April T^th, igo2.] Proceedings. xli 



existence amongst the Red Indians at the end of the eighteenth 

 century of some of the religious beliefs and practices referred to 

 in Mr. J. E. King's recent paper on the Jesuit records of 1611, 

 noticeably with regard to the metempsychosis of the souls of 

 infants, the exhuming of the bones of members of the family 

 from the temporary village grave for reburial in a common 

 national grave on the occasion of the "Feast of the Dead," or 

 the " Feast of Souls," and the transporting of the bones of dead 

 relatives during migration. 



Professor F. E. Weiss exhibited a specimen of Welwitschia 

 mirabilis. This curious plant was discovered by Dr. Welwitsch 

 in i860 in the South-west of Africa, where it grows in very arid 

 regions, rooted by a very long tap root. The upper part of the 

 plant is protected by a very thick mantle of cork. It only 

 possesses two leaves, which last throughout the life of a plant, 

 being constantly renewed from the base, which lies protected in 

 a groove of the stem. Welwitschia was first described by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, who considered it as belonging to the group of 

 Gnetaceee allied to the Conifers, 



Dr. Henry Wilde, F.R.S., read a paper " On the Atomic 

 Weights and Classification of the Elementary Gases, 

 Neon, Argon, Krypton, and Xenon." 



A note by Mr. Thomas Kay, entitled " On the Hyp- 

 notic Influence produced by Persistent Motion and 

 Sparkling Objects," was read by Mr. F. J. Faraday, in the 

 author's absence. 



Light is an attraction to human beings, and has a strong 

 influence upon the brain. A great addition to the attractiveness 

 of light is motion — thus, on the brooks, rivers, seas and oceans, 

 where light, motion and sound most predominate, there is the 

 greatest attraction, and one can spend a whole day beside a 

 sparkling waterfall, or a week beside a Niagara without being 

 bored. 



Not only has a bright and shining object a peculiar attraction 

 for human beings, but it affects also the lower animals. The 

 trappers of migratory birds are acquainted with this fatal attraction 



