971 



REPORT OF THE FIFTY-SIXTH MEETINQ, at Birmingham, 

 September 1886, Published at £1 4s. 



Contents : — Eeport on Standards of Light ; — Report of the Committee for pre- 

 paring Instructions for the practical work of Tidal Observation, and Fourth Report 

 on the Harmonic Analysis of Tidal Observations ; — Report of the Committee for co- 

 operating with the Scottish Meteorological Society in making Meteorological Obser- 

 vations on Ben Nevis ; — Third Eeport on the best methods of recording the Direct 

 Intensity of Solar Radiation ;— Second Report on the best means of Comparing and 

 Reducing Magnetic Observations ; — First Report on our Experimental Knowledge of 

 the Properties of Matter with respect to Volume, Pressure, Temperature, and Specific 

 Heat ;— Third Report of the Committee for co-operating with Mr. E. J. Lowe in his 

 project of establishing a Meteorological Observatory near Chepstow on a permanent 

 and scientific basis ; — Report of tlie Committee for inviting designs for a good 

 Differential Gravity Meter in supersession of the Pendulum ; — Report of the Com- 

 mittee for constructing and issuing practical Standards for use in Electrical Measure- 

 ments ; — Second Report of the Committee for promoting Tidal Observations in 

 Canada ; — Report of the Committee for the reduction and tabulation of Tidal Obser- 

 vations in the English Channel, made with the Dover Tide-gauge, and for connecting 

 them with Observations made on the French Coast ; — Report of the Committee for 

 preparing a new series of Wave-length Tables of the Spectra of the Elements ; — 

 Second Report of the Committee for investigating the subject of Vapour Pressures 

 and Refractive Indices of Salt Solutions ; — Second Report of the Committee for 

 investigating certain Physical Constants of Solution, especially the Expansion of 

 Saline Solutions ; — Report (provisional) on the influence of the Silent Discharge of 

 Electricity on Oxygen and other Gases ; — Report on IsomericNaphthaleneDerivatives ; 

 — Eeport on the Exploration of the Caves of North Wales ; — Fourteenth Report on 

 the Erratic Blocks of England, Wales, and Ireland ; — Report on the Volcanic Phe- 

 nomena of Vesuvius and its neighbourhood ;— Fourth Report on the Fossil Phyllopoda 

 of the Palasozoic Rocks ; — Twelfth Report on the Circulation of Underground Waters 

 in the Permeable Formations of England and Wales, and the Quantity and Character 

 of the Water supplied to various Towns and Districts from these Formations ; — 

 Second Report on the Fossil Plants of the Tertiary and Secondary Beds of the United 

 Kingdom ; — Report on the Mechanism of the Secretion of Urine ; — Eeport of the 

 Committee for promoting the establishment of a Marine Biological Station at 

 Granton, Scotland ; — Report on the occupation of a Table at the Zoological Station 

 at Naples ; — Report on the Migration of Birds ; — Report of the Committee for con- 

 tinuing the Researches on Food-Fishes and Invertebrates at the St. Andrews Marine 

 Laboratory; — Report on the Depth of the Permanently Frozen Soil in the Polar 

 Regions, its Geographical Limits and relation to the Pole of greatest cold ; — Report 

 of the Committee for taking into consideration the Combination of the Ordnance and 

 Admiralty Surveys, and the Production of a Bathy-hypsographical Map of the British 

 Isles ; — Report of the Committee for drawing attention to the desirability of further 

 Research in the Antarctic Regions ; — Report on the teaching of Science in Ele- 

 mentary Schools ; — Report on the Regulation of Wages by means of Sliding Scales ; 

 — Report on the Endurance of Metals under repeated and varying Stresses, and the 

 proper working Stresses on Railway Bridges and other structures subject to varying 

 loads ; — Eeport on the Prehistoric Race in the Greek Islands ; — Eeport of the Com- 

 mittee for investigating and publishing reports on the physical characters, languages, 

 and industrial and social condition of the North-western Tribes of the Dominion of 

 Canada ;~Report to the Council of the Corresponding Societies Committee ; — Report 

 on Electrolysis in its Physical and Chemical Bearings ; — Sixth Report on the Vol- 

 canic Phenomena of Japan ; — Second Report en the Rate of Erosion of the Sea-coasts 

 of England and Wales, and the Influence of the Artificial Abstraction of Shingle or 

 other Material in that action ; — The Modern Development of Thomas Young's 

 Theory of Colour-vision ; — On the Explicit Form of the Complete Cubic Differential 

 Resolvent ;— On the Phenomena and Theories of Solution ;— On the Exploration of 

 the Eaygill Fissure in Lothersdale, Yorkshire ; — An Accurate and Rapid Method of 

 estimating the Silica in an Igneous Rock : — On some Points for the Consideration 

 of English Engineers with reference to the Design of Girder Bridges ; — The Sphere 

 and Roller Mechanism for Transmitting Power;— On Improvements in Electric 

 Safety Lamps ; — On the Birmingham, Tame, and Rea District Drainage. 



Together with the Transactions of the Sections, Sir J. William Dawson's Address, 

 and Recommendations of the Association and its Committees. 



