1896 - 07 .] 
Meetings of the Society. 
521 
Helmholtz’s theory of the mechanism of the ear for recognising 
different musical notes, is a valuable contribution to science and to 
scientific teaching. 
A first instalment of his work on the phonograph, given at the 
request of the Council, as the sole business of the meeting of the 
Royal Society here on the 27th of November 1894, is still 
remembered with lively interest by all who heard it. Farther 
investigations followed, and a general account of results is published 
in the Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. for 1896 (vol. xxxviii. part 4). His 
later work on the Fourier analysis of curves obtained by mechanical 
magnification of the traces on the wax cylinder of the phonograph, 
from the different vowel sounds, has already given interesting 
results, and is well adapted to aid in the discovery of the real 
character of that marvellous system of varieties of sound which 
constitutes speech. 
For these important and interesting researches on Sound, and 
the Physiology of the Perception of Sound, the Makdougall- 
Brisbane Prize for 1894-6 has been awarded to Professor 
M ‘Kendrick. 
The Neill Prize for 1892-5 was presented to Robert Irvine, Esq., 
for his papers on the action of Organisms in the Secretion of 
Carbonate of Lime and Silica, and on the Solution of these 
substances in Organic Juices. These are printed in the Society’s 
Transactions and Proceedings. 
The President, on presenting the Prize, said : — 
The Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh has awarded 
the Neill Prize for the period 1892-5 to Mr Robert Irvine for his 
valuable researches : — 
1. On the Secretion of Carbonate of Lime and Silica by 
Organisms. 
2. On the Solution of Carbonate of Lime by Sea-Water. 
3. On the Presence of Manganese Peroxide in Marine Deposits. 
And 
4. On the Composition of Sea-Water Salts. 
These researches were carried out during a long series of years, 
in conjunction with Dr John Murray, Dr Sims Woodhead, Dr 
YOL. XXI. 2 L 
