68 



, ■ A meeting of the Section was held on April 22nd, 



Photometry. , • ^ , , t ' 



J at which two papers were read. First, Mr. 



Percival J. Parmiter exhibited specimens of the products of the 



'•Solidified Petrol Company Limited," gave a brief account of the 



process of preparation and explained and illustrated some of the uses 



for which they are designed. Next followed a lecture by W. 



Temple Gardner, Esq., f.c.s., entitled "Photometry, or the 



Measurement of Light." The lecturer began by giving a few 



definitions and a summary statement of certain principles and then 



exhibited a photometer such as is in general use in this country. 



The principal parts of this were pointed out and specimens of the 



standard candies, as defined by Act of Parliament, were shown. 



Another interesting exhibit was the Vernon Harcourt Pentane 



Standard which is the equivalent of 10 standard candles. The history 



of photometry was sketched and the evolution traced of the 



apparatus employed from the crude appliances of Rumford to the 



elaborate and delicate instruments in present day use. Some 



interesting statistics were given and, at the end of the lecture, 



various photometric measurements were taken, including the 



candle-powers of an electric lamp and of a gas-burner with 



incandescent mantle. 



. The Chairman read two papers at the meeting held 



andQases 0n J une Ioth - The first WaS entitled " The 



Graphic Solution of Problems relating to the Laws 



of Boyle and Charles '' ; a report of this appears on another page of 



this volume. 



. The second paper was on Chaucer's " Chanoun's 



. V^ lS Fy Yemanne's Tale " as illustrating the chemistry of 



the 14th century. A sketch was given of the story 

 and attention was directed to the lists of chemicals mentioned, to the 

 various kinds of apparatus whose names occur, and to the processes 

 that were employed by the Canon. An account followed of the 

 alchemical experiments performed by the Canon with their 

 disastrous results and the ingenious excuses for failure assigned by 

 the experimenter. The hypotheses which were current at the time 

 were briefly explained and Chaucer's own attitude towards alchemy 

 was discussed. 



. On Saturday, July 1st, about 20 members of the 



t Shid° n Section visited the Isle of Wight. Having driven 



from Cowes to Carisbrooke the Castle was seen 

 under the guidance of Dr. de Castro. From Carisbrooke the party 

 walked to Shide to visit, by the kind invitation of Professor John 

 Milne, f.r.s., the world-renowned seismological observatory at Shide 

 Hill House. Dr. Milne received his visitors very cordially and 

 exhibited and explained the wonderful instruments, largely of his 

 own invention, with which so many discoveries have been made in 

 the branch of science with which his name is so prominently 



