508 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ORDINARY MEETINGS, 
Session 1911-1912. 
FIRST ORDINARY MEETING. 
Monday , 13 th November 1911. 
Professor J. C. Ewart, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read : — 
1. Obituary Notices of the Rev. Professor R. Flint, Dr Alexander Bruce, and the Very Rev. 
Dr James MacGregor. Proc ., vol. xxxi. pp. 687-693. 
2. Experiments to show how Failure under Stress occurs in Timber, its Cause, and Comparative 
Values of the Maximum Stresses induced when Timber is fractured in Various Ways. By Angus R. 
Fulton, B.Sc., A. M.Inst.C.E. Communicated by Professor Peddie. Trans., vol. xlviii. pp. 
417-440. 
3. On a New Method of Measuring Mental Processes in Normal and Insane People, with 
special reference to Maniac Depressive Insanity. By George Rutherford Jeffrey, M.D. 
(Glasg.), M.R.C.P. (Edin.). Communicated by Sir James Crichton-Browne. Proc., vol. xxxii. 
pp. 73-109. 
4. The Freezing-points of Rhombic Sulphur and of Soufre nacre. By Professor Alex. Smith 
and C. M. Carson. Proc., vol. xxxii. pp. 1-3. 
The Chairman read the following excerpt from the Minutes of Council Meeting, held on 
13th November 1911 : — - 
‘ ‘ The President and Council wish to put on record their deep sense of the great loss which the 
Society has sustained by the death of Professor Chrystal. 
“ Professor Chrystal became a Fellow of the Society in 1880, a few months after his appoint- 
ment to the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh. In November of the same year 
he took his seat at the Council board. He subsequently served as Vice-President for two terms of 
office; and on completion of his second term of office in 1901, he was elected General Secretary in 
succession to the late Professor Tait. 
“During his thirty-one years of Fellowship he contributed a number of papers of marked 
originality and importance on mathematical and physical subjects. For two of these he was 
awarded the Keith and Gunning Prizes respectively. It is pathetic to note that, two hours after 
his death, his family reqeived official information that the King had approved of the award of a 
Royal Medal by the President and Council of the Royal Society of London to Professor Chrystal. 
“As General Secretary he guided the affairs of the Society with untiring zeal and never-failing 
success. His great services during the critical time which preceded the Society’s removal to its 
present habitation cannot be over-estimated. Keen, determined, resourceful, and tactful, he was 
ready for all emergencies. The Society’s new Rooms are indeed a lasting memorial to his devotion, 
perseverance, and foresight. 
“Wise in counsel, sound in judgment, prompt in action, Professor Chrystal was an ideal 
administrator. His character was strong in its simplicity. In intercourse with his colleagues he 
never failed in reasonableness and truest courtesy. Above all, he has left behind him the memory 
of a trusted and faithful friend. ” 
Mr J. A. S. Watson signed the Roll, and was duly admitted a Fellow of the Society. 
SECOND ORDINARY MEETING. 
Monday, 20 th November 1911. 
Professor T. Hudson Beare, B.Sc., Memb. Inst.C.E. Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read : — 
1. Point Binomials and Multinomials in Relation to Mendelian Distributions. By Dr John 
Brownlee. Proc., vol. xxxii. pp. 396-405. 
2. The Influence of the Ratio of Width to Thickness upon the Apparent Strength and Ductility 
of Flat Test-bars of Mild Steel. By W. Gordon, B.Sc., A.M.I.Mech. E., and G. H. Gulliver, 
B.Sc., A.M.I.Mech.E. Trans., vol. xlviii. pp. 195-214. 
