JOURNAL 
OF THE 
JpOTsrqjtcal jfcjrietg af Witkm. 
IMI-AY 18 8 0. 
PREFACE. 
Unforeseen circumstances interfered with the production of 
the second number of this Journal, and delayed its appearance so 
far beyond the proper date, that it was considered advisable to 
issue a double number to include parts 2 and 3. And while the 
Committee will use every endeavour in future to issue the publi¬ 
cation once in each quarter, they have resolved to discontinue the 
use of the term “ Quarterly thus admitting not only of a little 
delay when convenient, but also the advantage of being enabled 
to publish more frequently, should occasion demand the issue of 
more than four parts annually. 
That this latter contingency will soon arise may fairly be 
expected when we look at the large increase (twenty-one since 
last issue) in the list of members, and more particularly when we 
take into consideration the known scientific ability of several 
gentlemen who have joined recently. 
The contents of the present issue, it is confidently hoped, will 
prove to be of considerable value, while the improvement in the 
character of the illustrations may be taken as an earnest of the 
desire to render this portion of the Journal in as perfect a manner 
as possible; and that all papers requiring figures will be illus¬ 
trated as carefully and completely as possible, as it is considered 
that, without plates, such papers suffer great diminution in value. 
C 
