I have to congratulate the Society on the re-appointment to our Presidential Chair of Lord Kelvin, first of British Physicists. Five years ago, as you are aware, Lord Kelvin became President of the Royal Society of London, at the urgent request of that body. This is not the first time, I may remind you, that we have provided a President for the London Society. The Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, as our body was known before it received the Royal Charter authorising it to assume its present designation, gave two Presidents to the Royal Society of London—namely, the Earl of Morton and Sir John Pringle, Bart.

In his Address, delivered two years ago, our respected ex-President took note of some of the more important papers communicated to the Society during the immediately preceding Sessions. I think I can hardly do better than follow his example. But before making the attempt, I wish briefly to refer to the successful completion within the present year of a great national undertaking. I allude, of course, to the famous “Challenger” Expedition. Our Library has now received the two volumes of Summary of Results, with Appendices, which complete the Society's set of the fifty volumes of Reports of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger. These voluminous Reports form by far the largest contribution hitherto made to Marine Zoology. Indeed, their publication marks an epoch in this department of science.

Mr President and Gentlemen,—During the past summer I visited for two or three weeks a new summer and winter Alpine resort, called Hotel du Parc, built by M. Zufferey and a partner near the village of Montana, on the north side of the Rhone valley, above Sierre, which is situated on a curious park-like plateau, with a number of lake-like reservoirs and quantities of timber, at an elevation of 5000 to 6000 feet.

While enjoying to the full the beautiful walks and views and the superabundance of flowers, many of which are now getting comparatively scarce if not extinct in the older resorts, I pushed my way one day up to the Glacier de la Plaine Morte by a valley several miles to the eastward of the hotel. It is a stiff walk of about four hours from the hotel to the Glacier, first through thick pine woods and steep pasture, and latterly, as you penetrate the side valley, along very steep slides of debris composed of clayey slate and bottoms filled with very rough stones that have been carried from the cliffs above, the only vegetation being the numerous ranunculi, gentiana bavarica, and other Alpine flowers familiar to those who are accustomed to search for them at these high altitudes.

The liver is on the direct channel of absorption of carbohydrates and proteids, and its connection with the metabolism of these substances has been fully demonstrated.

It is not on the channel of absorption of fats, and its relationship to the metabolism of fats has never been systematically investigated.

The object of the present research is to elucidate this question.

The first part of the paper is concerned with an investigation into the methods of estimating the fats. It is shown that after complete extraction with ether, by treating the residue with hydrochloric acid and heat, a further amount of material may be extracted by ether, but that it is impossible to say how far this is composed of the fatty acids previously combined with bases as soaps, and how far from the decomposition of nuclein bodies. The present research, therefore, is concerned simply with the fats extracted by ether.

It is next shown that the ether extract is no fair measure of the amount of fats present, since it contains on an average only 57 per cent. of fatty acids. In estimating the amount of fats, it is necessary to determine the fatty acids, and not merely the ether extract. The fatty acids amount to between 2 and 3 per cent. of the liver substance.

In the liver the proportion of palmitic and stearic acids to oleic acid is shown to be markedly higher than in the fats of the rest of the body. Hence the liver fat has a high melting-point.

In Nature of January 24, 1895, appears an abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on March 7, 1892, by Dr John Murray and Mr Robert Irvine, and published in the Transactions of the Society, vol. xxxvii. part 2, No. 23, entitled “Chemical Changes between Sea-water and Oceanic Deposits.”

This is an account of a chemical examination of the sea-water salts in the water adhering to or retained in mud, with special reference to the formation of the deposit known as “Blue Mud.”

Dittmar's analysis of sea-water is quoted and compared with an analysis of mud-water. The chief points of difference between the two is the occurrence in mud-water salts of 0·206 per cent. of ammonium sulphate, 0·729 per cent. of magnesium carbonate, and 0·18 per cent. of manganous carbonate; also that the total salts are low in proportion to the chlorine they contain.

The occurrence of ammonium sulphate in this mud, and also of manganous carbonate, are facts of much interest; but there are some equations given to explain the chemical changes which the mud undergoes which are not strictly in accordance with facts. There are three points which I would desire to draw attention to: first, the reduction of the sulphates; second, the oxidation of sulphuretted hydrogen; and third, the formation of manganous carbonate.

The equations are written without reference to the part played by water in the chemical changes involved, but it may have been thought that the accuracy sacrificed was compensated by the simpler form of the equations.

On 16th December 1895 a paper written by Professor W. N. Hartley, F.R.S., Royal College of Science, Dublin, was read before this Society “On the Cause and Nature of Chemical Changes occurring in Oceanic Deposits,” in which he criticised and took exception to certain conclusions we had arrived at, which formed the basis of a paper read by us in March 1892, and published in the Transactions of the Society, Vol. xxxvii., Part ii., No. 23, under the title “On the Chemical Changes which take place in the Composition of Sea-water associated with Blue Muds on the Floor of the Ocean.”

