xlvi 



OCTOBER 14th, 1907. 



The montlily meeting of the Royal So- 

 ciety was held at the Museum last even- 

 ing. His Excellency the Governor, Sir 

 Gerald Strickland, presided. 



The following were elected members: — 

 Rev. F. H. Baring, M.A., F.R.G.S., Dr. 

 Lindsay Miller, Mr. M. Ma-son, and 

 Alderman H. T. Gould. 



Tasmanian Emus. 



The Secretary (Mrs. C. E. Morton) read 

 an extract from "Nature," in reference 

 to some hones of the small emu which 

 were sent to Professor Giglioli, of the 

 Royal Zoological Museiim, Florence, they 

 having been found by Mr. E. M. John- 

 ston and the late Mr. Alex. Morton on 

 King Island. Professor Giglioli stated 

 that the bonnes were absolutely identical 

 with the corresponding bones of Peron's 

 specimen from Kangaroo Island. The 

 same professor said: — "We possess tvv'o 

 authentic skeletons and two mounted 

 specimens of Drcmseus ater (Peron), 

 which, in the first years of last century, 

 was abundant on Kangaroo Island; two 

 of these four specimens are in Paris, one 

 is in Florence, and one in Liverpool. 

 Mine is a skeleton, and is one of the 

 three brought alive to France by Peron 

 in 1803 from Kangaroo Island. The 

 Liverpool specimen is, I think,, not locat- 

 ed ; it is, undoubtedly, D. ater, but might 

 hail from King Island, or even from 

 Tasmania; it may be the 'lesser emu' 

 of the Rullock Museum, dispersed in 

 1819." 



Electricity and Matter. 



"Electricity and Matter" was the sub- 

 ject of a paper read by Mr. H. J. Spen- 

 cer. He remarked upon the progress that 

 had been made in the practical applica- 

 tion of electricity, some thirty years ago 

 there being no electrical industries in 

 existence. In 1831, Faraday discovered 

 the principle of the dynamo, but nearly 

 forty years elapsed before that great dis- 

 covery bore fruit. After referring to 

 some of the uses of electricity, Mr. Spen- 

 cer briefly touched upon the work of the 

 earlier investigators, and described the 



phenomenon which led up to the elec- 

 tronic theory. Having taken his hearers 

 step by step up to the problem of struo- 

 ture, he said, ha^-ing reached the conclu- 

 sion that electricity, like matter, 

 atomic in structure, were they prepared 

 for the question, "Is electricity identicall 

 mth matter .P" He proceeded to discuss' 

 the subject, and concluded by pointing 

 out that the free motion of electrons in 

 a conductor created what was called 

 electric current ; their vibration gave ris 

 to ether waves or radiation, whether it| 

 be light or heat. The ether could onlj 

 be moved by electrons, hence the electron.! 

 appeared to be the source of all physical* 

 phenomena, and when they understood 

 better how to control its motions, thej 

 might be able to produce light without 

 heat; nay, further, 'perhaps to marehall 

 these invisible servants without the aid 

 of cumbersome machinery, and train 

 them to do our will by far simpler and 

 more efficient methods than we at pre- 

 sent use. To substantiate the theory, it 

 must be made to explain all the facts of 

 chemical combination and volency as 

 well, but to go into that would involve 

 much more time than was at his dis- 

 posal. The lecture was illustrated with 

 several interesting experiments. 



Mr. Spencer was asked several question* 

 appertaining to the question by His 

 Excellency, and made interesting replies. 



Dr. J. S. C. Elkington spoke of the 

 therapeutic value of electricity, and said 

 they rnust all concur that Mr. Spencer 

 had given them a most excellent and 

 interesting address. 



His Excellency, in proposing a vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Spencer, said he had 

 furnished them with a very rapid, use- 

 ful, and concise demonstration of several 

 of the recent commereial successes in 

 the application of electricity. He had 

 enabled them in a few miniites to realise 

 what they could not understand from 

 hours, and, perhaps, weeks, of book read- 

 ing. He had enjoyed the evening's enter- 

 tainment very much, and on behalf of 

 himself and Fellows he tendered Mr. 

 Spencer their cordial thanks. (Ap- 

 plause.) 



