200 



Presents. 



[May 3, 



amount of electrolytic decomposition in a voltameter, it was practi- 

 cally impossible to have an acting E.M.F. as high as 1 volt, even with 

 tolerably large platinum sponge plates. 



Much the same resnlt was obtained on opposing to one another 

 two platinum sponge aeration plates, one in an atmosphere of 

 hvdrosren or coal-gas, the other in contact with air ; in no case 

 conld any current capable of depositing a few milligrams of silver 

 per day be obtained with an E.M.F. as great as 1 volt ; i.e., a total 

 depreciation of upwards of 0'5 volt was occasioned, or more than 

 one- third of the energy due to the chemical change, viz., oxidation of 

 hydrogen to water, representing 68360 gram-degrees, or T470 volt. 

 The economical production of currents by the direct oxidation of com- 

 bustible gases, therefore, does not seem at present to be a problem 

 likely to be readily solved. 



The Society then adjourned over Ascension Day to Thursday, 

 May 17th. 



Presents, Hay 3, 1888. 



Observations and Reports. 



Barbados : — Report upon the Rainfall of Barbados, and upon its 

 Influence npon the Sugar Crops. 1847-74. Folio. Barbados 

 1874. The Meteorological Office, London. 



Calcutta : — Meteorological Office. Indian Meteorological Memoirs. 

 Vol. W. Parts 2-3. 4to. Calcutta 1887; Report on the 

 Meteorology of India, 1885. 4to. Calcutta 18S7. 



The Office. 



Cape Town: — Meteorological Commission. Reports. 1879, 1881-83. 

 Folio. Cape Town 1880-84. 



The Meteorological Office, London. 

 Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope. Acts, Session 1887. 

 Folio. Cape Town 1887; Yotes and Proceedings, 1887. 4 vols. 

 Folio and 8vo. Cajpe Town. The Cape Government. 



Edinburgh: — Scottish Marine Station, Granton. General Account 

 of the Scientific Work of the Station. 8vo. Edinburgh 1885. 



The Meteorological Office, London. 

 Hamburg : — Deutsche Seewarte. Archiv. Jahrg. III. No. 3. 



4to. Hamburg 1880. The Meteorological Office, London. 



India : — Archaeological Survey of India. Report. Vol. XXIII. 

 8vo. Calcutta 1887; General Index. Vols. I-XXIII. 8vo. 

 Calcutta 1887. The Survey. 



Geological Survey of India. Records. Vol. XXI. Part I. 

 8vo. Calcutta 1888. The Survey. 



