PEOCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
ROYAI PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 
NINETY-THIRD SESSION, 1863-64. 
Wednesday, 2oth November 1863. — James M Bain, M.D., R.N., 
President, in the Chair. 
The following Gentlemen were elected Members of the Society : — 
As Resident Member — B. H. Hossack, Esq., Star Bank, Trinity. As 
Non-Resident Members — George Lyle Galbraith, Esq., Loch Turainel 
Lodge, Pitlochrie; George Fair, M.D., Woodlands, Duddingston ; 
Herbert Manson Suft, Esq., H.M. Privy Council Office, Whitehall. 
The following Donations to the Library were laid on the Table, and 
thanks were voted to the Donors : — 
1. (1.) Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1861, 8vo. 
From the Smithsonian Institution, U.S.A. (2.) Report of Lieutenant- 
Colonel J. D. Graham, U.S. Topographical Engineers, on Mason and 
Dickson's Line. — From the Author. 2. Proceedings of the Royal 
Society, Vol. XII., Nos. 55 and 56, 1863.— From the Society. 
3. Extracts from Twelfth Volume of Astronomical Observations, 1855— 
59.— From the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. 
Dr M'Bain then delivered the following Opening Address : — 
Gentlemen, — Before laying aside the honour you liave 
been pleased to confer upon me, it falls to my lot, as retiring 
President, to offer a brief address on the occasion. 
In the first place, I have to congratulate the members 
upon the satisfactory state of the Society in regard to the 
more essential elements of present stability and future 
progress — namely, a goodly array of scientific contributors, 
the constant accession of new members, and a respectable 
balance at the command of the Treasurer. The number of con- 
tributions brought forward during last Session on the various 
VOL. III. ? 
