1900-1.] 
Meetings of the Society. 
451 
and in checking the calculations. The section on Interpolation is, 
in particular, a valuable addition to mathematical literature, and 
shows that the author is as well fitted to extend mathematical 
theory as to compute mathematical constants to thirty significant 
figures. In awarding Dr Burgess the Keith Prize, the Council 
have considered the pure mathematical interest of the processes 
involved, as well as the great practical value of this admirable and 
finished piece of work. 
The Makdougall-Brisbane Prize for 1898-1900 was presented to 
Dr Ramsay H. Traquair for his paper entitled “ Report on Fossil 
Fishes collected by the Geological Survey in the Upper Silurian 
Rocks of Scotland,” printed in vol. xxxix. of the Transactions of 
the Society. 
The Chairman, on presenting the Prize, said : — 
Dr Traquair’s report on the Fossil Fishes discovered by the 
Geological Survey in the Upper Silurian Rocks of Scotland 
furnishes striking proof of his thorough knowledge of Palaeozoic 
Ichthyology. His researches have proved of exceptional value from 
a biological point of view. By means of these fossils, all of which 
are new to science, he has advanced a new classification of the 
Ostracodermi , which now comprises three orders. He has enlarged 
our knowledge of the order Heterostraci , which now includes four 
families instead of one. He has shown that the Coelolepidce , though 
probably of Elasmobranch origin, were not Cestraciont sharks, and 
has indicated the transition from the Coelolejpidce to the Pteraspidce. 
These are only some of the important features of his researches, the 
results of which have been of the highest value on account of the 
light which they throw on the evolution of these Palaeozoic fishes. 
The following Communications were read : — 
1. The General Form of the Involutive 1-1 Quadric Transformation 
in a Plane. By Charles Tweedie, M.A., B.Sc. Trans., vol. 40, pp. 
253-262. 
2. Supplementary Report on Fossil Fishes collected by the Geological 
Survey in the Silurian Rocks of the South of Scotland. By Dr R. H. 
Traquair, F.R.S. 
3. Exhibition of Photographs of the Corona taken during the Total 
Eclipse of 28th May 1900. By Thomas Heath, B.A. pp. 396-400. 
