cy 
_—» 
€ 
1988.] 288 
Antiquaries, the Congress of Americanists; the Societies at 
Koénigsburg, Giessen and Geneva; the Geographical Societies 
at Vienna, Paris, Bordeaux and London, the Royal Academies 
at Berlin and Dublin; Zoological Societies in Paris and Lon- 
don; Professor Paul Albrecht, of Brussels; Revue Politique and 
Revista Huskara; the Royal, R. Asiatic and Linnean Societies 
in London, Greenwich Observatory, Cornwall Polytechnic So- 
ciety; Boston Natural History Society; American Academy of 
Sciences ; American Journal of Science; New York Observa- 
tory, United States Observatory; Franklin Institute; Mr. 
Henry Phillips, Jr., and the Mexican Museum, 
The death of Oswald Heer, of Zurich, at Lausanne, Septem- 
ber 27, aged 74, was announced by the Secretary; the reading 
of a letter from Mr. Leo. Lesquereux, of Columbus, was post- 
poned to the next meeting. (See page 286.) 
The death of Joachim. Barrande, at Prag, aged 83, was re- 
ported by the Secretary. 
Mr. Chas. A. Ashburner gave a brief description of Dr. 
Kintses’s fire-damp indicator which he had recently examined 
in conjunction with a Committee of the Franklin Institute. 
Although he did not feel at liberty to state the conclusions to which the 
Committee had arrived in regard to this special apparatus, he expressed 
grave doubts as to the practi “bility of any such appliance to prevent mine 
explosions from fire-damp, and the consequent loss of life. Fire-damp is 
not the most deadly foe of the coal miner as is popularly supposed, It is 
an acknowledged fact that anthracite contains the greater quantity of fire- 
damp ; and greater risks from gas explosions are experienced in anthra- 
cite mines. 
He stated that in the decade from 1860 to 1870 less then 11 per cent 
of the fatal accidents in the Pennsylvania anthracite mines resulted from 
fire-damp explosions ; while during the year 1882 only 8} per cent of the 
fatal mine accidents were to be attributed to this cause. In most 
cases the fire-damp, whose presence was already known, and therefore 
no automatic indicator was necessary to locate it, was fired either through 
the carelessness or recklessness of a miner, from a neglect to comply 
with the superintendent’s orders, or from criminal disobedience to the 
mine laws. 
In his judgment, in no case during the year 1882 would an automatic in- 
dicator have prevented an explosion. The greatest foes of the coal miner 
are his negligence, his disobedience and his recklessness, 
