1887.] 



President's Address. 



191 



eclipse were confined to those taken at Grenada. I have heard that 

 the day of the eclipse was fine at Benguela, bnt there were no astro- 

 nomers of any nation there to take advantage of it. It may be 

 doubted, however, whether, in spite of the fineness, the haze which is 

 said to prevail so much on that coast at that time of year, might not 

 materially have interfered with the observations. 



The boring in the Delta of the Nile has been continued, by the 

 favour of the War Office, under the able and zealous superintendence 

 of Captain Dickinson, R.E. As I mentioned last year, the Committee 

 thought it best to concentrate their efforts on a single boring until 

 rock should be reached, or else a stratum of such a character as to 

 show that the alluvial or drifted deposit had been got through. This 

 result has not at present been obtained. The boring at Zagazig 

 reached the depth of 324 feet, when the tube broke, and stopped for 

 the time further progress. It is, however, a matter of interest and 

 importance to know that the drift or deposit extends to so great a 

 depth. Geologists attach so much importance to the prosecution of 

 the inquiry that at the suggestion of the Delta Committee an appli- 

 cation was made to the Government Grant Committee for a grant of 

 £500, which was acceded to by the Committee. This sum would 

 not suffice for the prosecution of the inquiry to the extent contem- 

 plated ; but it was thought that with such a sum as a nucleus ex- 

 traneous pecuniary assistance might be obtained from Societies or 

 individuals specially interested in the inquiry, and the Council have 

 authorised the Delta Committee to avail themselves of such aid. 



The meetings of Council and Committees continue to be very 

 numerous, and no less than twenty-two Committees and Sub- 

 Commiltees have been at work during the session. 



The number of papers communicated to the Society continues to 

 increase. In 1884-5 the number was 93 ; in 1885-6 it was 113 ; and 

 in the past session, 129. 



Since the last Anniversary one complete part of the ' Philosophical 

 Transactions,' and thirty-two separate papers towards the new volume 

 have been published ; the whole comprising no less than 1482 pages 

 of letterpress and seventy-six plates. In the same period twelve 

 numbers of the ' Proceedings,' containing 984 pages, have appeared. 



The task of preparing the MS. of the Catalogue of Scientific 

 Papers, decade 1874 to 1883, has proved far heavier than was antici- 

 pated, and the matter very far exceeds in bulk that of the previous 

 decade. The cataloguing of papers from the volumes in our own library 

 has long been finished, but the work of gleaning stray papers from 

 works in other libraries which we do not possess has proved more 

 arduous than was expected, and even now is not quite completed. It 

 is confidently hoped, however, that the MS. will be completed for the 

 press during the coming session. 



