8 
. Froceedings of the Royal Society 
Observers should therefore be warned and prepared accordingly : 
viz., for 2 b. 1 m. 7 sec. in place of 1 b. 55 m. 57 sec. p.m. of Greenwich 
mean time as per Time-Ball and Time-Gun here in Edinburgh. 
The place of first external contact will also be 2 degrees on the 
sun’s limb nearer to its south pole, but on the east side, as before. 
C. PiAzzi Smyth, 
Adronomer-Royal for Scotland. 
To General Secretary, 
Royal Society, Edinburgh. 
BUSINESS. 
The following Candidates were balloted for and declared duly 
elected Fellows of the Society : — Dr E. H. Gunning ; Alexander 
Bruce, M.A., M.B. ; Dr Charles D. E. Phillips. 
Monday, IWi Decemher 1882. 
EOBEET GRAY, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following Communications were read : — 
1. On the Laws of Motion. Part I. By Professor Tait. 
{Abstract.) 
The substance of part at least of this paper was given in 1876 
as an evening lecture to the British Association at its Glasgow 
meeting. 
While engaged in writing the article “ Mechanics ” for the Ency. 
Brit., I had to consider carefully what basis to adopt, and decided 
that the time had not yet come in which (at least in a semi-popular 
article) Newton’s laws of motion could be modified. The article 
was therefore based entirely on these laws, with a mere hint towards 
the end that in all probability they would soon require essential 
modification. It is well, however, that the question of modification 
should now be considered ; and this should be done, not in a 
popular essay but, before a scientific society. 
The one objection to which, in modern times, that wonderfully 
complete and compact system is liable, is that it is expressly 
founded on the conception of what is now called “ force ” as an 
agent which “ compels” a change of the state of rest or motion of 
