy.

JALAPA.—Boletin Mensual Meteorologico del Observatorio
Central del Estado de Vera Cruz, May-October,
1897. The Director.

LausANNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Natu-
relles. Series 4, vol. 33, nos. 123—126, 1897.
The Society.

Lawrence.—The Kansas University Quarterly. Vol. 1, nos.
I, 3, and 4 ; volumes 2, 3, and 4 complete ; vol.
5, nos. I and 2; and vol. 6 complete, 1892-97.

' The Kansas Oniversity.

LeEIPsic.—Sitzungberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu
Leipzig, 22nd and 23rd years, 1895-96.
The Soctety.

Lonpon.—Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of Lon-
don, vol. 43, parts 2 and 3, 1897, and vol.

44, part 1, 1898. Also General Index, part 2,

1897, and Catalogue of Geological Literature

added to the library during 1897.

; The Society.

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Parts
I—6, 1897. The Soczety.

Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.
Vol. 14, part 4, 1897; and part 5, 1898. Pro-
ceedings. Parts 1—4, 1897; and List of
Fellows, 1897. The Soctety.

Report of the British Association. Toronto Meeting,
1897. The Association.

Mapras.—Bulletin of Madras Government Museum. Vol. 2,
no. I, 1897. Administration Report for
1896-1897. The Superintendent.

10 Books Recewed.

MANCHESTER.—Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society.
Vol. 12, nos. 4—12, 1896; and vol. 13, nos.

I—6, 1897. The Society.
Transactions of Manchester Geological Society.
Vol. 25, parts 7—11, 1897; and parts 12—14,

1898. The Soctety.
MARSEILLES.—Annales de la Faculte des Sciences de Marseille.
Vol. 6, fasc. 4—6; and vol. 8, fasc. 1—3,

1897-98. The Librarian.
MELBOURNE.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria,
New series, vol. 9, 1897; and vol Io, part 1.

1897. The Soczety.
Mexico.—Anuario, del Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de
Tacubaya, ano. 18, 1897 ; and Boletin no. 2,

nos. IW 2, 1007. The Dzrector.
Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Meteorolgico
Central de Mexico, Feb.-Dec., 1897. Also

Resumes Mensuales, 1891-92. The Dtrector.
Informes y Documentos Relativos a Comercio
Interior y Exterior. Nos. 2—5, 1885 ; and no.

17, 1886. The Department.
MILWAUKEE.—Fourteenth Annual Report of Milwaukee Public
Museum, 1897. The Trustees.

Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of
Moscou. No. 4, 1896 ; and nos. I and 2, 1897.

The Society.
NANTES.—Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de I’
Ouest de France. Vol. 6, part 4, 1896 ; and

vol. 7, parts I—3, 1897. The Soctety.
New York.—Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 9. nos. 4—12, 1897. Transactions. Vol.

15, 1896. The Academy.
Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,
Vol. 29, nos. I—4, 1897; and vol. 30, no. 1,

1898. ) The Soczety.

Books Recewed. Il

OpEssa.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of New Russia.
Vol. 20, part 2, 1896; and vol. 21, part 1,
1897. The Soczety.

OporTo.—Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Vol. 4, nos. 2—4,
1897. The Editor.

OsNABRUCK.—Eleventh Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaftlichen
Vereins zu Osnabruck, 1897. The Soctety.

OtrtTawa.—Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Vol. 8; and Maps 585—588, 1895. Also
Palzozoic Fossils. Vol. 3, part 3, 1897.
The Director.

Papua.—Atti della Societa Veneto-Trentina di Scienze Natu-
Tali: Series 2, vol. 3, fasc. 1, 1897.
The Soctety.

PHILADELPHIA. — Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. Parts 1—3, 1897.

The Academy.
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
Nos. 153 and 156, 1897. The Society.

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Processi
verbali. March—July, 1897. The Soctety.

Rome.—Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Series 5, vol.
6, semestre 1, fasc. 8—12, 1897; seimestre 2,
fasc. i—12, 1897 ; and vol. 7, semestre 1, fasc.
I—7, 1898. Also Rendiconto dell’ adunanza
solenne del 5 Giugno, 1897. The Academy.

Bulletino della Societa Romana per gli studi
Zoologici. Vol. 6, fasc. 1 and 2, 1897.
The Society.
Rivista Italiana di Sociologia. Anno 1, fasc. 1 and
2, 1097. The Editor.
San Francisco.—Proceedings of the California Academy of
Sciences. Series 2, vol. 6, 1896; series 3,

12 Books Received.

Geology, vol. 1, nos. 1—3, and Zoology, vol. 1,
nos. I==5, 1897. Also Occasional Papers, no.
5, 1897. The Academy.

St. Lours.—Eighth Annual Report of Missouri Botanical
Garden, 1897. The Director.

STAVANGER.—Stavanger Museums Aarsberetning for 1896.
The Museum Trustees.

STIRLING.—Transactions of Stirling Natural History and
Archeological Society, 1897. The Society.

SToCKHOLM.—Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens Hand
lingar. Vol. 28, 1895, and vol. 29. 1896.
Bihang, vol. 22, parts 1—4, and Ofversigt, no.
53, 1896-97. The Academy.

Toxio.—Mitheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fir Natur
und Volkerunde Ostasiens in Tokio. Vol. 6,
part 59, and Supplements 1 and 2, 1897.
The Soczety.

ToronTo.—Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. New series,
vol, I, part 1, 1897. The Institute.

UpsaLa,—Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the Univer-
sity of Upsala. Vol. 3, part 1, No. 5, 1897.
The University.
ViennA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo-
gischen Reichsanstalt. Nos. 6—18, 1897, and
nos. I and 2, 1898. The Society.

Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Zoo-
logisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft. Vol. 47,
1897. The Society.

WASHINGTON.—Department of Agriculture. Year Book, 1896;
Farmers’ Bulletin, no. 54. 1897; and North
American Fauna, no. 13, 1897.
' The Secretary of Agriculture,

Books Recewwed. 13

Bureau of Ethnology.= Fourteenth Annual Report,
part 1, 1896; Fifteenth Annual Report, 1897 ;
and Sixteenth Annual Report, 1897.

The Director of the Bureau.

United {States Geological Survey. Seventeenth
Annual Report, parts 1 and 2, 1896. Mono-
graphs, vol. 25, 1896; vol. 26, 1895; vol. 27,

1896 ; vol. 28, 1897, and Atlas. Bulletins, no.
$7, 1697 ; nos. 119 and 120, 1894; nos 127
and 130, 1896. Also nos. 135—148, 1896.

The Director.

American Historical Association. Annual Report
for 1895. The Association.

United States’ National Museum. Proceedings,
vol. 18, 1895. Annual Report for year 1894.
Also Bulletin, no. 47. Fishes of North
America, 1896; and no. 49, Bibliography, 1896.
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution,
1895. Contributions to Knowledge, no. 1,034,
1896. Miscellaneous Collections, no. 856, 1893 ;
NOs. 1035, 1,039,.) 1,039, 1,075, 1,072, 1073,
1896; and nos. 1,075, 1,077, 1,084, 1897. The
Smithsonian Institution, History of its First
Half Century, 1897.

The Smithsonian Institution.

YorxK.—Annual Reports of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
for years 1896-97. The Soczety.

ZuricH.—Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
in Zurich, 42nd year, parts 1 and 2, 1897 ; and
parts 3 and 4, 1898. Also Neujahrsblatt, 1898.

The Soctety.

From Miss Mackxay.~-Buffon’s Natural History, 2 vols., 1821.

14 Books Recewed.

From RosBerT Lioyp Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S.—Journal
of the Linnean Society, Botany, vol. 33, nos,
228—230, 1897 and 231, 1898.

From R. M. Youna, Esgq., B.A., J.P., M.R.I.A.—Manuscript
Common Place Book of the late James M‘Adam,
Hsq.,, E.G.S.

From Tuomas G. FLemina, Esq., F.G.S.—O’Halloran’s History
of Ireland, 3 vols. 1803 ; also six other volumes.

Iara Sei

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

SESSION 1896-99.

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION :

A Paper read oth November, 1897, before the Belfast Natural
ffistory and Philosophical Soczety,

By Major-GENERAL Geary, C.B.

Proressor J. D. EVERETT, D.C.L., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Mr. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,—My friend Mr.
Lloyd Patterson will tell you that when he first conveyed
to me your kind invitation to lecture to this Society I
received his proposal with a feeling akin to dismay. It
hardly seemed possible to me to tell you anything which
could be interesting to so learned and intelligent an audience.
I can only lay claim to having endeavoured to keep myself
in some small degree abreast of the progress of the age, and
to submit with the greatest deference for your consideration
some matters which seem to me not unworthy of deeper thought
than in the rapid progress of discovery they are apt to receive.

Some 25 years ago, returning to England after a long sojourn
in India, I was struck with the difference between the condition
of the labouring classes at home and in India; and observed
that, with all their poverty, substantially the contrast was
favourable to the Indians. There was more contentment, more
cleanliness and sobriety and less brutality amongst them. The
very distinctions of caste implied that everyone had a definite
calling of some sort—the calling was not always very remuner-
ative—but except in times of distress, of war or famine, and
eliminating professional beggars, all managed to get a livelihood,
it being remembered that in India this means very little. It
struck me, as I became more intimately acquainted with them,
that the English paupers were poor and wretched and degraded

18 Industrial Training and Technical Education.

because they had never received any definite training, and that
this truth had never permeated the brains of English legislators
or, if so, had received little support. I had the good fortune
to know the late Sir Edwin Chadwick in England, and after-
wards the late Sir John Lentaigne in Ireland, and through
them learned the justice of my conclusions. I then visited the
greater part of the Industrial Schools and Reformatories in the
United Kingdom, besides a large number of the ordinary ele-
mentary and workhouse schools, and studied the returns and
results. I found that the percentage of those who went to the
good from institutions in which trades and industries were
taught largely exceeded in proportion all other elementary
schools ; for instance, boys thoroughly well taught, as they
teach at Artane near Dublin, commanded wages on discharge
varying from £1 to £3 per week.

In some Institutions the boys were only taught industries
which would produce money for their support while in the
Institution, and were of no direct use to them on discharge,
except, and please mark this, that it taught habits of industry
and the consciousness that if a man will not work neither
shall he eat. The same experiment was tried amongst enlisted
boys in the army, and it was found that a boy taught to be
a saddler or tailor or carpenter soon became a non-com-
missioned Officer and artificer, and was eventually discharged
with a good pension and trade at his back ; whereas the
man who had not been taught any special industry, was
on discharge, in comparison nowhere. These views were
pressed with a weight of evidence before a Commission ordered
by Lord Cranbrook when Secretary for War, but very limited
results came of it for reasons it is unnecessary to dilate upon
here. Sufficient to say that they in no way controverted the
conclusion arrived at. Being then younger and more sanguine,
I looked to the Elementary Education Act to inaugurate a
system more breadwinning in its effects than that which pre-
vailed—and does unfortunately prevail still—but with all the
pressure that could then be brought to bear our hopes were
doomed to disappointment. The Government of the day, like

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 19

all popular Governments, was opportunist. It would not face
the ratepayer by asking him to pay for industrial teaching,
and succumbed to the growl from the gizzard wing of Trades
Unionism.

It is a remarkable fact in considering this question that the
Government supports Reformatories for boys and girls convicted
by Magistrates, and Industrial Schools for neglected children,
the peculiar feature of these Institutions being the teaching of
trades and industries, while the same is denied to the children
of honest parents. A large number of voluntary institutions
have also been provided by private enterprise to meet similar
cases which do not exactly fulfil the Government requirements
as regards age and minor details. Industrial training is in fact
the predominant feature of all preventive institutions. What
can be more illogical than for the State to wait for an adult or
child to fail in some respect before he or she can qualify for the
benefit of a bread earning education or training? All education
can only be regarded as “‘ preventive,” and some would there-
fore suppose the wisest and most economical proceeding be, to
provide this more suitable education before the individual is
brought to the brink of destruction. Surely the children of
honest folk, whom the National conscience has decided shall be
educated in our Elementary schools, are entitled to find there
a system equal to that which is recognized by the Government
as suitable for building up into industrious, well conducted
citizens the neglected children of the lowest classes of the
community. A reference to the publications of that most
excellent Society the Refuge and Reformatory Union will give
some idea of the amount of Industrial training which is
going on quietly and unostentatiously in the various Preventive
Institutes partly supported by the State and part by voluntary
effort.

There are in the United Kingdom 1070 Institutions, of which
about 700 are Industrial Institutions for the young, and they
accommodate 71,185 individuals, of which about 61,000 are still
in their youth. In these Institutions 86 different trades are
taught, exclusive of the ordinary domestic work of the homes ;

20 Industrial Training and Techmcal Eaucation.

washing and plain needlework are taught in all girls’ homes.
In many Institutions steam power is used, and the inmates are
in such cases taught the care and management of engines and
machinery. Considering the antecedents of so many of the
inmates it is evident that a proportion will have been unable
to acquire any proficiency in trades when discharged, but all
will have acquired habits of work and industry and that power
of restraint and self discipline which industrial training involves.
On the other hand some will develope far above the average,
and qualify themselves for higher pursuits. I remember a
young man employed by the late Sir Bernard Burke, engaged
in doing heraldic work in his office, whom he had taken from
an Industrial school, and I suppose there are few of these Insti-
tutions that cannot adduce similar instances. I mention this
as an answer to those who despise industrial work as cramping
to the soaring genius of the modern school boy, whose chief
desire is to wear a black coat and keep his hands clean.

I alluded just now to those who are unable to acquire pro-
ficiency in any trade. The care of these and their development
point to the important bearing of sanitation and physical train-
ing on industrial training, as the strength both of mind and body
to work must be obtained and rreserved. Cleanliness comes
first ; clean bodies, clean clothes, clean hair and clean food ; next,
sufficient drill has been introduced generally as necessary to
the orderly work of an institution, carrying with it, insensibly
amongst the pupils, habits of smartness, self-respect and
obedience. This may also be seen in the various Boys’
Brigades. It is estimated that of the children who enter these
Institutions free from disease the death rate is about 3 per 1000,
which is about one-fourth that of those outside. Children’s
diseases are almost banished—and about 90 per cent. are got
into good productive service and keep it.

The jealousy with which our Industrial Schools and Reform-
atories are regarded by tradesmen outside is very much to be
regretted, as it restrains managers of these Institutions from
doing their best to turn out lads efficient in remunerative
trades, and confines them to teaching industries which can

Industrial Trawing and Technical Education. 2a

never be directly useful to the lads on discharge. These
Institutions ought to be expected and encouraged to turn out
thoroughly instructed and well behaved lads ; when they fail to
do this, it must be due either to inefficient management or to
want of funds. The Government grant is sufficient for main-
tenance, but the liberality of the public has to supply the plant
necessary for efhcient teaching and for high class supervision.
It would perhaps reconcile the objectors to the slight com-
petition of these schools if arrangements could be made for the
Institutions to supply goods to the trade and leave the trade
to deal with the public. As these are the only schools in which
industries are taught, it is in the interest of all that they should
be models of efficiency, if only to shew the injustice of not
extending the same system to the honest poor.

There is a proverb, in the Talmud I believe as well as in the
Vedas, that he who fails to teach his son a trade teaches him to
be athief. Thus, taking the best Industrial Schools, you find
the son of disreputable parents, who have cost the public con-
siderable sums either as paupers or prisoners, discharged with
a trade, which, if well conducted, will ensure him an honest
livelihood; while, on the other hand, the poorly fed son of an
honest working man will be discharged from his elementary
school having achieved the standards necessary for the Edu-
cation department, but which is almost useless to him for
carrying his mother’s milk pails, or in running errands for
three or four shillings per week. Is it-an exaggeration to say
that starting thus, the probability is that the son of the honest
working man will at last have to serve the son of the “ne’er
do weel’’?

On visiting an elementary school after the third hour who
has not been struck with the listless, vacant look, or with the
idling of the pupils? Is it reasonable to expect five hours
consecutive mental work from badly housed, badly fed children ?
It has been proved ad nauseam that the boys in a school,
worked on the half time system of half school work and half
industry, will attain a given educational standard as quickly as
the full timers and often sooner. What I plead for is that the

22 Industrial Training and Technical Education.

child of the honest working man shall be given as advantageous
a start in life as the son of the felon, not by levelling the
education of the latter down but by raising the other. Be it
remembered that when the man without a special trade or
calling has deteriorated in his personal appearance from sickness
or misfortune, the difficulty in raising himself again is almost
insuperable ; whilst the dissolute tinker, who is only sober
for three or four days in the week, can always earn a livelihood,
and does not become chargeable to the ratepayer, at all events
not as a pauper.

Now, gentlemen, let us consider the objections to be met in
face of the conclusions I have indicated.

firstly—Industrial, like technical, training involves money
and expense to the ratepayers or to the Government.

Secondly—Such training, if extended, would be violently
oppesed by Trades Unions.

Thirdiy—No opportunist Government would encounter the
opposition of these interests unless pressed by the electorate.

Fourthly—Such a reform would be opposed by those
educationalists, who, whilst the poor are crying for bread, offer
them the stone of higher education.

As regards the first, the increased outlay would be more
than repaid by the reduction in the expense of poor relief and
punishment of criminals. The cost of every unemployed man
by the state, is estimated at an average of £400 for his life.
As regards the second, the time must come, if the country is
to remain prosperous, when the tyrannical excesses of Trades
Unionism will have to be restrained. At the present moment
terrorism is used to prevent free labour and freedom of contract
between employers and employed ; and regulations are made
in order to limit the numbers engaged in a particular trade,
and to limit the productiveness of the owner’s machinery.

Not long ago I went to enquire in a very considerable town
in England if some soldiers could be sent to attend the
Technical classes of their trades, and I was told that no one was
allowed to attend who was not a member of a Trades Union.
I asked if a young man who had learned his trade thoroughly

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 22

in an Industrial Institution might attend ; and they said no,
unless he chose to join a Trades Union. This was a class paid
for by the Municipality out of tne 6d tax on beer.

It is because I am in sympathy with the better side of Trades
Unionism that I am ready to denounce the other as inimical to
the welfare of the masses and consequently to the best interests
of the State. One can not help a smile like the Roman
Augur’s, at our vaunted “ pax Britannica” abroad, knowing
that the law fails to protect its citizens in the exercise of their
right to earn their daily bread at home.

As regards the third point, the government of the day, of
whichever party, will not move unless impelled by public
opinion ; it is for us, upon whom the pressure of maintaining
hopeless pauperism falls, to make ourselves heard on the
subject. And, fourthly, the educationalist pure and simple does
not concern himself about pauperism. He, naturally, wishes to
raise the general level of education, too often forgetful of the
fact that to live is a man’s first object, and, afterwards, to raise
himself by education.

What can be more absurd, were it not too sad, than the up-
bringing of the workhouse boy in an unreformed workhouse
school ; bred a pauper, taught within the workhouse walls,
surrounded by every evidence of his condition, trained to no
industry worthy of the name, he starts in life with only a little
elementary education. His earnings are of the smallest, he has
neither stamina nor training for earning a livelihood. Helooks
upon the Union as his home, returns there at intervals, perhaps
marries a girl similarly reared, and his promising offspring
succeed him too often in the same career. I maintain we have,
and shall have a pauper population so long as we neglect to
teach the young some industry by which they may earn a
livelihood.

Fortunately, trade depression and Industrial Exhibitions
have at last roused the country to the want of technical edu-
cation ; and politicians, who have allowed a golden opportunity
to slide, now lecture and harangue as if they had been friendly
to the movement all their lives. Happily the work has now

24 Industrial Traming and Technical Education.

been taken up in earnest, but not in what I conceive to be a
spirit of thoroughness, and not so much in the interests of those
who most require help as in those of the lower middle class and
members of Trades Unions; and the necessary connection
between Industrial Training and Technical Education, the
former leading up to the latter, has to a great extent been lost
sight of.

It is noticeable in reading reports of the Technical Schools
which are doing excellent work, the small numbers in propor-
tion to.the population who avail themselves of these advantages.
I read in the last report of the Belfast Technical School that in
the weaving class out.of 37 enrolled in 1895 only half a dozen
returned in 1896. In the carpentry and plumbing schools the
Committee say, ‘‘After several years experience it is evident
beyond doubt that the lads attending them are, generally
speaking, very imperfectly prepared to enter upon technical
training with any satisfaction to the teachers or the possibility
of obtaining the benefits which ought to be realized.” The
aggregate numbers who were examined and passed are respect-
ively 56 and 30, deplorable for an industrial population of over
a quarter of a million. It seems then essential to the success
of technical teaching that there should be more candidates and
that they should be better prepared; and that this difficulty
can only be overcome by a previous industrial training such
as I am advocating. Technical education is now admittedly an
urgent necessity if we are as a nation to maintain our com-
mercial position ; but the education of the few will not suffice.
We must seek to raise the standard of the whole. Begin with
the industrial training of the young and the technical classes
will be filled. I do not venture to suggest a hard and fast rule
as to what means should be employed to bring home industrial
education to the poor. Some may advocate the workshop and

others special schools—the means will vary in different places—

but, given the will to do it, the best means will be easily found.
This only partial success of the Technical classes is an apt
condemnation of the policy of the trades unionist in desiring
to limit the workers in any particular trade, and it points to
the injury being done to the trade of the country.

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 25

It is very desirable that the workmen should be brought to
consider the unwisdom of their conservative policy. The
command of the markets of the world must eventually fall to
the best work, which will be turned out by the best workmen.
Increased numbers of skilled workmen will increase superior
production and drive out inferior articles: moreover skill will be
constantly increasing by competition for higher wages and the
command of markets. It is a matter of notoriety that our
colonies and greater Britain generally are calling for skilled
workmen, and a really good English workman may find ready
employment in continental Europe. There is no danger of
trades being overmanned. Limiting production and keeping
skill down to a low average mean a loss of the world’s markets
in the not very distant future.

Again, there is indefensible opposition to the introduction of
labour saving machinery. It is well known that the manufacture
and up-keep of such machines directly and indirectly employ
more men than they displace, whilst they lead to extension of
enterprise and render the employers more independent of the
supply of unskilled labour. If the working man had only a
Kingsley to listen to instead of a salaried demagogue we should
see him anxious to place the best work that skill and industry
could produce in the market, and realizing that commerce, as
well as arms, has its triumphs. Instead of this we have the
policy of a troglodyte—to limit production, to keep skill and
good work down to the lowest possible point, and to brutally
prevent any man acting independently, ever striving to prove
his doctrine orthodox

‘¢ By (un) Apostolic blows and knocks.”

A deputation from the Technical Instruction Committee
of the City of Manchester visited the Technical Schools,
Institutions, and Museums of Germany and Austria in July and
August of the present year, and has lost no time in issuing a
most interesting report. A great part is taken up by describing
the liberal scale upon which these institutions are fitted up and
staffed with instructors ; but I propose only to touch upon a
few points which seem to bear more especially upon our present

26 Industrial Training and Technical Education.

subject, and this I shall do as nearly as possible in the words of
the report.

Perhaps two of the most interesting are that the education
and training of the young is so efficient as to enable them to
enter these classes of technical instruction at the age of 14 (it
being remembered that in Germany all children are taught an
industry as a general rule), and the tendency for the schools to
develope into commercial undertakings in which investigation
of the best methods and instruction go hand in hand with
production. The schools of Crefeld, Aix la Chapelle and
Berlin are especially noteworthy and have given Germany her
pre-eminence in the textile and woollen articles produced by
them. It is said that from the last of these institutions, of
mantles alone, £ 1,000,000 worth are annually exported to this
country. At Darmstadt, a most important school exists for
instruction in Electro-Chemistry and Electrical Engineering ;
and amongst the 1,000 day students are to be found a large
number from various European countries. The comparatively
advanced age of the students in German Technical Schools is
especially remarkable, and without doubt the general industry
of the country gains by the extended time given to scientific
technical training in the supply of a large number of adequately
educated men. Nothing is more striking than the prevision of
those responsible for the education of the Germans and Swiss
people in providing the means for the best possible training in
chemical science and its industrial applications. The success of
their policy may be realised from the fact that the great colour
manufacturing works on the Rhine alone employ 5,000 men
and upwards of ioo scientifically trained chemists. These
works are but one of several on a similarly large scale. The
value of the world’s markets in colouring matters and
pharmaceutical products is estimated at ten millions sterling,
and of this, 75 per cent. is in the hands of Germany. In
most of the towns fine Industrial Art Museums have been
established with the purpose of cultivating a knowledge of
what has been accomplished, in the production of examples of
colour, design, and workmanship. Every technical school has

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 2

its special museum of objects appliable to its purposes, nor
are the local authorities slow to avail themselves of these
Institutions, for we find at Nuremburg that the Town Council
avail themselves of the advice of the Professor of Architecture
and entrust to him the duty of seeing that any modern build-
ings proposed for erection shall harmonize with the old. Every
encouragement is given by the employers to their workpeople
to attend these schools. Perhaps there is nothing so deserving
of the attention of English firms as the strenuous efforts being
made in Germany and Switzerland to develope their great
engineering industries with the evident object of displacing us in
the markets. The deputation referred to also reports a visit to the
Museum of Hygiene in Vienna, with its appliances for securing
health in the dwellings, workshops and tactories. This cannot
fail to be both interesting and instructive to the citizens of a
town boasting the highest death rate in the United Kingdom.
It appears that our rivals the Germans have a complete and
well organized system of industrial and technical teaching with-
out a break from childhood upwards, and that experimenting
and learning are never put aside as done with. Every new
method is not only tried practically but subjected to a commer-
cial test, and then introduced or discarded as the case may be.
Under their system and under ours the question of colonial
extension and foreign markets does not require to be fought
out by armies and fleets, the battle is being fought out, whilst
we are speaking, at home; and if Germany captures department
after department in our home markets, as she has in colouring
matters and pharmaceutical products, the rest must follow as a
matter of course. The loss we have already sustained is
pecuniarily more than equivalent to the loss of much of that
territory which in our pride we call Greater Britain, and spend
so much annually in money and men’s lives to maintain. The
value of colonial extension will be very much reduced if the ex-
pense is to be ours and the commerce Germany’s or some other
Power’s. Not that 1am advocating protecting tariffs; on the
contrary let us keep open markets ; but let us be wise enough
to keep them by good work and commercial intelligence.

28 Industrial Training and Technical Education.

There seems to me every reason why the subject of education
for the people should be taken up on definite lines without
delay. As the child is father of the man, so the education of
the child should lead up to that of the adult. Were it resolved
upon, though we have lost the start, it would not now be too
late with our superior natural and financial resources to regain
some of our lost ground.

The financial aspect of the question calls for some remark.
The establishment and progress of these schools and museums
is due entirely to Government initiative, and they are main-
tained at Government expense. They could not be supported
without it. It depends upon the point of view from which the
question is regarded whether it be considered as a legitimate
tax upon the nation at large or as a bounty given to foster
certain industries. I am inclined to agree with the Manchester
Committee who consider that the work to be done requires
Government control to fix where the schools shall be placed,
to appoint competent instructors, and to keep the Museums
constantly supplied with the newest appliances and examples.
Much as we may be in favour of decentralization we must
confess that local bodies have neither time nor knowledge to
deal with so important a national work, as it is entirely foreign
to the subjects with which they are in the habit of dealing.
Money granted for these purposes should be from Imperial
funds, as it would be most unequal and unfair to raise them by
local taxation. There are public bodies existing, such as
omniverous South Kensington or the Colonial Institute,
which, with a little change of personnel, might be entrusted
with a national scheme.

I wish, gentlemen, at the risk of some little repetition, to
press upon you not only that the present Elementary schools
fail to give a bread-winning education suitable to the require-
ments of the poor, but that their system is directly opposed to
the teaching and experience of the last 30 years in favour of
Industrial training. For teaching to be successful, the
pupils must be physically capable of sustaining their attention.
A child cannot be physically fit without health, and health can

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 29

only be preserved by sanitary conditions ; so long as children
are reared in houses in which all sanitation is neglected they
will, with difficulty only, be taught anything. The ‘mens
sana in corpore sano” is a first condition. If you will visit the
poorer elementary schools in this city you will find an aggrega-
tion of children with dirty clothes and dirty skins, striving, or
more correctly not striving, in a dirty atmosphere, to take in
five or six hours mental instruction. During the last two and
a half hours there is a total absence of receptivity. The scene
in the street as they scatter homewards shows how little they
are used to control or discipline. Every boy I have examined
in the Balmoral Reformatory was a pupil in an elementary
school. It is said that the modern epidemics of smallpox and
such like diseases were unknown among the heathen until the
missionaries, in their ignorance of sanitary science, assembled
the unwashed savages in churches and congregations ; and it
may be suspected that the epidemics of measles, scarlatina, and
other children’s diseases in this city are largely due to the
conditions thus described. During the last great epidemic of
Cholera in London and which raged in the East end, in a large
half time school in the very midst in which sanitary measures
were duly observed, not one instance occurred amongst the
inmates. Remembering, too, how indifferently many of these
children are fed, can any reasonable man expect them, when
they leave school, with all these additional drawbacks, to be fit
to earn an honest livelihood ?

Contrast with these what has been proved on the other side
in half-time schools with industrial training. Masters have
reported for thirty years that the half-timers will reach a given
standard in the same or even less time than a full timer, for the
simple reason that for half-time the child’s brain is fresh and
receptive, and after a longer period it flags. All that is learned
and assimilated in either school is acquired during that time.
On the other hand the half time spent in labour is remunerative,
and therefore fair to the parents as well as agreeable to the
child, who is at the same time learning not only what will
enable him to earn his bread, but habits of order, discipline

30 Industrial Training and Technical Education.

and steady work, and that invaluable training of accustoming
the eye and the hand to work together.

The sanitary requirements are the same in both cases; but at
the worst the half-timer escapes from his dirty companions and
dirty school room atmosphere in half the time. In places where
there is an active and educated public opinion dirty children in
dirty school rooms have ceased to be tolerated. A favabauy, at
the entrance is not very expensive.

Statistics have not only shewn what I have stated, but the
proportion of crime is strikingly favourable to the half-time
schools. Having brought the children so far on passing through
the school standards, they would be eager and ripe to attend
continuation schools or classes to fit them to join the Technical
classes so as to benefit more fully by their teaching, and it is
thought that the present want of numbers would speedily be
changed to an overflow.

I have ventured to bring before you at perhaps some length
the working of Industrial Institutions in order to show what
has been achieved, and that their success justifies the public
expenditure upon them. But I might expose myself to the
reproach of being a visionary and a mere theorist were: I to
refrain from suggesting how the Industrial system could be
applied in connection with elementary schools outside, having
due regard to economy as well as efficiency. First of all, as the
pupils would be divided into two divisions the accommodation
for school classes might be reduced by one half, while sheds
or light buildings would require to be built as workshops.
Part of the teaching staff could be reduced and labour in-
structors employed in their stead. The children should be
made to attend school clean both in clothes and person. In
poor schools a lavatory should be provided and children made
to wash before associating together. Thorough ventilation is
indispensible. Children should be frequently inspected and
~ any child found with any infectious complaint should be sent
home and the house in which it lived dealt with by a Health
Officer.

The proceeds of the children’s industry should be divided

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 31

proportionally between the school authorities and the children
themselves. In schools, belonging to which the pupils worked
in factories, &c., the workshop accommodation would be
unnecessary. Girlsshould betaught plain needlework, washing,
cooking, and certain simple rules as to domestic sanitation. I
have seen the younger boys usefully taught knitting as well as
netting. It keeps the fingers pliable, necessitates attention and
consequent interest, and accustoms the hand and eye to work
together. As in institutions the success is largely due to the
sanitary arrangements so it is necessary not only to ensure the
sanitation of the school premises, but the houses in which the
children live.

An Englishman’s or Irishman’s house may be his castle; but it
is intolerable that it should be a menace to the health of his
neighbours. Dirty walls, dirty floor and dirty ceilings harbour
disease, and any system but that of the removal of all excreta
and household slops, except by a constant water supply and
perfect drainage, is intolerable in civilized cities. Sanitary
science may be summed up in a few words—free circulation of
air and water. For what purpose do city or town public
functionaries imagine they exist, unless it be pre-eminently for
ensuring the safety of the inhabitants, not only from violence
but also from sickness. It is that low state of health which
unfits them for the support of wives and families, destroys
their children, and drives them in despair to the demon of
drink and to an early grave.

Although few people are sufficiently attentive students of
history to draw lessons therefrom for present guidance, there is
one which may be germane to our present subject. The
embarassment of Athens, and the decline and fall and subsequent
degradation of Rome, were due to the rabble of paupers
dependent on the public bounty. Look again at the facts of
the several French revolutions. Do not all teach us the danger
to the community of a hungry, untrained, idle population ?
On the other hand, contrast the contentment of the industrious
peasantry of Switzerland and France. Perhaps the most sad
and really wholesome lesson for ourselves is to be drawn from

32 Industrial Traming and Technical Education.

the action of the ignorant, selfish government of our forefathers,
which, killing the nascent industries of Ireland, left to their
descendants a legacy of rebellion, hatred and discontent. For
Ireland a better method of Education on Industrial lines is of
the utmost need, so large a proportion of the people requiring to
be born again to habits of bread-winning industry. Imperfectly
as this has been tried, one cannot help contrasting the different
conditions of the North and South of Ireland, due in a very
great measure to the half time schools in connection with the
factories. I was told by the owner of one of the largest mills
in the North of Ireland that his best hands had been entered
when half-timers. It is in the power of Poor Law Guardians to
apply this system in the workhouses and it has for many years
been adopted in the Union District Schools of London ; nor
do I think that any one who wishes to earn the blessing
promised to him who considers the poor can do better than
help to improve their sanitary condition and to give them the
means of earning an honest livelihood.

In this paper I have avoided the introduction of statistics
both from the difficulty of attaining correctness up to date, and
the consciousness that figures can be arranged to prove any-
thing. I have confined myself to general results in the hope
of leading some who have influence in their generation to follow
the subject up to practical results; for it is impossible that
the labors and aspirations of so many great and unselfish men
who have written and striven to help forward the cause of
Industrial Training for the poor, shall for ever be defeated by
the degrading selfishness of a small section of the community,
or by the supineness of party politicians who may happen to be
in temporary power.

Nor have I, gentlemen, been so unmindful of your patience
as to leave insufficient time for any discussion which may
ensue.

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 33

Mr. R. Liroyp PATTERSON proposed a vote of thanks to
General Geary.

Dr. R. KYLE Knox in seconding the motion pointed out that
theteaching of trades, which seemed to be General Geary’s view,
was not his idea of the province of a technical school, which he
held should attempt merely to teach the scientific side of those
crafts which could only be properly acquired in the workshops
or factory. He also disagreed with General Geary’s assumption
that the workmen of Belfast were as a class badly housed and
surrounded by dirt in their dwellings.

Mr. M‘Manus (Belfast Trades Council) challenged General
Geary’s statement that trades unionism was opposed to technical
education. On the contrary, it was strongly in favour of it,
and was at present engaged in demanding it at the hands of
the Corporation.

Professor FITZGERALD agreed with the lecturer that industrial
training in schools was calculated to have the best effect on
both the minds and bodies of the pupils. With regard to
technical education he had not found that, in Belfast at any
rate, any difficulties arose with trades unions ; on the contrary,
the trades favoured such education. With regard to industrial
training in schools, it was not to be confounded with what was
called manual training, such as the system known as Sloyd,
and other analogous systems, which are not intended to teach
any industrial art directly, but only to develop the faculties
both of mind and body of the scholars. Industrial training
went beyond this, and aimed at directly cultivating special
dexterities and faculties, useful in particular trades. It was
therefore not suitable for all classes of schools, or scholars, nor
was it suitable for all trades. It was most especially fitted for
the development of what are often called cottage industries,
and its most useful application was therefore in places and
among people where it was desirable to create or encourage
these.

Dr. Beatriz, Dr. SHELDon, and Mr. T. Foster also spoke
in friendly criticism of the lecture,

3

34 Industrial Training and Technical Eaucation.

Mr. Conway Scott, who was called on by the Presi-
dent, said he did not intend to enter into a discussion of
sanitary matters in connection with a lecture on technical
education. General Geary, however, seemed to allow his
animosity to the Belfast Corporation to come into everything
he did. In the scheme of industrial education he had unfolded
he had allowed his militarism to become too prominent.
Although he disagreed with the lecturer in the assumption
that the free people of Ireland would allow their children to be
treated in a school in exactly the same way as the children of
criminals were treated in an institution, he agreed with him in
the proposition that the children of criminals should not get a
better start in life than the children of honest men. According
to General Geary, Belfast was really a miserable place. I[t was
dirty, unsanitary, had no elementary education worth speaking
of, and no technical education at all. Yet, in spite of all this,
they found pupils from some of the Belfast elementary schools
taking prizes and sizarships at the English Universities ; they
found the city increasing with marvellous rapidity in wealth
and commerce and population ; and they found its people, in
spite of the want of technical education, able to build the best
ships and make the best linen goods in the world. There
seemed a tendency on the part of some of those who lived in
Belfast to malign themselves, and certainly that tendency had
been given full rein to that evening. He thought of all
technical education in Ireland agricultural education was most
necessary, though this had not been mentioned by the lecturer.

Mr. S. F. Mittican spoke in terms of high praise of the
lecture, as did also Mr. J. H. GREENHILL, Mr. W. Gray, and
the PRESIDENT.

The vote of thanks was passed with acclamation, and after
duly acknowledgment,

GENERAL GEARY said—In reply to the criticisms so kindly
offered I beg to remark that I entirely accept the distinction
made by Dr. Kyle Knox as regards industrial and technical
training.

Industrial Training and Technical Education. 35

I am glad to hear that trades unions in this city are in favour
of technical training. My observation has been, that this
sentiment is general; but I am aware of instances where it has
been sought to make technical education conditional upon
membership of atrades union. This is what I demur to. I
have always been in favour of the principle of trades unionis-n,
and for that very reason have been opposed to its excrescences
and perversion of its legitimate objects.

Ido not agree with Mr. Scott’s statement as regards my
attitude towards the Belfast Corporation. My object has been,
ever since I have been here, to support them and strengthen
their hands, for which I have received many acknowledgements
from the chief magistrates. It is a curious argument against a
more useful kind of elementary education to say that Belfast
has turned out some able mien, and a still more remarkable
argument in depreciation of a high rate of typhoid and pre-
ventable disease to say that Belfast builds big ships and is
celebrated for its linen manufactures. It may be that the evils
I have alluded to and the successes Mr. Scott refers to are not
wholly unconnected. It rather reminds one of Lord Macaulay’s
summary of the character of Charles I. In this, I am quite
sure, we shall all agree, that the co existence of evil and good
are quite possible, but it affords no possible reason for neglecting
1o remedy the evil.

36

7th December, 1898

Proressor J. D. Everett, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

ABNORMAL IDEAS AND NERVOUS SUPER-
EXCITABILITY.

By Joun M. MacCormac, M.D., L.R.C.P. & S., Ed.
(Adbstract.)

That the phenomena of innervation are intimately associated
with and dependent upon ideas, which arise in the mind, must
be evident to every thoughtful observer, and the object of this
paper is to determine to what extent some types of nervous
disorders are due to morbid or vicious sentiments. Though
the investigation of it must of necessity be of a technical nature,
the conclusions cannot fail to possess an absorbing interest to
the intelligent student.

The points which may be usefully examined are :—

(1) The troubles of the nervous system which are associated

with the absence of any real purpose in life.

(2) Those which are associated with materialistic teaching.

(3) Those which are associated with mystical teaching.

(4) Those which are associated with civilization in its vaguest

form.

1. We cannot fail to see that the destiny of man is to act
with energy, will, and intelligence. The external world and his
own mental powers urge him to action, but the determining
power is his will. The best classification of mankind is that
based upon the possession or non-possession of an intelligent
purpose. The character of the purpose reveals the character

Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excitabiltty. 37

of the man, but the absence of a purpose underlies diseases, and
more especially those of the nervous system to such an extent
as to frequently predispose to madness. An American writer
has said ‘‘ The most pitiable sight one ever sees is a young man
doing nothing; the furies early drag him to his doom.”
Absence of purpose is condemned from a moral point of view.
It is also condemned from a hygienic point of view. Watch the
symptoms of those who voluntarily shrink from an aim in life.
Agitated and restless, they wander here and there, in the vain
hope to escape from self. Victims of mental disquiet, they rush
into excitement, only to revert to an aggravated form of their
malady, and the outcome is felt in hypochondria, distorted
ideas, mystical aspirations, which in their turn produce rage,
envy, remorse, anxiety, despair.

A celebrated French physician instances, on this point, a
case of hypochondria engendered by luxury and idleness. The
patient aimed at getting, by the aid of his riches, the utmost
pleasure out of life with the least possible amount of trouble.
To avoid the duties of parent, he would not marry ; he invested
his money, so that the income might be realised without
trouble; he lived at a restaurant, to be freed from the duties of
a home; he would not travel because of the consequent fatigue ;
he never walked when he could ride; he clothed himself
unnecessarily in order to avoid the sensations of cold, and for
the same reason he objected to fresh air. That he might not
have the trouble of dressing, he never undressed, and he ulti-
mately remained in his chair all day that he might not
be troubled to walk. This is of course an extreme
case, but it shows too plainly how the absence of a serious
purpose in life may produce mental disorders. Similar effects
follow when the activity of a busy life suddenly ceases, and
when melancholia, hypochondria, and death in such cases are
too well known to the medical practitioner. Like experiences
arise in the history of a nation as well as in that of the indivi-
dual. Of this Greece, Rome, the Netherlands and even France
afford examples. The lesson, therefore, is_that we must find

38 Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excttability.

out what capacities we possess, and then make the most of
them. A healthy and ennobling purpose and the cultivation
of our faculties are some of the methods by which the evils of
nervous over-excitement may be avoided.

-2. The troubles which arise from or are associated with
materialistic teaching demand more detailed treatment. By
materialistic teaching we understand those doctrines which aim
at, and result in the negation of religious belief, of religious
obligation, and of which the logical outcome is, “ Let us eat,
drink, and be merry, for to-morrow wedie.’”’ This teaching can
be traced back to a period of great antiquity. According to
Colebrooke, among the early Hindoos there were the material-
istic schools of the Tcharwakas and Lokayatikas ; among the
Greeks, those of Diceark, Messina, Leusippus and Epicurus,
while in Rome, Lucretius and Seneca were largely fol-
lowed. But while the gratification of the desires of
the materialist appear to lead to happiness, he finds it
but a phantom ever eluding his feverish grasp, transform-
ing them into wild and stormy passions, which not only
endanger health, but also make shipwreck of reason and life.
These varied and disastrous forms of nervous over-excitement
may be considered in detail.

(a) The immediate desires arising from keen sensual emotions,
such as the love of wine, play, and women. The outcome of
excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures is, that it constitutes
one-third in the etiology or cause of lunacy, while the effects
of the nervous excitement, consequent upon the passion of
gaming, are only too well known. Emotional and intellectual
disorders which follow these excesses are sometimes induced by
seemingly trifling incidents. The degradation of art in
questionable public advertisements, the leading features in some
types of modern novels do not, to say the least, tend to
diminish the evils to which I refer. Of 472 observed cases of
mental disorders 173 could be traced to domestic sorrows
produced by these causes.

(6) The immoderate desire for an exalted position. Two

Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excitability. 39

classes of emotions follow this, as indeed they do all immoderate
desires. One-class, of an expansive form, bright and enliven-
ing ; another of a repressive form, dull and depressing ; and
these influence different individuals, or may in turn affect the
same. But one form of this immoderate desire is a passion for
fame and glory, which, like all egotistical desires, may be the
source of opposite forms of mental aberration. Certain phases
of social education must be blamed for these emotional dis-
orders; for false ideas are diffused, and the point, aimed at, is
illusory and meretricious. Perhaps of all forms of this im-
moderate desire, the most prominent is that which takes the
form of political ambition, with which is associated the love of
wealth and luxury. In democratic communities this is more
manifest than in aristocratic, for though the prizes are of less
value, they are more numerous, while the attendant evils are
more pronounced. One explanation of this is to be found in
the fact that the less mental training a man has received in
early life the greater likelihood there is that the ill-effects of
nervous over-excitability will manifest themselves.

(c) The immoderate desire to please. This is traceable to
unrestrained romantic emotions, and includes an undue
development of the principle of self-love, a principle which,
unrestrained, degenerates into vulgar selfishness. Common to
both sexes, it is more fully developed in the female than the
male. To early training this is largely due, but as a proof that
the commonly called superior sex is not insensible of the
impressions referred to, may be adduced the fact the most
popular corps in the army, or Volunteer forces, are those whose
uniform is most attractive; and we have it from one of the
highest authorities in the Army that the utmost attention
ought to be paid to the dress of the soldier in order that he
should be especially attractive to the opposite sex. On the
other hand, that the idea is early developed in the female is
shewn by the way in which little girls busy themselves about
the adornment of their dolls, and by the influence exerted on
the minds of older girls by the attractions and excitements of

40 Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excitability.

the drawing or ball room. The ideas, thus created in the
mind, and nourished by dalliance with them, may become
unregulated, unrestrained, violent passions, while failure to
please may produce a reaction as dangerous in the opposite
direction. But in connection with the ball-room are circum-
stances to which serious troubles hereafter may be traced. The
costumes, not remarkable for their modesty, the intimate
association with the opposite sex, conversations of a trifling and
perhaps of a not very elevating nature—these, with the ante-
cedent excitement of preparation, are liable to produce troubles
of the nervous system, which terminate in disorders, such as
hysteria, indigestion and others of a more dangerous character.
Without fora moment condemning the emotions of true love
which form a lasting bond between man and wife, it is impera-
tively necessary to utter this warning voice against those
excitations which tend to degrade and to debase the noblest
feelings of humanity.

(2) The immoderate desire of life. This desire is accom-
panied by a lack of vigorous mental power, and takes the form
of an intensified anxiety to preserve health, which frequently
develops into hypochondria. The man who spends his waking
moments in nervously watching the different parts of his
organism, anticipating some dreaded ill, soon transforms
imaginary ills into real ones. He produces the disease which
he dreads. Hence the evils arising trom the study of diseases
by an ill-balanced mind, and herein lies the explanation of the
fact that some medical students find their way into an asylum,
instead of into Merrion Square or Harley Street. There is too,
the danger even to the robust mind, which arises from constant
association with the hypochondriacs. As M. Dubois says
“ There is danger for predisposed minds ,in living near them.”
The nervous troubles then which are associated with materi-
alistic teaching are those which arise, zzter alia, from a mental
surrender to an immoderate desire for the objects to which I
have drawn attention.

3. The troubles which arise from mystical teaching. Here

Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excitability. 41

we must guard against*confounding mysticism with the beliefs
and duties of orthodox religion. Ignorant sceptics are prone
to confound them for the purpose of casting a slur on all
religious beliefs. The common character of the chief aspects
of mysticism is an immense longing for happiness, coupled with
a profound contempt for sensuous things. Regarding the joys
of this world, as ever changing and inseparable from pain, the
mystic seeks to realise at once the joys of an eternal bliss, while
the aim of some is to attain to a mysterious union with or
absorption into some divine essence. Their acts of devotion
take the form of so-called meritorious or expiatory sacrifices.
Others ignore the reward of works, and yield to a certain
elevation of the spirit, supposed to be the outcome of a direct
spiritual manifestation. Though arising from the same religious
source the pathological results are, as may be expected, different,
and take the form of catalepsy, hallucination, monomania of
pride, etc., according to the characteristics of the individual.
A few illustrations may be of service here. The teaching of the
founder of mystical pantheism (Vedanta) is that the sage,
recognising that God resides in all creatures, forgets all
ideas of duality, perceives the all-powerful Being, aban-
dons belief in works, good or bad, becomes perfect and
obtains the entire absorption. Another disciple of this
teaching maintains that, with absorption into the Great Spirit,
other distinctions disappear. The sun of this spiritual know-
ledge in the heart dispels darkness, penetrates everything,
embraces everything, illumines everything. This obliviousness
to externals, and absorption into the Divine, is taught in a
thousand different ways by Hindoo Pantheism as the theory of
supreme happiness. And this theory was incorporated into the
teaching of Christianity by the early Fathers. One maintains
that the soul, released from the influence of corporeal images,
is, by love, transported beyond intelligence and thought, that it
rises beyond itself, is absorbed into the Divinity, and that God
becomes supreme peace and joy ; that it is, in fact, changed into
God as iron placed in the fire takes the form of the fire, and is

42 Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excztability.

changed to fire. Thus it appears that, whether the subjects
were fanatical heathen, or fanatical followers of a spurious
Christian teaching, the same principle actuated them, and
identical consequences were observable in both. Asa means of
securing supreme happiness various exercises were prescribed.
For the penitent ascetic, merits attached to works availed.
With the contemplative ascetic softer emotions prevailed. The
tendency in the one was to a form of melancholy madness: in
the latter to incontrollable enthusiastic frenzy. The instruc-
tions in the sacred books of the Vedas for realising this supreme
happiness were all in the direction of physical efforts, with the
natural consequence of a serious disturbance of the brain with
all the evil effects of super-excitation. One devotee describes
these efforts in detail, and says that he relinquished them in
disgust. Another narrates the effect of the horrible practices
enjoined upon him until insensibility supervened. The ulti-
mate issue was such nervous excitation as to drive to the very
verge of madness.

The effect of the exercises prescribed for, as we now under-
stand it; “Salvation by Works” were similar in character ;
physical tortures, frequent ablutions, very necessary at all
times, and bodily privations ; all to produce an effect upon the
soul. Much of that which was supposed to be real and genuine
enthusiasm, not only among early, heathenish Christians, but
also among later emotional, frenzied, orthodox believers, was
due to an unfortunate development of nervous excitability. An
old bishop urges various bodily efforts in order to realise the
presence of God in prayer. Another pious father, whose words
are worth repeating on account of their unintelligible character
after stating that the soul, by a particular grace of God forms a
special conception of the Deity, says, ‘‘ The next step is that it
considers its considerations, sees its views, discerns its dis-
cernment, examines to see if its tranquillity is tranquil, if its
quietude is quiet. The outcome of these steps is that the
quietude and repose of the soul increase, the powers of the soul
are, as it were, in a soft and agreeable supineness, during which,

Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excitabiltty. 43

forgetful of all things, and of itself, it reposes tranquilly in God.
The soul then loses itself, not knowing where it is, nor what it
is doing.” No wonder that the outcome of a state like this
is sleeplessness, gloomy preoccupations, and even suicidal
tendencies.

Fortunately among Protestants ‘‘ Salvation by Works” is not
the prevailing creed. On the other hand an undue develop-
ment of the collateral belief, “Salvation by Faith,” is beset
with similar dangers. The statement that “ The Kingdom of
Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force”
has given rise to the frenzied conduct of the Shakers, Jerkers,
Barkers and similar sects, and illustrates the effect of the
abandonment of reason to excessive uncontrolled emotions.
Impartial and intelligent travellers have described their personal
observations in this direction among certain classes in America,
Wales, the West of England, the Cevennes and elsewhere, so
that we need not enlarge upon them here. But in this, as in
most other similar cases, the vza medza is the correct, the safest
course. We must pause here, however, lest we usurp the
functions of the Theological chair. But the historian finds
embedded in the heart of Christianity superstitions of Celtic,
Hindoo, Greek and Roman origin, which, directly or indirectly,
have reference to magic, astrology, demons, ghosts, fairies, etc.
They are traceable to successive layers of religious thought, and
can only be eradicated by the pure and simple truth. Some of
the finest geniuses of Christendom, to wit, St. Augustine,
Luther, Wesley, have not succeeded in freeing themselves from
the waves of superstition and mysticism, and their followers
have in some cases been the victims of unrestrained emotion
and extravagant delirium. Hence in certain districts we have
little difficulty in tracing the prevalence of epilepsy and chorea
to their rightful cause.

Finally, there are thetroubles of the nervoussystem associated
with civilization. It is almost impossible to determine what
set of institutions, what combinations of systems go to make up
the complex idea of civilization, so it must be at once under-

44 Abnormal Ideas and Nervous Super-Excttability.

stood, that it is, at the best, a relative term. In every
enlightened nation there are laws, customs, habits, religion,
institutions, which go to make up its civilization, and its effect
upon the individual can only be estimated, when we know the
influence of each element upon the human mind; and it is
only in a few cases that anything like accurate returns of
diseases, mental and otherwise, are afforded, any conclusion
must of necessity be untrustworthy. The problem of the
influence of civilization, whatever that may mean, on the
production of nervous over-excitement is practically insoluble,
and so we must perforce leave it.

In discussing this important question, I have endeavoured to.
do so in the broadest possible manner and in reference to the
religious part of the enquiry, must disclaim any intention of
depreciating any sincere and intelligent feeling and conviction.
My aim has been to urge the importance of intelligent con-
viction on all subjects so that abnormal ideas and the terrible
results of nervous super-excitability may be avoided.

45

4th January, 1898.

IRELAND AS A TOURIST RESORT.
By S. F. Mitiiean, M.R.I.A.

( Abstract.)

On the motion of Professor EvereTT, the chair was taken
by the Lord Mayor.

The Lorp Mayor expressed his thanks for the warm reception
accorded him. There was no subject that interested him more
than the one that was to be dealt with—viz., ‘Ireland as a
tourist resort, and what is being done to develop it.” He did
not think there was an Irish man or Irish woman who would
not agree with him that they possess a most beautiful country,
and one that was well worth seeing. He had travelled over
most of Ireland, and had visited a good many places abroad,
and he considered there were spots in Ireland that for beauty
and picturesqueness of scenery could not be surpassed. What
they wanted very badly was better hotel accommodation, where
tourists could come and feel almost as comfortable as at home.
He was pleased to notice that a decided improvement had
recently taken place in this respect, largely owing to the efforts
of the Irish Tourist Development Association. Of course much
remained yet to be done. Another thing which they required
in Ireland was more capital, and by making their hotels as
comfortable as possible people would be encouraged to visit
them; they would then see that Ireland was not such a bad
place after all, and probably be induced to invest their money
in it. In conclusion, the chairman said it was not necessary to
introduce Mr. Milligan to that audience, as he had made him-

46 Ireland as a Tourist Resort.

self so well known in connection with everything that was for
the benefit of the country in which he lived. He had donea
good deal to popularise Ireland as a tourist resort, and his
lecture was sure to be brimful of interest.

Mr. MILuican said the object of that night’s lecture was
twofold—to try to develop the tourist traffic in Ireland and to
raise money for the Causeway defence—in both of which they
hoped to be successful. He had selected the subject of tourist
development because of its importance to this country, and
particularly to those districts known as congested. Those who
travelled usually went abroad because they did not know the
beauties of their own country. If Irish people were deficient
in their knowledge of Ireland, English people were more so,
and required enlightenment. He would be ashamed to confess
that he knew foreign countries better than his native land. No
reasonable excuse could now be offered why such a state of
things should continue. The hotels in the districts where the
scenery was situated were all that could be desired, and from a
sanitary point of view, superior to hotels in the tourist districts
abroad. It was only reasonable to hope that the people of the
United Kingdom should become better acquainted with each
other, and that Ireland should be visited more frequently by
those who want to have a good holiday, as well as invalids in
search of health. They had great variety of scenery to suit all
tastes— magnificent sea cliffs in Donegal, beautiful sylvan
glades, lakes and rivers, encircled by fine mountain ranges in
Sligo; heath-clad hills and mountains, and picturesque tarns
and lakes in Connemara ; in Wicklow glens and waterfalls, and
lovely rivers flowing through beautifully-wooded valleys, too
charming for description ; they must be seen to be realised. In
Kerry they had all these features combined, and, added to these,
the soft balmy air of the southern Atlantic, tempered by the
waters of the Gulf Stream, which rendered it a perfect paradise
and health restorer for the invalid, or overworked man of
business.

In a work published in London in 1622, entitled, “ The

Ireland as a Tourtst Resort. 47

Complete Gentleman,” it was on record, ‘‘If any one applied
for license to travel in foreign parts, to the Lords of the Council,
that the Lord Treasurer Burleigh would first examine him of
England, and if he found him ignorant, he would bid him stay
at home and know his own country first.” Such a course now,
though arbitrary, would greatly help tourist development in
Ireland. Many books of travel had been written about Ireland,
from the time of Gerald de Barry and Edmund Spencer, down
to that most interesting writer on Ireland, the Rev. Ceasar
Otway, and they had individually and collectively referred to
Ireland as one of the most fertile and lovely countries in the
world. The difficulty of visiting the remote districts of Ireland
where the best scenery is situated, coupled with the absence of
good hotels, would account for the small numbers who, up to
recent years, visited the outlying parts of Donegal, Connemara,
and Kerry. ‘The cessation of political agitation, and the open-
ing up of those hitherto almost inaccesible districts by light
railways had given a great impetus to tourist development.

The lecturer now gave a graphic description of the Antrim
coast, leaving Belfast for the Causeway by the Coast road,
referring to the lovely Vale of Glenariff and its waterfalls, and
the fine pathways made by the Northern Counties Railway
Company through the Glen, the wooden bridges over the falls,
the Tea House in Glenariff, and other interesting features of
the Glens, the great headlands and sea cliffs, and the Giant’s
Causeway. The beauties of the valley of the Roe from Lima-
vady to the glen above Dungiven were referred to, most
charming scenery, rivalling that of Wicklow.

Londonderry was referred to as follows :—What memories
the City of Derry awakens in the student of Irish history from
the time St. Columbkille, in the sixth century, founded there
his Celtic monastery amongst the beautiful oak woods he loved
so well, down through the ages to the time Sir Cahir O’Doherty
slew the governor and burned the city. |Next, the memorable
siege and noble defence in the reign of William the Third, that
bore such important results.

48 Ireland as a Toursst Resort.

Proceeding from Derry to Lough Swilly we pass the Grinaian
of Aileach, the ancient fortress of the Kings of Ulster, and a
seat of sovereignty from prehistoric times. During the
summer months a steamer sails from Fahan, a station on the
Buncrana Line, up Lough Swilly to Portsalon, some thirteen
miles across—a sail once taken that will not soon be forgotten.
There is a most comfortable hotel at Portsalon, from which
excursions can be made. Mulroy Bay and the Rosapenna
Hotel are not far distant. A public conveyance leaves Rath-
mullan daily for Rosapenna, where the accommodation is
everything that could be desired, with excellent golf links,
good fishing and boating. Views were shown of the great
headlands outside Lough Swiily, Malin Head, Horn Head,
and round further south, the giant cliffs of Slieve Liag,
2,000 feet high, and the lovely valley of Glencolumkill,
with its stone crosses and penitential stations. The lec-
turer described the County Sligo scenery, and showed views
of Glencar Lake and waterfall, Lough Gill, its islands,
and holy wells, and the waterfalls of Ballisodare, Knocknarea
mountain and glen, and some of the interesting prehistoric
monuments that are so common in County Sligo. A sketch
was next given of the coast scenery of Achill, Clare Islands, and
Clew Bay, the great sea cliffs of Achill, also Croaghpatrick, from
which St. Patrick drove the last serpents from Ireland, and the
- new Mallarany Hotel, between Westport and Achill. This
hotel is situated in the midst of the finest scenery of the west
coast, and close to the railway station. Views of the bays and
estuaries of County Kerry and its noble mountain scenery were
shown, as well as of the new southern hotels at Kenmare,
Waterville, Parknasilla, and Caragh Lake. These hotels were
fitted up with every recent improvement, including Turkish
baths, salt water and fresh water baths, and offer trout and
salmon fishing, as well as shooting over 25,000 acres, to their
visitors free of charge. The average mean temperature in the
vicinity is 52 Fahr.—a higher register than Torquay or Vent-
nor. These hotels are of great benefit to invalids who require

Treland as a Tourist Resort. 49

a mild climate in winter, and save them the fatigue of a journey
to the South of Europe.

The lovely scenery on the Blackwater from Youghal to Lis-
more was illustrated. Youghal was referred to as that ancient
town hallowed by reminiscences of the great Sir Walter
Raleigh, whose house still survives, its old wainscotted rooms
being most cosy and comfortable still. What interesting
visions might there be enjoyed of Irish kerne and gallowglass,
and English adventurers seeking for rich Irish lands—of Boyle,
first Earl of Cork; and of Spenser, too, who probably discussed
the “ Fairy Queen” and smoked a friendly pipe with Raleigh
under the shade of the great yew trees that still stand in the
garden before the home.

The lecturer next took his hearers to Wicklow, to Glen-
malure, with the memories of the O’Tooles and Byrnes, and to
Glendalough, the ancient ecclesiastical city that ruled the
Celtic Church before the See of Dublin superseded it, the
Dargle, Enniskerry and Sugar Loaf Mountain, the Scalp, Glen
of the Downs, the Grand Hotel, Greystones; Newrath Bridge
Hotel, Waterfall, Devil’s Glen; Meeting of the Waters, Royal
Hotel, Glendalough ; Vale of Avoca, Wexford, New Ross,
Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy, &c. The district through which
the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway Co.’s system runs.
possesses for the tourist attractions of a most varied character.
It would be difficult to find elsewhere, contained within so
limited a space, such a combination of scenery—high rugged
mountains, wild glens, wooded hills and valleys, lakes, rivers,
and waterfalls, all bounded by a varied and picturesque coast.
It also abounds in objects of antiquarian interest, ruins of castles,
abbeys, round towers, and Celtic churches, &c. A fine series of
views were shown on the Great Northern Railway system,
including the Boyne Valley. This valley is very rich in
ancient monuments of Pagan, early Christian, and Anglo-
Norman times. These include the great Pagan Pyramids of
Dowth, Nowth, and New Grange, the first and last of which
were ransacked by the Danes in the ninth century, but Nowth

4

50 Ireland as a Tourzwst Resort.

still remains intact. Next are the ruins of Mellifont Cistercian
Abbey, where Queen Dervorgill, wife of O’Rorke of Breftney,
who afterwards eloped with MacMurrough, ended her days.
Further up the river, at Slane, there are ruins of the abbey on
the site where Saint Patrick lighted his Easter fire in sight of
Tara Hill. Further up still, the traveller comes to Donaghmore
round tower, Bective Abbey, and Tara Hill. If we proceed to
Kells and Trim, what a wealth of Anglo-Norman castles there
are, sculptured crosses, ancient churches, stone-roofed houses,
holy wells, and relics of Ireland of the most varied kinds
extending over long ages. The rich pastures and beautifully
wooded landscape form a perfect picture. Nearer Drogheda is
the site of the great battle fought between James II. and
William III., and the Obelisk marking the spot where Duke
Schomberg fell.

