26 
mountains of the west of Scotland have lost J of their 
height. The general conclusion at which he arrived was 
that evolution is a good working hypothesis, apart from the 
consideration of the how and the why, and that it is 
sufficient to prove that certain forms have been evolved from 
others unlike them, such as the horse from the hipparion, 
without being able to do it in all cases. In conclusion, the 
attention of the Section was called to the very unsatisfactory 
condition of museums in this country, and to the equally 
unsatisfactory position of natural history in the general 
scheme of education. The President looked forward to the 
time when there will be a museum in Manchester which 
will be a centre around which all the Mechanics’ Institutions 
and natural history societies in the district will group them- 
selves. To hasten this it will be necessary for every 
individual to use his efforts to influence those immediately 
around him. 
Mr. Hurst exhibited a collection of Mediterranean marine 
algae ; principally from the island of Rhodes, and from the 
neighbourhood of Alexandria : and a large specimen of an 
Egyptian cotton plant, from the Ashmouni districts. 
Mr. Waters, F.G.S., exhibited some microscopical sections 
of Bryozoa, and explained their anatomy : especially dwell- 
ing upon the genus Flustra, or horn wracks. 
