291 
ORDIISrARY MEBTmG, Maech 6 , 1882. 
T. K. Callaed^ Esq., F.G.S., in the Chaie. 
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 
The following paper was read by the Author : — 
THE SUPERNATURAL IN NATURE. By John Eliot 
Howaed, E.R.S., F.L.S. 
I. — Introduction. 
T he title which I have chosen for this paper directs atten- 
tion to a remarkable work by the Rev. J. W. Reynolds,* 
which has reached a second edition, in which form it has both 
pleasantly and profitably occupied my attention. I have not 
the least acquaintance with the author ; but would wish to 
welcome him as a distinguished fellow-labourer in the work 
in which we are engaged, and to commend his book to the 
perusal of its members. 
I was about to say thoughtful perusal, but this would be 
superfluous. If read at all, it must be thoughtfully; for the 
rich and fertile mind of the writer is well adapted to become 
the occasion of thought in others, and his arguments appear 
generally unanswerable. 
Such, at least, is my judgment, on a calm review of the 
whole. Failures and imperfections must be expected in a 
work of 500 pages ; which would be much improved by conden- 
sation. Let us, before investigating these, record some of the 
conclusions to which this gifted mind is led. 
* The Supernatural in Nature : a F erification hy free use of Science. By 
J . W. Keynolds, M. A., Vicar of St. Stephen’s, Spitalfields. Second edition, 
1880. 
