﻿Proceedings of the Society. 



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murder and intrigue have played a very prominent part. Some 

 were found by slaves and sold for small sums, changing hands 

 many times and increasing in value each time. The Grand Mogul, 

 belonging to Russia, is valued at $1,500,000, and the Koh-i-noor 

 of England, is worth $800,000. 



On January 23d, Prof. Joseph F. James, lectured on 'The An- 

 cient Vegetation of the Earth," He spoke of the difficulties of 

 preserving Algae from decay, and said, that though no doubt the 

 seas of early geological ages swarmed with Algae, yet it is doubt- 

 ful if many have been preserved. The peculiarities of the flora of 

 the Carboniferous Period, and the manner of formation of coal 

 were described. The flora of later geological periods, Cretaceous 

 and Tertiary, was spoken of, this being the forerunner of the pres- 

 ent flora of the earth. A review showed that there was a general 

 advance in structure of plants from the earliest to the latest geo- 

 logical periods. 



On January 30th, Col. James W. Abert lectured on "Nature in 

 Art." He defined Nature as concerned with material things, ani- 

 mate and inanimate, and Art as man's expression of Nature. Art- 

 ists conventionalize from Nature, changing her forms to suit their 

 purposes, especially in decoration. In painting landscapes, they 

 select the agreeable and pleasing, but reject the inharmonious. The 

 number of wave lengths in different colors varies. There are 400 

 trillions in red, and 720 trillions in violet. The sound waves on a 

 seven octave piano vary from 40 to 4,000. The mixing of colors 

 is a great art, as is also the massing of colors in pictures to give 

 the best effects. 



Meeting of February 3, 1885. 

 Vice-President Skinner in the chair. Sixteen persons present. 

 The following papers were presented and referred to the Publishing 

 Committee : 



