Mr Taylor on the Origin of the Serpentine of SJietland. 97 



Wedtiesday, 19 tJi April 1876. — John Falconer King, Esq., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The following gentleman was elected a Resident Member: Francis "W. 

 Moinet, M.D., Alva Street. 



The following donations were laid on the table, and thanks voted to the 

 donors : 



1. («.) Proceedings of the Eoyal Swedish Academy of Science, Vols. IX. 

 (Part 2), X., XII. (XI. to be sent afterwards), i.e., for 1870, 1871, 1873; 

 \h.) Supplement I., 1 and 2, II., 1 and 2 ; (c.) Bulletin, Parts 28 to 31 ; {d.) 

 Meteorological Observations, Vols. 12 to 14 ; (c.) Biographies of the Members, 

 Yol. I., Part 3. 2. New York State Museum of Natural History, 24th, 25th, 

 and 26th Annual Reports (1870, 1871, 1872). 3. New York State Library, 

 56th and 57th Annual Reports (1873, 1874). 4. New York State Cabinet of 

 Natural History, 23d Annual Report (1869). 5. Proceedings of the Roynl 

 Society, Vol. XXIV., No. 167. 6. {a.) Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 of London, 1875, Part 4 (viz., papers for November and December) ; (&.) Trans- 

 actions, Vol. IX., Parts 5, 6, 7. 7. Proceedings of the Berwickshire 

 Naturalists' Club, Vol. VII., No. 2. 8. Transactions of Watford Natural 

 History Society and Hertfordshire Field Club, Vol. I., Parts 1, 2, 3. 9. 

 Geologists' Association : (1.) Annual Report, etc., for 1875 ; (2.) Proceedings, 

 Vol. IV., No. 6. 10. Medical Examiner, Vol. I., Nos. 11 to 15 inclusive. 



The following Committees were appointed for the summer : 

 Entomology : Messrs George Logan, W.S., R. Scot-Skirving, Andrew "Wilson, 

 J. Gibson, and Dr F. W. Lyon ; Convener — Mr R. F. Logan. Marine Zoology : 

 Dr M'Bain, R.N., DrTraquair, the Rev. Professor Duns, D.D., Dr Strethill- 

 Wright, Dr Lyon, and Messrs R. F. Logan, A. Wilson, C. W. Peach, James 

 Anderson, and Robert Gray ; Convener — Mr Andrew S. Melville. Geology : 

 Dr M'Bain, R.N., Professor Duns, Dr R. Brown, and Mr Andrew Taylor ; 

 Convener — Mr C. W. Peach; Vice- Convener — Mr D. Grieve. Chemical Science : 

 Messrs W. Durham, J. Hunter, and W. C. Crawford ; Convener — Mr J. F. King. 



The following communications were read : 



I. — On the Origin of the Serioentine of SJietland. By Andrew 

 Taylor, Esq. 



The scientific journals of this month give prominence to 

 the question of the origin of Serpentine. Dr Hann, in the 

 " Annals of Natural History," pronounces a decisive non est 

 as to the entity of the Eozoon Canadense ; microscopists, he 

 afi&rms, have mistaken the minute appearances of varied 

 mineral metheloyses in the same bed of rock for organic 

 appearances. Again, Professors King and Eowney, the well- 

 known combatants of Dr Carpenter in this special arena, 

 announce in the current Philosophical Magazine, the discovery 

 in the Serpentine of the Lizard, under a power of 373 

 diameters, of strange bodies like Rotalaria, Glohigerina, or the 

 fossil coral Stenepora. Their argument is that such bodies 

 are due only to the varied crystalline shapes of minute 

 microscopic minerals, taking different directions in the same 

 bed of rock. A sufficient cause, at all events, has been shown 

 for a minute microscopic study of Serpentine. 



VOL. IV. 



