7 
ballot on tbe second Wednesday of April, 1785, and that 
the medal be delivered by the President to the person to 
whom it shall have been adjudged at the annual meeting of 
the society on the last Wednesday of the same month and 
year. That these several resolutions be published in the 
Manchester newspapers and in two of the London evening 
papers, signed by the Presidents.” 
Little is now known in the society of James Massey, first 
president of the society along with Dr. Mainwaring. In tlie 
minutes I find the following valedictory address from the 
members on his retirement: “October 80th, 1789. Rev. Mr. 
Hall in the chair. Resolved that the thanks of the society 
be given to James Massey, Esq., for his long and uniform 
attention to the interests of the society, and that they 
sincerely regret the loss of a president so justly and univer- 
sally esteemed. That the secretaries do signify this resolution 
by letter to him, and that the letter together with the above 
resolution be printed in the Manchester papers.” From the 
pedigree in Ormerod’s History of Cheshire, it appears that 
Mr. Massey was one of the Masseys of Rostherne, a branch 
of an ancient family settled in various parts of Cheshire ; 
according to the same history Mr. Massey lies interred with 
many of his relatives within the walls of Rostherne church. 
“ On Ocular Spectra,” by Alfeed Beothees, F.R.A.S. 
At the last meeting of the Society I called attention to 
apparent changes in the size of ocular spectra according to 
the distance of the ground in which they are seen, supposing 
that the observation of these changes was new. On this 
point I have received the following letter from Mr. R. A. 
Proctor : — 
“Everything known about vision shows that what is 
actually observed is what must necessarily be observed. 
There is, therefore, nothing to be explained. I remember 
