OFFICERS OF SECTIONAL COMMITTEES PRESENT AT THE MANCHESTER MEETING. SECTION A.-MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. President.-G. B. Airy, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. Vice-Presidents.-J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S.; Rev. Professor Price, M.A., F.R.S. ; The Lord Wrottesley, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S.; Major-General Sabine, R.A., D.C.L., LL.D., Pres.R.S.; Sir David Brewster, K.H., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S. L. & E.; Rev. T. P. Kirkman, M.A., F.R.S. Secretaries.-Professor J. Stevelly, LL.D.; Professor H. J. S. Smith, M.A., F.R.S.; Professor R. B. Clifton, B.A., F.R.A.S. SECTION B.-CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY, INCLUDing their APPLICATIONS TO AGRICULTURE AND THE ARTS. President.-W. A. Miller, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in King's College, London. Vice-Presidents.-Professor Anderson, M.D., F.R.S.E.; Professor Andrews, M.D., F.R.S., M.R.I.A.; J. P. Gassiot, F.R.S.; J. H. Gladstone, Ph.D., F.R.S.; W. R. Grove, M.A., F.R.S.; Dr. Schunck, F.R.S.; Dr. Stenhouse, F.R.S.; Professor A. W. Williamson, Ph.D., F.R.S. Secretaries.-G. D. Liveing, M.A.; A. Vernon Harcourt, M.A. SECTION C.-GEOLOGY. President.-Sir R. I. Murchison, G.C.St. S.,D.C.L., LL.D.,F.R.S., Director-General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. Vice-Presidents.-E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.; Sir P. de M. G. Egerton, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., F.G.S.; Earl of Enniskillen, F. R.S., F.G.S.; J. Beete Jukes, F.R.S., F.G.S.; General Portlock, F.R.S., M.R.I.A., F.G.S.; Rev. Professor Sedgwick, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. Secretaries.-Professor Harkness, F.R.S., F.G.S.; Edward Hull, B.A., F.G.S.; T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S.; G. W. Ormerod, M.A., F.G.S. SECTION D.-ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, INCLUDING PHYSIOLOGY. President.-C. C. Babington, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Botany in the University of Cambridge. Vice-Presidents.-Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.; Professor Owen, M.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S.; Professor Daubeny, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. Secretaries.-Thomas Alcock, M.D.; Edwin Lankester, M.D., F.R.S.; P. L. Sclater, Ph.D., M.A., F.R.S.; E. Percival Wright, M.A., M.D., M.R.I.A., F.L.S. SUB-SECTION D.-PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCE. President.-John Davy, M.D., F.R.S. L. & E. Vice-Presidents.-Professor Rolleston, M.D., F.L.S.; Professor C. J. B. Williams, M.D., F.R.S.; Dr. Roget, F.R.S. Secretaries.-Edward Smith, M.D., F.R.S.; William Roberts, M.D. SECTION E. GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOLOGY. President.-John Crawfurd, Esq., F.R.S., President of the Ethnological Society, London. Vice-Presidents.-Sir R. I. Murchison, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S.; Rear-Admiral Sir James C. Ross, D.C.L., F.R.S.; Vice-Admiral Sir E. Belcher, C.B., F.R.S.; Colonel Sir H. Rawlinson; Rev. Professor Sedgwick, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.; Major-General Chesney, R.A., D.C.L., F.R.S. Secretaries.-James Hunt, Ph.D.; J. Kingsley; Norton Shaw, M.D.; W. Spottiswoode, M.A., F.R.S. SECTION F.-ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. President.-William Newmarch, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents.-William Farr, M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; James Heywood, F.R:S.; Lord Monteagle, F.R.S.; Alderman Neild; Right Hon. Joseph Napier; Edwin Chadwick, C.B.; Daniel Noble, M.D.; Rev. Canon Richson, M.A.; Colonel Sykes, M.P., F.R.S.; W. N. Massey, M.P.; William Tite, M.P., F.R.S. Secretaries. Rev. Professor J. E. T. Rogers, M.A.; Edmund Macrory, M.A.; Professor R. C. Christie, M.A.; David Chadwick, F.S.S., Assoc. Inst. C.É. SECTION G.-MECHANICAL SCIENCE. President.-J. F. Bateman, Esq., C.E., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents. Sir W. G. Armstrong, C.B., F.R.S.; Thomas Fairbairn, Esq.; Captain Douglas Galton, F.R.S.; The Mayor of Manchester; Rev. T. R. Robinson, D.D., F.R.S.; J. Scott Russell, Esq., F.R.S.; Thomas Webster, M.A., F.R.S.; Rev. Professor Willis, M.A., F.R.S. Secretaries.-P. Le Neve Foster, Esq., M.A.; John Robinson, Esq.; Henry Wright, Esq. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. Professor Agassiz, Cambridge, Massa chusetts. M. Babinet, Paris. Dr. A. D. Bache, Washington. Dr. D. Bierens de Haan, Amsterdam. Dr. Bergsma, Utrecht. Mr. P. G. Bond, Cambridge, U.S. Dr. Ferdinand Cohn, Breslau. M. Antoine d'Abbadie. M. De la Rive, Geneva. Professor Wilhelm Delffs, Heidelberg. Professor Dove, Berlin. Professor Dumas, Paris. Professor Ehrenberg, Berlin. Dr. Eisenlohr, Carlsruhe. Professor Encke, Berlin. Dr. A. Erman, Berlin. Prof. De Koninck, Liège. Dr. A. Kupffer, St. Petersburg. M. Le Verrier, Paris. Baron von Liebig, Munich. Professor Gustav Magnus, Berlin. Professor P. Merian, Bále, Switzerland. M. E. Peligot, Paris. Prof. B. Pierce, Cambridge, U.S. Viscenza Pisani, Florence. Gustave Plaar, Strasburg. Chevalier Plana, Turin. Professor Plücker, Bonn. M. Constant Prévost, Paris. M. Quetelet, Brussels. Professor A. Escher