PROCEEDINGS AT BOARD MEETINGS. 43 



Sir George Clerk of Penicuik, Bart., and to express their sense of the valuable 

 assistance which the Society had for many years received from him as Honorary 

 Secretary, and as a member of the Council on Agricultural Education. 



General Meeting. — The business to come before the Society at the half- 

 yearly general meeting, on the 15th current, was arranged as follows : — 1. 

 Office-bearers to be elected ; 2. Election of members ; 3. Accounts for 1866-67 ; 

 4. Bye-law as to execution of deeds ; 5. Glasgow Show (1867) — Votes of 

 thanks to Local Authorities ; 6. Arrangements in regard to Aberdeen Show 

 (1S68); 7. Requisition from Edinburgh district for Show in 1869 ; 8. District 

 Shows ; 9. Report of Special Committee on Endowment of Chair of Agri- 

 culture; 10. Proceedings in regard to Veterinary Charter ; 11. Dr Anderson's 

 Report on the Chemical Department ; 12. Premiums awarded for Essays and 

 Report ; 13. Contents of No. 3 (fourth series) of the Transactions. 



Testimonial to Rev. Patrick Bell. — It was reported that at a meeting 

 of the committee, held yesterday, it had been resolved that the testimonial 

 to the Rev. Patrick Bell should be presented after the general meeting on the 

 15 th curt. 



Veterinary Charter. — The Secretary reported that he had summoned 

 the Veterinary Committee on the 20th of December to meet, in conjunction 

 with the Town Council Veterinary Committee, a deputation of veterinary 

 surgeons, and he read to the Board the minute showing that a largely increased 

 representation had been granted to veterinarians in the constitution of the 

 proposed college. The minute was approved of. 



Chair of Agriculture. — The report by the Special Committee, appointed 

 on the 4th of December to consider the endowment of the Chair of Agriculture 

 in the Edinburgh University, was read and accepted, but remitted to Drs 

 Playfair and Balfour for additional explanation previous to being brought 

 before the next meeting of Directors and the general meeting of the Society. 



Finance. — Mr Kenneth Mackenzie, C.A., the Society's auditor, submitted 

 abstracts of the accounts for 1866-67, together with a state of the funds at 

 30th November last, signed by himself and two members of the Finance Com- 

 mittee. The detailed accounts will be laid before the general meeting on 

 Wednesday next, along with printed abstracts. 



Essays and Reports. — On the recommendation of the Reading Committee, 

 premiums were awarded for various reports, which will be announced at the 

 general meeting. 



Drainage by means of a Siphon. 



A communication from Mons. Cretin Borne, dated 39 Devon Street, Eglin- 

 ton Street, Glasgow, December 1867, of which the following is a translation, 

 was submitted : — 



" Being possessor of a new system of draining, I take the liberty of com- 

 municating it to you, and if it can be employed with advantage in the interest 

 of agriculture as well as health, I shall be happy to see it adopted. 



"This method consists of an intermittent siphon, made of pipes of such 

 dimensions as may be required, of metal, wood, or by preference glazed 

 earthenware, as less expensive and more desirable. The pipes should be laid 

 in the following manner : — 



" 1. The pipes should be placed at a certain depth in the ground so as not 

 to be affected by frost ; they may follow the variations of the level of the land, 

 provided, however, that the highest part does not rise higher than from 28 to 

 30 feet above the level of the water in the basins. 



" 2. There should be a receiving or catch-water basin of stone, brick, or wood, 

 the bottom of which should be 3 feet below the level of the lowest part of the 

 ground to be drained, and into which the water will arrive by trenches slightly 

 inclined cut in the ground. One of the extremities of the siphon should bo 

 immersed in that basin at the height of a foot above the bottom. 



