68 Transactions of the 



It could not endure side by side with the works of Bacon and 

 Galileo, of Descartes, Pascal, Hobbes, Boyle, and of the 

 many great thinkers which distinguished that epoch. With 

 it perished a great mass of mystic lore. The philosophy of 

 Eobert Fludd was as a lurid flame upon an altar, hidden in the 

 recesses of a darksome cave, the abode of demons and un- 

 earthly forms. The philosophy of his contemporary, Francis 

 Bacon, was as a pure light set upon an eminence, which, like 

 the diamond in the old story, diffused its luminous influence 

 far and wide. It still diffuses it, for it is the ' lumen siccum 

 ac puTum notiorum verariim,' while the altar has been over- 

 thrown, the cave is desolate, and the lurid flame has died 

 out for ever. 



The following Members were elected : — 



Honorary. — Rev. B. Hartnell, M.A. 



G. F. EoDWELL, Esq., F.E.A.S., F.C.S. 



Ordinary. — E. Bamfoed, W. A. Smith, 



W. H. Thuetell, J. P. Bush, 



A. Kent, A. Haywood. 



J. J. Hewson, a. E. Batcheloe, 



W. WooDHOusE, W. M. Adey. 



Present, 57 members and visitors. 



MEETING, OcTOBEE 14, 1870. 



The President in the Chair. 



The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and 

 approved, S. H. Leonard read the following Paper : — 



ON THE 'HONEY BEE' (APIS MELLIFICA). 

 From times of the remotest antiquity, the bee has deser- 

 vedly created more interest and attracted more attention, — 

 certainly than any other insect, — and possibly more than any 

 other member of the lower animal creation. It has at some 

 time or another been the study of almost every natui-alist ; the 

 geometrical regularity of its cells has excited the wonder and 

 admiration of the mathematician ; its remarkable instinct, its 

 industry and perseverance, have been the theme of the moral- 

 ist and inspired the muse of the poet, and its admirable 

 constitution and polity have instructed the statesman and 

 political economist. Its rich and beautiful production shave 



