156 



woody fibre and the bark, the latter being removed in the 

 first instance. 



Mr. Edward Higgin exhibited a fine specimen of the 

 Fuacs Natans or Sargasmm Natans, the " Gulf- weed," found so 

 abundantly in the Atlantic as to cover an area, according to 

 Humboldt, of more than 260,000 square miles; and Dr. 

 Dickinson remarked that, by means of oceanic currents it is 

 not unfrequently washed upon our own shores. An interest- 

 ing conversation followed upon the depth at which this sea- 

 weed grows. 



Mr. J. B. Edwards exhibited a specimen of chloroform, 

 which had been purified according to Dr. Gregory's process, 

 and undergone spontaneous decomposition. On the surface 

 of the chloroform lay a stratum of liquid of a bright olive 

 green colour, (about 2 oz. in a pint,) containing free chlorine 

 and hydrochloric acid; on long standing a green resinous 

 matter was also deposited on the sides of the vessel. The 

 decomposition seemed to be promoted by the action of light, 

 of air, and of heat, but it proceeded slowly without these 

 agents. 



The paper for the evening was entitled — 

 A HISTORICAL PARALLEL BETWEEN THE 

 ROMAN SENATE AND THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 

 By William Ihne, Ph.D., etc. 



It is not my object in this paper to enter into a minute 

 antiquarian research into any of the disputed and difficult 

 questions which relate to the nature, the composition and the 

 functions of the Roman Senate. Such an investigation would 

 be dry and tedious to those who have not bestowed that de- 

 gree of attention and labour on the subject of Roman an- 

 tiquities which would enable them to follow satisfactorily a 

 rigidly scientific concatenation of evidence, arguments, and 

 conclusions. What I propose to do, is, to give an outline of 



