THE BREATHING ORGANS OF FISHES. 
103 
PEESONAL EXPERIENCES AMONG EMANCIPATED 
SLAVES. 
ABSTRACT OF REV. W. SHARMAN's PAPER. 
(Read December 7th, 1876.) 
After giving a succinct account of American negro slavery, and 
its abolition, the lecturer narrated his experiences of the condition 
and prospects of the emancipated slaves. He had found the negro 
docile, childish, dependent, indolent, thoughtless, untruthful, and 
addicted to petit larceny ; but he believed him to be capable of a 
high civilization, and entertained hopeful views of his future. 
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MUSIC. 
ABSTRACT OF DR. MEERES's PAPER. 
(Read December 14th, 1876.) 
The lecturer contended that music was frequently but erroneously 
spoken of as a language. He considered that sound, like heat, 
light, and electricity, was a physical agent capable of modifying 
man's bodily and mental condition. He denned noises and musical 
tones ; and argued that harmony was a modern development of 
music, explaining the distinction of concords and discords, the 
various kinds of beats, perfect and imperfect consonances, and the 
anatomical structure of the human organ of hearing with reference 
to sympathetic vibration. 
THE BEEATHING OEGANS OF FISHES. 
ABSTRACT OF PAPER BY MR. J. KINTON BOND, B.A., F.L.S. 
(Read December 21st, 1876.) 
The lecturer gave the definition of a fish, and then classified fishes. 
He showed the essential process in animal respiration, and the 
modification of the process in the case of fishes. He demonstrated 