von der Linth, Prof. Retzius, Stockholm. Zurich, Switzerland. Professor Esmark, Christiania. Prof. A. Favre, Geneva. Professor W. B. Rogers, Boston, U.S. Professor H. Rose, Berlin. Herman Schlagintweit, Berlin. Professor G. Forchhammer, Copenhagen. Robert Schlagintweit, Berlin. M. Léon Foucault, Paris. Prof. E. Fremy, Paris. M. Frisiani, Milan. Dr. Geinitz, Dresden. Professor Asa Gray, Cambridge, U.S. M. Jacobi, St. Petersburg. Prof. Jessen, Med. et Phil. Dr., Griess- Professor Aug. Kekulè, Ghent, Belgium. Prof. A. Kölliker, Wurzburg. M. Werner Siemens, Vienna. Professor J. A. de Souza, University of M. Struvè, Pulkowa. Dr. Svanberg, Stockholm. M. Pierre Tchihatchef. Dr. Van der Hoeven, Leyden. Prof. E. Verdet, Paris. M. de Verneuil, Paris. Baron Sartorius von Waltershausen, Professor Wartmann, Geneva. Report of the Council of the British Association, presented to the General Committee at Manchester, September 4, 1861. (1) The Council were directed by the General Committee at Oxford to maintain the Establishment of the Kew Observatory by aid of a grant of £500. At each of the meetings of the Council, the Committee of the Observatory have presented a detailed statement of their proceedings, and they have transmitted the General Report for the year 1860-1861, which is annexed. (2) A sum not exceeding £90 was granted for one year, and placed at the disposal of the Council for the payment of an additional Photographer for carrying on the Photoheliographical Observations at Kew. On this subject the Report of the Kew Committee, which is annexed, may be consulted. (3) A further sum of £30 was placed at the disposal of Mr. Broun, Dr. Lloyd, and Mr. Stoney, for the construction of an Induction Dip-Circle, in connexion with the Observatory at Kew. The result of this recommendation is stated in the Report of the Kew Committee. (4) The Report of the Parliamentary Committee has been received by the Council for presentation to the General Committee to-day, and is printed for the information of the Members. (5) Professor Phillips was requested to complete and print, before the Manchester Meeting, a Classified Index to the Transactions of the Association from 1831 to 1860 inclusive, and was authorized to employ, during this period, an Assistant; and the sum of £100 was placed at his disposal for the purpose. Professor Phillips reports that he has secured the assistance of Mr. G. Griffith, of Jesus College, Oxford, in carrying on the Index, which had been already much advanced by the help of Mr. Askham, and states that with the aid thus afforded he had hoped to be able to complete the work within the time specified. Though this expectation has not been realized, specimens of the work are laid before the Meeting. (6) Professor Phillips requested the attention of the Council to circumstances regarding his own health and occupations, which are gradually rendering it necessary for him to prepare to withdraw from the duties of the Assistant General Secretary, which have been for many years intrusted to him; and suggested that opportunity might be taken of this announcement to consider whether the arrangements connected with the Secretariate should remain unchanged, or be modified. The Council regret to have received letters from Professor Walker, General Secretary, dated 15th March and 20th April, stating that, on account of indisposition which required cessation from labour, it would not be in his power to continue his attention to the official business of the Association at the next Meeting. Under these circumstances the Council requested Professor Phillips to draw up in writing such statements and suggestions as might appear to him likely to assist the Council in considering the steps to be taken in consequence of these announcements *. (7) The communication of Professor Phillips in reference to the appointment of a General Secretary having been considered, the following Resolution was adopted :— That the President, and the gentlemen who have formerly acted as General Secretaries, viz. the Rev. W. V. Harcourt, Sir R. I. Murchison, and The statement drawn up by Professor Phillips in consequence of this request was printed in the Minutes of the Council, and separate copies were laid before the General Committee. Major-General Sabine, together with Professor Phillips, be a Committee to consider and report the steps which they deem it advisable for the Council to take in regard to the appointment of a General Secretary; and that their Report be printed and circulated among the Members of Council previous to their meeting in Manchester on the 4th of September next. By the following Report, which has been received from these gentlemen, the General Committee will learn with satisfaction that, if it be their pleasure to elect him, the services of a most efficient and experienced Member, who has discharged many offices, including the Presidency, with great benefit to the Association, are at their disposal for the duty of General Secretary. Report of the Rev. W. V. Harcourt, Sir R. I. Murchison, and MajorGeneral Sabine. Considering the present state of health of the General Secretary of the British Association, the Rev. Professor Walker, F.R.S., and the announced withdrawal at no distant period of Professor John Phillips, F.R.S., from the post of Assistant General Secretary, which he