February stJi, iQOi.] PROCEEDINGS. xiii 



practical applications of science ; and from this point of view 

 we must gratefully acknowledge that the immense progress of this 

 kind which has marked the late Queen's reign would have been 

 impossible except for the tranquil conditions which have obtained 

 amongst us, largely in consequence of her own character and 

 influence." 



The President referred also to the loss sustained by the 

 Society in the deaths of two of its ordinary members. Mr. 

 Richard Copley Christie had been a member since 1854 ; his 

 munificent gifts for the encouragement of learning in this city 

 were too recent and too well-known for further remark, but it 

 was pleasant to the Society to recall that he had at one time 

 held office as their Secretary. Sir John William Maclure was 

 elected a member in 1859. 



The President nominated Mr. Thomas Thorp and Dr. C. 

 H. Lees to be Auditors of the Society's accounts for the session 

 1900-igoi. 



Professor Flux referred to the records of a recent American 

 report on water, gas, and electricity undertakings, so far as they 

 showed the rate of return on the capital invested in each case. 

 The rates were grouped most thickly about 3 to 3^ per cent, for 

 each class of enterprise, more closely in the case of water and 

 (in a less degree) of gas than in the case of electricity. The 

 total number of undertakings contributing to the result named 

 was 1,351, and the lowness of the figure representing the most 

 frequent rate seemed rather striking. 



Mr. Thomas Thorp mentioned that he had made further 

 progress with an instrument designed to yield a pure mono- 

 chromatic image of the sun, and had been able to obtain results of 

 an encouraging nature. He hoped to be able to perfect the 

 instrument in a short time and to exhibit it to the Society. 



Dr. George Wilson read a paper, prepared by liimself and 

 Mr. H. Noble, B.Sc, entitled " Note on the Construction 

 of Entropy Diagrams from Steam-engine Indicator 

 Diagrams." 



The paper will be printed in full in the MeJiioirs, 



