CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 311 



The following Donations were announced, and the thanks of the Institute voted to 



the Do?iois : 



1. From the Patent Office, Washington : 



" Report of the Commissioners of Patents for 1854: Mech;.iics. Vol. IL 



2. From G. W: Allan, Esq.,: 

 «« Gould's Trochilidae." 



3. From John Gould, Esq.: 



" Fifty specimens of Birds." 



A letter was read announcing the donation to the Institute by Jesse Ketchum, 

 Esq , of two acres of land on Yonge Street, for the erection of an Astronomical 

 Observatory, on condition that the Institute shall take effectual steps for establish- 

 ing the same within two years from this date. 



The letter was referred to the Committee on the Quebec Observatory. 



The following papers were then read: 



1. By J. H. Morris, M.A., : 



" Notes of Travel in China." Part II. 



2. By Professor Wilson, LL.D., : 



" On certain homogeneous characteristics ascribed to the aboriginal tribes of this 

 continent." 

 8. By John McNaughton, Esq..: 



" Some remarks on the relations of Canada to the adjacent territories." 



FOURTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 28th March, 1857. 



John Langton, M.A.. Vice-President in the Chair. 

 The following Gentlemen were elected Members: 

 George A. Pyper, Esq., Toronto. 

 William McCabe, Esq , Whitby, C.W. 

 The following Donation to the Library was announced, and the thanks of the 



Institute voted to the Donor : 

 From the Author: 



14 Surnames," by B. Homer Dixon, Esq., Boston. Privately printed. 



The followiny papers were then read : 



1. By the Rev. A. Constable Geekie: 

 "On Canadian English." 



2. By A. Brunel, Esq., C.E. : 



" A proposition, in relation to the Desjardin-Bridge Railway accident, to refer the 

 subject of the strength of timber used in railway bridges, to gentlemen connected 

 with the Institute, whose tastes or pursuits are connected with such an inquiry." 

 An interesting discussion arose from this communication, and while it was not 

 deemed expedient to make any special reference of the subject, a wish was expressed 

 that the matter should engage the attention of some members of the Institute, whose 

 practical knowledge qualified them for such an inquiry, and that the results bo 

 communicated to the Institute, and published in the Journal. 



