2nd February, igi2. 



Pkofessor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, 

 in the Chair. 



LECTURE ON COMETS. 



By Professor Turner, Oxford. 



{Abstract). 



The Chairman said the Belfast Natural History and 

 Philosophical Society had taken a fresh step this winter, as in 

 addition to carrying on its ordinary activities it had felt itself able 

 to offer to the puV)lic at nominal charges for admission a series of 

 popular lectures by some of the most eminent men of to-day. 

 They were exceedingly fortunate in having as their first lecturer 

 the distinguished Professor Turner, of the University Observatory, 

 Oxford. The presence of that eminent professor was an honour 

 both to the Society and to the city, and on behalf of those present 

 he (the Chairman) offered the lecturer a hearty Irish welcome. 

 There was no department of science more fascinating than 

 astronomy, and none which suggested deeper thought or admitted 

 of more picturesque illustration. They were looking forward to 

 the lecture that evening on " Comets " with great expectations, 

 which he felt sure would be more than fulfilled. 



Professor Turner, who was cordially received, said the great 

 use of astronomy was that it expanded men's minds almost 

 indefinitely, with the incidental advantage that it had removed 

 many (jf the vague fears which the savage created for himself 

 Although the human race had been in existence for thousands of 

 years it was only within the last few hundred years that those fears 

 bad been satisfactorily dispelled. Almost the last of them was 



