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December 9, 1852. 



COLONEL SABINE, R.A., Treas. V.P., in the Chair. 



The Chairman announced that the President had appointed the 

 following noblemen and gentlemen Vice-Presidents for the ensuing 

 year : — 



The Earl of Enniskillen. Mr. Gassiot. 



Lord Wrottesley. Mr. Hopkins. 



Col. Sabine, R.A. Dr. Wallich. 



Mr. Ward and Dr. Waller were admitted into the Society. 

 The following papers were read. 



1. " An Experimental Inquiry undertaken with the view of ascer- 

 taining whether any signs of Current Electricity are manifested in 

 Plants during vegetation." By H. F.Baxter, Esq. Communicated 

 by Thomas Beli, Esq., Sec. R.S. &c. Received August 9, 1852. 



In the present communication the author has related the experi- 

 mental results that he has arrived at, and which tend to show that 

 electric currents exist in the leaves and in the roots or spongioles of 

 plants. Becquerel and Wartmann have already proved that electric 

 currents may be obtained in different parts of vegetables, but the 

 object of the paper is to point out the connection of the currents in 

 the above-named organs with the vital or organic changes which 

 take place in them. 



In consequence of the secondary actions which occur at the elec- 

 trodes some difficulty is experienced in ascertaining the true or 

 normal result in the roots. Combining however the facts obtained 

 by means of the galvanometer with analogical evidence, the author 

 considers that they tend to establish the conclusion, that, during the 

 changes which occur in the leaves and in the roots of plants, current 

 electricity is manifested. 



2. "On the relation of Cardioids to Ellipses." By Joseph 

 Jopling, Esq. Communicated by S. H. Christie, Esq., Sec. R.S. 

 Received Oct. 29, 1852. 



The object of this communication is to point out the relation of 

 cardioids to ellipses, and that the former as well as the latter are 

 related to and deducible from the cone. 



The author remarks that the motions of the common trammel show 

 most beautifully the mechanical relation of ellipses and cardioids, and 

 that they are thus reciprocals of each other ; that an eUipse, as is 

 well known, is d^, plane section, or a projection of a plane section of a 

 cone upon any other plane, the limits being the circle and the right 

 line ; and a cardioid is also a projection from a cone ; the difference 

 being that the cardioid is obtained from a curved section, formed by 

 the intersection of a sphere or other curved solid with a cone. 



After referring to properties of the sections of cones by spheres, 

 depending on the magnitude of the vertical angles of the cone, the 

 author states that these and many other new curves, their relations. 



