THE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, As presented at the General Meeting, at Dartmouth, July 20th, 1869. IN presenting this their Seventh Annual Report, the Council feel that the year which has just ended must be regarded as perhaps the most pregnant with events that mark the success of the Association since 1862, when it sprang into existence, not Minerva like and strong, but a nursling requiring fostering care, and yet with the germs of giant strength inherent in it. The Seventh Annual Meeting, held at Honiton, commenced on Tuesday, July 28th, under the Presidency of Sir J. Duke Coleridge, M.A., M.P. After the usual meeting of the Council and general meeting, upwards of a hundred members of the Association were entertained by the Mayor and Corporation at a sumptuous banquet in the spacious Assembly Rooms. In the evening, at half-past 8 o'clock, the President delivered his introductory Address. On Wednesday, the 29th, the Association met, at 11 a.m., in the Guildhall, and commenced the reading and discussion of the following programme of papers: The Submerged Forest and the Pebble Ridge of W. Pengelly, F.R.B., etc. Notes on the Blights of Corn, with suggestions for their prevention On the Marine and Fresh Water Sponges of Devonshire Rev. R. Kirwan, M.▲. E. Parfitt, M.E.B. G. Neumann. Sir J. Bowring, LL.D., F.R.S. W. Pengelly, F.R.S., etc. THE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. On Pseudomorphous Crystals of Chloride of G. Wareing Ormerod, M.A., Sodium, and their occurrence in the Red Rocks of Devon F.G.S. The Practical Application of Meteorological W. W. Buller. Observations Predicting Weather On the Calculus of Probabilities to Legal and J. Jerwood, M. A., F.G.8. Judicial Subjects On the Science of History On the Evidence of Glacial Action in South Devon E. Vivian, M.A. On the Hill Fortresses, Sling Stones, and other ther} Antiquities of South-east Devon.. On the Salmonidæ of Devonshire On the Antiquity of the Use of the Metals, and } P. O. Hutchinson. especially of Iron, amongst the Egyptians..) Sanitary Notes.-Sewer Ventilation The Rainfall in Devonshire during 1866 and 1867 ... Vagrancy Dr. Scott. Dr. Hodgson, LL.D. Basil Cooper, M.A. E. Appleton, A.I.C.E. W. Pengelly, P.R.S., etc. J. Jerwood, F.G.S. E. Vivian, M.A. The History of the Discovery of Fossil Fish in W. Pengelly, F.R.S., etc. the Devonian Rocks of Devon and Cornwall The great interest which the reading of the papers awakened was evinced by the large attendance, uninterruptedly continued throughout the day, and the spirited discussions which in several instances followed the reading. In the evening the Association Dinner took place, at the Dolphin Hotel; at the conclusion of which, after the loyal and other appropriate toasts had been duly honoured, the members of the Association were received with great cordiality at a conversazione at Tracey House, by G. Neumann, Esq. and Mrs. Neumann. Here, besides the most unbounded hospitality, a rare collection of objects, and so varied as to arrest the attention of all true lovers of art, science, and literature, however diverse might be the path they trod, was presented for the enjoyment of the assembled guests. The pleasure of the evening was enhanced by some brilliant chemical and electrical experiments, exhibited by the Rev. R. Kirwan. On Thursday, the 30th, the reading of the residue of the papers from the preceding day was resumed, and continued until 4 p.m., when the hospitable doors of Tracey House were again thrown open, and a choice cold collation offered to the invited guests. In the evening, at 8 p.m., the Rev. R. Kirwan delivered a lecture, at the Manor Assembly Rooms, on "the Chemistry of the Sun," adding illustrative experiments in spectrum analysis. On Friday, the 31st, there was an excursion to the Tumuli at Broad Down, Farway, near Honiton, when the hospitality of the inhabitants of Honiton and the neighbourhood was again liberally displayed. Three of the Barrows were examined with the most eminent success, well-preserved remains of a drinking-cup and an incense-cup being exhumed, as the excavation proceeded, in the presence of the members of the Association. These were held to be of so high importance that, at the requisition of several members, a special council meeting was convened, on August 14th, to consider the propriety of figuring the objects found, and publishing a description of them in the Transactions of the Association. At that meeting it was resolved that the Rev. R. Kirwan be requested to prepare for publication, in the Transactions of the Association, a description, with figures, of the Tumuli excavated, and of the objects found in them. The Council have the gratification to state that this resolution was most efficiently carried out, and they desire to thank the Rev. R. Kirwan for the great pains he gave himself in executing their wishes. Besides this memoir of the examination of the Tumuli, the Council have published the President's Address, together with the papers read before the Association; also a financial statement, a list of members, and the bye-laws, and thus completed the second volume of the Transactions of the Association. Copies of the Transactions have been forwarded to each member, and also to the following societies:-The Royal PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :-In opening the proceedings of your Association this year, it becomes me first to express the sense I entertain of the great honour you have done me in electing me to the Presidentship; and then I think I can adopt no better course than at once to submit my contribution towards the general fund of discussion. You will recollect that, on the last occasion of your meeting, my predecessor in this chair, Sir John Coleridge, (the present Solicitor-General,) gave an introductory discourse, replete at once with learning and eloquence, on the connexion between Science, Literature, and Art, the three great subjects for the advancement of which our Association was established. I cannot aspire to so high a theme: my life (as is well known to many here present) has been devoted almost exclusively to one of these subjects that of Science, and chiefly to science in its most practical and useful applications. Accordingly I propose to limit my field of discussion, and to fix upon one only of the many objects that enter into the domain of science-one, however, which possesses a scope and interest worthy of a far more exalted investigation. And in this design I shall but be following many examples which will be familiar to you. It is nothing new to devote exclusive attention to a small item in the wondrous system of Nature. When all its bearings are unfolded, the geologist can find a sermon in a stone, can deliver a lecture on a lump of chalk; the naturalist can write a book upon the calyx of a flower; the chemist may devote days of study to a breath of air, or a drop of water. Now, among all the subjects that come within the scope of the engineer, there is none more interesting, and none more important, than that of RIVERS. As the arterial drains of large tracts of country; as the great sources of the water supply necessary for animal and vegetable life; as a means |