1 24 Annals of the Philosophical Club 



account of the geology of that island, with enthusiastic 

 praise of its scenery. 1 



Sir R. Murchison announced the discovery of true coal 

 at Heraklea on the Asiatic coast of the Black Sea, the first 

 to be found in the Russian dominions. 2 



At the 65th meeting (April 24th) a letter was read from 

 Captain Spratt, who had been called away from the Aegean 

 to join the Black Sea fleet, giving a short account of the 

 coal mentioned at the last meeting. Its quality was excellent, 

 equal to the best Newcastle, and certainly it was shown by 

 fossils to be anything but modern (as had been asserted). 

 Dr. Playfair, who had examined specimens, said the coal, at 

 the edge of the field, changed to a kind of anthracite. 



Professor Owen exhibited the skull of a species of Felis 

 which had been found at a depth of 70 feet near Buenos 

 Aires. It resembled a tiger, but the upper jaw had two large 

 canine teeth, the corresponding canines in the lower jaw 

 being small. So far as known, it represented an extinct 

 species. 



Lord Rosse, at the 66th meeting (May 25th), spoke of his 

 experience (with Dr. Wood) in the application of photography 

 to astronomical purposes. This convinced him that results 

 of practical value would not be obtained till the collodion 

 could be made more sensitive. He also described an appa- 

 ratus for moving the plate, and a new process for polishing 

 the surface of mirrors used in large reflecting telescopes. 



Dr. Carpenter said that, as he had found, photographs, 

 taken in a microscope with a y^-inch objective, revealed, 



1 Sir C. Lyell went to Madeira early in January, 1854, and after a stay 

 of about three weeks passed on to Teneriffe, Palma, and the Grand Canary. 

 The letter, dated January only, is printed in Life, Letters, and Journals 

 of Sir C. Lyell, vol. ii. pages 191-3. But on comparing with this the 

 manuscript copy in the Minute Book, I find several differences. Some 

 words in it are incorrectly written, others are left blank as illegible to the 

 copyist. Two or three clauses, with merely personal details, and one long 

 section, giving a description of the succession of rocks in the island, with 

 a diagram, are omitted. But probably this last was done, because, even 

 in 1 88 1, the account would be less interesting than it was in 1854. In the 

 printed copy, however, on page 192, " rents " should be " vents." 



2 But Heraklea is on the northern coast of Asia Minor in the province 

 of Kastamuni, and thus Turkish. 



