'94 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION A. 



Meteorological Research. This proposal received the commendation 

 of the President. Mr. Russell added several examples of the 

 difficulty which he experienced in clearing up matters of fact of 

 even comparatively recent date. This was endorsed by the 

 President, who remarked that one of the first things he heard 

 about the Parramatta Observatory was that at the time in 

 question it was being used as a dog kennel ; and had even received 

 the distinction of an inscription on its walls " Sic transit gloria 



2. NOTE ON THE POLARITY OF MAGNETIC ROCKS. 



By Professor Arthur Rucker. 



Professor Rucker mentioned in a letter to Prof. A. Liversidge 

 that he had noticed dviring the magnetic survey of the United 

 Kingdom that in some places there was a definite local attraction 

 of the South Pole of the ordinary compass. The obvious explana- 

 tion was shortly stated ; and information was asked for as to 

 whether such eftects were observable in Australia. 



[A letter had already been received by the Royal Society, 

 N. S. Wales, stating the existence of one such spot at least, 

 viz., Balfour's Peak, Gragin, Inverell, where the North Pole 

 of the compass may be made to point due south by placing it on 

 a rock at the top of the Peak. The writer of this letter was 

 Mr. G. H. Gordon, of Gragin, Inverell. 



The Secretary stated tlie question at issue ; but while attesting 

 to the interest of the phenomenon thought that its importance 

 was easily capable of exaggeration. In this the Secretary was 

 supported by Mr. EUery, who considered that as variations of 

 all degrees were known to occur rather as a rule than the excep- 

 tion, it mattered comparatively little whether they attained a 

 maximum at any particular spot. 



An interesting remark was made by Mr. Graydon to the effect 

 that while surveying a tract of country in Victoria, along the 

 junction of the trap and the Silurian, he had noticed a constant 

 error all along the line. The Hon. P. G. King also gave evidence 

 as to the unreliability of the compass. Mr. Sutherland observed 

 that more evidence might be usefully collected.] 



3. ON THE VARIATION OF BAROMETRIC PRESSURE 

 AND OF WIND. 



By N. a. Graydon. 



^AbstractJ] 



The author proposed a theory in which the ether had a prominent 

 place, and which he considered would meet certain cases not 

 properly accounted for by ordinary theory. 



