PROCEEDINGS FOR 1896 LXXI 



mers can possibly be. An abstract of Mr. (rrecn wood's paper may be 

 seen in the Transactions of the society ; the full text has been placed at 

 the disposal of Dr. Sandford Fleming, C.M.Cx., chairman of the joint com- 

 mittee, now en route to England. 



A special meeting of the society was held on January 21st, 1896, 

 when, following the visual custom, the President, Mr, John A. Paterson, 

 M.A., delivered his annual address, and reviewed and described the work 

 which had been accomplished in astronomical research, and referred to 

 the improvements in instrumental equipment at various observatories. 



Early in 1896. and immediately after the announcement of Professor 

 Eoentgen's discoveries, experimental work was undertaken and some very 

 satisfactory radiographs were taken by means of the so-called X rays. 

 On the suggestion of a member of the society, bromide sheets w^ere used 

 instead of dry plates, and several very sharp pictures were thus taken at 

 once, and for the first time in this country. About the same date, how- 

 ever, as it afterwards appeared by scientific publications, this experiment, 

 then new in America, was being conducted independently in Paris. 



The appendix to the Transactions of the society contains a sketch of 

 the work of the Meaford Astronomical Society, which is affiliated with 

 the Toronto society. 



XLL— From The Ottcnvn Field Mituralists' Club, through Mr. 



F. T. SlIUTT. 



On behalf of the council and members of the Ottawa Field Natural- 

 ists' Club, I have the honour to present to the Eoyal Societ}^ the following 

 report : 



The club, now in its seventeenth year, has for its chief object the 

 encouragement of the practical study of natural history. Towards this 

 end the means are : (1) a winter course of lectures; (2) field-days or 

 excursions during the summer months, and (3) " The Ottawa Naturalist " 

 — the organ of the club — published monthly. 



Course of Lectures. 



A new departure during the past year has been the amalgamation of 

 the lectui*e courses of the club and of the Ottawa Literary and Scientific 

 Society. This arrangement has proved most satisfactor}' and successful. 

 The lectures throughout were well attended, and from opinions expi-essed 

 by many, it is evident that they were highly appreciated. In plotting 

 out the course, the council sought to make the lectures, as far as possible, 

 helpful to those studying the vaiious branches of natural histor}'. Ad- 

 mission to the lectures has been open to all, gratis, and thus it may be 

 said that the club is doing useful work outside of its own membership — a 



