lS6 TiMEHRI. 



exception to his remarks on wooden bridges. Mr, King 

 referred to them as primitive and held that iron bridges 

 were much better, but the speaker thought wood most 

 suitable for the shorter spans. In a country like this, 

 with such soft foundatious, he doubted whether Mr. King's 

 suggested stru6lures could be ere6led at the price esti- 

 mated. The cost of a greenheart bridge was about $600, 

 and if the timber was well-seasoned it would last for 

 fifteen or twenty years. He did not however speak 

 disparagingly of iron as a superstrufture for bridges, 

 but rather wished to advocate the use of greenheart 

 piles. 



The President said he agreed with Mr. Bell that 

 well-seasoned greenheart lasted for a long time when 

 used in the smaller bridges, and he was rather surprised 

 at Mr. King's estimate of their span of life, which was 

 much less than he judged from his experience. No doubt 

 concrete and iron made excellent bridges, but when 

 those of greenheart could be built so much cheaper 

 the advantages were not altogether in favour of the 

 former. 



Their being no response to the call for discussion on 

 Mr. Llewellyn Jones's paper on Diffusion, the President 

 said it was an excellent paper and that he had read it 

 carefully, but had not time to study it minutely with a 

 view to criticism. He was glad to see that it was so well 

 appreciated that no one had anything to say against it. 



The Hon. E. C. Luard read a paper on " Open Drain- 

 age and Steam Husbandry in Demerara,"* for which a 

 cordial vote of thanks was given. 



- Mr. Jas. Gillespie read a paper on " Some effefts of 

 * See page 94J 



