196 



ON CHARCOAL AS A DISINFECTANT. 



[1855. 



our proceedings, for the first time for many yenrs, published regularly 

 and in such a shape as to bring the Society most favorably before the 

 public. 



We think, therefore, Tve have much reason to congratulate the Society 

 on the manner in which it has struggled through the past year. In 

 truth those trials and reverses should not be regarded as subjects of 

 unmixed regi'et, for doubtless to them is due, in a great degree, the 

 unusual spirit and energy which has characterized the Society during 

 the last twelve months. 



" Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus 

 Nigroe feraci frondis in Algido, 

 Per damna, per coedes, ab ipso 

 Ducit opes, aninmmque fcrro." 



E. A. MEREDITH. L. L. B. 



1st Vice President. 

 Quebec, January 10, 1855. 



OFFICERS ELECTED FOR THE YEAR 1S55. 



^rfsftjcnt : 



E. A. MEREDITH,- L.L.U. 



Fict.-yicsiScilta— G. T. KINGSTON, A. M.; REV. A. W. MOUNTAIN, B. A.; Vf. D. 



CAMPBELL; Lieut. U. G. SAVAGE, R. E. 

 ErcortinjjSrcrftavs— HENRY E. STEELE. 



Ciotvcspoiiliiiig Sctrctara— A. R. ROCHE. 

 Council Srcrctars— N. K. BOWEN. 

 JTttasurcr— GEO. T. CARY. 



Eibrarian— E. T. FLETCHER. 

 Curator of fHustum— ROBT. H. RUSSELL, M.D. 



Curator oE apparatus— Liedt. E. ASHE, R.N., F.R.A.S. 



Lieut T. C. Malony, R.A., and T. B. Harvey, Esq., were elected Asso- 

 ciate Members of the Society. 



LITERARY AND STATED MEETING. 



Wednesday, 18th January. 

 A Paper was read by Lieut. H. G. Savage, R.E., on the History of 

 Quebec from the Earliest times. 



HENRY E. STEELE, 



Recording Secretary. 



Address to tlie Govcilior^Geucra!. 



On Friday, January 19th, the Presidant and Members of the Literary 

 and Historical Society, waited upon His Excellency the Governor 

 General, at Government House Quebec, and presented the following 



ADDRESS. 



To His Excellency Sir Edmund Walker Head, Baronet, Governor 

 General of British North America, and Captain General and Governor in 

 Chief in and over the Provinces of Canada, Nova-Scotia, New-Brunswick 

 and the Island of Prince Edward, and Vice Admiral of the same, ^-c. 



Mat it Please Your Excellency, 



Wo the President, Vice Presidents, and Members of the Literary 

 and Historical Society of Quebec, desire respectfully to approach your 

 Excellency to tender our sincere congratulations on your assumption 

 of the Government of this important portion of Her Majesty's do- 

 minions. 



We cannot but feel that, we, in common with the other inhabitants 

 of this Province, have much reason to rejoice that Her Majesty should 

 have selected for the Government of this Colony, one whose recent ad- 

 ministration of the Government of a neighbouring and sister Colony 

 has been marked with such distinguished success. 



It is however as a Society separated from the strife of politics and 

 devoted to the peaceful pursuits of History and Literature and to the 

 advancement of the interests of Art and Science in the Province, that 

 we conceive we have peculiar reason to hail your Excellency's eleva- 

 tion to the high position of Governor of British North America. 



Your Excellency's well known devotion to and high attainments in 

 the walks of literature and science, afford our Society an earnest that, 

 while labouring to advance the physical interests of this great and 

 growing country you will study equally to develope its moral and in- 

 teUectual resources. 



By the calamitious fire which destroyed the Parliament Buildings 

 in this city, in the month of February last, the Society sustained a 

 heavy blow in the loss of a large portion of its Library and nearly the 

 whole of its extensive and weU selected Museum of Natural History 

 and Geology. 



The efforts which the society is now making, to re-construct its 

 Museum, and to repair the other losses then sustained, will, we feel 

 assured, meet with your Excellency's sympathy and good wishes. 



We venture to express the hope that, following the example of you' 

 Excellency's predecessors, since the foundation of the Society under 

 the auspices of the Earl of Dalhousie, you will do the Society the 

 honour of allowing yourself to be named its Patron. 



In conclusion we beg to express our best wishes for the health 

 and happiness of your Excellency, Lady Head, and family. 



Quebec, January, 1855. 



To which His Excellency was pleased to return the following 

 REPLY. 

 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Literary and Historical Society of 



Quebec. 



I esteem it an honour that you ask me to assume the position of 

 Patron of your Society. But that honour is greatly enhanced by the 

 flattering terms in which you address me on the present occasion. 

 You overrate my literary attainments, but you do not overrate my wish 

 to promote in every way the pursuits of literature and science. Ac- 

 cording to my firm conviction it is of the highest importance that 

 these peaceful studies should hold their rightful place in the pro- 

 gress of a great and growing country. That they should mitigate the 

 constant pressure of material interests, and soften down those harder 

 tendencies which must always more or less characterize the outposts of 

 advancing civilization. All institutions that tend to promote such 

 objects in Canada are of the highest value, and among them your in- 

 corporated Society maintains a distinguished place. I thank you 

 much for the congratulations, and your good wishes for the health and 

 happiness of myself and my family. 



Tile Temperature of 111 c Cold Days of February 1S55) at 

 St* ]>Iartin'S9 Isle JesiiSf Canada £ast« 



(^Communicated by Dr. Smallioood.) 



The Thermometer at 10 p.m. on Saturday, 3rd February, stood 9°-0 

 Fahrenheit. On the 



4th at 6, 



a.m. 



at 



—14° -8 



(or below zero). 



o 



p.m. 





— 10°-3 



do. 



w. 



p.m. 





— 22°-3 



do. 



5th at 6, 



a.m. 





— 26°-l 



do. 



9 



p.m. 





— 5°-5 



do. 



10, 



p.m. 





— 20°-0 



do. 



6th at 6, 



a.m. 





— 32°-6 



do. 



2, 



p.m. 





— 18°-6 



do. 



10, 



p.m. 





— 24°-5 



do. 



7th at 6, 



a.m. 





— 33°-9 



do. 



2 



p.m. 





6° -2 



do. 



lo! 



p.m. 





— ll°-0 



do. 



\ 8th at 6, 



a.m. 





— 5°1 



do. 



o 



p.m. 





-1- 5° -5 



(above zero.) 



On Charcoal as a Disiufectant*'^ 



By MK. J. G. BAKFORD, — St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 



Dr. Stenhouse lately called attention to his very ingenious ori-nasal 

 respirator, which depends on charcoal for its efficacy, the action of 

 which is given in the Journal of the Society of Arts, for February, 1854. 

 The respirator having been noticed in the Lancet of November 25, I 

 need only mention it as an instance of the powerful disinfecting power 

 of charcoal, but at once call attention to the plan I have adopted in the 

 apijlication of this agent as a disinfectant, bearing in mind the results 

 of Dr. Stenhouse's experiments, which prove that charcoal not only 



From the Lancet, Dec. 16. 



