ON WAVES. 417 
Report of the Committee on Waves, appointed by the British 
Association at Bristol in 1836, and consisting of Sir JOHN 
Rosison, K.H., Secretary of the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, and Joun Scorr RussExz, Esq., M.A. F.R.S. Edin. 
(Reporter). 
Since the period of their appointment, the Committee have 
been almost incessantly occupied in carrying on the researches 
committed to them. The extent and multifarious nature of the 
subjects of inquiry have rendered it impossible to terminate the 
examination of all of them in so short a time; but it is their 
duty to report the progress which they have made, and the 
partial results they have already obtained, leaving to the re- 
ports of future years such portions of the inquiries as they have 
not yet undertaken. As far as they can judge from present 
indications, there are wide fields of novel and important science 
opening up in this direction, which will furnish an ample har- 
vest of rich knowledge for the labour of several succeeding 
seasons. 
The Subjects of Inquiry with which the Committee were 
charged are the following :— 
What is a Wave ?—What are the varieties, phenomena, and 
laws of waves in regard to generation and propagation in 
various circumstances ? 
Of what nature are the Waves of the Sea ? 
Is the Tidal Elevation a wave obeying the same laws with 
any other order of wave ? . 
Is the propagation of the tide-wave affected by Local Winds ? 
and if so, in what manner ? 
These were questions to which, in the existing state of our 
knowledge of hydrodynamics, we had no grounds either dog- 
matical or empirical to form a reply, and it was therefore of 
importance to the advancement of the science of hydrodynamics 
_ that we should be able to fill up this hiatus valde deflen- 
dus. The question of the propagation possessed interest not 
only in a scientific view, but also from its practical importance ; 
for it had been found in the earlier proceedings of this Asso- 
ciation that the beautiful physical phenomena of waves were not 
only employed as agents to convey through the air the inti- 
mations of distant events to the sense of hearing, and to waft 
to the eye the exquisite sensations of light and colour, but were 
VOL. VI. 1837. 25 
