141 
PHYSICAL ANH MATHEMATICAL SECTION. 
Annucal Meeting, March 31st, 1874. 
Alfred Brothers, F.R.A.S., President of the Section, in 
the Chair. 
The following gentlemen were elected Officers of the 
Section for the ensuing year : — 
^rcsib^nt. 
ALFRED BROTHERS, F.R.A.S. 
tRkc-IJrcsihnts. 
E. W. BINNEY, F.R.S., F.G.S. 
JOSEPH BAXENDELL, P.R,A.S. 
a. V. VERNON, F.R.A.S., F.M.S. 
SAMUEL BROUGHTON. 
‘‘The Meteorological Theory of Cometary Phenomena,” 
by David Winstanley, Esq. 
On the 16th April, 1872, I had the honour of bringing 
under the notice of this Society the outline of a theory by 
which I showed, or endeavoured to show, that in the 
instance of bodies surrounded by abnormally voluminous 
atmospheres and subject to sudden and violent thermal 
changes, certain phenomena indistinguishable from the im- 
posing aspects frequently presented by comets must of 
necessity ensue as the ordinary phenomena of their meteor- 
ology. So far as I have seen no criticisms have been 
advanced disputing the correctness of this deduction. If, 
therefore, I am able to satisfy you that any particular 
