264 H. B. Medlicott— 07J Ooalpdra Hill. [Dec. 



Mr. H. B. Medlicott said he scarcely liked to bring forward only 

 current observations o£ his own as against the more deliberate observation 

 of another ; but, as the point at issue was of such importance he would not 

 withhold the suggestion he had to make. On his way to Upper Assam in 

 1865, he stopped a few hours at Goalpara and made some notes upon the 

 little hills upon which the station is built. He then had a first opportuni- 

 ty of observing to how great a depth and how completely the gneissic rocks 

 become decomposed, even on steep hill sides, when protected from denud- 

 ing action by very dense vegetation. The resulting clay might readily be 

 taken for a deposit ; and the undecomposed harder spheroidal masses of 

 granitoid gneiss, that often remain quite unaffected, have all the appearance 

 of boulders. But he particularly recollected puzzling for some minutes 

 over what seemed a contorted layer in the clay. He had, however, to con- 

 clude that it was the remains of a string of quartz in contorted schist, all 

 the rest having become reduced to earth. It was in fact this observation 

 that convinced him of the true nature of the clay covering these low hills. 



He did not pretend to say that Mr. Peal's observation and his own 

 referred to the same features, but the possibility of its being so was suffi- 

 cient excuse for recording his note. 



Owing to the lateness of the hour the papers could not be read, but 

 with the consent of the meeting the following were taken as read. 



1. 3Iemorandum of tlie diurnal Variation of attnospheric Pressure at the 



Sandheads, hy Chas. Haeding, Esq., with a prefatory note hy Hen- 



ET F. Blanfoed, Meteorological Reporter to the Government of 



India. 



This paper will be published in the Journal, Part II. 



2. Catalogue of the recorded Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal up to the end 

 of 1876, compiled ly Heney F. Blaneoed, Esq., Meteorological Re- 

 porter to the Government of India. 



This paper will be published in the Journal, Part II. 



distended the flaccid portion of the balloon. This caused her to ascend very rapidly 

 to an altitude of 7,500 feet, but I found that my course was reversed to NW, and I was 

 leaving Bombay at a considerable speed towards the Arabian Sea. * * * * I dis- 

 charged a sufficient quantity of gas to descend to an elevation of 5000 feet. Then I 

 found myself exactly balanced, with the car in one atmosphere and most of the sphere 

 of the balloon in another. The balloon at this moment ceased to revolve on its vertical 

 axis, one side, that towards the East, being very cold, and that towards the West much 

 warmer. I now descended to an elevation of 4000 feet, and proceeded in a northerly 

 [sic] course, but just by way of experiment I re-ascended to 5000 feet and found that 

 the balloon was again making for sea in a North- Westerly course, exactly at the same 

 altitude as before. * * * I continued the descent and found I was proceeding very 

 slowly in the same course as at first." 