The scenery of Lough Erne was next described and pictured
on the screen, including Devenish and the lovely wooded
islands of the lake; Beleek and the salmon leap at Bally-
shannon. Next Bundoran, the splendid, bracing watering-
place, with its cliffs, caves, and fairy bridges. The fine hotel
has been greatly enlarged, and there are extensive golf links.
The trout-fishing on Lough Melvin, near Bundoran, was
referred to, as well as the salmon-fishing on the Erne. Leaving
Bundoran, one can easily cross via Ballyshannon to Donegal,
- whereare ruins of the ancient Franciscan monastery, where the
four masters compiled their great work. The castle was built
in Queen Elizabeth’s time, and the River Esk flows at its base.
Here the West Donegal Railway is reached, and the tourist
can start for Killybegs, with charming glimpses of Donegal
Bay en route. The scenery iof the district from Killybegs to
Carrick is very fine. Views were shown of Fintra Bay, Teelin
Harbour, Slieve Liag, Glencolumkill, and the salmon leap at
Carrick. The district about Galway, on the Midland line, was
described, and views were shown of the wonderful swallow holes
within a couple or three miles of the city of Galway, where a
river disappears into the earth, and is seen no more ; of the

Ireland as a Tourist Resort. 51

Railway Hotel in Galway, which is leased by Major Hackett,
who is a model and genial host. This gentleman has purchased
the hotel at Clifden, and is rebuilding it. The railway company
are also building an hotel at Recess, where there is a fine
salmon fishery, just in the heart of Connemara. There is also
a first-class hotel at Leenane, most picturesquely situated on
Killery Bay. A country possessed of all these varied attractions,
with the pure air of the Atlantic fresh from nature’s laboratory,
should not have much difficulty in attracting visitors. Why
had travellers been so scarce in the past? Some of the
reasons had been already given—the difficulty of travelling and
the absence of good hotel accommodation. These wants had
now been supplied by the light railways and new hotels. But
Ireland had suffered in the past from another cause, and that
was the absence of the Royal Family. Royalty had not
patronised Ireland or the tourist traffic would have been as
large as it was in Scotland to-day. A royal residence and more
frequent visits from members of the Royal Family would tend
to alleviate some of the ills from which this country had
suffered. The welcome given to the Royal Duke and Duchess
last summer in every part of this country, by every class and
section of the Irish people, showed clearly that the policy which
kept Royalty from these shores had been a mistaken one. The
Shannon route was opened to the public on the occasion of the
visit of the Duke and Duchess of York, the Lower Shannon
from Limerick to Kilrush, as well as the Upper Shannon from
Killaloe, in Clare, to Dromod in Leitrim. The Steamer from
Killaloe passes Kincora, the site of Brian Boru’s palace, into Lough
Derg, which contains many islands, one of which, Inniscaltra or
Holy Island, is the site of an ancient Celtic monastery. There
are the remains of seven churches and around tower on the
island. The principal ruin was the earliest Romanesque church
erected in Great Britain or Ireland, even before Canterbury
Cathedral. The steamer in going uptheriver passes another most
ancient ecclesiastical site, that is Clonmacnois. Here are two
Round Towers and ruins of several churches and sculptured

52 Ireland as a Tourist Resort.

crosses of very great antiquity. Athlone comes next, some nine
miles turther up, and is a most interesting town. It hasa
castle, built in the year 1210, that stood a siege, and is still used
as a barracks. The steamer then enters Lough Ree, a wide
expanse of the Shannon, studded with islands, on which stand
ruins of ancient Celtic churches and Norman castles, and finally
reaches Dromod, in County Leitrim, from whence the traveller
can proceed direct by rail to either Dublin, Belfast, or Sligo.
The Shannon is the noblest river in the United Kingdom, and
the opening of it for tourist traffic is a most important feature
in the development of Ireland. Mr. Milligan gave an interesting
summary of what our railway companies are doing to induce
English people to come to Ireland. An office has been opened
at 2, Charing Cross, London, where an agent attends to give
information and issue tickets to every part of Ireland. The
tourist rates, he pointed out, were now exceedingly low to every
health resort and tourist district in the island. The channel
service was everything that could be desired. Time would not
permit to refer to the beauties of County Down, or the magni-
ficent mountain scenery of the Kingdom of Mourne, which was
in their territory. The County Down Railway Company
would have completed for the ensuing season their new hotel
at Newcastle, which would be one of the very finest tourist
hotels in all Ireland.

In conclusion, Mr. Milligan said he hoped all the varied
attractions—the half of which had not been enumerated—in
this lovely land would soon produce a rich harvest of visitors,
and that the charming scenery off the beaten track would soon
be beaten enough by a regular Anglo-Saxon invasion crossing
over to get better acquainted with Ireland and her people, with
the result that they will become assimilated with them, and
form henceforth a more united and homogeneous nation.

The lecture was illustrated: by no fewer than 150 specially
prepared lantern slides of Irish scenery and antiquities, thrown
upon the screen by Mr. Hogg (the representative of Mr. J.
Lizars).

Ireland as a Tourist Resort. RG)

Mr. Joun Workman, J.P., said he had much pleasure in
proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Milligan for his very able
lecture and the elaborate series of views he had shown. He
agreed with Mr. Milligan that there was no scenery like that of
Ireland. He, himself, had been a good deal abroad, but he had
seen nothing to beat the North of Ireland.

Mr. WitiiaM Gray, M.R.I.A., said he had much pleasure in
seconding the proposition. Mr. Milligan had demonstrated
what he (Mr. Gray) had never any doubt of, that Ireland was
the finest country in Europe, There was no country with the
same area had the same variety of beauty.

The Lorp Mayor said he thought it was hardly necessary
for him to say anything in support of the vote of thanks
except out of compliment to their good friend, to ask them to
pass it by acclamation. He assured Mr. Milligan it gave him
great pleasure, indeed, to be the medium of conveying that
vote of thanks, and he would like to add that one striking
thing in the lecture was the familiarity which Mr. Milligan
had shown with the entire subject, and the magnificent way in
which he had pronounced the Irish words.

Mr. MILLIGAN returned thanks.

Professor EvERETT, F.R.S., proposed that a hearty vote of
thanks be passed to the Lord Mayor for presiding.

Mr. Ropert YounG, J.P., seconded the resolution, which was
passed with much enthusiasm.

Ist February, 198.

Proressor J. D. Everett, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

THE EISTEDDFOD AND THE FEIS CEOIL.
By EpitH OLpHam, A.R.C.M.
( Abstract. )

Mr. W. B. Yeats, the distinguished Irish poet, said recently
ip connection with a movement for the bettering of agricultural
conditions in Ireland, ‘‘ The end of all government, the end of
all politics, the end of all movements. is the making of
character.”

The interdependence of national genius and character is a
subject on which might be written volumes. The building up
of national character is the preliminary step to any full revela-
tion of national genius. The means of doing this are manifold,
and the claim which the Feis Ceoil makes for support from the
enlightened people of Ireland rests on these two reasons—first,
the revelation of national character, and, secondly, the revela-
tion of national genius.

That Ireland was great in song and music is a fact of the
past. That her position at present in music is not a great one
is a fact of the present. How far the disastrous history of
Ireland accounts for the decadence is a matter of opinion. We
can, however, say with absolute accuracy, that for many years
conditions have been unfavourable to the development of the
musical genius of Irish people. It isthe ardent hope of many
members of the Feis Ceoil, that disabilities being removed, and
encouragement given to the Irish people in this direction,

The Ezsteddfod and the Feis Ceozl. 55

the latent fires of genius will once more spring into activity.
But there is the other and perhaps greater claim for support—
the formation of national character. Ireland may or may not
become a musical country. Her supremacy in olden times does
not go to prove anything ; because the folk song, in which lies
the preéminence of Ireland, is to modern music what the
Homeric Legends are to Greek literature, or the rude orna-
ment of a savage people to the pictures of modern painters.
But national character depends upon the cultivation of self-
reliance and independence, upon self-control and perseverance,
and upon many other qualities which are developed and trained
by organizing such movements as the Feis Ceoil. For it is by
creating Irish institutions, founded and supported by Irish men
and women, institutions which do not depend on English or
foreign patronage or approval for their success, that national
character can be developed and built up. In the Feis Ceoil are
ideals and hopes which are not bounded by the merely artistic
success of the movement. That is an essential of course, but
we have aims which, if rightly stated, must appeal to every man
and woman who desires better things for Ireland.

We might add to the words of Mr. Yeats quoted above, that
the making of character is the object of all education ; and the
two institutions which give the title to this paper are educa-
tional in the very highest sense. The Eisteddfod of Wales,
which has been the model in many respects of the Feis Ceoil,
is an institution with a peculiar and unique interest of its own.
It is not a musical and artistic event pure and simple ; it is the
expression of the ideas and culture of a nation, and embodies
its highest aspiration—the outward and visible sign of inward
and spiritual forces, which make for what are the most fruitful
sources of happiness and good. It has grown up with the
people, and, after years of existence and association with them,
is as much to the Welsh people as the hand is to the crattsman,
or pen to writer. ‘lake the Eisteddfod from Wales, and you
deprive a nation of its speech—a people is left, dumb and
inarticulate, filled with yearnings and desires which find no

56 The Eisteddfod and the Fes Ceozl.

expression in the social and economic conditions in which it
lives. Man does not live by bread alone, and it is not in the
possession of warm clothes and comfortable dwellings that the
great factor of human happiness, which for want of a better
word I must call the soul, finds its being. It constantly desires
the better things, But, in time, a people deprived of the
legitimate outlet for its ideality and imagination comes to
regard these things with listless apathy, and in an emotional
people a vague discontent, and restless dissatisfaction of the cause
of which they are themselves perhaps unaware, take their
place.

Such a people are the Irish of to-day. Ireland, once the
home of a living art, still possessed of traditions of greatness in
the higher things, still endowed with a spirituality which
centuries of misgovernment and misunderstanding on the part
of the ruling race have not eradicated, Ireland, the land of song,
sings no more, and discontent—“ divine discontent,” could we
but rightly trace its source—eats out the heart of her people.

What may be described as a fraternity having the true and
highest national aims has existed in Wales. This is the
Gorsedd of the Isle of Britain, which dates its origin to remote
times, and which, by holding festivals called Eisteddfodau, has
endeavoured to keep alive the interest and enthusiasm in
poetry, music, and art. The general aspiration of the Gorsedd
is embodied in the prayer, which is the only religious episode
in the whole event. It is said to be handed down from pagan
times:—‘‘Grant us, O God, thy protection; and in that protection,
power; in that power, wisdom ; in that wisdom, knowledge ;
in that knowledge, knowledge of the just; in knowing the
just, love ; and in love, the love of every attribute ; and by
loving every attribute, the love of God.” This prayer touches
the highest note in the gamut of national aspiration. Such
aspiration illumines and dignifies every effort of however
apparently trivial a character made in the direction of true
progress.

The details of the Eisteddfod vary very considerably from

The Eisteddfod and the Fes Ceozl. 57

time to time. The programme embraces competitions in
literature, art, and music. In Ireland this Feis Ceoil has only
to do with music, but a time may come when an amalgamation
of such societies as the Arts and Crafts Society, The National
Literary Society, the Gaelic League and the Feis Ceoil may
come about, and annually hold a Festival resembling the
Welsh Eisteddfodau.

The most remarkable feature at present in the programme
of the Eisteddfod is the choral contests. Almost every town
and village sends up its choir or glee party, and the interest in
these events is intense. The wooden pavilion in which all the
proceedings take place is specially constructed for the occasion,
and is eapable of seating over 12,000 people, and on the days on
which the choral competitions take place it is crowded in every
part with people who come from all parts of the country.

With regard to numbers, the Feis Ceoil cannot compare
with the Welsh Festival. But throughout all the competitions
I think we have a distinctly higher standard. Even in the
choral competitions unaccompanied singing is enforced in all
our competitions, which is not so in Wales. A marked
difference with us is the class of competitors. In Wales the
working classes are the bulk of the competitors, but this is a
point to which the Feis may yet attain. The results so far
have tended to great encouragement, the formation of local
choral societies being the most gratifying result of the efforts
of the Feis Ceoil.

In any organization of the kind in Ireland it would be
impossible to omit the subject of the traditional music of
Ireland. Sir C. H. H. Parry says of Irish music that it is “‘ the
most human, most varied, most poetical and most imaginative
in the world.” It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the
importance of our folk music. It appears more and more that
the zazzona/ note in music is becoming important. Now that
what may be called the technique of musical composition has
been so thoroughly mastered, the new source of inspiration
must be supplied by the extraordinary vigour and freshness of

58 The Eisteddfod and the Feis Ceozl.

0M
Folk music ; and certain it is, that while itzis international in
the sense that it is great art, the music of Liszt, Greig, Brahms,
Wieniowski, and other modern composers of the first rank is
national in a very literal sense. If we have any hope of forming
a modern school of Irish music, we must lovingly preserve and
make known those precious outpourings of an earlier and less
conventionalised civilization.

The happiness of a people, its self-respect and its character
are inextricably bound up in its arts and crafts, its music, its
painting, its literature. These are the real things that endure
to the end, not the ephemeral changes that warfare and
material progress bring about. Battles have been fought and
won, dynasties changed, and it has made but little difference
to the world. What has done so has been such a thing as the
impress of a mind and art like the Greek. Such an influence
is practically imperishable.

To teach a people to stand firmly on its own merits, not to
imitate the fashions and ideas of another race, but to lift its
head among nations, as a self-respecting and self-reliant entity
in the civilization of the world, contributing its impetus to the
progress of the human race, perhaps adding some inestimable
gift which no other people can give—this is the true nationality
and it is with ideals such as these that the Feis Ceoil has been
founded, and that the Eisteddfod has been kept alive for so
many years.

On the conclusion of the lecture vocal selections in illustration
of some of the more beautiful but less-known Irish airs were
given by Mr. W. Thomas and Mr. W. Curran. Mr. Thomas
sang ‘Movourneen Mine” and “The Heather Glen,” as
arranged by Signor Esposito, while Mr. Curran gave “ The
Lament for Owen Roe O’Neill” and “The Return from
Fingal,” arranged by Dr. Stantord. A number of the tunes
played on the Irish bagpipes in the competitions at the Feis
Ceoil in Dublin, were reproduced on the phonograph, under

The Eisteddfod and the Fes Ceoil. 59

the direction of Mr. J. P. Sinclair. A Scotch bagpipe selection
which was added served to point the contrast between the Irish
and Scottish pipes as regards musical quality.

Mr. ApAM DuFFIN, in moving a vote of thanks to Miss
Oldham, said she had in her beautiful and eloquent essay
touched some of the finest chords of Irish patriotic feeling. It
was a pleasant thing to think that in this movement the North
was not precluded from joining hands heartily with the South,
and they were thankful to Miss Oldham for trying to impart
to them some of her own enthusiasm in regard to the Feis
Ceoil.

Dr. St. Crair Boyp, in seconding the vote, thought it was
only fair to say that but for Miss Oldham the Feis Ceoil would
certainly not have been the success it was, even if it had been
held at all, He hoped, now that the movement had been
taken up in Belfast, that every one interested in it would do
their best to assist it, which they could do by becoming sub-
scribers. The local Committee were doing all in their power
to make the forthcoming gathering a success.

The vote was passed with acclamation, and in acknowledging
it Miss OtpHaM said Belfast choirs had carried off two of the
principal prizes at the Dublin Feis, and this year Dublin was
going to send down at least one choir as a direct challenge to
Belfast.

A vote of thanks was also passed to Messrs. Thomas, Curran,

and Sinclair, on the motion of Professor FirzGeRALD, seconded
by Mr. A. S. Matirr.

60

Ist March, 1898.

Proressor M. F. Firzceratp, B.A., M.I.C.E., in the Chair.

RAILWAYS AND THEIR PRACTICAL WORKING.
By W. H. Morais, C.E.
( Abstract. )

Mr. Morris commenced with a descriptive account of the
old plateways from the year 1676, and their various progression
stages, leading up to the introduction of railways at the com-
mencement of the present century, and, after giving particulars
of the famous ‘“ Puffing Billy” and other noted locomotives,
the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1827
and the Manchester and Liverpool line. He gave an account
of the engines and carriages used, the difficulties of promotion
and construction, and of the competitive engine trials at Rain-
hill, when Stephenson’s ‘‘ Rocket” won. After telling of the
famous “battle of the gauges,’ which lasted for upwards of
fifteen years, and various other historical facts, such as the more
recent ‘‘race to the North,” Mr. Morris dealt with the more
practical part of modern railway appliances. He next dealt
with the various kinds of permanent way and the manner of
construction, and with the superiority of timber sleepers over
iron or steel, of the train staff in use to prevent collision on
single lines, and the block telegraph system ; also of that most
important matter of interlocking and signalling with the many
safety appliances in use by railway companies, and in addition
referred to the other sundry and. necessary precautions, such as
sight-testing of railway men for colour blindness and defective
vision, &c.

Radways and ther Practucal Working. 61

The lecturer concluded with a number of most interesting
statistics. Amongst these he mentioned that the total amount
of railway capital in the United Kingdom is £1,029,475,335,
which is considerably greater than the national debt. The
gross receipts for 1896 were £90,119,122, and the working
expenses £ 50,192,424, while the number of passengers carried
annually were so great and the fatalities so few that if a person
travelled daily from Belfast to Dublin and back he would,
according to the law of average, require to make these journeys
for over 4,000 years before the railway terminated his earthly
career. The present rolling stock was so great that if it was
all coupled up together it would form a train long enough to
encircle the British Isles, whilst the number of railway servants
was greater than the British Army at home and abroad, Army
Reserve, and Militia all combined.

Mr. JoHN Horner moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Morris for
his able and interesting lecture.

Mr. JoHNn Pim seconded the motion, which was passed by
acclamation.

The CHAIRMAN, in conveying the vote to Mr. Morris, said
that by the averages as to accidents which he had given, it
would appear that if they had a railway to the sun they would
be killed twice on the way, so that they would never get to
the sun.

Mr. Morris briefly acknowledged the vote.

62

26th April, 1898.

Proressor J. D, Everett, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

THE EVOLUTION OF FLOATING AND OTHER DRY
DOCKS.

By James Maxton, M.I.N.A., M.I. Mar. E.

My object in writing a brief Paper on Floating and other Dry
Docks, is to stimulate a desire in Belfast to keep ahead of, or at
least in line with, the times, and to ventilate a subject closely
associated with the Shipbuilding and Shipowning interests, and
hence with our progressing and enterprising City, rather than
to bring before you any novelty or unique experience in the
design or construction of these conveniences and necessities of a
Maritime Nation.

To have written a Paper on the latest and most approved
types of Dry Docks would have given me very great pleasure,
but it would hardly have been suitable for our Society, whose
membership includes many who are not closely in touch with
Shipping, but who, nevertheless, take a lively interest in all
that pertains to Great Britain’s Maritime greatness and
supremacy.

History oF Dry Docks.

From the days of Noah, and earlier, there must have been
means of examining externally the bottom of ships or other
structures that float upon the surface of the water. With small
Craft this was a simple process, but as vessels became larger not
a little difficulty must have been. experienced by nautical men
to repair or examine their vessels without injury to the
structure.

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 63

The natural method to get at the bottoms of vessels is to haul
them up high and dry, and in tidal harbours, the one still
resorted to, is to select a suitable beach, and at spring tides
gently strand the vessel, and when the tide recedes heel her
over to one side or the other as required, and await the next
spring tide to float her off.

It was and is a common thing to excavate round the vessel
and form a dam and so protect the workmen from any incursion
of the water. These operations had to be resorted to in order
to caulk and pay the bottom seams and butts of the planking ;
the process was generally known as “ Graving,” and no doubt
this was the origin of “ Graving Dock,” dock where “‘ Graving”
or ‘“‘ Paying ’’ could be performed with little risk or interruption.
It was only a step to select a tidal creek, build a wall across
the entrance, and demolish the latter when work was nnished.

The next development appears to have been to make this
enclosure more symmetrical, watertight, and secure from
flooding, by excavation and building side walls with a gate on
entrance, and so permit of work within going on with regularity.

The first of the modern Graving Docks appears to have been
constructed about the year 1623 at Deptford. In this dock the
water was allowed to flow in, at high water the vessel was
hauled in, berthed and shored, and when the tide receded leaving
the bottom of dock dry, the gates at the entrance were closed,
preventing the next tide from flooding the dock and floating
the vessel.

In more recent years Graving Docks have been deepened and
artificial means adopted to accelerate the removal of the water,
so that the vessel’s keel may be much below the level of the
water outside, at low water mark, thus admitting vessels of
greater draft than the difference in rise and fall of tide ; never-
theless I think they have hardly advanced with the times, as
will be explained later.

We have a very good example of a modern Graving Dock in
Belfast, 880’ + 83’ 8” + 26’ 6,” which may be divided in three
sections ; a more recent one at Glasgow, and a still larger one

64. The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

in Liverpool is now under construction, to eclipse all other
dry docks, 920’ long + 94’ width of entrance, and 23’ to 34’ over
sill at high water.

In Britain the most modern docks are constructed of concrete
with granite copings; others are hewn out of the solid rock ;
others constructed of hard or soft stone ; anda few of wood.
In America a great number are constructed of wood, and I
know of a few improvised iron dry docks. It is all a matter of
locality, material at disposal, and money.

GRIDIRONS.

A gridiron consists of transverse timbers, on blocks fastened
to piles, or resting on aad attached to the rock.

The older kinds are only of use where there is a convenient
rise and fall of tide. The vessel is hauled over the structure at
high water and listed shorewards, and on the falling of the
tide the bottom is accessible. A modern adaptation of grid-
irons will be referred to.

The principal objection to gridirons is that only a short time
between tides is available for work, and they are therefore
unsuitable for substantial repairs. They are, however, very
useful for minor examinations and repairs, and being cheap to
construct are to be found all round the coast.

In passing I may mention a process to avoid the use of a
dry dock, which is termed “ Careening” or ‘“‘ Heaving Down.”
It is often resorted to for examination of a vessel’s bottom,
especially in sheltered ports that have no rise and fall of tide,
nor Graving Docks. It is attended with some risk, especially
when the range of stability of the ship is unknown. The loss
of H.M.S. “‘ Royal George,” was the result of ignorant careening.
It is, however, often resorted to, and it was performed at my
request last year on a vessel in Holland ; the photo shows the
keel of vessel above water level. In this case it was done to
examine and temporarily repair.the damage to bottom plating.

Large vessels were often strained by careening, and the
practice no doubt willsoon cease. A design for a self-careening

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 65

modern steamer, however, has been suggested which would
enable cleaning, painting, or temporary repairs to be effected,
where no dry dock or other conveniences were available.

SLIPWAYS.

The Slipway, generally called Patent Slip, is a more
mechanical contrivance for external repairs, and consists of a
cradle running on wheels along an inclined track. This cradle is
lowered sufficiently below the water level to allow the vessel to
be floated above it, then the cradle with the vessel is hauled
high and dry by powerful machinery. The process is very
quick, but risky, and many accidents have happened at the
operation.

Slipways are hardly suitable for large steamers, but are con-
venient and much used.

There was one in Belfast, but it was removed some years ago.
A small one may be seen at Carrickfergus.

Screw Docks.

The Screw Dock, as the name implies, is a platform on which
vessels may be placed and raised by means of screws. The first
sample was built in 1837 and was of American origin, in which
country there are still a number. In 1836 the screws of the
original dock were replaced by hydraulic lifts, which are more
effective and easy of manipulation.

Lirt Dock.

A slight modification of the previous dock was constructed in
the Victoria Docks, London, in 1857, and worked by Hydraulic
Jacks. These jacks carried Pontoons, or Saucers, as they were
called, which were lifted with the vessel. The pontoons, when
drained were made water-tight, the vessel was then hauled to a
gridiron and deposited thereon.

This dock had a great capacity depending upon the gridiron
area at disposal, and was more adapted for ports where there
was little or norise of the tide.

5

66 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

FLOATING Docks.

In my opinion the introduction of the Modern Floating Dry
Dock was a considerable advance upon any previous contrivance
for docking vessels, and is both scientific, practical, and
economical, merits which are being more appreciated every day.

The history of their origin and development is very in-
teresting.

CaMEL Dock.

In the reign of Peter the Great it is reported that a Geordie
Captain had a vessel in the Bay of Cronstadt, which it was
imperative that heshould recaulk, and there being no dry dock
available the Captain cast about and found an old craft much
larger than his own, which he purchased for a small sum ; he
then gutted out the hulk, cut one end off, fitted gates to it,
floated his vessel inside this improvised contrivance, closed the
gates, pumped out the water contained in the space between
his own and the old craft, both floating; so the idea of a floating
dry dock originated, and to the present day these docks and
other similar contrivances are known as *‘ Camels.”

No doubt the news spread and practical minds saw a future
‘for docks so constructed, and in or about 1774 a dry dock
embodying these principles was constructed at Devonport by a
shipwright named Aldersley, and a year or so later one was
built by Watson on the Thames.

In 1809 one was designed by Trevithick & Dickinson, to be
constructed of iron, with cellular side platforms to make the
structure stable and give reserve buoyancy to avoid sinking too
deep, but the dock was never constructed.

SECTIONAL Docks.

In 1837 a Sectional Floating Dock was invented, which was
the pioneer of many which are much used to this day.

The earlier ones were constructed of wood and consisted of a
series of large pontoons, transverse to the vessel which they
support, each section or pontoon having a house on each end,

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 67

built on vertical supports, These vertical supports acted as
guides for a float, and the process of docking of vessel was :—
First fill the Pontoon with water, raise the floats by means of
screws which depressed and submerged the pontoon, haul the
vessel between the floats, screw down the floats until the keel
of vessel rested on pontoon, then shore and pump out the
pontoon, floating the vessel and dock to a convenient berth,
where the vessel if so desired could be hauled with its launch-
ways to a prepared track, thus introducing the principle of
the more modern depositing dock. Each section was detachable
and could be docked for repairs or painting, on the remaining
sections.

The introduction of iron and the use of Hydraulic jacks
instead of screws for raising and lowering the floats, have made
this dock a great favourite for despatch and convenience.

BALANCE Docks.

In 1848 the American Government had constructed of wood
a dock of the ‘‘ Balance” type, which consists of a bottom
pontoon with cellular wall sides, and derives its name from the
method of submerging. Being of soft wood it will not sink
when water-logged ; to overcome this there is an upper deck
in the side walls which can be filled with water, thus loading
the structure conveniently to submerge it to a suitable draft.

When the vessel is berthed the water is allowed to drain off
the deck and the cellular structure is pumped out, lifting itself
and the vessel. The dock is sometimes fitted with gates and
then is capable of raising much weightier vessels. One of the
main features of the modern and most perfect type of floating
dock.

Rennig’s Dock.

The father of the modern metal floating dry dock was Mr. C.
B. Rennie, who designed and had constructed in 1859 a dock
for Carthagena, to lift a dead weight of about 6,500 tons, an
achievement to be proud of in those early days of iron structures.

68 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

Subsequently in 1869, a floating dock capable of lifting a vessel
of 10,000 tons weight was built to Rennie’s designs for Bermuda,
on the “ Balance” system and U section, with numerous water-
tight divisions and decks, the object being to self-careen the
dock for cleaning or repairing the bottom, but the stability was
not all that could be desired, and when taken out to Bermuda
the operation of careening was never attempted, and in
consequence corrosion rendered the dock inoperative. The
cellular portion was subsequently partially filled with concrete
and the dock is now used as an ordinary graving dock with end
gates fitted.

BRAMWELL’s Dock.

The next improvement is to be found in Sir Frederick
Bramwell’s dock, designed and constructed for St. Thomas.
The pontoons were independent and could be detached for self-
docking, but the walls were continuous lattice girders, to give
the structure a certain rigidity absent in the sectional docks of
America. It is regrettable to note that the merits of self-
docking were not universally adopted in subsequent designs
until a later period ; now all floating docks areso designed that
they can be docked in sections. or all parts made accessible in
some convenient manner.

DeEposITiInG Dock.

The first modern side depositing dock was the Nicolaieff
Dock, designed by Messrs. Clark & Stanfield, and constructed
in 1878; it has since been removed to Sebastopol. ‘The
principal merit is its capacity, it can lift and deposit on a
suitable gridiron a number of vessels, or the lifted vessel may
remain upon the dock if convenient. Another commendable
feature is, that vessels of abnormal beam such as paddle steamers,
or the Popoff ironclads, can be dealt with on this type of dock
without necessarily increasing the beam of structure. The
stability of the dock when submerged is provided for by a
floating counter-balance, which is somewhat in the way when

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 69

the dock is being hauled about to deposit its load on the grid-
iron, ard the large area required for operation somewhat
prevents the more general adoption of this type, but with
plenty available room and a brisk shipping business this is
about the cheapest and most convenient form of dry dock. A
large rise and fall of tide, however, somewhat curtails its use.

THE Orr SHORE Dock.

The Off Shore Dock is of recent date and has been designed
to meet special circumstances and localities. It somewhat
resembles in form the depositing dock, except that it merely
rises and falls with itsloadand the tide. Its principal advantage
is that a vessel can be hauled broadside on, a merit worthy of
consideration with firms or public bodies who have limited
water frontage, or where there is a narrow water-way with
strong currents or tides. Its principa] objection is that it is not
self-contained but must have shore attachments, involving
additional expense in construction and upkeep, and preventing
its removal to another site without preparation.

Generally, this outline description covers the field in dry
dock architecture ; there are numerous modifications, but the
general principles are embodied in these remarks or explained
during the course of reading when referring to the illustration,
and I shall therefore only briefly refer;to the necessary pumping
arrangements associated with dry docks.

In most of the smaller graving docks the emptying of the
docks follows the falling of the tide asa matter of course, where
there is a sufficient rise and fall of tide to be of service, but in
the larger and more modern type a powerful pumping in-
stallation is provided to more quickly empty the dock and so
permit access to the vessel’s bottom. These pumps are now
almost universally of the centrifugal type, which for small
lifts are found to be very effective, convenient, and easily
maintained. Usually the pumps are connected direct to high
speed steam engines, but in a recent floating dry dock electric
motors have been utilised and coupled direct to the pumps

70 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Dochs.

and supplied by power from a central generating station on
shore ; outside the pumping machinery there is little steam
power required in a graving dock. The gates, or caissons, are
usually worked either by steam, gas, or hydraulic engines.
Sometimes warping capstans and cranes are provided to
expedite the berthing of vessels and facilitate repairs.

With floating docks, mechanical contrivances are far more
numerous and the saving of labour has been much more studied
than in graving docks, and it has always struck meas a curious
fact that so little attention,has been given to mechanical aids
in the case of graving docks.

I have noticed side by side a new graving dock and a pontoon
dock, where every facility was provided in the latter and totally
absent in the former. Perhaps some gentleman present might
suggest a reason for this. The only one that occurs to me is
that the graving dock is usually the property of a public body
who has a monopoly, and who finds it perhaps more difficult to
advance in the direction of progress than the private frm who
must cater for business in an age of severe competition. And
I would most earnestly appeal to Harbour Boards and Trusts to
study the desires, conveniences, and economies of shipowners in
a liberal spirit, and to bear in mind that competition exists not
only between private firms but between large shipping centres.

Take as an illustration the process of securing the use of a
dry dock. The vessel has to be “entered” and deposit fee
paid (sometimes this is a heavy item), then the process of
regulating all at a specific hour and place and other routine
preliminaries, and if by some unforeseen circumstance the
vessel misses her turn and has to leave the port the deposit fee
is forfeited. I have no doubt large public bodies have to insist
upon very rigid methods of procedure, but private firms have
been compelled to dispense with these, and with them there are
no deposit fees, and “ entering ” can be done at all hours, and
perhaps best of all, the firm’s representative with persuasive
smiles and saponaceous manner solicits the shipowner’s custom
and makes many concessions here and there, all tending to

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 71

smooth the somewhat rugged path of the worried shipowner.
Only the other night I was enabled to enter, regulate and dry
dock a vessel between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., thereby
saving an entire day, and all negotiations were conducted
through the telephone, and if such or similar arrangements
could be adopted by corporate bodies I feel sure the port would
considerably benefit by them.

The majority of floating docks are owned by individuals or
companies who are quick to note the desires of their customers,
having at the same time an eye on dividends ; with the result
that on the modern floating docks we find such conveniences as
the following :—

Hydraulic shores all fore and aft, these are of such a design
that they not only act as ordinary shores but can move the
vessel into the required position ; then there are centreing
shores which automatically bring the vessel plumb over the
blocks. Again, bilge shores are all mechanical, with the
advantage that they can all be placed by not more than two or
three men. Again, we find fitted, means for washing down
with powerful hydraulic jets, both hot and cold. Powerful
warping capstan and travelling cranes to expedite repairs are
provided. Portable and fixed electric lights to facilitate night
work, handy platforms dispensing with staging or scaffolding,
GEc.,etc,

With this information before us one cannot but believe that
the graving dock, even as now designed, is a crude and
antiquated contrivance, and is it a wonder we give preference
to the floating dry dock ?

I might point out some of the advantages the floating dry
dock has over the graving dock in a harbour like Belfast.

1. It is much cheaper than a graving dock, costing probably
one half, and the price can be definitely stated before the
commencement of construction.

z. It is a self-contained structure not being affected by
doubtful foundations, awkward land springs, or the nature of
the ground at all, hence no contingent allowances are required.

72 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

3. It can be removed at a nominal cost should re-arrange-
ment of the harbour be facilitated thereby.

4. The largest can be constructed in less than 12 months with
certainty, from the signing of the order.

5- It can be extended from time to time at a cost per tou
about the same as the original structure, and need not be a day
out of commission.

6. It is a most valuable asset, as it can be sold and towed to
its new home with ease and little expense.

7. It may be moved out to sea to a vessel unable to come
into Harbour, and carry both itself and burden up the channel
for repairs.

8. In case of war it can be taken to the base of operation and be
equally as effective in any sheltered harbour as Belfast.

g. It can adopt itself to any list a damaged or sinking vessel
may have that would debar a large vessel from entering even
the largest graving docks yet made.

1o. All round it is more accurate, safe, and labour saving
than a graving dock, and as now made, quite capable of
reducing the time for docking and undocking by one half.

11. The process of drying the vessel is accelerated considerably
by the fact of having open ends aud being on a level with the
water instead of down in a deep hole, away from the influence
of air currents or the sun.

12. It can be constructed locally.

For purposes of comparison I shew side by side two sections,
one representing the most modern graving dock yet constructed
and the other the most modern floating dock ; the graving
dock can only take in a vessel drawing 27 feet on the average
spring tides, whilst the latter can take one drawing 34 feet on
either spring or neap tides.

Graving Dock. Floating Dock.

Weight of structure... ie» UOA,O50 6,500
Time in construction ... .-» 62 years. I year.
Cost, about ... wee ious 350,000 £125,000

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 3

Tons of water to be pumped in

order to empty dock igs 103,000 6,000

Ditto when a vessel displacing
10,000 is inside .. ive?) 5§'35;000 17,000
116,000 23,000

The space occupied by both docks is about the same, but no
extended area at the side is required for the floating dock ; it
would favour the utility of the floating dock if it were placed
parallel with the river so that vessels could be hauled in from
either ends.

With graving docks there is often a great waste of space and
the docking is often attended with risks when the vessel is
being hauled across the tide, owing to the general practice of
having it at right angles to the river.

In conclusion, I trust these few remarks will tend to stimulate
the proud desire to maintain Britain’s supremacy as a naval
and Maritime nation, and as Belfast leads the world in the
construction of modern steamships, let us as commercial and
patriotic citizens second such creditable enterprise, and at the
proper time provide such graving duck accommodation that
will be in keeping with the advances in naval architecture: a
dry dock that will be of great service in times of peace and
invaluable in times of war.

Mr. MacItwatne said when he heard that Mr. Maxton was
to read this paper he looked forward to it with great pleasure.

He never had had any experience of a Floating Dock, it
might do very well for small vessels but he rather doubted if
it would do so well for large ones. If Belfast is to keep the
position it holds with regard to shipping it must certainly go
in for Dry Dock Appliances in the port. There are vessels
being built which cannot be dealt with without proper
appliances and there is no doubt there will be others which it
will be more difficult to deal with, and it becomes a question
for the people of Belfast to make up their minds which class
of Dock they will adopt.

74 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

In Proprietory Docks the representaive was anxious to get
hold of a client and he was courteous, but the tendency of a
corporation was to red tape. He thought the latter hardly
applied to Belfast. The fact had to be accepted that Dock
accommodation must be supplied by the Harbour Commis-
sioners and it could not be in better hands.

The type of Dock, as per Mr. Kelly’s drawing, has answered
the requirements pretty well, and has kept pace with the
reformations up to the present, therefore some very good reasons
would be required for altering it. Of course Mr. Maxton
mentions a lot of things which are much in favour of the
Floating Docks—Mechanical Shores, Bilge Blocks to support
the vessel underneath, Windlass and Cranes to lift things about
the dock.

He did not know how Mr. Kelly was aware of what Mr.
Maxton was going to say, Mr. Maxton says the Floating Dock
is cheaper and Mr. Kelly says it is dearer ; however, that will
be left for them to settle.

Mr. Maxton makes a very important point, namely, time of
construction 12 months, which is very important, the
Graving Dock perhaps would take 3, 4, 5,or 7 years. Then
he (Mr. Maxton) claims it is moveable, it is saleable, and it is
extensible, that is to say, if it is 600 feet long you can make
it 800 feet long, and if it is required to be 10 feet more beam
it could be done at a small cost. He (Mr. Macllwaine) would
go in for a Floating Dock if repairs to vessels were of a
trifling character.

In conclusion he thought it absolutely necessary that Belfast
must have a new Dock if the city is to keep in the front,
and Mr. Maxton has rendered a service to the community in
general by bringing facts before the public. It rests with the
ratepayers. The Commissioners themselves cannot decide it
if the ratepayers are against it. Ifa Dock is to be constructed
of whatever kind, it must be a big one. Mr. Kelly has shewn
us a design of something like what would be the biggest Dock
in the world, even larger than the Glasgow one.

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 75

Professor FITZGERALD remarked that whatever was done in
the matter of Dock Extension in Belfast should be done not
necessarily with a view to the minimum of cost but the
maximum of efficiency taking everything into consideration.

Vhe Floating Dock which Mr. Maxton referred to at
Nicholaieff was a very valuable one at the time, because it was
the only Dock that would take up the circular Ironclads which
were too large to come into an ordinary dock. All the subse-
quent docks that have been made there, however, have been
regular Graving Docks, although the situation would have been
very suitable for gridirons.

With regard to extensibility, he thought that where land
was available there was very little difficulty in extending a
Graving Dock.

Mr. Brown in responding to the request of the President,
said that he came to learn rather than to criticise, and had
listened with great interest tothe paper. Whether Mr. Maxton
was dealing with some brilliant inspiration of his own like his
Submerged Buoyant Bridge, or whether he took up the work
of others, the audience felt it was listening to an enthusiast, and
enthusiasm is always attractive and creates a sympathetic
interest even in a subject of a somewhat technical and unfamiliar
nature like that of this eveuing.

Although unable to criticise the details of the paper, it would
seem to him (Mr. Brown) from broad general considerations
that in recommending the Floating Dock of iron or steel in
preference to the fixed masonry Dock, Mr. Maxton was abreast,
if not probably ahead of the march of progress. The change
from stone to iron in several engineering works was very marked.
In roads, bridges, aqueducts, even in fences is seen this change.
He rather thought Mr. Maxton aad a covert contempt for the
ways and means of the “stone and lime Engineer.’”’ Be that as it
may the many advantages which he has pointed out as specially
pertaining to the Floating Dock would seem to indicate that its
adoption only waits a better acquaintance with it.

He was much struck by the remarks of Mr. Maxton respecting

76 The Evolutou of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

the difficulties arising through the red-tapeism of Commissioners
or Corporations as owners of Docks. The keen feeling of
satisfaction with which he spoke of the comparative ease and
facility experienced in dealing with private dock owners was
very apparent, and it is quite what one would expect. Even with
so respectable and respected a body as our own Harbour Board,
this must be the case to some extent. It might just be pointed
out that evidence of this kind was very much to the point in con-
sidering the socialistic proposals for the ‘‘ Municipalization ” or
“‘ Nationalization” of everything so often encountered in these
latter days.

The opinion seems to be in the air that a larger dock was
required for Belfast. If so, would it not be practicable that its
construction and management should be undertaken by one of
our shipbuilding firms, or by a Company officially formed for
the purpose. If this could be shewn to be a paying speculation
no doubt some of the abundant capital and enterprise in Belfast
would be forthcoming to its support.

Mr. GREENHILL observed that there was such a difference
amongst the Engineers on the comparative utility of Floating
and Graving Docks. When you get a Civil Engineer to deal
with the question, he simply deals with brick and stone, and
when you get a Mechanical Engineer he simply deals with iron
and steel. He thought the proper way to get at the thing
would be to go where these docks were being used and get the
experience of those who actually used them, and also whether
the Shipping Owners preferred the Floating Dry Dock or the
ordinary Graving Dock, but would like to hear what was the
difference, if any, in the upkeep ot the two types of docks.

Mr. Heyn said that like Mr. Brown he came there to listen.
Any remarks he would make would be from a Shipowner’s
point of view. He thought Floating Docks would be a con-
siderable advantage in dealing with small ships. One thing
was the rapidity with which the work could be effected, and

‘the fact that in tidal harbours there is not the necessity to wait
on the tide. Docking operations can be performed at any hour.

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 77

Another thing, the vessel wasn’t sunk in a hole but was raised
above the level of the dock, and so the drying process is more
rapid. He didn't know that a Floating Dry Dock could be got
for Belfast. At present he was in favour of the Graving Dock.
In some places the Floating Dock has been of very great
advantage to Shipowners.

Mr. DEMPSEY said he thought he would be more entitled to
claim reasons for keeping silence than any of the gentlemen
who had preceded him. The Graving Dock question was one
that concerns every one in the city. He thought there should
be both Floating as well as ordinary Graving Docks.

Mr. Carson said he came like some of the other members of
the Corporation to hear Mr. Maxton’s paper. For his own
part he preferred the old system, but would not like to say
anything against the new.

In briefly replying, the Author regretted the absence of
Mr. Redfern Kelly who had favoured the meeting with a
critical letter and plans.

Mr. Maxton explained that Mr. Redfern Kelly's plan shewing
the proposed new graving dock for Belfast was very similar
to that now just opened at Glasgow ; and some of the figures,
for comparison between this modern Dry Dock at Glasgow,
and a modern Pontoon Dock as given in the paper, should
be studied. Had the Belfast Alexandra Dock been a Pontoon
Dock of similar dimensions there would have been no need
for another new Dock in this port, for with an expenditure
of small amount it could have been altered to meet the new
condition of things, whereas to alter the present graving dock
was tantamount to its re-construction, and it is quite possible
that the dimensions now proposed for the new graving dock
will be totally inadequate for vessels built within the next ten
years, and since the conception of the large dock at Liverpool
it has undergone considerable increases in dimensions, and
Belfast should not be satisfied with anything less than Liverpool.

Mr. Macllwaine certainly followed the paper carefully and to
his remarks little can be added, one remark, however, that the

78 The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks.

floating dock was more suited for small than large repairs may
be met by the statement that the Vulcan Ironworks of Stettin
ordered their floating dock specially to lengthen two of the
largest vessels afloat, which operation is considered the heaviest
repair to vessels in a Graving Dock. In passing, it may be
mentioned that this Stettin Floating Dock took 9 months to
build and can lift the largest passenger steamer in the -world,
and cost £90,000 delivered at Stettin, ready for working.

Professor Fitzgerald’s views ve extensibility might undergo
some change, if in extensibility is meant increase of breadth, an
entire new and stronger bottom would be required for a Graving
Dock. Vessels are not cramped for length in Belfast docks, only
breadth, and this would put the dock out of commission for
years, whereas in a Floating Dock it could be done without put-
ting it out of commission more than perhaps a fortnight.

In reply to Mr. Brown, it would be impossible in Belfast for
a private Company to get powers to construct a Dry Dock.

Mr. Greenhill’s remarks are certainly true, Engineers
accustomed to concrete, bricks, and stones, invariably try to use
them, and Engineers accustomed to use steel avail themselves of
that material. Strange that Engineers who advocate the use
of concrete where ever possible have been compelled to adopt
the very principle of a floating structure for the gates or caissons
of Graving Docks, and no doubt by degrees will become converts
and construct the whole dock of steel. He (Mr. Maxton)
certainly recommend those who had only heard of Floating
Docks to go and study them and observe the many advantages
they possess. In reference to upkeep between the two kinds of
docks there was little to choose, probably the Floating Dock
would cost more owing to the greater number of mechanical
appliances usually provided, and the painting, but as a matter
of fact much fewer men are required to attend a large Floating
Dock than are required to work the caissons alone of the Belfast
Graving Dock. Forty-one men were engaged round the Belfast
Alexandra Dock and on board the vessel recently in dry docking
and shoring and working the caisson for a small steamer

The Evolution of Floating and Other Dry Docks. 79

250 feet long ; with a modern Floating Dock the same oper-
ation could be done with ease by six men.

In conclusion the author stated that it was because he had
been engaged so often at the dry docking of vessels that he felt
disgusted at the slow and expensive process in use at even
modern Graving Docks, whereas his experience with the Pontoon
Dock went to shew that at least it was advancing with the
times. A leaf might be taken out of the German book ot
progress and note how they are availing themselves of modern
methods in this as in many other instances, and old and expensive
methods ought not to be retained if new, cheaper, and better
methods can be got; and before adopting another Graving Dock
for Belfast those interested should pay a visit to Hamburg,
Stettin, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Cardiff, Newcastle, and other
places, and study the question with a sample of the Pontoon
Dock before them and confer with the builders of such
structures.

Hamburg, one of the largest if not the largest shipping port
in the world, has but one small Graving Dock 260 feet in length;
this is a very significant fact, and at the present time there are
enquiries for several floating docks to accommodate the largest
vessels being constructed.

The American, Japanese, Russian and Canadian. governments
are all asking for tenders for this class of floating dock.

Mr. Maxton thanked the audience for their patient attention,
and the speakers for their friendly criticism, and likewise the
builders of the largest floating dry docks, Messrs. Swan &
Hunter, and others who had been good enough to furnish some
particulars and plans.

80

NOTES ON SOME RECENT DEEP BORINGS FOR
WATER AT BELFAST.

By Rosert Youna, C.E., J.P.

When near the end of the 18th century geology began to
take its place as a science, it was largely indebted to the miner
and the well sinker for the observations and facts on which its
conclusions were founded, and since then vast additions have
been made to its stores by the labours of engineers in their
deep excavations for railways, docks, canals, waterworks, and
sewers, not to omit the tunnels driven through great mountains,
such as Mount Cenis and San Gothard. Lately, the trial shaft
sunk on the English side for the intended channel tunnel, led
up to a deep boring being made at the suggestion of Prestwick.
Coal was found below the chalk, and it is the opinion of
practical men that it can be raised and sold at a good profit
even at such a depth. The Marquis of Downshire’s search for
coal at Carrickfergus led to the discovery of the important
beds of salt rock. However, I wish to confine my remarks to-
night to a comparatively limited area and to borings, nearly all
‘made quite recently for water supply. These have been generally
sunk by the Diamond boring apparatus which works admirably
in solid rock of any degree of hardness, from sandstone to
granite or porphyry. The boring tool is just an iron tube,
into the lower edge of which are firmly fixed coarse diamonds
which are mostly the refuse of the South African mines, and
as the tube revolves an annular track is dug out corresponding
with the section of the tube, z.e.a6 inch tube, having ? inch
thickness, cuts a ring 2 inches by 6 inches, leaving a core of
rock 44 inches diameter. This is broken off in pieces 5 to 6
feet long and brought to the surface showing the character of

Some Recent Deep Borings for Water at Belfast. 81

the rock in a way that was quite impossible by the old jumping
system under which the mud, which was the resultant, afforded
only a doubtful means of judging the nature of the beds being
passed through or of fixing where one ended and another
began. The new apparatus has done much for science, but an
equal if not a greater boon would be conferred were it possible
to lift the core to the surface in precisely the same plane in
which it stood when parti of the parent rock. With present
mechanical apparatus this is impossible. If a method can be
invented for doing this, the dip of the beds, at various levels
and depths shown on the cores, but now of no practical value,
could be at once utilized and sections prepared which would
have not only an interest for geologists but a value for the
merchant, the miner, and quarry owners.

The following are notes of the most recent borings made in
Belfast and its immediate vicinity, and all, with the exception
of No. 13, were at points only slightly above ordnance datum
and were in the Bunter Sandstone.

I have often wished that there was some official of the city
instructed to collect and register all the details possible about
the borings that are being made, marking the position of each
on the large scale maps with a number or letter corresponding
with his book, valuable information would thus be stored for
the benefit of the citizens at a trifling cost.

Recent Deep Borings for water—

1. At a place now covered by Bread Street,on the Bloomfield
estate, and situate about 200 yards from Beersbridge road. A
6 inch boring was carried through 308 feet Bunter Sandstone,
7 feet of hard rock, and 39 of soft rock, total depth 354 feet.
Water rose 8 feet above surface of ground but was found un-
suitable for raising steam.

2. Irish Distillery at Connswater, 6 inch bore 460 feet through
Bunter Sandstone, 4 inch bore for 65 feet further, in all 525 feet,
only a trifling quantity of water, moderately hard and fresh. The
last cores brought out give strong indications of the Bunter
series being pierced where it thins out upon the carboniferous

82 Some Recent Deep Borings for Water at Belfast.

series, and it is to be regretted that the boring was not
continued somewhat further to clear up this still doubtful point.

3. Avoniel Distillery, Albertbridge Road, close to the
Connswater—

6 inch bore, sandstone 275 feet
Corraline limestone 4 _,,
Sandstone 63%
Total depth, 342 feet

Chapman’s air pump lifts 25,500 gallons per minute and
quality is excellent.

4. North of Ireland Chemical Company, 56 Bond Street, off
M‘Auley Street, 4 inch bore through sandstone, 512 feet,
8,740 gallons per hour are being pumped.

5. Messrs. Millen & Rankin, 50 M‘Auley Street, two bores,
one 4 inch in sandstone, 350 feet. A large supply of good
quality.

6. J. J. M‘Connell & Co., Limited, Distillery off Ravenhill
Road, close to the right bank of Lagan, surface 14 feet over
ordnance datum, 6 inch bore through Bunter sandstone, with
thin veins of marl and gypsum, 352 feet deep, 23,000 gallons
of water raised per hour by Chapman’s air lift pump. Analysis
shows water to be soft and good.

7. John Fulton & Co.’s manufactory, Ormeau Avenue, at
crossing of Apsley Street, 4 inch bore through sand, sleech, and
sandstone, 420 feet, a good supply obtained.

8. Murphy & Stevenson’s Factory, Ormeau Avenue, at
crossing of Linenhall Street, 4 inch bore, sand, sleech, and
sandstone, 400 feet, an excellent supply.

g. Public Baths in Ormeau Avenue, at crossing of Maryville
Street, 6 inch bore through 90 feet of sand and sleech and 310
feet of Bunter sandstone, total depth 400 feet, on analysis
proved to be pure and soft.

10. Pure Ice Company’s Works, Nos. 72, 78 Great Victoria
Street, 4 inch bore, at 109 feet struck a basaltic dyke and
passed through into sandstone at 148 feet, struck another dyke

Some Recent Deep Borings for Water at Belfast. 33

at 228 feet and passed through at 261 and ended in the Bunter
sandstone at depth of 426 feet. A large supply of good water.

11. Grattan & Company, Ltd., Mineral Water Works, No.
68 Great Victoria Street, 6 inch bore in Bunter sandstone, 252
feet, a large yield of very pure water.

12. Brookfield Linen Company, Ltd., Factory, Courtrai
Street, off Cambrai Street, 4 inch bore through Bunter sand-
stone, depth 400 feet, yield, 6,000 gallons per hour.

13. Sir Daniel Dixon’s Saw Mills, Whitla Street, 6 inch bore
in sandstone, at 200 feet water brackish, at 350 water fresh, at
400 feet salt rock reached.

14. Belfast Union Workhouse, 6inch bore through 40 feet
of soil and sand and 480 feet of Bunter sandstone, yield almost
14,500 gallons per hour, analysis shows water to be excellent.

BELEAST

Patural History & Philosophical Society,

Officers and Council of Management for 1898-9.

President:
THOMAS WORKMAN, zp.

Bice- Presidents :

JOHN BROWN. WM. SWANSTON, F.e.s.
PROFESSOR MAURICE F. FITZ- ROBERT YOUNG, B.a., 7.P.,
GERALD, B.a., M.I.M.E., ASSOC. M.R.I.A.
M.I.C.E.

Hon. Breasurer :
JOHN BROWN.

Hoon. Assist. Treasurer :
W. H. F. PATTERSON.

Hon. Hibrarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, z.pr.

feon. Secretary:
ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.1.A.

Gouncil :
JOHN BROWN.
JOHN H. DAVIES.
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.n.s., p.c.u.
LAVENS M. EWART, 3.v., M.R.1.A.
PROF. M. F. FITZGERALD, B.a., M.1.M.E. ASSOC.M.I.C.E.
JOHN H. GREENHILL, mous.sac.
JOHN HORNER.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, s.e., F.1.s.
WM. H. PATTERSON, m.z.1.4.
W. H. F. PATTERSON.
THOMAS F, SHILLINGTON.
WM. SWANSTON, F.c.s. :
THOMAS WORKMAN, u.p.
ROBERT YOUNG, u.r., ¢.5.
R. M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.LA.

SHAREHOLDERS

[*Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

*Alexander, Francis, B.£., Belfast.
Allworthy, Edward, Ardgreenan, Cavehill Road, cde:
Anderson, John, J.p., F.G.s.. East Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R.c.s. Eng. University Square, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, j.p., Ardoyne, do.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun., Donegall Square West, do.
Barbour, James, J.p., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.A., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., j.p., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H., Cultra, Holywood.
Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, Belfast.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Braddell, Edward, The Limes, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William, K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burnett, John R., Rostellan, Malone Road, do.
Byers, Prof. John W., M.a., M.D., University Road, do.
Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.a., M.D., College Square North, do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.
Campbell, James, Strandtown, do.

Carlisle, A. M., Elmwood House, do.

86 Shareholders.

Carr, A. H. R., Rathowen, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.a., J.P., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
Cowan, P. C., M.1.c-n., Downpatrick.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.

Cuming, Professor James, M.A., M.D.. Wellington Place, do.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Mountpellier, Malone Road, do.
Davies, John H., Glenmore Cottage, Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representative of), Newtownbreda.
Dods, Robert, B.a., St. Leonards, Newcastle.
*Donegal, Marquis of, Belfast.
*Downshire,: Marquis of, The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Wellington Place, Belfast.
Duffin, Adam, LL.p., University Square, do.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Everett, Professor Joseph D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.,

22 EKarlscourt Square, London.
Ewart, G. Herbert, Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Ewart, Lavens M., j.p., M.R.1.4., Glenbank House, do.

Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., J.p., Glenmachan House, do.

Faren, Wm., Waring Street, Belfast.
*Fenton, Francis G., London.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Fredk. W., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel.
Finlay, Robert H. F., Hughenden Avenue, Belfast.

Finnegan, John, B.A., B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue, do.

FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.A., M.I.M.E., Assoc.
M.1.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, do.

*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.

Shareholders. 87

Gibson, Andrew, Cliftonville Avenue, Belfast.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant do.
Gordon, Robert W., J.P. (Reps. of), Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.1LA.,

(Representatives of), Broughshane.
Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., mus.Bac., do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.I.A.. Seapark, Carrickfergus.
*Hall, Frederick H., Waterford.
*Hamilton, Hill, j.p. (Representative of), Belfast.
Harland, W., University Road, do.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of), do.
Henderson, James, A.M., J.P., Oakley, Windsor Park do.
Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte, Clarges Street, London.
Herdman, John, j.p., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Ernest, Rosavo, Cultra.
Heyn, James, A.M., Strandtown House, Belfast.
Hind, John, junr., Cliftonpark Avenue, do.
Hodges, Professor John F., M.D., F.C.s., J.P.,

Sandringham, Belfast.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, Mount Clifton, Cliftonville, do.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., v.L., M.P., Orangefield do.
*Hughes, Edwin, Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
Hyndman, Hugh, t1.p., Windsor, belfast.
Inglis, James, J.P., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.
Jackson, A. T., c.z., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie

Avenue, Belfast.
Jaffé, Otto, Kin Edar, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., j.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Richmond Lodge, Belfast.

Kennedy, William (Representatives of), Kenbella House, do.

88 Shareholders.

Kertland, Edwin H., Chlorine Gardens, Belfast.
Kidd, George, J.p., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, John R., Altoona, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Ardstratha, Antrim Road, do.
Lanyon, John, c.t., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Larmor, Joseph, M.a., F.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Leathem, Dr. R. R., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlap, j.p., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Lepper, F. R., j.p., Elsinore, Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., F.c.s.. Shirley Lodge, Cultra.
Lindsay, James A., M.A., M.D., Victoria Place, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., j.p., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H., j.p., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.LC.E., Stanley House,

Holywood.
Macfarlane, John, Bladon Park, Belfast.
Mackenzie, John, c.z., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of) do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, M.1.c.E., M.I.M.E., Ashley Park,

Antrim Road, do.
Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.I.MAR.E., The Elms, Strandtown.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.1.4., Alberta, Malone Road, do.
Mitchell, Robert A., Marmont, Strandtown.
Montgomery, Henry C., Bangor.
Montgomery, H. H., Knock, Belfast.
Montgomery, Thomas, j.P., Ballydrain House, Dunmurry.
Moore, James, The Finaghy, Belfast.
Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do.
Murney, Henry. m.p., j.P., Tudor House, Holywood.

*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.

Shareholders. 89

*Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, j.p., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, Sir James, Bart., j.e.. Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of), do.
M‘Bride. Henry James, Hyde Park, Mallusk, do.
M‘Bride, Samuel, Westbourne, Windsor, do.
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London.
*M‘Cammon, Lieut. Col. Thomas A., Woodville, Holywood.
M'Cance, H. J., j.P., D.L., Larkfield, Dunmurry.
M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., j.p., p.L. (Reps. of),

MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Strandtown, Belfast.
MacCormac, John, M.D., Victoria Place, do.
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara, Craigavad.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),

M‘Gee, James, Woodville, Holywood.
M‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street, Belfast.
Macllwaine, John H., Bangor.
M‘Kisack, H. L., m.p., College Square East, Belfast.
*MacLaine, Alexander, j.p., Queen’s Elms, do.
M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone road, do.
M'‘Knight, John P., Nevara, Chichester Park, ~ do.
Neill, Sharman D., Rowandean, Marlborough Park, do.
Nicholson, Henry J., do.
O’Neill, James, m.a., College Square East, do.
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Dunratho, Craigavad.
Park, Rev. Wm., M.a., Somerset House, University St., Belfast.
Patterson, Edward Forbes, Adelaide Park, do.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany.
Patterson, Richard, j.p., Kilmore, Holywood.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.p., F.L.s., Croft House, do,
Patterson, Robert, ¥.z.s., Malone Park, Belfast.

Patterson, William H., M.n.1.a., Garranard, Holywood.

go Shareholders.

Patterson, William R., Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Pim, Edward W., j.p., Elmwood Terrace, do.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.
*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Pooler, Rev. L.3A., 8.A., Downpatrick.
Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.r., M.R.J.4., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, Lu.D., M.R.I.A., Queen’s College, Belfast.
Rea, John Henry, m.p., University Street, do.
Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H., j.p., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddell, Samuel, Beechpark, Belfast.
Robertson, William, j.p., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon, Charles, M.A., D.LIT., B.sc., Royal Academical

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, Dromart, Antrim Rozd, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.

Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.a., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s. Eng., Howard St., do.
Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do

Smyth, John, m.a., c.., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.sc., Riversdale, Holywood.
Steen, Robert, PH.D. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Steen, William, B.u., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.
Swanston, William, F.a.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
*Tennent, Robert James (Reps. of), Rushpark, do.
*Thompson, James, J.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of) do.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.

Walkington, Mrs., Thornhill, Malone, do.

Shareholders. 91

Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, Belfast.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.P., M.R.J.A., Chlorine Gardens do.
Ward, Issac, Camden Street, do.
Ward, John, j.P., Lennoxvale, Malone Road do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, m.p., j.P., College Sq. North, do.
Wilson, James, m.E., Oldforge, Dunmurry
Wilson, John K., j.P., Inch Marto, Marlborough Park, Belfast
Wilson, Walter H., Stranmillis House, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*Wolff, G. W., m.p., The Den, Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, j.p., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, m.a., Rubane House, Galastry
Workman, Rev. Robert, B.p., The Manse, Newtownbreda
Workman, R. D., Upper Crescent, Belfast
*Workman, Thomas, j.p., Craigdarrah, Craigavad
Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, c.x., J.p., Rathvarna, do.
*Young, Robert Magill, B.a., J.P., M.R.LA., Rathvarna, do.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

Dufferin and Ava, x.p., The Marquis of.
Stokes, Miss M., Hon. m.R.1.4., Carrig Breac, Howth,

Co. Dublin
HONORARY ASSOCIATES.
Gray, William, m.r.J.a., Glenburn Park, Belfast
Stewart, Samuel Alex., F.B.s. Edin., Belfast Museum, do.

Swanston, William, F.a.s., Cliftonville avenue, do.

g2 Anaual Subscribers.

Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.G.s., F.L.s., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS.

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Co., Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA.

Allan, C. E., Stormont Castle, Dundonald.
Armstrong, William, Fortwilliam Terrace, Belfast.
Barr, James, Beechleigh, Windsor Park, do.
Barton, H. D. M., The Bush, Antrim.
Boyd, John, Cyprus Gardens, Bloomfield, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, j.p., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.p., Thorndale House, Belfast.
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Chambers, Walter, c.e., Waring Street, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.a., Dunraven, do.
Dalton, J. P., M.A., Roseberry Villa, Antrim road, do.
Davidson, S. C., Sea Court, Bangor.
Dunville, Robert G., j.P., D.L., Redburn, Holywood.
Fulton, G. F., Howard Street, Belfast.
Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do.
Green, Isaac, Ann Street, Belfast,
Hanna, J. A., Marietta, Knock, do.
Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville, do.
Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park, do.
Jones, R. M., M.a., Royal Academical Institution, do.

