II.— STATEMENT OF PROCEEDINGS. 



In presenting their Sixteenth Annual Report, the Committee have 

 much satisfaction in congratulating the Members on the continued 

 increase in the prosperity of the Society. As a proof of this they need 

 only call attention to the fact that the number of Members on the roll, 

 which was last Session 178, and in the previous one 154, is now 232, 

 while the number of tickets issued to ladies and youths is 166, as against 

 103 last year. The increase in the resources of the Society enabled the 

 Committee to expend £111 14s 7d on fees and other expenses for 

 lectui'es, being £34 19s 7d moi'e than was spent in this way last 

 Session. The following are the lectures delivered during the Session : — 



Subjects in Science. — " Comets and Meteors," by Mr R. A. 

 Proctor, B.A., F.R.S.; "The Story of the Isles of the Sea, as told by 

 the Fowls of the Air," by Canon Tristram, LL.D., F.R.S. ; " The Steam 

 Engine of the Future," by Mr J. Scott Russell, M.A., F.R.S. ; "Kent's 

 Cavern; its Testimony to the Antiquity of Man," by Mr William 

 Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S.; " On Musical Sensations," bv Professor J. G. 

 M'Kendrick, M.D., F.R.S.E. 



General Subjects. — " The Romans in Scotland," by Mr James 

 Donaldson, LL.D. ; " The Life and Writings of Adam Smith," by 

 Professor W. B. Hodgson, LL.D.; " Old Greece and Modern Life," by 

 Pi'ofessor R. C. Jebb, M.A. ; " Chopin and Liszt as Pianist and Piano- 

 forte Composers," by Mr Edward Dannreuther; "A Voyage towards 

 the Practicable North Pole," by Commander Cheyne, R.N., F.R.G.S. ; 

 " The English Drama," by the Rev. Julius Lloyd, M. A. ; "Dante: a 

 Biograj^hy and an Exposition," by the Rev. John Barclay. 



The Session was inaugurated by a conversazione given by the 

 Museum Committee, to whom the Society is indebted for the opportunity 

 they afforded its Members of being present at one of the most interesting 

 and successful gatheiings ever held in Greenock. On that occasion the 

 Members had the gratification of seeing, for the first time, the beautiful 

 and commodious hall which had been provided for their meetings, and 

 which subsequent experience has proved to be admirably adapted for its 

 p^lrpose. In a former report the Society expressed its gratitude to Mr 

 M'Lean, and at the same time indulged in the hojje that he might have 

 the hapjnness of seeing the new buildings completed and applied to the 

 uses for which they were erected. That that hope has not been more 

 fully realised every Member of the Society must deeply regret. By the 

 death of Mr M'Lean, the Society has lost one who always took a warm 

 interest in its welfare, and finally testified his approval of its objects by 

 jjroviding fitting accommodation for its meetings, and his confidence in 

 those who control its affairs, by giving them a joint management over 

 the Museum and Hall. His memory will always be held in affectionate 

 remembrance by the Society. In reference to the lectures of the past 

 Session, the Committee regard the ci'owded and attentive audiences as 

 the best testimony they could have to their interest. The Committee 

 acted in concert with the Glasgow Science Lectures Association, but, of 

 their six lecturers, only two — Mr Proctor and Mr Pengellj' — were able 

 to come to Greenock. It appeared to the Committee that a lecture on 



