XXX REPORT — 1851. 



or two small vessels to trace the course of the Tides in the Atlantic, with an 

 especial view to ascertain the points of divergence and of convergence of 

 the tidal wave on the West Coast of Africa and on the East Coast of South 

 America, the progress of the diurnal inequality and of the semi-mensual in- 

 equality on those coasts, tiie relation of the tides at islands remote from the 

 coasts with the tides on the coasts, and the direction and degree of the 

 streams of ebb and flow in the various regions of the Ocean. 



The Committee having had brought to their notice the zoological and 

 anatomical investigations made by Mr. T. H. Huxley, Assistant Surgeon oF 

 Her Majesty's Ship Rattlesnake, during the Surveying Voyages conducted 

 by the late Captain Owen Stanley on the Coasts of Australia and New 

 Guinea, and believing those researches to be of the greatest value and to 

 throw new light on the structure and history of tribes of animals hitherto 

 imperfectly understood, — 



Resolved, — That application be made to Her Majesty's Government for a 

 grant towards their publication, since without such aid the materials col- 

 lected and researches made during the Expedition in question cannot be 

 placed before the public. 



The Committee, having had brought to their notice the extent and im- 

 portance of the Botanical Collections and observations made by Dr. J. D. 

 Hooker and Dr. T. Thomson in the Himalaya Mountains and other parts 

 of India where they have lately been employed on Botanical missions nnder 

 Her Majesty's Government and the East India Company, and to which special 

 attention was directed in the opening address of the President of the Asso- 

 ciation; and having further learned that other vajuable collections have 

 lately been made in the Himalaya by Major Madden, Captain R. Strachey 

 and Mr. J. E. Winterbottom, which are now available; also taking into con- 

 sideration tiie amount of unpublished materials from the same country still 

 deposited in our Museums; and knowing that Drs. Hooker and Thomson, 

 who are both accomplished Botanists, are willing to undertake the arrange- 

 ment of all these materials with the intention of combining them with former 

 publications into a general Indian Flora, — 



Resolved, — That Her Majesty's Government and the Court of Directors of 

 the East India Company be requested to give the aid essential for the speedy 

 publication of such a work, which they conceive would be a most valuable 

 addition to our Botanical knowledge, but which is manifestly beyond the 

 means of private individuals. They would further add, that it appears to 

 them most important that immediate steps should be taken in this matter 

 while the great mass of the Collections is still uninjured by time, and while 

 their description can be undertaken by the very persons who made them, 

 — a combination of advantages which must soon be lost. 

 The Committee of the British Association having had brought before 



them the explorations of Captain Richard Strachey of the Bengal Engineers 



in the Himalaya Mountains and Thibet, and the desirableness of the speedy 



publication of these researches, — 



Resolved,— Tliat a request be made to the Court of Directors of the East 

 India Company to afford to Captain Strachey such aid as will enable hina to 

 lay them before the public with such illustrations in Maps and Plates as 

 are essential for their proper elucidation. 



Reports requested. 

 Rev. Dr. Robinson. -~0n the Progress of Captive Balloon Experiments. 