Kelly, W. Redfern, M.1.c.£., F.R.A.S., Dalriada,
Malone Park, do.

Annual Subscribers. 93

Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace, do.
Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville, do.
Matier, Alexander}S., Lorne, Craigavad.
M‘Causland, William, Cherryvale House, Belfast.
M‘Laughlin, W. H., Brookville House, do.
Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.p., F.R.c.s.1., Lower Crescent, do.
Scott, Conway, c.z., Annaville, Windsor Avenue, do.
Swiney,;J. H. H.,'s.a., B.£.,;Bella Vista, Antrim Road, do.
Tate, Alexander, c.z.,:;Rantalard, Whitehouse, do.
Taylor, John, Brown Square Works, do.
Thompson, John, Limestone Road, do.
Turpin, James, Waring Street, do.
Walkington, R. B., Carriggorm, Helen’s Bay.
Walter, Hermann, M.A., PH.D., Botanic Avenue, Belfast.

PRESENTED

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SEBESSTOITWT 1898-99.

BEULHAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1899.

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

- SHSSTOIW 1898-99.

BELFAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1899.

pe

MSiskt) ZOU LIMMaS

Poaiid
ee

CONTENTS.

Annual Report of
Balance Sheet

Donations to Museum .. ae ee
Books Received ote ee ee
President’s Inaugural Address—T. Workman

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification—W. Chambers
The Purification of Sewage by Bacteria—A. J. Martin
The Viagraph—J. Brown ae ss
The Boyne Valley—S. F. Milligan oe oe

’ Pathogenic Bacteria—J. Lorrain Smith, M.A., M.D.

Electric Discharges in Rarified Gases—J. Finnegan, B.Sc.

List of Office-Bearers .. od ate oe

List of Shareholders and Subscribers 5c 5D

onr m=

17
22
32
4]
53
64
68
72
73

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.

HSTABLISHED 1821-

0)
SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares AD cost £14.
3 Shares re cost £21.

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum; the proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.

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

MEMBERS.

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

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

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

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 10 till 4 o'clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

Belfast Matural thistory and Philosophical
Society.
ANNUAL REPORT, 1808.

10%

THe Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of this Society was
held on 18th July, at three o’clock, in the Belfast Museum,
College Square North. Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P., President,
occupied the chair, and the attendance included Drs. MacCormac
and Leathem, Messrs. Geoge Kidd, J.P.; Robert Young, J.P.;
Edward Allworthy, W. H. Patterson, J. H. Davies, Joseph
Wright, John M‘Knight, W. M. F. Patterson, Isaac Ward,
Seaton F. Milligan, John Brown, W. Faren, G. F. Patterson,
and Robert M. Young, B.A., M.R.I.A.,Hon.Secretary. Letters
of apology for non-attendance were received from the Lord
Mayor (Mr. Otto Jaffe, J.P.) and Sir James Henderson.

The notice convening the Meeting having been read,

Mr. Rosert Youna, Hon. Secretary, submitted the annual
report, which stated :—‘‘ The Council desire to submit to the
shareholders their report of the working of the Society during
the past year. The winter session was opened on 8th November,
1898, when the President of the Society, Mr. Thomas Workman,
J.P., delivered an inaugural address on the subject ‘‘ Incentives
to the Study of Natural History,” illustrated by limelight views,
&c. The second meeting was held on 6th December, 1898,
when a paper was read by Mr. Walter Chambers, C.E., on
“Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification,’ illustrated by
diagrams, &c., followed by an interesting discussion. The third
meeting was held on 13th December, 1898, when a paper was
read by Mr. Arthur J. Martin, A.M.I.C.E., Exeter, on ‘‘ The
Purification of Sewage by Bacteria,’ illustrated by limelight

2 Annual Meeting.

views. The fourth meeting took place on 1toth January, 1899,
when Mr. John Brown read a paper on “ The Viagraph, a new
Instrument for Testing Road Surfaces,” illustrated by diagrams
and exhibition of the viagraph. A discussion followed at its
close. The fifth meeting, on 7th February, 1899, was devoted
to a popular lecture in the Y.M.C.A. Hall, at which the Lord
Mayor (Mr. Otto Jaffe, J.P.) presided. Mr. Seaton F. Milligan
delivered an interesting lecture upon ‘“ The Boyne Valley, its
History, Scenery, and Antiquities.” which was illustrated by
over one hundred lantern slides. The proceeds were in aid of
the Giant’s Causeway Defence Fund, and there was a large
attendance of members and the general public. The sixth
meeting was arranged for the 14th March, when Dr. J. Lorrain
Smith, M.A., kindly lectured on “ Pathogenic Bacteria, with
Special Reference to the Typhoid Bacillus,” illustrated by
actual specimens and lantern views. Theclosing meeting took
place on 11th April, 1899, when Mr. John N. Finnegan, B.A.,
B.Sc., gave a lecture on ‘‘ Luminous Discharges in Rarefied
Gases,” illustrated by experiments and photograph slides. All
these meetings were well attended, both by the members and
the general public, the two on sanitary subjects attracting
special audiences. Largely through the good offices of Mr.
John Horner, your Council have secured that the Gilchrist
lectures for a second time be given in Belfast, commencing in
September next. A public meeting will be summoned at an
early date to make detailed arrangements in connection with
their delivery. It will be observed from the Hon. Treasurer’s
statement of accounts that the usual satisfactory balance in
favour of the Society is fully maintained. The number of
societies meeting in the Museum shows no falling off, and its
accommodation was sometimes taxed to provide for two
meetings on the same evening. Mr. Stewart, our Curator,
reports that during the year further additions have been made
to the herbarium of local plants, and many specimens have
been mounted and placed in their order in the cabinet. The
local collection is now almost complete, but the type set of

Annual Meeting. 3

British plants is still far from being so. At the Easter holidays
the Museum was less crowded than it has been on some former
occasions. Nevertheless the attendance was very large, and at
times the building was taxed to its utmost capacity. On
ordinary days the admissions continue much as in recent years.
Since the last annual meeting the Society has to deplore the
loss of one of its most valued members—the late Mr. Lavens M.
Ewart, J.P. He was a most useful and active member of the
Council since 1894, and took the greatest interest in the well-
fare of the Society in every way. A vote of condolence with
his widow and family was passed at the first public meeting
after his lamented decease. Your Council have co-opted the
Lord Mayor of Belfast (Mr. Otto Jaffe, J.P.) to fill the vacancy
caused by his untimely death. They have received with much
regret Mr. John H. Greenhill’s resignation from the Council
owing to change of residence. A list of donations to the
Musem and of publications received in exchange from home and
foreign scientific societies will be printed with the present
report. The Council desire to tender their best thanks to the
local Press for their admirable reports of the Society’s meetings.
This meeting will be asked to elect five members of Council in
place of the following gentlemen, who retire by rotation, the
first three of whom are eligible and offer themselves for re-
election :—Messrs. John Brown, William Swanston, W. H. F.
Patterson, Professor FitzGerald, and John H. Greenhill.”

Mr. Wo. H. F. Patterson, Assistant Treasurer, read the
Treasurer’s report, which showed a balance in hands of
£76 1s. 24d. The donations had increased during the year,
but there was a slight decrease in subscriptions.

Dr. MacCormac, in moving the adoption of the report and
statement of accounts, said it afforded him much pleasure to do
so on account of their financial condition, and also because of
the growing interest taken by the general public of Belfast and
the surrounding districts in the working of that Society. It
could not be otherwise when they remembered the valuable
scientific information brought before the meetings held there,

4 Annual Meeting.

Those scientific investigations, he thought, must be of incalcul-
able value to the general community.

Mr. Epwarp ALLWorTHy seconded the motion. He was of
opinion that the general public did not take that interest in
the proceedings of that Society as its worth demanded, and he
urged that some special effort should be made to create a fresh
interest from the citizens, which, he felt sure, would be a boon
to the people themselves and a blessing to the community
where they lived. It was remarkable how few out of the three
hundred thousand in Belfast and the numerous visitors to the
city who came into the Museum. Speaking of the iate Mr.
Ewart, he referred to him as a very able, excellent, and good
friend to that Society, and had done more than had ever been
made public. He was always doing a little towards gathering
in articles and information, and, now he was gone, they felt his
loss. In conclusion, he expressed the hope that the Council
and President would endeavour to make next year still more
attractive than the past.

Mr. JoHN Horner supported the resolution, and, in doing
so, said on account of the immense success of the Gilchrist
lectures the last time they were held in Belfast, the trustees
had decided to allow a series to be given in the five towns, as
before, on the understanding that a certain amount of money
will be subscribed to the trustees for the purpose of helping on
educational work in Ireland. Another condition was that there
should be some educational movement or scheme brought out
from the lectures. In that matter it was suggested that repre-
sentatives from the other towns should meet at a meeting in
Belfast, under the auspices of the Lord Mayor, to discuss some
feasible scheme for university extension or some other form of
education. At that meeting resolutions could be passed on the
subject. He (Mr. Horner) had spoken to the Lord Mayor, and
he had kindly consented to co-operate and do all in his power
on behalf of the scheme.

The CuatrMaN referred to the great loss which the Society
had sustained by the death of Mr. Lavens M. Ewart. He had

Annual Meeting. 5

for a long time taken a very great interest in that Society, as
well as in kindred societies. At the same time, he (the Chair-
man) thought they had good reason to congratulate themselves
in co-opting the Lord Mayor to fill the vacancy created by Mr.
Ewart’s death. Already his Lordship had shown a great deal
of interest since his appointment on the Council.

The motion was passed by acclamation.

Messrs. John Brown, W. Swanston, W. H. Patterson
Andrew Gibson, and Seaton F. Milligan were unanimously
elected members of the Council of Management for 1899-1900,
in place of the retiring members.

Mr. Joun Brown moved, Mr. Rosert Youn, J.P., seconded,
and it was passed, that the meeting approves of the Council's
decision to appoint delegates to confer: with other kindred
societies to invite the British Association,to Belfast. In mak-
ing the proposition, Mr. Brown said the Association had not
met in Belfast since 1874, and the meeting prior to that was
1852. On both occasions the initiative was taken by their
Society, and consequently he felt they should strengthen the
Council’s hands in every possible way.

On the motion of Mr. GzorcE Kipp, J.P., seconded by De
LEATHEM, a cordial vote of thanks was miced to the Chairman
and Hon. Secretary for the amount of attention they bestowed
upon the working of the iSociety during the year. Each of
these gentlemen having returned thanks, the meeting
terminated.

The members of the Council then proceeded to elect office-
bearers for the ensuing year as follows :—President, Mr.
Thomas Workman, J.P.; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. John
Brown, W. Swanston, F.G.S. ; and Robert Young, J.P.; Hon.
Librarian, Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P.; Hon. Treasurer, Mr.
William H, F. Patterson ; Hon. Secretary, Mr.R. M. Young, J.P.

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DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1898-99.

From Dr. W. S. Youna.

Lignite and clay concretions from a well sinking in County
Donegal.
From Miss MonTGoMERY.

A birch rod used at school in the North of Ireland over 100
years ago.
From Mr. W. Swanston, F.G.S.

Five wooden food dishes, three wooden spoons, eight vessels of
pottery used as cooking utensils, one cane basket-work
dish, from South Africa, and three war knives, from
India. Also a collection of Eocene fossil plants from
County Antrim.

Frrom Mr. Lavens M. Ewart, J.P., M.R.LA.

A pair of pampooties, or cowhide shoes, from the Arran
Islands.
From Mr. GEorGE DoNALDSON.

A mounted collection of North American Lepidoptera, in-
cluding Vanessa Milberti and Colias cesonta.
From Mr. R. J. WELCH.
A number of the rarer land and freshwater shells.

From Mr. Wo. J. Kina.
Ancient sword and scabbard, found eight feet below the
surface in White Mountain Quarry, Co, Antrim.
From Mr. R. Luoyp Prarcer, M.R.ILA., and Mr. S. A.
STEWART, F.B.S.Edin.
A large number of native plants of the North of Ireland.

Frou EcyrtT EXPLoRATION Funp.
A collection of various objects excavated at Oxyrhynchus.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, ist MAY, 1898 TILL
ist MAY, 1899.

ADELAIDE.—Transactions of the Royal Society of South Aus-
tralia. Vol. 22, parts 1 and 2, 1898.
ALBANY.— Forty-ninth Annual Report of the Regents of the
New York State Museum, 1897.
The Unwersity of New York.
Betrast.—Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club.
Ser. 2, vol. 4, part 5, 1898. The Club.
BERGEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog, for 1898 ; also Account
of the Crustacea of Norway. Vol. 2, Isopoda,
parts 9-12, 1898. Bergen Museum.
BerLIn.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde. Vol.
25, nos. 4-10, 1898 ; and vol. 26, nos. 1-4, 1899.
The Soczety.
Boston.—Memoirs of Boston Society of Natural History. Vol.
5, no. 3, 1898; and Proceedings, Vol. 28,
no. -6,.. 1897 ;/ and nos, 7,09, 10, 1% jandgr2,
1898. The Soczety.
BrREMEN.—Abhandlungen herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Vereine zu Bremen. Vol. 14,
part 3; and vol, 15, part 2, 1897 ; also vol. 16,
part 1, 1898. The Soczety.
BrESLAU.—-Zeitschrift fir Entomologie herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlessiche Insektenkunde zu
Breslau. The Soctety
BricgHton.—Annual Report of Brighton and Sussex Natural
History and Philosophical Society, 1898.
The Soczety.
_ BrusseELs.—Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique.
Vol. 42, 1898. The Society.

Books Recewwed. 9

Annales de la Société Malacologique de Belgique.
Vol. 28, 1893; vol. 29, 1894; vol. 30, 1895 ;
and vol. 31, fasc. 1, 1896 ; also Procés-Verbal,
June, 1895, till July, 1898. The Soctety.
Burnos AyRES.—Comunicaciones del Museo Nacional de
Buenos Aires. Vol. 1, nos. 1 and 2, 1898.
The Director.

BuFFaLo.—Bulletin of Buffalo Society of Natural Science.
Vol. 5, nos. 2-5, 1896-1897 ; and vol. 6, no. 1,
1898. The Soczety.

Catcutta.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India
(Palzontologica Indica). Ser. 15, vol. 1, part
3, No. 1, 1898.
Manual of the Geology of India—Economic
Geology. Part 1, Corundum, 1898; and
General Report of the Survey, 1398.
The Director of the Survey.

CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society.
Vol. 9, part 5, 1897; and parts 8 and 9g, 1898 ;
also vol. 10, part I, 1899. The Soctety.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Anatomy. Vol. 28, nos. 4 and 6, 1898; vol.
31, no. 7, 1898; and vol. 32, nos. 1-9, 1898-99.
Also Annual Report. 1898. The Curator.

CarpirF.—Transactions of Cardiff Naturalists’ Society. Vol.

29, 1897: The Soctety.
CassEL.—Abhandlungen & Bericht des Vereins fiir Naturkunde
zu Kassel (43), 1898. The Soctety.

CoLoraDo Sprines.—Colorado College Studies. Vol. 7, 1898.
Colorado Coll. Screntific Soczety.
CHRISTIANIA.—Forhandlinger i Videnskabs Selskabet i Chris-
tiania, for 1897 ; and nos. 1-6, 1898 ; Oversigt,
1897 and 1898 ; and Royal University Program,
2nd semestre, 1895 ; and Ist and 2nd semestre,
1897. The Royal Norske Fredertks University.

10 Books Recewed.

Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Danzig, Vol. 9, parts 3 and 4, 1898.
: The Soctety.
Dusiin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society.
Ser. 2, vol. 6, parts 14-16, 1898; and vol. 7,
part 1, 1898 ; Proceedings, vol. 8, part 6, 1898.
The Soczety.
EpINBURGH.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
Vol. 21, 1897. The Scciety.

Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. Vol.
13, part 3, 1897. The Soczety.
Empen.—Jahresbericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Emden fir 1896-97. The Soczety.

Genoa.—Giornale della Societa di Letture et Conversazione
Scientifiche di Genova. Anno 20, fasc. 3 and 4,
1898 ; and vol. 21, fasc. 1,1899. The Soczety.
GLascow.—Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glas-
gow. Vol. 29, 1898. The Society.
Gortitz.—Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu
Gorlitz. Vol. 22, 1898. The Society.
GOTHENBURG.—Goteborg’s Kungl. Vetenskaps och Vitterhets
Samhalles Handlingar, Fjarde folgden. Part
1, 1898. The Soczety.
Hatie.—Leopoldina Amptliches Organ der Kaiserlichen
Leopoldine-Carolinischen Deutschen Akademie
der Naturforscher. Part 33, 1897.
The Academy.
HampurG. — Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen
Vereins. Ser. 3, parts 5, 1898, and 6, 1899.
The Soczety.
IGgLo.—Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines. 25th
year, 1898. _ Lhe Socrety.
_INDIANAPOLIS.—Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science
for the year 1897. The Academy.

Books Received. 11

JaLapa.—Boletin Mensual Meteorologica del Observatorio
Central del Estado de Veracroz. Nov. and
Dec., 1897, and January, 1898. Zhe Durector.

Krew.—Memoirs of the Kiew Naturalists’ Society. Vol. 14,
part 2, 1897; and vol. 15, part 1, 1896 ; and part
2, 1898. The Soctety.

LausAaNNE.—Bulletin de la Societé Vandoise des Sciences,
Naturelles. Vol. 34, nos. : 27-130, 1898.
The Soczety.

Lawrence, Kansas.—The Kansas University Quarterly. Ser.
AS eVOl 7, NOS. 1-4,1698.; and vol..8, no. 1,
£899.+ ser, B., vol. 7, moss 1-2: /1898.
The Unwersity.

Leipsic.—Mitteilungen des Vereins fiir Erdkunde zu Leipzig,
1897. The Soczety.

Lonpon.—Report of the Meeting of the British Association at
Bristol, 1898. The Association.

a Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London. Vol. 54, part 4, 1898; vol. 55, part
1, 1899 ; and List of Fellows, 1898.
The Society.
i Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Parts
3-6, 1898, and part 1, 1899. Zhe Soczety.

: Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.
Vol. 14, parts 6-8, 1898, and vol. 15, part 1,
1898. Proceedings, parts 1-4, 1898 ; also, List
of Fellows, 1898. The Soczety.

Mapison.—Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts, and Letters. Vol. 11, 1898.
The Academy.
‘ Bulletin of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural
History Society. Nos. 1 and 2, 1898.
The Soczety.

12 Books Recewed.

Mapras.—Bulletin of Madras Government Museum. Vol. 2,
no. 2, 1898 ; also, Administration Report for
1897-98. ‘he Superintendent.

MANCHESTER.—Journal of Manchester Geographical Society.
Vol. 11, nos. 10-12, 1895 ; vol. 13, nos. 7-12,
1897 ; and vol. 14, nos. 1-6, 1898. Zhe Soczety.

Transactions of the Manchester Geological
Society. Vol. 25, parts 15. 16, 20, 21 ; vol. 26,
part 1, 1898 ; and parts 2 and 3, 1899.

. The Soctety.

MarsEILLES.—Annales de la Faculté des Sciences de Marseille.
Vol. 8, fasc., 5-10, 1898. The Librarian.

MELBOURNE.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria.
New series, vol. 10, part 2 ; and vol. 11, part I,
1898. The Soczety.

MERIDEN, ConN.—Transactions of Meriden Scientific Associa-
tion. Vol. 8, 18098. The Assoctation.

Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Meteorologico
Central de Mexico. January to November,
1898. The Director.

: Boletin del Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de
Tacubaya. Nos. 3and 4, 1898. Zhe Dzrector.

Boletin del Instituto Geologico de Mexico. No. to,
1898. The Institute.

’)

MontTeEvipeo.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo.
Vol. 3., fasc. 9 and 10, 1898. The Dzrector.

Moscow.—Bulletin of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of
Moscow. Nos. 3 and 4, 1897; and nos. 1-3
1898. The Soctety.

-Nantes.—Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de
l'Ouest de France. Vol. 7, part 4, 1897 ; and
vol. 8, parts 1-4, 1898. Lhe Soczety.

Books Recewwed. 1a) |

New Yorx.—Transactions of the New York Academy of
Sciences. Vol. 16,nos. 1-12, 1898 ; and Annals,
vol. 10, 1898 ; and 11, parts 1 and 2, 1898.

The Academy.
. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
Vol. 30, no. 25, 1898 ; and vol. 31, no. I, 1899.

The Soctety.
ee Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural

History. Vol. 10, 1898. The Museum.
Opessa.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of New Russia.
Wole18, part 2,°1307; vol. 21, part 2; 1507 ;

and vol. 22, part 1, 1898. The Soctety.
Oporto.—Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Vol. 5, nos. 1-3, 1898.
The Editor.

OsNABRUCK.—Twelfth Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaft-
lichen Vereins zu Osnabruck, 1897.
The Soctety.
OtTawa.—<Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada.
New series, vol 9, 1898.
The Director of the Survey.
Papua.—Atti della Societa Veneto-Trentina di-Scienze Natu-
fall; sekies 2, yolk, 3- fase 3, 1890). calso
Bullettino. Vol. 6, no. 3, 1898. The Society.

PHILADELPHIA. — Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences. Part 3, 1897 ; and parts 1-3, 1898.
The Academy.
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
No. 156, 1897 , and nos. 157 and 158, 1898.
The Soctety.
Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of
science. Vol. 4, part 4, 1898; and vol. s,
part 1, 1898. The Instetute.

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali Processi
Verbali. January-July, 1898. Zhe Soczety,

14 Books Recewed.

Rio DE JANEIRo.—Revista do Museo Nacional do Rio de
Janeiro. Vol. 1, 1896. The Director.

Rome.—Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Ser. 5, vol. 7,
semestre 1, fasc. 8-12, 1898; semestre 2, nos,
I-12, 1898; vol. 8, semestre I, fasc. 1-6, 1899 ;
also Rendiconto del Adunanza Solenne, 1897.
The Academy.

Bollettino della Societa Romana per gli Studi Zoo-
logici. Vol. 6, fasc. 5 and 6, 1897; and vol. 7,
fasc. 1-6, 1898. The Soczety.

Journal of the British and American Archzological
Society of Rome. Vol 2,no.8,1898. Zhe Soczety.

San Francisco.—Proceedings of the California Academy of
Sciences. _ “Ser./3, vol. 12, n0s..4).6,/75)onGn ao,
1898. The Academy.

STAVANGER.—Stavanger Museums Aarsberetning for 1897.
The Museum Trustees.
STIRLING.— Transactions of Stirling Natural History and
Archeological Society, 1898. The Soczety.
St. Louis.—Ninth Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical
Garden, 1898. The Director.
StTockHoLM.—Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens
Handlingar. New series, vol. 30, 1898 ;
Bihang, vol. 23, parts 1-4, 1898 ; and Ofver-
sigt ; no. 54, 1897. The Academy.
SypNEY.—Science of Man. Vol. 2,no.1, 1899. The Editor.
Toxyo—Die Sprichwérter. Two parts, 1898. The Author.

TopeKa.—Transactions of Kansas Academy of Science. Vol.
15, 1898. The Academy.

TorontTo.—-Transactions of the Canadian Institute. Vol. 5,
part 2, 1898 ; Proceedings, new series, vol. 1,
parts 4-6, 1398. The Insittute.

Books Recewwea. 15

Upsata.—Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the Univer-
sity of Upsala. Vol. 3, part 2, 1897.
The Onwerstty.

Vienna.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Zoolo-
gisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft. Vol. 48, 1898.
The Soczety.

Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo-
gischen Reichsanstalt. Nos. 4-18, 1898; and
nos. I-4, 1399. The Soczety.

WaAsHINGTON.—United States Department of Agriculture,
Bulletin. Nos. 9, 10, 11, and 50, 1898 ; also,
Secretary’s Report for 1898 ; and Year-book of
Agriculture for 1897.

The Secretary of Agriculture.
Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey.
No. 149, 1897 ; and nos. 88 and 89, 1898 ; also,

Monographs ; vol. 30, 1898. The Dvrector.

)
Annual Report of the American Historical Asso-
ciation for the year 1896. Vols. 1 and 2, 1897.
The Association.
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, part
2, 1896. The Director of the Bureau.
Annual Report of the United States National
Museum for the year 1895, and Report for
1896 ; also Proceedings of U.S. Museum, vol.
19, 1897 ; and Annual Report of Smithsonian
Institution, te July, 1896; Smithsonian Con-
tributions to Knowledge, no. 1,126, 1898;
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, nos.
O57, 1,090, 1,093, and 1,125, 1898; also
vol. 39, no. 1,170, 1899.
The Smithsonian Institution.
York.—Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
for 1898. Lhe Society.

16 Books Received.

ZurRicH.—Vierteljahrschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft
in Zurich. 43rd year, parts 1-4, 1898. Neu-
jahrsblatt ; no. 101, 1899. The Soctety.

From Ecypt ExpLoraTIon Funp.—The Oxyrhynchus Papyri.
Part 1, 1898; also Archeological Report for
1896-97.

From Mons. CuHartes JANET.—Etudes sur les Fourmis, les
Guepes, et les Abeilles. 5 nos., 1897-98 ; also,
Notice sur les Travaux Scientifiques of M.
Janet.

From Mr. R. Luoyp-PaTrerson, J.P., F.L.S.—Journal of the
Linnean Society—Botany. Vol. 33, nos. 232
234, 1898 ; vol. 34, no. 235, 1898 ; and 236,1899.

From Mr. THomas WorkmaN, J.P.—Exploration Scientifique
de la Tunisie. [Illustrations, plates, 1-20,
Champignons and Phanerogames ; also, Cata-
logue Raisonné des Plantes Cellulaires de la
Tunisie, 1897.

From Miss CARRUTHERS.—Belfast Almanac, 1809 ; and Belfast
News-Letter, Dec. 8th and Dec. 15th, 1818.

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
SESSION 1898-99.

8th November, 1898.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT,
Mr. THomas Worxmav, J.P.

(Adstract.)

It appears to me that of late years this Society has largely
drifted away from the study that was the life-work of our
illustrious founders. I refer to Natural History; and seeing
that your Council has done me the honour of electing me
President for this Session, I think I cannot better.occupy your
time than by addressing you on “ Incentives to the Study of
Natural History.” We must all feel that there is much going
on in Nature around us to which we shut our eyes, and to not
a few Nature has no more interest than it had to Wordsworth’s

Hero—
«©, . . Nature ne’er could find the way
Into the heart of Peter Bell.
In vain through every changeful year,
Did Nature lead him as before;
A pimrose by a river’s brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more.”

I had intended to take as incentives some of the interesting
facts that are known about the lives of plants and animals.

I found, however, that this would be too extensive, and
2

18 Inaugural Address by the President.

therefore shall confine my remarks this evening to the
botanical part only.

Ordinary flowering plants may be divided into three pretty
well marked groups—

The single flower,
The grouped flower,
and The compressed flower.

We quite understand why a plant has a root, as it must
have a hold on the ground, from which it pumps up water and
mineral salts. Also the need to it of stalk and branches ; that
it may be raised from the ground and have its leaves spread
out to the sun and air; and the use of the leaves are quite
apparent, as we know them to be the mouths and lungs of
plants. But have we grasped the need to it of the wonderfully
shaped and beadtifully coloured parts we call the flower.

All these curious shapes and bright colouring of flowers are
simply an advertisement to the wandering hordes of flying
insects that ‘ good honey is kept here.” The floral world no
more believes in the old adage, that “‘good wine requires no
bush,” than do our modern houses of entertainment, as one
can see by our city hoardings.

Our modern advertisers do not offer to give away their goods
for nothing, and, though flowers seem to do that, it is only in
_appearance, for their little deceits are very wily. Before or
after they entertain their insect visitor they ask for no fee or
payment. They simply practically say, after having feasted
him, “ Thanks, old fellow, for your visit—come soon back,” and
then pat him on the head or back, or rub a little pollen on
his whiskers, so that he goes away quite satisfied, feeling that
he has got quite a lot for nothing, little thinking that he is
doing a good hard day’s work for the flower for very little pay.
Just look at the work a humble bee does from early morning to
late at night, visiting hundreds and hundreds of flowers, and
carrying the pollen from the stamen of one flower to the pistil
of another, so that they may be fertilised. |

Inaugural Address by the President. fe)

It is to this insect industry that we owe the glorious masses
of colour in heaths and whins and buttercups, that make the
fields so beautiful in spring and summer.

Several of our native plants, are very curious and of great
interest, such as the Cuckoo Pint (drum maculatum), so
conspicuous in the early spring with its curious heated chamber
or fly prison, and the spotted orchid (Opzrys maculata) that has
its pollen in two club-like masses called pollinia which have a
viscid disk by which they are fastened to the proboscis of the
bumble bee when it comes to suck the honey from the flower.
The pollinia after being fastened on the proboscis in a vertical
position automatically turn to a horizontal position so as to
project forward and thus to strike the stigma when the bee
visits a fresh flower. Among the interesting foreign plants, is
the Marcgravia nepenthordes, described by Belt in his remarkable
book “The Naturalist in Nicaragua.’ The flowers of this lofty
climber are disposed in a circle, hanging downwards, like an
inverted candelabrum. From the centre of the circle of flowers
is suspended a number of pitcher-like vessels, which when the
flowers expand, in February and March, are filled with a
sweetish liquid. This liquid attracts insects, and the insects
numerous insectiverous birds, including many kinds of humming
birds.

The flowers are so disposed, with the stamens hanging
downwards, that the birds, to get at the pitchers, must brush
against them, and thus convey the pollen from one plant to
another.

This writer also describes the curious bull’s horn thorn. It
is a species of acacia, belonging to the section Gummifere,
growing to the height of fifteen or twenty feet. The branches
and trunk are covered with strong curved spines, set in pairs,
from which it receives the name of the bull’s horn thorn, they
having a very strong resemblance to the horns of that quadruped.

These thorns are hollow, and are tenanted by ants, that make
a small hole for their entrance and exit near one end of the
thorn, and also burrow through the partition that separates the
two horns ; so that the one entrance serves for both.

20 Inaugural Address by the President.

Here they rear their young, and in the wet season every one
of the thorns is tenanted ; and hundreds of ants are to be seen
running about, especially over the young leaves. If one of them
be touched or a branch shaken, the little ants (Pseudomyrma
bicolor Guer.) swarm out from the hollow thorns, and attack
the aggressor with jaws and sting. These ants form a most
efficient standing army for the plant, which prevents not only
the mammalia from browsing on the leaves, but delivers it
from the attacks of a much more dangerous enemy—the leaf
cutting ants. For these services the ants are not only securely
housed by the plant, but are provided with a bountiful supply
of food ; and to secure their attendance at the right time and
place, this food is so arranged and distributed as to effect that
object with wonderful pertection. The leaves are bi-pinnate.

At the base of each pair of leaflets, on the mid-rib, is a
crater-formed gland, which, when the leaves are young, secrets
a honey-like liquid. Of this the ants are very fond ; and they
are constantly running about from one gland to another to sip
up the honey as it is secreted. But this is not all; there is
a still more wonderful provision of more solid food. At the
end of each of the small divisions of the compound leaflet there
is, when the leaf first unfolds, a little yellow fruit-like body
united by a point at its base to the end of the pinnule.
Examined through a microscope, this little appendage looks a
golden pear. When the leaf first unfolds, the little pears are
not quite ripe, and the ants are continually employed going
from one to another, examining them.

When the ant finds one sufficiently advanced, it bites the
small point of attachment ; then, bending down the fruit-like
body, it breaks it off and bears it away in triumph to the nest.

All the fruit-like bodies do not ripen at once, but successively,
so that the ants are kept about the young leaf for sometime
after it unfolds.

Thus the young leaf is always guarded by the ants; and no
caterpillar or larger animal could attempt to injure them
without being attacked by the little warriors. These facts

Inaugural Address by the President. 21

seem to show that the ants are really kept by the acacia as a
standing army, to protect its leaves from the attacks of
herbiverous mammals and insects.

. . hark! how blythe the throstle sings !
He, too, is no mean preacher :

Come forth into the light of things ;
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,

Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings ;
Qur meddling intellect

Misshapes the beauteous forms of things ;—
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art ;
Close up those barren leaves ;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart,
That watches and receives, —Wordsworth, 1798.

22

6th December, 1898.

Mr. THomas Workman, J.P., President in the Chair.

REFUSE DISPOSAL AND SEWAGE PURIFICATION,

By W. CHAMBERS.

( Abstract.)

FROM an economic standpoint, much of the rubbish of to-day
is quite unessential and due to habits of wastefulness, which
will doubtless be corrected as education advances and science
works out her destiny. It may be considered under four
divisions :—

1. Road scrapings, which are comparatively harmless

2. Stable manure, abattoir and fish offal, all containing good
manurial properties.

3. Refuse from household operations, constituting Jegitimate
sewer matters.

4. Dustbin and market refuse, of which our urban population
contributes, it is estimated, about six million tons per annum ;
that can only be disposed of in one way to satisfy the require-
ments of public health, viz.: destruction by burning. <A
destructor furnace reduces all organic matter to its component
gases, and by a system (illustrated on the diagram) they are
rendered odourless and innoxious. The resultant heat is
utilised in boilers of large size, having supplementary fire grates
to augment the power, and so make it available for generating
current for tramway traction, at a cost of less than one penny

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purtfication. 22

per B.T.U. The Corporations of St. Helens and Llandudno
are arranging to use current from their destructor stations for
working the tramways, and at Bradford electric current is
supplied to the tramways at one penny per B.T.U., and at that
price yields a profit of 25 per cent. This question has an
important bearing on the economic and efficient administration
of municipal matters. At St. Helens the Corporation are
laying and equiping a network of tramways, leasing them to
a private company, and supplying current at a nominal price,
to enable a large scattered industrial population to have rapid
communication at cheap fares. Professor Forbes estimates
ashbin refuse to contain 50 per cent. breeze and cinders, 25 per
cent. incombustible matter, and 25 per cent moisture. The
non-combustible elements, chiefly mineral, leave the furnace in
the form of hard clinker, which is perfectly innocuous and
serviceable for concrete, mortar, and—when mixed with a
proportion of fine dust from the flues together with cement—
can be formed into paving slabs, both they and the mortar
being produced at a cheap rate, and adding to the profit
bearing revenue derived from destructor stations. From an
economic standpoint water-carriage for sewage is a wasteful
system, as Sir William Crookes estimates this national loss to
the soil of nitrogen, phosphates, and potash at £ 16,000,000 per
annum.

Sewage purification involves biological problems, and in a
great measure it is due to the researches of Mr. S. R. Lowcock,
Mr. W. E. Adeney, and Mr. Donald Cameron that general
acceptance is given to the idea that bacteria are the scavengers
of nature. Dead organic matter is perpetually undergoing
decomposition into the gaseous and saline compounds that, in
the economy of nature, go to sustain vegetable life, this
decomposition being brought about by the agency of micro-
organisms of various kinds, which may be either putrefactive
or by oxidation, the latter being the work of those healthy
micro-organismal scavengers that cover the whole surface of
the earth, and without whose beneficient work all terrestrial
life, vegetable and animal alike, would cease to be.

24 Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification.

In the system originated by Mr. Adeney the polluted liquid
sewage, after separation of solid matter, is reduced to simple
substances by micro-organisms, the process being facilitated by
the introduction of materials into a series of tanks for main-
taining a healthy condition of the microbes, the operations
being continued until the fluid is sufficiently purified to enable
it to be safely discharged into any ordinary outfall.

The septic system is of a different character, and is differenti-
ated from the previous process by encouraging putrefaction of
the solid elements in sewage. It is an accepted dictum that
‘‘the tendency of nature is to return to the status quo,” and the
modern science of bacteriology teaches that if seriously pol-
luted water is given sufficient time and oxygen, it will be
changed back to a wholesome fluid. Mr. H. E. P. Cottrell
states that water bacteria consume all substances that are
eatable, including putrefying matter, the germs and spores of
other bacteria, and even each other. A lack of food produces a
curious phenomenon : the dead bodies of myriads of deceased
generations which preceded them exert a toxic effect, by
which the living are quickly exterminated, and the water
becomes sterilized.

Mr. CAMERON proves that the disappearance of solids in
sewage is due to micro-organisms feeding on the organic matter
which they exude in a simpler and liquid form; this action
taking place in a closed tank. The fluid is then subjected to
filtration and a clear effluent obtained.

Sewage farming offers three great advantages :—1. The
effluent is thoroughly purified. 2. A profitable agricultural
return is ensured. 3. Under pruper management the public
health is not endangered. These essentials are not easily
realised owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable land near
large cities, but farming may be used as an adjunct to any
sewage scheme for utilizing the resultant sludge. Chemical
precipitation has now been in constant operation for over thirty

years, and is a ready process for effecting a clear affluent. It
- involves the use of collecting tanks, which, however, can be

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification. 25

emptied at any time, so that the process is a continuous one.
In dealing with a large quanity of sewage there is necessarily a
considerable deposit of solid matter, commonly called sludge,
and its ultimate disposal involves careful consideration. Practical
science is at fault in not determining its utilization as manure.
It can be applied to raise the level of low-lying lands which can
be afterwards cultivated with advantage, or carried away and
dumped into the sea, or pressed, to remove the surplus water;
and then burnt in destructor furnaces. The mal-odorous
condition of the fore shore of Belfast Lough demands that the
sewage should be treated so as to produce a clear effluent. So
far back as 1866 Mr. Montgomery, the then Borough Surveyor,
considered it to be essential to his able and comprehensive
Main Drainage Scheme to prevent any pollution to the shores
of the Lough. Had that proposal been carried out as intended
22 years ago, there can be no reasonable doubt that the surface
soil of our city would have been free from the disease germs
that now render some portions of the city unhealthy.

The adoption of a clarification process requires that the
collecting tanks be fitted with a stirring apparatus to thoroughly
mix the chemicals used for precipitation of the solid matter.
The direct result of such mixture is that the solid particles are
thrown into a flocculent state, permeating the entire contents .
of the tank, which gradually settle down, leaving the liquid
clear and innoxious. The chemical combinations necessary to
produce this hygienic effect are prepared chiefly from iron
oxide, alumina, and lime. All these exist in immense quanti-
ties in our own immediate neighbourhood, and under these
favourable local conditions it follows that the cost of precipitat-
ing materials should be cheaper here than in any other part of
the United Kingdom.

Refuse disposal and sewage purification are pregnant with
possibilities for our material welfare. The destructor, while
absolutely destroying those germs of evil that are the accom-
pauiments of disease, will furnish the power for locomotion,
lighting, or other useful purposes. <A precipitation process

26 Refuse Disposal and Sewage Furtfication.

furnishes plant nourishment from its residuals, and at the same
time confers the beneficent result of a comparatively pure
effluent from the sewer outfall, and so contribues to the public
weal by establishing a thorough sanitary system.

Mr. R. M. Youne, B.A., M.R.LA. (Hon. Secretary), an-
nounced that letters of apology for non-attendance had been
received from Professor Letts, Messrs. H. H. M'Neile, D.L.,
Parkmount ; Thomas Andrews, J.P.; and John Lanyon, C.E.

Mr. Youne read the following letter from Prof. Letts :—

“Dear Mr. Younc,—I very much regret that owing to
another engagement I shall not be able to have the pleasure
of attending the meeting on Tuesday evening and of listening
to what will, lam sure, prove a most interesting paper. It
comes at a very opportune time, for, as you are aware, we who
live on the shores of the lough suffer from a nuisance which at
times is well nigh intolerable, and which we are convinced is
caused almost entirely by the discharge of the untreated
sewage of the city of Belfast into the lough. I say almost
entirely, because we do not deny that small quantities of
sewage are discharged from the villages on the lough shores,
but it must be recollected that a large proportion of this
sewage is from cesspools, and is therefore free from solids—a
very important distinction between it and the Belfast sewage,
which runs bodily into the lough, solids and all.

‘The deputation which waited upon the City Council last
Friday was gratified to learn from the Lord Mayor that some-
thing would have to be done in a comprehensive way as
regards the whole subject of the disposal of the Belfast sewage,
but it was by no means so satisfactory to hear that nothing
could attempted until. the Royal Commission on Sewage
Disposal, which is now sitting, had furnished its report. This
may take a long time, and the questions arise—(1) Can we
afford to wait so long? and (2) Is there any necessity for the
delay ?

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification. 27

“There are three, and only three, alternative methods for
the disposal of the Belfast sewage I believe, viz.: (1) irrigation ;
(2) the construction of a main sewer to Blackhead, or at all
events to some spot on the coast where the sewage would be
swept out to sea by the turn ocean tide; and (3) chemical
treatment.

“Of these three the conditions for the first are so unsuitable
that there is no chance of its being adopted, while the cost of
the second would, I understand, place it out of the question.
This leaves the third as alone within the range of practical
politics. If that is the case can anything be gained by a delay
in executing the necessary works and in immediately starting
some precipitation process ?

“IT do not think that the local conditions require any very
elaborate treatment of the sewage, because it is not a question
of running the effluent into a river or watercourse, but into a
shallow-sea lough, where a large aerating surface exists quite
sufficient, I believe, to cope with the dissolved organic matter
which would remain after the employment of any of the
present precipitation processes.

‘One of the chief advantages of the immediate adoption of a
precipitation process would be that the effluent could be run off
at any time of the tide, and not as at present (under the Main
Drainage Act) during a restricted interval which I am told
is impossible frequently.— Yours, &c., E. A. Letts.”

The CHarrMaN then called for discussion, and said he would
ask Mr. John Macllwaine to open the discussion on Mr.
Chambers's able paper.

Mr. MacItwatny said they were much obliged to Mr. Chambers
for the most interesting paper he had read. He (Mr.
Macllwaine) could offer nothing but friendly criticism on the
paper. He knew something about combustion, and, judging
the paper from that part of the subject with which he (Mr.
Macllwaine) was familiar, he would say that the other part was
all right. They owed a debt of gratitude to their American
cousins for having, after twenty years’ experience, brought

28 Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification.

electric lighting and electric traction to perfection, and he
thought the time had come when they in this country might
profit by that experience, and go in at once for electric tram-
ways and electric lighting.

Mr. OTTo Jarre, J.P., T.C., said that, speaking as a Town
Councillor, he was in the unfortunate position of not being a
member of either the Improvement Committee or the Public
Health Committee, but perhaps he had the advantage of being
able to speak more freely about the subject. He might say
that the Town Council had decided to adopt refuse destructors,
and the only question at issue was what was the best kind of
destructor to get? The deputation that had visited various
centres in England in connection with the subject had not yet
made up their minds on that point, but he believed they were
gradually coming to a decision. He might say that the
destructors at first would not be put up at the electric station,
but would be erected at the outfall pumping station, where the
power could be used in the pumping. Mr. Chambers had
estimated the amount of the refuse at 30,000 tons per year, but
he (Mr. Jaffe) understood that, with road scrapings, the refuse
amounted to 100,coo tons a year, and the plant which the
Corporation would put down would deal with the destruction
of one-fourth of that quantity. Some people condemned the
main drainage system, but, as the Lord Mayor had told the
deputation at the last meeting of the Corporation, there was no
doubt that when the present system was put down it was done
under the best technical advice of the time. If the citizens
agitated he was quite sure that the Corporation would see its
way very soon to chemically precipitate the sewage at the out-
fall station. There was no doubt that when the main drainage
scheme was designed it was assumed that the sewage would
run further into the tidal part of the lough than it did now.
In other words, the tide brought it back sooner and nearer
than was anticipated. He feared that Mr. Chambers’s estimate
of £4,500 a year as the cost of precipitating the sewage was
one-half lower than the actual cost would be ; for he (Mr. Jaffe)

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification. 29

believed that if an expenditure of £4,500 a year would purify
the sewage of Belfast it would not be necessary to call on the
liberality of the Council at all—they would vote that sum with
the greatest of pleasure in two minutes. And when the proper
time came he believed the Council would not hesitate about
voting four or five or six times the amount mentioned for the
purpose referred to.

Professor FITZGERALD said he had listened to the paper with
great satisfaction, and admired the practical way in which Mr.
Chambers had attacked his subject, and treated it in general.
He (the Professor) took it they did not want particularly any
wonderful plan, with elaborate chemicals, much machinery, and
so-forth, which was to produce an affluent that could be put
into a small stream, the size, for instance, of the Dodder, near
Dublin. What they wanted was a simple precipitation plan,
which would render the sewage matter sufficiently innocuous to
be put safely into the lough, and unlikely to lead to the
accummulation of sludge banks, which seemed to be certainly
going on now in a way very much analogous to what began to
be noticeable in the Thames about the year 1872, and the
result of which was that the London sewage had to be precipi-
tated, and the sludge taken out to sea as it was now. With
regard to the use of the destructor, and the ‘advantage of
utilising the heat, he thought the destructor which Mr.
Chambers had shown them was an extremely well-designed
one, but in spite of Edinburgh, he had not been converted to
the belief that there was really anything to be got out of the
utilisation of the heat in the way of raising steam.

Dr. St. GrorGeE (Lisburn) favourably criticised the paper.
He said that in Lisburn they laboured under difficulties some-
what similar to those in Belfast with reference to the disposal
of sewage. They discharged the sewage into the River Lagan
—but they did not want to make it a gigantic cesspool any
longer, and they had now a Bill before Parliament to get their
sewerage system into a better state.

Alderman James Dempsey spoke of the absolute necessity of

30 Refuse Disposal and Sewage Purification.

destroying the sewage by either a burning process or taking
out to sea in barges, and the latter method was said to be
attended with danger, considering the state of the weather at
certain periods. The question of precipitating the sewage
matter was a much more serious one than that of erecting a
destructor. The erection of a destructor was within measurable
distance, and the precipitating business must come within
measurable distance also.

Mr. F.D Warp, J.P., said he had visited Paris ten or twelve
years ago, and a friend had brought him to see the wonderfully
complete system of sewerage that existed in that city. All the
sewage went into a river, and this river ran through a district
where there was a wonderful irrigation farm, and here the
water came out perfectly pure, as he (Mr. Ward) could testify
by having tasted it. He would like to hear from the lecturer
whether the system of Paris had been improved or not since
the time he referred to.

Mr. Conway Scott, Executive Sanitary Officer, disagreed
with Mr. Chambers’s estimate of 1s. 6d. per ton for carting
rubbish to burn in the destructors. He did not believe the
work could be done for that. The sludge was comparatively
worthless—it was the liquid form of sewage that supplied plant
life—and the sludge of London sewage was so valueless that
they towed it out into the channel and dumped it into the sea.
He thought the real question was how to get rid of it in the
cheapest possible way. He also disagreed with Mr. Chambers
about the power to be obtained from the destructor. While
he admitted there was power to be gained, the citizens need
not imagine that the rates would be reduced immediately by
the introduction of electric lights and electric trams through
the power derived from destructors. There was no doubt that
sewage could be purified, but it was all a question of expense.
The reason the Corporation did not purify the sewage was
because it was a matter of £ s d, and that appealed to the rate-
payers.

Mr. Munce, Assistant City Surveyor, said that Mr. Chambers

Refuse Disposal and Sewage Furificatwon. 31

spoke of 6,000,000 gallons of sewage having to be dealt with
every day in Belfast, but the usual amount was about’ 12,000,000
gallons daily, and very often it was much more, so that Mr.
Chamber’s estimate of the cost fell far short of the mark.

Mr. CHAMBERS, in replying to the various speakers, said that
in estimating £4,500 a year as the cost of precipitating the
sewage he only meant the cost of the materials to be employed,
without reference to labour, but the latter was a small item.
The cost of precipitation depended upon the quantity of
materials used and the degree of excellence of the resulting
effluent. As to the sludge, it could be used for reclaiming land,
or it could be used on sewage farms, or dumped into the sea.
Paris did not come within the scope of his paper, but, as they
all knew, it was a model sewage farm that was in the village
outside the French capital. With regard to the destructor, he
believed the mere work of burning could be done for the
amount he had stated, but the wages bill and other charges
would increase it. He was surprised at the figures given by
Mr. Munce as to the quantity of sewage matter daily. He (Mr.
Chambers) took the population of Belfast at 300,000, including
the added area, and, allowing 30 gallons per head, which was
the general estimate, that would give 9,000,000 gallons per day.
But, as the whole of the area was not included in the main
drainage scheme, he deducted one-third, and that gave his
figures 6,000,000 gallons.

32

13th December, 1898.

Mr. THomas WorkmaN, J.P., President, in the Chair.

THE PURIFICATION OF SEWAGE BY BACTERIA.
By ArtTHurR J. Martin, Assoc. M.Inst. C.E.

( Abstract. )

I CANNOT pass on to the special side of my subject without first
referring briefly to the nature and properties of sewage, as a
proper understanding of these is absolutely necessary for the
comprehension of a process of purification. There is often a
disposition to regard sewage as consisting, either wholly or in
great part, of excremental matter. This is very far from being
the case. There are, for instance, many towns in the North of
England where the excreta are dealt with on the dry-earth or
privy system, and do not find their way into the sewers ; but
in such cases, as the Rivers Pollution Commissioners have
shown, the sewage differs very slightly in composition and
strength from that of water-closeted towns, in which the whole
of the excrement is admitted to the sewers.

Fresh sewage is generally comparatively free from smell ; but
when it has lain about for any length of time, as it does in the
depressions of badly-laid sewers, it often becomes exceedingly
offensive. In other words, it begins to decompose. This
process of decomposition serves a definite purpose of supreme
importance in the economy of nature. The materials which
are suitable as food for the vegetable and animal world exist in
_ extremely limited quantities, and must therefore be used over
and over again. But the refuse of animal life has to be

The Purification of Sewage by Bacterza. 33

prepared for the plants before they can feed upon it. This all-
important work is performed by myriads of unpaid scavengers,
whose existence was not even suspected until late in the
seventeenth century. They are so tiny that it required the
powerful microscopes of the present day to make them visible
at all; they are known as “bacteria” or more familiarly as
‘““microbes.’’ ‘There are other low forms of life which bear a
part with them ; but it will simplify our task to-night if we
confine ourselves to bacteria and their work. It is they who
seize on the foul matter given off by the animal world, and
bring it into such a ccndition that it can support vegetable life.
This work is accomplished in at least two stages. The products
of animal life become first of all the prey of the decomposition
moulds and bacteria, whereby they are converted into the
various products of decomposition, such as ammonia and nitrites.
These, again, are seized upon by the other workers, which it is
convenient to classify as nitrifying bacteria, and converted by
them into nitrates, which I need hardly remind you, are among
the most valuable of our artificial fertilisers.

As I shall point out later, the decomposition moulds and
bacteria are made use of in the septic tank to break down the
polluting matter of sewage ; and the work of purification is
completed by the nitrifying bacteria in the filters.

When the sewage problem first began to make itself felt, the
eyes of sanitary authorities turned hopefully towards sewage
farms. They expected not only to get rid of their sewage, but
also to derive a profit from its utilisation on the land. ‘The
creed of many sanitarians was summed up in the phrase “ The
rainfall to the river, the sewage to the land.” These hopes
were, in nearly every instance, doomed to be blasted. In all
but a very small minority of instances, where local circumstances
were exceptionally favourable, the sewage farm has turned out.
a source of | ss instead of profit ; and in too many cases it has
completely failed to purify the sewage. Often enough it has
proved to be an unmitigated nuisance. The reason for this is
not far to seek. Land is undoubtedly the natural receptacle

3

34 The Purtfication of Sewage by Bacteria.

for the refuse of the animal world ; and, if we were content to
live the life of the primitive man, we might safely throw upon
the soil the duty of dealing with our leavings. But it does not
follow that this is the natural way to deal with town sewage.
It is not a natural state of things to concentrate the excrement
of several thousand people upon a few acres of land. It is still
less a natural proceeding to swamp this land daily with several
thousands of tons of dirty water in addition. It is because we
do these things that nature rebels, and our sewage farms turn
out failures. The successful purification of sewage by means of
land, day in and day out throughout the year, demands far
larger areas than are generally available. And, what is not less
important, the task requires skilled management of a high
order, which it is hard to find, and still harder to induce a
sewage committee to pay for. We are therefore thrown back
on what are called “artificial ’ processes of sewage purification.

For many years attempts have been made to solve the
difficulty by means of strainers, followed by chemical precipita-
tion. This process, when properly carried out, does undoubtedly
remove from sewage the larger proportion of the suspended
impurities, that is to say, of the solid matter visible to the eye,
as well as part of the dissolved polluting matter. But the
suspended matters are not got rid of by precipitation : they are
merely thrown down as sludge. Great expectations were at
one time entertained of the manurial value of sewage sludge ;
but here again the hopes formed have been doomed to
disappointment ; and in most cases the cost of disposing of this
embarrassing substance adds very largely to the expense of
dealing with the sewage.

The capability of filters, when properly handled, to deal with
the liquid portion of sewage has long been recognised. It
remained to find an effective and inexpensive means of preparing
sewage for filtration by freeing it from its suspended solids, and
of grappling with the sludge difficulty. Among others whose
duties brought them face to face with this problem was the
City Surveyor of Exeter, Mr. Donald Cameron. After many

The Furification of Sewage by Bacterta. 35

years of study and research Mr. Cameron came to the con.
clusion that the polluting matter of sewage might be so changed
as to be rendered harmless solely by the operation of natural
agencies, provided that these were properly directed and con-
trolled. The outcome of his work in this direction is the septic
tank, which is probably known by name, at least, to most of
those present.

The septic tank and filters at Belleisle have now been dealing
for more than two years with the sewage of St. Leonards, a
suburb of the city of Exeter, having a population of about 3,£00.
The sewage is turned without any screening or preliminary
treatment into the septic tank, in which the solid matter is
retained, the clear water then being drawn off between the
scum on the surface and the heavy deposit which lies at the
bottom of the tank.

If we did nothing more than arrest the solid matter of the
sewage, we should still be confronted with the difficulty of
getting rid of the sludge. But, fortunately, sewage contains
Within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Dr. Poore,
among others, has drawn attention to the fact that excrement
simply teems with bacteria. Under the conditions provided in
the septic tank, these tiny scavengers attack the impurities of
the sewage, and gradually resolve them into simpler and
simpler forms. The scum which covers the surface is full of
bacteria, and serves as the ‘‘ barm”’ so to speak, which sets up
the fermentation or decomposition by which the solid matter
is eventually broken down.

As the outcome of these operations we get an effluent
practically free from solid matter, and showing a marked
purification even as regards the impurities in solution.

Among the final products of the decomposition which takes
place in the septic tank, are marsh gas and free hydrogen, both
of which are highly inflammabie gases. The flame from these
gases, though a very hot one, is not luminous ; but it becomes
so by the aid of an incandescent mantle. For some months
past the works at Exeter have been lighted at night with the
gases generated in the tank,

36 The Purification of Sewage by Bacteria.

During the preliminary decomposition in the septic tank, it
was important to exclude oxygen as far as possible; but having
brought the solids into solution, it becomes necessary to oxidise
“them ; and this process requires the free access of air.

Accordingly the effluent, after flowing through an aerator,
passes into the filters, in which the work of oxidation is chiefly
accomplished. This duty, like the preliminary liquefaction of
the solids in the tank, is the work of bacteria; but the workers
in the filters, unlike those in the tank, which only thrive in the
absence of air, require a plentiful supply of oxygen to enable
them to perform their functions. Each filter therefore is
first filled, then allowed to rest full for a certain time, then
emptied, and finally left to drain and aerate. In this way the
nitrifying bacteria obtain the necessary supply of oxygen. The
need for constant attention is done away with by means of an
alternating gear, which automatically opens and closes the
valves in their proper order. The works are thus rendered
completely automatic, and one man, visiting them for a few
minutes on two or three days per week, is able to give all the
attention which they ordinarily require. The filtered effluent
from these works has been examined at various times by many
of the foremost chemists in the kingdom, and found to be of a
high quality and perfectly inoffensive ; and it remains so when
kept for any length ot time.

A marked characteristic of works on this system is their entire
~ freedom from nuisance. At Exeter there is a good house with-
in seventy yards of the works, and three other high-class
residences within two or three hundred yards. At the Local
Government Board Inquiry held at Exeter with reference to
the scheme for laying down tanks and filters for the whole
city, there was not one word of opposition thereto, although
the new works will be some thirty times as large as the in-
stallation already laid down, and right under the windows of
these houses. :

At Yeovil there is a factory within three paces of the works,
and the proprietors state that they have never experienced any

The Furtfication of Sewage by Bacterza. 37

nuisance therefrom. A doubt has often been expressed whether
the system would be as successful in dealing with sewage
strongly charged with manufacturing refuse as it is with an
ordinary domestic sewage ; but this has now been completely
demonstrated at Yeovil with a sewage which is pronounced by
competent judges to be one of the foulest in England.

There is one function of sewage works which must not be
overlooked. The bacteria which bring about the decomposition
of sewage matter are the sworn foes of disease germs ; and it is
by their means that the ravages of disease are kept within
bounds. In the septic tank, and again in the filters, any disease
germs which the sewage contains are systematically exposed to
the attack of their deadly enemies, first of one kind, then of
another. The works thus furnish an efficient safeguard against
the propagation of disease by the sewage with which they are
dealing.

Professor REDFERN, in proposing a vote of thanks to the
lecturer, said Mr. Martin’s discourse had been so lucid and able
on the new methcd of sewage treatment, that everyone who
had thought anything on the matter should be deeply interested.
The world seemed to have come to a general conclusion that
bacteria did nothing but mischief, but Mr. Martin had shown
that they were the great scavengers of effete matter. and played
an important part in the economy of nature. Belfast had been
recently visited by a typhoid epidemic, but so had other towns
and cities, and that ought to be remembered when the present
outcry was raised. The lecturer had shown—and he (Professor
Redtern) was prepared to believe it—that these bacteria
destroyed the solid matter in sewage. Exeter had already
shown in this matter of sewage purification what could be done
on a small scale, and they all looked forward with great zest to
its showing them the way in what could be done on a large
scale in this very important matter.

Mr. J. W. GILLILaAND, C.E., seconded the vote of thanks. He
said that a sewage farm, which system seemed to find favour
with some, was quite impracticable for a large city like Belfast,

33 The Furzfication of Sewage by Bacteria.

as the area required would be about 3,000 acres ; and chemical
precipitation he did not favour, because it left the sludge question
undealt with, which was the déte mnozr of sanitary engineers.
The question of the disposal of the sludge had practically
sounded the death-knell of chemical precipitation as a means
of purifying sewage. ‘| here was, then, only left the bacterial
method, which the septic tank treatment carried out. They in
Belfast therefore should not be any longer lax in this matter,
but should benefit by the able lecture they had heard from Mr.
Martin, and see that the sewage of the city should not be any
longer discharged ina crude state into Belfast Lough. The
question of the purification of the sewage was, as has been said,
one of £ sd; but the septic tank treatment was merely one of
first cost, with practically a minimum of working expense after-
wards, the system being automatic.

Dr. St. GkorGE (Lisburn), after complimenting Mr. Martin
on the clearness of his lecture, said that dirt was only matter in
a wrong place, and that sewage only was a nuisance and
required to be grappled with on acccount of the aggregation ot
people in towns, therefore the disposal of 1t (sewage) by nature's
methods was at once the simplest, the cheapest, and the best.
The sooner the public could be made to understand that
Bacteria were not all raging lions ready to prey on the human
race the better, but that even bacteria had their part in the
cycle of nature, acting and reacting, each in its proper sphere.
There seemed no manner of doubt that the septic tank
system fulfilled this, and from personal observation during
August, 1897, he was prepared to support all that had been
said by the lecturer. The other systems he had visited first
screened their sewage, none admitting raw sewage in the true
sense of the word. The chemical precipitation left enormous
quantities of sludge to be disposed of, which was valueless as
manure, being deprived of nearly all its nitrogen. Then the
initial cost being the only expense was a very considerable
factor for the system, one labourer being sufficient to look after
the works. The effluent having no chemicals, solution could

The Purification of Sewage by Bacteria. 39

be freely discharged into any stream without fear of damage,
and the sample to be shown by Dr. Jefferson, M.O.H for
Lisburn, taken August, 1897, showed no signs of change or
decomposition at that time.

Dr. JEFFERSON (Lisburn) said—Mr. Chairman, I can add very
little to what Dr. St. George has said, but shall, with your
permission, read a few notes I took when examining the
different schemes. In the universal system at Ilkeston there is
an Ives Settling Tank, the sludge is pumped out night and
morning with a gas engine, and during this operation gives off
a most offensive smell. The effluent is very cloudy, and gives
off a strong smell of sewage. The International at Hendon has
a Candy’s Patent Sludge Removal Apparatus. There is an
enormous quantity of sludge, viz.—1,300 tons for a population
of 14,500. The treatment and disposal of the sewage cost
£979 17s. 7d. for years 1396-1897. In the above systems
chemicals are used. The solids are screened, raked out every
hour, carted away and buried. The Hendon authorities were
threatened with an action by the River Conservators for
pollution of the river Brent, on account of the reaction that
occurred when chemicals are used. The following are, in my
opinion, the advantages of the Exeter system, viz.—1, no
screening ; 2, no chemicals, and consequently no reaction in
rivers ; 3, nO expensive machincien it is automatic ; 4, working
Ber onses very light, a man about an hour two Hegs: in the week
would be quite sufficient ; 5, very little sludge, which would
not require removal for several years ; 6, effluent very good, no
smell whatever, and may be discharged into a river without
further treatment of any sort.

Mr. Peppik (Belfast) was in favour of the system, and hanced
that there would be a great saving in both the initial expense
and also in the upkeep of this system, as compared with the one
that had been promoted for Armagh.

Mr. Munce, Assistant City Surveyor, Belfast, said he had
from the first fornied a good opinion of the septic tank system,
and he believed the precipitation idea was dead, because the

40 The Purification of Sewage by Bacteria.

cost of disposing of the sludge completely barred its adoption
in any large town.

Mr. J. Brown said he had listened to the paper with great
interest, an interest enhanced by his long acquaintance with
the inventor of the Septic Tank System, Mr. Donald Cameron,
for whom he had the highest regard. He believed that any-
thing recommended by Mr. Cameron would merit their most
careful consideration.

Mr. Martin then acknowledged the vote of thanks, and
replied briefly to questions which had been asked during the
discussion. He concluded by thanking the Chairman for
presiding.

AI

11th Fanuary, 1899.

