WINTER SESSION. 



Note. — The authors of the various Papers, of which abstracts are here appended, are 

 alone responsible for the views expressed in them. 



SOCIAL MEETING. 



HE Winter Session was opened with a Social Meeting 

 on Tuesday, October 20th, at which the attendance 

 of members and visitors numbered 360, being a con- 

 siderable increase on the attendance at last Social Meeting. 

 After tea had been dispensed in the lower room by a number of 

 lady members, the President of the Club (Mr. John Vinycomb, 

 F.R.S.A.) took the chair, and made a brief opening statement. 

 He referred to the summer excursions of the past season, which 

 had been one of the most enjoyable and successful series that 

 had been held for many years, and at which the attendance of 

 members and visitors had shown a considerable increase. The 

 membership of the Club, he was happy to say, was also rapidly 

 on the increase, having risen by nearly thirty per cent, since 

 the beginning of the preceding year, the present membership 

 being over 320, being the largest roll of members of any 

 provincial scientific society in Ireland. Having referred in 

 general terms to the exhibits which covered the walls and tables 

 of the lecture hall and library, he called upon some of the ex- 

 hibitors for a further explanation of the objects. Mr. Alexander 

 Tate, C.E., chairman of the Microscopical Section, stated that 

 his section was represented by seven microscopes, each under 

 the direction of a member, and illustrating a variety of subjects, 

 including pond life, marine life, insects, echinodermata, seaweeds, 

 and geological objects. Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger, B.E., M.R.I.A., 



