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Royal Society of Edinburgh . 90 
just mentioned and of another haring each face tetragonal, and each 
corner tetrahedral. 
2 Biographical Notice of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 
By Prof. George Wilson. 
Monday 19 th April , 1858. 
Dr CHBISTISON, V.P., in the Chair. 
The following Communications were read : — 
1. Notice respecting the remains of a Seal, in the Pleistocene 
of Fifeshire. By Dr Allman. 
Professor Allman exhibited a portion of a pelvis of a seal, which 
had been recently obtained from the Pleistocene deposits in the 
neighbourhood of Kirkaldy, and sent to him for determination by 
Mr Martin Rigney of that place. 
From a note received from Mr Rigney, it appears that the bone 
was found in the Tyrie clayfield, about two miles west of Kirkaldy, and 
about a quarter of a mile from the shore of the Firth, and that it lay 
18 or 19 feet below the surface of the soil, and about 30 feet above 
the present level of high-water. It was unaccompanied by any 
other remains. 
Mr Page had already noticed the occurrence of a very perfect skele- 
ton of a seal from another locality in Fifeshire ; and the great rarity 
of such remains in the British Isles appeared to Professor Allman a 
sufficient reason for placing the present instance also on record. 
2. On Theories of the Constitution of Saturn’s Rings. By 
Professor Clerk Maxwell. 
The planet Saturn is surrounded by several concentric flattened 
rings, which appear to be quite free from any connection with each 
other, or with the planet, except that due to gravitation. 
The exterior diameter of the whole system of rings is estimated at 
about 176,000 miles, the breadth from outer to inner edge of the entire 
system, 36,000 miles, and the thickness not more than 100 miles. 
It is evident that a system of this kind, so broad and so thin, must 
depend for its stability upon the dynamical equilibrium between the 
motions of each part of the system, and the attractions which act on 
