convert the inorganic into the organic, but eat 

 the plant or a plant-feeding aoimtil. Plants 



manufacture protein from the mineral world. 

 Animals obtain the protein ready made. Plants 

 are thus the origin of all eneigy. Truly, all flesh 

 is grass. In the three kingdoms, we say of the 

 mineral that stones grow ; of the vegetable, that 

 plants grow and live; and of the animal, animals 

 grow, live, and move. Exceptions prove the rule, 

 for a diatom is a locomotive plant, and a coral is a 

 stationary animal. Some organisms are plants at 

 one stage and animals at another. 



In conclusion, as there have lately been sevpral 

 claims made by scientific men that they can now 

 produce life, it would not be out of place to say 

 that the ultimate cause, which, bringing certain 

 lifeless bodies together, gives living matter as the 

 resalt, is yet a profound mystery. Transmutation 

 goes on unceasingly — the lifeless inorginic. be- 

 coming organic in plant and animal. Crystals 

 grow by accretion at the snrface, cells grow by 

 flow of nutrition to all parts, and so our bodies, 

 like the fabled ship of Theseus, become repaired 

 so much that not an original plank remains. 



Shakespeare, in " Henry the Fifth/' makes the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury exclaim : 



" It most be ao, for miracles are ceasd, and therfore 

 we must needs admit the means 

 How things are perfected." 



It has taken me an hour to say so little, K mmer- 

 son can say as much in three short lines and 

 compass this vast subject: "The gases gather to 

 the solid firmament; the chemic lump arrives at 

 the plant, and grows ; arrives at the quadruped, 

 and nalks; arrives at the man, and thinks." 



Mr. Cozens showed a number of geological 

 specimens to illustrate his lecture, and also a 

 number of lantern views of diagrams and scenery. 



At the close of the lecture, a very hearty vote 

 of thanks was accorded to Mr. Cozens, on the 

 initiative of Mr. Harvey. 



Subsequently Mr.W. H. Hammond caused to be 

 thrown upon the screen a picture of the hybrid 

 orchid, found by Messrs. Walker and Harris, at 

 Wye, and also one of a stone- ware vessel found at 

 Waltham. The lantern was manipulated by Mr. 

 Lander. 



THIRD WINTER MEETING— NOVEMBER 28th, 1905. 



GRAYSTONE BIRD'S PRIZE MEDAL LANTERN SLIDES. 



This meeting took the form of a lantern evening, screen, and their excellent quality, richness of 

 and about 150 of the well-known slides of Mr. detail and wonderful half-tone were much admired 

 Graystone Bird, of Bath, were thrown upon the by the members. 



FOURTH WINTER MEETING.— DECEMBER 12th, 1905. 



"TESLA AND HIGH FREQUENCY ELECTRIC OSCILLATIONS.'— By Mb. 



W. T. LEEMING. 



The fourth meeting was held, by the kind pyer- 

 mission of Mr. Mann and the Governors, in the 

 Simon Langton Schools, Mr. S. Harvey presiding 

 over a large attendance. 



Mr. W. T. Leeming gave a lecture on "High 

 Frequency Oscillation and Tesla Effects," and the 

 snbjfCt was introduced by an experiment illus- 

 trating th» p oduclion and detection of electrical 

 waves. TLe work of Hertz was referred to, and a 

 diagram shown explaining how he obtained the 

 length of the waves. It the velocity of electricity 

 is 186,000 miles per second — and we know the wave 

 length in any particalar case — then we can easily 

 find the number of waves in a second or the 

 frequency. A diagram illustrating the conncKition 

 between the velocity, wave length and frtquency 

 of different kinds of waves was also shown. 



The lecturer next dealt with the causes which 

 affect the frequency of waves, viz., capacity and 

 self-induction. Experiments were shown illus- 



trating what these factors are, and how they 

 influence the frequency. An increase in either 

 of them was shown to decrease the frequency. 

 It was stated that the frequency of the oscillations 

 in the different experiments would vary from ten 

 to one hundred thousand per second. 



The apparatus used in the prudnction of high 

 frequency oscillations was next explained. It 

 consisted of a large induction coil, to produce a 

 constant supply of electricity at high pressure ; a 

 battery of Leyd^^n jars, to introduce the nece=^ary 

 capacity j and a spark gap which consisted of two 

 highly-polished fcuubs, separated a short distance, 

 and between which the discharge of the Leyden 

 jars took place. A photograph of a similar spark 

 was shown, and it was seen that the discharge was 

 an oscillatory one. Throughout the experiments 

 this apparatus was used, the extra apparatus for 

 the different experiments being simply connected 

 with it. 



