322 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Sept. 21, iS 



CHEMISTRY. 



The Influence of the Silent Discharge of Electricity on 



Oxygen and other Gases ^10 



Methods of Teaching Chemistry 10 



Oxidation of Hydracids in Sunlight 10 



Geology. 



Geological Record ... ... ... ... ... ;£So 



Erratic Blocks 10 



Volcanic Phenomena of Japan 50 



Volcanic Phenomena of Vesuvius ... 20 



Fossil Phyllopoda of the Palaeozoic Rocks ... ... 20 



Higher Eocene Beds of the Isle of Wight ... ... 15 



Fossil Plants of the Tertiary and Secondary Beds of 



the United Kingdom ... ... 15 



Biology. 



Zoology and Botany of the West India Islands ... ,£100 



Marine Biological Association ... ... 200 



Flora of China ... ... 25 



Naples Zoological Station ... ... 100 



Physiology of the Lymphatic System ... ... ... 25 



To Improve and Experiment with a Deep-sea Tow Net, 



for opening and closing under water ... ... ... 10 



Natural History of the Friendly Islands ... ... 100 



Geography. 

 Geography and Geology of the Atlas Ranges ... 



Economic Science and Statistics. 

 Precious Metals in Circulation ... 

 Variations in the Value of the Monetary Standard 



Mechanical Science. 

 Investigation of Estuaries by Means of Models ... ,£100 



Development of Graphic Methods in Mechanical 



Science ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25 



Anthropology. 



Effect of Occupations on Physical Development ... _£20 



North- Western Tribes of Canada ... 150 



Editing a New Edition of Anthropological Notes and 



Queries 50 



Calculating the Anthropological Measurements taken 



at Bath 5 



Exploration of Roman Baths at Bath ... 100 



Characteristics of Nomad Tribes of Asia Minor ... 30 



Corresponding Societies ... ... ... ... ... 20 



^100 



^20 

 10 



.£1,645 



The Committee also recommended the appointment of 

 a number of committees to whom grants are not made. 



The President explained that already ^"300 had been 

 given to the Marine Biological Association, and a further 

 contribution of ^200 would entitle the Association to 

 certain privileges in the management. With respect to 

 the Roman baths in Bath it had been felt that, having 

 regard to the great value and interest attaching to them, 

 it was most desirable that everything should be done for 

 their preservation. Appreciating the active steps taken 

 with that object at considerable cost by the Corporation, 

 it was felt that it would be a gracious and proper thing 

 on the part of the Association to express its gratitude for 

 the cordiality of its reception by subscribing ^100 

 towards the much larger cost incurred. It did not seem 

 courteous to appoint a committee to interfere with the 

 committee of the Corporation, and, therefore, the grant 

 would be made to the Mayor for the Corporation. 



The recommendations of the Committee were ap- 

 proved. 



It was also resolved to memorialise the Government in 

 favour of a permanent census sub-department, and the 

 taking of the census every five years. 



It was further resolved that the Corporation of Bath 

 should be urged to lay bare a further portion of the 

 Roman baths, and, with a view to the permanent pre- 

 servation of the part already laid bare, that it should be 

 protected from the weather. 



The Committee then adjourned till Wednesday, Sept. 

 nth, 1889, at Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



SECTIONAL MEETINGS. 



FULL REPORT OF THE DISCUSSIONS. 

 [From our own Reporters.] 



MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SECTION. 



(Continued from fi. 286.) 



Wednesday, September 12TH. 



Professor G. F. Fitz Gerald, M.A., F.R.S., presiding. 



The report of the Committee on the Nomenclature of Funda- 

 mental Units of Mechanics was read, and Mr. P. T. Main presented 

 A report on Our Experimental Knowledge of the Properties of 

 Matter. Professor H. A. Rowland lectured on Maxwell's Equa- 

 tions for Electro magnetic Waves, and a discussion occupying some 

 time ensued. 



Major-General Babbage read a paper on the Mechanical Arrange- 

 ments of the Analytical Engine of Charles Babbage, M.A., F.R.S. 

 No discussion followed. 



Professor Joseph Kleiber, of St. Petersburg, instructed the 

 section on The Error of the Argument of Statistical Tables, illus- 

 trating his lecture with numerous diagrams. 



Mr. C. T. Dixon then read a paper on the Fourth Dimension, 

 and Sen. C. Tondini de Quarenghi discoursed upon A Sug- 

 gestion from the Bologna Academy of Science towards an Agreement 

 on the Initial Meridian for the Universal Hour. 



This concluded the work of the section. 



ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICAL SECTION. 



( Continued from p. 297. ) 



Wednesday, September 12th. 



Mr. Inglis Palgrave again presided at this section. 



Professor Edgeworth read a paper on The Malthusian Theory, 

 which had been prepared by Mr. Edwin Chadwick. Local 

 interest attached to this paper from the fact that Malthus lies buried 

 in Bath Abbey. 



Mr. George Gibbons, of Tunley Farm, Bath, read a paper on 

 Dairy Industry. He said the dairy industry was one of the oldest 

 and most important with reference to occupation, and traced its 

 development to the present time. 



The reading of the paper was followed by a slight discussion, in 

 which Mr. Botley, Mr. Macnight, Mr. Higgins (Shepton Mallett), 

 and others took part. 



MECHANICAL SECTION. 



(Continued from p. 300.) 



Wednesday, September 12TH. 



Mr. W. H. Preece, F.R.S., presiding. 



Col. Rowland R. Hazard read a paper on Underground 

 Railway Communication in Great Cities. 



Perhaps the most important physical problem, growing out of tlie 

 concentration of great population in limited areas, was the construc- 

 tion, maintenance, administration, and uses of the public streets. 

 These, absolutely indispensable for purposes of ordinary traffic, 

 fulfilled many other requirements of public necessity or convenience, 

 but should be so constructed as to provide for many others of capital 

 importance, growing out of the multiplying wants incident to the 

 demands of modern civilization. 



The main thoroughfares of traffic should be reconstructed, sub- 

 stantially upon the plan of superficial subways and galleries, illus- 

 trated by a model and sketches shown. Between the line; of curb 

 the substance of the street should be removed to a standard depth of 

 twelve feet, and the excavation so made replaced by four centrally 

 placed subways, the two interior ones being devoted to rapid transit 

 or fast railway trains, operated at great speed between few stations. 

 This form of railway service, essential to economy of time and the 



