22 



After dinner, a paper was read by Dr. Bibd on the Osteology of 

 the Otter ; and another by J. D. T. Niblett of considerable interest to the 

 Gloucestershire historian, inasmuch as it went to prove that to a 

 Gloucestershire man, by name Jonathan Hulls, of Campden, belongs 

 the merit of having been the original inventor of the steam-boat. The 

 patent for this iavention bears date 1736, and sets forth that the 

 said Jonathan Hulls " hath with much labour and expense Lavented and 

 formed a machine for carrying ships and vessels out of or iuto any harbour 

 against wind and tide or Lu a calm, which the petitioner apprehends may 

 be of great service to our Eoyal Navy and Merchant Ships, and to boats, 

 and to other vessels passing against the stream in navigable rivers ; 

 of which machine the petitioner hath made oath that he is the sole 

 inventor, as by affidavit to his said petition annexed appears." A 

 pamphlet, published by Jonathan Hulls in 1737, was exhibited, illustrated 

 by a copperplate, in which a steam-tag, on the paddle principle, is 

 represented towing a frigate. This drawing, and the accompanying 

 specification, clearly entitle Jonathan Hulls to the preeminence claimed 

 for him. Some interesting local traditions relating to HuUs and his 

 inventions, obtained by Mr. Niblett on the spot, give additional value to 

 this record of the earliest attempt to propel vessels through the water by 

 the agency of steam. As has been too frequently the fate of inventors, 

 poor Hulls was ruined by his experiments, and laughed at as a dreamer. 

 How little indeed could the wisest in those days have foreseen that under 

 that rude copperplate lay hid a complete revolution in naval architecture, 

 and all the wonders of science, whose latest triumphs have culminated in 

 The Warrior and La Gloire. 



Thursday, 7th June. The club assembled at the Longhope Station, on 

 the line of the Gloucester and Hereford Eailway. Amongst those present 

 were the Eev. "W. S. Stmonds, President of the Malvern Pield Club ; 

 Mr. LiN-GwooD, Vice-president of the "Woolhope Club ; and Mr. Lightbodt, 

 of Ludlow, the indefatigable and successful investigator of the Silurian 

 deposits in his own neighbourhood. 



The state of the weather was very unfavourable, but to the credit of the 

 club it should be recorded that this did not prevent some ten or a dozen 

 of the members from facing the hiU-side, and their perseverance was 

 rewarded by a change in the weather, which presently cleared up, and 

 there was no further rain-fall during the remainder of the day. 



Ascending the hill immediately in front of the Longhope Station, 

 the Upper Ludlow, Aymestry Limestone, and Lower Ludlow beds 

 are successively passed over. On the top, and on the reverse slope of the 

 lull, quarries in the Wenlock Limestone and Shale afford a plentiful series 

 of characteristic fossils. Crossing the high road, the party proceeded to 



