292 



[Proc. B.N.F.O., 



Kinematograph films, dealing with Natural History subjects : — 

 Wild Nature's Ways, the Wasp, Silk-worm hatching, the Cuckoo, 

 the Tom-tit and the Devil-fish, the lantern being manipulated with 

 his usual ability by Mr. Alex. R. Hogg. A few photographs taken 

 on some of the Club's Excursions were also shown. During the 

 evening Rev. Kenneth Dunbar was elected an ordinary member, 

 and Misses M. P. Kay, L. K. Stewart, M. J. V. Lawther, M. I. 

 Lyon, and Winnie Shaw associate members. 



"THE ROMAN ENGINEER: 50 B.C. — 200 A.D." 



The first meeting of the Winter session was held in the 

 Museum, College Square North, on 21st November, at 8 p.m., 

 when Mr. A. M'l. Cleland gave a lecture on the above subject 

 — the Vice-President (Mr. Joseph Maxwell) occupying the chair. 

 After a few preliminary remarks the lecturer gave a short account 

 of the lives of Vitruvius and Frontinus, the former a voluminous 

 writer on architecture towards the dawn of the present era ; the 

 latter the chief water commissioner of ancient Rome towards the 

 end of the first century. Mr. Cleland then described in some 

 detail the water supply of ancient Rome, tracing its distributive 

 system from the sources from which its various aqueducts drew 

 their supplies, along their stone conduits or other channels, to the 

 final disposal of the water, by means of an elaborate system of lead 

 pipes, to the various public or private tanks or cisterns in the 

 ancient city. He mentioned that Rome was at one time supplied 

 by as many as twelve aqueducts, the longest being 58 miles in 

 length, delivering into the city the enormous quantity of 38,000,000 

 gallons of water per day. The lecturer next dealt with the building 

 of triumphal arches, illustrating his remarks by examples drawn from 

 Italy and France He then passed on to describe the amphitheatre, 

 a class of structure taking its rise towards the end of the second 

 century, instancing in particular those of Nimes and Aries in 

 France, each of which could accommodate an audience of 25,000 

 persons. The paper was illustrated by a series of excellent lantern 



