Me. W. Keddie on the Early History and Proceedings of the Society. 123 



is introduced as part of the body of a fish or serpent. The superficial 

 markings of a lepidodendron, are assigned to " the root of an aquatic 

 yellow-flowered plant, the lotus." Mr. Edington is reported to have 

 discovered " in one of the stones for the new gaol, a petrified rattan 

 cane, which," says the minutes, " being the production of an inter- 

 tropical climate, is the more rare." The supposed cane was no doubt 

 the ealamite, and the climate that of the carboniferous era. 



In the month of August, 1822, King George the IV. visited Edin- 

 burgh, and the Philosophical Society of Glasgow united, with the other 

 public bodies, in welcoming His Majesty by loyal addresses. The 

 Society's address was presented by Sir John Sinclair, who was elected 

 an honorary member, and presented some of his papers to the Libraiy. 

 In reply to the Society's loyal wish, that His Majesty might long be 

 spared to administer the laws with impartiahty, and that under his 

 reign the arts and sciences might flourish with unprecedented splendour, 

 Mr. Secretary Peel expressed the satisfaction he felt in acquainting the 

 Society that His Majesty had been pleased to receive the address very 

 graciously. Two guineas and a-half was voted to a member for writing 

 out the address. 



A new fork for toasting bread was exhibited by Mr. R. Jamieson, 

 described as consisting of a long wooden handle, one end of which was 

 fixed in an iron gimbol-joint dependent therefrom ; and a small oblong 

 skeleton frame, furnished with two sharp points for transfixing the 

 shave of bread to be toasted. When one side was sufloiciently browned, 

 " the other was turned to the fire, by merely twisting round the handle 

 180 degrees, thus saving the trouble of turning the bread on the toaster, 

 as commonly done by the old method." 



Mr. Buttery, of the Monkland Iron and Steel Works, interested the 

 Society by two essays on the manufacture of iron and steel. He men- 

 tioned that Dannamore iron was worth £38 per ton, while British iron 

 could be got at £7 10s. Dannamore iron, he observed, gave ofi" a 

 peculiar odour when hot. He also stated that a greater quantity of 

 pig-iron could be made in winter than in summer, the proportion being 

 as 40 to 25. 



Mr. Lumsden, we are next informed, " intimated that he would read 

 some of his ideas on lamps." He now proposed that a glass chimney 

 should be placed witliin the globe for the escape upwards of the impure 

 air, and allowing fresh air to enter by other openings. The paper was 

 illustrated by thirteen diagrams and numerous models of the detached 

 parts of lamps. 



Mr. Robert Hastie presented a journal of the weather, kept by his 

 son. Mr. Alexander Hastie, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There were long 



