LXVIII ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



for noting these phenomena. His h)rdsliip expressed his intention to 

 experiment in the direction of photographing the landscape by means of 

 the auroral light. 



The work of popularizing telescopic work among the senior pupils 

 of the ]nil)lic schools was deputed to Miss A. A. Gray, and during the 

 summer months several telescopes, belonging to members, were placed at 

 the service of the students. Under Miss Gray's direction, several pleasant 

 and profitable evenings were spent in the observation of celestial objects 

 selected for the purpose. Miss Gray, and those Mdio assisted her, ex- 

 pressed tliemselves as satisfied with the results and with the degree of 

 interest aroused among the ])upils. 



Throughout the year the members of the society frequently had 

 occasion to inspect the results of Mr. Z. M. Collins's labours and skill in 

 constructing reflecting telescopes. The credit for introducing this in- 

 dustry into Canada the society claims as directly due to its efforts to 

 popularize astronom}- and to secure the manufacture of good telescopes 

 at reasonable prices. The very general satisfaction given by reflecting 

 telescopes, which are not nearly so expensive as refractors, has led many 

 persons to think this form the more suitable for popular work, especially 

 when such work consists of lunar and planetary observation, and not of 

 the measurements of close stellar systems. For such objects of common 

 interest as the moon and the major planets, reflectors do veiy well indeed. 

 Mr. Collins has been deservedly congratulated upon his success, which is 

 due entirely to his own studies and experiments in optics. He is now 

 manufacturing, for sale, reflecting telescopes of all apertures from four 

 to ten inches. 



Systematic ol)servations of the Perseid meteors were made in August 

 by Mr. "W. B. Balfour and others, and sketches of the solar disc, di'awn 

 by Mr. G. G. Pursey on every observing day throughout the year, were 

 presented at the end of each quai'ttr. Mr. Pursey employs the method 

 of projecting the image. 



The work of the lunar section, formed the pi'cvious year, was carried 

 on. and proved to be both successful and encouraging. Two of the senior 

 membei-s pi-epared s])ecial papiers, which were intended as an introdviction 

 to the .systematic study, object by object, of the moon's disc, as contrasted 

 with the genei'al and, therefore, but too little useful work for amateurs. 

 The}' also reviewed the various theories held regarding the origin and 

 history of the moon. In one of them, Mr. A. Elvins dealt with "The 

 present condition of the moon," and in the otlier Mr. Arthur Harvey ex- 

 haustively treated " The contrast between lunar and terrestrial features." 



In a paper, entitled "The I'ings of Saturn and the nebular hypo- 

 thesis," Mr. .J. Phillips dis])uted the correctness of La Place's theory, and 

 rested his case chiefly on the new discovery that the inner ring revolves 

 more rapidly than the planet rotates. It was held that had this been 



