most beautiful flowers owe the most to insect agency, we have an à priori reason for supposing that insects have a perception of colour, which Sir John Lubbock's experiments confirm. Recent researches show that insects, and especially bees, have an importance in relation to floral development that was, before the publication of Sprengel's observations, quite unsuspected. Sir John Lubbock thus concludes his Paper: "To insects we owe the beauties of our gardens and the sweetness of our fields; to them flowers are indebted for their scent and colour, nay, for their very existence in their present form; not only have the brilliant colours, the sweet scent, and the honey of flowers been gradually developed by the unconscious agency of insects, but the very arrangement of the colours, the circular bands and radiating lines, the form, size, and position of the petals, the arrangement of the stamens and pistil, all have reference to the visits of insects, and are disposed in such a manner as to ensure the great object which these visits are destined to effect. For it is obvious that any blossom differing from the form and size best adapted to secure the due transference of the pollen would be less likely to be fertilised than others; while, on the other hand, those which were rich in honey, which were the sweetest and the most conspicuous, would most attract the attention and secure the visits of insects; and thus, just as our gardeners, by selecting seed from the most beautiful varieties, have done so much to adorn our gardens, so have insects, by fertilising the largest and the most beautiful flowers, unconsciously, but not the less effectually, contributed to the beauty of our woods and fields."

Mr. THOMAS WARD then read a Paper on "Salt, and its Export from the Ports of the Mersey." *

See page 183.

TENTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, March 6th, 1876.

JOHN J. DRYSDALE, M.D., M.R.C.S., VICE-PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Mr. J. L. PALMER, Staff-Surgeon, Royal Navy, read a communication giving some additional information which he had recently received concerning the sculptured figures in Easter Island.*

Mr. ALFRED LUTSCHAUNIG then read a Paper on "Method in Creation.”

ELEVENTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, March 20th, 1876.

J. A. PICTON, F.S.A., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Ladies were present at this Meeting.

Mr. G. F. Chantrell was unanimously elected an ordinary member.

The Rev. THOMAS P. KIRKMAN contributed a Paper on “The Janal 14-edra.” ↑

Mr. JOSIAH MARPLES described a new method of reproducing engravings and altering their size by an adaptation of the electro-type process.

Mr. BARON LOUIS BENAS then read a Paper on Men who have Influenced Modern German Thought."

"The

See page 235.

TWELFTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, April 3rd, 1876.

JOHN BIRKBECK NEVINS, M.D., EX-PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Ladies were present at the Meeting.

Mr. ALFRED LUTSCHAUNIG exhibited a specimen of Apatite or Phosphorite, and made some remarks thereon.

Lieutenant CAMERON, R.N., who had arrived in Liverpool the previous day, on his return from his perilous journey across the Continent of Africa, was introduced to the Meeting by Mr. A. Morgan, and was received with acclamations.

Mr. W. T. BLACK, Surgeon-Major, then read a Paper on "The Partridges of South Africa, and Partridge Shooting in the Great Winterberg District, Cape of Good Hope,"* and was followed by Dr. NICHOLSON, who read a Paper on "Indian Snakes."+

Mr. HIGGIN called attention to two specimens of the genus Luffaria, brought to the Free Museum by Capt. J. A. Perry, Associate of the Society, from Port-au-Prince, the apertures of the tubes of which retain the "duplicatures of dermal sarcode, which in a ring-like form surround the openings, and perform the sphinctral diaphragmatic office common to vents generally," as in the specimen in the British Museum, obtained fresh by Admiral Spratt, in the East Mediterranean, and preserved in spirit. (Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., September, 1875, ser. 4, vol. xvi., p. 227.)

Capt. PERRY, who was present at the meeting, exhibited the head, neck, and pouch of a Brown Pelican (Pelecanus fuscus,

Linnæus), and stated that he had found three different kinds of parasites infesting this bird-one peculiar to the pouch, a Trinotion, the males of which are remarkable for a stout curved obtuse spine, rugose at the summit, arising from the inner inferior angle of each tibia, having of course a sexual signification. The females are unarmed. It is believed to be new to science, and it is suggested that it should receive the name of Trinotion bursæ-pelecani. This species is, as has been stated, limited to the pouch, none having been found on the body, though a minute search, on the occasion of a second bird having been procured, was instituted, with the view of determining any doubts as to its peculiar habitat. One or two only, obviously escapes, having been taken on the head and beak. Two other species, however, belonging to the feather-eating genera, Colpocephalon and Lipeurus, were procured from the body. Both are handsome species. Neither has yet been identified, but will probably be found common to many marine birds. Specimens of the above parasites, beautifully mounted as microscopic objects, were presented by Capt. Perry for the cabinet of the Museum.

THIRTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, April 17th, 1876.

J. A. PICTON, F.S.A., PRESIDENT, in the Chair.

Ladies were present at this Meeting.

Mr. ARTHUR NEVINS, on the introduction of Dr. Nevins, read a communication explaining a method of correcting the rate of a marine chronometer for change of temperature, according to Hartnup's laws. He also contributed a set of

Tables for facilitating the calculations of the same corrections.*

The PRESIDENT exhibited a series of specimens of beautifully variegated marbles, presented to the Free Museum by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Carrara, through the kind offices of the Director, Ferdinando Pelliccia, and of Signor Giovanni Fontana. They are from a rich collection presented to the Academy by Signor G. B. del Monte, from the ancient quarries recently discovered by him in Numidia, which were worked in the time of the Romans, and of which all traces had been lost.

Mr. A. MORGAN exhibited a specimen of Flexible Sandstone from the Free Public Museum;† and Mr. J. L. PALMER, Staff-Surgeon, R.N., a Cola nut from the West Coast of Africa. The latter is used by the natives to prevent sleepiness. It is also used as a tonic, and has the power of making bad water sweet.

Mr. T. J. MOORE exhibited the following recent additions to the Free Public Museum :

1. Two specimens of the Himalayan Ibex (Capra Sibirica), and two specimens of the Warryato (Hemitragus hylocrius), or "Neilgherry Ibex" of sportsmen, but really a species of wild goat. These were shot by Mr. St. George Littledale, and presented, with various specimens of birds, etc., collected by him during a recent tour in India, China, Japan, and the Rocky Mountains. Examples of the species above-named, especially of the Warryato, are of great rarity in collections. The task of properly preparing and preserving skins of such large game, by no means inconsiderable, is a heavy tax after a hard day's stalking, and hence it is rarely undertaken. The labour and expense of transport are also important items. These specimens had been prepared with great care, and in consequence had been very successFor remarks upon it see page 228.

* See page 227.