PROCEEDINGS FOR 18U6 LXIX 



known to La Place, that illustrious astrononioi' would not have formu- 

 lated his well known hypothesis. Mr. Phillips based his elements for the 

 revolution of the rings upon the discoveries of Professor .1. K. Keeler, of 

 Allegheny, Pa., an honorary member of the society, who has recently 

 determined by the spectroscopic method the velocities of di fièrent parts 

 of the Saturnian sj'stem. Considerable discussion followed the paper, 

 and objection was taken by several members to the views it contained. 



A paper on " Celestial Photography" was read by Mr. G. E. Lums- 

 den, in which the progress of this great aid to astronomy was sketched, 

 beginning with the first eftbrts of Daguerre, following uj3 the discoveries 

 made, and concluding with descrij)tions of the methods adopted at several 

 observatories in practical work. Information on the latter points had 

 willingly been furnished by the directors of the Greenwich, Lick, Paris 

 and Toronto ol)servatories. 



Notes on the "Canals of Mars" were read by Mr. John A. Copland, 

 who supported the views taken by Mr. Percival Lowell regarding the 

 interesting question of the habitability of the planet. 



The third of a very successful series of popular lectures on physics 

 was delivered by Mr. C. A. Chant, B.A., lecturer in University College, 

 Toronto, iri the physical room of the university, having, as on previous 

 occasions, been placed at the service of the society by President Loudon. 

 Mr. Chant's subject was " Electrical Eadiation." Several of the classic 

 experiments of Hertz and Prof. Lodge were repeated for the tirst time in 

 Toronto. Some of the apparatus had to be designed, and was specially 

 constructed under Mr. Chant's direction. The phenomena of reflection, 

 refraction and polarization of electric waves were most successfully shown, 

 and jDroved highly instructive and interesting to a Yery large audience — 

 the j)ublic having been invited. 



An essay on " Theories of G-ravitation " was read by Mr. J. E. Collins, 

 who reviewed exhaustively all the views which have been advanced since 

 the earliest times to account for the mystery of gravity. Without 

 advancing any theory, or modification, of his own, Mr. Collins combated 

 the statement that gravity must be instantaneous in its action, at least, in 

 so far as this view has been held to be sustained by observed phenomena. 

 He was of the opinion that the result would be the same whether gravity 

 was propagated in time or not. and that there would be no " aberration " 

 effect corresponding to the aberration of light. He held, further, that 

 the assumption that gravity must act instantaneously was a stumbling- 

 block in the way of investigation into the cause of the mystery. 



At the annual meeting, a report of the work of the earth current 

 committee was presented by Mr. E. F. Stupart, director of the Toronto 

 Observatory. Mr. Stupart announced that he had regularly received 

 throughout the year reports of disturbances noted at the Canso, N.S., 

 station of the Commercial Cable Compan}^, which had accepted the invi- 



