157 

 PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 



BIRMINGHAM PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTION. 



The Literary and Philosophical Society attached to this Institu- 

 tion closed its third summer session on Monday, September the 5th. 

 Two of the papers read to the members were adverted to in the last 

 number of The Analyst, which contained a detailed notice of the 

 one read by Dr. Ward on the effects of the slow cooling of melted 

 basalt. The papers brought before the society since our last num- 

 ber have been, one by Mr. Wickenden, " On the Geological Changes 

 now taking place on and under the Earth's Surface ;" one by Mr. 

 Wills, " On Circumstantial Evidence ;" and one by Mr. F. Osier, 

 which contained a description of an anemometer invented by that 

 gentleman, for recording the direction, and measuring and recording 

 the velocity, of the wind. It is the intention of the council of the 

 society to make known to the scientific world this very ingenious 

 and admirable invention of Mr. Osier, as the want of a good self- 

 registering wind-gauge has long been felt by all persons engaged in 

 meteorological pursuits. 



SHROPSHIRE AND NORTH WALES NATURAL HISTORY 

 AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. 



An extremely interesting course of lectures " On Botany and 

 Vegetable Physiology" has been delivered, by Dr. Wilson, before 

 the members of this society. The first lecture was devoted to a 

 consideration of the structure and functions of the seeds of plants. 

 The second comprehended a pleasing explanation of the extraor- 

 dinary process of germination. The subject of the third was the 

 structure and functions of the stem. The circulation of the sap, 

 and the shape and functions of the leaves, were illustrated in the 

 fourth. The fifth treated of the respiration of plants. The sixth 

 lecture was devoted to a description of the various modes of inflo- 

 rescence, and a detailed explanation of the various parts of the 

 flower, and their probable uses. 



During the course of this lecture, the history of the sexual sys- 

 tem in plants was concisely considered, and with the truest feeling 

 and best taste the intelligent lecturer paid the following eloquent 

 tribute to the memory of the immortal Linneus : — " This great man 

 was born in the province of Smalland, in Sweden, in 1707* Never 

 was the fame of any man of genius spread more widely or rendered 

 more immortal than his. But however distinguished and extraor- 

 dinary his merits, as extraordinary and various were the vicissitudes 

 by the expression, correct feelings. Is it not, I would ask, an insult 