Mr. THomas Workman, J.P., President, in the Chair.

THE VIAGRAPH, A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR
TESTING ROAD SURFACES.

By J. Brown.
(Abstract)

It is almost needless to refer to the importance to all classes
of the public highways. or to the necessity of good roads for the
purposes of that commerce which is the mainstay of our empire
and of our power as a nation, and which depends for its
existence on the interchange of commodities. In England the
need of good roads has been long recognised. In Ireland there
is still much room for improvement. Those who have become
acquainted with the highways in both countries, either by
cycling or driving over them, tell us there is a vast difference,
that the worst road in England, for instance, is better than the
best in Ireland, and so on; and they endeavour to convey
some idea from their observations of the comparative qualities.
Till now, however, no means existed of making an accurate
comparison, of telling how much and in what way English or
foreign roads were better than ours. It was in the hope of
providing such means, and thereby attempting to convince our
local authorities of the great need of improvement, that the

viagraph has been designed.
The viagraph consists practically of a straight edge applied

continuously to to the road surface along which it may be
drawn, and conveying an apparatus for (1st) recording on paper

42 The Viagraph.

a profile of the road-surface, and (2nd) indicating a numerical
index of the unevenness of the surface. These taken together
give a quite fair estimate of the quality of the road at the pait
tested.

Fig. 1 gives a general view of the instrument, the frame of
which is in form like a sled, with straight runners. On this
are mounted the working parts shown in Fig. 2. The lever
T, pivoted to the main frame at H, carries on its free enda
serrated wheel, the upper part of which is seen at V. While
the main frame, in being drawn along the road, preserves a
sufficiently even line, the road wheel V rises and falls over all
the unevennesses of the surface, carrying with it the lever
T, and thereby transmitting its movements by means of the
link and lever S to the pencil P, which marks the full ampli-
tude of these motions on the paper passing round the drum
A. (In the figure this pencil-is raised above its usual position,
from the necessity of raising the road-wheel V so as to bring
it into view.) While the motion of the pencil takes place in a
vertical direction, the paper on which it marks is carried under
it by the drum A, which is rotated by a worm and wheel below
it connected by a shaft and bevel gear with the road wheel V.
The paper is thus drawn from the stock-roll C, passed under
the pencil and wound up on the receiving-drum B. The
result is a profile of the road surface, of which the scale is fu//
size vertically, and 3in. to ‘ft. longitudinally. A second pencil
seen below P draws a datum line corresponding to that which
the indicating pencil P would produce from a perfectly even
road. From this can be measured the depths of the ‘‘ ruts ’ or
“cups,” or other unevennesses indicated on the diagram. The
sum of the depths of all these unevennesses constitutes the
numerical index of unevenness, and is indicated on the decimal
counter W, which is worked as follows :—A cord attached to
the free end of the lever T is passed once round the double-
grooved pulley X, and connected to the stretched rubber band
at O. When the lever T descends, owing to the fall of the
road-wheel V, into a rut or cup in the surface, this cord rotates

Big. 3

GUILDFORD AND LEATHERHEAD ROAD, SURREY

PO Tre

BELFAST ey LISBURN ROAD

ney

|
|
}
|
|
|
]
|
LIVERPOOL AND PRESCOT ROAD
|
|

The Viagraph. 43

the pulley X by the amount of the drop, the rubber band O
stre‘ching to allow the necessary movement of the cord.
When the road-wheel and lever rise again the cord slips back
on the pulley, the rubber taking up the slack while the pullcy
is held fast by a brake, consisting of a quite similar rubber-
tightened cord attached to a rigid part of the frame instead of
the lever T, and passing round a separate groove on X. The
pulley X therefore rotates intermittently, in one direction only,
to an amount proportionate to the sum of all the unevennesses
passed over, which amount is indicatedin inches on the decimal
counter, and constitutes the index of unevenness.

In order to compare the index of one road with another, it is
obviously necessary that the same length of each be taken as a
unit. For this purpose a length of 88 yards, being one-
twentieth of a mile, is convenient, and this is measured in
inches of paper, run off the roll C, proportionate to the scale
arranged. ‘That is to say, when 88 yards of road have been
traversed 33in. of paper will have run off the roll. Each 33in.
length is measured off by the pulley at M in contact wlth the
stock-roll of paper, and at the end of the length it rings the bell
above it, thus indicating that the unit length of road has been
traversed.

In a newer form of the instrument this alarm-bell has been
transferred to the interior of the drum A, thus making it more
simple and compact, and the working parts are protected from
passing showers by a suitable glass case.

A number of diagrams are on the table, showing profiles of
roads in Antrim, Down, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, and
Lancashire taken by myself, also of roads near Exeter, for
which I am indebted to Mr. Donald Cameron, City Surveyor of
that town. Three examples of these profiles are given. Fig.
2. The first is a flint road, once a main coaching route
from London to Portsmouth, and still carrying considerable
heavy traffic. It was selected by the advice of Mr. Shipton,
Secretary Cyclists’ Touring Club, as an example of a good bit
of a good English country road. The second is chosen for

44 The Viagraph.

the special reason that in point of amount and weight of traffic
it may compare with the one below it, our own awful example
of a main road. This last diagram was taken in December near
Lambeg, a part of the road which had been thoroughly coated
with stone and steam-rolled in the previous August, The
Prescot road had also been repaired just about four or five
months before this test was taken last May, so that the com-
parison as regards lapse of time since each was repaired is fair.

The diagram of the Prescot road is an average specimen, and
was not taken from the best part of this road. | Further
comment on the comparison between these roads is almost
superfluous, but it may be noted that, while the greatest depth
of ruts generally found on these English roads is usually a
fraction of an inch, those on the Lisburn and other Irish main
roads quite commonly exceed 1 inch in depth, and can easily
be found over 2 inches, as in the diagram above.

The index of unevenness, as measured in the manner described
above for each of the three roads, of which diagramsare here given,
is as follows :—For the Gilford road the sum of the depths of
ruts is 12 to 14 feet per mile ; for the Prescott road, 42 feet
per mile (an average of all the indications taken) ; for the
Lisburn road in the part here taken, 134 feet per mile.

Besides the discomfort of travelling and the extra wear and
tear on vehicles entailed by such roads as this last, there is
another objection distinctly brought out by the viagraph. In
considering the passage over a rough road of a carriage wheel
‘we may probably assume that there is no impetus gained in
dropping into a rut which is available as a help to rise out «fit
at the other side. We may therefore conclude that the pover
necessary to raise the wheel out of each and every rut must be
supplied from the horse or other tractive force. We may
accordingly take the sum of unevenness as representing in
effect an artificial hill interposed by the badness of the road.
On our Lisburn road, for instance, taking the average sum of
unevenness as 100 feet per mile, we have an artificial hill of
that amount in each mile ; consequently any vehicle making

The Viagraph. 45

a 30 mile journey on such a road has in effect to climb a hill
(over and above any recognised hills on the road), which is
greater in height than Slieve Donard, and is made up of ruts
alone. A simple calculation shows that if we consider a vehicle
weighing with its load one ton, and travelling at 7 miles per
hour, the extra power required to take it over these ruts is
just over 2 horse power ; or, if we take as an example of
heavy traffic a weight of 35 cwt., at 34 miles per hour, the extra
power required is just under #2 horse-power. The same
calculation, applied to the Liverpool and Prescot road gives
about + horse-power in each case. A comparison therefore
shows that the ruts on the Lisburn road entail either the use
of about half as many more horses than are really needed on
a good road, or a loss to an equivalent amount in speed or in
weight carried.

The instrument here shown, was constructed to my design,
by \ir. Alexander Gass, of College Street South, and is a very
creditable example of finely-executed work. The name of the
workman chiefly employed on it, Alexander Cook, ought also
to be mentioned as having taken great pains in carrying out
the details.

The records of the instrument would be of use to those
criticising the state of the roads in any district, also to surveyors
wishing to test various methods of road maintenance or to
convince their county authorities of the need of improvement
or of the advantages already obtained by a given treatment.
They would also be valuable to cyclists and others desirous of
knowing the condition of the roads in any distant district in
which they proposed to travel. :

Having shown that our Irish roads compare so unfavour-
ably with those across the Channel, it may be asked
why, and how can they be improved. Not being an expert in
road management, I feel diffdent about saying much on this
question. I would point out, however, that Macadam, the
father of the modern English road, insisted chiefly on three
points—first, thorough drying of the road-bed by underground

46 The Viagrant.

drains or other means; second, no stone in the road to exceed
60z. in weight, or, as he sometimes put it, “ any stone you can
put in your mouth may go on the road ;” third, cleanness of
the metal. Now, none of these points appear to be sufficiently
recognised here, while they appear to be still accepted in
England, except of course that Telford's system of paving the
bottom with large stones first may be used instead of the
macadam metalling only. In our neighbourhood the modern
practice seems to omit all subsoil drainage ; consequently all
the evils of wet roads are multiplied, though in our climate
drainage would seem doubly necessary. The grade of road
metai used here would seem to be excessively large. Samples
of stones from English roads are on the table, which weigh
between toz. and 20z., and measure 13in greatest diameter.
While English engineers with whom I have spoken seem
to be in doubt whether 2in. or 2$in. metal was best, on
the Lisburn road the stones (specimens of which are shown)
seem to average 31in., and weigh 1o00z. to 150z., even 4in. to
sin. being not uncommon. A piece of road metal from the
Malone Road, some distance within the city boundary, is on
the table, measuring sin. long and weighing 1lb. 60z. In
County Down, however, a more reasonable grade of metal is
now observable, and it will be generally admitted that the
roads in that county are at least somewhat smoother than those
in County Antrim This is apparent in the diagrams from the
Belfast and Saintfield Road exhibited. No excuse for bad roads
in the North of Ireland could be offered on account of the
inferiority of the material available. Basalt and granite are
both excellent if selected of a tough and wear-resisting quality
—a matter perhaps not always attended to. Basalt metalling
can be delivered in the neighbourhood of Belfast for little more
than 3s per ton, whereas in Cambridge, for example, the
granite metalling is said to cost 25s per ton, and in Lancashire
the broken syenite used on the Prescot Road costs 10s to 12s
per ton. Referring to the recognised smoothness of the flint
roads in England, such as that shown above, I hope that

The Viagraph. 47

some of the road engineers, if present, will say why a similar
smooth and good road for moderate traffic has not been made
here from the abundance of flint now thrown aside as a waste
product in our limestone quarries.

As to cleanness of metal, it would appear from the descrip-
tion of the practice on the Prescot Road, given by its Sur-
veyor (Mr. Goldsworth), and also from a very well-considered
opinion kindly given ty the Surveyor of County Down, that a
little road scrapings judiciously applied after the first rolling
may be requisite. Too much mud, Mr. Cowan remarks, is a
real fault. If, however, the local authorities do not consider that
the above are the causes of the defects, or if they doubt the
applicability of the English methods to this country, might I
suggest that these be at least tried. Let an experiment on the
most approved lines be earnestly and faithfully carried out,
say, upon Ioo yards of the Lisburn, the Malone, or any other
of our wretched leading thoroughfares. Once it was understood
what a road might be, we should never permit the present
state of things to occur again.

The PrrsipentT said he was sure they were all pleased highly
with Mr. Brown’s exceedingly interesting lecture. It was
remarkably lucid and clear, and they owed a great deal to Mr.
Brown for the way in which he had brought the subject before
us.

Professor DouGan said he had been much impressed with
the ingenuity and usefulness of Mr. Brown's invention. The
viagraph gave a very convincing test for any road which anyone
might wish to examine, and it came at a very opportune
moment and should be forced upon the attention of everyone
responsible for the care of our roads. Cyclists took a great
interest in the condition of the roads. It might be supposed
by non-cyclists, who were still a considerable body, that the
cyclist is fastidious ; his tendency to go to the footpath might
blind non-cyclists as to his real character. When the history
of cycling comes to be written it will be seen that the cyclist
is not fastidious, and that the qualities which will be forced

48 The Viagraph.

upon the historian of that movement would be the patience
and moderation of the cyclist.

The condition of the road, however, was not peculiarly a
matter for the cyclist only, it was a subject which engaged
the attention of every section of the community. The
roads of the country were a distinct portion of the national
wealth, and, moreover, they were not an unproductive portion,
and it was obvious that the more efficient the roads were, the
more valuable they were. They might be sure that visitors to
these parts, whether British or foreign, when endeavouring to
form an opinion as to the stage in civilisation to which the
people in these districts had attained, would take the quality
of the roads into account. It would be an element in forming
their opinion. Good roads were cheaper to the taxpayer than
bad roads in the long run, and not in the very long run either.
The surface of the roads around Belfast turned to dust in dry,
and mud in wet weather, at a far too rapid rate. He believed
this was due to want of drainage, and if that were so it would
pay the taxpayer to have the roads drained asa fresh start.
The work done by the steam roller did not seem to be as
effective as it ought to be. Many of the roads are dotted with
pools of water. The road from Belfast to Holywood is a county
road, and it is in this state, though only six weeks ago the
steam-roller passed over it. He thought the new County
Councils should borrow a sufficient sum of money, to put the
roads into perfect order, draining them, and giving them a
proper convexity of surface. That amount the taxpayer would
not have to pay all at once, it would be spread over a few
years.

Mr. Joun Horner felt that Mr. brown had entered upon a
field of real philanthropy and was bringing before them a tiue
Irish grievance. ‘heir English friends did not suffer in the
same way as the people of Ireland. The apparatus which Mr.
Brown had produced wes undoubtedly one of very great
ingenuity and it opened up a field for investigation as to their
roads in a way which was probably never done before. He

The Viagraph. 49

could not help remarking on the enormous ‘‘ ruts” or indeed
chasms which appeared on the Lisburn road, but if Mr. Brown
were to take his apparatus to the Antrim road it might be
almost swamped in some of the “ruts” there. They should
give Mr. Brown their heartiest thanks for his excellent lecture.

Mr. WitiiaMm ARMSTRONG, speaking as a cyclist, believed the
viagraph would be most valuable in the future. The whole
success of tramway traction was entirely owing to the fact that
the cars had a beautiful level surface to go upon. Cyclists were
an increasing community and had a right to be considered.
In Ireland the roads were tremendously behind what they were
in England and on the Continent, and it would take a con-
siderable time to bring the Irish roads up to what they should
be. He believed that expenditure upon the proper maintenance
of roads was bound to be remunerative. A scientific appliance
like the viagraph would soon speak for itself. He hoped it
would be extensively adopted.

Mr. Stewart C. Keiiy thought the County Antrim roads
had been a glaring eye-sore to a great number of people for a
length of time past, and they seemed to be getting worse
instead of better. It used to be said they were better than
the County Down roads, but now it was the reverse.. That he
believed was owing to the amount of scientific knowledge
brought to bear upon the roads in Down by Mr. Cowan.
County Surveyor. (The speaker here produced stones of large
size which he had picked up on some of the County Antrim
roads—the Crumlin, Antrim, and Lisburn Roads). It was
largely owing to the size of the metal used that the roa.is were
getting into such bad form. The County Down roads had
immensely improved during the last few years, and that was to
be attributed to the class of metal Mr. Cowan had been using.
In Antrim an inferior class of metal was used in the city as
well as in the county.

eee. ©. Cowan, M. Inst. C.K. Chief Engineering
Inspector to the Local Government Board, Ireland (lately
County Surveyor of Down), said the viagraph must be of great

4

50 The Viagraph

use in settling the constantly occurring disputes with contractors
for road maintenance. Mr. Brown showed the usual Irish
modesty in attributing the indifferent quality of Irish roads to
want of knowledge, but the real want was money. Too little
was allowed for supervision in Ireland, for example, in County
Down, about £60,000 per annum was spent on roads, bridges,
&c., and only about £1,500 on the surveyor’s staff, including
all travelling expenses. The deficiencies in the County Down
roads were serious on account of very imperfect construction
and long periods of insufficient maintenance, and he did not
see how the roads could be made much better without a very
large expenditure of money. He had lately reported to the
Grand Jury of County Down tliat to put the 2,500 miles of
roads in the county into really good order, to a not unteason-
able standarc, would require an immediate outlay of about
£ 3,000,000, which, even if the money were borrowed on the
most favourable terms, would raise the county rate to four
times its present figure for a generation. However, such a
sweeping policy was not necessary, and the fact was that most
of the County Down farmers did not seem to want much better
roads, and considered any improvement, especially at increased
cost, unnecessary. ‘limes had not been prosperous with the
farmers for many years, and he thought unless some of the
millions said to be due by England to Ireland could be obtained
for the expenditure on Irish roads, only a very slow rate of
improvement was possible. However, a liking for good roads
was apparently spreading in Ireland, and now that the burden
of road maintenance was partly taken off the landholders by
the new Local Government Act, more money might be granted
for road maintenance. The only way in which Irish roads
might be improved without a greater expenditure would be by
the use of wider tyres on cart wheels, and by regular cutting
down of high hedges. At present the narrow farm cart wheels
cut the weak roads like knives, and it is most difficult to induce
the farmers to keep their hedges low.

Dr. Ceci SHaw spoke of the importance of the road question

The Viagraph. 51

in connection with tourist development. He believed that last
summer a great many more tourists came to Ireland than ever
came before. A great many of them were cyclists and they
were somewhst disgusted with the condition of the roads.
Some declared they would never come back, the roads were in
such a bad state. The Irish roads should be improved so as to
induce the cyclist to come to the country.

Professor FirzGERALD said Mr. Cowan had spoken of a good
many of the things to which he had intended to refer. concern
ing the condition of our roads, far better than he could have
done. Mr. Cowan mentioned the very heavy expense that
would be required to bring the roads into anything like decent
condition, and it was sufficient to look at Mr. Brown’s diagrams
to see how much would have to be done. ‘Those diagrams
were far more eloquent than any words descriptive of the state
of the roads. Mr. Cowan had mentioned £ 3,000,000 as the cost
of putting the County Down roads in good condition through-
out. He (Professor FitzGerald) believed that the value to the
county of good roads was so great that that sum of money, if it
were obtainable, would be well spent for-the purpose. The
City of Belfast was certainly much to blame for permitting
stones of the size produced to be used; he had often seen
similar stones on the roads and wondered how they had got
there. He thought Mr. Brown’s machine most ingenious and
suggested that Mr. Brown should show, after the lecture, how
the machine could be folded up into a reasonable compass.
Twelve feet was, no doubt, an inconvenient length for carriage,
but Mr. Brown had so contrived that the machine would fold up
into half that length.

The PresipENnT, while joining in the expressions of thanks to
Mr. Brown for this most interesting paper describing his very
ingenious appliance, said that in reference to the question of
road surfaces in Belfast, he thought they should not use square
setts so extensively. In some thoroughfares the noise was so
great that at times nothing else could be heard.

Mr. Brown, in replying, said he agreed very cordially with

§2 The Viagraph.

the remarks of Professor Dougan, and desired to thank him, as
also Mr. Horner, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Cowan, and Professor
FitzGerald, for the approval they had expressed of the subject
of the paper. He was pleased to hear Mr. Kelly confirming his
views regarding road metal, and he felt sure they were all
greatly indebted to Mr. Cowan for his very full and clear
reference to the road question generally. Mr. Cowan was, no
doubt, quite right in advising more effective supervision.
Since, in the paper, a rather pointed comparison had been made
between the Lisburn Road and the Prescot Road showing that
while alike in size, importance, amount of traffic, and subsoil,
they were very different in quality of surface, attention
should be drawn to another point of difference—viz., cost of
repairs. It was stated on the best authority that the Lisburn
Road (buying its metal at, say 4s per ton) cost £220 per mile
per annum, while the Prescot Road (with metal at 10s to 12s
per ton) costs £100 only. Truly a bad road was dearer than
a good one. It might be suggested that the difference in these
items, if capitalized, would put the Lisburn Road in a good
condition to start with. In reference to the difference in
width of Irish cart wheel tyres as compared with English, it
should be pointed out that the loads commonly carted here are
much less than in England. The load per inch width of tyre
was therefore perhaps not very different. While agreeing with
the President as to the discomfort of the noise from our square
setts, Mr. Brown thought one must admit that the smallness
of the tractive force required on square setts is very advan-
tageous. He observed this markedly when driving a motor
car over them.

7th February, 1899.

THE Lorp Mayor (Mr. Otto Jarre, J.P.) in the Chair.

fie BOYNE VALLEY: ITS HISTORY, SCENERY
AND ANTIQUITIES.

BY Sc EF. Mictican, IM IRI¢A-

( Abstract.)

In Ireland the Boyne Valley was the first inhabited terri iy,
as well as the seat of central sovereignty for a period of two
thousand years. It has within its borders the richest and most
fertile soil ; its lands have always been eagerly sought after ai d
fought for by every race that landed on our shores. From its
source in County Kildare to Drogheda, where it empties iio
the Irish Sea, it has a course of seventy miles. It flows through
a level country, beautifully wooded. Its banks are adorned
with memorials of every age—Pagan, Early Christian, Anglo-
Norman, Elizabethan, and modern. It may be necessary here
to mention that the kingdom of Meath was formed in the first
century of the Christian Era by the King of Ireland, Tuathal
Teachtmar, who took from each of the existing four provinces
a portion of territory which, put together, formed Meath. The
newly-formed kingdom hencefo:th was to belong to the Ard
Righ, or Head King, as his special patrimony. Tuathal Teacht-
mar, after a long and prosperous reign, fell in a battle in County
Antrim, and his grave is still pointed out (a Kistvaen), the King
of Ireland’s grave on a hill side lying between the village of
Ballynure and Ballyeaston in this county. Meath comprised
the greater part of the English Pale; was the seat cf Angio-

54 The Boyne Valley.

Norman power, as it had previously been of Irish. This unique
and lovely vale, so dear to students of Irish history and arche-
ology, is now most accessible from evey part of the British
Isles. Travellers from Belfast or the North proceed to
Drogheda, from whence, in the summer months, there are
public conveyances provided by the Great Northern Railway
Company. The distance from Drogheda to Navan is seventeen
miles, Slane being about midway, and a convenient resting
place ; Navan to Trim is twelve miles, and from thence to
Clonard fourteen miles, which covers all the points of greatest
interest. The River Blackwater, the ancient Sele, joins the
Boyne at Navan, and in its course of twenty miles from Lough
Ramor, in County Cavan, passes several places of great historic
interest. In sylvan beauty, rare monuments of past ages, and
historic interest, the valleys of the Boyne and Blackwater stand
in the foremost rank of Irish river valleys. Scattered along the
Valley of the Boyne are relics of every age, from the Belgae
or Firbolgs, 1,000 B.c., down to the present century—a period
of about 3,000 years. These consist of cairns, cromleachs,
chambered pyramids, pillar stones, kistvzens, souterraines, raths,
duns, lisses, and all classes of earthen forts. Of the early
Christian period, Celtic churches and hermitages, dating from
almost the time of Saint Patrick ; round towers, sculptured
crosses, and moasteries; Anglo-Norman castles in great numbers,
dating from the end of the twelfth century, and other relics of
early Norman power. The Boyne rises at Trinity Well, close
by the village of Carbury, in County Kildare, four miles from the
town of Edenderry. It flows through King’s County for a few
miles, next becomes the boundary between Meath and Kildare,
then enters Meath, through which it flows until it empties into
the sea four miles east of Drogheda, as already stated, a total
distance of seventy miles. It receives several rivers in its
course, the principal one being the Blackwater, already
mentioned. Many remarkable events have occurred in the
' Boyne Valley, not the least of which was the arrival of St.
Patrick to preach the: Gospel to the King and nobles and

The Boyne Valley. 55

others at the Royal residence of Tara, for he rightly judged if
he converted the chiefs the people would certainly follow. He
came up the Boyne in a coracle similar, I have no doubt, to
those still peculiar to that river. When he reached Slane,
being Easter Eve, he ascended the hill which is the highest
ground in Meath, and lighted his fire, which was distinctly
visible from Tara. The ruins of a monastery now stand on.
that hill, and from the top of the church tower a view may be
obtained from the yellow steeple in Trim to the maiden tower
at Drogheda, a view of fully five-and-twenty miles as the crow
flies. Every spot in this extended view is historic ground,
trodden for centuries by kings, and lords, and saintly men, as -
well as by all the race of invaders already mentioned. In the
early ages of our era, Con, the hundred fighter, and his grand-
son, Cormac, the son of Art, that chivalrous and wise king and
law-giver, the greatest who reigned at Tara up to his time, and
to whom we shall again refer ; Nial, also of the hostages, the
conqueror of Alba and of Britain, tred this soil, and was finallv
assassinated in Gaul, whilst invading that country. In review-
ing this remote age, there arises before our mental vision
Leary, son of Niall, Ard Righ, or High King, when Patrick
came, and, though his chief druid and principal nobles embraced
the new faith, Leary, like a stout Pagan which he was, died as
he hid lived, and was buried in the rampart of his own fort on
Tara Hill, in a standing posture, with his great war spear in
his hand and his face towards Leinster, the territory of his
hereditary enemies. A few centuries later bands of Northern
foreigners might be seen pillaging this same district. The
Annals relate that the caves of Knowth, Dowth, and New
Grange were pillaged by Amlaff, Imar, and Ansilie, three of the
leaders of the Danes ot Dublin. We can contemplate another
and a more peaceful scene, one hundred years after King Leary
had been interred. Up the Valley of the Boyne, at Clonard,
in the year 520, St. Finnan established a school for the youth
of Erin, which became the most. celebrated seat of learning in
the island, _He had for pupils men such as St. Columba, St.

56 The Boyne Valley.

Kieran, of Clonmacnois, and St. Brendan, of Clonfert. Columba,
after founding innumerable churches and monasteries, became
the apostle of the Northern Picts ; St. Brendan, it is believed,
preached the Gospel as far as Iceland, and St. Kieran founded
the famous school of Clonmacnois in the centre of the island,
near Athlone. From this period and several centuries late
Ireland was known as the Island of Saints. So famous was
the great school of Clonard, and so celebrated for its learning,
that pupils flocked to it from Britain, Alba, Gaul, and Germany,
until their numbers. it is said, reached 3,000. The village of
Clonard, the site of this ancient seat of learning, is the first
historic place of importance coming down the river from its
source. «A Round lower formerly stood here, but it is recorded
in the Annals that in the year 1039 the steeple of Clonard fell.
A great loss, not alone to Clonard, but to the entire country,
was the destruction by fire in 1143 of the library of the
monastery, in which a great number of manuscripts were con-
sumed. Clonard passed through many vicissitudes of fortune.
Dermot MacMorrough and his English allies plundered it in
the year 1170. When the Anglo-Normans took possession
they superseded the Irish monks by countrymen of their own.
Simon de Rochford assumed the title of Bishop o! Meath, and
removed the Episcopal chair from Clenard to Newton, near
Trim, where he founded the great Augustinian abbey dedicated
to St. Peter and St. Paul, the ruins ot which form a notable
picture there to the present day. The great monasteries of
this period were so constructed that they could be used for
purposes of defence, and were loopholed for bowmen. The
Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Newton, is remarkable
in this respect. Ath Truim (Ford of the Alder Trees), now
called Trim, is the next great historical place down the river
from Clonard. It is one of the most interesting towns
in Ireland for the antiquarian, containing ruins of several
monasteries and castles. [he view appruaching by the Dublin
road, seen under favourable circumstances, will never be for-
gotten. This view includes all the ruins of Newtown and

The Boyne Valley. 57

Trim, with the Boyne flowing beneath them; the Priory of
Saint John, the old bridge and its protecting tower, and the
great Abbey of Peter and Paul are in the foreground. In the
distance rises up King John’s Castle, a splendid ruin ; next the
Yellow Steeple, rising to a height of 125 feet, close by which is
one of the ancient gates of Trim, known as the Sheep Gate,
whilst still further off stands the square and massive tower of
the Parish Church, built by Richard Duke of York, father of
Edward the Fourth, inthe year 1449. In Anglo-Norman Trim
there was the Grey Friary of Observantines and the Black
Friary of the Dominicans, the latter founded by Geoffry de
Joinville, Lord of Meath, in a.p. 1263. There was also Saint
Mary’s Abbey, of which the Yellow Steeple is the only surviving
relic. It is stated that Oliver Cromwell battered down this
abbey in consequence of a number of men holding it against
him. Henry the Second granted the entire Kingdom of Meath
to Hugh de Lacy for the service of fifty knights, and he fixed
on Trim as his residence, and built King John’s Castle. It
covers an area of two acres or more on the sloping bank of the
Boyne. The river flows on one side, and on the other has a
broad and deep fosse, filled with water from the river, which
isolated it completely, and rendered it almost impregnable before
the invention of artillery. King John lodged in Trim in July,
1210; Parliaments were held in it, and there was a mint for
coining money ; in fact it was the capital in the early Anglo-
Norman period. Henry the Fith, the hero of Agincourt, was
left here when a youth, confined in one of the towers of the
castle, by Richard the Second. The Duke of Wellington
received his early education in Trim in a schoolhouse still
occupied, and he represented it when he was twenty-one years
of age in the Irish Parliament. A monument stands in the
town, erected to the Iron Duke, as the hero of Waterloo.
About six miles further down the river from Trim are the
ruins of Bective Abbey, situated on the northern bank of the
Boyne. It was founded in 1146 by O’Melaghlin, King of
Meath, for monks of the Cistercian Order. It was richly

58 The Boyne Valley.

endowed, the demesne consisting of 245 acres, with a mill and
fishing weir on the river. The Abbott of Bective sat as a
Lord of Parliament, and it was the only house of the Order in
Meath. Bective Abbey being built before the arrival of the
Anglo Normans, possesses more intcrest for Irish archzeologists.
The cloisters are very fine and fairly well preserved. The
great tower above the porch is quite perfect, and was evidently
intended for defensive warfare, in fact, for the Church militant,
as its battlements and loopholes testify. Wenow reach Navan,
where the Blackwater forms a junction with the Boyne. The
ancient moat is the principal object of interest to the anti-
quarian at Navan. Tara can be readily reached, either from -
Bective or Navan ; the distance from the former is about five
miles and the latter six to the ancient seat of the kings of
Ireland. The drive lies through a beautiful and well-wooded
country, with some very pretty views of the river. The Hill
of Tara was the seat of Irish sovereignty for ages ; it was there
the laws were promulgated and there the great assemblies of
the nobles and people were held. The hill, which is about
550 feet high, has a commanding view, extending over several
counties. It has always been kept in grass, and the outlines of
the ancient raths and forts have been well preserved ; also the
earthworks which outlive the great banqueting hall celebrated
in poems and story called Miodh-Chuarta, or the middle house
of the Palace of Tara. The buildings were constructed of
timber and protected by earth works; the former have
perished years ago, whilst the latter have remained to the
present day. Standing on a mound in one of the raths is the
Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, on which it is recorded the kings
of Ireland were inaugurated. The glory of Tara was brought
to an untimely end. The annals of Clonmacnois relate that in
the year 563 the hill was deserted in consequence of a curse
pronounced against King Dermoid by Saint Ruadhan, because
of the king’s determination to punish Hugh Guarry, his
relative, for killing one of the king's officers. Having examined
the raths and forts of Tara, as well as the very ancient church

The Boyne Valley. 59

on the hill, we may return to Navan ; and before proceeding
to Drogheda a visit should be made to Kells and the valley of
the Blackwater, where there are some most interesting places
well worthy of a visit. The ruins of Saint Kieran’s Church
and the Holy Well, situated under a wide-spreading ash tree,
and the Termon Crosses should all be seen ; they are situated
three miles from Kells. One of the most celebrated places in
the ancient ecclesiastical history of Ireland is Kells. Amongst
the antiquities still remaining isa round tower and a beautifully
sculptured cross close by it, a handsome shaft of another cross
in the churchyard, and the great Cross of Kells standing in the
Market Square. In addition to these, there is the ancient
house or church of Saint Columba, stone roofed, having stood
the battle and the breeze for more than one thousand years.
The Book of Kells was kept i: the monastery here for ages,
and, as everyone knows, is the most valued treasure in the
great library of Trinity College, Dublin. Kells was burned
and sacked many times by Danes and Normans, as well as by
Edward Bruce in the year 1315, and it is wonderful that so
many remains of such extreme antiquity should have survived.
Telltown, the ancient Tailtean which, next to Tara, was one
of the greatest Royal residences in ancient times, is situated
midway between Kells and Navan on the banks of the Black-
water. There still may be seen the remains of three great
raths close by the river. Here the great National Assembly
or Aenach was held once a year, commencing on the first day
of August and lasting fora week. Games and athletic contests
somewhat similar to the Olympian games were held here. It
was established by King Lugh Lamhfhada about 600 years B.c.
in memory of his foster mother, and continued till the 12th
century A.D. ; the last fair being held in the reign of Roderic
O’Connor last Ard Righ of Ireland. Proceeding from Navan
towards Drogheda, the Boyne is much increased in volume by
the junctions of the Blackwater. The beauties of the river and
the most lovely scenery is situated between Navan and Slane.
A canal has been made from Navan to Drogheda, and the tow-

60 The Boyne Valley.

path of the canal is a very convenient way from which to view
the beauties of the river. About 14 miles from Navan stands
the round tower and ancient church of Donaghmore ; a little
further down the river we see the Castle of Dunmoe on our
left and the ancient church of Ardmulchan on our right.
We next reach Slane, to which we have already referred in
connection with the coming of Saint Patrick. The river is
very beautiful between Beaupare and Slane, and the hill on
which it stands commands the most extended view in the
county. Close by the monastery on the top of the hill is a
great tumulus or mound, probably the burial-place of King
Slanius, after whom the town was probably named. The
burial-place of King Cormac Mac Art, who died in 266, and was
buried at Rossnaree, is about two miles from Slane, further
down the river. The burial mound is within a stone’s throw
of the Boyne. On the opposite side, on a hill, is the great
tumultus of Knowth. King Cormac’s burial has been made
famous by Sir Samuel Ferguson in his splendid poem, and the
exact place of interment has been handed down for over 1,600
years, and never lost sight of by hiscountrymen. The lecturer
next described the three great sepulchral pyramids of Knowth,
Dowth, and Newgrange, the most ancient and most remarkable
monuments in Western Europe. The lecturer next referred to
the Abbey of Mellifont, founded in 1142 by O’Carroll, Prince
of Oriel, at the suggestion of St. Malachy, Primate of Ireland,
for monks of the Cistercian Order. The monks were brought
from Clairvaux, and were principally French. It was here the
faithless Dearvorgail, wife of O’Rorke of Breffney, who had
eloped with M‘Murrough, ended her days in penitence. It was
here also, towards the close of the sixteenth century, that Hugh
O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, submitted to Mountjoy, in the House
of Garrett Moore, ancestor to to the Marquis of Drogheda.
Monasterboice Round Tower and sculptured crosses were next
referred to. There was an Irish monastery founded here in the
year 522. The only ruins of this ancient foundation now
remaining are the round tower and sculptured crosses, the

The Boyne Valley. 61

monastic buildings and ancient church having disappeared.
The next and last place of interest on the river is the very
ancient town of Drogheda, which would be an ample text for
an entire lecture. The great tumulus now called Millmount is
similar in type to those already referred to, and is probably
chambered in the interior. From the time of Saint Patrick in
432 to 1049, when it was stormed by Cromwell, and in 1690,
when it was occupied by James II., its history can be traced all
through the ages. ‘lurgesius, the Danish king. occupied and
fortified it early in the 9th century, and King John visited it in
year 1210 and gave it a charter. Parliaments were held in
Drogheda, and the law known as Poynings Law was passed
there. King Richard IT. received the Irish chiefs in St. Mary’s
Abbey when they came to make their submission. The learned
primate, James Ussher, lived in Drogheda near to St. Lawrence’s
gate. He it was who secured the Book of Kells for the
iiprany of Trinity College. Phelim Roe Q’Neill: in 1641
besieged Drogheda, when it was successfully defended by Sir
Henry Tichbourn. Few towns in Ireland can boast of so
many famous men having visited it. St. Patrick first, next
Tingesius, the Danish King, King John, Hugh De Lacy,
Richard Il. and the northern princes who came to pay their
respects to him, Red Hugh O’Donnell, and the great Earl of
Tyrone, Phelm Roe O'Neill, Oliver Cromwell, James II., and
William III. St. Lawrence’s gate still stands in a good state
of preservation, as well as some portions of the ancient walls.
The Magdalene steeple is the only remains of the Dominican
Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene. In the cemetery
attached to the Parish Church of St. Peter’s there are many
curious tombstones. Of modern buildings there are two
extremely fine Roman Catholic Churches just completed ; also
the great railway viaduct, the finest in Ireland. At the Inver
or mouth of the river stands the Maiden Tower, a Pharos or
lighthouse, erected in the time of Queen Elizabeth. This
brings us to the end of the river and the end of our subject
also. We have now surveyed the Boyne from its source to the

62 The Boyne Valley.

sea at Drogheda, attempted to picture and describe some of its
antiquities and scenery, and I must confess that I do not know
any portion of Jreland that offers such attractions to the
student of Irish history, the archzologist, the lover of the
beauties of nature, as well as the huntsman and the angler, as
this lovely Irish valley along the banks of the Boyne.

One hundred specially prepared lantern slides were shown of
the Boyne Valley, illustrating the scenery and antiquities.

Mr. WaLTerR H. Witson proposed a vote of thanks to Mr.
Milligan for his instructive lecture. Personally, he thought no
prettier bit of river scenery could be wished for than that from
Navan to Slane. There was no doubt that Irish scenery was
not properly known ; and if the result of the lecture, which
Mr. Milligan had delivered that night, was to encourage
people to visit that historic district, it would be a God-send to
that sadly-neglected part of the country.

The resolution was seconded by Mr. William Gray, and was
passed with acclamation.

The Lorn Mayor, in conveying the vote, said that not only
as citizens, but as Irishmen—in which he took the liberty of
including himself—they felt obliged to Mr. Milligan for his
instructive and interesting lecture. He was pleased to hear
-Mr. Milligan refer to technical instruction as having been in
force in Ireland at an early date. In the Queen’s speech that
day reference was made to the Agriculture and Industries Bill
for Ireland, and he hoped that when that Bill was passed
Ireland would prosper more and more, and he further hoped
that Belfast would get a liberal slice of whatever grant Pariia-
ment would give to Ireland.

Mr. Milligan suitably replied.

Professor REDFERN proposed a: vote of thanks to the Lord
Mayor for presiding.

Professor FirzGkRALD seconded the motion, which was
enthusiastically passed.

The Boyne Valley. 63

The Lorp Mayor, in acknowledging the compliment, said it
gave him great pleasure to be present there that night, and he
could assure them that he would not spare himself in attending
as far as he could to the many duties devolving upon him as
Lord Mayor, of which position he was proud.

64

14th March, 1899.

—————

Mr. THomMAs WorkKMAN, J.P., President, in the Chair.

PATHOGENIC BACTERIA WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO THE TYPHOID BACILLUS.

By J. Lorrain SmituH, M.A., M.D.
( Abstract.)

The natural processes for which bacteria are responsible are
very numerous, but a rough classification of these may be made
by dividing them into three groups—viz., fermentation, putre-
faction, and the production of disease.

In regard to fermentation, suggestive conclusions were
established in the first instance, showing that the ferment
producer is a living organism which has in suitable conditions
the power of indefinite self-multiplication, and that in unsuit-
able conditions it dies out and cannot be revived except by the
introduction anew of living organisms of the same _ kind.
Subsequent study revealed many characters whereby the
different organisms could be recognised, and also the condi-
‘tions, which were most favourable to their activity. The same
methods of study applied to disease have shown that many acute
infectious fevers and allied conditions are due to microbes, and
it is to this branch of the science of bacteriology that I wish now
to refer.

A short introduction in regard to general principles will be
of service.

We have, in the first place, to devise means for giving to the
microbes we wish to cultivate the most suitable conditions for
their growth, and for this purpose various ingenious methods
have been adopted. The food which the microbe requires is

Pathogentc Bacteria. 68

obtained by preparing a fluid or solid substance in which are
present the same constituents as exist in the fluids in which the
microbe naturally dwells. We have, accordingly, various extracts
of meat in common use as the so-called media. The extract is,
in the first place, in the form of a clear fluid broth, and this may
be solidified without losing its clearness by gelatine and other
substances.

If we take such a substance and inject it under the skin ofan
animal in a moderate dose, it has no harmful effect. If, how-
ever, we allow a pathogenic or disease-causing microbe to
grow in it for some time before we make the inoculation, we
find that the harmless broth has become more or less poisonous.
The poisonous effect varies with the form of the microbe, and
this difference corresponds with the difference in the diseases
with which the microbe is associated. We can therefore pro-
duce disease in two ways. Either we can inject the microbe
which multiplies in the tissues of the body, and so causes the
disease, or we can obtain the poison outside the body by grow-
ing the microbe and cause the disease, or a condition closely
akin to it, by injecting the poison. The microbe flourishing in
the tissues of the body produces disease, because it manufactures
poisons as it grows, and from the action of these poisons the
effects arise. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, for the
understanding of the nature of disease to understand the nature
of the poisons which are produced in this way, and to ascertain
their effects on the animal body. The study of these poisons
or toxines, as they are often called, has given great definite-
ness to the study of infectious disease. 7

One aspect of disease in particular, to the explanation of
which this study has made important contributions, is that form
of resistance to attack which is known as immunity. A man is
said to be immune to a disease when he, after exposure to infec-
tion, fails to contract the disease. When this power of resistance
is an original attribute of the man it is called natural immunity.
If, however, by some artificial process, this power has been con-
tributed to the man, he is then said to have acquired immunity.

66 Pathogenic Bacteria.

In the study of the action of bacterial poisons it was found
that, when a dose is injected insufficient to cause death, and yet
such as to lead to more or less disturbance of the bodily
functions, there results finally an immunity to the disease on
the part of the animal so inoculated. In such investigations
the method is to inject a small dose in the first instance and to
increase the dose subsequently until a dose is reached which,
without the preliminary inoculations, would certainly have been
fatal. The nature of the change which this series of inoculations
induces so as to establish the state of immunity is very imper-
fectly understood. One result, however, of great practical
importance is, that the serum of the blood is charged with
immunising power, and that this power can be conveyed to a
second animal by injecting into that animal some of the serum
of the first. This is the principle on which the modern treat-
ment of diphtheria is based. A horse is made immune to the
poison of the diphtheria bacillus, and when this is successfully
carried out the immunity which the horse acquires enables it
to resist the effects of enormous doses of diphtheria poison. The
serum of its blood is then obtained and prepared for injection
into the tissues of children who have been attacked by the
disease. The child in this way gets at once the advantage of
the tedious process of acquiring the immunity to which the
horse has been submitted. Such a serum is called an antitoxic
serum.

In regard to the bacteriology of Typhoid Fever one or two
general points of interest may be noted. The avenue of inlec-
tion by which the microbe reaches the body is the alimentary
canal. Here also occur some of the structural changes which
characterise the disease. The bacillus is discovered in the tissues
of various abdominal organs—viz., the lymph glands, the spleen,
and the liver.

The bacillus has no very clear character by which it can
be at once distinguished from all other bacilli. It is very closely
allied to the other groups of bacilli, and from these it is a
matter of no small difficulty to distinguish it. The obscurity

Pathogenic Bacterta. 67

which naturally results from this circumstance is increased by
the fact that it has been found impossible to produce the disease
in animals. It is possible to inoculate animals and to find that
they die, but such cases do not show the characters of the
disease as it occurs in the human subject.

Such difficulties, however, do not gainsay the evidence which
we otherwise possess of the connection of the typhcid bacillus
with the disease. Since the place of the disease is in the intes-
tine, the rule which is observed in public health is to regard
any contamination of food or water used for drinking, with
intestinal excreta as a possible source of typhoid infection.

The lecture was illustrated by actual specimens and by lantern
views. Mr. Mayne manipulated the lantern, and the slides,
which were referred to by the Lecturer as in every way suitable
for his purpose and generally approved of, were specially pre-
pared by Mr. J. J. Andrew,

Professor REDFERN moved, and Dr. SHELDON seconded, a
hearty vote of thanks to Professor Smith for his very instructive
lecture.

The CHAIRMAN, in putting the motion to the meeting, said
they owed a great deal to such men as Dr. Smith, who put
forth such praiseworthy efforts in order to alleviate suffering.

The motion was warmly passed.

Subsequently an interesting exhibition of bacteria under the
microscope took place in the Library of the Museum.

68

April 11th, 1899.

Mr. T. Workman, J.P., President, in the Chair.

ELECTRIC DISCHARGES IN RAREFIED GASES,
WITH EXPERIMENTS AND LANTERN SLIDES.

By J. Finnecan, B.A., B.Sc.

The experiments on this subject have attracted the attention
of numerous observers, not only because of their beauty and
and variety, but also from the widespread belief that this is the
most promising field in which to discover the relationships
between electricity and matter.

Consider the discharges in electrodeless tubes. Take a coil
of wire, of which one end is connected to the inside coating and
the other end through a spark gap to the outside coating ofa
Leyden jar, charged by an induction coil. When the jar is
discharged enormous and very rapid alternating currents flow
through the coil, sufficient by their induction to produce
bright discharges in bulbs placed in the coil. If the bulb
is connected to pump and exhausted, when the pressure
is high no discharge appears, but when the pressure is
about Imm. of mercury a thin red line runs round the bulb
in the plane of the coil ; continuing the exhaustion, the colour
changes to white, the ring gets thicker, and the brightness
becomes a maximum ; it then diminishes, and when we have a
very good vacuum the discharge no longer passes. If a metallic
diaphragm crosses the bulb there are produced two separate
bright rings, just as with a non-conducting diaphragm.

here is always considerable difficulty in producing the first

Electric Discharges in Rarefied Gases. 69

discharge in rarefied gases. The gas first breaks down along
the line of maximum E.M.F. intensity, and a small discharge
takes place, producing a supply of dissociated molecules, along
which the succeeding discharges can more easily pass.

Observe discharge with electrodes. When the pressure 1s
about 4 millimetre of mercury, we see that the cathode is
irregularly covered with a velvety light, its distribution depend-
ing on the pressure and quantity of current ; then comes
Crookes’ dark space, after this a luminous column, the negative
glow, independent of the position of the electrode, its size
depends on the shape of the vessel near the cathode ; next, the
Farady dark space, of variable length; lastly, the luminous
column extending to the anode, very regularly striated, and
beautiful. Attempts have been made to explain the striae on
the hypothesis that the discharge through an exhausted tube is
not continuous but intermittent.

Plicher first investigated the fluorescence on the walls of the
tube near the cathode. Hittorf next discovered that the surface
of the electrode is the origin of a motion spreading uniformly
through the gas. Goldstein showed that a pointed cathode
produces a well-defined shadow on the walls of the tube of a
body in front of it, while a cathode of large surface produces a
clear but not very sharp shadow, thus proving that the cathode
rays, as he called them, came off nearly normally from the
cathode, and not like light in all directions.

In 1879 Crookes wrote his first papers on this subject, and
his experiments became popular in this country. The most
striking property of cathode rays is their power of producing
fluorescence, not only in the gas through which they pass, but
also in many substances on which they fall. To show these
effects most strikingly we use “solid solutions,” which are
formed when two salts are simultaneously precipitated from a
solution. They are then particularly sensitive to the rays
coming from an electric discharge.

Goldstein discovered that if there are two adjacent cathodes
the rays from one are deflected by the other.

70 Electric Discharges in Rarefied Gases.

Again, using a tube with the cathode in the centre, the anode
at one end, the cathode being pierced with one or more small
holes, Goldstein found that the front side of the cathode shows
the usual cathode light. From the back of the cathode rise
high columns of reddish-yellow light, the blue rays being
entirely absent. These were called ‘‘ Canal Rays.” It seems
to me proved that they are identical with the luminous glow
on the front of the cathode, and that both are produced by
positive ions travelling from the anode to the cathode, and, if
the cathode is pierced, some pass through and produce the
canal rays. Wien showed that they carried with them a posi-
tive charge. An object, placed in the dark space in front of
the cathode, throws a shadow on the cathode, as if it protected
the cathode from the impact of particles striking it normally.
If holes are pierced in the cathode in this shadow no canal rays
appear there. Metals placed in the path of the rays become
oxidised, so that if an object be placed in the dark space in
front of a cathode, consisting of wire gauze and a polished metal
p-ate placed behind it, we have on the plate an image produced
of the object placed in front of the cathode. If now a luminous
screen be placed in front of the cathode, we have a shadow of
the object again produced, which is larger than the object if
this latter is inside the cathode dark space, and about the same
size if outside, so that cathode rays only come from the parts
struck by these anode ions.

In the simple case of the discharge passing as a thin line of
reddish light, we may describe the effect of a magnet by saying
that the displacement of the discharge is like that of a perfectly
flexible wire carrying acurrent. ‘Ifa magnet be applied toa
striated column, each striae is subjected to a rotation or deform-
ation, as if the striae marked the termination of flexible currents
radiating from the bright head of the striae behind it, and ter-
minating in the hazy inner surface of the striae in question.”’

The negative glow behaves in a magnetic field, like a
_ magnetic substance without weight, and perfectly free to move.
The magnetic effect on the cathode rays may be expressed by

Electric Discharges m Rarefied Gases. 71

stating that the negative rays mark the path of a sheaf of
charged particles, and therefore in general it is a spiral in a
uniform field. A sheaf of rays normal to a pole of a magnet
forms loops and nodes, as shown by Poincaré.

Crookes’ theory regards the cathode rays as streams of nega-
tively electrified particles driven with great speed away from
the cathode. The heating effects are explained by supposing
that the kinetic energy of the particles is partly transformed by
impact.

A rapidly moving particle acts like an electric current, and
produces round it a magnetic field ; when the particle is stopped
the field is destroyed. This rapid change in the field produces
rapidly changing electro-magnetic forces, analogous on the
electro-magnetic theory to the conditions which accompany
ultra-violet light, and therefore phosphoresence.

The phenomena of the discharge have led us to believe that
the molecules are broken up, and that chemical actions essen-
tially accompany the passage of electricity through gas.

We can readily admit that the molecules of gases, which con-
sist of two atoms, can be broken up by the current ; but there
is a difficulty in the case of mercury vapour, which must be
regarded as mon-atomic.

If, then, the dissociation theory is correct, we must, as War-
burg Pate out, suppose that the mon-atomic mercury vapour
may also be further analysed, and, by electric discharges,
carriers of electricity are produced, which are small in com-
parison with the ordinary atom or molecule.

BHF AsS Tf

Patural History & Whtlosophical Soctety.

Officers and Council of Management for 1899-1900.

Presidvent :
THOMAS WORKMAN, g.p.

Bice- Yresidents.
JOHN BROWN. | WM. SWANSTON, r.e.s.
ROBERT YOUNG, c.z., J.P.

Son. Yreasurer:
W. H. F. PATTERSON.

sson. Librarian:
THOMAS WORKMAN, z.r.

sow. Secrefarp:
ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.I.A.

Gouncil :
JOHN BROWN.
JOHN H. DAVIES.
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.n.s., p.c.1.
ANDREW GIBSON, F.n.s.A.
JOHN HORNER.
OTTO JAFFE, s.r.
SEATON F. MILLIGAN, m.nz.1.a., F.R.S.A.
hk. LLOYD PATTERSON, u.v., F.1.s.
WM. H. PATTERSON, m.p.1.a.
W. H. F. PATTERSON.
THOMAS F. SHILLINGTON, s.r.
WM. SWANSTON, r.a.s.
THOMAS WORKMAN, g.p.
ROBERT YOUNG, g.p., c.£.
R. M. YOUNG, B.A., J.P., M.R.I.A.

SHAREHOLDERS.

[*Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

* Alexander, Francis, B.£., Belfast.
Allworthy, Edward, Ardgreenan, Cavehill Road, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.s., East Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R.c.s. Eng., University Square, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, J.p., Ardoyne, do.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun., 7 Donegall Square West, do.
Baird, Wm., Royal Avenue, | do.
Barbour, James, J.p., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.A., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., J.p., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H., Belfast.
Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, do.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Braddell, Edward, The Limes, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burnett, John R., College Gardens, do.
Byers, Prof. John W., M.a., M.D., Lower Crescent, do.
Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.a., M.pD., College Square North do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.

Carlisle, A. M., Elmwood House, do.

74 Shareholders.

Carr, A. H. R., Rathowen, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.a., J.P., Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
Combe, George, Cranethorpe, Strandtown.
Cowan, P. C., M.1.¢.z., Dublin.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.
Craig, Edwin E., Craigavon, Strandtown.
Cuming, Professor James, M.A., M.D., (Reps. of the late)

Wellington Place, Belfast.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Mountpellier, Malone Road, do.
Davies, John H., 45 Castle Street, Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord D.L. (Representative of), Newtownbreda.
Dods, Robert, B.a., St. Leonards, Newcastle.
*Donegal, Marquis of, Belfast.
*Downshire, Marquis of, The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Wellington Place, Belfast.
Duffin, Adam, LL.p., University Square, do.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Everett, Professor Joseph D., M.a., D.C.L., F.R.S.,

22 Earlscourt Square, London.
Ewart, G. Herbert, M.a., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Ewart, Lavens M., j.p. (Reps. of), Glenbank House, do.
Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., M.a., J.p., Glenmachan

House, do.
Faren, Wm., Mountcharles, do.
*Fenton, Francis G., London.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Fred. W., J.p., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel.

Finlay, Robert H. F., Cavehill Road, Belfast.

Shareholders. 75

Finnegan, John, B.A., B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue,

Belfast.
FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.a., M.1.M.E., Assoc.

M.I.c.E., Eglantine Avenne, do.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Gibson, Andrew, F.R.S.A.1., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant, do.
Gordon, Robert W., J.P. (Reps. of), Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A.,

(Representatives of), Broughshane.
Grey, William, m.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., Mus.BACc., do.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.I.A., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
@ ral, Prederick H.; Waterford.
*Hamilton, Hill, j.p. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Harland, W., University Road, do.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of), do.
Henderson, Sir James, A.M., J.p., Oakley, Windsor Park, do.
Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte, Clarges Street, . Wondon:
Herdman, John, J.p., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Earnest, J.P., Rosavo, Cultra.
Hermann, Walter, M.A., PH.D, R.A. Institution, Belfast.
Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, do.
Hind, John, junr., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Hodges, Professor John F., M.D., F.C.S., J.P.,

Sandringham, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, M.1.,M.E., Chelsea, Antrim Road, do.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.p., v.L., M.P., Orangefield, do.
*Hughes, Edwin, Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.p., Windsor, Belfast.

Inglis, James, J.P., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.

76 Shareholders.

Jackson, A. T., c.e., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie

Avenue, Belfast.
Jaffe, Otto, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor, Kin

Edar, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., j.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Richmond Lodge, Belfast.
Kertland, Edwin H., Chlorine Gardens, do.
Kidd, George, J.P., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, John R., Altoona, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do.
Lanyon, John, c.r., j.p., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Larmor, Joseph, M.A., F.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge.
Leathem, Dr. R. R., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, j.P., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Lepper, F. R., J.p., Elsinore, Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., F.c.S., Shirley Lodge, Cultra.
Lindsay, James A., M.A., M.D., College Square East, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., j.p., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H., j.r., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.I.c.E., Stanley House,

Holywood.
Macfarlane, John, Bladon Park, Belfast.
Mackenzie, John, c.E., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, M.1.C.E., M.I.M.E., Ashley Park,

Antrim Road, do.
Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.IL.MAR.E., The Elms, Strandtown.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.1.4., The Drift, Antrim Road, do.
Mitchell, Robert A., Marmont, Strandtown.

Montgomery Henry C., Bangor.

Shareholders. oh |

Montgomery, H. H., Knock, Belfast.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., D.L., Ballydrain House, Dunmurry,
Moore, James, The Finaghy. Belfast.
Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park, do.
Murney, Henry, M.D., J.p., Tudor House, Holywood.
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.
*Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, 3.p., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, do.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, Sir James, Bart., J.p., Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of), do.
M‘Bride, Henry James, Hyde Park, Mallusk, do.
M'Bride, Samuel, Edgehill, Lennoxvale, do.
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London.
*M‘Cammon, Lieut. Col. Thomas A., Woodville, Holywood.
meeance, 1. J., j-P., DL. Larkfeld, Dunmurry.
M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., D.L. (Reps. of),

MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Strandtown, Belfast.
MacCormac, John, m.p., Victoria Place, do.
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara, Craigavad.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),

M‘Gee, James, Woodville, Holywood.
M'‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street, Belfast.
Macllwaine, John H., Bangor.
M‘Kisack, H. L., m.p., College Square East, Belfast.
*MacLaine, Alexander, j.P., Queen’s Elms, do.
M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do.
M Knight, Jonn P., Nevara, Chichester Park, do.
Neill, Sharman D., Rowandean, Marlborough Park, de.
Nicholson, Henry J., College Square North, do.
O’Neill, James, M.a., College Square East, do.
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Dunratho, Craigavad.

Park, Rev. Wm., M.a., Somerset House, University St., Belfast.

78 Sharcholders.

Patterson, Edward Forbes, Adelaide Park, Blfaset.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany.
Patterson, Richard, 5.p., Kilmore, Holywcod.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.p., F.L.s., Croft House, do.
Patterson, Robert, F.z.s., Malone Park, Belfast.
Patterson, William H., m.r.1.a., Garranard, Strandtown.
Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Marlboro Park, Belfast.
Patterson, William R., Windsor Avenue, do.
Pim, Edward W., 3.p., Elmwood Terrace, do.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.
*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Praeger, R. Lloyd, B.f., M.R.1.A., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, LL.D., M.R.I.A.. Queen’s College, Belfast.
Rea, John Henry, m.p., University Street. do.
Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H. S., 3.p., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddell, Samuel, Beechpark, Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.p., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon, Charles, M.a., D.LIT., B.Sc., Royal Academical

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, j.p., Dromart, Antrim Road, do.
‘Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.

Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.A., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s. Eng., Howard St., do.

Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do.
Smyth, John, .a., c.e., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.sc., Riversdale, Holywood.
Steen, Robert, PH.D. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Steen, William, B.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.
Swanston, William, F.ac.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.

*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

Shareholders. 79

*Tennent, Robert James (Reps. of), Rushpark, Belfast.
*Thompson, James, j.P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
Thompson, S. B., Short Strand, Belfast,
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of), Whiteabbey.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Walkington, Mrs., Thornhill, Malone, do.
Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, Belfast.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Walter, Hermann, M.A., PH.D., Royal Academical

Institution, Belfast.
Ward, Francis D., J.P., M.R.1.A., Chlorine Gardens, do.
Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, do.
Ward, John, J3.p.. Lennoxvale, Malone Road, do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, m.p., J.p., College Sq. North, do.
Wilson, James, M.E., Oldforge, Dunmurry.
Wilson, John K., Donegall Street, Belfast.
Wilson, Walter H., Stranmillis House, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*W olff, G. W,, M.p., The Den Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, j.p., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, M.a., Rubane House, Glastry.
Workman, Rev. Robert, B.p.. The Manse, Newtownbreda.
Workman, R. D , Upper Crescent, Belfast.
*Workman, Thomas, j.P., Craigdarrah, Craigavad.
Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, p.c.s., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, c.&., 3.P., Rathvarna, do.

*Young, Robert Magill, B.a., J.P., M.R.I.A.. Rathvarna, do.

80 Annual Subscribers.

HONORARY MEMBERS,

Dufferin and Ava, k.p., The Marquis of, Clandeboye, Co. Down.
Stokes, Miss M., Hon. M.r.L.A., Carrig Breac, Howth,

Co. Dublin,
HONORARY ASSOCIATES.
Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel Alex., F.p.s. Edin, Belfast Museum, do.
Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.c.s., F.L.s., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS.

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Co., Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA.

Allan, C. E., Stormont Castle, Dundonald.
Armstrong, William, Chichester Gardens, Belfast.
Barr, James, Beechleigh, Windsor Park, do.
Barton, H. D. M., The Bush, Antrim.
Boyd, John. Cyprus Gardens, Bloomfield, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, j.p., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Belfast.
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Chambers, Walter, c.z., Waring Street, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.a., Dunraven, do.
Craig, James, j.P., Craigavon, do.

Davidson, S. C., Sea Court, Bangor.

Annual Subscribers. 8I

Dunville, Robert G., J.p., D.L., Redburn, Holywood.
Fulton, G. F.. Howard Street, Belfast.
Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do.
Green, Isaac, Ann Street, do.
Hanna, J. A., Marietta, Knock, do.
Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville, do.
Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington, Park, do.
Jones, R. M., M.A., Royal Academical Institution, do.
Kelly, W. Redfern, M.1.c.#., #.R.A.S., Dalriada,

Malone Park, do.
Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace, do.
Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville, do.
M‘Laughlin, W. H., Brookville House, do.
Redfern, Prof. Peter, m.D., F.R.c.S.1., Lower Crescent, : do.
Scott, Conway, c.E., Annaville, Windsor Avenue, do.
Swiney, J. H. H., B.a., B.c., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, do.
Tate, Alexander, c.k., Rantalard, Whitehouse, do.
Taylor, John, Brown Square Works, deo.
Thompson, John, Limestone Road, do.

Turpin, James, Waring Street, do.

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Heport and Proceedings — |

OF THE

BHELEAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

lie FOR THE

| SESSION i8s90e-1900.

| BELFAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1900.

as

Heport and Proceedings

OF THE

BHEULFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

SESSION 1899-1900.

BELFAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE.)

1900.

CONTENTS.

Annual Report

Balance Sheet on dae 585 OOO oD one
Donations to Museum ... was eee obo nee ces
Books Received Ses aes BoC eee nae wee

President’s Inaugural Address—T. Workman

Personal Impressions of the Transvaal, Natal, and Cape Colony—
Robert A. Mitchell, LL.B. ...

Treland and the Scottish Isles ; Ancient Connexions and Intercourse—
S. F. Milligan, M.R.I.A. .. *

Some Thoughts on Rome—Conway Scott, C.H. a
The Growth of the Ink Blot—W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A. ...
The Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction under the

Agriculture and Technical Instruction Act—William Gray, M.R.L.A.

Some of the Work Done by Committees of the British Association—
Professor Maurice F. FitzGerald, B.A., M.I.M.E.

An Ancient Bombshell—Robert M. Young, B.A., M.R.I.A....
List of Office-Bearers .._ ace PCy; eae es 460
List of Shareholders and Subscribers re ive beh eae

wPSan =

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.
2 ee 1821.
:0:
SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares cost £14.

9

3 Shares cost £21.

”?

