xxxviii Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



agreed that the material removed from the land surface was after all 

 spread out on the sea floor at relatively slight distance from the 

 coast-line, and that the change of value in the amount of attraction 

 could not be great. Great difficulty would be found in eliminating 

 all other influences and getting observations on which such theories 

 must be based to prove the actual change due to variation in 

 attraction of land on the sea. Every one must feel the subject an 

 interesting one, and feel indebted to Mr. Schwarz for bringing it 

 forward. 



Mr. Bogers (Assistant Geologist) referred to experiments being 

 made in India to test the attractive influence of the Himalayas on a 

 pendulum swung at their base, and asked Dr. Muir, as a mathe- 

 matician, to say what difference would be shown by the pendulum 

 were the mass of the Himalayas to be spread out evenly over the 

 ground between their present position and the sea. 



Dr. Mum said of course the pendulum, instead of swinging 

 towards the centre of gravity of the mountain, would swing towards 

 the centre of gravity of the material as lying spread out. 



Mr. T. Stewart spoke of the uncertainty attaching to the alti- 

 tudes given for any of the places surveyed in former times, and 

 stated that he had had the height of Table Mountain taken by spirit- 

 levelling by three separate parties, and found it did not agree with 

 any of the previous figures. Mr. Stewart also pointed out that the 

 beach marks in the Colony were not trustworthy, as often a purely 

 empirical level had been made use of. 



Dr. Marloth pointed out that Mr. Finlay had published a paper 

 in the Society's Transactions on the changes of mean sea-level in 

 Table Bay. 



Mr. Schwarz replied to the observations made, and Dr. Muir 

 proposed a hearty vote of thanks to him for bringing such an 

 interesting question before the Society. 



Mr. Saunders spoke about some recent water divination in South 

 Africa, and referred to the credulity of the confiding public. 



Dr. Muir showed a series of Colonial rain charts which had just 

 been drawn up by Dr. Buchan, of Edinburgh, to show the monthly 

 rainfall of the Colony for the past ten years. The observations upon 

 which the charts are based were made by the observers of the 

 Colonial Meteorological Commission, and Dr. Buchan will complete 

 the work by publishing a memoir, copies of which will be placed at 

 the disposal of those interested. 



