Sept. 22, 1870] 
NATURE 
417 
luxury of the tramway omnibuses, which London does not 
yet possess, to visitthem. The Geological Section is held in 
a small and not very convenient room, the Concert Hall, 
in Lord Nelson Street. Here there was no opening ad- 
dress, and the attendance was smail. The most remote 
of all is the Chemical Section at the Royal Institution in 
Colquitt Street. At the Section for Economic Science, in 
the Town Hall, I arrived just in time to hear the vener- 
able Sir John Bowring propose a vote of thanks to the 
president, Prof. Jevons, for his opening address. The 
““economic” rule was there laid down, which might have 
been adopted with advantage in some of the other sec- 
tions, that, during a discussion, no one was to speak for 
more than ten minutes. Considering the distance from 
the central buildings, the attendance here was not small ; 
and the committee of this section appears to contain the 
largest infusion of the aristocratic element—Lord Derby, 
Lord Houghton, Sir J. K. Shuttleworth, and Lord Neaves. 
The first day was closed by a so/vée given by the Mayor 
in the Town Hall, where about 1,400 visitors were col- 
lected, consisting of members of the Association and the 
principal visitors in Liverpool. <A sotrée was also held 
in the Free Public Library, where Mr. Moore and the 
Rev. H. H. Higgins had get together a very large and 
interesting collection of scientific objects and works of 
art, including the well-known and valuable ‘‘ Mayer col- 
Iection.” 
On Friday and Saturday I confined my visits to the 
several sections comprised under the head of Natural 
Science. In the Geological Section there have been 
several papers of great interest, Mr. Judd’s having at- 
tracted particular attention, and the discussion which 
followed was thought very interesting. The chemists 
do not appear to have mustered in force ; at all events, 
that section took a holiday on Saturday, and a good many 
interested in it have seized the opportunity of visiting 
some of the numerous chemical works in the neighbour- 
hood. Section D, on the other hand, has suffered from a 
plethora of papers, notwithstanding its division into three 
sub-sections. The Geographical Section is always popular. 
Great disappointment was expressed at the withdrawal of 
Mr. Hepworth Dixon’s paper, which was, however, to 
s)m2 extent compensated by the part he took in the 
discussion which followed Governor Gilpin’s paper on 
Colorado. But the greatest crush on Friday was in Prof. 
Rolleston’s sub-section ; and the interest excited on the 
subject of Spontaneous Generation, by the president’s 
opening address, was shown by the attention with which 
the crowded audience listened to a two-hours’ discussion, 
for which purpose the three sub-sections were for a 
time united. ‘The campaign was opened by a description 
of some recent experiments by Dr. Child, the well- 
known advocate of spontaneous generation, on Abio- 
genesis. ‘This was followed up by an elaborate paper, on 
the other side, from Mr. Samuelson, which was succeeded 
by some remarks from Dr. Crace Calvert, who spoke of 
the extreme difficulty with which the atmosphere can be 
entirely freed from organic germs. The discussion which 
followed was sustained by Dr. Hooker, Mr. Bentham, and 
other distinguished naturalists, entirely on the orthodox 
side of Biogenesis. In the remarks with which he summed 
up the debate, Prof. Rolleston complimented Dr, Child on 
the gallantry with which he had stood in the breach alone 
against such a consensus of opposition ; and expressed his 
regret at the absence of the great champion of Abio- 
genesis, Dr. Charlton Bastian—the report of whose expe- 
riments in NATURE, he said, it was the bounden duty of 
every one who had now heard the other side of the ques- 
tion to read. Prof. Huxley was not present during the 
discussion ; and though Mr. Herbert Spencer was, he took 
no part in it. It is rumoured that the combat is to 
be renewed to-morrow by the chiefs themselves: if this 
is the case, probably the whole Association will be 
there to hear them, In a discussion which took place in 
the same section on Thursday, Mr. Gwyn Jeifreys spoke 
of the hindrance which the Porcupine dredging expedition 
in the Mediterranean had experienced from the unfayour- 
able weather. He mentioned the fact, whichis but little 
known to naturalists, and which is not without importance 
in reference to the theory of glacial epochs, that the species 
of mollusca dredged up from great depths in the Medi- 
terranean in previous expeditions are identical with Arctic 
species. It is very gratifying that Prof. Wyville Thomson, 
who was prevented from taking his share in that expedi- 
tion through illness, is now completely restored to health, 
Prof. Tyndall’s eloquent discourse on Friday on the scien- 
tific uses of the imagination was just of the kind which 
pleases the audience for whom it was intended, and was 
rapturously applauded. 
At a meeting of the General Committee yesterday 
afternoon, Prof. Huxley in the chair, invitations were read 
for meetings of the Association to be held at Edinburgh, 
Brighton, Bradford, and Belfast. The Scotch metropolis 
was represented by Prof, Balfour and Sir Walter Elliot, 
the southern watering-place by Mr. Hallett and Mr. Mayall 
the photographer, the Yorkshire manufacturing town by 
the Mayor of Bradford and Mr. Alderman Law, and the 
Irish city by Dr. M‘Gee and Mr. Patterson. In reference 
to Brighton, it was mentioned that the three south-eastern 
counties of England have together only enjoyed one meet- 
ing of the Association during the last twenty-five years, 
the Thames appearing to be a kind of Rubicon which the 
Association has found a difficulty in crossing. Itwas moved 
by Sir Roderick Murchison, seconded by Mr. Cowan (who 
stated that the neighbourhood of Edinburgh manufactured 
200 miles of paper per diem), that the next mecting 
of the Association be held at Edinburgh. Lord 
Houghton then moved, in accordance with the new re- 
solution passed by the General Committee, that the 
meeting for 1872 be held at Brighton. This was 
seconded by Mr. Gassiot, and also carried unanimously. 
The motion of Prof. Stokes, seconded by Mr. Spottis- 
woode, that Sir William Thomson be the president-elect, 
was received with great enthusiasm. Sir Walter Elliot 
proposed, and Prof. Rolleston seconded, the appointment 
of the vice-presidents for 1871, viz, the Duke of Buc- 
cleuch, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Right Hon. 
J. Inglis, Sir Alexander Grant, Sir Roderick Murchison, 
Sir Chas. Lyell, Dr. Lyon Playfair, and Dr. Christison. 
Prof. Crum Brown, Mr. Ed. Sang, and Mr. T. B. Mar- 
garet are to be the local secretaries ; and the time fixed 
was the middle of August, the day to be settled by. the 
Council. The committee then resumed the subject of 
Vivisection, which had been adjourned from the last 
meeting. Mr. Johnstone Stoney proposed the resolution 
of which he had given notice, that “ Having regard to 
the well-known character of the British Association, and 
to the circumstance,that the business of the General 
Committee is necessarily transacted under pressure of 
time, it is not expedient, under ordinary circum- 
stances, that it be recommended to this committee to 
appoint committees or pass votes for investigations 
to be carried on by the method of vivisection.” This 
resolution Mr. Stoney was anxious to withdraw in favour 
of two others, but the chairman decided that these could- 
only be brought forward in the form of amendments. 
The original resolution was therefore seconded, fro jormé, 
by Prof. Stokes. Mr. Samuelson then proposed as an 
amendment, “That the committee of Section D be re- 
quested to draw upastatement of their views upon physio- 
logical experiments in their various bearings, and that 
this document be circulated among the members of the 
Association, and that the said committee he further 
requested to consider from time to time whether any steps 
can be taken by them or by the Association which will 
tend to reduce to its minimum the sufferings entailed by 
legitimate physiological inquiries, or which will have the 
elfect of employing the influence of the Association in dis- 