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum; the proprietor of 2
Shares pays 5s. per annum; the proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt
from further payment.

Shareholders are only eligible for election on the Council of Management

MEMBERS.

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

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

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

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 10 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

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Belfast Watural thistory and Philosophical
Soctetyp.

203

ANNUAL REPORT, 1899.

Se =

THE Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Society was held
en 14th June, in the Museum, College Square North. On the
motion of Mr. Robert Young, C.E., J.P., seconded by Dr.
MacCormac, the chair was taken by Mr. John Brown, and
there were also present Rev. Dr. Hamilton (President of .
Queen’s College), Professor Fitzgerald. B.A., M.I.M.E.; R. L.
Patterson, D.L., F.L.S.: T. F. Shillington, J.P.; James
O'Neill, M.A.; Joseph Wright, F.G.S.; J. H. Davies, John
M‘Knight, J. Horner, M.I.M.E.; Wm. Faren, J. E. Magill,
Isaac Ward, Conway Scott, C.E.; R. Patterson, M.B.O.U. ;
Robert M. Young, J.P. (honorary secretary) ; and W. H. F.
Patterson (honorary treasurer).

Mr. R. M. Young, Hon. Secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting, presented the report of the Council,
as follows :—

The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical
Society desire to submit to the Shareholders their report of the
working of the Society during the past year.

The Winter Session was opened on 7th November, 1899,
when the President of the Society, Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P.,
delivered an address, subject: “Incentives to the study of
_ Natural History,” with lime-light illustrations.

The Second Meeting was held on 5th December, 1899, at
which a lecture was given by Mr. Robert A. Mitchell, LL.B,

subject : “ Personal Impressions of the Transvaal, Natal, and
a

2 Annual Meeting.

Cape Colony,”’ illustrated by a large series of lime-light views
from photographs taken by the lecturer recently in South
Africa.

The Third Meeting took place on 2nd January, 19090, when
Mr. Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.I.A., lectured on ‘‘Treland and the
Scottish Isles : Ancient Connections and Intercourse,” illus-
trated by a large series of specially prepared lantern views.

The Fourth Meeting was arranged for 6th February, when
Mr. Conway Scott read a paper, subject: “ Some thoughts on
Rome.” Afterwards, Mr. W. H. Patterson described the
“Growth of the Ink Blot,” with illustrations.

The Fifth Meeting, on 6th March, was devoted to the con-
sideration of technical instruction in Belfast, when Mr. W. Gray
read a paper on ‘‘ The position of Belfast in relation to Technical
Instruction under the Agricultural and Technical Instruction
Act.’ This was followed by an interesting discussion.

The Closing Meeting was held on 2rd April, when a paper
was, given by Prof. Fitzgerald, B:A., A.M.I.C.E., subject:
‘Some of the Work Done by Committees of the British
Association.”

These meetings were well attended, particularly those
devoted to Technical Instruction.

The Gilchrist Course of Lectures mentioned in the last
Annual Report were very successful, and a moiety of the
balance remaining after all expenses were paid was handed to
your council by the Committee, with the recommendation that
artizans should be admitted by ticket on certain days. The
number of kindred societies holding their meeetings in the
Museum exhibits no reduction. At the Easter holidays the
attendance of the public was similar to last year, although no
special attractions were on view. Theordinary days admissions
vary little of late years. As will be seen by the Hon.
Treasurer's Statement of Accounts, a substantial balance in
favour of the Society still continues to be shown after payment
of all liabilities.

A list of donations to the Museum and of the publications

Annual Meeting. 3

received in exchange from home and foreign societies will be
printed with the present Report.

Such donations as were received during the year have been
incorporated with the Museum collections and exhibited in
their proper place in the several cabinets. Amongst the speci-
mens given may bementioned Mr.R Welch’slandand fresh water
shells, some of which are rare species, and some only recently
added to the Irish fauna. Owing to evaporation many
specimens in jars require attention ; some of these have been
renewed, and others must shortly be dealt with. Further
additions to the herbarium have been selected, mounted, and
placed in their systematic order, and several cases of birds have
been cleaned and renovated. The curator and his assistant
have been fully occupied with the work, in addition to the
usual attention and oversight of the entire collections during
the session. Your council have to deplore the loss of their
president, the late Mr. Thomas Workman, J.P., who died after
a short illness at St. Paul’s, Minnesota, on 11th May last. He
had been for many years an active and valued member of our
society, and of the council, in which he. was a vice-president
and librarian. During the two years in which he held the office
of president he was most zealous for the interests of the society,
and in last September he was chosen to voice at the Dover
meeting the city’s invitation to the British Association. He
took the chair at our March meeting, and had made arrange-
ments to be home in time for our annual meeting, and that to
be held for the renewal of the invitation to the British Associa-
tion. Your council also received with much regret the
announcement of the death of Professor John F. Hodges, M.D.,
a former president of the society, and of Mr. Jas. Thompson,
J.P., one of the oldest and most valued members, whose
brother William died while president in 1852. Captain Robert
Campbell, the donor of many valuable specimens in the
museum, has also passed away, much regretted.

Mr. W.H.F. Patterson submitted the financial statement,
which showed a substantial balance in favour of the society,
though the subscriptions had slightly decreased,

R Annual Meeting.

The President of Queen’s College, in moving the adoption of
the report and statement of accounts, said that the Belfast
Natural History and Philosophical Society was one of the
few old things that our comparatively modern city had, and
was one of the most useful and most interesting of all the
societies that Belfast could boast of. He hoped the day was
far distant when it would cease to perform its very excellent
functions in the midst of this busy community.

The report reminded them that during the year the society had
lost four very valued and old friends, all of whom he knew,
and all of whom the society had good reasons to prize. The
death of Mr. Thomas Workman was specially sad. He was the
second president who had died during his term of office, the
first being their eminent and well-known Belfast naturalist,
Mr. William Thompson, whose death occurred in 1852. Mr.
Workman, as they all knew, was a man of very varied and large
scientific attainments. He was one of the typeof men who
helped long ago to earn for Belfast the appellation of the Athens
of the North, and who at the present day enabled it to still lay
claim to some extent to that name. Another death chronicled
in the report was that of Professor Hodges. They in Queen’s
College had already in their own way taken note of that death,
which deprived them of the last of the old staff of original
‘protessors. He had occupied a chair in the college for fifty
years, and he (the President) was glad to say that ina short
time a portrait of him, subscribed for by his friends in the
college and city, would be hung on the walls of the Ex-
amination Hall. In the Natural History Society the
late professor occupied a very prominent place, and in its
working he took alarge share. Inconnection with his name it
ought to be said that very long ago he took steps in his own
private capacity to do, in of course a small way, what this very
year was being carried out by the Government through the
operation of the Agriculture and Technical Schools Act.
He established, many years since, a little farm of his own not
far from the College, for experimenting with seeds, plants, and

Annual Meeting. 5

.

manures, and from that time up to his death he was continually
endeavouring to infuse a spirit of science into the agriculture
of the North of Ireland. They who knew him best in his
latter days deplored the loss of a valued friend, whose genial
conversation and sage experience made intercourse with him
peculiarly valuable and pleasant. He was undoubtedly one of
the best types of the fine old Irish gentleman.

Mr. James Thompson did not latterly take a very prominent
part in the working of the Society, but he belonged to a family
which gave to Belfast one of the most eminent men of whom
the city could boast, namely, the late Mr. William Thompson.
As to Captain Campbell, he (the President) had known
him from boyhood, and a finer or braver fellow never trod
the quarter-deck of a British ship. It could be wished that
many more of their seafaring men would use their opportunities
abroad in collecting rare specimens for that Museum.

Those were the sad points referred to in the report, but there
was a bright side, and it might be summed up in a single
sentence, that the Society continued to do good and useful work
for the objects for which it was instituted. It had hada busy and
useful year. Many of its members had taken a lively interest
in its work, and he could only express the hope that as the old
members passed away new ones might be found to come in to
fill their places, so that’ the Society might be continued, not
only in unimpaired, but, if possible, increased efficiency, and
handed down to future generations of Belfast men as they had
received it from the Belfast of long ago.

Mr. R. L. PATTERSON, in seconding, mentioned that at a town
meeting on Wednesday last it was decided to invite the British
Association to meet in Belfast in 1902—that would be fifty
years after their first meeting in 1852. On that occasion that
society took a leading part in the issuing of invitations, while
many of its members took an active part in the reception of
that distinguished body both individually and collectively. He
had no doubt that, as he hoped and expected the association
would accept the invitation, the present members of the society

6 Annual Meeting.

would do their best to make the gathering a distinct and
striking success. He regretted to hear that the subscriptions
showed a slight falling off. He did not exactly know that they
could increase the number of their shareholders, but occasionally
a little effort might get them recruits in the way of annual
subscribers, and thus they would increase the usefulness of the
society. In connection with their active membership there
was one point he should like to mention. On the list of share-
holders there figured the names of a good many deceased
shareholders, or rather the representatives of so and so deceased.
President Hamilton had suggested to him that they might try
-and get Lord Shaftesbury to join the Society and he thought
the suggestion a good one.

The resolution was adopted.

The following five members, who retired by rotation, were
re-elected on the Council :—Sir Otto Jaffé, J.P.; President
Hamilton, D.D., L.L.D., Professor Fitzgerald, Mr. T. F.
Shillington, J.P.; and Mr. R. M. Young, J.P.

Mr. R. M. Young announced that Mr. J. H. Davies, a
member of the Council, had recently discovered in County
Antrim three species new to the Irish moss flora—namely,
Zortula marginata, Amblystegtum Furatzkanum and Ambly-
stegium vartum—specimens of which would be placed in the

. Museum Herbarium.

Mr. R. Young gave an interesting description of some rare
specimens cf worked flints (Wadi el Sheikh, Egypt), received
from the Free Museum, Liverpool, in accordance with the
system of duplicate exchange recently adopted.

The following Officers were elected :—President, John Brown;
Vice-Presidents, President Hamilton, William Swanston,
E.G.S;; Robert Young, C:E,” jbo RL. PattersonmeiDale,
F.L.S. Honorary Treasurer, W. H. F. Patterson; Honorary
Librarian, J. H. Davies; Honorary Secretary, Robert M.
Young, B.A:. J.P., M.RLA.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Dr.
MacCormac and seconded by Mr. Isaac Ward, concluded the
proceedings.

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DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1899-1900.

From Mr. Joun Fisuer, Kilkeel.
Transverse section of a yew tree from Kilkeel, Co. Down, the
trunk was 20 feet long.
From Mr. W. H. M‘Laucatin.
Specimen of goat moth (Cossus lignaperda), and its cocoon
embedded in a block of ash wood.
From Tue City or LONDON.
Meda! struck by the City in commemoration of the 60th year
of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
From Mr. I. A. RICHARDSON.
A flint lock musquet of a Broomhedge yeoman.

From Mr. OssorNE GRIMSHAW.
Specimens of the submerged forest at Portrush.

Frrom Mr. RoBert WELCH.
A large number of the rarer Irish land and fresh water shells.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, ist MAY, 1899, TILL
ist MAY, 1900.

ADELAIDE.—Memoirs of the Royal Society of South Australia.
Vol. 1, part 1, and Transactions, vol. 23, parts I
and 2—1899. The Soctety.

ALBANY.—Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Reports of the New York
State Museum, 1895 and 1896.

The University of the State of New York.
AusTIn.—Transactions of Texas Academy of Science. Vol. 2,
no. 2, 1899. The Academy.
Be.rast.—Report and Proceedings of Belfast Naturalists’ Field
Club. Series 2, vol. 4, part 6, 1899.
The Club.
BrErRGEN.—Bergens Museums Aarbog, 1899 ; also Crustacea of
Norway. Vol. 2, parts 13 and 14, 1899; and
vol. 3, parts I—4, 1899-1900.
| Bergen Museum.
BER.IN.--Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde. Vol.
26, nos. 4—I10, 1899; and vol. 27, nos. I—3,
1900. The Soctety.
Boston.—Memoirs of Boston Society of Natural History. Vol.
5, nos. 4 and 5, 1899; also Proceedings, vol.
28, nos. 13—16, 1899; and vol. 29, nos, 1—8,
1899. Lhe Soczety.
BrREMEN.—Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissen-
schaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. Vol. 16, part
2, 1899. The Soctety.
Brestau—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie Herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlessiche Insektenkunde zu Breslau.
: Part 24, 1399. The Soczety.
BrigHton.—Annual Report and Abstract of Papers of Brighton
and Sussex Natural History and Philosophical
Society for the year 1898-99. Lhe Soctety.

10 Books Received.

BrussELs.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de
Belgique. Vol. 37, 1898; and Vol. 39, 1899.
The Soctety.
5 Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique-
Vol. 43, 1899. The Soctety.
* Annales de la Société Royale Malacologique de
Belgique. Vols. 21—23, 1896-98; also Bulletins
) des Seances. The Soctety.
Buenos Ayres.—Annales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires.
Series 2, vol. 6, 1899; and Comunicaciones, vol.

I, nos. 3—5, 1899. The Dtrector.
BuFFaALo.—Bulletin of Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences.
Vol. 6, nos. 2—4, 1899. The Society.

CaLtcuTTa.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. Vol.
28, part 1,1898. PalzontologiaIndica. Series
15, vol. 1, part 2, 1899; aad new series, vol. 1,
parts 1 and 2, 1899; also General Report of the
Survey for year 1898-99.
The Director of the Survey.
CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of Cambridge Philosophical Society.
Vol. Io, part 2, 1899; and parts 3 and 4, 1900.
Lhe Society.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 32, no. 10; vols. 33 and 34; and
vol. 35, nos. I—7, 1899. The Curator.
CarpiFF.—Report and Transactions of Cardiff Naturalists’
Society. Vol. 30, 1899; and vol. 31, 1900.
The Soczety.
CassEL.—Abhandlungen and Bericht (44) des Vereins fur
Naturkunde zu Kassel, 1899. The Soczety.
CuicaGo.-—Fortieth Annual Report and Bulletin of Chicago
Academy of Sciences, No. 2, 1897.
The Academy.
e Occasional Memoirs of Chicago Entomological
Society. Vol. 1, No. 1, 1900.
The Soczety.

Books Received. Il

CurisTiania—Christiania Videnskabs Selskabs Forhandlinger.
No. 1, 1899.
Zhe Royal Norske Fredertks University.
EpDINBURGH.—Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edin-
burgh. Vol. 31, part 2.18975 part z, 1398 ;
and part 3, 1899. The Society.
si Proceedings. of the Royal Physical Society,
Session 1897-98 and 1898-99. Zhe Soczety.
ELBERFELD.— Jahresbericht der Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins
in Elberfeld. Part 9, 1899. The Soczety.
EmpDEN.—Eighty-third and eighty-fourth Jahresbericht der
Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in’ Emden,
1898-99. Lhe Society.
GENoA.—Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazione
Scientifiche di Genova. Anno 20, fasc. 2—a,
1899, also Rivista Ligure; anno. 22, fasc. I,
1900. The Soctety.
GiEsseN.—Thirty-fourth Bericht des Oberhessichen Gesellschaft
fiir Natur and Heilkunde, 1897-98-99.
The Soctety.
Guiascow.—Transactions of the Natural History Society of
Glasgow. New ser. vol. 5, No. 3, 1900.
The Soctety.
i Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of
Glasgow. Vol. 30, 1899. The Society.
GOTHENBERG.—Goteborg’s Kungl. Vetenskaps och Vitterhets
Samhialles Handlingar, 1899. Lhe Soczety.
Hairax.—Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian
Institute of Science, Vol. 9, part 4, 1898.
The Institute.
IgLo.—Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines, 26th
year, 1899. The Society.
LausaNnNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vandoise des Sciences,
Naturelles. Vol. 35, n s. 131-133, 1899.
The Society.

1) Books? Received.

LAWRENCE.—Kansas University Quarterly. Vol. 8, nos. 2 and
3, 1899. The Kansas University.
Lerpsic.—Mitteilungen des Vereins fir Erdkunde zu Leipzig,
1898,and Wissenschaftliche Veroffentlichungen.
Vol. 4, 1899. The Soctety.
‘. Sitzungberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu
Leipzig, 24th and 2sth years, 1897-98.
The Society.
Lonpon.—Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Vols.

52 and 53, 1896-1899. The Soctety.
m Report of the 69th Meeting of the British Association ;
Dover, 1899. The Assoctation.

Fifteenth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund
of the Egypt Exploration Fund (Deshasheh),
1898, Sixteenth Memoir (Deir el Bahari), 1898,
and Seventeenth Memoir (Dendereh), 1900.

The Committee of this Fund.

5) Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London. Vol. 55, parts 1—3, 1899. Vol. 56,
part 1, 1900; also Geological Literature added
to the Library during 1898, and List of Fellows
of the Society. Lhe Soctety.

7 Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, Nos.

129 —133, 1899, and Nos. 134. and 135, 1900.
The Soctety.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
parts 1—4, 1899, and Transactions, Vol. 15,
parts 2—4, 1899; also List of Fellows of the
Society. The Soczety.

MapIson.—Transactions of Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,

Arts, and Letters, Vol. 12, 1898.
The Academy.

Mapras.—Bulletin of Madras Government Museum. Vol. 2,

No. 3, 1899, and Administration Report for

1898-’99. The Superintendent.

Books Received. 13

MANCHESTER.—Journal of Manchester Geographical Society.
Vol. 14, nos. 7—12, 1898, and Vol. 15, Nos:
I—9, 1899. The Soezety.

“5 Transactions of Manchester Geological Society,
Vol. 26, parts 4—9, 1899, and part 13, 1900.
The Soczety

MarskILLes.—Annales de la Faculte des Sciences de Marseille.
Vol. 9, fasc., I—5, 1899. The Librarian.

MELBoURNE.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria.
New ser., Vol. 11, part 2, 1899. The Soczety.

Mexico.—Boletin del Instituto Geologico de Mexico. No. 11,
1898, and 12 and 13, 1899. The Institute.

i Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Meteorologico
Central de Mexico. No. for December, 1898,
and Nos. for January—September, 1899.
The Director.
$5 Boletin del Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de
Tacubaya. Vol. 2, No. 5, 1899; also Obser-
vaciones Meteorologicos, 1897, and Anuario
20, for year 1900. The. Dtrector.

Mi_wavkeE.—Bulletin of Wisconsin Natural History Society.
New series, vol. 1, me. ay n900 ; alse. 16th
Annual Report of Milwaukee Public Museum.

The Society.

MonTEvipe0.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo.
Vol. 2, fasc. 1t and 12,1899. Zhe Dzrector.

Moscow.—Bulletin of the Society of Naturalists’ of Moscow.
No. 4, 1898; and no. 1, 1899; also Memoirs.
Vol. 16, part 7, 1898; vol. 16, part 1, 1898; and
part 2, 1899. The Soczety.

NANTES.—Bulletin de Ja Société des Sciences Naturelles de 1’
Ouest de France. Vol. 9, parts 1—3, 1899.
The Society.

14 Books Received.

New Yorx.—Annals of New York Academy of Sciences. Vol.
11, part 3, 1898; and vol. 12, part 1, 1899; also
Constitution, Bye-Laws, and List of Members,
1899. The Academy.
; Bulletin of American Geographical Society, Vol.
31, nos. 2—5, 1899; and vol. 32, no. I, 1900.
The Soctety.
Oprssa.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists of New Russia.
Vol. 22, part 2, 1898; also Memoirs of the
Mathematic Section. Vols. :6 and 19, 1899.
The Soctety.
Oporto.—Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Vol. 5, no. 4, 1898.
The Editor.
OsNABRUCK.— Jahresbericht des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins
zu Osnabruck for year 1898. The Society.

OtTawa.—Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Canada.
New series, vol. 10, 1897; and Maps to accom-
pany Report; also Contributions to Canadian
Paleontology. Vol. 1, part 5, 189; and vol. 4,
part 1, 1899. The Director of the Survey.

Papua.—Bullettino della Societa Veneto-Trentina di Scienze
Naturali. Vol. 6, no. 4, 1899; and Atti; series
2, vol. 4, fasc. 1, 1900. The Society.

PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences. Parts 1 and 2, 1899.

The Academy.

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
Vol. 38, no. 159, 1899. The Soctety.

7 Transactions of Wagner Free Institute of Science.
Vol. 6, 1899. The Institute.

" Report of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum;
also Monograph on the State of Nicaragua, and
Monograph on Costa Rica, 1898.

The Museum,

Books Received. I5

Pisa.—Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali. Vol.
11, January to July, 1899;and Processi Verbali.

Vol. 12, Nov. 1899. The Soctety.
REIGATE.—Proceedings of Holmesdale Natural History Club,
1899. The Club.

Romr.—Atti della Reale Academia dei Lincei. Series 5, vol.
8, semestre 1, fasc. 7—12. Semestre 2, fasc.
I—I2, 1899; vol. 9, semestre 1, fasc. I—7,
1900; also Rendiconto dell’ Adunanza Solenne,
June, 1899. The Academy.

San Francisco.—Proceedings of California Academy of Sciences.
Berlese?).Vol: 1, Mos. 5,6, «fly il2,. 1899; and
Occasional Papers, no. 6, 1899.
The Academy.
St. Lovuis.—Tenth Annual Report of Missouri Botanical
Garden, 1899. The Director.
STAVANGER.—Stavanger Museums Aarsberetning for 1898.
The Museum Trustees.

STIRLING.—Transactions of Stirling Natural History and
Archeological Society for year 1898-99.
The Society.
StTockHuLmM. — Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens
Handlingar, Vol. 31, 1898-99. Bihang, vol.
24, parts 1—4, 1899; and Ofversigt, vol. 55.
1898. The Academy.
SYDNEY.—Science of Man. New series, vol. 2, nos. 3, 5, 10 and
12, 1899 ; and vol. 3, no. 1, 1900.
The Editor.
Toxyo.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft tir Natur
und Volkerkunde Ostasiens. Vol. 7, parts 2

and 3, 1899. The Soczety,
TopekA.—Transactions of Kansas Academy of Science. Vol.
16, 1899. The Academy.

Toronto.—Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. New ser.
Vol. 2 parts, 1899. The Institute.

16 Books Received.

UpsaLa.—Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the Uni-
versity of Upsala. Vol. 4, part 1, No. 7, 1898.
The Unwersity.

VieEnNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglischen Reich-
sanstalt. Nos. 5—18, 1899, and Nos. 1 and 2,
T90O. The Soczetv.

Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Konglichen Zoolo-
gisch-Botanischen Gelleschaft. Vol. 49, 1899.
The Soctety.
WasHINGTON.—Year Book of United States Department of
Agriculture, 1899, and Bulletins, Nos. 14 and
15,1899. Zhe Secretary of the Department.

sane United States Geological Survey Reports—
18th Annual Report, parts 1—5 and 5 con-
tinued, 1897-98; 19th Annual Report, part 1
1898, part 2, 1899, part 4, 1899, part 6, 1898,
and part 6 continued, 1898; 20th Annual
Report, part 6, and part 6 continued, 1899;
also Monographs, Vols. 29, 31, and 35, and
Atlas to Vol. 31, 1898. The Direcior.

Proceedings of the United States National
Museum, Vol. 20, 1898, and Vol. 21, 1899 ; also
Bulletin, No 47, parts 2 and 3, 1898, and Annual
Report for 1899 ; Annual Report of the Smiths-
onian Institution, 1898 ; Miscellaneous Collec-
tions, Nos. 1,171 and 1,173, 1898.

The Smithsonian Inztitution.

York.—Annual Report of Yorkshire Philosophical Society,

1899. The Society.

ZurRicH.— Vierteljahresschrift der Naturfor-chenden Gesellschaft
in Zurich, 44th year, parts I—4, 1899.
The Soczety.
from Mr. Victor Coatss, D.L.—The Zoologist, Vol. 5, 1847.
Vol. 6 of ser. 3, 1882, and Vol 7, 1883.

)

”

Books Recewved. 17

From Mr. R. Luoyp-Patrerson, J.P., F.L.S.—Journal of the
Linnean Society (Botany.) Vol. 26, No. 178,
and Vol. 33, Nos. 237—-239, 1899.

From Mr. THomas WorkMaAN, J.P.—Malaysian spiders. Vol.
2, parts 1—4, 1899.

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
SESSION 1899-1900.

7th November, 1849.

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT,
Mr. THomas Workman, J.P.

INCENTIVES TO THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY.

(Adbstract.)

Ir has no doubt been the privilege of many of you to ascend the
St Gothard valley by the wonderful railway that has been so skil-
fully engineered up it. At one moment the traveller is carried
in a straight line towards the snow crested alps at the summit,
as if no obstacle stood in the path, but that lasts only for a
little way. In another moment. with a shrieking whistle, you
enter into a darksome cavern of a tunnel, and the traveller
knows not whether his course is away from or towards the
object of hisaspiration. However, when you again emerge into
the sunlight you find, though you have taken an enormous
spiral, you are :till going onwards and u>wards, and you can
see far below you th: road you formerly traversed, and that
even your backward course was an onward one.

Such, it appears to me, is scientific progress; we seem never
for any time on the straight course to perfect knowledge, but
ever on a spiral one if we follow after truth.

We cannot follow absolute truth, but only truth as it appears

Inaugural Address by the President. 19

to us at every moment of our progress. Our path must
necessarily be on the line of the least resistance.

Too many incline to the line of no resistance, and taking
the river as their guide become the creatures of circumstance.
Like Tennyson’s Lotus Eaters, they say—

Let us alone. What is it that will last ?

All things are taken from us and become

Portions and parcels of the dreadful Past.

Let us alone. What pleasure can we have

To war with evil? Is there any peace

In ever climbing up the climbing wave?

All things have rest, and ripen towards the grave

In silence ; ripen, fall and cease:

Give us long rest or death, dark death or dreamful ease.’’

But your presence here to night assures me that you are not
of those, but that you are ever willing to struggle on towards
the light. Now though the nineteenth century has still a few
months to run, this is the last session of the Belfast Natural
History and Philosophical Society which will use the numbers
eighteen hundred to mark its date, and as I think the study of
Natura! History has, after the tremendous development when
Darwin published in 1859 his epoch making book on the
Origin of Species, entered somewhat one of these dark
tunnels, or at least shady places whee we are inclined to ask
are we making any progress, or what is the good of it all.
Believing thus, I think I cannot do better in my opening
address of this session, 1899-1900, after thanking you for the
honour you have shown me by again electing me as your
President, than by continuing my former address, “ Incentives
to the Study of Natural History”; treating on this occasion
the ways, colours, and instincts of Animals.

It had not been my intention to urge as an incentive, the
good we may do by the study of Natural History, but an
important instance has just been brought before the public to
which I think it right to refer.

All persons who have lived or had friends living in tropical
or other hot countries must have heard something of the ravages

20 Inaugural Address by the President.

of malarial fever or ague. The cause of the fever has long
been a mystery but at last it is to be hoped that naturalists will
be able to solve the mystery and that we are on the track of
the fell destroyer. It would appear that the cause is a living
organism whicb gets into the biood and there sets up a
disturbance of the system that brings on the fever. This
organism has been found to be not only carried to the victim
by a species of mosquito but actually the organism goes through
a change or metamorphosis in the body of the mosquito. It is
hoped, therefore, that if we can destroy the mosquito we will
be able to annihilate the disease.

In Rome, where malarial fever never originates but only in
the Campagna around the city, some of these mosquitos have
been allowed to suck the blood from a patient suffering from
malarial fever and after a few days allowed to eject their poison
into another human being and it was found that he was
inoculated with the fever. Ifthe mosquito is at once allowed
to attack the subject it can do no harm as the metamorphosis is
not completed and the organism is not in a fit state to live in
the human system.

The eggs of this mosquito are eagerly sought after and
devoured by fish, so that they have no chance of coming to
maturity if laid in deep water where fish are, and thus they can
only come to maturity in puddles or shallow surface water
where fish cannot live. Their larve also float along the
surface of the water, getting the oxygen necessary for their life
from the air, so they can easily be destroyed by pouring a little
paraffin oil on the surface of the water which, spreading out,
cuts them off from the air. Of course better surface drainage
will also have the effect of destroying them.

If these statements should prove true, as we have every
reason to expect they will, we have very direct evidence of the
good of this ennobling study.

It has always been most interesting to the student of Natural
History to investigate the similarity in structure existing be-
tween animals from separate parts of the globe, and if possible

Inaugural Address by the President. 21

to discover if these similarities are the result of a connection in
former times. For such an investigation a knowledge of the
forms that lived during the past history of the earth is
imperative.

Unfortunately it is most difficult to get the remains of
invertebrates well preserved in geological strata, owing to their
perishable nature, but there is one substance in which we have
them well preserved, even better than the larger animals.
That substance is amber. Great numbers of spiders, as well as
other articulata are found embedded in the amber which is
copiously cast up on the southern shores of the Baltic, many in
a complete state of preservation. The principal work by Koch
and Berendt, on the subject of these remains describes these
amber spiders, three of which are remarkable for their strangely
elevated heads, and are grouped in one genus Archaea. Type,
Archaea paradoxa.

Koch considered this genus not to be related to any known
spiders, while the late Professor Menge of Danzig, believed
them at first to have most affinity with Zetragnatha, but after-
wards refers Archaea to the Latertigrades. However within
the last few years living spiders have been discovered closely
related to Archaea, but strange to say, in widely separated
parts of the world.

The first of these sent by me to the Rev. O. Pickard-
Cambridge and described by him under the name of Hrzauch-
enius Workmanz was found in Madagascar. He said “ It is of
great interest, not only on account of its singularly elevated
caput, but because the elevation is of a type quite distinct from
anything I have ever before met with.”

Some specimens of Walckenaera have the upper part of the
caput elevated to a great height, and the eyes are (some or all)
carried up with it; but in the present spider not only the eyes
but the falces are carried up, necessitating the extraordinary
development of the latter to enable them to meet and cooperate
with the other parts of the mouth. These parts would other-
wise have been left open and exposed and the spider itself

22 Inaugural Address by the President.

would have been in danger of starvation since the anterior
extremities of the falces, with their fangs and teeth, are the
main instruments for holding and compressing the spider’s
prey, the juices of which flow thence into the mouth itself.

Another of these curious spiders came from Landana on the
river Congo on the west coast of Africa and has been described
by M. Eugene Simon and he has named it Landana Fettt: after
the discoverer M. L. Petit.

M. Simon has not only described a third living species under
the name of AZecysmauchentus segmentatus but also another
fossil species, Archaea pougnets found embedded in amber from
the shores of the Baltic.

M. Simon in his splendid work on spiders, just being issued,
says, that he can see no difference between Archaea and
Ervauchenius, and therefore does away with the latter genus.
He also says of these spiders, ‘‘ [he geographical distribution of
the Archaeidae is not less curious than the details of their
strange structure. Although during the Tertiary epoch the
genus Archaea inhabited the North of Europe, the genera
actually living, which we must suppose to be its descendants, are
relegated to the most southern parts of the Old and New
world. The genus drchaea is found in Madagascar, the genus
Landana in the Congo districts, while the genus Mecysmau-
chenius comes from Cape Horn. The first two genera Simon
considers to be allied to the Argiopae, of which our common or
garden spider Araneus diadematus belongs. Landana he has
placed in the Therididae. It would be of great importance to
know what sort of webs they make.

The |-ung-fishes, living representatives of the Dzpuoz, an order
of fish that goes back to the Devonian period, has also a similar
distribution, represented by the /rotopterus in Africa, the
Lepidosiren in South America,.and the Ceratodus in only one
or two rivers in Queensland.

In the skunk (Mep/ztis sufficaus) we have a curious instance
of a mammal protected by warning colours, and a disagreeable
smell. The skunk goes about freely with its white tail erect
as a danger signal, fearing neither man or beast.

Inaugural Address by the Prestdent. 23

In 1881, when crossing the Pampas of Uruguay, between the
Brazilian frontier and the city of Monte Video, in a diligence,
with a party of Spaniards, I hada personal interview with a
skunk in a state of nature, and can therefore speak from
experience of its defensive or rather offensive armature. While
stopping to change horses I wandered a little way from the
station, searching for spiders. While in the act of catching
some red ones in a crevice among rocks, I heard a curious
sound like that emitted by a large moth or butterfly flapping
its wings. I peered down into the opening, expecting to see
some insect trying to get out, but instead, I saw a funny little
pig like nose and two bright eyes looking up at me with a very
comical expression. This explained where the hist ! hist ! hist !
came from. But what wasthething. At first [thought it was
a young pig, but a pig does not make that noise, nor is it armed
with long claws as this animal was. It then began to show
- signs of attack, and not liking the look of the long claws I
kept my distance and hallooed for the others, who soon came
running down to see what was wanted. When they came near
they did not seem to like the look of the creature.

Some of the party would not go within yards of the rock
where it was, but no one explained the nature of the beast and
why they feared it, except that it would not bite. Seeing they
were really in earnest that it would not bite I felt quite anxious
to capture it alive. So taking great precautions I slipped my
hand down the cleft until I got firm hold of the animal by the
back of the neck and, with difficulty, dragging it out, 1 began
to carry it to the diligence, congratulating myself on the hand.
some capture I had made, for it looked very nice and mild with
its black body and long bushy tail.

My companions seemed strangely elated and laughed im-
moderately. Indeed if I had not been such a self-satisfied
tenderfoot their strange behaviour would have aroused my
suspicions and I would have smelt a rat. The creature now
began to show signs of dissatisfaction as if it thought the joke
had gone far enough and being alraid it was making round to

24 Inaugural Address by the President.

bite my hand I let it drop to the ground, expecting it
immediately to bolt off. But such a thought seemed never to
have entered its mind. It apparently thought itself master of
the situation and when I poked my hat at it, it acted very
much like a playful kitten, sitting up on its hind legs and
jumping at the hat asifin fun. I got more than ever pleased
with my new-found pet and proceeded to re-captureit. When
suddenly it turned tail . . whew!!! The murder was
out, the laughter explained; for feeling a most horrible
effluvium in my nose and smarting in my eyes I needed no one
to tell me what I had captured. A skunk, a beast I had smelt
before but never seen and handled and don’t want to again.

I am sure I cannot better close my lecture than in the noble
words in which Professor Charles Richet, of Paris, opened that
address on Nerve Waves which entranced the British Associa-
tion at Dover last September.

“Tf, owing to the stupid prejudices and barbarian hate,
nations are still separated by divisions which may. lead them
into fratricidal war, it falls to the men of science at least to set
the example of concord, in order that by their teaching, based
on reason, they may bring to all peace, sweet peace—the
chimera of the past, the reality of to-morrow.” ‘To this
end nothing can be more effective than the great example of
the British Association and the Association Frangaise, who,
within the space of a few days, are to meet twice as partners
in their fertile work : to-morrow on English soil, in this
hospitable town of Dover ; five days later on the soil of France,
on the shores you can see from here, where you will find the same
courteous and cordial welcome as our countrymen will receive
on this side.” “Yet, after these words of peace must come
words of war—nay, its open declaration.”

‘‘ Men of science have not the right to stay within the closed
gates of their tower of ivory ; it behoves them also to wrestle,
and to wrestle unceasingly for justice, to turn the united forces
of all generous minds against the common foe, the worst enemy
of mankind, and this is ignorance.

' man

Inaugural Address by the President. 25

“We must not value unduly the admirable conquests won
by science in this century. Admirable as they are, they are
yet nothing as compared to the great mystery beyond.
Newton compared our science to that of a child, who should
pick up a pebble on the seashore, and think he has penetrated
the secrets of ocean.”

“ After all our searching and all our efforts, we to-day can
hardly say more. The shades that surround us are as deep as
in the time of Newton; and in this universe, vast and obscure,
at most, scattered glimmers of light, few and far between, reach
our straining eyes. We need all the co-operation of all men
of science, of all nations, to dispel some of these shades.”’

““ What madness it would be not to unite, not to walk hand
in hand, but to strive apart! The reward of this union
will be above all price ; the conquest of truth, the control of
brute matter, the gift of a life less precarious and less painful to
man, feeble man.”

Also his closing words,

*“* Vast as is the world, mighty as are the fires of the infinite
stars, the intelligence of man is of a higher order than these ;
and I would fain exclaim with the great philosopher Immanuel
Kant: ‘More than the starry heaven above my head, one
thing fills me with admiration: the moral law in the heart of

999
.

Dr. Charles Sheldon in proposing a vote of thanks to the
lecturer, said that the President was not the least notable
among the members of the Workman family, who had done so
much in various forms to increase research in Belfast. They
had been delighted with the manner in which he had revealed
to them the results of his own investigation, and he (Dr.
Sheldon) hoped that the President’s desire might be gratified
that the British Association would visit them at a future date.

Mr. G. W. Ferguson seconded and Mr. W. Gray supported
the motion, which was passed by acclamajion.

The President thanked the mover of the vote of thanks and

26 Inaugural Address by the President.

the other gentlemen who had spoken for their kind remarks,
and said he could promise the British association a very warm
welcome indeed if they visited Belfast in 1902.

27

5th December, 1899.

Mr. THomas WorKMAN, J.P., President, in the Chair.

PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF THE TRANSVAAL,
NATAL, AND CAPE COLONY.

By Ropert A. MitcHe.i, LL.B.

(Adstract.)

SouTH Arrica has attracted a great deal of public attention
of late years, especially since the important episode of the
Jameson Raid, and the dénouement now taking place had not
been altogether unexpected by those who really knew. It has
been said that South Africa was the “ grave of the reputations
of prominent men,” but it has also produced its successes,
among whom are Cecil Rhodes and Sir Alfred Milner. To
Mr. Rhodes Great Britain owes her predominance in South
Africa to-day, and to him is due the fact that we have a vast
empire in that part of the world. Sir Alfred Milner is a star
which has shot into brilliancy at a later date, but his conduct of
affairs during the crisis has marked him as a coming man.

South Africa is at present in a transition state, and we can
only guess at what its future will be. Unlike some of our
other colonies, which are entirely white men’s country, South
Africa has its great native question always present, and always
will have it, for Great Britain has stopped the cruel and bloody
wars by which thousands formerly lost their lives, and has taken
measures to keep down epidemic diseases, such as smallpox,
which claimed its thousands of victims also. This is character-
istic of us as a colonising power, for whenever Britain puts her

28 Personal Impressions of the Transvaal.

shoulder to the wheel, ignorance, cruelty, and injustice vanish.
Great Britain alone has made a thorough success of colonising,
and we await with interest the advent of a new colonising
power across the Atlantic which may sometime equal, but
never eclipse us. Wherever Great Britain goes, unlike the
other nations of the world, she holds her possessions in trust for
mankind ; that is at once the keynote and the invisible strength
of her Empire.

South Africa is politically divided into many spheres, but
the principal divisions are Cape Colony, Natal, Rhodesia,
Orange Free State, and the South African Republic or

Transvaal. Germany and Portugal hold territories on the

borders of these, but one possession in the hands of the latter
power I hope will now become British, I refer to Delagoa Bay.
Cape Colony is the oldest and most important of the places
just named. Its length is about 440 miles, its breadth 600, and
its area 199,950 square miles (more than twice that of Great
Britain), but including dependencies it has an area of 355,171
square miles. To this vast area must be added that of
Bechuanaland, Chartered Company, Mashonaland, and Mata-
belelend, which is 963,000 square miles, and Natal and Zululand,
or a grand total of 1,352,821 square miles owned by Great Britain
in South Africa. The population of Cape Colony and depen-
_ dencies is 410,000 whites and 1,500,000 blacks.

Natal and Zululand have an area of 34,650 square miles and
a population of 50,000 whites and 700,000 blacks.

The area of the South African Republic is 113,700 square
miles, and the population 204,coo whites and 645,c00 blacks.

The Orange Free State has an area of 43,000 square miles
and a population of 95,000 whites and 130,000 blacks.

From Capetown to the Zambezi is about :,200 mile, and from
the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean is ab ut 1,300, and when we
assimilate the Orange Free State and the South African
Republic our empire in South Africa will be a gigantic one in
point of area, but this vast country is peopled by but 720,000
whites and 4,000,000 blacks, the two added together not much

Personal Impressions of the Transvaal. 29

more than the population of Ireland and the total white
population ‘s only about twice that of Belfast.

As regards the nature of her population, it is made up of
Cape Dutch, Britishers, Negroes, Malays and Indians. The
Cape Dutch are a mixed race, being descendants through inter-
marriage of the original Dutch settlers and the French
Huguenots who came to the country in the 17th century.
Their language is not pure Dutch, but a patois called the
“Taal.” The lead in social improvement and the amassing
of wealth is taken by the British, and their superiority is due
to their greater application to habits of industry. The native
races comprise Kaffirs, Bechuanas, Hottentots, Fingoes, Zulus,
Mashonas and Matabele. The Zulu is the first type of the
coloured people of South Africa—he is at once a warrior and
a gentleman, and until Cetewayo was crushed in 1879 he never
soiled his fingers with work, as his women folk did all that for
him. Each native man who is not a Christian is entitled to as
many wives as he can buy, and his ideal number is four. The
price of wives when I was there last being 10 cows, and a
commission of one to the prospective mother-in-law.

The Malays who inhabit chiefly Cape Colony were brought
there from the East Indian Islands by the Dutch as slaves, and are
very energetic and industrious. Another element of the popu-
lation, and a serious one, is the Indian element. Natives were
brought from India to work in Natal, and are to a very appreci-
able extent supplanting the white man in that colony, and so
causing a burning question that will have some day t> be
settled by the Home Government. Broadly speaking Cape
Colony is more Dutch than British ; Natal has only a sprinkling
of Dutch inhabitants ; in the Orange Free State there are five
Dutch to one Britisher, and in the ‘l'ransvaal almost two
Uitlanders to one Boer.

As may be observed in the several views at this stage thrown
on the screen, Cape town and Table Bay present a magnificent
sight to the visitor. Towns up country, however, are hardly
worth being called towns, they are small collections of houses

30 Personal Impressions of the Transvaal.

and at best what we would call villages, but as such they look
large in the estimation of the population unused to anything
greater. Places like Colesberg and De Aar, lately come into
prominence, are very small. The other important seaports of
Cape Colony are Port Eilzabeth and East London. Some of
the finest buildings in South Africa are in Capetown, which is
so much in advance of Belfast that it possesses an electric tram
service. Simonstown is the British Naval station for the Cape
and it was here that the naval brigade, which had won so much
fame for itself in recent battles had been organised, and it was
here that the bulk of the Boer prisoners were detained.

There are two ways to choose from for the traveller on his
way to Johannesburg, one is by train direct from Capetown a
hot and weary journey of 62 hours, and the other way via
Natal, first by sea and then by rail, which is preferable to the
long train journey from Capetown, but which gives travellers a
good chance of seeing Cape Colony scenery. The greater part
of Cane Colony consists of Karoo. Anyone seeing it for the
first time would imagine himself to be in a desert and the very
look of the place would drive a County Down Farmer to
madness, and yet vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep manage
to exist there. Port Elizabeth is the most English town in
the colony. Its chief export is wool. One remarkable feature
- of Cape Colony scenery is the want of trees. What trees did
grow are not more than 20 feet high except the blue gum
tree which has been brought from Australia, and which reaches
a good height, and which are always planted near the farm
house for the shade. Almost all South African trees bear
flowers.

Natal was first settled in 1820, and differs considerably from
Cape Colony as it is more fertile and is called the “ Garden
Colony” in consequence. The Natal natives are for the greater
part of the Zulu stock ; they live in Kraals and are governed by
their own chiefs. The Colony of Natal is essentially British,
much more so than Cape Colony. Natal slopes upwards from
the coast to the great Central African tableland at a rapid

Personal Impressions of the Transvaal. 31

angle, and so causes an astonishing variety of climate from
tropical to quite cool in the neighbourhood of Langs Nek, about
5,500 feet above sea level. Pietermaritzburg is the prettiest
town in South Africa, and the railway which connects it with
Johannesburg is a great feat of engineering skill, having been
brought round mountains and alongside precipices with wonder-
ful engineering skill in negotiating the several thousand feet
between the sea coast and Johannesburg. Travelling, apart
from railways, is rather rough and attended with considerabie
danger. There are few bridges across rivers and streams, and
these have therefore to be crossed by drifts or fords, which is
a difficult matter in time of rain. Ladysmith, when I visited
it, was a very small place with very miserable hotel accommo-
dation. It stood on a plain, surrounded by hills on two sides.
Crossing into the Transvaal we may glance at its past history,
and the causes that led up to the present war. The Boers who
ruled it had formerly peopled Cape Co ony, had gone north
rather than live under the flag of the most liberty-loving
nation in the world. In 1877 the Transvaal was annexed by
the British in order to save it from extinction by the natives,
but throuzh the weakness of the Government then in power,
when the Boers rebelled in 1881, it was again allowed its
independence. Conventions were entered into between the
Imperial Government and the Trausvaal in 1881 and 1884.
Almost every provision of each of these conventions has been
systematically and deliberately broken by the Boer government
since they were signed. The result has been the present war.
The Transvaal has a very fine climate which is almost perfect
for consumptives, being dry and bracing. All the land
is covered with grass and there is plenty of water,
and so it is most suitable for stock farming. Rolling
grassy plains with blue gum trees here and there round
the farms and distant hills are the characteristic features
of the Transvaal landscape Johannesburg is about 5,000
feet above sea level and in the winter is quite cold. The
mineral resources of the country are not yet fully known, but

32 Personal Impressions of the Transvaal.

from what is known it is one of the richest places in the world
and has a great future before it. Johannesburg has been built
up within the last 14 years by the industry and skill of the
Uitlander. It isa very fne city and a credit to our fellow-
countrymen. So oppressive, however, was the Boer Govern. .
'ment that the guns of the fort were kept constantly trained
upon it. Johannesburg was founded in 1886, and in 189” it
had a population of 100,000, one-half white. Mr. Bryce, the
historian, says, ‘‘ Johannesburg with its mining environs has
nearly all the industry and wealth and half the whole white
population of the Transvaal, a country, be it rememberd, as
large as Great Britain, Pretoria and the lonely country to the
north, east, and west has the rest of the population and all the
power.”’

Considering the political situation before the war and the
grievances of the Uitlanders, instances of which J met with in
Johannesburg, it seemed to me clear that the war was inevit-
able, and was directly brought about py the Boer government
for its own ends. The Boer does not care for hard work,
but has no objection to enjoy the fruits of others labours.
This explains in a great measure their attitude towards the
Uitlanders, and their barbarity to the Natives.

The South African Republic was only a Republic in name,
and was really a corrupt oligarchy, almost all the members of
the government and most of the public men being known to
accept bribes freely, and President Kruger has pushed into
public and well paid offices as many of his 108 grandchildren
as he could, whether they had the necessary qualifications
or not. The fact is that the Boers are far behind the
times ; they are ignorant, taciturn, and suspicious—their ideas
in dealing with others is to be “slim,” ze., crafty. The
Uitlanders had many grievances to complain of ; it had been in
trying to bring about a redress of those grievances that the
present war originated. It is to be hoped that the issue will
be on the side of right and justice.

In showing some slides of Pretoria, I may explain that

Personal Impressions of the Transvaal. 23

Pretoria is quite unlike Johannesburg, and presents a great
contrast to it, being a quiet little country town, rather pretty,
and surrounded by hills—upon the summit of each a fort.
The only fine building in Pretoria is the Raad Zaal or Parlia-
ment House which cost £200,000.

The Orange Free State is almost entirely a stock raising
country. Farming and shop-keeping are the only industries.
Bloemfontein is a small country town, with nothing to claim
attention. The climate of the Orange Free State, like that of
the Transvaal, is almost perfect for consumptives. It is,
however, like the rest of South Africa, subject to violent
thunderstorms. While travelling in the Orange Free State
I experienced one of the most tremendous thunderstorms it is
possible to imagine, which raged for many hours. About 6
p.m. the sky clouded over, the rain fell in torrents and for
hours the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed. Forked
lightning, sheet lightning, and balls of fire followed each other
in quick succession so that the illumination of the landscape
was practically continuous. My friends and myself endeavoured
to count the flashes per minute, but as they were coming in all
directions we had to fall back on an estimate of 30 or 4o
flashes.

In concluding, may I express the pleasure I have had in
helping any one to-night to understand, even if faintly, the
main features of our future Great Cominion in South Africa
and the conditions which, until recently, obtained in one
portion of it more particularly.

34

2nd January, 1900.

Mr. THomas WorkmaAN, J.P., President, in the Chair.

IRELAND AND THE SCOTTISH ISLES ; ANCIENT
CONNEXIONS AND INTERCOURSE.
By S. F. Mitiican, M.R.I.A.

(Adstract.)

I have been led to think of this subject in consequence of
being one of a large party who visited these islands in the
month of June last. On the occasion referred to two of the
leading archzological societies—viz., the Royal Society of
Antiquaries of Ireland and the Cambrian Archeological Asso-
ciation—chartered a fine steamer, and paid a visit to the Inner
and Outer Hebrides, as well as several islands lying outside the
track of tourists and ordinary steamers. I was much impressed
with the similarity of the surroundings, physical appearance,
and social conditions of the islanders as compared with our own
people in Mayo, Galway, and islands on the Western Atlantic
seaboard. In most of the islands Gaelic was still spoken, and
was easily understood by Irish-speaking people. Their inter-
course with Ireland was much greater three or four hundred
years ago than it is now, due to the fact that in the early
ages of Christianity and for many centuries afterwards Irishmen
had a great disposition for roaming all over Western Europe,
either as teachers, missionaries, or soldiers. About the year
560 A.D. Saint Columba formed the idea of going to Scotland
to attempt the conversion of the Picts to Christianity, and, if
successful, he hoped it would alleviate the condition of his
countrymen who had settled in the Scottish Dalriada. Columba
by his grandmother was related to the Dalriada Kings of
Scotland, and his sympathies were drawn out towards his

Ireland and the Scottish Tsles. 35

kinsmen who were so harassed by the Picts. He had spent
the first forty years ot his life in Ireland, founding churches
and monasteries, and, as an itinerant missionary, preaching all
over Ireland. He started from Derry, founded by himself,
where stood his favourite monastery. He proceeded, accom-
panied by twelve of his followers, along the beautiful shores of
Lough Foyle to Innishowen Head, where the little bay is still
shown from which his curragh sailed to the Scottish Isles. It
was about the year 563 he left Ireland, and, as he was born in
521, he was then forty-two years of age. He was full of energy
and zeal, and had vast experience of mission work, when he
made this new departure. Monasticism was taking a firm hold
in Ireland about this time, and the more zealous of the Irish
clerics were founding monasterics in the islands around the
Irish coast as well as in the islands on the larger lakes. Islands
were the favourite spots where these institutions first flourished.
It is supposed that monasticism originated in Egypt in the
third century, and rapidly spread over the then Christian
world. What was for their safety and security at first—that
is, their isolated position—ultimately during the Danish period
led to their destruction. Columba stopped at several islands
on his way. He called at Oronsay with the idea of remaining,
but as he could see the summits of the mountains of Ireland
from it he proceeded on to I, or Hy, now known as Iona,
where he got a grant of land, and founded his famous
monastery. For two years he never left the island, getting
the little community into order, building his monastery, and
tilling the ground. By his holy life, example, and conversation
he impressed most favourably all who came in contact with
him. His little colony was like an oasis in the desert of that
wild country. He was entirely successful in his mission to
Brude, the Pictish King, who became a convert to the Christian
faith. The leading nobles followed, and for years afterwards his
labours amongst the Pictish nation never flagged until the
whole nation embraced Christianity. The result he anticipated
followed, and the mellowing influence of the Gospel caused a

36 Ireland and the Scottish Isles.

marked improvement in the relations between the Picts and
the Scots, and led to their ultimate union into one Scottish
kingdom. The monastery of Iona became celebrated over
Western Europe, and for centuries afterwards shone as a bright
beacon of Christianity in this far-off isle of the sea. In the
burial-ground known as the Relig Oran there are buried 48
Scottish kings, 4 Irish kings, 8 Norwegian kings, and Egfrid,
a king of Northumbria, also many great Highland chiefs and
lords of the isles, so that very few spots on earth contain more
remains of illustrious dead than does Iona. It was the parent
of many monasteries not alone in Scotland and the Isles, but
in Ireland and the North of England. Columba returned to
Ireland at the close of his life to attend a great national
convention held at Drumceatt, near to where Limavady now
stands.

The Macdonnells became connected with Antrim, and
formed an Irish family, the head of which is the Earl of Antrim.
John Mor Macdonnell, son of Eion of Islay, and grandson by
his mother of King Robert II., came to Antrim for a wife.
He came over to seek the hand of Margery Bysett, a handsome
woman, and heiress to all the lands included in the Glens of
Antrim. The Bysetts were a noble Scotch family, who about
the year 1242 were outlawed from Scotland for the supposed
murder of the Earl of Athol, which charge was never proved.
Leaving Scotland with all their means, they acquired the
territory included in the Glens. Margery’s father had married
a daughter of The O'Neill, and, having no other child, the
property fell to her. John Macdonnell was married in 1399 to
Margery Bysett at Glenarm, where her family had a castle.
They resided afterwards in Cantire, and occasionally at Glenarm.
From the period of their marriage a greater number of the
islanders settled in the Glens, which continued a favourite
resort and hiding-place when any trouble arose in Scotland.
The intercourse between Antrim and the Isles, particularly
Islay and Cantire, from this time became very close. There
was constant going to and from the Isles, and occasional forays

Ireland and the Scottish Isles. 37

were made as far as Castlereagh, when large preys cf cattle
would be driven back to the Glens, and thence to Rathlin, to
be taken afterwards to Islay at their convenience. In the year
1551 a feud existed between the O’Neills of Castlereagh and
the Macdonnells, and the latter made an incursion into Clan-
naboy, from which a great prey of cattle and other valuables
were lifted and removed to Rathlin. The Macdonnells were
able to strike a blow at England more easily through the North
of Ireland than any other quarter, and the Government in
Dublin made up their mind to put them down. This was in
1551, when Elizabeth was Queen. Four ships were fitted out,
and a large number of soldiers placed on board to proceed to
Rathlin, and, if possible, carry off the plunder that was supposed
to be stored there. The ships, on their arrival, proceeded to land
an armed force of three hundred men, part gunners and part
archers. The Macdonnells awaited them on the shore, prepared to
give them a warm reception, By a sudden upheavel of the sea
or a great Atlantic roller the boats were driven high on the rocks,
and before they could recover themselves the Macdonnells
attacked and slew every man except the two captains. These
were retained as hostages, and afterwards exchanged for the
younger brother of the chief, the afterwards celebrated Sorley
Boy, who was then a prisoner in Dublin Castle. The Macdon-
nells at this time owned Dunluce Castle, which they had taken
from the MacQuillans, also Kenbane Castle and Dunanynie
Castle, built on a cliff near the sea at Ballycastle, which was
the favourite residence of Sorley Buy. Ballycastle was pre-
viously called Port Brittas, and was the place principally used
for landing or embarking for Cantire. It was also from here
that Fergus was supposed to have embarked when he and his
brothers founded the Scottish kingdom. A little to the east
of Ballycastle is Port Usnach, from where Naysi and Derdrie
sailed to Alba.

There were frequent intermarriages between the Macdon-
nells and the leading families in the North of Ireland. The
Macdonnells succeeded in holding a large portion of their

38 Ireland and the Scottish Isles.

Irish property, whilst they lost Islay and Cantire. We have
‘ried to show that an ancient and intimate connection existed
between Ireland and the Scottish isles ; that they were of the
same race and language ; and that hundreds of years ago there
was a close and intimate union existing. They retain the
name that we have lost—that is, Scots, whilst we are called
Irish. When in Dunvegan Castle we were shown a drinking
cup made in the North of Ireland 400 years ago. Maguire, of
Fermanagh, in the fifteenth century married a lady from Skye,
Catherine Magrannal, and this cup was made at her expense
and forwarded as a present to her relatives there. The high
crosses of Ireland were reproduced in Scotland and the isles,
and the.island monasteries of Ireland and Scotland were similar
in both architecture and discipline. The ruins we examined
on the Flannan Islands and North Rona have their counter-
parts in Innismurray, Arran, and the Skelligs. If you would
understand the social condition and the mode of life in Ireland
in the Tudor period, you may study it at present in the Island
of Lewis and other islands, where the mode of living has
altered very little for hundreds of years. Fynes Morrison, who
was secretary to the Lord Deputy, and who visited the Scottish
islands, writes in 1598 that the West of Scotland carried on
trade with Ireland in red and pickled herring, sea coal, and
aquavite, in exchange for yarn and cow hides. The Scottish
Parliament passed an Act to promote temperance and stop the
importation of wine to the islanders. The large landowners,
however, were permitted to import wine, and the quantity was
fixed in proportion to their property. MacLeod, of Dunvegan,
might purchase 876 dozen bottles, smaller proprietors 220
dozens. Claret was the wine in most demand.

The Scottish people have done a great deal to attract
tourists to their country. Besides providing extremely cheap
railway and steamboat travelling, they have availed themselves
of the halo of romance that Scott has shed on so many spots in
Scotland in his poems and stories, and they continue to keep
them well to the front as an additional attraction to their fine

Lreland and the Scottish Isles. 39

scenery. We might do a little more in this way in Ireland.
Our country is not devoid of places possessing great historical
interest. All around our Antrim coast, no further back than
three hundred years ago, was bristling with stirring events.
Even two hundred years ago matters of che first importance
took place in our immediate neighbourhood—the landing of
William IIT. at Carrickfergus, and his march to Belfast on his
way to the Boyne. The old town of Carrickfergus, which took
its name from the Dalriadan King, has a history of very great
interest all through the Anglo-Norman times. What varied
people trod its streets—the great De Courcey, King John, and
many a gallant Norman knight ; Irish chiefs and gallowglasses,
the Chichesters, lord deputies, and others who lived there or
came to visit this stronghold of English power. We can almost
fancy we can hear the clash of swords when Sir James
Macdonnell attacked Sir John Chichester when returning after
collecting taxes over the glens. The battle took place a little
on the Larne side of Carrickfergus, and resulted in Sir John
being slain and his army of Englishmen being defeated. The
old ruin of Olderfleet at Larne marks the spot where Edward
Bruce landed with 10,0co Scots in the year 1315 for the conquest
of Ireland. As we proceed around the coast we reach Glenarm,
where the castle of the Bysetts stood on the south side of the
river, opposite to where Glenarm Castle now stands. Near
Waterfoot stand the ruins of Red Bay Castle, which was re-
paired and lived in by the Sir James to whom we have now
referred. Further round near Cushendun Shane O'Neill, the
great chieftain of Tyrone, fell, slain at a banquet by the
Macdonnells in revenge for the death of their chief James,
whom O’Neill kept prisoner till his death. Shane’s head was
cut off and taken by an Englishman to Dublin Castle, where it
was placed on a spike over the gateway. Further along the
coast we reach Ballycastle, the ancient Port Brittas, where the
Scots landed and embarked on their journey to and from
Cantire. Here still stands the ruins of Sorley Boy's Castle of
Dunanynie, his favourite abode in life, and where he died. A

40 Ireland and the Scottish Isles.

little distance outside Ballycastle along the base of Knocklayde
there was fought one of the fiercest and most sanguinary
battles of that time. Shane O’Neill, without any justifiable
reason, attacked unexpectedly and treacherously the Macdon-
nells before the latter could collect their full forces. The army
of the Scots was almost exterminated, and the chief and his
brother—Sorley Boy—were taken prisoners. James was sent
to a castle of O’Neill’s at Carrick, in Tyrone, and all ransom
refused, while his brother Sorley Boy was sent to Dublin Castle.
_ We cannot omit a reference to Dunluce Castle, which all
through the Elizabethan age held an important position in
Irish history. Here the eldest son of Sorley. Boy—the brave
Alexander—defended the castle most heroically against Perrott,
the Lord Deputy. Between the Causeway and Ballycastle is
the ancient castle of Dunseverick, much older than any we
have mentioned, which brings us back to Cormal Cearnach, a
Red Branch knight, who resided there. On a hill near to
Cushendall is pointed out the grave of Ossian, the great Irish
bard and poet. These few references, taken hurriedly, may
suffice in the direction I have indicated, and point to the course
that should be taken to popularise travel in Ireland, which,
added to its scenic beauties, should make our country the
favourite resort of travellers.

The lecture was illustrated by upwards of eighty specially-
prepared iantern slides of both Pagan and Christian antiquities
and scenery taken during the visit already referred to by Mr.
Milligan.

The cordial thanks of the meeting was accorded to Mr.
Milligan on the motion of Dr. Moran, seconded by Mr. Wm.
Gray, M.R.LA.

41

6th February, 1900.

Mr. THomas WorkKMaN, J.P., President, in the Chair.

SOME THOUGHTS ON ROME.
By Conway ScotTT, C.E.

( Abstract.)

AT the outset the reader surveyed the early history of the city
on the Palatine hills, and inquired into th? causes contributing
to the greatness of the Roman power. But walking through
the streets of the Rome of to-day, with the mind full of
memories of the past, one could hardly realise that it was
Rome, the once mighty mistress of the civilised world. Every-
thing became so modernised that little remained of the old
Pagan city on the Tiber. The ancient architectural magnifi-
ce ce of Rome was dealt with, and a minute description given
of the present state of the ruins of those monuments of former
greatness. He considered that one of the causes of the fall of
Rome was the extent ot her possessions, which more or less
extinguished her early spirit of patriotism. Another cause was
her opposition to Christianity, which in the end won its
triumph, and subdued a far vaster realm than ever was held
sway over by Roman dictator or Emperor. But the Roman
civilisation formed a splendid basis for the Christian civilisation,
and to day the once capital city of the world was as famous for
sending out the soldiers of the cross to conquer the world for
Christ, as ever it was for sending out its legions to win earthly
dominions.

42

THE. GROW TH OP" Tok INK BEOr,

By W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A.

(Abstract.)

_ The author described some experiments on the markings
produced Ly the application of various coloured inks to
blotting paper and exhibited some remarkably brilliant “ blots”
which he had made, or rather which had made themselves by
the methods described below. Some of them bore a wonderful
resemblance to the pictures that have been produced of the
corona during an eclipse of the sun, others looked like paintings
of botanical subjects, but all possessed a strange kind of con-
structive beauty and harmonious blending of colour. Very
frankly Mr. Patterson admitted that the “ blots,” so far as he
knew, were of no practical use further than to illustrate in a
pleasing manner the principal of capillary attraction.

