2 Annual Meeting. 



views. The fourth meeting took place on loth January, 1899, 

 when Mr. John Brown read a paper on " The Viagraph, a new 

 Instrument for Testing Road Surfaces," illustrated by diagrams 

 and exhibition of the viagraph. A discussion followed at its 

 close. The fifth meeting, on 7th February, 1899, was devoted 

 to a popular lecture in the Y.M.C.A. Hall, at which the Lord 

 Mayor (Mr. Otto Jaffe, J.P.) presided. Mr. Seaton F. Milligan 

 delivered an interesting lecture upon '' The Boyne Valley, its 

 History, , Scenery, and Antiquities." which was illustrated by 

 over one hundred lantern slides. The proceeds were in aid of 

 the Giant's Causeway Defence Fund, and there was a large 

 attendance of members and the general public. The sixth 

 meeting was arranged for the 14th March, when Dr. J. Lorrain 

 Smith, M.A., kindly lectured on " Pathogenic Bacteria, with 

 Special Reference to the Typhoid Bacillus," illustrated by 

 actual specimens and lantern views. The closing meeting took 

 place on nth April, 1899, when Mr. John N. Finnegan, B.A., 

 B.Sc, gave a lecture on " Luminous Discharges in Rarefied 

 Gases," illustrated by experiments and photograph slides. All 

 these meetings were well attended, both by the members and 

 the general public, the two on sanitary subjects attracting 

 special audiences. Largely through the good offices of Mr. 

 John Horner, your Council have secured that the Gilchrist 

 lectures for a second time be given in Belfast, commencing in 

 September next. A public meeting will be summoned at an 

 early date to make detailed arrangements in connection with 

 their delivery. It will be observed from the Hon. Treasurer's 

 statement of accounts that the usual satisfactory balance in 

 favour of the Society is fully maintained. The number of 

 societies meeting in the Museum shows no falling off, and its 

 accommodation was sometimes taxed to provide for two 

 meetings on the same evening. Mr. Stewart, our Curator, 

 reports that during the year further additions have been made 

 to the herbarium of local plants, and many specimens have 

 been mounted and placed in their order in the cabinet. The 

 local collection is now almost complete, but the type set of 



