IReport of flDeetinge. 
February 4th. — Second General Meeting*. A paper, entitled 
Elephants, Living and Fossil,” was read by Professor S. H. 
Reynolds, M. A. Commencing with a description of living elephants 
the lecturer pointed out that in a number of respects elephants 
were highly specialised, the remarkable development of the 
nose. On the other hand, as regards the limbs, they were primitive, 
retaining the original five toes, whilst in the highly specialised limb 
of the horse the foot was practically reduced to one toe. Although 
an elephant’s skull was extraordinarily large, the brain was 
relatively small, the size being due to the great development of air- 
cells in the bone. An elephant’s grinding teeth were so large that 
there was only room for one and part of a second in the jaw at the 
same time, and the whole series gradually moved forward as the 
front part was worn out. The African elephant has larger ears, 
eyes, and tusks than the Indian, and its teeth are more coarsely 
ridged. Also, whilst in the African elephant the shoulder is the 
highest part, in the Indian elephant the middle of the back is 
highest. The extinct mammoth, which formerly roamed over 
Europe, Asia, and North America, and of wTich many remains 
have been found in the Bristol district, was closely allied to the 
modern Indian elephant. Until recently elephants stood absolutely 
isolated in the animal kingdom. Dr. Chas. Andrews’ discoveries 
at Fayum (Egypt) have shown that elephants may be traced from 
certain small tapir-like animals found in the Eocene beds of that 
district. These animals show the commencement of the develop- 
ment of tusks, complicated grinding teeth and air-cells in the skull, 
all of which are eminently characteristic of modern elephants. In 
more recent beds other animals were found in which these character- 
istics were more marked, and the series led up to an animal very 
like our modern elephant. 
March 4th. — Third General Meeting. A resolution, thanking 
Mr. G. A. Wills for his munificent gift of the Leigh Woods to the 
citizens of Bristol, was passed unanimously. Mr. E. C. Atkinson, 
M.A., F.R.A.S., read a paper on “The Theory and Practice of 
Colour Photography by the Autochrome Process.” The lecturer 
commenced by throwing on the screen a spectrum, and showing 
that the colours of films were due to the absorption of some of the 
components of white light. He then, by means of an ingenious 
device, showed how a tint can be matched by proper mixtures of 
three colours only, and explained the Young-Helmholtz theory of 
vision on which the autochrome process is based. The lecturer 
very briefly described the autochrome process, which differs from 
the ordinary process in the fact that the light has to pass through 
