138 Annals of the Philosophical Club 



General Sabine said that Sir C. Lyell had heard from Mr. 

 Mallet, 1 who wrote from Naples, where he was engaged 

 in investigating the effect of the recent earthquake in 

 Southern Italy. He had not found any change in the level 

 of the Temple of Serapis, but the Posilippo tunnel, near 

 Naples, showed several new cracks, and was in a tottering 

 condition. He was shortly going on to Calabria. 



Mr. Grove mentioned that the object-glass in an old 

 Dollond 6-inch telescope had been sensibly improved by 

 inserting a metallic ring about one-eighth of an inch from the 

 glass. 



At the loist meeting (March i8th), Sir Charles Lyell 

 communicated two letters written by Mr. Mallet from 

 Naples, after his return from Calabria. There he had 

 suffered much from the cold, and in crossing Mount Vultur 

 he had to force his way through a sudden fall of snow 

 5 feet in depth. In order to trace the effect of the earth- 

 quake in a northerly direction, he intended to return home 

 by way of Rome. 



Sir C. Lyell also called attention to a possible cause of 

 inaccuracy in estimating the height of the Temple of Serapis, 

 namely, the action of the wind in raising the sea above its 

 ordinary level, and so damming back the water of the hot 

 spring. The staple to which a bronze ring had been attached, 

 below the level of the water, was an important point in 

 measuring the elevation of the floor. 



The Geographical Society, according to Sir R. Murchison, 

 had given a favourable reception to a proposal made by 

 " a gentleman of the name of Baker," 2 who had had con- 

 siderable experience of travel in tropical climates and 

 explored parts of Ceylon. This was to land at Algoa Bay 



1 The results were published in his book, The Neapolitan Earthquake 

 of /#;. 



2 Samuel White Baker (1821-1893), knighted 1866. He must have 

 changed his plans, for he explored the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia 1861-2, 

 and then, after a stay at Khartoum, went up the White Nile to Gondokoro, 

 where in February, 1863, he met Speke and Grant on their return from the 

 Victoria Nyanza. Proceeding southwards he reached Lake Albert Nyanza. 

 and returned to Khartoum in May, 1865. 



