38 report — 1842. 



of 1706. One hundred species were sown, but as it is supposed that they 

 had been brushed with corrosive sublimate, this experiment is not of much 

 value, and it is therefore not necessary to enumerate the species. A list of 

 them is however preserved for reference. 



II. Twenty-four species from Dr. Sibthorp's Collection at the Oxford Bo- 

 tanic Garden, dated about 1787, experimented on by Professor Daubeny. 

 These seeds having been imperfectly preserved and injured by insects are not 

 of much authority, and it is therefore needless to enumerate them. 



III. The following species, from a very old Herbarium in Merton College 

 Library, Oxford, given to the Committee by the Rev. J. Bigg, experimented 

 on by Professor Daubeny. 



Atropa belladonna. Hedera helix. 



Viburnum Opulus. Aspidium Filix mas. 



IV. One hundred seeds of Wheat, Barley, and Lentils respectively, from 

 Egyptian catacombs, given to the Committee by the Trustees of the British 

 Museum, experimented on by Professor Daubeny and H. E. Strickland, Esq. 



V. Twelve seeds of Maize, brought from Peruvian graves by Mr. Cuming, 

 given to the Committee by Dr. Robert Brown, experimented on by H. E. 

 Strickland, Esq. 



VI. Fourteen seeds of Green Melon, gathered in 181 4, given to the Com- 

 mittee by Dr. Lindley, experimented on by H. E. Strickland, Esq., and Pro- 

 fessor Daubeny. 



In all these instances a purely negative result was obtained, no vegetation 



taking place in any of the cases. 



The expenses incurred up to the present date (June 1 842) are in detail as 



follows: — £ s. d. 



Printing Circulars 1 14 



Books for registering Experiments 1 6 



Jars and material for preserving Seeds 31911 



Sundries Oil 6 



Half-year's Salary, due April 1, 1842 2 10 



Total £9 15 11 



Oxford, June 20, 1842. W. H. Baxter, Curator. 



Report of the Committee on Railway Sections. By Charles 

 Vignoles, Esq., F.R.A.S., M.R.I.A., M. Inst. C.E., Professor 

 of Civil Engineering, University College, London. 

 A grant of 200/. from the Association was made at the Glasgow Meeting in 

 1840, on a joint application from the Geological and Mechanical Sections, 

 towards obtaining profiles of the various railways in the United Kingdom, 

 chiefly with a view (before the slopes of the excavations become soiled over and 

 covei-ed with vegetation) of putting on record the geological appearances and 

 strata developed by the many vast openings made through the country by the 

 operations of modern engineering. 



At the Meeting in 1841, a renewal of the unappropriated balance of the 

 first grant was made : the whole of this sum has however since been ex- 

 pended, and further liabilities have been incurred ; and the results are now 

 laid before the Sections which originated the subject, in the shape of nume- 

 rous plans and sections of several of the railways, and of the enlarged parts 

 of the profiles of the excavations only. 



The Committee appointed by the Association have great pleasure in report- 



