4 Transactions of the 



The President further reported a long list of contributions to 

 the Botanic Garden, received from many friends. He instanced 

 especially the generous help extended by the Directors of the 

 great gardens at Dublin, Edinburgh, and Glasnevin, and spoke 

 of further gifts expected ftom similar institutions. He felt sure 

 that there avouM be no difficulty in enlisting many botanical 

 friends in the formation of this Garden, which was destined to 

 be of great practical use to the School. From another point of 

 view, he believed it would be valued by the non-botanical as a 

 welcome substitute for a most unsightly and useless piece of 

 ground. It was not to be the mere collection of painted sticks 

 and coarse weeds that formed a typical botanical garden in the 

 mind's eye of those who had never seen such a garden ; but he 

 meant to have it a really pretty ground, and he would not abso- 

 lutely sacrifice the ornamental to the useful. 



Noticing next the formation of ' sections ' which he had pro- 

 posed, the President gave some details about the subjects which 

 were to be taken up in each. He urged the importance of 

 practical observations among those who intended to study mete- 

 orology, and he showed how these might be taken. The Society 

 already possessed a fine barometer (the gift of P. P. Tuckett, 

 Esq., Hon. Mem.), and other instruments would be forthcoming 

 if workers only offered themselves. There were, he said, con- 

 siderable advantages for scientific pursuits in this College, and 

 in some respects advantages not possessed by any other School 

 of which he was aware. With five Science Masters, with facili- 

 ties for instruction in almost any branch from the whole range of 

 the Physical Sciences, and with practical instruction in Chemis- 

 try, Physics, and Physiology, it would indeed be surprising if 

 Clifton College did not send forth some alumni who would yet 

 take a high position in the scientific world. Again, they dwelt 

 in a neighbourhood exceedingly rich in its geological and botan- 

 ical characters, and they had this Scientific Society to bring 

 together those of kindred tastes, and infuse an esprit de corps 

 among fellow-workers. He earnestly hoped that many there 

 might be led to new and delightful paths of intellectual plea- 

 sure, and that even more might be made to feel, when school- 

 days had become a thing of the past, that their precious time 

 had been turned to the best account. 



A paper on the ' Steam-Engine ' was next read by J. Duucuft 

 and J. Stone. 



The paper was opened by J. Stone with an account of the 

 uses of steam, particularly as applied to the steam- engine ; the 