In forming the blot, the materials or appliances required
are some ink, some white blotting paper, and a piece of cotton
cord to serve as a wick. The most convenient way of causing
the blots to grow is by placing a wick in a bottle of ink so that
the ‘ink can freely rise tothe upper puint of the wick. The
lower side of a sheet of blotting paper is then brought in
contact with the point of wick, and supported there in any
convenient manner, for instance, on the edge of a bowl or basin,
inside which the bottle of ink may stand.

The ink immediately commences to rise through the wick
into the paper, and quickly or slowly, according to the nature
of the ink, spreads into a blot of more or less circular form, until
it reaches the edge of the paper, but it is not well to let it go

The Growth of the Ink Biot. 43

quite so far if one wishes to have a pretty well shaped blot. By
transferring the blotting paper from an ink of one colour, say
red, toa bottle containing a different coloured ink, say green,
and letting the paper take up more or less of the various
colours, a great variety of very remarkable and unexpected
results will be obtained. Very soft and pretty blots can be made
if some clear water is ted with a camel’s hair brush to the upper
side of the blotting paper, while the lower side is still receiving
a supply of ink from the wick. The character of the blot can
in this way be varied in an almost endless manner.

In the case of black or blue black inks, it is a curious fact
that nearly every different make of ink forms a different kind
of blot, more especially as regards the edge, which is sometimes
beautifully branched or scalloped. There are also remarkable
differences as to the rates at which different inks will flow or
travel through the paper while the blots are growing.

44

6th March, 1900.

Mr. THomas Workman, J.P., President, in the Chair.

‘THE POSITION OF BELFAST IN RELATION TO
TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION UNDER THE
AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL
INSTRUCTION ACT.”

By Wiit1am Gray, M.R.LA.

Mr. Gray said that the time had arrived when it became
necessary to readjust our arrangements for imparting technical
instruction in Belfast, and that he proposed to discuss the
merits of that portion of the Agriculture and Technical Instruc-
tion Act of last Session that applied more particularly to
technical instruction in County Boroughs. He would briefly
indicate the lines along which our present system of industrial
education has been developed. In the middle of last century
the first institutions were founded in England, Scotland, and
Ireland for the promotion of technical instruction, or for the
practical application of Art and Science to industries. Mr.
Gray related the history of the first agencies founded in Great
Britain and Ireland for the practical application of Art and
Science to industries. The Board of rustees in Scotland,
founded in 1727, the Dublin Society, incorporated by Royal
Charter in 1749, and the Society of Arts, London, founded in
1754. He referred particularly to the original School of Design
established in London in 1837, and its result, the founding of
what we now know as “ The Department of Science and Art.”
In Ireland the Dublin Society originated the Botanic Gardens,
the Industrial Museum, School of Art and Library, which

Posttion of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 45

in 1877 were transferred from the Royal Dublin Society, a
voluntary agency, to the care of the Science and Art Depart-
ment, under the Crown.

Reference having been made to the schools established by its
agency and to the opposition with which the Government
arrangements were met before the desired aims were accom-
plished, Mr. Gray went on to say that it was this spirit of inde-
pendence that must govern our action in dealing with the
Agriculture and Technical Instruction Act, which should
assist, but not supersede voluntary effort.

In the first quarter of this century the industrious and
progressive artisans began to feel the necessity for some form of
technical intstruction, and under the skilful leadership of Dr.
Birkbeck mechanics’ institutes were founded in most manu-
facturing localities. At that period Belfast was not behind ;
indeed, it was then foremost among the towns in the kingdom
in the cultivation of literature, art, and science. This
educational work was in fact the foundation of that measure of
material prosperity Belfast has enjoyed in modern days. A
meeting was held in 1807 to receive “ The report of the com.
mittee appointed to arrange a plan for the Government of the
Belfast Academical Institution.” That plan embraced techni-
cal instruction in Chemistry, Botany, and Agriculture, and
such subjects as may be ‘‘conducive to the improvement of the
agriculture, arts, and manufactures of the country.” What a
clear vision those old Belfast folk had of what is now about to
be unfolded possibly on their own premises?*

Mr. Gray then proceeded to explain how the old “ Schools
of Design ”’ originated with the Select Committee of the House
of Commons appointed in 1835 ‘‘to inquire into the best means
uf extending a knowledge of the arts and the principles of
design among the people, especially the manufacturing popula-
tion.’ As the first School of Design founded in Somerset
House was not quite a success, because of its limited sphere

* Since the lecture was delivered the County Borough Council has taken a site tor
the proposed Technical College on the grounds of the Royal Academical Institution.

46 Posztion of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction.

of action, the Government in 1841 determined to further the
creation of schools of design in certain manufacturing
centres and to provide teachers for this purpose. Under
this arrangement the School of Design was established
in Belfast, subsequent changes in the conditions under which
aid was given to local schools, caused the Belfast school to be
given up although it had contributed works to the first
exhibition of students’ works ever held in London. The
Belfast School of Art, which suceeded the old school
of design after some years, was opened in 1870, had
made steady progress, andin the School of Science, established
two years later in connection with the Working men’s Institute,
pupils had taken high positions in the annual national
competitive examinations. The labours of the Royal Com-
mission on Technical Instruction during 1882 and 1883 gave
a powerful stimulus to local efforts for the promotion of
technical instruction, and while the Commission was sitting
Beltast was stirred up to establish the Hastings Street School,
which has steadily maintained a precarious existence ever since,
under most discouraging circumstances. The fact, then, that
we have struggling for existence a school of art, a science school,
and a certain form of Technical school demonstrated the
desirability and possibility of having a good combined central
Technical school if sufficient funds were forthcoming. Belfast
has always for its voluntary educational agencies but limited
means, and divided interests hindered their effective operation,
as in the case of the scheme formulated in 1887. Having
noted the want of co-operation among the various agencies
engaged in technical instruction in Belfast, and the evil
consequences arising therefrom, Mr. Gray drew attention to the
fact that by the Technical instruction Act of 1889 city councils
were enabled to aid local effort to provide technical
instruction ‘to the extent-of id in.the £1.. The: Act iwas
welcomed throughout the kingdom, and new schools were
everywhereestablished underits provisions. In Belfast, although
every effort had been made by public appeal, deputations, and

Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 47

personal application to induce our City Council to follow the
lead of the chief cities and towns of the kingdom, up to the
present the County Borough Council of the city only
granted from the rates the sum of £800 per annum,
which is distributed in an arbitrary way between our
four industrial schools, that for many years have been
hampered by _ straightened financial dithculties, to the
serious disadvantage of the technical educational prospects of
the city. Mr. Gray referred very fully to the effect of the Cus-
toms and Excise Act of 1890, under which large sums are ren-
dered available for technical instruction in England, Wales, and
Scotland, and the establishment of the City and Guilds of
London Iuastitute, which in 1878 founded a central and other
colleges in London, in which technical instruction was carried on
toan advanced stage. Mr. Gray clearly pointed out how Ireland
was handicapped by having no advantage under the Customs and
Excise Act for the promotion of l’echnical Instruction, and that
owing to the apathy of our City Council, the Technical
Instruction Act of 18389 was not put into operation.

Mr. Gray said that, amid the chaos and confusion that
prevailed in the political atmosphere of Ireland in 1895, a far-
seeing intellect perceived and followed up an upening that gave
some prospect of securing a substantial advantage for Ireland in
_ favour of the agricultural and industrial classes of the country.
The steps taken in the formation of the Recess Committee by
_the Right Hon. Horace Plunkett, M.P., and the important
report of the Committee’s labours laid before the Chief Secretary
in August, 1896, was the origin of the Agriculture Act intro-
duced into Parliament in 1897. Fortunately this as then
drafted was not passed, owing to pressure of other business, but
it was reintroduced in an amended and much-improved form, and
and, without any help fromthe Belfast municipal authorities, was
passed into law last year under the title of “ The Agriculture
and Technical Instruction Act.” Under the provisions of
this most welcome Act Belfast and other county boroughs
in Ireland will be enabled to readjust the local arrangements

48 Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction.

for technical instruction, and if Belfast County Council
would but do its duty and try to make up for
mast delay it would be enabled to formulate and carry
out such a scheme as would equal that of any city in
the kingdom, and be worthy of our educational and indus-
trial traditions and advancement. The Act provides for the
establishment of a Department of Agriculture and other
Industries and Technical Instruction, with the Chief Secretary
as President, anda Vice-President appointed by the Crown.
Mr. Gray mentioned that the technical instruction branch
referred more particularly to Belfast, and noted several matters
of importance connected with the duties of the Board of
Technical Instruction and the consultative Committee. The
funds at the disposal of the department, in addition to the cost
of administration, will be about £166,000 per annum, or
including departmental expenses, a total of £200,000 per
annum, Of this amount a sum of £55,000 per annum will be
allocated exclusively to technical instruction in Ireland, not
depending on an annual Parliamentary vote, but conferred by
direct endowment. It is not only possible, but it would be
desirable, for the county councils, say of Antrim and Down, to
work in unison with Belfast County Borough Council in the
working out of their respectiveschemes. All educational efforts
should be co-operative, and for this purpose scholarships may
be founded connected with National and other country and
town schools to enable students to pass on to the more im-
portant central school in Belfast. All educational agencies
should be considered in the scheme, so as to avoid friction or
overlapping. For this reason no really effective scheme can be
formulated unless with the co-operation of all our educational
agencies. The actual amount to which Belfast may be entitled
will depend upon the division to: be made of the £55,000 by the
department with the concurrence of the Board of Technical
Instruction, Assuming that the division will be in equal parts,
then Belfast, in proportion to its population, would receive a
little over £10,000 a year from this source of income, exclusive

Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 49

of the income from the penny rate under the Act of 1889, and
the additional penny rate under the act of last year. The
purposes on which the money is to be expended will be deter-
mined by the Department and not by the City Council.
As the powers and duties of the Science and Art
Department in Ireland and the administration of grants
for teaching art and science will be transferred to the
new department, the usual result fees and grants hitherto
paid are still available, from which we may calculate upon an
increase of £1,000, and, if the local contribution from the rates
is only 1d in the £1, a total income of £15,000 a year may be
calculated upon, exclusive of pupils’ fees, provided that the
£55,000 is divided into two equal portions by the department.*
Attention was called to the fact that the ‘department will not
approve of any scheme that is not assisted from money provided
by local authorities or from local sources,” and that the financial
aid under the Act will not be limited to any one institution,
and the amount to be given to the Central School will depend
upon how far it will be conducted in harmony with all the
other local educational agencies.

Mr. Gray strongly advocated the immediate formation of a
composite managing committee, and said that it was shown by
the records of Europe and America that when the agencies
employed for the management and maintenance of educational
institutions are limited to municipal control such institutions
are rarely successful, but similar institutions become living
realities when they command the liberality and active exertions
of individual citizens in their private personal capacity, un-
trammelled by the formalities of office. Hence it will be very
desirable that a good Composite Committee should be formed
to draft the scheme and carry it into execution, as has been
found to work well in all the chief towns of the kingdom, and
in the County Council. The appointment of a composite
executive committe in Belfast was recommended by the Chief

*The Department has for the present apportioned £20,000 to the County Boroughs,
£20,000 to the Rural districts, and keep in reserve £15,000,

50 Position of Belfast 1n Relation to Technical Instruction.

Secretary and Mr. Horace Plunkett. Assuming that it was
formed, Mr. Gray expressed the opinion that it could not set
before it a higher or better aim than to fully realise that form
of a technical instruction institute suggested by the composite
committee that met during the Mayoralty of Sir James Haslett,
M.P., in 1887, which proposed to establish ‘a central institution
for the teaching in a combined form of art, science, and
technology, as applied to the trade and manufacturers of the
district, utilising and combining so far as possible for this
purpose the school of art, schools of science and technology,
and the technical school.” A full definition of what was meant
by the expression “technical instruction ” was given, and the
views of many well-known authorities quoted. Proceeding,
Mr. Gray said they could not do better than to provide without
delay a central institution in which our present excellent Art,
Science, and Technological classes may be properly and com-
fortably housed, with ample space, class-rooms, laboratories,
and lecture-rooms, equipped with all necessary fittings and
appliances of the most approved kinds, and conducted by a
staff of specially qualified teachers for each department of the
work, capable of rendering teaching assistance or advice to any
school or class in the city. Thus appointed, together with
bright, cheerful, and attractive surroundings, they might fairly
calculate that the 1,500 pupils now receiving instruction in
their local art, science, and technological classes would be in-
creased to not less than 3,000 in the near future, witha promise
of proportionate advantage to our local industries. Enlisting
into their educational scheme every available auxiliary, they
should extend and should complete the intended Technical
Museum and Art Gallery connected with the Public Library,
and every function connected with that institution should be
subordinated to the purposes of technical instruction in its
widest and most liberal aspects, and placed under the manage-
ment of the composite technical committee, and conducted by
them as part of the Technical Instruction Scheme for the city.*

*The County Borough Council have joined the Library Committee and the Technical
Instruction Committee into one Committee.

Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 51

Although elementary teaching will be excluded from the
proposed technical institution, the elementary schools under
the National Education Commissioners must not he altogether
overlooked in our technical scheme. When the national
education scheme was drafted in 1838 it was far in advance of
an educational system in Britain, and it was intended to be
technical in its character, but sectariau conflicts eliminated
that important element from our national system of industrial
education. This form of technical instruction should be
restored. The late Commission had recommended its renewal,
and in future technical instruction would be encouraged so as
to prepare the young pupils for the next step in the technical
institutions of the county boroughs, our National schools
would then be helpful auxiliaries to the central institution ;
their students at entrance to the Technical College would no
doubt be tested by examination, and classed accordingly-
Scholarships may be founded for competition among the
National school pupils preparing to enter the Technical
Institute, and also scholarships to enable advanced pupils of the
Technical Institute to go forward to the technical branch of
the Queen’s College, the Royal University, and the Royal
College of Science in Dublin.

Evening continuation classesshould be promoted in connection
with our National schools, and to this end, as well as to supply
the necessary school accommodation now required for Belfast,
Mr. Gray advocated the opening of four National schools in
Belfast under the Technical Committee to become models for
their respective localities, if not for the whole country. These
would be evening as well as day schools, and they may be further
used as branch Libraries. These should be properly equipped,
and officered by a staff of qualified teachers enabled to discharge
their professional duties untrammelled by clerical obligations.
Mr. Gray in conclusion referred to the fosterage laws of ancient
Ireland that provided for certain forms of technical instruction,
then the native Irish were disposed to industry, and skilled in
workmanship, qualities that may be revived with great advan-

82 Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction.

tage to our industrial progress. The opportunity is given
Belfast to-day to help to revive the best forms of our national skill
open up new fields of industry, and by a well considered scheme
of technical instruction set an example for all Ireland, and
justify anew the imputed title of Belfast as the industrial
metropolis of Ireland.

Professor Fitzgerald, in opening the discussion, said he wished
to emphasise what Mr. Gray had said as to what the old Belfast
people were in the beginning of the century, compared with
what they were at the present time. What Mr. Gray had said
was a most interesting lesson, and showed that Belfast was fifty
years behind the place where it was fifty years ago. Could
they conceive that the old Belfast people, who were willing to
allow a little money out of their pockets to build such insti-
tutions as that in which they were met—could they conceive
that they would allow such an important place as the Victoria
Institute to break down in the way it hai been allowed to go ?

With regard to the necessity of breadth of the local
scheme touched upon by Mr. Gray, he might say the Cor-
poration had got a peculiarity of wever saying anything
about anything that they could help. They appointed a mixed
Committee, who drew up a scheme which was fairly broad, and
as he was on that Committee he could give them some idea of
the plan. The general notion was that the Corporation Tech-
nical Committee should co-opt a number of outsiders, not
exceeding one-half of the members of the Corporation, to form
a mixed Committee for working the technical education scheme
in Belfast, and that the immediate working of schools should be
regulated by a board of heads of departments of schools.
The departments of the school were not precisely finally
settled, there was a list made by the Committee, but it would
be liable to alteration from time to time. Among the depart-
ments of the school it was intended to comprise a set of
preparatory evening classes for youths, some of whom were
serving their apprenticeship at the present time. It has been
found that this was necessary in other large towns. In order

Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 53

that boys should not be debarred from taking advantage of the
superior classes of the technical schools it was necessary to
have preparatory classes. The schools were to be built
exactly opposite the building in which they were « ssembled, and
pupils would not be admitted to the regular technical classes
who were not properly prepared. A subject which had not
been mentioned by the lecturer, but which he (Professor
Fitzgerald) hoped would be included, was cookery. It was an
historical fact that the ancient Irish never seemed to mind what
they ate. He himself thought the preparatory classes should
be held in various parts of the city, but he believed they were
to be held only in the central institute. With regard to the
breadth of the scheme, he did not know whether those present
in the Y.M.C.A. when Mr. Balfour was there paid sufficient
attention to the strong reference that was made to the necessity
in Ireland within the next few years of training a large number
of teachers. That appeared one of the primary difficulties with
technical instruction. In the scheme special provision was
made both for the agricultural and technical instruction teachers.
The agricultural teachers, he thought, meant nothing more
than teachers in technical schools outside the county boroughs.
He had noticed in the papers that a considerable number of
national school teachers were wanting to be trained in manual
instruction, and existing teachers, with few exceptions, had no
training in work of that kind ; but to that he would not refer.
The agricultural teachers would be paid out of the grant which
would go to the agricultural division out of the £55,000 to
which reference had been made.

Mr. Stevenson was of opinion that the apathy with which
technical instruction \.as regarded in Belfast was decidedly
disheartening to all interested in the subject. It would seem
as if Belfast manufacturers had a poor opinion of their fellows
when it came to anything affecting the arts or sciences. He
believed a great number of the young people in Belfast who
used their hands might increase their comfort and usefulness
very much if they could add a little brainwork to their labours,

54 Postion of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction.

The new institution would assist such, and no doubt there
would be a great improvement in the prosperity of the city
after its establishment. He had had recently several hundred
designs sent him from various parts of the country, and, while
the senders no doubt were well educated, the results from an
artistic point of view would have been laughable had one not
felt some sadness in looking at them. In conclusion, he wished
to express the pleasure he felt at listening to Mr. Gray’s paper,
and his entire confidence in the far-reaching effect which the
establishment of this institution would have in their midst.

Mr. Milligan said everyone had been delighted with Mr.
Gray’s admirable paper. One of the most intelligent and
cultured audiences he had ever seen in the hall he looked
upon that night, and it was a great pity the members of the
Council did not come there for information—the information
which they needed very much. They had made a move as to
site for the new building, but he would have preferred it at
Marcus Ward’s, because it would have saved them £1,000 a
year. However, money was of no importance to the Council,
and it was better to have the present site than none. He hoped
that Mr. Gray’s Lecture would be printed, and that the
members of the Town Council would read it, for he felt assured
it contained information they would get in no other place.
Though late, they were not too late to do well. The future
prosperity of the city depended largely upon the interest taken
in the matter, and he hoped the technical school would be
pushed forward as quickly as possible.

Mr. W. Armstrong regarded the subject from two points of
view—the cosmopolitan and the patriotic. He expressed the
opinion that they were bound to go on with it, because other
nations were making progress, and it they would simply sit still
and pat each other on the back they would soon find them-
selves fifty years behind the times.

Mr. Shaw thought the great linen manufacturers of Belfast
might have established a school of design for their own purposes,
and that the great shipbuilding concerns might have done

Position of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction. 55

something similar for their respective places of business.
Nothing, however, had ever been done. He spoke in favour
of drawing and the teaching of the chemistry of common
things, and said that without some practical work even the
elementary teaching of chemistry would be useless. There
might be a danger of the cry of technical schools supplanting
the proper work of other schools.

Mr. Wheeler asked on what principle Mr. Gray had arrived
at the figures representing the two divisions of the £55,000
grant.

Mr. May inquired what class of people would be benefited by
the teaching in the school regarding woodcarving.

Mr. Gray in replying said there would be a prescribed course tor
pupils, with an examination, and after two years they would be
put to practical work. The Technical instruction given in the
Central School would be limited as much as possible to those
practising it in the way of trade. No encouragement should be
given to mere amateur aims after educational embellishments.
All must be practical, and calculated to promote our local
industries. Replying to a question, Mr. Gray said that the
amount available was clearly given in the Act, and included not
only aid to the Central School, but was available also for any
other educational effort. It was a mistake to think that all the
funds provided by the Act will be devoted to the Central College.
In replying to Professor Fitzgerald, he might say it was an
extraordinary thing that after ten years waiting we had no official
knowledge of what the Town Council proposed to do. Ifthe
project was to be successful it must be kept in touch with the
public, and the people should know what the members of the
Council were doing.* Of all the sites best adopted for the
purposes of a technical school, he thought the one chosen in
1887, immediately behind the Public Library, was the best,
because in that place they could have had all their schools to-

* Up to the time of going to press no acceptable scheme has been devised. No
composite cummittee has been formed, and the persons most interested in Technical
instruction have not been consulted.

56 Fosition of Belfast in Relation to Technical Instruction.

gether. We do not object to the site selected on the grounds
of the Royal Academical Institute, only for its cost, which must
come out of the ratepayers pocket, and not out of the funds
available under the provisions of the Technical Instruction
Act. The Council should go in for a building for educational
purposes, and not for a building to simply decorate the city.

7

3rd April, 1900

Mr. Ropert Youna, C.E., J.P., Vice-President in the Chair.

SOME OF THE WORK DONE BY COMMITTEES
OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

By Proressor Maurice F. FirzGeratp, B.A., M.I.M.E.

THE Lecturer began by remarking that many people, including
some ,who might have attended meetings of the British
Association, had little, if any, conception that that society was
more than an organisation for carrying out annually a sort of
scientific picnic. The Association, like many other societies,
had a yearly meeting or conference, held usually in the end of
summer or beginning of autumn, which lasted for a week, and
which constituted, to the outsider, the most obvious and
apparently important part of the work of the Associa-
tion. This impression was natural enough, and was encouraged
by the large attendance of scientific and other notabilities, and
by the immense number of papers read and discussed, during
this annual meeting, the Association being divided into sections
(now numbering nine) which have separate meeting rooms,
so that a large number of papers are read, or subjects discussed
every day simultaneously. As an example taken at random,
the Bristol meeting of 1898 might be instanced, when the
number of items in the sectional proceedings was 304. It was
pointed out, that however large the amount of work represented
by the labour undergone in listening to the maximum possible
number of these communications, by any person attending the
meeting, such work was not itself of any particular scientific
value, and that the real importance of the Association was

53 Work Done by British Association Committees.

liable to be more or less masked by the “ fuss” attached to
the Annual meeting. It was remarked that, as in other
societies holding periodical meetings or conferences, a
great part of the really valuable work of the British
Association was done by committees appointed to in-
vestigate particular matters, and to report on them to the
annual meetings. The committees pursued their work all the
year. round, sometimes for many years in succession, and were
aided by money grants from the Association. The total sumso
granted since the formation of the Association in 1832 up to
“the present time amounted to about £66,700. In the Report
of the meeting of British Association at Bristol in 1898,
above referred to, 723 pages were occupied by Reports of
Committees and 303 by transactions of the Sections at the
Bristol meeting itself, the total number of Reports of Com-
mittees being nearly fifty, and a good many of these were
interim reports of Committees, some of which have been at
work for over thirty years. The Lecturer proceeded to remark
on the character and influence of the work of various com-
mittees of the Association, beginning with reports by Fairbairn
and Hodgkinson, so far back as 1837, 0n Hot and Cold Blast
Iron, whose relative merits were at that time a matter of con-
siderable importance, in consequence of the then just beginning
development of railways, and the free use of cast iron in bridges °
and girders. Ultimately, as we now see, improvements in the
manufacture of wrought iron and steel and the consequent
reduction in the cost of bridges constructed of these materials,
compared with the cost of cast iron, coupled with the relative
disadvantages of the latter, had led to the abandonment of cast
jron as a material for bridge structures of any size, but until well
on in the fifties cast iron was an important part of the structure
of many bridges, and its properties formed the subject of in-
vestigation by the Association. These investigations were of
material use and assistance to the Commissioners on Railway
structures, whose report, made in 1848, forms the basis of the
present Board of Lrade regulations for Railway Bridges and

similar works.

Work Done by British Association Commuttees. 59

During the period from 1830 to 1860 a vast increase
in the use of steam power for manufacturing purposes took
place, and steamships came into existence capable of making
long sea voyages. Among the matters of importance on
which information was deficient at the time, not the
least was the provision ‘of adequate strength in boilers,
since the problems arising from increase of steam pressure have
always been prominent, and steam pressure has steadily risen
since the days of Watt. Accordingly there were found in the
records of the Association the investigations of Fairbairn on
the effects of temperature on the strength of wrought iron in
1856, and on the collapse of circular flues in 1857. This latter
may be described as forming the foundation for the design of
all furnace flues since, and is still the ruling authority in this
matter, its conclusions having been early embodied in the rules
for the strength of circular marine boiler furnaces adopted by
the Board of Trade, as well as in the principles of design used
by all the leading manufacturers of land boilers of the Cornish
and Lancashire types. About 1860 another matter connected
with the strength of iron and steel came into greater promi-
nence than before, namely, the effects on the material of
repeated loadings and unloadings, reversal of stress from
tension to compression and wice versd at short intervals,
and of vibration. Again here we find the most impor-
tant part of the early work reported on by the British
Association, beginning about 1860. This work was, some seven
or eight years later, taken up by the Prussian Government in
amore thoiough and complete manner than could have been
effected with the resources ot the Association, and has been
continued at Government expense ever since. It is ofa kind
which must unavoidably take up much time to carry out.

Another matter which occupied much attention for a good
many years was the performance of steamships in respect of the
relations of power and speed. Up to about 1865 little real
progress was made owing largely to false impressions as to the
importance of details of form, and the consequent controversies

60 Work Done by British Association Committees.

as to the merits of ‘‘ wave line ”’ forms, ‘* hollow” versus ‘“ full ”
lines, and the like. The Association, however, got together a
committee of men, including Mr. Froude, Professor Rankine,
Robert Napier, and others, who really did understand what
they were about, and, after a few years, placed the question on
a proper basis. In about ten years, that is in 1874, the
Admiralty became so impressed with the importance of this work
that they established their experimental tank at Torquay for the
testing of ship's models, and the German and U.S. Admiralties or
Navy Boards have since followed suit. It may seem strange
that a body so difficult to move in any new direction
as the British Admiralty is commonly assumed to be, should
have taken up this matter before any private shipbuilder or
foreign government did, but apart from the fact that govern-
ment departments occasionally have the sense to act rightly,
the difhculties of predicting, even roughly, the speed and horse-
power of new ships always pressed much more ceverely on the
Navy designers than on others, partly on account of the pro-
portions of the ships they dealt with diverging, as a rule, much
more from the ordinary types of cargo or passenger steamer
than these do from one ancther, and partly from the wide
differences between different ships of the Navy itself, specially
accentuated at the time referred to, by the then recent intro-
duction of ironclads. Besides this, the Admiralty had received
a very severe lesson on the unwisdom of neglecting good advice
from sensible people, it having been made abundantly manifest
that, it they had attended to reports on the stability of ships
which had been pressed on their attention by the British
Association about 1863, and carried out very simple tests fully
explained therein, but which the Admiralty officials stated were
not practical, the “ Captain’ would have been ascertained to
be unfit for being sailed in the way which led to her capsizing.
After the accident of course, it was found that the tests of
stability proposed were quite easy to carry out, and they
have been ever since made on every new ship in the
Navy.

Work Done by British Association Commtttees. 61

The enormous strides made by the e'ectrical industries
in the last twenty five years were referred to by the lecturer,
and it was shown that, until the matter was taken up by the
British Association, the commercially necessary means of
measuring electric quantities were so deficient as to be, for
most practical purposes, altogether wanting. For telegraphic
purposes—or at least most telegraphic purposes—the actual
amount of electric energy required to be supplied was too small
to call for any particularly accurate measurement, nor did the
apparatus involve, as a rule, any very close regulation of
voltage or current. Consequently although the scientific
principles on which the measurement of electric quantities is
made had been laid down, and some standards of measurement,
corresponding, in matters electrical, to the standard yard and
pound in matters of ordinary measurement, had been made or
proposed to be made, still the whole subject of dealing with
electricity on an industrial scale was practically as much in a
state of chaos as the buying and selling of coal would be if the
mines all sold it by the truck load, but every mine had a
different sized truck, whose capacity had never been measured,
to shippers who dealt in it by the shipload, every man according
to his ship, but the tonnage of the ships was not ascertained, and
the consumer received it by the cartload, every dealer pleasing
himself as to the size of his cart, and building new carts when
the old ones were worn out, as near the former size as he could
judge by the eye.

About thirty eight years ago the Association set itself
to rectify this state of things, and for that purpose appointed
a committee on Electrical Standards, with a view to pro-
viding means for doing with electricity what corresponds to
providing foot rules, weighing machines, and pounds or other
weights to measure the coal trucks, ship loads, and cart loads, in
the case of the coal. The Committee rightly judged the matter
to be one of international importance, and began by collecting
advice on the system of measurement to be employed, as well
as all other information relating to existing standards from

62 Work Done by British Association Committees.

foreign as well as British sources. It very soon appeared that
even among scientific workers, methods of measurement were
often used which were (comparatively speaking) not much
more accurate for the purpose in hand than measurine off
lengths of cloth by the reach from finger tip to shoulder are,
and that one of the very first steps to be taken was to find out
acc:rate methods in measurement, and to construct accurate
instruments. The trouble occasioned by these things may
be realised when it is found that it took about seven years to
produce a really reliable standard resistance. Everything about
it was ill understood at first. The most suitable material
was unknown ; wires which were supposed to be exactly alike
in constitution were found, on exact testing, to differ materially;
alloys supposed to be permanent were found to alter irregularly
in time. Different experimental methods for arriving at the
same result were found to give discordant results, and the
apparently small and obscure causes of the discrepancies had to
be searched out and corrected. The result has been that
electricity can now be dealt in for industrial purposes as easily
and accurately as any other commodity, and in some respects
more easily, since the fundamental system of weights and
measures used is international, both in actual value and names
of the quantities, so that pressure in volts, current in amperes,
and power in kilowatts mean the same things all the world
over.

It is probably not too much to say that no authority
except the British Association could have been brought
about this result. No other body possessed the scientific
weight and insight required to initiate the system, no other
body could have enlisted such able assistance, and no other
body could so effectually insure the universal adoption by the
world of the system of measures and nomenclature brought
forward by it, and have led up to the international conferences
required for that adoption to be officially ratified. The Lecturer
adverted to the small cost at which the work of the Associa-
tion’s Committees was done, for though the sum total of the

Work Done by Britrsh Association Committees. 63

grants for scientific purposes already referred to (£66,700),
expended since 1832, might seem pretty large, it really repre-
sented but a fraction of what wou!d have been paid if the same
investigators had been employed to do the work as part of their
regular paid professional or commercial work. Many eminent
_professional men, whose fees when called in for advice might
sometimes be reckoned at pounds a minute, or men, like
Sir W. Fairbairn and others, who gave the use of
their works, materials, and the assistance of their staff, carried
out lengthy and troublesome investigations without charge.
It would be but fair to say that the £66,700 would have been
expanded into probably a quarter of a million, if all the work
done had been paid for in the commercial sense, as the Railway
Commissioners, the Board of Trade, the Admiralty, and others
would have had to do if they had not had the British Associa-
tion to do so much for them as it had done.

The Lecturer desired to draw attention to the many valuable
Reports made to the Association on educational subjects ; it
would, however. occupy too much time to enter into any
any review of these. Some were statistical and were mainly
valuable as an index of the progress or otherwise made in in-
troducing scientific and technical subjects into the courses of
various schools. Others contained reports from various
authorities, scholastic and otherwise, on their experience as to
the effectiveness of particular methods of teaching, and the
value of particular subjecis as expanders of the general
faculties of the pupils. Others again dealt with such matters
as the proper fitting up and uses of museums and collections,
and the necessary provision in the way of demonstrator. and
apparatus required to render these most useful. This matter
was especially worthy of attention, and was one in which most
museums were specially deficient, insomuch that the great
majority of the persons to whom museums or trade collections
should be useful were, partly from want of training, and
partly from want of assistance, quite unable to take any
practical value out of the collections of objects before them.

64 Work Done by British Association Committees.

The Lecturer was obliged to omit reference to the immense
value of the great mass of the British Association reports on
purely scientific subjects. There were in Belfast many persons
fully competent to appreciate, and infinitely better qualified
than himself to discuss, the reports on subjects connected with
Natural History. In pure science, the computation of tables
of the values of special mathematical functions, the bibliography
of particular scientific information, and the like, did not lend
themselves to exposition before a popular audience without
previous explanation at considerable length of how and why
the matters on which so much trouble was spent were of
importance, so that a whole evening would, in many cases,
have to be devoted to a single Report, but the Lecturer hoped
that some of those able to do so would endeavour to make this
society and the public realise the value and magnitude of the
work of the British Association in relation to Natural History
and kindred subjects.

AN ANCIENT BOMBSHELL.
By Ropert M. Youne, B.A., M.R.LA.

(Honorary Secretary.)

THIs ancient bombshell, which is exhibited by the courtesy of
Mr. E. G. MacGeorge, J.P., was found at a depth of 8 feet in
estuarine clay adjacent to the Scottish Provident Buildings.
It weighs about 1 cwt., is 10 inches in diameter, and 2 inches
thick, of cast iron. There is a fuse hole in which a wood plug
4 inches long and 14 thick was found. Small handles of iron
rod are inserted at each side. The discovery of the bomb was
made when Mr. Robert Corry, contractor for the additional
buildings of the Scottish Provident Institution, was excavating
on the ground adjoining their present block. By reference to
old maps of Belfast it would seem that this site lay outside of

An Ancient Bombshell. 65

the old town rampart, one of whose bastions was erected on the
side of Donegall Square North, near Fountain Street. The
ground seems to have been marshy, and drained by the Malone
ditch, which is shown as extending to Sandy Row about 1790.
Since no artillery of heavy calibre is mentioned in the various
' accounts of Belfast as regards 17th century struggles, the missile
in question may be probably referred to the next century, when
the volunteer movement originated. The Mall passed the
spot, and many of the military displays took place in its
vicinity. Howitzers of 6-inch calibre were used in some of the
reviews. Notably in 1781, when 5,300 men were under arms.
On this occasion it is stated that shells were discharged of such
a composition as to afford the appearance of real shells without
the danger.

BELFAST

Patural Pistors & [Philosophical Society.

Officers and Council of Management for 1900-1907.

President :
JOHN BROWN

Dice- Presidents :
REV. T. HAMILTON, v.p., uu.p. | WM. SWANSTON, r.c.s.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, p.t.,¥.1.s. | ROBERT YOUNG, c.z., s.P.

Son. Yreasurer :
W. H. F. PATTERSON.

Hon. Librarian :
JOHN. H. DAVIES.

Seon. Secrefarp :
ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.I.A.

Council :
JOHN BROWN.
JOHN H. DAVIES.
PROFESSOR M. F. FITZGERALD, B.A., M.1.M.E.
ANDREW GIBSON, F.r.s.a.
REV. T. HAMILTON, v.p., LL.D., PRESIDENT Q.C.B.
JOHN HORNER, .1.m.z.
SIR OTTO JAFFE, s.r.
SEATON F. MILLIGAN, m.n.1.A., F.R.8.4.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, p.t., J.P., F.L.S.
WM. H. PATTERSON, m.nr.1.a.
W. H. F. PATTERSON.
THOMAS F. SHILLINGTON, g.r.
WM. SWANSTON, r.«a.s.
THOMAS WORKMAN, z.r.
ROBERT YOUNG, u.r., c.n.
R. M. YOUNG, B.a., 3.P., M.R.1LA.

SHAREHOLDERS.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

* Alexander, Francis, B.t., Belfast.
Allworthy, Edward, Ardgreenan, Cavehik Road, do.
Anderson, John, J.P., F.G.S., East Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R.c.s. Eng., University Square, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, J.p., Ardoyne, do.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun., 7 Donegall Square West, do.
Armstrong, William, Chichester Gardens, do.
Baird, Wm., Royal Avenue, do.
Barbour, James, j.e., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., M.z.1.a., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., j.p., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H.., Belfast.
Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, do.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Braddell, Edward, The Limes, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burnett, John R., Elmwood Avenue, do.
Byers, Prof. John W., M.a., M.D., Lower Crescent, do.
Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.a., M.D., College Square North, do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.

Carlisle, A, M., Elmwood House, do,

68 Shareholders.

Carr, A. H. R., Rathowen, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.A., J.P., Queen's Elms, Belfast.
Combe, George. Cranethorpe, Strandtown.
Cowan, P. C., Mi.c.z., Local Government Board, Dublin.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.
Craig, Edwin E., Craigavon, Strandtown.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Mountpellier, Malone Road, Belfast
Davies, John H., 45 Castle Street, Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord, D.L. (Representatives of), Newtownbreda.
Dods, Robert, B.a., St. Leonards, Newcastle.
*Donegal, Marquis of (Representatives of ), Belfast.
*Downshire, Marquis of (Reps. of ), The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Wellington Place, Belfast.
Duffin, Adam, LL.p., University Square, do.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Ewart, G. Herbert, m.a., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Ewart, Fred W., Derryvolgie, Lisburn.
Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., M.A., j.P., Glenmachan

House, Belfast.
Faren, Wm., Mountcharles, do.
*Fenton, Francis G., London.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., c.z., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Fred. W., j.p., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel.

Finlay, Robert H. F., Cavehill Road, Belfast.

Shareholders. 69

Finnegan, John, B.a.,B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic Avenue,

Belfast.
FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.A , M.I.M.E., Assoc.!

M.L.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, do.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do.
Gibson, Andrew, F.R.S.A.1., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant, do.
Gordon, Robert W., j.p. (Reps. of), Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.1LA.,

(Representatives of), Broughshane.
Gray, William, m.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., mus. Bac., Southampton.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.I.A., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
*Hall, Frederick H., Waterford.
Hamilton, Rev. Thos., p.p., President, Queen’s College, Belfast.
*Hamilton, Hill, j.p. (Representatives of), do.
Harland, W., do.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of) do.

Henderson, Sir James, A M., J.P., Oakley, Windsor Park, do.
Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte, Clarges Street (Reps. of), London.

Herdman, John, p.u., j.P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Ernest, j.P., Rosavo, Cultra,
Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, Belfast.
Hind, John, junr., Cliftenville Avenue, do.
Hodges, Professor John F., M.D., F.C.S., J-P.,

Sandringham (Representatives of), do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, M.1.M.£., Chelsea, Antrim Road, do.
“Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., v.L., M.P., Orangefield, do.
*Hughes, Edwin, Dalchoolin, Craigavad.
Hyndman, Hugh, tt.p., Windsor, Belfast.

Inglis, James, J.p., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.

70 Shareholders.

Jackson, A. T., c.z., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie

Avenue, Belfast.
Jaffe, Sir Otto, j.p., Kin Edar, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., j.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Richmond Lodge, ' Belfast.
Kertland, Edwin H., Chlorine Gardens, do.
Kidd, George, j.P., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, John R., Altoona, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do.

-Lanyon, John, c.£., j.p., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park,

(Representatives of ), do.
Larmor, Joseph, M.A., F.R.S., St. John’s College, | Cambridge.
Leathem, Dr. R. R., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, j.p., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Meppen ie. ke, j.P)) Elsinore; Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E. A., PH.D., F.C.S., Shirley Lodge, Cultra.
Lindsay, Professor James A, M.A., M.D., College Square

East, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., j.p., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H., j.p., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.L.C.E., Stanley House,

Holywood.
Macfarlane, John, Bladon Park, Belfast.
Mackenzie, John, c.k., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, M.LC.E., M.I.M.E., Ashley Park,

Antrim Road, do.

Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.I.MAR.E., Kirkliston Drive,
Strandtown.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest,m.r.1.4., The Drift, Antrim Road, do.
Mitchell, Robert A., LL.B., T.c.D., Marmont, Strandtown.

Montgomery, Henry C., Bangor.

Shareholders. 71

Montgomery, H. H., Knock, Belfast.
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., D.L., Ballydrain House, Dunmurry.
Moore, James, The Finaghy, Belfast.
Mullan, William, Lindisfars.e, Marlborough Park, do.
Murney, Henry, m.p., j.P., Tudor House, Holywood
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.
*Murphy, Joseph John, (Representatives of), Belfast.
Murray, Robert Wallace, J.p., Newcastle.
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone, Belfast.
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone, do.
Musgrave, Sir James, Bart., D.L., J.p., Drumglass, Malone, do.
MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of), do.
M‘Bride, Henry James, Hyde Park, Mallusk, do.
M‘Bride, Samuel, Edgehill, Lennoxvale, do.
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of), London.
*M‘Cammon, Lieut.-Col. Thomas A., Woodville, Holywood.
M‘Cance, H. J., j.p., D.L., Larkfield, Dunmurry.
M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., D.L. (Reps. of),

MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Strandtown, Beifast.
MacCormac, John, M.D., Victoria Place, do.
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara, Craigavad.
*M‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),

M‘Gee, James, Woodville, Holywood.
M'‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street, Belfast.
Macllwaine, John H., Bangor.
M'Kisack, H. L., m.p., College Square East, Belfast.
*MacLaine, Alexander, j.P., Queen’s Elms, do.
M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road, do.
M‘Knight, John P., Nevara, Chichester Park, do.
Neill, Sharman D., Holywood.
Nicholson, Henry J., College Square North, Beifast.
O’Neill, James, M.a., College Square East, do.
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Dunratho, Craigavad.

Park, Rev. Wm., M.A., Somerset House, University St., Belfast.

73 Shareholders.

Patterson, Edward Forbes, Adelaide Park, Belfast.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany.
Patterson, Richard, J.p., Kilmore, Holywood.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, j.p., D.L., F.L.s., Croft House, do.
Patterson, Robert, F.z.s., Malone Park, Belfast.
Patterson, William H., m.r.1.a., Garranard, Strandtown.
Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Knock, Belfast.
Patterson, William R. (Representatives of) do.
Pim, Edwara W., j.p., Elmwood Terrace, do.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbbey.
.*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Preger, R. Lloyd, B.g., M.R.1.4., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, LL.D., M.R.I.A., Queen’s College, Belfast.
Rea, John Henry, M.p., University Street do.
Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H.5S., s.p., p.t., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddell, Samuel, Beechpark, Belfast.
Robertson, William, J.p., Netherleigh, Strandtown do.
Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon, Charles, M.A., D.LIT., B.Sc., Royal Academical

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, j.p., Dromart, Antrim Road, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.

Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.a., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s. Eng., Howard St., do.

Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do.
Smyth, John, M.a., c.z., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.sc., Riversdale, . Holywood,
Steen, Wm. C., m.p., Windsor Crescent, Belfast.
Steen, William, u.L., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.
Swanston, William, F.a.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.

*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.

Shareholders. 73

*Tennent, Robert James (Reps. of), Rushpark, Belfast.
*Thompson, James, J.P. (Reps. of), Macedon, Whiteabbey.
Thompson, S. B., Short Strand, Belfast.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of), Whiteabbey.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Walkington, Mrs., Thornhill, Malone, do.
Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Walter, Hermann, m.a., PH.D., Royal Academical

Institution, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.p., M.R.1.a., Ivydene, Malone Park, do.
Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, do.
Ward, John, J.p., Lennoxvale, Malone Road, do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, m.p., j.p., College Sq. North, do.
Wilson, James, m.£., Oldforge, Dunmurry.
Wilson, John K., J.p., Donegall Street, Belfast.
Wilson, Walter H., Stranmillis House, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*W olff, G. W., m.p., The Den, Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, j.p., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, m.a., Rubane House, Glastry.
Workman, Rev. Robert, B.p., The Manse, Newtownbreda.
Workman, R. D., Sans Souci, Harrow View,

Wealdstone, Middlesex.
*Workman, Thomas, J.p., Craigdarrah (Reps. of), Craigavad.
Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, c.£., j.p., Rathvarna, do.

*Young, Robert Magill, B.a., J.P., M.R.L.A., Rathvarna, do.

74 Annual Subscribers.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

Dufferin and Ava, K.P., The Marquis of, Clandeboye, Co. Down.
Stokes, Miss M., Hon. m.r.1.a., Carrig Breac, Howth,

Co. Dublin.
HONORARY ASSOCIATES;
Gray, William, M.R.1.4., Glenburn Park, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel Alex., r.p.s. Edin, Belfast Museum, do
Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.a.s., F.L.s., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS,

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Co., Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA,

Allan, C. E., Stormont Castle, Dundonald.
Boyd, John, Cyprus Gardens, Bloomfield, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, 3.p., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Belfast ,
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.a., Dunraven, do.

Davidson, S. C., Sea Court, Bangor

Annual Subscribers. as

Fulton, G. F., Howard Street, Belfast.
Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do.
Green, Isaac, Ann street, do.
Hanna, J. A., Marietta, Knock, do.
Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville, do.
Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park, do.
Jones, R. M., m.a., Royal Academical Institution, do.
Kelly, W. Redfern, M.Lc.£., F.R.A.S., Dalriada,

Malone Park, do.
Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace, do.
Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville, do.
M‘Laughlin, W. H., Brookville House, do.
Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.c.s.1., Lower Crescent, do.
Scott, Conway, c.z., Annaville, Windsor Avenue, do.
Swiney, J. H. H., B.a., B.z., Bella Vista, Antrim Road, do.
Tate, Alexander, c.e., Rantalard, Whitehouse, do.
Taylor, John, Brown Square Works, do.
Thompson, John, Mount Collyer, do.

Turpin, James, Waring Street, do.

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NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

& BELFAST :
a PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET

(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1901. | |
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Heport and Pnogeedings

OF THE

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

FOR THE

SESSION 1900-1901.

BELFAST :
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET
(PRINTERS TO QUEEN’S COLLEGE).

1901.

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CONTENTS.

Annual Report na bee ane 1
Balance Sheet ... *) re = 5
Donations to Museum ... re ae a ne vee 6
Books Received = a3
President’s Inaugural ‘Addit oie Brown ar ‘hg 17
The Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh—John H. Dae o- 36
Objects Comprised in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donation—W. H.

Patterson, M.R.I.A., and 8. A. Stewart, F.B.S., Ed. ... a 43
Notes on some Clay Garerationé from the Gonneetlant Valley, U.S.A.—

W. Swanston, F.G.S. si ade 49-
Some Side Lights on the China Question—Rev. A. R. Gramitowy M. i. ~—61
Report of Delegate to Corresponding Societies’ Conference—J. Brown .. 58
Irish Railways and the State—Lynden Macassey, C.E. oni aa 55
Colour—W. B. Morton, M.A. _... : 60
Scenery and Antiquities of Sligo, Connamentay aie Clare Sante Pr.

Milligan, M.R.I.A. ea P ee aa bee 63
List of Office-Bearers ... aa ae be os 81

List of Shareholders and Sieatthaiis Sia aa see ace 82

Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.

ESTABLISHED 1821.

SHAREHOLDERS.

1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares 5 costs £14.
3 Shares 9 costs $21.

The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum; the proprietor of 2
Shares pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of 3 or more Shares stands exempt
from further payment.

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

MEMBERS.

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

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

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

The Museum, College Square North, is open daily from 10 till 4 o’clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.

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Belfast Watural history and Pbilosophbical
Society.

——0:——

ANNUAL REPORT, 101.

OS

Tue Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Society was held
on the 16th July, in the Museum, College Square North. Mr.
John Brown, President, occupied the chair, and the attendance
included—-Messrs. R. Lloyd-Patterson, D.L., J.P.; W. H:
Patterson; M.R.EA.; T. F. Shillington, J.P:; R. Young, J-P.,
C.E.; Andrew Gibson, George Kidd, J.P.; R. M. Young, J.P. ;
Henry Musgrave, Davys Bowman, A. J. Jackson, W. Armstrong,
R. Patterson, M.R.L.A. ; Isaac Ward, James O'Neill, M.A. ; W.
F. Faren, and W. H.F. Patterson. Letters of apology regret-
ting their inability to be present were announced as having been
received from Sir James Henderson, D.L.; and Mr. Seaton F.
Milligan, M.R.1.A.

Mr. R. M. Young, Hon. Secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting, submitted the report of the Council,
as follows :—

The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical
Society desire to submit their report of the working of the
Society during the past year.

The Winter Session was opened in the Museum on the 6th
November, 1900, when the President of the Society (Mr. John
Brown) delivered an inaugural address; subject—‘‘ Some
Matters Electric,’ with lantern and experimental illustrations.

The Second Meeting was held on the 11th December, when
the following papers were read :—1, Mr. John H. Davies, on
“The Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh ;” 2, Mr. W. H.
Patterson, M.R.I A., ‘‘Some Account of the Objects Comprised
in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donation, Principally Antiquarian ;”
3, Mr. W. Swanston, F.G.S., “ Notes on Some Clay Concretions
from the Connecticut Valley, U.S.A.”

Xs

Annual Meeting.

The Third Meeting was held on the 20th December, when a
lecture was kindly given by Rey. A. R. Crawford, M.A., Kirin,
Manchuria ; subject, ‘‘ Some Sidelights on the China Question,”
illustrated by special limelight views.

At the Fourth Meeting, held on 8th January, T901, two
papers were read:—1, The President, subject, ‘‘ Report as
Delegate of the Society to the British Association Meeting at
Bradford: ;:” 2» Mr: Lyndon’ Maeassey, «C.E.,) (Brag eel By
subject, ‘Irish Railways and the State,” followed by a dis-
cussion.

The Fifth Meeting was held on 5th February, when a
lecture was kindly given by Professor Morton, M.A. ; subject,
‘ Colour,” with experimental illustrations.

Mr. Seaton F. Milligan, M.R.IA., gave the sixth lecture, on
sth March; subject, “Scenery and Antiquities of Sligo,
Connemara, and Clare,” illustrated by a series of 150 lantern
slides. The chair was taken by Sir James Henderson, D.L., in
the unavoidable absence of the President.

The Seventh Meeting was held on 2nd April, when a
lecture was kindly delivered by Mr. George Coffey, M.R.IA.,
keeper of the Irish antiquities, National Museum, Dublin ;
subject, “The Antiquity of Man and the Dawn of Art,’
illustrated by a special series of lantern slides of palzolithic
implements.

The attendance at the meetings was well maintained, and
several were inconveniently crowded.

The number of allied societies holding their meetings in the
Museum shows no reduction. This was also the case with the
ordinary admissions of visitors to the Museum, which have been
above the average, and many who took an interest in some or
the subjects illustrated expressed their gratification with what
they saw in the collections. At Easter the Museum was thrown
open, as usual, at a nominal charge, and full advantage of this
opportunity was taken by the public, particularly children. No
damage was done to any part of the collections. As will be
seen py the Hon. Treasurer’s Statement of Accounts, duly

Annual Meeting. 3

audited by the Local Government Board, a slight diminution
is shown by the balance in hand, but this is fully accounted for
by the large sum spent on necessary repairs to the building and
the cases.

A list of donations to the Museum ard of the numerous
publications received in exchange from home and foreign
societies will be presented with the present Report.

Amongst the donations, that of Lord Deramore is specially
noteworthy, comprising as it does a large number of valuable
Irish antiquities, and some Greek and Roman. The Irish
bronzes have been arranged by themselves in the Benn Room,
and the stone implements and some ethnological specimens
have been incorporated with the general collections. A number
of good fossils remain, for which there is mo space available at
present. Many valuable objects from the recent excavations at
Abydos have been presented by the Egypt Exploration Fund,
through the good offices of Mr. John Ward, J.P.,F.S.A. Such
other donations as have been received during the year have
been placed in their proper cabinets. Your Council have under
serious consideration the necessity of rearranging the contents
of the Museum, and making as complete as possible the Irish
natural history collections. In view of the meeting of the
British Association next year in Belfast, they have also decided
on having a loan collection of Irish antiquities, &c., following
the precedent of their action when the first meeting was held
here in 1352. The Council desire to express their best thanks
to the local Press for their admirable reports of the Society’s
meetings. Five members of Council retire from office, of which
four are eligible and offer themselves for re-election—viz.,
Messrs. R. Lloyd-Patterson, J. H. Davies, John Horner, and
Robert Young.

The Hon. Treasurer (Mr. W. H. Patterson) submitted the
Statement of Accounts, from which it appeared that the
expenditure amounted to £252 Ios. 2d., while the income was
£315 14s. 6d., leaving a balance in hands of £63 4s. 4d.

Mr, Lloyd-Patterson moved the adoption of the Report. He

4 Annual Meeting.

much regretted he had not been present at the last meeting of
the Council. There were two subjects he would like to draw
the attention of the meeting to, first, their large and successful
meetings, and, secondly, the rearrangement of their collections.
The latter was a matter upon which he felt strongly, and he
would not trust himself to speak as strongly on it as he felt.
Many of the specimens were very old, and while every care had
been taken of them that circumstances would permit, they were
clearly worn out. For his part, he thought it would be better
to have a small and perfect collection, as far as it went, than a
large and faulty one. The financial report showed that the
slight diminution in the balance-sheet is accounted for chiefly
by expenditure on the building.

Dr. MacCormac, in seconding, regretted that he could not
use the superlative degree when speaking of the monetary side
of the question ; but, considering the admirable lectures they
had had, he was bound to speak in the superlative degree. He
was present at one, the most interesting he had ever had the
opportunity of listening to, apart from its literary aspect, and
he was sorry to see so few present. He might say if the Belfast
public knew the merits of the lectures they had in that room
they would always have the room filled, and filled tooverflowing.

Mr. Henry Musgrave proposed a vote of thanks to Mr.
Brown for having presided, and to Mr. Young, Secretary. He
paid a high compliment to Mr. Brown’s ability, and said he
understood he had consented to occupy the presidency for
another year. He (Mr. Musgrave) thought that very proper.

Mr. Davys Bowman seconded the motion, which was sup-
ported by Mr. William Armstrong, and carried by acclamation.

The Chairman briefly replied, after which the following were
elected members of Council :—President, John Brown ; Vice-
Presidents, President Rev. T. Hamilton, D.D., LL.D. ; R. L.
Patterson, D.L., F.L.S. ; W. Swarstcn, F.G.S. ; Robert Young,
C.E., “J.P. ;: Hon. Treasurer, W. HH. °F. | Patterson’; *lom
Librarian, J. H. Davies; Hon. Secretary, Robert M. Young,
B.A., JoPs, Mina,

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DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1900-1901.

From HEAD CONSTABLE JOHN RAYNOR.

A fresh specimen of Palinurus vulgaris, which is a cray fish
krown as the spring lobster. Caught at Portrush.
From Mr. WALTER SmytH, Hotywoop.
A specimen of the bittern (Botaurus stellaris).
From . £ x Z

A living specimen of a longicorn beetle (Astyomus aedilus)
captured on Queen’s Island, Belfast.

From Miss Perry, WELLINGTON PLACE.

A snake’s skin from West Africa.

Frrom LorD DERAMORE.

A large number of bronze celts, swords, spearheads, rings, etc.
Flint arrowheads, stone celts, fossils, minerals, classic
pottery, Egyptian curios, leather water bottles, etc.

From EGyptT EXPLoraTION Funp.

A number of specimens obtained in the recent excavations at
Abydos.

From Mr. R. M. Youna, J.P., M.R.LA.

Portrait ‘of R. Lloyd-Patterson, Esq., D.L., -F:L.S.,) fommer
President of the Society.

From Mr. W. Swanston, F.G.S.

Clay concretions from the Connecticut Valley.

From Miss M. K. ANDREWS.
Rock specimen, showing granite intrusion in Silurian rocks of
Mourne; also specimens of a number of local rocks.
From Mr. A. S. OSwa.p.
A beggar’s badge, in brass, inscribed ‘St. Field, 25.”
From Mr. RICHARD Hanna.

Portion of the planking of a wooden ship perforated by the

shipworm (Zeredo). Found at Newcastle sandhills.

AUDITIONS TO. THE LIBRARY, 1st MAY, 1900, TILL
ist MAY, igor.

ADELAIDE. — Transactions of the Royal Society of South
Australia. Vol. 24, parts 1 and 2, 1900, and

Memoirs, vol. 1, part 2, 1900. The Soczety.
ALBANY.—Forty-ninth Annual Report of New York State
Museum, vol. 3, 1895. Fiftieth Report, vol. 2,
1896, and Fifty-first Report, vols. 1 and 2, 1897.

The Regents of the University.
BrerGen.—Bergens Museums Aarbog, 1899, part 2, and 1900,
parts 1 and 2 ; also Aarsberetning for 1899 and
1900; and Crustacea of Norway. Vol. 3, parts

5—10, 1900. Bergen Museum.
Beruin.—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fir Erdkunde zu
Berlin. Vol. 27, nos. 4—I0, 1900; and vol. 28,

Nos. I—3, 1901. Lhe Society.
BiRMINGHAM.—Proceedings of Birmingham Natural History
and Philosophical Society. Vol. 10, part 1,
1896; and part 2—18g97; and vol. 11, part 1,
1899; also Records of Meteorological Observa-

tions for 1896 and 1897. Lhe Society.
Botoena.—Rendéconto della R. Accademia delle Scienze dell’
Istituto dé Bologna; new series, vol. 2, fasc.

I—4, 1898,and vol. 3, 1899. Zhe Academy.
Bosron.—Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.
Vol. 29, nos. 9—14, 1900. Memoirs, vol. 6, no.
6 1900; and, ne. 7, x¢or «also. Occasional

Papers, vol. 1, no. 4, 1900. Lhe Society.
BremMEN.—Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Natu:wissen-
schaftlichen Verein zu Bremen. Vol. 16, part

2;, 1900. The Society.

BresLau—Zeitschrift fiir Entomologie Herausgegeben vom
Verein fiir Schlesiche Insektenkunde zu Breslau.
New series, part 25, 1900. The Soczety.

8 Books Received.

BriGHTON.—Annual Report of Brighton and Hove Natural
History and Philcsophical Society for 1899-1900.
Lhe Society.
BrisBANE.—Annals of the Queensland Museum, no. 5, 1900.
The Dtrector.
BrussEts.—Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de

Belgique. Vol. 39, 1900. The Soctety.
+5 Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique.
Vol. 44, 1900. The Society.

Annales de la Société Royale de Malacologique de
Belgique. Vol. 34 (part of), 1899.
The Society.
Buenos AyreEs.—Comunicaciones del Museo Nacional de
Buenos Aires. Vol. 1, Nos. 6 and 7, 1900.
The Director.
CatcuTTa.—Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. Vel.
28, part 2, 1900; vol. 29, 1899; vol. 30, parts 1
and 2, .1900% “and ‘vol. 33, patty Srder-
Palzontologia Indica. Series 9, vol. 2, part 2,
1900; and vol. 3, part 1, 1900; also series 15,
vol. 3, parts I and 2, 1899; and General Report
of the Work of the Survey for 1899.
The Director of the Survey.

CAMBRIDGE.—Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical

Society. Vol. 10, parts 5—7; ard vol. 11, parts
1 and 2, 1900-1901. The Society.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 35, no. 8, 1900; vol, 36, nos. 1
—6, 1900; vol. 37, nos. 1 and 2, 1400; and vol.
38, nos. 2 and 3, 1901; also Annual Report for
1899-1900. The Secretary, Alex. Agassiz.

_ CaArpDIFF.—Report and Transactions of Cardiff Naturalists’
Society.) Wol.132, 1901. The Soctety.

CASSEL. —Abhandlungen und Bericht (45) des Vereins fir
Neturkunde zu Kassel, 1900. Zhe Soczety.

Books” Received. 9
Cuicaco.—Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, No.
3, 1898. Lhe Academy.
CHRISTIANIA.—Christiania Videnskabs Forhandlinger. Nos. 2
—4, 1899; and Oversigt for 1899; also Norway
Officia! Publication for the Paris Exhibition in
1900.
The Royal Norske Fredertks Unwersity.
CINCINNATI. — Bulletin of the Lloyd Library of Botany,
Pharmacy, and Materia Medica, No. 1, 1.00.
Lhe Messrs. Lloyd.
CoLorapbo SprinGs.—Colorado College Studies. Vol. 8, 1899.
Colorado College Scientific Society.
Dantzic.—Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in
Danzig. New series, vo]. 10, part I, 1899.
The Soctety.
DAVENPORT, lowa.—Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of
Natural Sciences. Vol. 7, i900.
The Academy.
Dusiin.—Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society.
Series 2, vol. 7, parts 2 and 3, 1899; and paris
4—7, 1900. Scientific Proceedings. New
series, vol. 9, part 1, 1899; and part 2, 1900.
Economic Proceedings. Vol. 1, parts 1 and 2,
1899; and Index, 1899. The Soczety.
EDINBURGH.-—Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh. Vol. 21, part 4, 1900.
The Soctety.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Vol. 22, 1897-99. The Society.
Transactions of the Scottish Natural History
Society. Vol. 1, part 1, 1900. Zhe Soczety.

GenoA.—Rivista Ligure di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Anno
22, fasc. 2, 4, 5, and 6, 1900; and fasc. 1, 1.901.
The Soctety.
Giascow.—Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Vol. 21, 1900. The Soctety.

10 Books Recewed.

Hauirax, N.S.—Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova
Scotian Institute of Science. Vol. 10, part 1,
1899 ; and part 2, 1900. The Institute.
HAMBURG. —- Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen
Vereins in Hamburg. Ser. 3, vol. 7, 1900; and
Abhandlungen, vol. 16, part 1, 1900.
The Soctety.
IGLto.—-Jahrbuch des Ungarischen Karpathen Vereines, 27th

year, 1900. The Soctety.
INDIANOPOLIS.— Proceedings cfthe Indiana Academy of Science
for 1891 and 1899. The Academy.

KHARKoW.—Proceedings of the Society of Sciences, Physico-
Chimiques, of the University of Kharkow.
Part 24, 1898; and parts 25~-27, 1900.
The Society.
Ki~w.—Memoirs of the Society of Naturalists’ of Kiew. Vol.
16, part 1, 1899. The Soczety.
LAUSANNE.—Bulletin de la Société Vandoise des Sciences
Naturelles. Ser. 4, no._134, 18993; and nos.
135—137, 1900. The Soczety.
LAWRENCE.—The Kansas University Quarterly. Vol. 8, no. 4,
1899 ; and Bulletin of the University of Kansas.
Vcl. 1, nos. 2 and 3, 1900. The University.
Lripsic.—Mitteilungen des Vereins fir Erdkunde zu Leipzig,
1900. The Soctety.
Lonpon.—Report of the Seventieth Meeting of the British
Association ; Bradford, 1900.
The Association.
, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London. Vol. 56, parts 2—4, 1900; and vol.
57, part 1, 1901; also Geological Literature for
1899; and List of Fellows, 190-.
The Society.
*y Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, Nes.
136—139, 1900; and Nos. 140 and 141, 1gol.
The Soczety.

