Hi TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [1854 



not so Far as we are aware, fallen under the notice of any close F. A. Whitney, . . .Toronto. 



observer of the facts you enquire about, the most that is known j_ -y^r. q. Whitney " 



being this — that the bed of the brook, during a long drought, „ „' ' . ' (( 



having become d ry, the stream is known to start again before a . . J ei vis, — 



rain, and the belief is that rain is to be looked for immediately on ^ v - E - St - J° nn Parry " . 



the appearance of Dodge's brook." The cause of the phenome- Capt. C. R. Scholefield, " - 



non has been attributed by some to the fall of rain at the distant J. Small M. D. __ " 



sources of the spring, a short time previous to their descent in the j ^ a ma n u 

 vicinity of the spring itself; but this view is doubtless erroneous, 



since it is altogether improbable that rain should fall at two differ The following gentlemen were elected Members:— 

 ent localities year after year with the same constant period of 



time between them, and that this interval should be such as to G. B. Holland, Toronto. 



insure that water falling at the first locality should always arrive c. Hampden Turner, Rooks Nest, Surrey, Eng. 



through subterranean channels at the second before the rain com- u Bennett T to 



menced. I have not been able to ascertain the state of the baro- _'.... 



meter, either at Rutland or Concord, at the times when the phe- - E> Bllhn g s - - - Bytown. 



nomenon in question occurs ; nevertheless, I believe that the true m e n u , , i . ,-, c • . , 



, .. .,, \ » j . X v . . , 1 , , . Lhe following pamphlets were presented to the Society by 



solution will be tound in the diminished atmospheric pressure u • 



which exists before a rain. The waters of a spring remain at any " Venning : 



given level, because the atmospheric and hydrostatic pressures Report and proceedings of the Standing Committee on Railroads, 



combined exactly counterbalance the upward force of the jet — Canals and Telegraph Lines, Quebec. 1852. 



The spring will therefore rise, either when the force of the jet is „ ■■ _ , ■ . . , . 



increased while the atmospheric pressure continues the same, or Ee P ovts on the Sea and Elver Fislie " es of ^ Brunswick. 



when the latter is diminished while the former remains constant ; Return of Sums paid by Government and correspondence relative to 



and the elevation is greatest of all when the decrease in the pres- Railroads, 1853. 



sure of the atmosphere occurs simultaneously with an increase in Geological Survey of Canada, 1852-'53. 



the strength of the jet. The rising of the water in the instances Report of Special Committee on the Magdalen Islands, and Western 



related, cannot, I think, in view of the facts detailed, be fairly part of this Province above Lake Huron, 1853. 



attributed to any sudden augmentation of force in the current of 



the spring, but it is to be regarded as the result of diminished Tne thanks of the Institute were given to Mr. Henmngfor his- 



atmospheric pressure occurring at the particular times, in perfect donation. 



accordance with known meteorological laws. I am not aware 



that it has yet been ascertained whether this phenomenon is The annual address was then delivered by the President, after 



local or general. If the latter should be found true, and the ex- which Dr. Bovell read a paper, entitled ' Original Views on the 



planation given correct, we arrive at the curious discovery that Renal Circulation. 



the springs and fountains of the earth are natural barometers, 



whose indications mav, perhaps, be worthy of notice iu future mB 



physical investigations." Ti,e President's Address. _ 



== Gentlemen of the Canadian Institute, 



The duty which, by your appointment, falls at this time upon ' 

 me, of saying something of the condition, objects, and prospects 



^ '^"llsk 13% °^ ^ s Association, is rendered much more agreeable than it 



v4 iRFc^iSii) might otherwise have been, by the prosperous state of its affairs 



'oSSs^^^^^T/^^S as exhibited in the last report of the council. 



^if' _<gs, 0<»B 1^ ;^rAfl ^e liberal spirit in which the Legislature has patronised your 



( U JhI JC Jk^ Ja pill fll - ^ oli& a ^ so early a stage ; the ready and kind attention of the 



Executive Government to such requests and suggestions as have 



K^==S8^li*lWo> II been made to them in connection with the objects of the Insti- 



^JwfeT .$Sfim&§&Wv : 11 tute; — the great accession within the last year of new members, 



■ ^^^^^^^^r^V^/ many of them gentlemen who from then position, public spirit, 



V ^^ToTTpO ^^ an d scientific attainments may be expected to render you impor 



tant service ; the growing circulation of the- useful and highly 



INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER interesting Journal published by the Association ; and the many 



valuable gifts of books, and of minerals, and other objects of 



Canadian Institute. interest in various departments of Natural History, — these cir- 



cumstances have all combined to place the Institute, even at the 



Third ordinary meeting, Jan. I, 1854. present moment, in a position most gratifying to its members, 

 The names of the following Candidates for Membership while they afford grounds for very encouraging hopes as to its- 

 were read : future usefulness. 



Lucius O'Brien, C. E., _ Toronto. But in venturing to draw from thepast these flattering presages 



