ABSTEACT OF MINUTES 



OF THE PBOCEEDINGS OP THE 



HAMILTON ASSOCIATION 



DURING 



THE SESSION 1891-93. 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24tb, 1891. 



SPECIAL MEETING. 



Mr. B. E. Charlton, in taking the chair, announced that the 

 custom followed in former years, according to which the newly- 

 elected officers did not enter upon their work until November, was 

 not sanctioned by the constitution, and that it was through the 

 courtesy of the new President, Mr. Alexander, that he was then pre- 

 siding. This, he added, was the first of a number of special meet- 

 ings arranged for by the Corresponding Secretary. The Association 

 would during this session meet on the second and fourth Thursdays 

 of each month. 



Professor Ramsay Wright, of the University of Toronto, who 

 had kindly consented to be present, then addressed the meeting on 

 " Microbes — their Life and Work." He referred to the wonderful 

 advances made in microscopical research within the last ten years, 

 and then proceeded to describe the minute beings to which it had 

 introduced us. They are exceedingly small (hence the term microbe), 

 the unit of measurement applied to them being contained 25,000 

 times in an inch; in form they are quite simple, some linear, others 

 globular. They feed on any form of dead animal or vegetable 

 matter, and greatly assist the processes of decomposition ; but some- 

 times establishing themselves in the living organism they cause 

 disorders of various kinds. Under favorable conditions they multi- 

 ply with amazing rapidity. 



Professor Wright then described the best modes of propagating 



