BEPOETS FROM THE SECTIOIfS. 289 



SECTION B.— CHEMISTET, MINEEALOaY, and by amal- 

 gamation with SECTION C. G-EOLOaY and PAL^ON- 

 TOLOaT. 



PEELIMmARY MEETING— 20 JUNE, 1876. 



The preliminary meeting of this Section was held on 20th 

 June, 1876, when Peof. Liyersidge was appointed Chairman 

 of the Section, W. A. Dixoisr Hon. Secretary, and Messrs. 

 Bensusa:?^, M'CuTCHEO]sr, Sleep, and Tulloh a Committee ; and 

 the meeting night for the Section was fixed for the second Wed- 

 nesday of each month. 



WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY, 1876. 

 Peofessoe LivERSiDaE in the Chair. 



The proposal to temporarily amalgamate Section C. with this 

 Committee was agreed to at this meeting. 



Mr. DixOjS" read a note on some analysis of mud from George 

 and Pitt Streets, showing that the amount of organic matter 

 varied from 18 to 55 per cent, of the dried mnd, and that the 

 proportion of inorganic matter {i.e. abraded stone and iron) to 

 organic matter rose in proportion to the wetness of the streets. 

 He said that although little reliance could be placed on results 

 obtained from three or four analyses, the numbers he had 

 obtained showed that, taking 100 parts of organic matter (horse- 

 dung) to represent a certain amount of traffic, 407 parts of stone 

 were ground up when the streets were kept copiously watered, 

 whilst Q)Q parts only of stone were pulverized by that traffic when 

 the streets were only slightly sprinkled with water. The results 

 approximated to those obtained by Dr. Letheby from London street 

 mud, which showed that wet weather largely increased the 

 quantity of abraded stone and wear of the streets. 



Mr. Bensxjsajst introduced to the notice of the meeting the 

 new work on Pyrology, by Major Hoss, containing new methods 

 of blowpipe analysis. The Chairman exhibited a case containing 

 specimens of the rare metal, Thallium, and a number of its salts, 



WEDNESDAY, 9 AUGUST, 1876. 

 Peofessoe Liveesidge in the Chair. 



Mr. BENSTJSAisr exhibited a specimen of the new alloy, composed 

 of copper 88 per cent., tin 10 per cent., and manganese 2 per 

 cent., proposed to be used for armour-plating and other purposes. 

 The specimen he had himself prepared, and he explained that its 

 peculiar excellence consisted in its superior toughness, and to 

 the fact that a shot punched a hole in the plates without rending 

 them. 



An interesting conversational discussion upon Chemical matters 

 was maintained for some time. 



