54 
or as a condition attached to the dispensation, is not knoTvn, 
hnt the result was that William and his wife, as some sort of 
reparation for the scandal created, each built and endovv^ed a 
church in the town of Caen, in Normandy, then one of the 
principal cities in his duchy. The two churches were erected, 
and are now known as the “ Ahhaye aux Hommes ” and the 
‘‘ Ahhaye aux Dames,” and photographs of each, through the 
kindness of M. Deslongchamps, are now in the possession of 
the Society. A considercvhle part of the ancient structures still 
remains. The “ Ahbaye aux Dames,” the church huilt hy 
William’s consort, was dedicated in the memorable year of the 
conquest, on the eve of William’s expedition, the success of 
which made him absolute master of England. In this church 
Matilda offered her prayers for the success of her husband’s 
arms, and in it she was buried. In the church built by William 
a large blue stone still marks the s]3ot where the Conqueror’s 
remains were laid, but the grave has been long since desecrated, 
first by the Huguenots, in the 16th century, and still fuidher 
by the Revolutionists, in the 18th centiuy. 
Jl'xe 1st. —The Honorary Secretary, Mr. T. S. Noble, 
read a paper on M. Joachim Barrande, and the Darwinian 
Theory of Evolution. 
Mr. Noble said that it would be in their recollection that 
various honorary members of the Society were elected at the 
recent annual meeting, and at the last meetino’ he had the 
pleasure of reading a letter of thanks from a savant, a very 
distinguished foreigner, who had been elected an honorary 
member, and who had forwarded to the Society several valuable 
works. He had now pleasure in reading a letter from a most 
able and distinguished geologist, who had presented to the 
Museum the books which were upon the table—M. Barrande, 
of Prague:— 
(copy.) 
“ Prague, 14th May, 1880. 
‘‘ To the Honorary Secretary,—In inscribing my name 
amongst its honorary members, the Philosophical Society of 
Yorkshffe has conferred upon me an unexpected distinction, 
with which I am very much ffattered. 
