262 Proceedings, <&c., for 1886. 



Mr. William Lucas and Mr. Gerard White (hitherto associates) 

 were duly elected by ballot as ordinary members of the Society, 



The President read a letter from Mr.' Bowrie, collector of 

 customs at Invercargill, stating that the Auckland, Campbell, and 

 Macquarie Islands are periodically visited by a New Zealand 

 Government vessel, and promising a report upon them, on its return 

 from its present trip. 



The President, vacating the chair, which was taken by Mr. 

 Ellery, read his paper '* On Lightning Conductors." 



Mr. Ellery quite agreed with the paper, and gave illustrations of 

 the great want of knowledge on the subject of lightning conductors. 

 He had been asked by the Government to report upon the safety of 

 the powder magazine at Maribyrnong, which had been represented 

 by the military authorities as in danger because the conductors were 

 not insulated. When the magazine was erected, several years ago, 

 he prepared the plans, and accordingly it was thoroughly protected 

 by a complete network of conductors connecting the copper, iron, and 

 lead work all over the building in a continuous chain, terminating in 

 a long band of copper leading to the Saltwater River. He described 

 the precautions successfully adopted in Munich to protect it from 

 thunderstorms, from which it had formerly sujffered frequently. He 

 recommended a similar system for Melbourne, He described the 

 effects of disruptive discharges of lightning as observed in two 

 recent instances, at Gabo Island lighthouse, and at a house in 

 South Melbourne. In the latter case the high conductivity of a 

 heated column of air in a chimney was clearly shown. He expounded 

 the theory of the electric condition of the earth and of the atmo- 

 sphere in thunderstorms, and described experiments which he had 

 made to ascertain the position of the equipotential lines in the 

 vicinity of a building under various conditions of the weather, and 

 the electric tension between the strata of negative and positive 

 electricity. These proved the necessity of protecting every salient 

 point of a building by a conductor. 



Mr. J. J. Thompson described experiments which he had made 

 with an insulating rod during two years. 



After further remarks from Mr. Ellery, Mr. Campbell, and the 

 President, 



Mr. Ellery moved that the rules for the erection of lightning 

 conductors drawn up by the conference, representing the Meteoro- 

 logical Society, the Royal Institution of British Architects, the 

 Physical Society, and the Society of Telegraph Engineers, which 

 met in London in 1878-1881, be reprinted and circulated for public 

 information by the Royal Society. This was seconded by Mr, 

 Sutherland, and carried unanimously. 



Mr. Griffiths moved that the discussion upon the Tarawera 

 eruptions be postponed till next meeting. This was seconded by 

 Mr. Rosales, and carried. 



