The CHAIRMAN referred to the glacial action in the neighbourhood of Killiney Hills, which extended a considerable distance into Wicklow. On visiting the Seven Churches he had been surprised to find so many evidences of glacial action. All persons who visited the district, whether geologists or not, were struck with the immense number of large boulder stones-blocks of granite lying on the surface of the ground, though there was not a single mountain near. Mr. ARCHER thought it more probable that these blocks had been deposited by drift ice or icebergs, than by. glaciers. The effects to which he had referred were distinctly those of glaciers. This terminated the business of the ordinary meeting. An EXTRAORDINARY MEETING was then held, to consider the expediency of continuing the payment of ten guineas a-year for official reports of the Society. It came before the meeting as a recommendation from the Council. Several members spoke in the highest terms of the success of the experiment, and the manner in which the reports had appeared, applauding both the medium of publication, and those who were instrumental in producing the reports. The motion was carried by sixteen to one. THIRD ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, 16th November, 1857. THOMAS INMAN, Esq., M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair. The following were elected Ordinary Members :- : JAMES ELLIOT, Esq., Professor of Mathematics, GREGORY TYMBAS, Esq. SENOR DON MANUEL PACHECO. The Rev. H. H. HIGGINS exhibited one of the rarest of our Fungi, the Batarrea phalloides, found near Wallasey. ISAAC BYERLEY, Esq., F.L.S., exhibited a Locust, captured last summer at Liscard; and a Cidaris papillosa, dredged off the N.W. coast of Ireland. The Rev. J. ROBBERDS, B.A., referred to Sir John Herschel's successful translations into hexameter and pentameter veises, recently published. Professor HAMILTON then read the first part of his paper, which will be found recorded in the business of the next ordinary meeting. An EXTRAORDINARY MEETING was then held, to consider for the second time the motion adopted at the last meeting; which resolution was unanimously confirmed. (See page 46.) FOURTH ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, 30th November, 1857. THOMAS INMAN, Esq., M.D., PRESIDENT, in the Chair. The following were elected Ordinary Members:- WILLIAM HENRY GRIMMER, Esq. The Resignations of Messrs. George Holt, jun., H. V. Rudd, and the Rev. P. Haines, Hoylake, were accepted. Dr. RETSLAG took exception to the title of his paper as referred to in the last vol. of the Society's "Proceedings," taken from official documents; and to the brief report, which, he thought, did not correctly signify the nature of the communication.* Professor T. C. ARCHER exhibited one of Messrs. Wessel and Kukla's patent gas stoves, the construction of which is exceedingly simple, and its merits considerable.† * Dr. Retslag subsequently supplied the Secretary with a copy of his letter in the Liverpool Albion, dated May 6th, 1857, from which it appeared that the correct title of this paper was, "On the political philosophers of the 16th and 17th centuries;" and not, as reported, "On the political philosophy of the philosophers of the 16th and 17th centuries." The paper in question was a portion of" an introduction to an essay" upon that subject, in which the author seeks “to trace the gradual change in the public mind of Europe, and the effect of this change upon arts, sciences, and politics, particularly since the beginning of the 14th century, by preparation of the more materialistic views of modern times, in which nature and things material are no longer regarded as opposed and hostile to Spirit and God, but are his incarnation and one of his principal revelations." The Society is not responsible for, nor identified with, the individual sentiments of members which appear in print.-EDITOR. + The Secretary has tested one of these little stoves by using it exclusively since Christmas last in his study, a room 18 by 15 feet, and 12 feet high, containing 3240 cubic feet of air, and freely ventilated by chimney, window, and two doors, one opening into the hall, and the other into a large passage leading to the garden. The means have also been present, through a large aquarium, of keeping the apartment from becoming unduly dry. During these months he has found no inconvenience from the stove, and much to commend in it. The atmosphere has never been unpleasant, has been comfortably heated by an expenditure of gas equal to three jets He also exhibited a number of models of Tropical fruits, presented to the Museum of Applied Science by Mr. Dadabhoi Naoroji; and submitted two white Annelides (gen. Borlaria), found in one of the graving docks. Mr. ALFRED HIGGINSON exhibited a piece of charred wood taken from the interior of the cover of a house boiler. An interesting discussion arose out of this on the chemical changes effected in vegetable materials by long exposure to steam, and on spontaneous combustion. Dr. INMAN opened a case of preserved milk, forwarded by J. B. Lloyd, Esq., in whose possession it had been for three years. The process of preservation was that after the Abbé Moigno's, but it had entirely failed, the contents being decomposed. The paper of the evening was then read. ON THE COMPOSITION OF ROTATORY MOTION. BY GEORGE HAMILTON, F.R.A.S., F. C.S., PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, QUEEN'S COLLEGE. I. PRINCIPLE OF COMPOUND ROTATIONS. Ir a body situated at A (Fig 1) on a plain surface receives an impulse in the direction AB, sufficient to con (not burning always), and perfectly fit for respiration. In a single hour he has been able to raise the temperature in January to 56° F., and he has generally sustained it at that heat, though he has had it in that month as high as 67° in all parts of the room. One of its greatest advantages has been the entire absence of trouble attending its use, the power of regulating the temperature by turning off the gas at pleasure, and of lighting it during the night when the room might require to be heated. The facility with which this gas stove can be fitted up will render it a most important furnishing to the bath-room, as well as to small chambers where fires cannot be conveniently used: and it is not unworthy of remark, that by a simple contrivance it may be used for laboratory purposes, a flask of water being speedily boiled over it, and evaporation as steadily conducted as may be desired. The discussion which has taken place on the advantages and possible disadvantages of Wessel and Kukla's stove justify these remarks upon its merits.—EDITOR. vey it to B in a certain unit of time, the body will move over the line AB with a uniform velocity, and arrive at B at the end of the given time. If it receives an impulse in the direction of AC, of such an intensity as would convey it to C in the same unit of time, at the end of the time the body will be at C, having moved uniformly over the line AC. If both forces, at the same instant, act on the body at A, it will move uniformly over the line AD, the diagonal of the parallelogram of which AB, AC, are adjacent sides, and arrive at the point D at the end of the given time. Instead of considering A as a moveable body on a plane, let it be a fixed point on the surface of a sphere, the sphere being free to turn in any direction whatever. The force applied at A (Fig. 2) in the direction of a tangent to the 'arc AC, will cause the point A to move uniformly through the arc AC. The force applied at A, in the direction of a tangent to AB, will cause the point A to move uniformly through the arc AB. If both forces be applied at the same instant, the point A will move neither over AC nor AB, but over some arc AD intermediate between the two; and if the time be indefinitely small, the arc AD will be the diagonal of an indefinitely small parallelogram constructed on the same principle as that which applies to compound rectilinear motions. In order to pass from the consideration of the motions of a point on the surface of a sphere, to the consideration of the axes on which the sphere would turn in obedience to the impressed forces, let AB (Fig. 3) be the axis on which a sphere revolves with a velocity represented by the magnitude of the line AB, and let a force be applied to turn the sphere about the axis AC with a velocity represented by the magnitude of AC; then it may be demonstrated that the sphere will revolve about the axis AD, |