36 Canadiun Record of Science. 



Royal Society of Canada. 



Meeting at Ottawa. 



It was an important step, in the interest of the Science 

 and Literature of the Dominion, which was taken by the 

 Marquis of Lome, then Governor-General of Canada, 

 when he inaugurated, in 1882, the Eoyal Society of 

 Canada. It has since increasingly formed a rallying 

 centre for those engaged in scientific and literary research 

 in Canada. As all local societies in the country, including 

 the Natural History Society of Montreal, report their 

 proceedings to the Eoyal Society, and individual workers 

 in original research are encouraged to send their papers 

 to the Society, if we wish to keep track of the progress 

 made in either the Science or Literature of Canada, we 

 shall find the best record of it in the journal of that 

 Society. We believe, therefore, we are doing the readers 

 of the " Eecord of Science " real service in presenting the 

 following abstracts of papers read before Sections III. 

 and IV. of the Eoyal Society, at its recent meeting, kindly 

 furnished by Sir John Bourinot, Honorary Secretary of 

 the Society, as containing a summary of what was accom- 

 plished during 1898 in connection W'ith the Physical, 

 Chemical, Geological and Biological Sciences, those sub- 

 jects in which, it may be assumed, the readers of the 

 " Eecord of Science " are specially interested. 



The proceedings of the Eoyal Society were opened 

 by an address by the President, T. C. Keefer, Esq., 

 C.M.G., C.E., on " Canadian Water Power and its 

 Electrical Product in Eelation to the Undeveloped 

 Eesources of the Dominion," a subject of exceptionable 

 importance to Canada at the present time. The evening 

 of May 25th was given up to Popular Science, when 

 Professor Eutherford, of McGill, who has taken the place 

 of Professor Callendar, delivered the admirable lecture, 

 with which the patrons of the Natural History weie 



