Canadian Government. Synopsis of the Air-breathing Animals of the Paleozoic Era in Canada.

W. E. Hoyle, M.A. The Manchester Museum, Owens College, Library Catalogue.

Sir H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S., &c. John Dalton and the Rise of Modern Chemistry.

47.134

In the discussion which followed this paper, Professor LAMB, F.R.S., suggested that the phenomena could probably all be interpreted on the basis of the general theory of forced oscillations, combined with the fact, pointed out long ago by Sir G. Stokes, that the surface of separation of two liquids of slightly different densities has greater inertia and less stability than a free surface of similar extent, so that the natural periods of oscillation are comparatively long. According to the calculation of Stokes (Camb. Trans., vol. 8, 1847), the superposition of a liquid of density p' on one of density p will diminish the speed of the oscillations of the common surface in the ratio √{(p-p')/(p+p')}. For example, in the case of oil of density 8, over water, the free oscillations will be three times as slow as in the case of an air-water surface.

[Microscopical and Natural History Section.]

Ordinary Meeting, March 18th, 1895.

JOHN BOYD, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

Mr. MARK STIRRUP, F.G.S., read a paper describing the geology of the Island of Barbadoes, and with Mr. R. E. CUNLIFFE exhibited under the miscroscope slides of the well-known Barbadoes earth containing siliceous organisms.

Mr. OLDHAM exhibited and described two new species of fresh-water shells, Pisidium cruciatum and P. punctatum, illustrated in the Nautilus, a monthly magazine published in Philadelphia (Vol. viii., No. 9, 1895), and another, not yet described, from New Philadelphia, Ohio.

Mr. COWARD exhibited two skulls, stone weapons, and hardened wood club, from Islands in the Pacific.

M

Ordinary Meeting, April 2nd, 1895.

HENRY WILDE, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

The thanks of the members were voted to the donors of the books upon the table.

Professor F. E. WEISS, B.Sc., exhibited specimens of Ramalina reticulata and of Phallus impudicus, recently added to the Manchester Museum, Owens College. The former is a lichen, which grows in a net-work form and shows the small cup-like processes which contain the characteristic spores. The genus was first described by Agardh as a marine alga, and though this description was corrected by Asa Gray long since, it is still often described as such, even in recent botanical works. The common stinkhorn (Phallus) was represented by several specimens, showing different stages of growth, and mounted in spirits, a plan which has great advantages over the usual method of drying.

Mr. W. E. HoYLE, M.A., exhibited illustrations of the method which is being adopted in the Museum for the illustration of the different natural orders of the vegetable kingdom. For each a printed label giving the characters of the family, diagrams of the morphology of the flowers and a map showing the geographical distribution are displayed, with examples of the more prominent genera and species suitably preserved.

Mr. CHARLES BAILEY, F.L.S., in commenting on the exhibits, alluded to a case in which the powerful and unpleasant odour of the Phallus had given rise to a suspicion of imperfect drainage.

Dr. A. HODGKINSON read a paper "On the Germination of Orchidaceous Seeds," in which he showed that terrestrial