Proceedings, &c, for 1883. 139 



brought up by the winds ; for, in this country at least, rainfall is 

 either in front of, or behind, great cyclonic movements which come 

 from warmer regions in obedience to laws of which, at present, we 

 know nothing. When such rainfalls take place on the eastern 

 coast they never penetrate into the interior, but those which occur 

 in South Australia often traverse the entire continent. The north- 

 west, west, or south-west are the only directions from which we 

 ever receive rain. In reply to a question, Mr. Ellery said 

 that, as regards the amount of rainfall which actually sinks 

 into the ground, no reliable experiments have as yet been 

 made ; such experiments as have been tried were carried on 

 with artificial soils, which, probably, were only inefficient represen- 

 tatives of the natural surface. 



After some further discussion, Mr. Ellery exhibited photographs 

 of stars taken by means of the great telescope at the Melbourne 

 Observatory. He remarked that great improvements had taken 

 place within the last two years in the production of these photo- 

 graphs by the discovery of a new process. Mr. Ellery stated a 

 curious fact about these photographs, viz. : — that faint nebulas could 

 often be photographed with a much less exposure than was required 

 for the larger and brighter bodies. In some remarks about the 

 recent comet, Mr. Ellery said that as it had been visible for eight or 

 nine months continuously, it has been longer visible than any other 

 comet recorded. At its first appearance the nucleus split up into two 

 and subsequently into three little stars; its course was a parabola, 

 whose vertex lay extremely close to the outer surface of the sun. 



July 12th, 1883. 



Present, Professor Kernot (in the chair) and 31 members and 

 associates. 



Mr. J. Hill, Mr. W. P. Steane, Dr. Louis Henry, 'and Mr. John 

 Naylor were introduced, and signed the members' book. 



Mr. Charles Rennick was elected a member, and Mr. Hyde 

 Clarke a corresponding member. 



Professor Kernot then described some experiments on the strength 

 of iron girders, with reference particularly to the strength of the new 

 Victoria-street Bridge in Melbourne. He stated that these experi- 

 ments showed that the bridge, as originally designed, was both 

 economical and strong. At the engineering classes at the University 

 there had been made models of different forms of girders, which were 

 subsequently broken down by loading them to the breaking point. 

 The models were made of iron, wood, or cardboard ; the first material 

 being the most useful for experiments, the last the most convenient. 



L 2 



