of Edinburgh, Session 1879-80. 
359 
and in this department of knowledge he was one of the greatest 
authorities. In meteorology proper, the manner in which he 
presented and discussed the facts of observation of the diurnal baro- 
metric range, and the aqueous vapour of the atmosphere, and the 
theories he propounded therefrom, were eminently original, and will, 
we believe, always continue to he read, however much they may he 
modified or even overturned by future research. In astronomy, Pro- 
fessor Lamont’s chief work was his Catalogues of Small Stars between 
15° north and 15° south of the equator, being supplementary to the 
larger work under this head of Argelander and Bessel. As early as 
1851 he demonstrated the existence of a decennial cycle in the 
diurnal range of the magnetic declination, which was more recently 
conclusively shown to correspond with the cyclical frequency and 
abundance of the sun-spots. 
He was appointed Director of the Bogenhausen Observatory at 
Munich in 1835, and Professor of Astronomy in the University of 
Munich in 1852. He died at Bogenhausen early in the morning of 
Wednesday the 6th of August in the seventy-fourth year of his age. 
Monday, 1 5th December 1879. 
The Eight Hon. Lord MONCEEIFE in the Chair. 
The following communications were read : — 
1. On the Expansion of Cast Iron while Solidifying. By J. 
B. Hannay, F.E.S.E., E.C.S., and Eobert Anderson. 
The fact that certain bodies expand on solidifying, as in the case 
of water, has long been well known, and this property has been 
recognised in some of the metals, owing to their filling the mould in 
which they are cast so as to reproduce the finest lines. The fact of 
their so doing is, however, only known qualitatively — no accurate 
measurements having, so far as we are aware, been recorded. The 
property being of great interest to ironfounders, we have undertaken 
a series of experiments to determine its real value — the materials 
being put at our disposal by Messrs MDowall, Steven, & Co., to 
whom we tender our best thanks. We used several methods, and 
