466 General Monthly Meeting. [April 7, 



ings of mankind and the teachings of history warn us always to be pre- 

 pared, if not for reverses, yet for some interruption in this course of 

 unexampled prosperity. That, should checks occur, they will be tran- 

 sient and casual, we may reasonably expect, since correspondence does 

 not flourish or fade with the changes of manners or fashions. Its 

 growth is governed by causes not peculiar to any one country, but 

 common to all. This is demonstrated by the rapid spread of the new 

 system throughout the civilized world. One source of danger is dried 

 up. The Fost-oflfice no longer assumes to be perfect, and its con- 

 ductors have renounced their claims to infallibility. Suggested im- 

 provements, if they sustain the necessary test of rigid scrutiny, are 

 welcomed, and not, as of old, frowned away. The department acts 

 under the conviction that to thrive it must keep ahead of rivals — that 

 it must discard the confidence heretofore placed in legal prohibitions, 

 and seek continuance of success only by deserving it. 



[M. D. H.] 



GENERAL MONTHLY MEETING, 



Monday, April 7, 1862. 



William Pole, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. Treasurer and Vice-President, 



in the Chair, 



Alfred Denison, Esq. 



Alexander Staveley Hill, Esq. D.C.L, 



William Martin, Esq. 



Daniel George Rees, Esq. 



Augustus Thorne, Esq. F.R.G.S, 



John Tyndall, Esq. F.R.S. Prof. Nat. Phil. R.I. 



were elected Members of the Royal Institution. 



Jonathan Sparrow Crowley, Esq. 

 Major-General Charles James Green. 

 Rev. George Musgrave Musgrave, A.M. 

 A. C. Brisbane Neill, M.D. 

 Sir Joshua Rowe, C.B. 

 Edward Henry Sieveking, M.D, 



were admitted Members of the Royal Institution. 



The Presents received since the last Meeting were laid on the 

 table, and the thanks of the Members returned for the same : viz. — 



From 

 Actuaries, Institute o/"— Assurance Magazine, No. 47. 8vo. 1862. 

 Agricultural Society of Englandf Eoj/at— J onrml, No. 48. 8vo. 1862. 