Books Received. 11

Lonbon.—Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
parts 1—4, 1900. Transactions, Vol. 15, parts
5—7, and vol. 16, part 1, 1900-1901; also List
of Fellows, 1900. The Society.
Mapison.—Bulletin of the Geological and Natural History
Survey of Wisconsin, Nos. 3 and 4, 1898, and
Nos. 5 and 6, 1900. Lhe Director.
s Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts, and Letters. Vol. 12, part 2, tg00.
The Academy.
Mapras.—Bulletin of Madras Government Museum. Vol. 3,
Nos. I and z, 1900; and Vol. 4, No. 1, 1901;
also the Administration Report for 1899-1900.
The Superintendent.
MANCHESTER. — Journal of the Manchester Geographical
Society. Vol. 11, nos. 9—12, 1895; vol. 14, nos.
g-«12, 1898; vol. 15, nos. 1o—12, 1899; and
vol. 16, nos. I—9, 1900. The Society.
Transactions of the Manchester Geological
Society. Vol. 26, parts 14—19, 1900.
‘The Soctety.
MarSFILLES.—<Annales de la Faculté des Sciences de Marseille.
Vol. 10, preface and fasc. 1--6.
The Librarian.
Me.pourne.—Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria.
New ser., vol. 12, part 2, 1900. The Soctety.
Mexico.—Boletin Mensual del Observatorio Meteorologico.
Central de Mexico. Oct.—Dec., 1899, and
Jany.—June, 1900. The Director.
4 Boletin del Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de
Tacubaya. Vol. 2, No. 6, 1900 ; also Anuario,
Ano. 21, 1900, and El Clima de la Republica
Mexicana, Ano. 2, 1900. The Director.
‘ Boletin del Instituto Geologico de Mexico. No. 14,
part I, 1900, The Institute.

12 Books Recewed.

MitwavukEe.—Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History
Society. New ser, vol. 1, nos. 1 and) 2.1900:
The Soczety.
5) Seventeenth Annual Report of the Trustees of
Milwaukee Public Museum, 1899.
The Trustees.
MonTEVIDEo.—Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo.
Vol. 2;-fascaquis ands16,, 1900. fascia reo:
and vol. 3, fasc. 13, 14, and 18, 1900.
The Director.
Moscow.—Bulletin of the Society of Naturalists of Moscow.
Nos. 2—4, 1899, and nos. 1 and 2, 1g9co.
The Soctety.
NanTeEs.—Bulletin de la Societé des Sciences de I’ Ouest de la
France. Vol. 9, part 4, 1899, and vol. 10, parts
I and 2, 1900. The Soctety.
New Yorxk.— Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 12, parts 2 and 3, and vol. 13, part 1, 1899-
1900. Memoirs, vol. 2, part 1, 1899, and part
2, 1900. The Academy.
7 Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
Vol. 32, nos. 2—5, 1900, and vol. 33, no. 1,
1901. The Soczety.
NotrincHAM. — Report and Transactions of Nottingham
Naturalists Society for 1899-1900.
The Society.
Oporto.—Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes. Vcl. 6, 1900.
The Edttor.
Orrawa.—Preliminary Report on Klondyke Goldfields of
Yukon, Canada, and Geological Map ; also Note
on the Sydney Coal Field, Nova Scotia, and
Maps €52-654, 1900.
The Director of the Survey.
PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. Part 3, 1899, and
parts I—-3, 1900. The Academy.

Books Received. 13

PHILADELPHIA.—Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society, No. 160, 1899, and nos. 161—164, 1900.
The Soctety.

Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of
Science. Vol. 3, part 5, 1900.
The Institute.

Pisa. —Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Processi
Verbali, January, November, 1900.
The Society.

ROCHESTER.—Proceedings of Rochester Academy. Vol. 3,
brochure 2, 1900. The Academy.

Rome.—Atti Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Vol. 8, semestre 1,
fasc. 12, 1899. Vol. 9, semestre I, fasc. 8, 9, 11,
12, 1900. Semestre 2, fasc. I—3 and 7—1?,
1900; vol. 10, semestre 1, fasc. I—6, 1901 ; and
Rendiconto dell’ Adunanza Solenne del, roth
June, 1900. The Academy’.

Journal of the British and American Archzological
Society of Rome. Vol. 3, no. 2, 1900.
The Soctety.
» Bollettino della Societa Zoologica Italiana. Ser. 2, vol.
I, fasc. 2—4, 1900. The Soctety.

San Francisco.—Proceedings of the Californian Academy of
Sciences. Geology, vol. 1, nos. 7—g, 1900.
Zoology, vol. 2, no. 1, 1899, and nos. 2, 4, and

6, 1900 ; also Occasional Papers, no. 7, 1900.

The Academy.

Sr. Louis—Eleventh Annual Report of Missouri Botanical
Garden, 1900. The Director.
STAVANGEK.—Stavanger Museum Aarsberetning for 1899.
The Museum Trustees.
STIRLING.—Transactions of Stirling Natural History and

Archeological Society for 1899-1900.
The Soctzety.

14 Books Recewed.

STocKHOLM.—Handlingar of the Royal Swedish Academy.
New. ser., vol. 32, 1899. Ofversigt, no: 56,

1899, and Bihang, vol. 25, parts [—4, 1900.

The Academy.
SYDNEY.—Science of Man, new ser., vol. 3, nos. 3—-12, 1900,

and vol. 4, no. I, 1901. The Editor.
Toxio.—Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Natur
und Volketunde “Ostasiens. Vol. 8) "part 2;

1900. The Soctety.
Toronto.—Transactions of the Canadian Institute. Vol. 6,
1899. Proceedings, new ser. vol. 2, part 3,

1900, and part 4, 1901. The Institute.
UpsaLa.—Builetin of the Geological Institution of the Uni-

versity of Upsala. Vol. 4, part 2, 1899.

The University.
VIENNA.—Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Geolo
gische: Reichsanstalt. Nos. 3—18, 1900, and

1—3, 1901. The Soczety.
: Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Zoolo-
gisch Botanischen Gesellschaft. Vol. 50, 1900.

The Soctety.
WasuincTon.—Year Book of the Department of Agriculture
for 1899. Report of the Secretary for 1900.
Bulletin of tiie Department, nos. 12—14, 1900,
and North American Fauna, nos. 16—18, 1899-

1900. The Secretary of the Department.
Seventeenth Annual Report of the American

Bureau of Ethnology. Part 2, 1895-96.
The Director of the Bureau.

Nineteenth Annual Report of the United States
Geological Survey. Parts 3 and 5, with Atlas,
1897-98, and Twentieth Report, part 1, 1898-
99; also Bulletins, nos. 151—156, 1898, and nos.
157—162, 1899. Monographs, vol. 32, part 2,
vols. 33, 34, 35, 37, and 38, 1899.

Lhe Director,

y)

Books Received. 15

WasHINGToN.—American Monthly Microscopical Journal. Vol.
21, nos. I—12, 1900. The Fublisher.

é Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for
1898. Special Bulletin, part 1, 1900. Smith-
sonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1,253, I90!.
Annual Report of the United States Museum,
1898. Bulletin of the U.S. Museum, no. 47,
part 4, 1900.

The Smithsonian Institution.
XaLAPA.—Boletin Mensual Meteorologico y Agricola del
Observatorio Central del Estado Vera Cruz, four

numbers, 1898-1900. The Director.
Yorxk.—Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society,
1901. The Soezety.

ZuricH.—Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft

in Zurich, 44th year, parts 1 and 2, 1900.
: The Soctety.

From Mr. R. Luoyp-PaTtTerson, D.L., F.L.S.—Journal of the
Linnean Society (Botany). Nos. 240 and 241,
1900, and 242, 1901.

From JAMES GREEN, Esq. (Massachusetts Bar), Worcester,
Mass, U.S.A. Causes of the War in South
A\frica.

BELFAST

NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
SESSION 1900-1901.

6th November, 1g00.

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT,
Mr. J. Brown.

Some MatTrTrers EtectTrIc.

AT this opening meeting of our Session there is wanting a time
honoured ceremony that usually graces the occasion. I allude
to the introduction to you of your president elect by his outgoing
predecessor.

For the second time in the history of the Sociciy death has
removed its President during his term of office. On the present
occasion I feel the loss of one of my earliest Belfast friends, one
who was always ready in sympathy whether of condolence and
help in times of sorrow or of congratulation in times of success.
One whose advice and counsel were freely available. One from
whom T have received many kindnesses, and with whom I have
spent many pleasant and profitable hours. I feel sure these
sentiments find an echo in the hearts of all those who knew our
late President.

In his death the Society has to deplore the loss of one who
had its best interests at heart, whose shrewdness made him quick
to discern these interests, and whose energy left no stone
unturned in working forthem. During my thirteen years official
connexion with the working of the Society as its Honorary

18 Inaugural Address by the President.

Treasurer I had often occasion to observe the disinterested and
completely unostentatious way in which Mr. Workman gave
his mind to the good of the Society. Several important steps
which turned out advantageously were initiated by him.

Mr. Workman’s membership was an honour to us. He was
one of the few business men in our city who found time for
original scientific research. Mr. Workman not only spared
time from his business for this purpose, but actually took
advantage of his far business connexions to assist him in the
successful study of that branch of natural history which he had
made his own.

_ Memoirs published in our own proceedings and elsewhere
bear witness to the success attending his researches—the
discovery of new species and the more careful observation of
the habits of others.

The volume of plates illustrating in detail so many of the
Arachnida, which has been so carefully prepared by his own
hands, assisted sometimes by his daughter, and of which a
beautiful copy was presented by him to the Society bearS
witness to the interest with which he pursued his subject.

Offering to the memory of our late President this tribute of
esteem and regret, I turn to my own duties unannounced.

In seeking a subject on which to address you, it seemed that
either something pertaining historically to the Society, or
something with which I myself was connected or interested, or
some topic of new and general interest might be appropriate.

The first mentioned has been ably treated already. I have,
therefore, thought it might not be amiss to take up a little of
the two last.

I shall first deal as briefly as possible, with my own work on
a subject of much scientific interest, though not perhaps of a
very popular kind, ‘“‘The Theory of Voltaic Action.” It seems
proper that some record of this should find a place in our pro-
ceedings, and this has not yet been the case. Afterwards I hope
to describe experimentally some modern applications of
electricity.

Inaugural Address by the Prestaent. 19

As my work on voltaic theory is on the main line of research,
I would lead up to it by a brief reference to the history of the
subject. The earliest experiment in this connexion was a very
simple and now well-known one described by Sulzer’, in 1760,
in a paper on “The theory of agreeable and disagreeable
sensations”’ The experiment consisted in placing under the
tongue a plate of silver, and on top of the tongue a plate of lead
or zinc or other suitable metal. In bringing the outer ends of
these metals in contact a peculiar sensation is experienced in
the tongue. That this is really due to the formation of an
electric current passing through the tongue between the metals
was not even guessed at the time of its observation, nor for
many years afterwards. Yet its discoverer (if he had only known
it) was the first to observe the current from a voltaic cell.

Science, however, does not progress by such co-ordinated
observations of isolated effects, and the first step towards the
discovery of the true character of the phenomenon was made by
the observation and connexion of two almost accidental effects
noted by Galvani,’ professor of anatomy at Bologna.

In 1780 when investigating the nervous irritability of cold
blooded animals he observed that the limbs of a recently killed
frog, when hung by the crural nerve on a metal support near an
electric machine, contracted convulsively at the occurrence of
each spark drawn from the machine. Six years afterwards he
observed the same contraction when a copper hook, on which
the nerve hung, and the limb itself came simultaneously in con-
tact with an iron railing—the copper hook, the iron railing,
and the frog’s leg forming thus a circuit of three bodies in
contact. The similarity of the result pointed to the same
cause—electricity. But how in this last mentioned case was
the electricity produced ?

This question has exercised the scientific world ever since.
Galvani thought it was produced in the animal tissues, and
even went so far as to connect it with the spirit of the animal.

1. Vide Electrochemie, Ostwald, p. 41.
2. Ibid, p. 27. 3- Ibid, p. 45.

20 Inaugural Address by the President.

A year after the publications of his work, which naturally
excited the greatest interest, it was criticised by his great com-
patriot, Alessandro Volta,? Professor of physics at Pavia.
Galvani’s attention had been devoted to the nerves and muscles
of the frog. Volta’s was directed upon the metallic matters in
contact with them. He emphasised (what Galvani had already
noticed) that strong muscular contractions were only obtained
when the connecting arc is composed of two metals in contact,
and he maintained that the electric current causing the muscular
contractions was produced at the contact or junction of the
metals ; and he describes this theory of his, without reticence or
modesty, as a discovery of the highest order.

Had Volta’s observations been made half a century later,
when the splendid researches of Faraday emphasized the
beginning of a more perfect knowledge, a truer view of science
would doubtless have supported and intensified the leaning
which he himself at first possessed towards the assumption that
the source of the electric action was to be found in the chemical
activities at the contact between the metals and the liquids of
the fresh animal tissues.

That the electricity was produced by chemical action of
these fluids on the metals was indeed suggested by Fabroni,*
in 1792, and by Creve,> whose explanation of the action bears
a quaint resemblance to that which a wider knowledge has
brought forth in modern times.®

Volta, however, was carried away by the (merely apparent)
simplicity of the metallic contact theory and by the result of a
most ingenious form of experiment which seemed to preclude
the possibility of any such chemical action on the metals. The
apparatus used is represented by that on the table and is
known as Volta’s condenser. Here the two metals are in the
form of plates, having plain surfaces, and mounted on insulating
supports so as to be capable of being approached very closely
to one another without touching. If when so approached the

4. Wilkinson’s Galvanism I, p. 313—15.
5. Ibid, p. 311. 6. Ibid, p. 104.

Inaugural Address by the President. 21

two plates be joined for a moment by a metallic wire and then
separated, it is found that the zinc appears to be positively and
the copper negatively electrified. I say appears advisedly.

If we neglect any possible actions of the atmosphere on the
metals we are tied to Volta’s view. It is surprising, considering
the clear insight and the careful and persevering nature which
Volta possessed, that he did neglect such atmospheric action,
and continued to do so even after his brilliant invention of the
Voltaic pile and cell in 1799, in which, notwithstanding, the
obvious presence of chemical action, he still placed the seat of
generation of the current at the contact of the two metals. I
am inclined to think that the large acceptance which Volta’s
contact theory obtained subsequently was due in great measure
to his impressive and self-confident style of writing, to the care
he took to publish widely, and to the respect due to his
undoubted genious rather than to any convincing characteristic
in his experiments. For it is to be noticed that beginning with
Fabroni and Creve and culminating with our own immortal
Faraday, there was a succession of philosophers who maintained
that in all cases the electric effect was due to chemical action
upon the metals whether of the atmosphere on Volta’s condenser
plates or of liquid in his cell. In the cell indeed the presence
of chemical action is evident, and the need of some such source
of energy to produce the continuous current of the cell is more
obvious.

To illustrate this, I have here twe metallic plates, one of
ccpper and one iron, placed in the necessary metallic contact
through a wire which forms part of this galvanoscope. When
placed in this jar of acidulated water the current generated
immediately deflects the pointer of the instrument. If the
experiment be continued for some hours, we find the iron has
been dissolved by the acid while the copper remains unacted
on. In Faraday’s researches’ on many varieties of such cells it
was clear zzter ala that contact of dissimilar metals was not
necessary (one metal and two liquids being also active), also that

7. Experimental Researches in Electricity II., p. 18.

22 Inaugural Address by the President.

the direction of the current was always from the chemically
active surface of metal through the liquid to the inactive one.
A very remaikable experiment arises from this last-mentioned
law. |

You cbserved that when we dipped these metal plates in the
acidulated water the pointer moved to the right, and I told you
that in this case the iron was being attacked. We now place
them in another solution, a solution of potassium sulphide
which attacks the copper most, with the result that the current is
reversed, aud sends the pointer to the /eft. It now flows from
the copper by liquid to iron. I point especially to this experi-
ment with its reversal ot current for a reason which follows
later.

After Faraday’s brilliant researches, men’s minds seemed to
have inclined towards belief in the chegntes source of the current
till about 1862, when Lord Kelvin (then Sir William Thomson)
published what he desctibed: as aynew proof of Volta’s contact
force,® which was really. only, a very. elegant variation of Volta’s
fundamental experiment; “and does not to my thinking throw
any further light on the subject. Lord Kelvin, however,
became himself convinced that the contact theory was the true
one, and this seems very remarkable when we remember that
it is to Lord Kelvin we owe the enunciaticn of the law (now
known as Thomson’s law) defining the intimate and exact
connection between the electromotive force of the cell and the
chemical actions in it. The great authority belonging to Lord
Kelvin’s high order of genius however swayed the scientific
world towards what he accepted as true.

We have now come to the period when I was tempted to
enter the lists. I found then two opposing camps, one led by
the genius of Faraday holding that the Voltaic current and all
Voltaic action was due to chemical action at the surface of the
‘metal and liquid, the other maintaining that the seat of the
force generating the current was at the contact of the two

8. Papers on Electrostatics and Magnetism, p. 317.

Inaugural Address by the President. 23

metals and pointing to the Volta condenser experiment as
precluding the possibility of chemical action. They pointed
out that this condenser experiment gave the same result zz
vacuo where they said no atmospheric action could take place.
They omitted to consider, however, that there was no such
thing asa vacuum attainable. After the best means of exhaustion
known there is always amply sufficient gas left to cause the
minute amount of chemical action required for this particular
electric effect.

Since it seemed hopeless to attempt to nullify the electric
effect by remeving the atmosphere, it occurred to me to try if
varying the chemical nature of the atmosphere would cause a
corresponding variation of the electric effect.° In fact I con-
sidered that if with a Volta condenser we could arrange a
change of the chemical activities of the atmosphere surrounding
the plates analogous to the change of the chemical activities of
the liquid in the cell which I have just described, we should find
a reversal of the electric charges analogous to the reversal of
current in the cell.

I chose the same metals as Faraday, copper and iron, and of
these this small condenser Fig. 1 was made so as to be enclosed
under a glass bell on insulating supports. When tested in
ordinary atmosphere the chemical action of which is chiefly
directed towards the oxidation of the iron, the usual Volta effect
was produced. The iron plate communicated a positive charge to
the electrometer. Then, without changing any of the metallic
contacts, I passed into the glass bell a stream of hydrogen
sulphide gas. The copper was actively attacked and tarnished by
the gas and at once took, electrically speaking, the place of the
iron in the first case, and a positive electrification was now
obtained from it.

My satisfaction and indeed elation at finding my hypothesis
so clearly verified was very great. Indeed I believed that this
experiment would end the dispute between the contact and

g. Phil. Mag. VI., p. 142, 1878.

24 Inaugural Address by the President.

chemical theories that had gone on for nearly a century.

Immediately afterwards I arranged the experiment in the
form devised by Lord Kelvin where a metallic ring is formed—
half of one metal here copper, and the other half of a different
metal, here iron. Over the junction swings a delicately
suspended needle capable of being electrified. Lord Kelvin
showed that when positive the needle swings towards the
copper attracted by a negative electrification, if negative towards
the iron. I showed that these deflexions are reversed if the
atmosphere be charged with hydrogen sulphide in this case as
in that of the condenser method.

Using copper and nickel plates in air and in hydrochloric
acid gas,’° the electrification is also reversed following its
analogous reversal in the corresponding cell. Finally, although
the requisite conditions obtain with only a few metals and
liquids, I was able to arrange five different experiments of an
analogous kind, and in all these the hypothesis was amply and
decidedly confirmed.”

An attempt to annul the Voltaic effect by a removal of all
active chemical atmospheric matters from about the metals in
a more thorough way than had hitherto been employed was
made by sealing up in an exhausted glass tube this small Volta
condenser, together with a quantity of potassium intended to
absorb oxygen, etc.!? Means were provided for testing the
electric difference of potential. Lord Kelvin, I may mention,
told me I should not succeed in annulling the difference of
potential by these means.

In my first experiment, which lasted six months, it was
reduced somewhat and increased on re-opening the tube. Ina
second experiment lasting 18 months, and in a third lasting
seven years, there was no such effect observed. Lord Kelvin

10. Phil. Mag. VII., p. 109, 1879.
11. Proc. Roy. Soc., XLI., p. 301, 1886.
12. Ibid., LXIV., p. 369, 1899.

Inaugural Address by the President. 25

was therefore correct in his prophecy. J attribute this negative
result to the extreme difficulty of removing the chemically
active matters from about the plates.

Several other forms of experiment were devised to obtain
evidence on the question. In the result I can say that I have
found nothing to definitely contradict and much to support the
hypothesis I adopted originally.

In considering the true nature of the effect in Volta's funda-
mental experiment, I concluded that its explanation would be
found ina modification of the theory originally put forth by
De la Rive,’* that the electrification was produced by electrolytic
chemical action on the metallic surfaces, and that the electrolyte
acting on these suifaces was condensed on them in the form of
a liquid film. In the ordinary atmosphere this film is doubtless
chiefly water with oxygen, carbonic acid, etc., in solution. Its
basis is doubtless in all cases water, while any gases present
would dissolve in this aqueous film. In confirmation of this it
was found that when by exceedingly careful and patient
manipulation the plates of the zinc-copper Volta condenser
were brought exceedingly close together, but not actually
touching, the films on their surfaces came together and acted
together as the liquid conductor of a cell, and a continuous
current could be obtained from the cell so formed” sufficient to
deflect a galvanometer connected to the condenser plates.

Such a theory explains the action of the Volta condenser and
that of the cell as really the same, in so far as either can be
explained. In so doing it has to admit that we know very little
about either of them. I believe that is one of the attributes
that characterises it as non-acceptable in comparison with
theories which, based on large and ill-supported assumption,
profess to explain everything.

Hg.) Uraite d’ Electrieite Il., p. 776.

14. Proc. Roy. Soc., XL1., p. 307, 1886, also Repertorium der Physik, XXIII.,
P. 732.

26 Inaugural Address by the President.

LFA ZA Z
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VARABUARABBaAnRBagassauaseeag:

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D E FE G
Bigae-

In Figure 2 D represents an ordinary Voltaic cell—a plate of
copper and one of zinc connected and immersed in an oxidizing
electrolyte. A current flows with the arrows, round the circuit
copper, zinc, electrolyte, copper.

Now, if we cut this circuit at a point in the copper, as shown
at E, we get a difference of potential between the copper ends
of the copper, negative itrthe other end. Similarly if we cut
the zinc as at F, we get-the positive end above towards the
contact, negative end below, and if we divide through the
electrolyte as at G we have still the same effect, positive at the
side in which the zinc is immersed, negative in that containing
the copper. Now supposing we let this dividing diaphragm
through the electrolyte be composed of air, and let it gradually
increase so as to occupy so much of the space between two metal
plates that only a mere film of the electrolyte is left on each metal
surface, we have at once the whole effect as observed in the
Volta condenser experiment or in the contact experiment of
Lord Kelvin. Ihave shown this to be the case experimentally’
and, further, if instead of merely dividing a single electrolyte,
we use two electrolytes!® such as a layer of copper sulphate
solution on the copper, and zinc sulphate solution on the Zinc,

15. Phil. Mag. VII., p. 110, 1879.
16, Proc. Roy. Soc., XLI., p. 306, 1886.

: cae
—

ae Le ae Oe
pt tag ee
Oe ee ae
Ol ee as oat

Inaugural Address by the President. a

we get the difference of potential equal to that of the Daniell
cell analogous with this arrangement of films.

As touching the reception of my conclusions by the scientific
world, it may be said that some accepted them fully, while
others merely modified their definitions so as to save them from
contradiction by my experiments. Professor Clerk Maxwell?’
was among the first to agree with me, and the interest taken
in the experiments and acceptance of the conclusions drawn
from them by one occupying a place so high in the scientific
world doubtless led others to consider them.

Having now completed the more drily scientific part of my
address, I shall ask your permission to describe a few
applications of electric power arranged for the convenience of
my own home, and afterwards to describe and exhibit experi-
ments on the more important modern developments of electric
art in wireless telegraphy and the-Wehnelt interruptor.

At and about my home at Longhurst we employ, besides
electric lighting eight electric motorsand five pieces of apparatus
in which electric heating is used. Fig. 3 represents an
electrically driven gravel sifter>. “The: motor is seen on the top
driving the barrel screen which separates out the coarsest gravel,
delivering it at the end into a barrow. Below the barrel screen
is a sieve hung on springs and caused to vibrate and shake
about by blows on its edge from the cams on the barrel screen.
This delivers fine gravel into a second barrow and lets the sand
fall through into a third. The economy over the usual method
with two inclined flat screens is in the fact that only one
shovelling is needed instead of say three or four for the two
screenings, and the subsequent filling of the barrows with the
product to be wheeled away.

The spiral shaped cam seen on the top is arranged to rise
periodically with its supporting piece (which is hinged to the
main frame) and fall suddenly as it is being rotated by contact
with the revolving drum of the screen. The blow given by its
fall shakes out any stones that may have become wedged
between the rods of the screen.

oe

17. Elementary Treatise on Electricity, p. 149.

28 Inaugural Address by the President.

Fig. 4 illustrates an electric motor arranged to drive either
a mangle or an ice making machine.

At present it is connected by the strap to the mangle which
it drives very agreeably on washing days. By changing 3the
belt it may work the ice maker, the product of which was found
acceptable in the hot weather. You simply enclose about a
pint of water in the receptacle, switch on the current, and come
back in twenty or thirty minutes for the ice. Water or wine
can be iced in a very few minutes, and ice cream can be made.

Fig. 5 shows our electric motor car, or as a friend calls it the
electric street boat. In it the motor and gearing are at the
back over the driving wheels. The accumulator to carry the
store of electricity needed for a 20 mile ride is under the middle
of the car. The steering is effected by the wheel in front acting
on the front wheels.

On the table is an electrically driven meat chopper, in which
I have arranged a small motor simply coupled up to the usual
hand chopping machine. The only disadvantage 1n introducing
a machine of this kind into one’s domestic arrangements is the
continuous monotony of croquettes and rissoles which its
handiness suggests to the housekeeper. By removing the
chopping arrangements, and substituting egg beating apparatus,
it is converted into a very efficient egg beater.

When this machine had been working for a year or so in my
kitchen it occurred to me that the effect could be got more
directly and simply. The magnetic pull which drives the
rotary motor acts, like all other pulls, in straight lines and
would produce the rectilinear motion required for meat chopping
and egg beating, if we did not employ complicated means in
the motor to produce rotary motion which we do not want,
and are obliged to render rectilinear by further contrivances
before we can use it.

It would be evidently sito and better to allow the
rectilinear pull to produce directly rectlinear motion. This is
accomplished in the new form of apparatus Fig. § (here
arranged as a meat chopper) in which the well known action
of a solenoid on a soft iron core is employed.

Inaugural Address by the President. 29

a The current in passing
H round the coil attracts
upwards the core E
and its attachments,
including the knife F',
with a force of 3 to 4
Ibs. In order to let it
fall again it is only
necessary to break the
current, which is done
by the sliding break or
collar G. The current
in entering the coil D
passes through the two
contact springs J J and
the sliding collar G,
making connexion bet-
ween them, but as soon
as the core in rising has
stretched out the spring
supports H H of the
collar far enough to
draw it up out of con-
tact, the. circuit. is
broken and the core
falls by its own weight
assisted by the re-
silience of a buffer
spring E® under the
coil. The sliding collar
break follows it down
and again completes
the circuit, and so the reciprocating action continues. The
material to be chopped is placed in a vessel with a wooden
bottom as indicated in the figure by broken lines.

Besides this vertical motion it is necessary to rotate the

30 Inaugural Address by the President.

knife F* so as to distribute its strokes over the whole of the
meat. This rotation is effected by the inclined grooves G? in
the collar break which engage with catches on the heads of the
contact springs causing a turning movement each time the
collar is drawn upwards.

A quick reciprocating motion of the kind we have here
might be applied to many things such as hammering, rock
drilling, etc. I have, as an experiment, fitted a hammer to this
apparatus which can be controlled like a steam hammer.
Again by turning the whole thing upside down and attaching
to the cone a fret-saw or jig-saw with a spring take up, it has
been made to saw also.

By substituting another core with a suitable plunger it is
converted into an egg beater of great convenience and efficiency.
The addition to this of an adjustable oil dropping arrangement
gives it the power of making an excellent mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise making, according to a high authcrity, requires
“time, patience, and nicety.” When these matters are
arranged for in the machine one simply puts in the egg, oil,
vinegar, and condiments, switches on the current, and in
twenty or thirty minutes there is an excellent mayonnaise.

I now pass on to what is perhaps the most important electric
invention of the last few years, namely, wireless telegraphy.
In ordinary telegraphy the message is transmitted by means of
electric currents in an insulated wire from the sender to the
receiver, returning by the earth through earth plates, connected
one to each end of the wire and buried in damp soil or in water.
In returning through the earth the current does not confine
itself to one path but spreads out through the earth. If we
insert in the path of a portion of this earth current a second
pair of earth plates and wire, we shall get a part of the earth
returned current in a wire connecting these plates sufficient to
affect a telephone, so that signals made by the current, in the
first mentioned wire, can be heard in the telephone. Such a
system is, I understand, in successful operation between Rathlin
Island and the mainland at Ballycastle.

Inaugural Address by the President. 31

A method of much greater scientific interest as well as of
later invention is that which has been recently perfected and
brought into notice by Marconi. In this form of wireless
telegraphy the message is carried by wave motions in the
ether. In one sense it is not more wonderful than signalling
by flashes of light ; light waves being also wave motions in
the zther, but with waves very much shorter than those used
in telegraphy.

It will be interesting to recall briefly the history of the dis-
covery of these electromagnetic zther waves.

In the year 1845 that greatest of all experimental philosophers
Michael Faraday, tells us—“ I have long held an opinion almost
amounting to conviction, in common I believe with many other
lovers of natural knowledge, that the various forms under which
the forces of matter are made manifest have one common origin,
or in other words are so directly related and mutually dependent
that they are convertible as it were one into another and
possess equivalents of power in their action, This strong
persuasion extended to the powers of light and led to many
exertions having for their object the discovery of the direct
relation of light and electricity, but the results were negative.

These ineffectual exertions could not remove my strong
persuasion derived from philosophical considerations, and,
therefore, I recently resumed the enquiry by experiment in a
most strict and searching manner, and have at last succeeded in
magnetizing and electrifying a ray of light.”

We can imagine the great philosopher standing thus, as it
were, on the farthest bound of knowledge, at the utmost point
of discovery jutting out into the misty waters of the as yet dim
unknown, gazing, examining into the depths of the infinitely
possible, watching each dim foredawning of those gigantic
truths, which that finest almost supernatural intuition with
which he was endowed, convinced him existed there.

With this intuitive experimentalization of Faraday we
contrast—but cannot compare—the brilliant deductions of
Clerk Maxwell, who, in a later time, working on the experi-

Ev) Inaugural Address by the President.

mental data of Faraday and others, and throwing on them the
clear decisive light of mathematical deduction, concluded not
only that there was a connection between light and electricity,
but that light itself was really an electromagnetic phenomeaon.
He showed also that disturbances in the ether were produced
by electric discharges, and that if such discharges were repeated
with sufficient rapidity they would become the source of ether
waves similar to light waves, but much longer, and having
many surprising peculiarities. To such waves, for instance,
certain opaque non-conducting substances such as pitch vulcanite
and so forth would be found transparent. To these they would
offer no more opaqueness than glass does to light. Metals
would be opaque, but would have electric disturbance produced
in them by the impact of these electromagnetic zether vibrations.

The experimental confirmation of these deductions was,
however, still to be made. In 1883 Prof. George F. FitzGerald
drew my attention to this, and pointed out that if we could
produce electric discharges at the rate of 50 or 100 million per
second we could verify Maxwell’s prophesy. I could think of
no current breaker which could work at such a rate. I
mention this to show how narrowly one sometimes misses
becoming famous. If we had only thought of the oscillatory
discharge of an ordinary induction coil or leyden jar it would
not have been left to Herz five ycars later to show that the
oscillations of such discharges have the required frequency for
radiating Maxwell’s waves and to invent also means for detect-
ing the radiations at a distance from their source.

In the working of such an induction coil as this now before
you, at each spark there is an inconceivably rapid surging
backwards and forwards of the current forming the spark, so
that what looks like one spark is really a discharge oscillating
in opposite directions between the brass knobs with extreme
rapidity. By means ofa suitable receiving instrument, telegraphy
can be carried on by the usual code of short and long flashes.
Such elementary apparatus as I can show you here works very
well across the lecture room as you see. Marconi has been able
by more perfect arrangements to send messages over 40 miles,

Inaugural Address by the President. 33

If I have not wearied you too much I would now attempt to
show two or three rather interesting experiments with another
new electric invention. Wehnelt’s electrolytic interrupter as
applied to the induction coil.

The construction of the Wehnelt is very simple—merely a
jar containing dilute sulphuric acid into which dips a lead plate
forming the negative terminal of a supply at 100 volts or sc.
The cther terminal is a platinum wire about the thickness of
a darning needle enclosed in a glass tube so as to expose only
half an inch or so to the liquid. When the current is switched
on it passes by the platinum wire through the liquid to the lead
plate. In doing so it heats the little platinum wire red hot.
The heated wire electrolyses and also boils the acidulated water
in contact with it, and surrounds itself with a layer of steam
and electrolysed gas. Steam being a non-conductor the
current cannot pass it, and so the needed interruption of the
current occurs. The steam then promptly condenses thus
allowing the dilute acid to come again in contact with the
platinum wire. The current again flows, only to be interrupted
again and so on at the rate of several hundred times per second,
the rate of frequency depending on the make of the interrupter,
and the self-induction of the coil employed. The result at the
secondary terminals is a torrent of sparks succeeding each other
so rapidly as to resemble a flame of fire. If the terminals be in
the form of circles placed one over the other the discharge
between them may be made to move round the circles by the
proximity of a magnetic pole according to well known laws
Again if the terminals be prolonged two or three feet in an
upward direction, but diverging slightly as they rise, the dis-
charge will form at the lower part, be carried up by the heated
air formed in its track till it breaks at the top to reform below.

Sir Otto Jaffe, in moving a vote of thanks to the President,
said it would be an impertinence on his part to attempt to
criticise the lecture they had heard. He congratulated the
President in that he had not only attempted but had been
successful in scientific researches on one of the most difficult
subjects of the present day.

34 Inaugural Address by the President.

Professor Purser, in seconding the motion, said he thought
they would all agree with him in saying that they had seldom
listened to a lecture so lucid and so well arranged. The experi-
ments in wireless telegraphy had been wonderfully successful.

The motion having been passed by acclamation,

The President, in acknowledging the vote of thanks, said that
after all, the success of an experimental lecture mainly depended
not so much on the lecturer as on the care and efficiency of his
assistants, and in this case their very best thanks were due to
his friend Mr. MacWhirter, of Glasgow, who had come over
specially and had given so much care and time to the prepara-
tion and carrying out of the experiments. They were also
indebted to Mr. Mollan for his efficient assistance, to Professor
Whitla for the use of the current from his house, to Mr.
M‘Cowan for making provision for this, and to Professor
Morton, Mr. Finnegan, and Mr. Drennan for their kindness in
lending apparatus.

Itth December, 1900.

Mr. J. Brown, President, in the Chair.

THE BOTANY OF THE SHORES OF LOUGH NEAGH.

By Joun H. Davies.

( Abstract. }

Mr. Davies said that prior to the close of the seventeenth
century there had been very little, if any, systematic investi-
gation of the botanical productions of Lough Neagh. The
first records were those supplied by the celebrated English
botanist, Dr. William Sherard, who endowed the chair of
Botany at Oxford, the distinguished Dillenius being the first
Sherardian Professor. When visiting his friend, Sir Arthur
Rawdon, at Moira, in 1692, Sherard spent some time in
herborising along the lake shores. Following Sherard about
the end of the next century, nearly 100 years later, came their
townsman, John Templeton, than whom there had been
no more zealous and devoted naturalist. In the course of his
frequent visits to the lough and to Portmore, which are con-
nected, he added much to the then meagre knowledge of its
botanical history. In 1833 Dr. David Moore, when associated
as botanist with General Portlock in the Ordnance Survey of
Derry, had splendid opportunities which, at Lough Neagh, he
used with the greatest advantage in the exercise of his love of
botanical research. In more recent years their knowledge of
the lake flora had been extended by not a few of the ardent
and active botanists of the present time. Mr. Davies described

36 Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh.

the character of the rich and varied flora of the lough, and
made allusion to the most noteworthy discoveries of those
whose names he had mentioned. Some of the plants detected
there by the earlier explorers, he said, were supposed to be now
lost through the lowering of the level of the lake by the
drainage works in the Lower Bann, but careful observation
might probably result in the restoration of some of them to the
list of Lough Neagh plants. One of the mostimportant recent
discoveries, by which the flora had been enriched, was that of
a little sand-loving cress, Teesdalia nudicaulis, at Washing Bay,
Co. Tyrone. It occurred in some abundance, but there was a
question as to whether it might be indigenous. His own
observations led him to believe that it had long been established
there, and, though the ways in which a plant of the kind may
be introduced were manifold, one was inclined to think it might
be native. Recalling to mind, soon after it had been seen there,
that the great bulk of the sand brought from the lough by
canal to Lisburn and Belfast for building and filtration purposes
is taken from the place where the plant is found, two of the
spots along the canal where the sand is discharged were
examined. In both, the plant was seen in quantity, with every
appearance of having been there for some time, which was in
support of the view that if not native at Lough Neagh, it was
by no means a recent introduction.

Continuing, the lecturer said that the interest belonging to
the occurrence of Polygonum mite at Lough Neagh, where he
had the good fortune to meet with it very recently on both
the County Antrim and County Armagh margins, consisted in
its being a very rare plant in Ireland. There were, indeed,
only two other stations for it. In England it was also a scarce
plant, and it was not known in Scotland nor in Wales.

Sometimes one saw in the lake on the Antrim border con-
siderable quantities of a very rare water crcwfoot, Ranunculus
fluttans, but on examination it was found to be floating loose in
the water, not a single stem being attached. Were it not
known that it occurred in the Sixmilewater, discovered there by

Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh. 37

his friend Mr. Stewart, some years ago, that river still remain-
ing its only Irish station, it might possibly be mistaken as a
lake plant. It was carried from the river to the lake in times of
flood. Though producing abundant fruit, much of which must
frequently find its way to the lough, the plant did not grow
there. So nice was it in its choice of habitat that it occurred
only in streams having a rapid current.

Proceeding, Mr. Davies said that notwithstanding the
attention that had been given to the investigation of its flora by
those to whom allusion had been made, it might not unreason-
ably be supposed that in the case of a lake having an area of
over 150 square miles, there were some parts of its margins that
had never been thoroughly explored. For a botanist he could
conceive nothing more likely to afford profitable enjoyment
than to spend a long summer holiday there, to examine its
diversified shores, to visit its islands, and to dredge its waters
for Characéz and other hydrophytes. The student of nature
who found pleasure in mingling with his pursuits matters of
human interest would have opportunity. The hardy and
intelligent fisherman you met by the way, or who invited you
into his cottage for acceptable shelter from a passing thunder
shower, would ask you about ‘‘them quare weeds,” and impart
his views on the affairs in which he took interest. If you fell
in with him on the beach at his noontide meal of freshly-caught
pollan, cooked on the embers of a wood fire, you were heartily
welcome to a share, and he (Mr. Davies) could avouch that those
same pollan, cooked after that fashion, and served to you on
fresh, cool sycamore leaves, were fish most excellent that would
not be lightly esteemed by the most fastidious epicure. He was,
moreover, kindly and obliging in other ways, and would deem it
no trouble to help you on your way by ferrying you over an
intervening stream or inlet. But, however it may have been
with him aforetime, he was now not much given to straying along
the banks at the “clear, cold eve,’ or other time of day.
His energies were devoted to the care of his nets and the
baiting of his lines, to the capture of his pollan and trout and

38 Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh.

eels, and he was not overmuch concerned in searching for the
submerged architectural structures of poetic fable. The old
order changeth. Now-a-days he must take account of railroads,
and his fish must be packed and despatched in time to catch
the Liverpool steamer.

Continuing, Mr. Davies said that one of the most in-
teresting features of the lough flora was the presence there
of a small group of plants, some of which were not found
inland elsewhere in Ireland, and others which seem never
to have been seen inland throughout the British Isles. The
main difference between some parts of the shores of their
large lakes and the seaside consisted in one case of the absence,
and in the other the presence, of salinity. In both, the degree
of humidity was much the same, and in some other respects
there was more or less similarity. In their island, save at the
seaside and parts of their lake shores, they had very little, or
none, of the loose shifting sands which influence the character
of the flora. It was necessary to have some understanding of
this before looking for or altempting to explain the presence
inland of plants which are regarded as maritime. As was well
known, there are species having a partiality for situations in
close proximity to the sea, which occur on some of their highest
mountains. Examples ofsome of these were given, the popular
and scientific names of which sufficiently indicated their
preference for the sea coast. In the high altitudes inland, in
which they occur, it was to be assumed they found atmospheric
conditions necessary for their growth and sustenance, their
distribution not being solely influenced by salinity of soil
Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that they had at Lough Neagh,
and that only on the County Antrim shore, a number of plants
usually regarded as maritime, which, in Ireland, had not been
met with elsewhere in distinctly inland localities. The names
of some of these were mentioned, and, in particular, allusion
was made to the Sea Club-rush, Sczvfus maritimus, which, so
far as he knew, did not occur otherwhere inland in any part of
the British Isles. A well-known botanist, Mr. Nathaniel

Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh. 39

Colgan, knowing Mr. Davies’ interest in the matter, had
given him references to its continental range of distribution.
There it was known to occur in the regions adjacent to the
Jura Mountains. Yet, it remained that in this island it was
restricted to the seaside, Lough Neagh, so far as he could
ascertain, being the only exception. In the course of last
summer he had seen there another plant, a sand spurrey,
Spergularia rupestr1s, which held the same position. How
came these plants? Not carried by sea-birds which visit
the lake, since in that case they might be expected at the
margins of other large lakes, also frequented by sea-birds.
There were considerations which pointed to geological
possibilities. One incident bearing on this he might mention.
In 1874 the British Association met in Belfast under the
presidency of Professor Tyndall. That meeting was most
memorable, and of some of the discussions that then arose, and
were for some time continued, there were those of them who
retained a lively recollection. On that occasion a well-known
geologist, Mr. Hardman, brought forward a paper on “ The
age and mode of formation of Lough Neagh.” He sought
to prove that the clays overlying the basalt were lacustrine
deposits of Pleiocene age. Two years later, during a visit to
Crumlin in company with Professor Hull, they found in the
clay at that place fossil shells, the only fossils save those
of plants previously known to occur in the Lough Neagh clays.
They were considered to be fresh water shells, and their
discovery was held to be in support of a theory that there
was a former very large Lough Neagh, also fresh water, with
an area probably twice as great as at present. This aroused
so much interest that three of their members, his friends, Mr.
W. Swanston, Mr. Stewart, and Mr. Wright, made a thorough
investigation of the deposits, which led to widely different
conclusions. The shells, which were in loose drift over-lying
the boulder clay, were found to be, not fresh water shells, but
those of the common mussel. It was found also that the deposit
contained several species of microzoa now living along their sea

40 Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh.

coasts. These had lived and died, where their remains were now
to be seen at Crumlin Waterfoot. The deposit in which they
occur must have been formed by the action or within the
influence of the sea. That being so, it seemed not very unlikely
that at least some of the group of plants to which he had called
their attention were survivals of a once littoral flora at Lough
Neagh, when, through subsidence of the land in Pleistocene
times, the country along the course of the Lower Bann was
probably an arm of the sea.

Mr. Davies concluded by stating that he had been inviting
their attention to the Lough Neagh flora, but he thought
he might say that they in the North of Ireland, possessing
the largest lake in the United Kingdom, were perhaps
scarcely alive to the many debatable points in connection
therewith. The physical problems as to the origin of the
Lough itself would afford subjects for much discussion. Was it
glacier formed, or was it due to some geological flexure ? or, was
the depression caused by a fracture of the strata at that place
as suggested by Portlock’s report? Then, the geological
deposits surrounding it, its great bed of clay, with its petrified
trees and its nodules of ironstone in which are preserved the
fossilised leaves of a flora long since extinct in these regions,
required more investigation. Zoology offered for research
another field which had not yet been exhausted. The avifauna
was most attractive, and a further study of its unusual fish and
crustaceans would be instructive.

Mr. S. A. Stewart, in the course of some brief remarks, said
he had listened with great pleasure to the paper which Mr.
Davies had just read. The shores around Lough Neagh sup-
ported a rich and varied flora, and its waters yielded an
abundance of aquatic plants, some being of considerable rarity.
Lough Neagh was often resorted to by the botanist, and
seldom failed to reward his research. Mr. Davies had just
shown that it had not yet been exhausted, and no doubt the
list of its plants will be still more extended when its western
shores have been scanned by keen eyed Naturalists as well as

Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh. fl

the eastern had been by Mr. Davies and others. A most
interesting point, briefly referred to in this paper, is the
occurrence of certain maritime plants at a locality so far
removed from the influence of sea water. The existence of
shells of littoral molluscs in a clay bed on the Crumlin River
had been cited as evidence proving that the sea, in a most
recent geological period, extended up into the depression of
Lough Neagh. Owing to one of the latest elevations of our
land this anciently maritime lough was now a freshwater lake ;
but these plants, which usually flourish by the seacoast, remain
to corroborate the evidence of the mussel shells of Crumlin
River.

Mr. Wm. Swanston remarked that the occurrence of plants
whose natural habitat is along the sea coast so far inland, and
established on the margins of Lough Neagh, is a most valuable
point brought out by Mr. Davies, which goes far to confirm the
view that at no very distant geological date the Lough was
marine. This botanical evidence is new, but as far back as
1879 the same conclusion was surmised on geological grounds
by the discovery of beds, near the southern shore, containing
shells of the common mussel (Mytilus edulis). These shells—
or rather fragments—were determined by the late Dr. Gwynn
Jeffreys, the greatest authority on British Mollusca then living.
The microscopic examination by our fellow-member, Mr. Joseph
Wright, of the strata in which the shells were found, also
prove the marine origin of the beds, Mr. Wright being able to
record several species of Foramenifera (a group of minute
organisms exclusively marine) from the small quantity of
material examined, those being forms such as may readily be
found any day on our sea shores. Quite recently zoological
evidence was unexpectedly established by Mr. Robert Welch,
of our city, and Dr. Scharff, of Dublin, who, while dredging in
Lough Neagh, found in some plenty a small crustacean (ALyszs
relicta), new to Britain, but a member of a marine group of
which four species are recorded by the late Wm. Thompson
from the Irish coasts. These scattered pieces of evidence—very

42 Botany of the Shores of Lough Neagh.

interesting in themselves—when brought together, are, in my
opinion, conclusive, and show ina very remarkable manner the
value of noting and recording observations seemingly trifling in
themselves. Mr. Davies’ paper deserves the fullest notice the
Society can give it.

Mr. Davies, in replying, thought that little remained to be
said save for him to express his best thanks for the manner in
which the paper had been received, and for the kind words that
had been spoken. Sometimes one heard the conjecture
expressed that the Pollan, to which allusion had been made,
was possibly a transformed herring, but he hardly supposed
that that was intended to be taken seriously. If it were such,
the transformation was positively marvellous in that it did not
possess the generic characters of the herring. There was a
prevalent notion that it was peculiar to Lough Neagh, but he
believed that it also occurred in Lough Erne and in Lough
Derg. Closely allied species were met with in Wales and on
the Continent. For the natnralist there were not many places
with more varied enticements than Lough Neagh.

43

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE OBJECTS COMPRISED IN
LORD DERAMORE’S RECENT DONATION, PRIN-
CIPALLY ANTIQUARIAN.

Part, I,-—ANTIQUARIAN,
By W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A,
( Abstract.)

The Society is much indebted to Lord Deramore for his
kindness in presenting to their Museum a large collection of
objects of scientific and antiquarian interest. It is quite fitting
that the antiquities, being mainly Irish, should find an abiding
place in an Irish Museum, and especially in one where Irish
antiquarian remains already form an important feature. Lord
Deramore’s gift makes our series of ancient implements still
more complete, and in this way helps us to realise how these
primitive or barbaric people lived, and what means they had
for carrying on their occupations of war and the chase.

The stone implements in the Deramore collection are not
numerous as compared with those of bronze. Two hammer
stones of a tough quartzite, with hollows in the sides for con-
venience in holding, represent this class of antiquities. One of
these is oval, measuring 6 inches by 4 inches; the other
is almost round, measuring 3 inches across.

And here I may say that, most unfortunately, none of the
antiquities, either stone or bronze, have any labels attached
(with one or two exceptions only), stating where or when they
were found. If collectors would only realize in time how the
value of a specimen of any kind is enhanced by the preserva-
tion of full particulars of place and date, and circumstances of
finding, their collections would be of much greater scientific
value than they often are.

The Deramore antiquities, we must assume, are in the
main Irish, but we do not know any of the circumstances con-
nected with the discovery of the objects themselves,

44 Objects comprised in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donaton.

The collection contains fourteen polished stone celts, vary-
ing from 24 inches to 13 inches long. These are the hatchet-
shaped implemeuts, which are so well represented in all collec.
tions of Irish antiquities, and of which vast numbers have been
found, and are still being found, in Ireland; perhaps I might
say especially in County Antrim. Most of these fourteen celts
are of close-grained black stone, in fact, varieties of basalt, but
the largest, and another next to it in size, are of a whitish-
coloured stone. Some of the middle-sized ones, say from 4 to
5 inches long, are in very fine and perfect condition, and there is
one of very unusual form with the side edges flattened and
hollowed ; one of the larger, about 6 inches long has been
made from a slaty rock, and large flakes have weathered off
both sides, leaving, however, the edge intact.

The objects of flint are few in number ; there are two well-
marked flint-flakes of light-coloured flint, both showing
secondary working.

There are twenty-five flint arrow-heads, barbed, stemmed,
and leaf-shaped, from ? inch to 24 inches in length. Many of
these are beautifully chipped into form, and show what exquisite
skill the flint workers of our stone-age had attained to.

We come now to the antiquities formed of bronze. This
fine metal, which has been found by analysis to be made up of
about ten parts of copper and one part of tin, is exceedingly
hard and close grained, and is capable of taking an edge almost
as fine and sharp as iron or steel. The ancient bronze age
perple made their weapons and implements by casting, in the
first place, and then, by hammering and grinding, they were
finished to form the things as we now find them:

Many of the moulds have been found in Ireland in which
spears, hatchets, and other weapons were cast, and in some
places finds have been made of moulds, broken-up bronze, and
finished and partly finished implements, showing plainly that
such sites were the workshops of old artificers in bronze.

In the Deramore collection there are nineteen flat bronze
celts, from 4 inches to 8 inches in length, varying very

Objects comprised in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donation. 45

much in breadth, and also in the shape and curve of the
cutting edge, some having the edge almost straight, others
half-moon shaped. This is the simplest form of bronze celts,
and is supposed to have been suggested by the stone celts
which were in such common use in the stone age. These flat
celts were either cast in sand, from models of wood or metal, or
in moulds cut in sandstone. Some of these moulds have been
found.

The next development of the bronze ce]t has been called
eae flanged ‘celt; In this form: the sides have been
hammered so that a flange has been raised, sometimes scarcely
perceptible, and sometimes of considerable breadth; and
later on, if we may use the expression, when a still broader
flange was wanted, the moulds were altered or were so made
that a bold flange was made in the casting at once. The
collection contains nine flanged celts, very interesting specimens,
from 4 inches to 54 inches long, and showing a gradation
of flanges from the very slightest to ones that are broad and
bold.

We now come to a most interesting series of celts, called
by antiquaries “‘ palstaves,”’ or winged celts. This type shows
a distinct advance upon those just named, and has been planned
for the much more eflective fixing of the wooden handle. The
side flanges have been enlarged and strengthened, and in this
way deep hollows have been formed ; a “stop ridge”’ right
across the centre of the celt has been added at both sides, and
we can readily see what a fine weapon or implement for war,
the chase, or agriculture a well-handled palstave celt would
ibe:

The Deramore collection contains twenty-six palstaves,
from 4 inches to 7 inches long, and of great variety in form and
strength. Some show alittle ornament. One of the palstaves,
6 inches long, has been labelled “ Found along with a skeleton
near Armagh.” Among the palstaves there are three small
unfinished narrow celts, about 4+ inches, much weathered, and
almost exactly alike. As these have not an Irish look, I

46 Objects comprised in Lord Déramore’s Recent Donation.

submitted one of them to Sir John Evans, who writes me that
he thinks it is of English origin, and is in all probability from
the great hoard found at Stibbard, in Norfolk, where about
seventy such rough castings were found, as well as ten castings
for spear-heads, evidently the factory of an old English worker
in bronze.

We now come to the most advanced and perfect form of
bronze, axe-shaped objects—namely, the socketed and looped
celt. Of these celts there are twenty-two in the Deramore
collection, from the large, strong celt, measuring 44 inches
long down to tiny ones, little more than 13 inches long. What
these very small cnes were used for it is hard to conceive, and
yet they must have had their use, although this could not have
been to strike a hard blow; they are too light and small for
that.

The way in which socketted celts show a great advance in
the metal-workers’ art is the clever way by which the deep
socket or hollow was formed, and the casting left comparatively
thin, except, of course, near the edge, where some thickness of
metal was wanted for frequent grinding and sharpening. The
socket was made by the introduction in the mould of a core,
and this was probably done in just the same way that a modern
moulder or brassfounder would adopt. Celts of this type had
almost always a bronze loop cast on, close to the opening of the
socket. This, no doubt, was for the purpose of receiving a
thong or other tie to secure the bronze head to the wooden
handle, and thus prevent its falling off and being lost in battle,
All the Deramore socketted celts have loops.

There are twelve bronze spear-heads, some unfortunately
in a rather fragmentary state; eight of these have each two
loops fixed against the socket for helping to secure the spear
head to the shaft. The largest of these is only 9 inches in
length, and the shortest about 4 inches, so that there are
none of the very fine long spears seen in some collections. The
broad, keen blades and deep sockets are so cleverly fashioned
that these spears may be pronounced masterpieces of the bronze-

Objects comprised in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donation. 47

workers’ art. There are two other spears of quite a different
type, with long openings in the blades; one of these is labclled
‘Spear from Naples, R.B. 1849.”’ The R. B. is obviously the
late Sir Robert Bateson, first baronet, grandfather of the
present Lord Deramore. The second spear is very similar in
shape, but fresh and clean, instead of being deeply corroded.
There are two broad, thick and short blades with rivet holes at
base, which may have been battle axes.

There is a dagger-knife blade, 5 inches long, labelled
“Trish skeyn, Co. Kildare,” and there is another somewhat
similar, with socket and rivet holes.

Of the leaf-shaped swords, which are usually seen in col-
lections of Irish antiquities, Lord Deramore’s collection con-
tains eight ; some are much broken; the largest of these is 20
inches long. There is an object of bronze which seems to be
the point of a scabbard; it is 64 inches long, and is decorated
with fine engraved lines.

I find among the bronzes two socketted gouges ; they are
of small size, and are of a well-known type.

There are forty-eight bronze rings, some of them hollow,
varying from I inch to 34 inches in diameter. Such rings
have been found in great numbers in Ireland, the Museum
of the Royal Irish Academy containing more than one thousand
of them. It is supposed that they were for personal use, and
may have been sewed on clothing to serve as ornaments, or as
a protection against sword cuts.

There is also a large ring, 4 inches across, which appears
to be made of jet.

In the collection there is a bronze crucifix ; it is 12 inches
high ; the figure which is 4 inches high seems quite archaic,
but the cross looks rather modern.

There are a few more objects of bronze in this interesting
collection, which may be briefiy named :—two bronze spurs ; a
bronze smoking pipe ; a bronze or brass cup, egg-cup shaped,
4 inches high ; a bronze boss 24 inches in diameter ; a circular
spoon or ladle, 4 inches across, and a few things that were

48 Objects comprised in Lord Deramore’s Recent Donation.

probably for domestic use, such as buckles, etc.

I should say that there are also a few objects of stone,
pottery, etc., apparently from Egypt, Greece, or other Eastern
countries, and there is a fine black stone adze, probably from
New Zealand.

Part II.—GEOLOGICAL.
By S. A. SrewarT, F.B.S.Edin.

The geological specimens in the Deramore collection are
numerous and varied. There are specimens from several
formations, mainly of the Secondary or Mesozoic Period. A few
of the fossils are of species which are found in the Carboniferous
rocks, but the greater part come from the Cretaceous and
Liassic formations. There are a good many Ammonites, some
of them very good examples, especially those from the Lias.
Two of the Liassic oysters are remarkably fine, as are also some
of the bivalves from the chalk. One very fine palate or crushing
tooth is also from the chalk—presumably English. There are
some small pieces of silicified wood, and also a number of rock
specimens, and minerals, but not being furnished with localities
these are much less instructive than would otherwise be the
case. ‘This remark applies also to the fossils. As to them we
can fix the genera under which they must be placed, and with
a little trouble the specific names may be ascertained. In many
cases the locality of their origin may be inferred with strong
probability, but without entire certainty on this point the value
of fossils is much diminished. The necessity of attention to
this matter of indicating on each specimen the locality whence
it came deserves to be impressed very strongly on all collectors,

49

NOTES ON SOME CLAY CONCRETIONS FROM
THE.CONNECTICUT VALLEY, U.5,A.,

By W. Swanston, F.G.S.
(Abstract.)

In introducing this remarkable series of concretionary
nodules I should state that, as I have not personally collected
them, I am unacquainted with such details of their occurrence
as I should have been glad to bring before the meeting. They
were collected near Hartford, U.S.A.,in beds of the Triassic
series. Nodules and concretions of similar character occur in
most sandstone and clay deposits irrespective of geological age.
We may therefore safely infer that, under similar conditions,
their mode of formation will be somewhat alike. The following
appears under the heading “ Concretions”’ in an authority
consulted. ‘‘Concretions are nodules, balls, or irregular
masses which occur scattered through the body of the rock, and
consist of mineral matter which was formerly diffused through
the material of the rock. Some are crystalline, as gypsum in
clay ; others may have internal radiating structures, as iron
pyrites in shale, etc. Fantastically shaped concretions are not
uncommon in fine clays, and are known as ‘fairy stones’ by the
country folk in some districts. They are produced by mole-
cular aggregations subsequent to the deposition of the strata,
whereby the substance of the rock is forced into spherules or
balls.” Similar nodules, but of less delicate form and texture,
are occasionally found in stream courses cutting through the
new red sandstones of County Antrim, the softer body of the
rock having been removed by the action of the water, the
concretions are found adhering to the sides of the miniature
canyons. The extremely delicate character of the examples
exhibited is doubtless due to the finer texture of the rocks in
which they were found. Their stratified appearance—which

50 Notes on Some Clay Concretions.

is only external—is probably due to the different degrees of
hardness of the more minute strata of the beds in which they
are found, the more pervious strata allowing the seggregation
to push along their parallel lines, subsequent weathering giving
the strange resemblance some of them have to objects produced
on the lathe.

After an examination of the specimens a series was presented
by the reader to the Museum.

51

20th December, Igo0.
Mr. J. BROWN, Presipent, in the Chair

SOME SIDE LIGHTS ON THE CHINA QUESTION,
By Rev. A. R. CRAwrForp, M.A,

( Abstract.)

The first portions of Mr. Crawford’s paper were devoted to
the Chinese view of human life. The general incapacity of
Chinese government, especially in regard to its foreign relations,
and the civilisation and religion of the country having been
very ably discussed, Mr. Crawford dealt with the recent Boxer
movement, which created such anxiety amongst the civilised
governments of the world. He said it was undoubtedly
patriotic, but in a limited sense of the word. Its aim was
negative—the ridding of the country of foreign influence. It
had nothing positive to suggest with a view to remedying the
acknowledged unsatisfactory condition of the country.
Amongst the causes which produced the revolt were to be
found the superstitious element and a long-continued drought
in the spring of the present year, which brought large numbers
of the population in the Northern Provinces to the brink of
starvation, and produced a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction.
A very important reason for the outbreak had been the aggres-
- sive attitude of the various European nations. Unfortunately
we had got into the way of speaking of the “partition of
China,” and of claiming ‘“‘ spheres of influence”’ ina way which
must have been very galling to any Chinese who were possessed
of the slightest spark of patriotism. Proceeding, Mr. Crawford
said they could not omit from the list of aggravating causes the
missionary problem. Although his testimony might be ruled
out of court as being ex parte, he thought it might be fairly
claimed for Protestant missionaries at least that they had not
sought to intermeddle with Chinese politics. In spite of the

52 Some Stde Lights on the China Question.

magnitude of the outbreak, we must not for a moment imagine
that the whole of China was against us at this time. In
provinces where there seemed for a time to be a serious out-
break the motive was anti-dynastic rather than anti-foreign,
and since the time when the allies began to obtain the upper
hand in the North the source of danger had subsided. He for
one could not bring himself to believe in a ‘yellow peril” as
an actual, practical menace to the world’s peace. It must be
remembered what Sir R. Hart, in expressing grave fears on that
score, wrote but a few days after the raising of the siege of the
legations. It was not surprising that he should at such a time
have looked at things through dark spectacles. It should be
noted that combination had always been China’s weak point,
and that, strong as the Boxer movement had been, it would
have been a mere rabble but for the adhesion of the Imperial
troops. It was now for the allied powers to take effective
measures for restricting the introduction of firearms into
China. Much, Mr. Crawford thought, had been learnt on both
sides, and if toleration was mixed with firmness and due regard
to justice they must all believe and hope that China would yet
take her place in the comity of nations, and that in time she
would become a source of strength, and not of danger, to the
whole civilised world.

The lecture was profusely illustrated by special limelight
slides and maps.

The hearty thanks of the society were accorded to Mr.
Crawford, on the motion of Mr. T. F. Shillington, J.P.,
seconded by Mr. F. R. Lepper.

