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Ordinary Meeting, April 14th, 1868. 
R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
Mr. Wm. Brockbank and Mr. A. Brothers were appointed 
Auditors of the Treasurer s Accounts. 
Mr. S. Broughton said that, on recently observing with 
high powers a group of fine spots on the sun, one of which 
was of considerable magnitude, it occurred to him to remove 
the dark glass, and by keeping the eye much beyond the 
focus of the heating rays, and at such a distance that the 
spot almost filled the apparent field of the eye-piece, to see 
if any phenomena could be observed different from those 
seen through the dark glass. 
The spot was at once seen to be of a dark blood red; but, 
thinking this perhaps might be from the strong contrast of 
colour, he attached a disc of plaster of Paris to the telescope, 
and projected the image of the spot on it. On looking at 
this with a common pocket magnifier, the image was 
observed to be a dark blood red, although the observatory 
was not darkened, and the disc merely shielded from the 
direct rays by an intervening opaque substance. 
If these observations are confirmed, it will corroborate the 
opinion long held that the spots are not black, but appear 
so by contrasty and, as it would seem, from the intervention 
of the coloured glass. 
“ Brief Notes on the Mutations of Imponderable Elements,” 
by J. C. Dyer, Esq., V.P. 
In the history of speculative science we have seen a great 
many learned and ingenious theories to account for the 
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. YII. No. 13 —Session, 1867-8. 
