xviii. Proceedings. [December 15th, 1896. 



Ordinary Meeting, December 15th, 1896. 

 Professor Dixon, M.A., F.R.S., in the Chair. 



The thanks of the members were voted to the donors 

 of the books upon the table. 



Mr. Nicholson presented to the Society a copy of the 

 Society's first publication, entitled " Rules, established for 

 the Government of the Literary and Philosophical Society 

 of Manchester; and a List of the Members," 1782; a copy 

 of "Anthropologia," by Dr. Thomas Jarrold, a member of 

 the Society ; and a manuscript, written by Matthew Nichol- 

 son, of the paper " On the Comparative Excellence of the 

 Sciences and Arts," by William Roscoe, printed in Vol. III. 

 of the Society's Memoirs. The thanks of the members were 

 voted to Mr. Nicholson for these gifts. 



The Secretaries announced that Mr. Henry Wilde, 

 F.R.S., had completed his gift of the electric installation 

 in the Society's house by the donation of an electric lamp 

 for use with the lantern. It was resolved unanimously that 

 the Secretaries convey to Mr. Wilde the hearty thanks of the 

 Society for his useful gift. 



Professor S. J. Hickson, F.R.S., exhibited two eggs taken 

 a few years ago from a blackbird's nest, of which one was very 

 small and without yolk, the other a large egg with two yolks, 

 and inquired whether this was of common occurrence in the 

 case of the first eggs of a young bird. Mr. Nicholson thought 

 that it was quite unusual. 



Mr. Faraday remarked that, having just returned hom a 

 visit to the Pont du Gard, amongst other Roman works in 

 the South of France, he was induced to refer to that wonder- 

 ful structure in relation to the theories as to the erosion of 

 river valleys. The Pont du Gard was built without cement 

 in the time of Agrippa, about 19 B.C., across the valley 

 of the Gard or Gardon, a tributary of the Rhone, as 

 part of an aqueduct, originally 25J miles long, to convey 