Mr. Robert M. Young, B.A., M.R.I.A, (Hon. Secretary),
presented the Society with a well-executed portrait of Mr.
Robert Lloyd Patterson, D.L., F.L.S., who on several occasions
filled the position of its president.

The President acknowledged the receipt of the interesting
gift, and said it was most appropriate that the Society should
possess portraits of its presidents.

cst
roe)

Sth Fanuary, 190L.
Mr. J. BROWN, Presipent, in the Chair.

REPORT OF DELEGATE TO CORRESPONDING
SOCIETIES’ CONFERENCE, BRITISH ASSOCIA-
TION MEETING, 1900.

By J. Brown.
(Abstract.)

As your delegate I attended both meetings of the Conference.
At the first meeting two resolutions on proposed changes in
the arrangement of the proceedings were negatived, but the
discussion threw light on the wishes of the delegates, implying
that they did not desire to hear papers at the conference, but
rather to discuss methods of procedure that might make local
societies successful. The question of the protection of copy
right of societies in their proceedings was brought up and
referred to the general committee.

At the second meeting, after hearing and discussing a paper
on “Dew Ponds,” the conference received the usual reports
from sections. Section C is anxious for co-operation of corres -
ponding societies in the work of the Geological Photographs
Committee and the Erratic Blocks Committee. Mr. Sower-
butts, representing Section E, made suggestions for more active
co-operation of corresponding societies. Mr. Hartland, repre-
senting section H, brought forward the request of the Anthro-
pological Photographs Committee for photographs of pre-
historic stone monuments, stone implements, primitive pottery,
and of objects connected with local superstitions. Such
objects were frequently met with in local museums. I am asked
to bring these requests before the Society, and I feel sure there
are many members competent to comply with them, I should

84 Report of Delegate to Corresponding Societies’ Conference.

be glad to take charge of any photographs, and the names of
senders would be published in the annual report of the British
Association.

As items of general interest to our members, I may mention
that our distinguished fellow-member, Dr. J. Larmour, presided
over Section A, and delivered a _ characteristic address.
Professor John Perry, another distinguished student of Q.C.B.,
now President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, also
took an active part. Professor Letts, who is making the new
Queen’s College Laboratory the home of important original
research, read several papers, and I had the honour of exhibit-
ing the viagraph (including the usual striking diagram of the
Lisburn Road) at the Lord Mayor’s conversazione and before
Section G, where there was also read a paper by Professor Hele
Shaw on “Tractive Force on Roads.’ Subsequently the
Association appointed a committee to further investigate this
question. As your President I was honoured by a request to
act as first spokesman of the deputation to invite the Associa-
tion to Belfast in 1902, Professors Letts and Symington and
Mr. W. Gray added their promises of welcome, in which I
doubt not the city will generously bear us out.”

Xr
LoD |

IRISH RAILWAYS AND THE STATE.

By LYNDEN MACASSEY, C.E., B.A., LL.B., B.L.,
Lecturer Railway Department, London School of Economics,

(Adbstract.)

The relations that should exist between railways and the
State possess great commercial and political importance. Rail-
ways may be privately or State owned, and four relations are
found—railways privately owned and subject to or free from
the control of the State, as in England and America, and rail-
ways State owned and worked by the State or by private in-
dividuals, as in Prussia and France respectively. For the
distinction, the Continental disposition to leave everything to
the State, as compared with the Anglo Saxon inclination to
give private enterprise full sway, really is the explanation.

In Ireland railways are privately owned, but State con-
trolled. That control is directed to construction, public safety,
public convenience, and rates. As regards the first three sub-
jects mentioned, the control is perhaps too effective ; the real
question is that of rates. There exists a maximum schedule
of goods rates in excess of which Irish railways may not charge.
But the limits are rightly high, and the companies do not now
charge anything like full rates. Railways do not try to in-
crease profits by raising rates, but by lowering them and so
swelling their traffic. Nor can you limit dividends. If you do
you make it to the advantage of a company to do a small
business at a high rather than a large business at low rates.
All proposals for nationalisation are grounded on the in-
efficiency of the present system of control, and on the defects
in management of Irish railways. As the latters’ profits are
not excessive, their charges are not either. The average divi-
dend paid in 1900 on the capital invested was only 3.9 per
cent. Rates certainly are not unreasonable. Eggs are carried
from Galway to London for $d per dozen, fish from $d and

56 Irish Railways and the State.

&

$d per lb., according to the class. Special trains are given to
the fish traffic for consignments as low as 20 tons.

Increase in train mileage represents increase in public
facilities, and in respect of increase in passenger and goods
train mileage Irish railways are 1 per cent. and 8 per cent.
respectively ahead of English railways, while the tonnage and
number of passengers increased by 21 per cent. and 28 per
cent., which compares very favourably with England. The
corresponding receipts only increased by 17 per cent. and 13
per cent. Irish railways therefore do not seem to be neglecting
the public. The recent amalgamations will be a benefit,
working expenses will be reduced ; competition in Ireland is
impossible, and itself would merely result in amalgamation or
the pooling of traffic. Dissatisfaction with Irish railways is
therefore unreasonable; the requirements of Ireland are
served ; to provide facilities in excess would be financially im-
possible.

Defects in private management are not the cause of State
management of railways on the Continent. There the Govern-
ments had generally to construct railways themselves in the
absence of effective private enterprise, or they acquired private
lines merely to consolidate their military strength. In France
unimpared company monopoly has been the price of State
control ; in Belgium the efficiency of the State railways is due
to their long competition with once privately-owned railways.
Rates founded on ‘ cost of service’ is the motto on which every
Government started business. Thetheory proved unworkable,
and Governments had, like companies, to charge ‘what the
trafic would bear.’ The latter principle makes to a large ex-
tent the advancement of railway prosperity involve the ad-
vancement of the district served.

Governments cannot manage commercial undertakings well.
They do not reduce rates, except on popular agitation. The
history of the Post Office proves this: penny postage and six-
penny telegrams were the outcome of great pressure.

Irish trade particularly needs careful nursing. That, we

Irish Railways and the State. 87

could not trust the State to do. The purchase of Irish rail-
ways would be a financial impossibility for Ireland itself to
stand. England would scarcely contribute. Although nation-
alisation is inadvisable, the relations between the State and
Trish railways may be improved. At present the Board of
Trade compels a line in Connemara to be as substantially con-
structed as a line in London, without regard to the probable
traffic. So, too, with regard to safety appliances, a line in
Galway must be as perfectly signalled and equipped as a line in
England with heavy traffic. This all involves a heavy sinking
of unremunerative capital, and is not business. ‘ As thetraffic,
so the road,’ the principle in America, is founded on common
sense. The procedure for acquiring land for railways is more
expensive in Ireland than in England. A landowner in Eng-
land gets one hearing before an arbitrator or a jury ; in Ireland
he gets three. The costs on acquiring a single acre often
amount to two or three times the value ofthe land. The State
should perfect their present system of control by cheapening
the procedure of the Railway and Canal Commission Court,
entirely out of the reach at present of humble litigants.

Future railway extension in Ireland must depend on the
State, which in the past has adopted a restrictive policy.
Baronial guarantees are wrong. Ifa district cannot support a
railway, to tax it for the support will be a burden. Free grants
or cheap loans to judiciously located lines—not to lines con-
structed merely to give employment—would promote railway
extension. Railways the subject of State aid at present are
limited to light railways, but the construction of light railways
has shown how much the State can do to open up and develop
Ireland.

Mr. Isaac J. Murphy said he had very seldom heard a lecture
of the kind with the leading ideas of which he was in such
absolute agreement. This was a subject on which he had a
considerable amount of information, and, in these days when
the old principles of Cobden and Bright on.free trade and pri-
vatefenterprise were supposed to be exploded, he was glad to

58 Irish Railways and the State.

hear those sound principles so clearly and strongly enunciated
by Mr. Macassey.

Mr. Robert Dunwoody thought a change in the heads of
departments and the directorate on some of the Irish railways
would be one of the very best things that could happen.
There had been a great improvement in recent years in the
management of some of their local railways, and he instanced
the Great Northern in particular. He knew of one industry
that had been immensely helped by the generous way in which
Mr. Plews, the manager of that line, had helped it.

Professor Fitzgerald sympathised especially with that part of
the paper which pointed out the annoyance caused by applying
the same elaborate system of signalling to small lines over
which there ran two or three trains per day as was applied to
lines which had trains running every two minutes.

Mr. John Carson said he would have been glad if Mr. Ma-
cassey had gone a little further than he had. Ireland was a
very poor country, and required Government aid, especially in
the important matter of her railways. Hethought the manage-
ment of some of cur lines could be very greatly improved, and
he suggested that excursion trains at cheap fares should be run,
say, two days per week, between Belfast and Dublin and Dublin
and Belfast, in order that the people of the metropolis and the
people of the Northern capital might become better acquainted
with each other. Intercourse between the two cities should
certainly be encouraged. Mr. Macassey had not in his paper
dealt with the subject of electrical lines. In the Isle of Man
the electric system, as far as passenger traffic was concerned,
had worked well, and he did not see why it should not be ap-
plied to goods traffic as well. He thought the Bangor and
Holywood line should be worked by electricity instead of
having fifty-ton engines employed. The system on this line
should be made more like a tramway system with, say, a ten
minutes’ service.

Mr. H. Leslie Thomas was in favour of State-owned railways.
They were a success in India, Egypt, and Belgium, and he did

Irish Railways and the State. 59

not see why they should not be a success in Ireland. Germany
failed because she neither left this matter to private enterprise
nor took it entirely over.

The Post Office would not be nearly so well managed in
private hands. There is, for instance, much to be desired in
the present management of the telephone. In the hands of
Government the service would be better and cheaper. The
tendency at present was in favour of State aid being given, not
only to railways, but to every large industry that was a neces-
sity tothe general public. He thought electrical traction
would be safer and cheaper than steam traction.

Mr. Walter Bailey said he was surprised to find that no one
present had made a serious suggestion that the State ownership
of Irish railways would be a benefit to the country at large. He
was under the impression that the State purchase of Irish rail-
ways was one of the strongest planks in the platform of many
gentlemen in Belfast to-day. He thought, however, that most
people believed that private enterprise was, upon the whole,
far better than the State working of Irish or any other rail-
ways. The subject of the price to be paid for Irish railways,
should the Government think the scheme feasible, was one of
the greatest circumstance, and on it a great deal might have
been said, but the point had not been raised. Indeed, the dis-
cussion had been of a very cursory description, and he did not
wish to trouble the meeting with statistics on that particular
point.

On the motion of Dr. Redfern, seconded by Mr. Adam
Speers, Holywood, the hearty thanks of the meeting were ac-
corded to Mr. Macassey.

60

5th February, Igor.
Mr. J. BROWN, PRreEsIDENT, in the Chair.

The President moved the following resolution :—‘‘ That the
members of this Society desire to express their deep sorrow at
the death of her Majesty Queen Victoria, their sense of the
great loss thereby sustained by the British nation, and to tender
their most humble and loyal duty to his Majesty King Edward,
with the fullest confidence that he will worthily occupy the
high place of her late revered Majesty.”

Mr. Robert Young, J.P., seconded the resolution, which, on
being put, was passed unanimously, the audience standing.

COLOUR.
By Proressor W. B. Morton, M.A.
(Abstract)

The subject of colour had been selected as lying in the
borderland between science and art, in the hope of interesting
the many members of the Society who were artistic in their
tastes. The discussion would be limited to the treatment of
colour as a sensation, and would leave untouched the purely
physical side of the question. The origin of all the colour in
nature was found in the composite nature of white light. In
illustration of this, experiments were shown with a spectrum
thrown on the screen. The colours of transparent bodies were
due to the fact that they absorbed some of the constituent rays
of white light, and allowed the rest to pass. Opaque coloured
bodies absorbed some rays, and scattered the rest back from their
surfaces. The colour shown by any surface must, therefore,

Colour. 61

depend on the quality of the illumination. This was illustrated
by holding different coloured papers in different parts of the
spectrum, and also in the pure yellow light of a sodium flame,
All the various tints and shades could be got from the separate
spectrum colours by altering either their intensity or their
purity, with the exception of purple tints, for which it was
necessary to mix the extreme colours of the spectrum. In very
bright light colours tend to become yellowish ; in dim light,
such as moonlight, the bluish colours are alone visible.

The laws of mixture of colours were then explained and
illustrated experimentally by making coloured patches on the
screen overlap, and by whirling rapidly parti-coloured discs.
The results obtained had to be distinguished from those got by
mixing pigments, and led to the assumption of red, green and
violet as the primary colour sensations. The treatment of the
rather complicated facts of colour-mixture was rendered easy
by the use of a colour diagram in the form of a triangle, with
the primary colours at its angles. Attention was drawn to the
unique position occupied by green, and the artistic consequences
of this. Specially important from the artistic point of view
was the grouping of colours into complimentary pairs, which
combine to give white or grey—e.g., blue and yellow, green
and purple, red and greenish-blue. The phenomena of con-
trast depended directly on these groupings. They might be
explained as an error of judgment on the part of the eye, the
standard of white being affected by the prevailing colour.
Thus in a prevailing yellow illumination the standard of white
would be displaced towards a yellowish tint, and surfaces which
were really grey would look to have the complementary colour
blue. This was illustrated by the well-known effects of
coloured shadows, seen, for instance, in a room lit by both
ordinary and incandescent gas burners. In general, coloured
objects seen on an extended coloured background had their
true colours mixed with that complementary to the back-
ground. A number of instances were shown in which two
rings, cut from the same coloured paper, but pasted on back-

62 Colour.

grounds of different colours, looked of entirely different shades.
The effect was best seen when the colours were made paler by
covering with a sheet of white tissue paper. It was shown that
phenomena of this kind gave a clue to the explanation of the
fact that certain pairs of colours ‘‘ go badly together.”

The lantern was manipulated by Messrs. John Wylie, B.A.,
and T. B. Vinycomb, B.A., upon the capable performance of
whose duties in this respect the lecture in considerable degree
depended.

Professor Redfern commented upon the brilliance and in-
structiveness of the lecture, and moved that the best thanks of
the Society be accorded to Professor Morton for having
delivered it.

Rey. Robert Workman seconded the motion, which was
supported in warm terms by Mr. William Workman, Mr.
George Coulter, Mr. William Gray, M.R.I.A., and passed by
acclamation.

Professor Morton briefly acknowledged the vote of thanks.

63

5th March, gor.

Sir JAMES HENDERSON, D.L., in the Chair.

SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES OF SLIGO,
CONNEMARA, AND CLARE.

By SEaTon F. MILLIGAN, M.R.1.A., F.R.S.A.
(Abstract.)

The Chairman said probably every one present had already
heard Mr. Milligan describe the scenery of what they all
believed to be the finest country in the world, and consequently
it was unnecessary to use many words in introducing him on
that occasion. A lecture on the scenery ofthe West of Ireland
was very appropriate, because in the coming season they wanted
to attract as many visitors to Ireland as possible so as to benefit
the country. He was of opinion that the Irish Tourists’
Association reached the zenith of their success last April, when
Queen Victoria, the greatest and most important lady in the
British Empire, visited Ireland; but they should not slacken
their efforts in developing the tourist traffic as much as _ pos-
sible in future. It was a matter of regret that the King and
Queen could not visit the country this year for reasons which
weighed with all of them, but it was their hope that next year
they would have the pleasure of welcoming their Majesties.

The Lecturer said—It is admitted by well-informed people
that Ireland is one of the most healthful and picturesque coun-
tries in Europe, but its charms had remained hidden, and its
beauties were only known to those who had ample means and
time to explore them. The most interesting places and the
finest scenery are situated in remote parts difficult of access and
expensive to reach.

This drawback has been removed in recent years by the

64 Scenery and Antigutties of

opening of new lines of railway and the erection of comfortable
and commodious hotels in the centres where the best scenery is
situated. Tourists and visitors in search of health, possessed
of moderate means, can visit these hitherto exclusive districts
at a comparatively small outlay. The railway from Galway to
Clifden has opened up the district of Connemara. The exten-
sion of the railway from Westport to Mallarany and the Sound
of Achill has made that island quite accessible with all its
wealth of cliff and mountain scenery, and its invigorating
breezes fresh drawn from the Atlantic. Further south the West
Clare Railway opens up in County Clare a most charming and
interesting district—viz., Lahinch, Miltown Malbay, and Kil-
kee. The hotel and golf links at Lahinch, overlooking Lis-
canor Bay, are attracting quite a crowd of tourists. Nature
has made Kilkee one ofthe finest, if not the very finest,
watering-places in Europe, where the great Atlantic rolls in
on its gently-sloping silver strand or dashes with thundering
force on its huge cliffs, carrying spray and foam upwards over
their topmost summit to be carried landward on the gale for
miles. County Clare is comparatively unknown to North of
Ireland people. It lies away in the South-West, out of the
beaten track of travellers, and until quite recently was most
difficult of access. Since the opening of the Balfour railways
this remote district has become much better known. Lis-
doonvarna, in North Clare, is noted for its sulphur, iron, and
magnesian spa, which is said to equal any in England. We
can reach these places by various routes—by rail from Athenry
to Ennis, and thence by the narrow guage to Kilkee, or to
Ennistymon and thence by coach to Lisdoonvarna. I went
straight, via Galway, thence across the bay by steamer to
Ballyvaughan, and public car, fare one shilling. The steamer
goes three days a week, and it is the most direct route. From
Lisdoonvarna to Ennistymon is nine miles, fare by public car
Is 6d ; you can take train from thence to Kilkee, or stop at
Lahinch for the golf links. In July last [spent a week at
Lisdoonvarna with the Royal Society of Antiquaries, who held

Siigo, Connemara and Clare 65

-

their summer meeting there. I next proceeded to Kilkee, and
finished up by returning to Galway by rail, and from thence
to Recess in Connemara. Recess is an extremely good centre
from which to explore Connemara, and the hotel there is owned
and managed by the railway company, who have done every-
thing possible to attract visitors to it.

I will now refer to the western seaboard of Ireland, and
describe as briefly as possible some of the sights that will meet
the traveller coming from Sligo in the north-west to he reaches
Kilkee in the south-west. The people who inhabit these parts
of Ireland are bilingual, and speak Irish and English, the former
from choice and the latter from necessity. These people are
most interesting to meet and speak to, the older people are
conversant with the habits and customs of the ancient Celtic
race, and relate old stories and folk tales, and croon you some
of the ancient airs that we are now trying to write down and
preserve from being entirely lost. Through Mayo, Galway and
Clare the old manners and customs can be studied, which are
surely and slowly dying out through the increased contact with
visitors and tourists. The sublime cliff scenery of Achill and
Clare can now be visited with comparatively little fatigue, as well
as the rivers, lakes, and bens of Connemara. The Midland Great
Western Railway runs right across the centre of Ireland from
Dublin to Galway, and from thence through Connemara to
Clifden, the capital of that district. From Athlone, almost the
centre of Ireland, it extends through Roscommon and Mayo to
Westport, and thence to the Sound of Achill, and to Ballina
and KiJlala. Here on the line at Mallarany the railway com-
pany have erected a fine and commodious hotel on a site com-
manding a view of Clew Bay. The tourist visiting Connemara
and Achill will be delighted with many miles of the grandest
and most picturesque lake and mountain scenery in the United
Kingdom. ‘The panoramic view of Killary Bay for eight miles,
with its wild, romantic mountains towering into the sky, and
the volcanic-like ‘‘ Mweelrea”’ (2,688 feet) at the entrance, can-
not be surpassed. The wild grandeur of Kylemore Pass and

66 Scenery and Antiquities of

Lake, with the ‘‘ Twelve Bens” (2,000 feet) in the background,
is unrivalled. The silvery lakes—Glendalough, Derryclare,
Inan—teem with salmon and trout, and offer inexhaustible
sport. The seacliffs and headlands of Clifden and Achill,
washed by the broad Atlantic, are grand and wild. Clew Bay,
comprising an area of 28 square miles, studded with over 100
islands, affords from Croagh Patrick (2,500 feet) one of the
rarest panoramic views in the world, not excepting the
Thousand Isles of the St. Laurence. Lough Corrib, 18 miles
long, is a small, fresh-water, inland sea. The venerable ruins
of Cong Abbey are not only beautiful, but traditional and
legendary. Loughs Conn and Cullin, the former eight miles
long, affords views that are the real of the extravagant scenic
artist’s ideal—wild foreground, water-jutting headlands, backed
by numerous lines of hills and high mountains. Lough Gill
and Hazlewood Demesne afford a change from the wild and
romantic to the wooded class of scenery, still, however, blended
in the background with desert-looking, serrated mountains.
To the scenic tourist, the health-seeker, the angler, the sports-
man, the botanist, the geologist, the archaeologist, the artist,
or the pedestrian, the attractions offered by the Western High-
lands are unrivalled, with the additional charm of being in parts
unexplored. Its streams and waters are as pure as its breezes
-wafted in by the Atlantic. No barriers on its rivers stop the
fish from running up from the sea, nor does any product of
manufacture poison them. The coracle skims over its bays and
inlets, reaping the harvest of the deep. The western peasant
believes in home manufacture, as he and his family produce
almost all they require of food and clothing, and are technically
educated to an extent that the peasant of the North is not:
They spin, weave and dye the wool of their sheep, knit their
hosiery, make their shoes, coracles, and many other articles.
They are good builders of walls without mortar, and frequently
erect their own dwelling-houses. Nature provides for these
western districts many things that in our cities could not be
procured at any cost. Scientists state that ozone is produced

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 67

when the waves of the sea are dashed and split up against the
cliff. No place known to me are the waves sosmashed up into
what I may term waterdust as along the coast of Achill and
Clare. Here the greatest production of ozone in Europe is
constantly in operation. We havea nature’s own factory for
the production of the most life-sustaining and health-giving
air in the world. No such invigorating supply is produced on
any part of the coast of the Riviera, where people flock for
health, whilst the temperature along this western county is
very equal and mild all the winter through. The breezes from
the gulf stream so temper the air that fuchsias grow into great
trees and bloom in mid-winter. I have seen at Kilkee the
Atlantic stirred up by a western gale, particles of white foam
flying high up in the air and carried inland for a great distance
out of sight. We will show views of Kilkee in fine weather,
and also the wave effects during a gale; but no views can do
justice to the grandeur and sublimity of the scene during a stiff
gale from the west. We think that the health-giving and in-
vigorating properties of the air at Kilkee are not sufficiently
known to the public or the medical profession. The out-door
life now recommended in case of lung disease where the air is
pure should be tried in some of the sheltered valleys of the west
coast ; there the torce of the wind would not be felt, but where
its purity would remain unimpaired.

COUNTY SLIGO.

Our tour naturally divides itself into three parts—Sligo,
Connemara, and Clare. If we start from the north-west at
Sligo, we find it has a class of scenery peculiarly its own. It
differs entirely from Connemara and Clare. It has fine moun-
tain ranges, beautiful lakes, with well wooded islands, and
picturesque fishful rivers. Its fields are green and fertile, its
valleys and hill slopes are well wooded, giving a richness and
warmth to the scenery not found elsewhere in the west. The
farm houses are comfortable, clean, and well kept, so that no
one would imagine this to be in the poor Ireland so often

68 Scenery and Antiquities of

pictured. It differs widely from the districts in Mayo and
Galway, both in its appearance and people. Many Crom-
wellian soldiers were settled in County Sligo as the border
county of Connaught. They were mostly of English descent,
and they introduced improved methods of farming, which are
visible to the present day. Lough Gill, close by Sligo town,
is a charming lake five miles long, by about a mile and a half
wide. It contains several well wooded islands, and the ruins
of an ancient Celtic Church on one. It is surrounded on
almost every side by high mountains, which give it quite the
appearance of Killarney, but on a smaller scale. The arbutus
grows in Hazlewood Demesne on the northern side of the iake,
the hills of Cleveragh, overlooking lake and river, are also finely
wooded. There is a holy well and altar at Tober Nalt on the
margin of the lake, where a pattern is held on the last Sunday
in July called Garland Sunday. The river Garvogue, which
discharges the surplus waters of the lake, is the earliest salmon
river in Ireland, as fishing commences on the Ist of January,
when the fish are found to be in prime order. The Owenmore
that empties into Ballysodare Bay very close to the Sligo
river, strange to say, is fully three months later. The rapids
and falls of the latter river at Ballysodare are very ftne, par-
ticularly when the river is in flood. For several hundred yards
the rapids extend from the bridge towards the sea, and finally
tumble over a fine fall, and are lost in the bay. Glencar Lake,
on the northern side of Sligo, some ten miles distant, lies right
under the Benbulbin Mountains ; it contains two crannoges, or
artificial islands, which in ancient times were used as strong-
holds. Bronze and stone implements have been found in
them, also great quantities of bones of the red deer, ox, goat,
and other animals. There is a celebrated waterfall at Glencar,
with the peculiar feature that when the wind blows strong
from a point in front of it the water seems to rise up the face
of the mountain and is lost in spray. The visitor to Glencar
can return to Sligo by the village of Drumcliff, founded by St.
Columba. It possesses a beautiful sculptured cross and a por-

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 69

tion of a round tower. The ancient church has disappeared,
but the cross and round tower point to the antiquity of the
place. Close by this village is the charming district of Lisadell,
and the seat of Sir Henry Gore Booth, Bart. This district is
noted for ancient forts, cashels, cromleachs, giants’ graves, and
other interesting objects of ancient times. In one day the
traveller can visit Glencar, Drumcliff, and Lisadell, returning
to Sligo same evening. Another interesting tour from Sligo
is to Carrowmore, to see the cromleachs and stone circles ;
thence tothe Glen, and finally to Knocknarea. Driving as far
as Primrose Grange School, where a twenty minutes’ climb
will bring us to the summit, 1,078 feet above sea-level. It lies
exactly between the bays of Sligo and Ballysodare, and com:
mands a most extensive view across Donegal Bay and south-
wards to the Curlews. The greatest cairn in Ireland crowns
its summit, called Mescaun Maeve, supposed to have been
erected about the period of the Christian era, in memory of
Maeve, Queen of Connaught. Close by the river side in Sligo
town are the ruins of the abbey founded about the year 1252
by Maurice Fitzgerald, for the Order of Dominicans. This
Maurice, who was Lord Justice of Ireland at this time, was the
ancestor of the Leinster Fitzgeralds, now represented by the
Duke of Leinster. A drive around the lake should not be
missed. It passes around the southern side, reaching the little
town of Dromahaire, and returning back by the Enniskillen
Road. The ruins of the Franciscan monastery of Creevelea can
be included on the way back, as well as the great prehistoric
sepulchral monument in the deerpark, known as the Irish
Stone Henge. We next proceed to County Mayo, on our way
to Connemara. We can go by two routes—take train via
Collooney and Claremorris for Westport, or by long car from
Sligo, via Ballysodare and Dromore West, for Ballina, from
which a short train journey reaches Westport. This drive
enables us to see the rapids and falls of Ballysodare and the in-
teresting scenery by Dromore West until we cross the river
Moy at Ballina, which divides Mayo from County Sligo. The

70 Scenery and Antiguzties of

Moy isa fine salmon river, and Lough Conn is also close by,
where there is extremely good fishing. In the vicinity of
Ballina there are several places of great antiquarian interest.
Rosserck and Moyne Abbeys and the Round Tower of Killala;
a circular drive from Ballina will take in all three. The place
where the French landed in 1798 is pointed out about three
miles from Killala. We can proceed by train direct to West-
port via Manulla junction from Ballina.

ACHILL ISLAND.

- Westport is situated at the head of Clew Bay, and is the
most convenient place from which to visit Achill Island, or
start for Connemara. It is a very picturesque town, witha
river running through the centre of it, and trees planted on
either bank, which has a very pretty effect in summer. Lord
Sligo has a seat quite close, and the entrance gate opens from
the town ; the demesne, which is very extensive, should be
visited, and many fine views of Clew Bay may be had from it.
We proceed by rail from Westport to Mallarany, where the
railway company have erected a fine and commodious hotel.
We can visit from Mallarany all the places of interest in Achill,
going by rail to Achill Sound, taking a car there, and driving
to the various places, returning again to Mallarany by last
train in the evening. We may, after seeing all the places of
interest at or near Mallarany, proceed to Dugort, where Mr.
Sheridan, the popular proprietor of the Slievemore Hotel, can
put us up most comfortably, and also guide us to every spot of
interest in the island. The population of this interesting
island in 1891 was 4,677. ‘Tillage on a small scale and fishing
are the only employments of the people. The distance from
Dublin to Achill Sound, where the line terminates, is 1874
miles, the extension from Westport to the Sound is 26} miles.
The Sound is a narrow strait connecting Clew and Blacksod
Bays. A bridge now crosses the Sound, opening in the centre
on a swivel to allow small vessels to pass, and is a great con-

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 71

venience to all going to or from the island. The bridge was
built mainly through the efforts of Mr. John G. Porter, of
Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh, who contributed about one-
third of its total cost. Achill is about 15 miles long by 11
broad, and is the largest island off the Irish coast. It has very
fine cliffs and seal caves. Croghaun is 2,192 feet high, present-
ing a magnificent section to the Atlantic. Slievemore is
2,204 feet high. The village of Dugort at its base contains the
hotel, church, police barracks, and principal buildings. From
Dugort all the sights are easily reached, the ascent of Slieve-
more and Crogham, the seal caves, and cliffs of Menawn, the
cathedral, rocks, and the native village of Keel. There isa
fine strand near this village, extending for about three miles,
and close by the village of Slievemore are the remains of many
objects of antiquarian interest. Dugort is about nine miles
from the sound, and cars run in the tourist season on arrival of
the trains. From the summit of Croaghhaim a magnificent
sea clift, only equalled by Slieve League in Donegal, a most ex-
tensive view can be obtained either inland towards Westport
and Connemara, or seaward towards Clare Island_and the other
islands scattered alung that portion of the Atlantic seaboard.

CONNEMARA.

Leaving Achill we return to Westport, which is the starting
place for Connemara. We take our seat on the tourist car for
Leenane, by the lovely Erriff Valley, through which the Erriff
River, a fine trout and salmon stream, flows into Killary
Harbour. We stop at the Leenane Hotel, from which a series
of excursions may be taken. There is fine lake, river, and sea
fishing to be had here, some free and also at a moderate rental
by the day or week. For those fond of mountaineering there
are several most interesting excursions—the ascent of Leenane
Mountain (at the foot of which the hotel is situated), which
rises 1,404 feet, and commands a splendid view of the twelve
Bens, Killary Harbour, and the lakes and rivers of Connemara,
the Delphi pass, and the ascent of Mweelrea, which lies along

72 Scenery and Antiquities of

the northern side of the Killary, rising to a height of 2,688
feet, can be made from Leenane. IfI were asked to describe
the scenery of this district around Leenane in as few words as
possible, I would reply, huge mountains dotted all round, con-
nected by deep, dark valleys, through which lakes wind, and
from which rivers flow to other lakes or to the sea. Many of
the mountains are bare rock, others clad in heather, and
vegetation very sparse. Interesting excursions can be made
from Leenane as a centre by car, boat, or small steamer, and
the tourist car from Clifden to Westport passes the door.
Leaving Leenane by the tourist car for Clifden, we pass by
Kylemore and Letterfrack. Kylemore Lake and Castle, the
property of Mr. Mitchell Henry, is a charming place, its natural
beauties being developed by all that good taste and money
could do. Letterfrack is a well-to-do village, founded by a
Quaker gentleman, who has done a great deal to found indus-
tries and improve the locality. There is a comfortable hotel,
owned by Mrs. O’Grady, in the village. Renvyle Hotel is
about five miles from here. The house was the family mansion
of the Blake family, who some twenty years ago turned it into
a hotel to provide accommodation for those coming here for
fishing, shooting, and sea bathing. It is exceedingly comfort-
able, homely, and well-kept. Renvyle is an extremely good
centre from which to explore this district. From Letterfrack
to Clifden occupies one hour and a half to drive. It is the
capital of Connemara, built on rising ground overlooking a
beautiful inlet of the sea called Ardbear Harbour. Clifden is
built on the property of the D'Arcy family ; population, about
one thousand. From Clifden we may drive to Roundstone, or,
if we are interested in angling, can go by rail to Recess. At
Recess the Railway Hotel, which is owned by and under the
management of the Midland Railway Company, is adjacent to
the Recess Station on the Galway and Clifden line. The
hotel, which is furnished with every modern comfort and
convenience, occupies a picturesque situation in the midst
of the well-known lake district of Connemara. It is

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 73

sheltered from the north-easterly winds by the Maam Turk
Mountains, and from its position it affords magnificent views
of the famous Twelve Bens. When stopping at Recess we
observed the anglers had all well-filled baskets on their return,
principally salmon and trout. The climate is very mild in
winter, so that it should be a good winter resort for invalids
who could enjoy a soft, balmy air in mid-winter coming direct
oft the Gulf Stream, which flows along the coast. When finally
leaving Recess a minutes’ walk brings us to the special hotel
platform, where our luggage has preceded us, and from whence
we take train to Galway, which we reach in about two hours,

ARRAN ISLANDS.

Galway city is now so well known that it will be unnecessary
to dwell on the various places of interest still remaining from
bygone days. The Arran Islands, which we reach by steamer
from Galway, have also become much better known since the
visit of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in 1895. They issued
a very fully illustrated handbook, giving copious illustrations
and descriptive sketches of all places of interest in the islands.
These islands possess a special charm, no matter how often
visited; they contain the finest specimens of prehistoric Pagan
forts in Europe—viz., Dun Angus, Dun Oghill, and Dhu Caher
in the north island, and Dun Connor, situated on the summit
of the middle island. Arran of the Saints contains as well
many examples of our earliest churches—the Seven Churches,
or Temple Brecan, and Temple Mac Duach, on the north side
of Arranmore; on the south side is Temple Benen and
Monaster Kieran, together with the remains of a round tower.
On the shore of the bay at Killeany is Arkin Castle, or Crom-
well’s Fort, built during the time of the Protector and gar-
risoned by his troops. There is plenty of material on the
islands to employ the visitor fora week, and accommodation
may be had at the Atlantic Hotel, Kilronan. The cliffs of
Moher and the coast of Clare can be distinctly seen from the
islands on aclear day. The steamer from Galway goes daily

74 Scenery and Antiquities of

in the summer months, and takes three hours to reach Kil-
ronan pier. The Irish language is that commonly used by the
people amongst themselves, but most of the young people can
speak English as well. Many rare ferns grow on the islands,
including maiden hair and royal tern.

COUNTY CLARE (LISDOONVARNA.)

We went from Galway to Lisdoonvarna by the direct route
across the bay by steamer to Ballyvaughan, which lies on the
opposite or Clare side of the bay; from here we afterwards
drove by the public car to Lisdoonvarna. Ballyvaughan is the
best and nearest point from which to visit the celebrated ruins
of Corcomroe Abbey. <A great battle was fought in this
locality in the year 1317, when many of the O’Briens fell, and
were buried within the Abbey. The drive from Ballyvaughan
goes through the Shale district, across the high hills, by the
well-known Corkscrew Road. On reaching the summit a fine
view of the Bay of Galway may be obtained, with the ancient
city of the tribes and a great rocky amphitheatre lying in the
foreground of the picture close to us. The visit of the Royal
Society of Antiquaries here took place in July, 1900. The
party numbered almost 100, and though it was the busy season
they all managed to get comfortably provided for amongst the
various hotels. The town is situated about 600 feet above sea
level on a limestone subsoil, within three miles of the Atlantic.
The air is very bracing, and the spa is said to equal any in
England. The Gowlan river flows through the place in a deep
gorge or ravine which it has cut in the course of ages through
the rock. The principal sulphur spa is situated at the foot of
the hill from the Queen’s Hotel at one side, and the Eagle and
Atlantic View on the other. There isa pump house built
over the spring close by the river side. The water is pumped
up through glass-lined pipes, and supplied to visitors at a very
moderate charge. The following are amongst some ot the
places visited during our stay at Lisdoonvarna—Ballinalackin,
a 15th century tower belonging to the O’Brien’s. It is situ-

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. a5

ated on the top of a high rock, which is perpendicular on two
sides. The cliffs of Moher extend for a distance of about seven
miles along the coast of Clare, the most prominent points of
which are Slievenageeragh, 668 feet high ; Ailnasharragh, the
fool’s cliff, 603 feet ; O’Brien’s Tower, 587 feet ; and the Hag’s
Head (in Irish Cearn, Calliach) 407 feet. From the cliffs of
Moher a most glorious view may be had of the cliffs them-
selves, as some portions project from which a view may be ob-
tained. You can see towards the north Innishmaan, crowned
-with the great fort of Dun-Connor, The Bens of Connemara ;
southward Liscanor Bay, the spire of Miltown Malbay behind
Spanish Point, Caherrush, Mutton Island, the bold head of
Boltard, and Loop Head. And ona clear day the mountains
of North Kerry may be seen, and inland Bureen, Elva, Callan,
and the distant peak of Telegraph Hill, 1,746 feet high, at the
remote end of Clare. The cliffs derive their name from an
ancient stone fort or caher which stood on the top of the cliffs,
but now dismantled. Leaving the cliffs of Moher after lunch-
ing, we drove downhill by the village and ruined castle of Lis-
canor, passing by St. Bridget’s Holy Well, where the scene of
the picture for “ The Blind Girl at the Holy Well” was taken.
We stopped to examine the ancient Church of Kilmacreehy,
standing on the shore of Liscanor Bay. A little further round
is the village of Lahinch, and the Norwegian-built Golf Hotel,
similar to Rosapena, where you will find the finest 18-hole golf
links in lreland, two miles long and a mile and a half broad.
These various places were all included in a circular drive from
Lisdoonvarna, returning there in time for dinner. Another
day’s excursion was to the ancient Cathedral Church of Kil-
fenora, where there is a very fine sculptured high cross ; from
thence to a fine stone fort, or caher, called Ballykinvarga. The
walls of it are from 12 to 15 feet thick, built in three concentric
sections, like the coatings of an onion. For external defence
a very fine chevaux-de-frise extends toa distance of 100 feet
from the wall of the fort. The entrance is by a single door-
way, with a stone lintel, seven feet long. The wall stands at

76 Scenery and Antiquities of

present from 12 to 16 feet high. A fine and never-failing
spring of water near the entrance supplied the fort. It has
never been tampered with by any restorer, and is a good
example of a pre-historic fort. After leaving Ballykinvarga,
we returned homeward, calling on our way at the ancient
castle of Leemaneagh. It consists of a tall tower, built in 1480,
to which a large Tudor house was attached a century later.
This castle belonged to a branch of the O’Brien family of Clare.
A gateway and arch have the arms of Conor O’Brien, dated
1643. Many other places possessing both historic and pre-
historic interest are situated within reach of Lisdoonvarna.
The examples we have referred to may suffice to point out
what an interesting antiquarian centre it is, in addition to the
curative properties of its famous spa.

KILKEE TO LOOPHEAD.

We left for Ennistymon, where we were fortunate in seeing
an extremely fine waterfall under favourable conditions. The
river was in flood, and the mass of water was enormous,
sufficient to drive several factories and light the town by
electricity. We took the train from here on the West Clare
line for Kilkee. Time will not permit us to speak of the many
interesting places on our way. Our time is all too limited for
Kilkee and vicinity. After seeing all the watering places of
Ireland, none of them can approach Kilkee for magnificent
cliff scenery, wave effects, or the extreme purity ofits air. The
town is built around a horseshoe-shaped bay, called Moore
Bay. It is about one mile around. The old portion of the
town, where the shops, telegraph, and post office, banks, and
other public buildings are is on the eastern side ; also the rail-
way station. The water flows in from the Atlantic over a
ledge of rocks that breaks the force of the waves approaching
the strand, which has a gentle slope over a floor of fine, firm
silver sand. It is sheltered from the north by the lofty cliff of
George’s Head. Outside the town, both north and south, are
great sea cliffs, against which the huge Atlantic billows strike

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 77

with a force we have never seen equalled elsewhere. During
the season the strand at Kilkee presents a very lively sight. It
is dotted with bathers and bathing boxes, which are drawn
backward and forward to suit the tide by donkeys, whilst
cricket and tennis may be seen in progress at the same time.
The esplanade is protected from the sea by a very thick, iow
wall, that does not rise high above the road, and which forms a
convenient place for people to sit upon whilst looking out to
sea. From the fact that the force of the waves is broken before
they reach the strand by the Duggerna and Edmond rocks, it
is perfectly safe for ladies and children to bathe there, whilst
the gentlemen have a spring board and iron ladders further
round towards the west where they can have a plunge in deeper
water. There are also pools left by the receding tide to suit
bathers who wish to get a plunge at a moderate depth in
safety. Walking towards the west end the road leads up over
a green sloping hill covered with short crisp grass. Diverging
off this road we come to the cliffs which continue for a long
distance towards the south. There are caves in the rocks
along the shore that can be entered when the tide is out.
Many varieties of shell fish may be collected here, also dulse,
and Carrigeen moss. The latter when boiled forms a jelly,
which is very nutritious, and said to be good for weak lungs.
Large quantities of it were used in 1846 during the famine, by
which many were saved from starvation. Further along the
strata is quite horizontal, and you can descend to the sea level
by natural steps from layer to layer. Proceeding still further
south, the rocks again become perpendicular and much higher.
There is a puffing hole here, which acts when the wind blows
the sea in from the west. The water is forced up to a great
height, and in falling again in spray, if it is sunshine, all the
prismatic colours are shown, which adds to the beauty of the
scene. Towards Bishop’s Island is the amphitheatre, so called
from its crescent shape. The waves here during a western gale
are magnificent, and strike the rocks with thundering force,
rising in spray occasionally to their highest summit to be blown

78 Scenery and Antiquities of

in foam landward on the gale. There is a cave here extending
backward for 60 feet and 30 feet wide at the entrance.
Mackerel is the principal fishing, which are cured and exported
to America. Herrings, haddock, whiting and cod are also
plentiful In addition to its good fish supply, it is well provided
in the season with excellent mutton, and a plentiful supply of
fowls, which the peasants bring to the doors of the various
lodges for sale. Board and lodgings can be had at the best
hotels at £3 per week, and apartments with cooking and
attendance can be had at a reasonable rate. There is a good
bath house where hot and cold sea water baths may be had.
The roads are good for cycling, and most attractive scenery all
the way to Loop Head, a distance of some 15 miles. Return
journey may be made by Carrigaholt, situate on the north side
of the Shannon estuary. It has the additional advantage of a
water supply of the purest and coolest from a holy well, the
patron saint of which is Senanus, or St. Senan, as he is some-
times called. There is a little distance further off a second holy
well called Tober Kee, after the saint who gave his name to
Kilkee. It is a picturesque sight to see the people with pitchers
of water on their heads and others praying around the well.
On the east end of the town there is an ancient chambered rath
surrounded by a moat about twenty feet broad. Ina field at
the rere of Moore's Hotel there is a fallen cromlech, whilst on
Bishop’s Island there is an ancient beehive oratory. All the
way on the Atlantic side of the peninsula, which extends from
Kilkee to Loop Head, are a series of most interesting views of
cliffs and headlands and sea caves, and huge rock monoliths
standing up isolated in the water, and defying all the fury of
the Atlantic. Dunlicky Castle is an object of great interest.
Built on a promontory, which is joined to the land by a very
narrow neck, in ancient times it was impregnable. The natives
_ have a legend that it was owned by pirates, who decoyed
vessels in here, and had an armed sloop in hiding to fall on the
hapless vessel when it came in. A mile beyond Dunlicky is
the pretty fishing village of Goleen. Standing above Goleen

Sligo, Connemara and Clare. 79

is the lofty Knockmagarron Hill, 410 feet above the sea, and
formerly used as a signal station. The natural bridges of Ross
are the next objects of interest, situated near to the village of
that name. There are two bridges; the largest is about 45
feet in length, 30 feet broad, and three feet in thickness. The
layers of rock are horizontal ; the bottom of the span is about
40 feet above low water. Two very beautiful arches, called the
cathedral arches, may be seen close by. Reaching Loop Head,
the lighthouse should be visited for the extensive view that it
commands. Leap Head, now Loop Head, took its name from
the extraordinary leap of the great Irish hero Cuchullin, who,
to escape a too importunate lover, leaped the chasm separating
the head from the cliff adjoining. The lady leaped it success-
fully, but in returning to follow him she fell and was killed.
We have now reached a point north of the great estuary of the
Shannon, and can return by a different route, calling at the
ancient Castle of Carrigaholt, thence to Kilrush, Scattery
Island, with its round tower and ancient churches, the abode of
St. Senan. The group of ruins are extensive, embracing an
early Irish church, a round tower, and cathedral of the middle
ages.

I have now briefly attempted to describe some of the beauties
of Ireland lying along its western seaboard, which gives a very
imperfect idea of the reality. We will now proceed to illus-
trate what we have been describing with photographs, the
majority of them never before exhibited in Belfast, and some
of those taken at Kilkee during a storm show wave effects that
could not be described by any words of mine.

The views were then thrown on the screen and much ap-
preciated, the lantern being skilfully manipulated by Mr. F.
M‘Gibney, of Messrs. Lizars.

Mr. Garrett Nagle, R.M., moved a hearty vote of thanks to
Mr. Milligan for his most interesting and charming lecture,
which he was sure would long be remembered by all who had
had the pleasure of listening to it. To himself it had, indeed,
been a special pleasure, for he was born and brought up in the

80 Scenery and Antiquities of

South of Ireland, and the pictures and the descriptions of them
had brought before his mind familiar scenes. They must all
feel grateful to Mr. Milligan for his efforts to bring the scenery
of Ireland under the notice of the people of England and
Scotland and foreigners.

Mr. John Carson seconded the motion.

The motion was passed by acclamation, and appropriately
conveyed to the chairman.

Mr. Milligan, in replying, said he felt greatly indebted to
Mr. Nagle for his kind words, and he assured them that he
took a delight in increasing an interest in their country.

Dr. Moran moved a vote of thanks to Sir James Henderson
for presiding.

Mr. Wm. Gray, M.R.I.A., seconded the motion, and atter
alluding in appreciative terms to the chairman’s interest in the
well-being and progress of their conntry, joined with him in
the hope that the King and Queen would visit them next
year.

The vote was passed with great heartiness, and the com-
pliment suitably acknowledged,

2nd April, gel.

Mr. J. BROWN, Presipent, in the Chair.

Mr. George Gorrey, M.R.IA., read a paper on
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN AND THE DAWN OF
SRA,
_ Illustrated by a Special Series of Lantern Slides of Paleolithic
Implements, etc.

BELFAST

Patural History & Wbhilosophical Society.

Officers and Council of Management for 1901-1902.

President:
JOHN BROWN.

Bice- Presidents :
REV. T. HAMILTON, pb.D., LL.D. WM. SWANSTON, r.a.s.
R,. LLOYD PATTERSON, p..., F.u.8.| ROBERT YOUNG, c.z., g.p.

Soom. Treasurer :
W. H. F. PATTERSON.

goon. Librarian:
JOHN H. DAVIES.

son. Secrefarp :
ROBERT M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.I.A.

Council :
JOHN BROWN.
JOHN H. DAVIES.
PROFESSOR M. F. FITZGERALD, B.a., M.1.M.E.
ANDREW GIBSON, F.r.s.a.
REV. T. HAMILTON, D.pD., LL.D., PRESIDENT Q.C.B.
JOHN HORNER, M.1.M.5.
SIR OTTO JAFFE, g.r.
SEATON F. MILLIGAN, M.zB.1.4., F.R.8.A.
R. LLOYD PATTERSON, D.L., J.P., F.L.S.
W. H. F. PATTERSON.
THOMAS F. SHILLINGTON, g.p.
WM. SWANSTON, F.a.s.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, r.a.s.
ROBERT YOUNG, g.p., c.£.
R. M. YOUNG, B.a., J.P., M.R.I.A.

SHAREHOLDERS.

[* Denotes holders of three or more Shares. |

*Alexander, Francis, B.E., Belfast
Allworthy, Edward, Ardgreenan, Cavehill Road, do.
Anderson, John, J.p., F.G.s., East Hillbrook, Holywood
Andrew, John J., L.p.s., R.c.s. Eng., University Square, Belfast.
Andrews, Miss Elizabeth, College Gardens, do.
Andrews, George, J.p., Ardoyne, do.
Armstrong, Thomas, jun , Donegall Square West, do.
Armstrong, William, Chichester Gardens, do.
Baird, Wm., Royal Avenue, do.
Barbour, James, J.p., D.L., Ardville, Marino, Holywood.
Beattie, Rev. A. Hamilton, Portglenone.
Bigger, Francis J., M.R.1.A., Ardrie, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., s.p., Lisburn.
Bottomley, Henry H., Belfast.
Bowman, Davys, Chichester Street, do.
Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, do.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Braddell, Edward, St. Ives, Malone Park, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Brett, John H., c.z., Fortwilliam Park, do.
Bristow, James R., Lismore, Windsor Avenue, do.
Brown, John, Longhurst, Dunmurry.
Brown, William K. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Bulloch, Alexander, Eversleigh, Malone Road, do.
Burnett, John R., Elmwood Avenue, do.
Byers, Prof. John W., M.A., M.D., Lower Crescent, do.

- Calwell, Alex. M‘D., do.
Calwell, William, M.a., M.D., College Square North, do.
*Campbell, Miss Anna (Representatives of), do.

Carlisle, A. M., Elmwood House, do.

Shareholders. 83

Carr, A. H. R., Waring Street, Belfast.
Carson, John, Walmer Terrace, Holywood.
*Charley, Phineas H., Mornington Park, Bangor.
Christen, Madame, Carnbinn, Whitehouse
Clark, George S., Dunlambert, Belfast,
Clarke, E. H.. Notting Hill, do.
Coates, Victor, J.P., D.L., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C., M.a., 3.P,, Queen’s Elms, Belfast.
Combe, George, Cranethorpe, Strandtown.
Crawford, William, Mount Randal, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calendar Street, do.
Craig, Edwin E., Craigavon, Strandtown.
Cunningham, Professor Robert O., M.D., F.L.S.,

F.G.S., Mountpellier, Malone Road, Belfast.
Davies, John H., Castle Street, Lisburn.
*Deramore, Lord, p.L. (Representatives of)

Dods, Robert, B.a., St. Leonards, Newcastle.
*Donegal, Marquis of (Representatives of), Belfast.
*Downshire, Marquis of (Reps. of), The Castle, Hillsborough.
Drennan, W. H., Wellington Place, Belfast.
Duffin, Adam, Lu.p., University Square, do.
Dunleath, Lord, Ballywalter Park (Reps. of), Ballywalter.
Ewart, G. Herbert, m.a., Firmount, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Ewart, Fred W., Derryvolgie, Lisburn.
Ewart, Sir Wm. Quartus, Bart., M.A., J.P., Glenmachan

House, Belfast,
Faren, Wm., Mountcharles, do.
*Fenton, Francis G., London.
Ferguson, Godfrey W., c.z., Donegall Park, Belfast.
Finlay, Fred. W., 3.p., Wolfhill House, Ligoniel.
Finlay, Robert H. F., Cavehill Road, Belfast.

Finnegan, John, B.a., B.sc., Kelvin House, Botanic
Avenue, Belfast.

84 Shareholders.

FitzGerald, Professor Maurice F., B.4., M.I.M.E., Assoc.

M.I.C.E., Eglantine Avenue, Belfast.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), do
Gibson, Andrew, F.R.s.A.1., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Girdwood, Catherine, Mountpleasant, do.
Gordon, Robert W., 3.P. (Reps. of), Bangor.
Graham, Thomas, J.P., Holywood.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A.

(Representatives of), Broughshane.
Gray, William, m.R.1.a , Glenburn Park, Cavehill Road, Belfast.
Greer, Thomas, J.P., M.R.LA., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
*Hall, Frederick H.. Waterford.
Hamilton, Rev. Thos., D.p., President, Queen’s College, Belfast.
*Hamilton, Hill, 3.p. (Representatives of), do.
Harland, W., do.
Henderson, Miss Anna S. (Representatives of), do,
Henderson, Sir James, A.M., J.P., D.L., Oakley, Windsor

Park, do.

Henderson, Mrs. Charlotte (Reps. of), Clarges Street, London.
Henry, R. M., m.a., Royal Academical Institution, Belfast.

Herdman, John, b.t., J.p., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, Robert Ernest, J.P., Rosavo, Cultra.
Heyn, James A. M., Strandtown House, Belfast.
Hind, John, junr., Clifton Park Avenue, do.
Hodges, Miss, Wellington Place, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Horner, John, M.LM.E., Chelsea, Antrim Road, do.
*Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., v.L., Orangefield, do.
*Hughes, Edwin, J.p., Dalchoolin, | Craigavad.
_ Hyndman, Hugh, Li.p., Windsor, Belfast.

Inglis, James, 3.p., Abbeyville, Whiteabbey.

Shareholders. 85

Jackson, A. T., c.z., Tighnabruaich, Derryvolgie

Avenue, Belfast.
Jaffe, Sir Otto, j.p., Kin Edar, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., j.p., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Kennedy, Mrs. Amelia, Dalguise, Monkstown, Dublin,
Kertland, Edwin H., Chlorine Gardens, Belfast.
Kidd, George, J.p., Lisnatore, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, John R., Altoona, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Kinnaird, George Y., Malone Park, do.
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Donegall Place, do.
Lanyon, Mrs., Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park, Belfast,
Larmor, Joseph, M.A., F.R.S., St. John’s College, Cambridge,
Leathem, Dr. R.R., Belgravia, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, j.p., Edgecumbe,

Strandtown, do.
Lepper, F. R., j.p., Elsinore, Carnalea, Co. Down.
Letts, Professor E.A., PH.D., F.C.S., Shirley Lodge, Cultra.
Lindsay, Professor James A., M.A., M-D., College. Square

East, Belfast.
Lytle, David B., j.p., Bloomfield House, do.
Lytle, Joseph H., j.p., Ashleigh, Windsor Avenue, do.
Macassey, L. Livingstone, B.L., M.1.c.E , Stanley House,

Holywood.
Mackenzie, John, c.£., Strathavon, Lisburn Road, Belfast.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representative of), do.
Magill, J. E., Easton Terrace, Cliftonville, do.
Malcolm, Bowman, M.I.c.E., M.LM.E., Ashley Park,

Antrim Road, do.
Maxton, James, M.I.N.A., M.IL.MAR.E., Kirkliston Drive,

Bloomfield, do.
Maxwell, David A., College Gardens, Belfast.
Milligan, Seaton Forest, M.R.I.A., F.R.S.A., Bangor.
Mitchell, Robert A., LL.B., T.c.D., Marmont, Strandtown.

Montgomery, Henry C., Bangor,

86 Shareholders.

Montgomery, H. H., Knock,
Montgomery, Thomas, J.P., D.1.
Moore, James, The Finaghy,
Morton, Professor W. B., m.a., Nottinghill,

Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park,

_Murney, Henry, m.p., j.p., Tudor House,
*Murphy, Isaac James

*Murphy, Joseph John (Representatives of),
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone,
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone,

Belfast.

. Ballydrain House, Dunmurry.

Belfast.

do.
Belfast.
Holywood.
Armagh.
Belfast.
Belfast.

do.

Musgrave, Sir James, Bart, pD.L., J.p., Drumglass, Malone, do.

MacAdam, Robert (Representatives of),
.M‘Bride, Henry James, Hyde Park, Mallusk,
M‘Bride, Samuel, Edgehill, Lennoxvale,
*M‘Calmont, Robert (Representatives of),

*M‘Cammon, Lieut.-Col. Thomas A., Woodville,

M‘Cance, H. J., j.P., D.L. (Representatives of),
Larkfield,

M‘Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., j.P., D.L. (Reps. cf),
MacColl, Hector, Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield,
MacCormac, John, M.D., Victoria Place,
M‘Cormick, Hugh M‘Neile, Ardmara,
*M'‘Cracken, Francis (Representatives of),
M:Gee, James, Woodville,

M'‘Gee, Samuel Mackey, University Street,
-Macllwaine, John H.,

M‘Kisack, H. L., m.p., College Square East,
*MacLaine, Alexander, j.P., Queen’s Elms,
M‘Neill, George, Beechleigh, Malone Road,
M‘Knight, John P., Nevara, Chichester Park,

Neill, Sharman D.,
iicnolten Henry te College Sauate North,

O'Neill, James, M a., College Square East,
*O’Rorke, Ambrose Howard, Dunratho,

do.

do.

do.
London.
Holywood.

Dunmurry.

Belfast.
do.
Craigavad.

Holywood.
Belfast.
Bangor.
Belfast.

do.

do.

do.

Holywood.
Belfast.

do.
Craigavad.

Shareholders. 87

Park, Rev. Wm., M.a., Somerset House, University St., Belfast.

Patterson, Edward Forbes, Bangor.
Patterson, Mrs. Isabelle, Bonn, Germany,
Patterson, John, Windsor Avenue, Belfast.
Patterson, Richard, j.p., Kilmore, Holywood.
*Patterson, Robert Lloyd, jp., D.L., F.Ls., Croft House, do.

Patterson, Robert, M.B.o.u., Malone Park, Belfast.
Patterson, William H., m.r.1.A,, Garranard, Strandtown.
Patterson, William H. F., Stalheim, Knock, Belfast.
Pim, Edward W., 3.p., Elmwood Terrace, Belfast.
Pim, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey.
*Pirrie, Elizabeth, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Preger, R. Lloyd, B.z., M.r..A., National Library, Dublin.
Purser, Prof. John, Lu.D., M.R.1.A., Queen’s College, Belfast.
Rea, John Henry, m.p., University Street, do.

Rea, William R., Gardha, Fortwilliam Park, do.

Reade, Robert H. S., 3.p., p.t., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Riddell, Samuel, Beechpark, Belfast.
Robertson, William, j.p., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.

Robinson, John, Sydenham Road, do.

Scott, R. Taylor, Richmond Villa, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Sheldon, Charles, M.A., D.LIT., B.Ssc., Royal Academical

Institution, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, s.p., Dromart, Antrim Road, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Queen Street, do.

Sinclair, Right Hon. Thomas, M.a., J.P., D.L., Hopefield, do.
Sinclair, Prof. Thomas, M.D., F.R.c.s. Eng., Howard St., do.

Smith, John, Castleton Tetrace, do.
Smyth, John, m.a., c.e., Milltown, Banbridge.
Speers, Adam, B.sc., Riversdale, Holywood.
Steen, William C., m.p., Windsor Crescent, Belfast.
Steen, William, p.t., Northern Bank, Victoria Street, do.
Stelfox, James, Oakleigh, Ormeau Park, do.

Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do,

88 Shareholders.

*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, Belfast.
“Tennent, Robert James (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
Thompson, S. B., Short Strand, do.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H. (Representatives of), Whiteabbey.
*Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Walkington, Mrs. (Representatives of), Thornhill, Malone, do.
Walkington, Thomas R., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Wallace, John, Chlorine Gardens, Malone Road, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.p., M.R.1.A., Ivydene, Malone Park, do.
Ward, Isaac W., Camden Street, do.
Ward, John, J.P., F.s.A., Lennoxvale, Malone Road, do.
*Webb, Richard T., Knock, do.
Whitla, Prof. William, m.p., 5.p., College Sq., North, do.
Wilson, James, M.E., Oldforge, Dunmurry,
Wilson, John K., 3.p., Donegall Street, Belfast.
Wilson, Walter H., Belvoir Park, do.
*Wilson, W. Perceval, do.
*Wolff, G. W., M.p., The Den, Strandtown, do.
Workman, Francis, Drummena, Bladon Park, do.
Workman, John, s.p., Lismore, Windsor, do.
Workman, Rev. Robert, M a., Rubane House, Glastry.

Workman, Rev. Robert, M.a., The Manse, Newtownbreda.
*Workman, Thomas, J.p., Craigdarrah (Reps. of), | Craigavad.

Workman, William, Nottinghill, Belfast.
Wright, James, Lauriston, Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, do.
Young, Robert, c.z., J.P., Rathvarna, do.
*Young, Robert Magill, Ba., J.P., M.R.I-A., Rathvarna, do.

HONORARY MEMBER:
Dufferin and Ava, k.P., The Marquis of, Clandeboye, Co, Down,

Annual Subscribers. 89

HONORARY ASSOCIATES,

Gray, William, m.R.1.a., Glenburn Park, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel Alex., F.B.s. Edin., Belfast Museum, do.
Swanston, William, F.c.s., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
Tate, Prof. Ralph, F.a.s., F.L.s., Adelaide, South Australia.
Wright, Joseph, F.c.s., Alfred Street, Belfast.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF TWO GUINEAS.

Belfast Banking Company, Ltd., Belfast.
Northern Banking Co., Ltd., do.
Ulster Bank, Ltd., do.
York Street Spinning Company, Ltd., do.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS OF ONE GUINEA.

Allan, C. E., Stormount Castle, - Dundonald.
Boyd, John, Cyprus Gardens, Bloomfield, Belfast.
Brown, G. Herbert, j.p., Tordeevra, Helen’s Bay.
Bruce, James, D.L., J.P., Thorndale House, Belfast.
Carr, James, Rathowen, Windsor, do.
Cleaver, A. S., B.A., Dunraven, do.
Davidson, S. C., Sea Court, Bangor.
Fulton, G. F., Howard Street, Belfast.
Gamble, James, Royal Terrace, do.
Green, Isaac, Ann Street, do.
Hanna, J. A., 5.p., Marietta, Knock, do.
Hazelton, W. D., Cliftonville, do.

Higginbotham, Granby, Wellington Park, do.

90 Annual Subscribers.
Hutton, A. W. Chichester Street, Belfast.
Jones, R. M., M.a., Royal Academical Institution, do.

Kelly, W. Redfern, M.1.c.E., F.R.A.S., Dalriada,

Malone Park, do.
Lynn, William H., Crumlin Terrace. do.
Macassey, Lyndon, C.E., B.A., LL.B., Holywood.
Malone, John, Brookvale House, Cliftonville, Belfast.
M‘Laughlin, W. H., Brookville House, do.
Redfern, Prof. Peter, M.D., F.R.c.S.1., Lower Crescent, do.
Scott, Conway, c.z., Annaville, Windsor Avenue, do.
Stephens, S. Holywood.
Swiney, J. H. H., B.a., B.E., Bella, Vista, Antrim Road, Belfast.
Tate, Alexander, c.z., Rantalard, Whitehouse, do.
Thompson, John, s.p., Mount Collyer, do.
Turpin, James, Waring Street, do.

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