194 PROCEEDIxVGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



On motion of Mr. Shaw, seconded by the President (Dr. 

 Workman having taken the chair,) it was resolved, " That the 

 Canadian Institute cannot allow this first meeting, since the 

 death of the Rev. John McCaul to pass, without expressing its 

 sorrow at the loss, though in the fullness of years and 

 honours of that eminent scholar and teacher, to whose great 

 abilities and force of character, not only our Provincial 

 University and this Institute, of which he was so bright an 

 ornament, but also the City of Toronto owe so much." 



TWENTY-FOURTH MEETING. 



Twenty-Fourth- Meeting, April 30th, 1887, the President in 

 the chair. 



Exchanges since last meeting, 23. 



The Council announced the admission of the following as 

 associates : — J. H. Lowe, Wm. Murdoch, S. Beckett. 



The following were elected members : — J. C. Forbes, R. 

 Moodie, Alexander Macnabb, Thomas Shortiss, S. Macklem. 



Nominations for officers and members of Council for the 

 ensuing year were then made. 



Mr. Alfred Baker, M.A., read a paper on " Some Experi- 

 ments in Connection with the Doctrine of Probabilities." 



I. The problems that had been treated experimentally were three 

 in number. The first may be stated thus : A number of equidistant 

 pai'allel lines are drawn on a plane, and a rod whose length is equal 

 to the distance between two consecutive lines is thi'own at random 

 on the plane, to determine the chance of its falling on one of the 



2 

 lines. This chance is readily shewn by the theory to be -"^ =. 



"6366 ; i. e., in 10 throws it should cross a line 6 times, in 100 



throws 63 times, or in 1,000 throws 630 times, etc. In the experi- 

 ment a large drawing board had formed the plane, and a fine glass 



