who invented the Miners' Safety-fuse*) was for several years a 

 member of the Institution ; but, I believe, he took no part in its 

 publications. His mathematical acquirements and his acquaintance 

 with the science of music were very considerable. His genial 

 disposition and unostentatious benevolence won him the esteem 

 of all classes. 



Sir William Williams, Bart., an original member of the Insti- 

 tution, often accepted office as a Vice-President, and frequently 

 served on the Council. No paper from his pen appears in our 

 publications ; but the propagation of the land-tortoise at TreguUow 

 has afforded subject for several most interesting memoirs by Lady 

 WilhamSjt Dr. Barham,| and Mr. Rodd.|| The Transactions of the 

 Royal Geological Society of Cornioall § contain frequent acknow- 

 ledgement of invaluable information regarding matters of interest 

 and importance on which Sir William Williams — the last surviving 

 great-grandson of that eminent public benefactor by whom the 

 Great Adit was commenced in 1 748 IT — remained for several years 



* " Lorsque le roc fournit beaiTCOup d'eau la poudre est renfermee dans 

 un sac de toile goudronnee impermeable. Le feu est mis par un tube rempli 

 de poudre : ce tube est a deux enveloppes formees de petites baudelettes en 

 toile goudronnee, enroulees en spirale, Tune sur I'autre, et en sens inverse 

 I'une de I'autre .... Ces objets se fabriquent a Camborne .... Un sac gou- 

 dronnee pouvant contenir un livre de poudre est vendu 4 pence, et les tubes 

 remplis de poudre, 2 pence per yard de longueur." — Combes, Annates des 

 Mines, 3me Serie, v, p. 348. 



"Les fusees de surety ont 6te inventees. .. .par William Bickford. .. . 

 La patente accordee est en date du 6 septembre 1831. . . .Cette ingenieuse 

 invention resume les perfectionnements les plus importants aj^portes a 

 I'operation du tirage a la poudre. . . .Les fusees renferment 11 a 12 gra;nmes 

 de poudi-e par metre courant (from 61 to -56 grains per foot) . Deux ecbantillons 

 de poudre analyses a I'Ecole des Mines ont donnee approximativement les 

 dosages suivants ; — 



Fusses ordinairea. FusSes speoiales. 



Nitre 73-0 77-0 



Charbon 15-5 13-5 



Soufre 11-5 9-5 



100- 100- 



Chateliee, Annales des Mines, 4me S6rie, iv, pp. 1, 5, 6. 



f Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, XLV (1863), p. 42 ; 

 Journal of the Royal Institution of Cormoall, Vol. II (No. VI), p. 173. 

 + Report of the Royal Institution of Cormcall, XLV, p. 42. 

 II Ibid, p. 41 ; The Zoologist, XXI, pp. 8333, 8693, 8857. 

 § Vni, pp. 114, 445,-51,-7. 



f Henwood, Cornwall Geol. Trans., V, p. 89 * ; VIII, p. 586; Journal of 

 the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Vol. Ill (No. XI), p. xxiii. 



