BELFAST NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY. 
JUNE 21, 1854. 
Robert M‘Adam, Esq., Vice-president, in the Chair. 
The following report for the session of 1853-54, was read by Mr. A. O’D. 
Taylor, one of the secretaries :— 
“ This time last year the council submitted to the shareholders a report, in which 
they had the pleasure of referring to the meeting, in this town, of the British As¬ 
sociation for the Advancement of Science—to the collection of Irish antiquities 
temporarily formed for that body, within your Museum, and to other interesting 
topics, which are now passed away. The session which has just concluded has no 
such particular facts to mark its career, and the arrangements of the museum and 
of the Society having since fallen into their ordinary course. As regards the 
museum itself, various additions have been made to its collections, as detailed in 
the donation-list accompanying the present report. The Thompson Room is now 
fitted up with a number of suitable cases, in which specimens illustrative of Irish 
Natural History are about being deposited. 
“ Other arrangements, with the view of rendering part of the specimens more 
practically useful, are in contemplation by the council, and they expect will, at 
any rate, be partially matured during the summer months, by the formation, in 
the large middle room, of a typical collection of the animal kingdom. As usual, 
for the past few years, the working-classes enjoyed the benefit of visiting the 
Museum on Easter Monday, at a trifling admission charge. About 5,000 persons, 
including a large number of children, were present, and the same propriety of con¬ 
duct was manifested, and the same interest in the collections evinced as had been 
observed on previous occasions. 
“ The library has been lately enriched with some valuable donations; and a 
large amount of space being now rendered available by recent improvements, all 
the books are in course of re-arrangement, to secure more easy and ready reference 
than has hitherto been practicable. 
“ The 33rd session of the Society has now terminated; and during its conti¬ 
nuance, from October, 1853, till May, 1854, fourteen meetings have been held, 
nine of them ordinary or private, and five of them public. The following list will 
show the varied nature of the subjects discussed :— 
“ PAPERS READ IN THE SESSION 1853-4. 
“ Dr. Dickie on the relations of form and colour in plants and animals. 
“Mr. R. Young on drainage : its relation to economic and sanitary aspects. 
“Rev. J. S. Porter on the state of society, arts, and manners among the pri¬ 
meval inhabitants of Ireland. 
“Professor M‘Coy on experiments to determine the effect of pressure in modify¬ 
ing the temperature of fusion, with their application to geology. 
“ Mr. A. O’D. Taylor on the gigantic birds formerly found in the Mauritius and 
adjacent islands. 
