Ylll PREFACE. 
to be limited to the selection of the subject and of the re¬ 
porter, leaving the author accountable for his own opinions, 
and exercising only that general censorship which an Editor 
is entitled to claim. 
The Association also holds itself liable to print in detail 
those researches on particular points of inquiry which it 
has requested individuals or Societies to undertake. A few 
experiments on the magnetic intensity of the earth, and on 
the quantity of rain which falls at different heights in the 
atmosphere, are all that will be found under this head in the 
present volume. It is to be hoped that hereafter they may 
hold a more prominent place in these Transactions, and 
that that part of the designs of the Association may be 
diligently prosecuted, which aims at promoting in a direct 
manner the investigation of such questions as, in the exist¬ 
ing state of science, especially require to be solved in order 
to open the way to the application of abstract reasoning 
and the deduction of general laws. 
The rest of the Transactions printed in this Report con¬ 
sist of notices or abstracts of the miscellaneous papers which 
were read at the Meeting, arranged under general heads. 
It may probably be found necessary in future, that these 
contributions should not only be printed, but delivered in 
and read to the Meetings in the same abbreviated form ; 
the business of the session would thus be brought within 
compass, and the subsequent trouble and delay which it 
costs to collect the abstracts for publication would be saved. 
To prevent delay however, and to enable the Officers of the 
Association to publish the Transactions of the Meeting 
soon after it has been held, it is of still greater moment that 
those who draw up the Reports on the state of science, 
which are printed at length, should put the finishing hand 
to their labours previous to the Meeting, and bring them 
ready prepared for the press. 
The discussions on questions of science which occurred 
in the Sectional Committees were not the least interesting 
of the proceedings : but of these it has scarcely been at¬ 
tempted to offer any account; they are a part of the spirit 
