Mr Har courts Address. 



433 



one unfavourable year ; and it is possible, that by observing 

 similar rings in some very old trees still standing, we might be 

 able to ascertain the period of their growth to have been the 

 same as that of the timber found in %< bogs'" or mosses. 



Saturday. — A General Meeting was held at two o'clock, 

 when the Rev. Mr Vernon Harcourt, as general secretary, ad- 

 dressed the meeting. He apologized for the delay which had 

 occurred, but hoped it would be excused on account of the 

 importance of the subjects which had been discussed before the 

 committee. Invitations had been sent from Bristol, Liverpool, 

 Birmingham, Manchester, and Newcastle, soliciting the Associa- 

 tion to have its next meeting in those several places, and what 

 decided the selection in favour of Bristol, was from that city 

 having sent the first decided invitation. Every kind of accom- 

 modation had been offered by the public and corporate bodies. 

 A difficulty then arose in selecting the officers of the Associa- 

 tion in provincial towns, as they might not wish to undergo the 

 arduous labours and duties necessary to give effect to the pro- 

 ceedings, but there did not appear to be a probability of any 

 inconvenience arising in the present instance. Mr Harcourt 

 then read the several sums of money recommended by the Sec- 

 tions to be advanced for the prosecution of scientific objects in 

 various branches. — It had also been determined to apply 10 

 Government to send out an expedition to the Antarctic Regions, 

 for the purpose of discovering the Southern Magnetic Poles. 

 He felt much gratification in announcing that the resources of 

 the Association had increased to a greater degree at this than at 

 any former meeting. He would not waste time in advocating 

 the propriety of the system adopted by the Association, for that 

 system was the most efficacious in imparting knowledge. Mr 

 Harcourt observed, that from the occurrences in the Sections,* 

 not only were new subjects remarked, but the spirit in which these 

 discoveries were made was also shewn. The members also de- 

 rived incitement to new exertions, from the kindness with which 

 they had been treated in every place, and surely in none more 

 than the metropolis of Ireland. The Association offered im- 

 portant means for facilitating discoveries in science, and for 

 awarding the just meed of approbation to the talents of distin- 

 guished philosophers. It was said to Dr Black, by a friend, 



