PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING. 
101 
might be derived from a more general application of them in 
the neighbourhood of London. 
On Friday, the President having taken the chair in the The¬ 
atre at the usual hour, the minutes of the Sectional Meetings 
were read by the Chairman of the Committees. Mr. P. Duncan 
gave notice, that there were laid upon the table some Original 
Manuscripts from the Ashmolean Museum, recording the early 
Proceedings of the Philosophical Society which met at Oxford 
during the Civil Wars, and subsequently gave birth to the 
Royal Society. 
An Abstract of a Report on the progress of Optical Science, 
by Sir David Brewster, was then read by one of the Secre¬ 
taries. 
Mr. Johnston read his Report on the progress which Che¬ 
mical Science has recently made, especially in foreign countries. 
Professor Powell read his Report on the state of our know¬ 
ledge respecting the phenomena of Radiant Heat. 
The Rev. William Conybeare gave a general account of the 
contents of his Report on the recent progress of Geology. 
The Rev. Dr. Bliss and Mr. John Taylor were appointed to 
audit the accounts. 
On Saturday, the Association having assembled in the The¬ 
atre for the last time, Mr. John Taylor made a Report on the 
state of the accounts, which was approved. The minutes of 
the proceedings in the Sectional Meetings to their close were 
read by their respective Chairmen. 
Mr. Brunei gave a history of the attempt to carry a Tunnel 
under the Thames, illustrated by Drawings. 
The Rev. William Whewell gave a sketch of the views con¬ 
tained in his Report on the recent progress and present state 
of Mineralogy. 
An essay by Dr. Prichard, on the application of Philological 
inquiry to the Physical History of Man, was read by the Rev. 
William Conybeare. 
The President then announced, that the place which had 
been fixed upon for the next meeting was Cambridge; that the 
President who had been chosen was Professor Sedgwick ; that 
forming in the latter case perpetual fountains, such as are made, and designated 
by the name of Blow wells, on the eastern coast of Lincolnshire. The prac¬ 
tice is most available in low situations, where the upper stratum is a thick bed 
of clay, and has been of late years introduced in the neighbourhood of London. 
It is much used in Artois, the ancient Artesium, whence is derived the appel¬ 
lation of Artesian wells. 
