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Proceedings of the Royal Society 
to which I have been adverting, there have been one or two other 
matters taken np by the Council which it is proper to mention — 
(1.) The Council agreed to co-operate with other public bodies 
in this town, in giving to the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, an invitation to hold their next year’s meeting 
in Edinburgh. That invitation was communicated through our 
general secretary, Professor Balfour, at the Liverpool meeting. 
We all know the result ; but perhaps all do not know how much 
is due to the efforts of this Society. It must also be matter of 
congratulation to ourselves to learn, that the President elect of 
the Association is one of our own members — a member of whom 
any Society may feel proud — Sir William Thomson of Glasgow ; 
and, moreover, that the local secretaries and treasurer of the meet- 
ing are all Fellows of out Society. May I therefore be allowed 
to express a hope, that the members of this Society will do their 
utmost to assist in promoting the success of the meeting, and 
that the Society will be able to give a handsome subscription to 
the fund for expenses. 
(2.) Another matter out of the ordinary business of the Society, 
is the application which the Council made to Her Majesty’s 
Gfovernment, for the establishment of a Chair of Geology in the 
University of Edinburgh, and for assistance to endow it. 
The circumstance which led to this application was the resig- 
nation of Professor Allman, and an intimation received about the 
same time, from that eminent geologist and true-hearted Scotch- 
man, Sir Koderick Impey Murchison, that he was willing to set 
apart £6000 from his own funds, to yield a moiety of the endow- 
ment. 
The Council of the Society, feeling that they would go with 
greater hope of success to Government if backed by other public 
bodies, obtained the co-operation of the University, the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts, the Geological Society, and the Highland 
and Agricultural Society. 
We all know, in consequence of an intimation in the newspapers, 
that the Premier has so far yielded to these applications, by 
agreeing that Government should pay £200 yearly to this object * 
so that, adding the dividends which will be obtained from Sir 
Roderick Murchison’s more generous gift of £6000, there will be 
