were shown, and the Tesla High Frequency 

 demonstration was watched with a great amount 

 of interest. Fluorescent material in the form of 

 butterflies, beetles, flowers, etc., had been placed 

 in the vacuum tubes, and when the cathode 

 rays were made to impinge upon these substances 

 they glowed with a number of beautiful tints. 



In the " Davy " Laboratory experiments with 

 liquid air were ehown by Mr. Jeffs. It was 

 ditEcult to realize that the colourless watery- 

 looking liquid was actually the air we breathe, 

 only condensed by great cold and pressui-o into 

 the liquid state. But somelstartling experiments 

 soon proved that this was so. For instance, when 

 some was poured into an ordinary tumbler and a 

 piece of glowing charcoal immersed in it, the 

 charcoal continued to burn but the carbon 

 dioxide gas produced by the combustion ap- 

 peared in a solid form like snow. Quicksilver, 

 alcohol, chloroform or ether when immersed 

 in it was immediately frozen to a solid 

 mass, and substances like indiarubber, flowers, or 

 grapes when dipped into it were frozen so that 

 they became quite brittle and powdered under 

 the pressure of the fingers. Experiments were also 

 given with soap films and bubbles showing all the 

 beautiful *' interference " coloui-s ; and a Cartesian 

 diver, actuated by pneumatic pressure, and wliich 

 pi'ovod to be capable of performing several of the 

 feats of his confrere "Joe in the Bottle," was 

 watched with a great amount of interest. 



The objects of interest in the "Newton" 

 Laboratory were in charge of Mr. Fagg. These 

 included sand plates, the sand forming in 

 geometrical figures according to the musical note 

 striick ; a polariscope, showing the lovely coloiu-s 

 produced in cr^-stals when they are examined under 

 polarized light ; experiments in electricity with a 

 Wimshurst machine ; sensitive flame, which re- 

 sponded to any musical note given forth from the 

 other end of the room ; a Seeveck disc and syren, 

 experiments which go to prove that the different 

 musical notes are produced by a diiferent number 

 of vibrations in oi'dinary atmospheric air ; also a 

 Crookes' spinthariscope, in which the radium em- 

 anations were seen producing a beautiful fluores- 

 cence upon a small screen. Other objects of in- 

 terest here and in the Art Koom also included a 

 keyboard patented by Mr. 1*. Crawford Barlow, 

 B.A., M.Inst. C.E., illustrating a new method of 

 musical notation ; a reflecting telescope, shown 

 by Mr. Biggleston ; geological specimens, by Mr. 

 Walter Cozens ; a splendid marine aquarium, 

 shown by Mr. Sibert Saunders, of Whitstable, in 



which many i-iu-ious and interesting living sea 

 creatures were observable ; an exhibit by Professor 

 Salmon, of the South-Eastern Agricultural College, 

 Wye, showing a number of fungus diseases of 

 plants and of the apparatus used in the operation 

 of " smudging " ; insect exhibits, by Professor 

 Theobald, of the sauu- College ; Brady's section of 

 the coal-boring at Dover and in other parts of 

 Kent, by Captain Gordon McDakin, of Dover ; 

 palaeo-botanical rock sections showing the natural 

 history of coal, etc., and sections oi pteridosperms 

 or the newly-discovered feru-liku plants with true 

 seeds, also a collection of liverworts, shown by Mr. 

 Percy Moring, of Dover. A number of photo- 

 microgi-aphs were sent l>y Mr. W. H. Hammond, 

 illustrating thi- evolution of a caterpillai- from the 

 development of the larva in the egg of the moth 

 Botys hyalinalis. These photographs were taken 

 at intervals of a few hours, extending over about 

 a fortnight, and showed the complete process of 

 development from the egg to the perfect cater- 

 pillar. Mr. Hammond also exhibited an interesting 

 collection of flint instrxunents. Messrs. Watson 

 and Sons, of High Holboi-n, sent down an assistant 

 with six splendid new microscopes and a number 

 of interesting objects ; Messrs. R. and J. Beck, of 

 Cornhill, three microscopes ; the hon. secretary of 

 the Society (Mr. A. Lander), three microscopes 

 and a number of living objects, volvox, vorticella, 

 etc. : Lander's patent anemometer for recording 

 the direction and velocity of the wind was also 

 shown ; Mr. J. T. Smith sent a microscope with a 

 living fi'Og, showing the circulation of blood in 

 the foot ; Mr. F. C. Snell a number of beautiful 

 coloured illustiiitions of local fungi and lichens, etc. 

 Prom the above it will be seen that the conver- 

 sazione was certainly one of the most brilliant 

 scientific gatherings ever held in Canterbury, and 

 comprising such a numlier of attractions as are 

 seldom to be met with outside London. Light 

 refreshments wer4> served in the large hall between 

 nine an<l ten o'clock, the catering being excellently 

 managed bvMr.C. Wilson,of St. George 'sRestaurant, 

 wliile Miss PhiUpotts and Miss Holmes arranged 

 the tables, flowers, etc., in a very tasteful and 

 effective uumner. We must not forget to men- 

 tion the delightfid musical performances by Mrs. 

 Parker's band, the members of which most kindly 

 gave their services on the occasion. Their well 

 played and tuneful selections — the intemnezzo from 

 " Cavalleria Kustieana," the Japanese romance 

 "Poppies," etc. — wex-e immensely appreciated. The 

 whole of the proceedings, indeed, were thoroughly 

 successful. 



' SOME REMAEKABLE MOUNTAINS."— By Capt. J. G. McDAKIN, R.IT.S.I, 



A nutting was held at tlie Beaney Insti- 

 tute on December 11th, when a lecture was 

 given by Captain McDakin on "Some Remark- 

 able Moimtuins." The object of the lecture was 

 to show by means of mountains, with which the 

 author was familiar, some of the geological 

 theories and facts, illustrated by lantern slides. 



such as Elie de Beaumont's theory of the con- 

 temporaneous upheaval of parallel mountain 

 "rages. The controversy between the Duke of 

 Argyll and Sir Archibald Geikie regarding the 

 formation of the Scottish Highlands, with a 

 photogi'aphic record of experiments, designed to 

 show that a common force and common resistixnce 



