896 bepokt— 1884. 



furnaces. This amount can only be obtained by means of a steam fan. The same 

 fan blower would save its cost in a season or two, by being utilised for trimming 

 the cargo of wheat, a hose pipe being attached, and the current of air being 

 directed against the wheat, as it fell from the elevator spout. This would also cool 

 the wheat, a great advantage. 



In winter the fresh air could be warmed before being supplied to the passengers, 

 by passing over the boilers or through the condensers ; and in summer, in hot lati- 

 tudes, it could be cooled with ice, or by compression and expansion, as in refrige- 

 rators. 



To avoid draughts, the air should be distributed by small perforators from a 

 large surface of pipe, which should be introduced into every living apartment of the 

 ship while it was being built. 



WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. The Extent to which a Geological Formation is available as a Gathering- 

 ground for Water Supply. By W. Whitaker, B.A., F.G.8. 



The author exhibited a set of maps which he had specially made to show 



(1) those areas in which rain-water has free, or almost free, access to the Chalk, that 

 rock being either bare, or covered only by deposits of a permeable kind ; and 



(2) those areas over which the infiltration of water to the Chalk is hindered either 

 partially by a protecting mass of beds of a mixed or of a changeable kind (in the 

 former case letting water through to a limited extent, and in the latter allowing 

 it to sink down at one place and not at another), or wholly, by a protecting mass 

 of impermeable beds that absolutely stops infiltration, though sometimes streams 

 flowing over such impermeable beds reach the Chalk, and contribute to its water. 

 It is only those parts of the London Basin for which the Geological Survey has 

 published Drift-maps that can be included in the above scheme, but it is hoped to 

 extend this practical application of geological knowledge as other Drift-maps are 

 issued. Like maps can of course be made for other water-bearing formations 

 where the different divisions of the Drift have been surveyed, and until such maps 

 are made we may have only an approximate idea of the areas of the various water- 

 bearing beds that are available as gathering-grounds. 



2. On Flood Regulators. By J. Dillon. 



3. On Agricultural Implements. By D. Pcdgeon. 



4. On the Destruction of Town Refuse. By John Brown, M.V., B.Sc. 



The used-up material of town life may be classified as sewage and solid 

 material, including night soil, midden and ashpit refuse, street sweepings and 

 gully sludge, market sweepings, garbage and oft'al. 



On the shores of seas, lakes, estuaries, and very large rivers, the sewage may 

 be disposed of by being discharged into these ; greatly diluted, it is slowly oxidised 

 into a harmless state. 



When possible its great nutritive properties may be utilised on sewage farms 

 or irrigated meadows. Where this cannot be done, the excellent sewage report of 

 this Association shows that the process of intermittent downward filtration is 

 probably the most efficient for the destruction of its hurtful ingredients. 



In the case of large towns it is very soon found that the removal of solid used- 

 up materials gives rise to nuisance and entails enormous expense. 



