78 



system if the prejudice of idea alone be overcome. And, perchance, 

 it may yet honourably take its place amongst the many successful 

 attempts so many arc engaged in— the supply of a wholesome and 

 cheap food for a struggling population. 



It is not given to us by the laws of nature to invent a new animal. 

 The utilization of such substances in firir and honourable trade as a 

 food is at least a gain upon its v,-aste in greasing the wheels of a rail- 

 way waggon. 



I will close my ten minutes' grace v.dth a warning on matters 

 culinary. It is very desirable to avoid super-heating butter and its 

 analogous fats ; as in fish frying, bacon frizzling. &c. In the first, 

 vegetable oils are a far better medium ; in the second, what should be 

 lightly digested becomes a source of annoyance. The marvellous 

 assimilative power of cur youthful digestion, that made all things 

 alike, from the stale penny tart to the over-cooked and dried up 

 sausage, gives place, as years roll on, to a more critical condition, 

 necessitating care for our stomachs and some little domestic chemistry 

 in our kitchens. 



March qth. 



ORDINARY MEETING. — MR. W. L. WATTS ON 

 ICELAND, ITS PHVSICA-L ASPECTS, CHARAC- 

 TERISTICS, &c. 



The lecture that evening was to be upon Iceland and its physical 

 characteristics. This island, which was about one-third larger than 

 Ireland, was situated, as all knew, upon the borders of the Arctic 

 Circle. Apart from its historical and literary fame, which it was not 

 his purpose to consider that evening, it was of especial interest to 

 the geologist and the physical geographer. It lay almost at the 

 northern extremity of the great volcanic line which skirted the 

 extreme west of the Old World, extending from the island of Jan- 

 Mayen in the Arctic Ocean through Iceland, the Feroe Isle, Great 

 Britain, the Madeiras, the Azores, the Canaries, along the west coast 

 of Africa, right away down to the Antarctic Island of Tristen del 

 Cunha, and its equal as a centre of volcanic activity could alone be 



