260 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



And here I should mention that the libraries of all 

 their institutions, as well as the museums of the Royal 

 Dubhn Society, and the College of Surgeons, were 

 gratuitously open to the British visitors. Having 

 now enumerated six sections, and which I find w^ere 

 increased to seven, it being found impossible to dis- 

 pose of the mass of business that oppressed the 

 Mathematical and General Physic department ; and 

 therefore, on Thursday, a sub-section for the Useful 

 Arts was instituted ; and the increasing interest felt 

 in the subject of Civil Engineering induced the As- 

 sociation to establish a new permanent section, for 

 Mechanical Science as applied to the Arts. It is obvi- 

 ously then impossible for any individual to give an 

 account, from his personal knowledge, of their simul- 

 taneous proceedings ; and indeed 1 should imagine 

 that very little benefit would be derived by any indi- 

 vidual unless he confined his attention to one of these 

 sections. Having done so myself, I know little that 

 occurred, except in the Geological section ; and these 

 communications, though highly important, are not 

 of a nature to be communicated in such a report as 

 I am now rendering. From other sources, 1 appre- 

 hend the communications in the Mathematical and 

 Physical section, and that of the Medical and Ana- 

 tomical department, to have been pre-eminently 

 important and useful. Whoever desires to see what 

 was actually done in each section, will obtain an 

 immediate account by referring to the Nos. of the 

 ^^Athenseum," paper, which may be seen in our own 

 library, as well as in the Public Library, and is 

 in the hands of many individuals. More ample and 

 detailed accounts are given in the " Philosophical 

 Magazine," of London, and the '* Edinburgh New 

 Philosophical Journal," both to be found on our 

 Library Table. But the student, who requires am- 

 ple, accurate, and detailed information for the assist- 

 ance of his studies, must await the publication of 

 another volume of the Transactions of the Association, 

 which we were promised should be proceeded with^ 

 with all possible dispatch. 