has so long held, and with such very great advantage to the British Association, we the undersigned, as requested by the Council to propose some suitable arrangement, have now to express our unanimous opinion that Mr. William Hopkins, F.R.S., of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, is eminently qualified to fill the post of Joint General Secretary. We beg to add that, having applied to Mr. Hopkins, we find that he cordially accepts the offer, and, with the sanction of the Council, will be ready to commence his duties at the ensuing Manchester Meeting. The consideration of the future relation of Professor Phillips to the British Association is postponed, in compliance with his own request. July 25, 1861. WILLIAM VERNON HARCOURT, ROD. I. MURchison, EDWARD SABINE, Former General The Council have resolved, in conformity with the recommendation of this Report, to propose to-day in the General Committee that W. Hopkins, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., be elected General Secretary. (8) The following Foreign gentlemen, eminent in Science, who were present at the late Oxford Meeting and took part in the proceedings, were elected Corresponding Members of the British Association : Dr. Bergsma, Utrecht. Dr. Hochstetter, Vienna. M. Khanikoff, St. Petersburg. (9) Major-General Sabine communicated a copy of the Statutes of the Humboldt Foundation, now definitely organized, and of a Circular issued by the Committee, announcing that about £8000 had been secured as a Capital Fund, and that about £260 will be available in the year 1862 for the general object of assisting Researches in Natural Science and Travels, in which Humboldt was conspicuously active. The disposition of the fund rests with the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin, and is open to applications from Scientific Travellers of all nations. (10) The Council are informed that Invitations will be presented to the General Committee at its Meeting on Monday, September 9, to hold the next meeting in Cambridge. The invitations formerly offered on the part of Birmingham and Newcastle-on-Tyne will be renewed on this occasion; and other invitations will be presented from Bath and Nottingham. Report of the Kew Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1860-1861. The Committee of the Kew Observatory beg to submit to the Association the following Report of their proceedings during the past year. It was noticed in a previous Report that General Sabine had undertaken to tabulate the hourly values of the magnetic elements from the curves given by these instruments. These values have been reduced under his superintendence, and some of the results have been embodied in the following papers which he has communicated to the Royal Society : (1) On the Solar-diurnal Variation of the Magnetic Declination at Pekin. -Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. x. p. 360. (2) On the Laws of the Phenomena of the larger Disturbances of the Magnetic Declination in the Kew Observatory: with notices of the progress of our knowledge regarding the Magnetic Storms.-Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. x. p. 624. (3) On the Lunar-diurnal Variation of the Magnetic Declination obtained from the Kew Photograms in the years 1858, 1859, and 1860.-Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xi. p. 73. The Superintendent, Mr. Stewart, has also communicated to the Royal Society a description of the great magnetic storm at the end of August and beginning of September 1859, deduced from the Kew Photographs. Mr. Chambers continues to be zealously employed in the magnetical department, and attends to the self-recording magnetographs, which have been maintained in constant operation. The usual monthly absolute determinations of the magnetic elements continue to be made; and the dip observations from November 1857 to the present date (282 in all), a large portion of which were made by the late Mr. Welsh and Mr. Chambers, have been made available by General Sabine in connexion with some previous observations of his own for determining the secular change in the magnetic dip in London, between the and 1860. See Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xi. p. 144. years 1821 The instruments for the Dutch Government alluded to in the last Report have been verified at Kew and taken away. They consisted of a set of selfrecording magnetographs with a tabulating instrument, two Dip Circles, and one Fox's Dip Circle for Dr. Bergsma; also of two Unifilars, one for Dr. Bergsma and one for Dr. Buys Ballot. Shortly after the despatch of these instruments, another set of self-recording Magnetographs were received at Kew, in order to be tested previous to their being sent to Dr. Bache, of the United States, and these were despatched in the early part of this year to America, along with a tabulating instrument, a Unifilar, and Dip Circle, all of which were verified at Kew. The staff at Kew are at present occupied with a third set of these instruments, along with a Dip Circle and Unifilar, for the University of Coimbra ; and Prof. Da Souza of that University is engaged at present at the Kew Observatory in examining his instruments, and in receiving instructions regarding them. It will thus be seen that no fewer than three sets of these instruments 1861. с |