70 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [NOV. 28, 
and pulling up the other car with its load. At the bottom of 
the incline the water is automatically discharged from the reser- 
voir. Railways are now run on this plan in several places in 
Switzerland. That in question is operated all the year around; 
the expense is obviously very small. 
In the valley of St. Nicholas, on the road to Zermatt, the 
speaker noticed the method adopted by small farmers to recover 
meadow land from the ravages of the glacier torrent. By con- 
structing low stone walls at right angles to the stream and ex- 
tending a short distance from the banks towards the centre, silt 
is entrapped so rapidly that the space between the walls in 
course of time becomes completely filled; a coarse grass springs 
up, and the ground is redeemed. Specimens of the very fine 
silt collected by him have been placed in the hands of Dr. A. A. 
Julien for microscopical study. 
At the Rhone glacier Dr. Bolton examined the artificial 
tunnel excavated in the ice and particularly observed the very 
beautiful color of the light within the tunnel; the tunnel being 
serpentine, all the light within passed through a thick roof of 
ice, and the color within was of a lavender blue, brilliant and 
trying to the eyes. At Luzerne, the speaker visited the so-called 
Gletscher-Garten, discovered in 1872-75, with its wonderful 
glacier mills, the largest measuring 8 m. in width and 9.5 m. in 
depth. 
In Munich, Dr. Bolton had the pleasure of social converse 
with Professor Charles A. Joy, a former president of the 
Academy, and always its well wisher. Professor Joy sent mes- 
sages of remembrance to all his friends in the Academy. 
Dr. Bolton alluded to the singularly obstructive rules for ob- 
taining books at the Royal Library, Munich, twenty-four hours’ 
notice being required, and spoke of the superb library building 
at Stuttgart. In Frankfurt, the ‘‘Palmen-Garten” with its 
magnificent conservatory of palms was commended to botanists. 
A photograph of the interior of the conservatory was exhibited. 
In Holland, the speaker made a visit to the little island of 
Marken; being in the Zuyder Zee, some miles from the mainland 
and accessible only by sailboats, the inhabitants have preserved, 
to a notable extent, ancient costumes and customs; they have 
intermarried to a very large extent, and the speaker thought the 
little girls especially looked strikingly similar, as if cousins. 
In Brussels, the speaker noticed another electric railway run 
by a motor operated by accumulators placed beneath the seats. 
Referring to London, he spoke of his personal friendship 
with the descendants of the celebrated divine and chemist, Dr. 
Joseph Priestley, and exhibited a historic cane now in his pos- 
session, which was given to Priestley by Thomas Jefferson, third 