At the time of writing his paper Professor Hartley had not seen ours, and was only in possession of the necessarily curtailed notice of it which appeared in Nature of January 24, 1895, from which he appears to have drawn inferences that a fuller knowledge would have altered. Practically, with the exception of one or two of our experimental results, Professor Hartley is in accord with us so far as the principal results are concerned. In taking exception to the formulæ by which we endeavour to explain the decomposition of sulphates in sea-water in the presence of organic matter and ferric-hydrate, or ferruginous clay, he assumes the equations we use to mean the same as that which would occur in a black ash furnace under the influence of great heat. Our object in adopting the explanation of the reaction which appeared in our paper was to render it as simple as possible; and occurring as it does in mud saturated with water, we did not think it necessary to specially refer to the hydrous condition of the salts.

A boy has recently come under my observation in whom the appreciation of pitch is developed at so early an age and with so remarkable a degree of accuracy as to justify a record being made of the case.

His name is John Baptist Toner. He was born on 11th June 1891, so that he is now a little more than four and a half years of age. He is a fine healthy-looking boy. His parents, who are young, are both musical. The mother sings and has a keen appreciation of music. The father plays on both the piano and the organ, has all his life taken much interest in music, and has studied the theory of the art. So far as can be discovered, neither the grandparents, nor any member of collateral branches of the family, were distinguished by musical ability.

Since he was two years of age, the boy has had access to a piano, and he seems to find pleasure in fingering the keys. During the last week of 1895, his father first taught him the names of the notes on the piano, and he says that his little boy picked up this information with astonishing rapidity. He acquired the names of the white keys in two or three minutes, in his first lesson, and the names of the black keys were acquired on the following day in an equally short period of time. Since that date, he has not forgotten the names of the notes, and when any note is sounded, by striking a key on the piano, he invariably can tell the name of the note, simply after hearing the sound, and without seeing the key struck.

Dr M'Kendrick showed this apparatus as made by Dr R. Koenig. It consists of four small and light cylindrical resonators, made of aluminium, tuned to Ut4 = 512 vibs. p. sec., attached to the ends of four light bars forming a cross. The cross, carrying the resonators, is balanced on a fine pivot placed vertically. When the fork is sounded (by an electro-magnet between the limbs) the cross carrying the four resonators begins to rotate. The motion arises from the greater pressure at the node at the closed end in the interior of the resonator nearest the source of sound than on the outer surface of this end. If the mouth of the cylinder is directed towards the source of sound, the resonator is repelled by the greater pressure within. The next resonator is slightly attracted, but it is brought within the sphere of greater pressure mainly by the inertia of the first resonator, and so on.

Dr M'Kendrick showed an extremely sensitive flame made by Dr R. Koenig. It is constructed on the type of the sensitive flame apparatus devised by Barrett and improved by Govi. A Lecomte burner directs the gas towards a fine wire gauze screen, and when the gas is lit above the screen the flame is very sensitive at ordinary pressures. The special part of the apparatus now shown consisted of a funnel or resonator placed at right angles to the Lecomte gas-jet and opening into the space below the gauze screen. To ensure success a fine stop-cock or clip must be used for the regulation of the quantity of gas. Dr M‘Kendrick showed also that by placing a glass tube 460 mm. in length by 40 mm. in diameter over the flame, and about 4 mm. above the level of the gauze, as first suggested by Geyer, a musical note was heard which was disturbed by vibrations acting on the flame. The apparatus not only showed the ticking of a watch, placed in the resonator, by the movements of the flame, but with each “tic” the tube sounded slightly. The slightest movement in the vicinity of the apparatus agitated the flame; and as the latter was arranged so as to be near the point when it evoked the tone of the tube, now and again the tube gave forth a strong tone as a vibration acted on the mass of gas below the gauze.

During the past year I have had many opportunities, in connection with a research on the phonograph, of observing the efficacy of Mr Graham's method of electrically producing sound, and as it is not generally known, a short explanation may be useful.

Two or more cells are connected to a mass of granular carbon whose resistance can be varied by vibration, and the circuit is then completed through the coils of an electro-magnet. In front of the electro-magnet is a diaphragm sensitive to the variations of current flowing through the electro-magnet. This diaphragm is so placed relatively to the circuit of variable resistance, that any vibration imparted to it is transmitted through a column of air to the circuit of the variable resistance or its diaphragm. The granular carbon, similar to that in telephonic transmitters, is contained in a box or chamber closed at one end by a diaphragm of carbon, with which the granular carbon is in electrical contact. The carbon resistance box is so placed that its diaphragm is acted on by the vibrations set up by the diaphragm of the electro-magnet. To effect this, a flexible tube passes from the front of the diaphragm of the transmitter to the front of the diaphragm of the electro-magnet. Thus, when the various parts of the apparatus are connected, as seen in the figure, and when the circuit is completed by closing a key, the vibrations set up in the telephone diaphragm are caused to act upon the circuit of variable resistance, which, in turn, again acts upon the telephone or receiver diaphragm. A continuous musical sound is then emitted.

This work was commenced at the suggestion of Prof. Ewart, F.R.S., to whose kindness I am indebted for the material used, and for much assistance and advice during the progress of the investigation. Prof. Ewart placed two specimens at my disposal—a male and a female, both of which were about 43 cm. long, excluding, of course, the lash. As, however, the male had been partly dissected for special points in connection with another investigation, it was only available for the study of the IXth and Xth cranial nerves; the main bulk of the present work, therefore, having been carried out on a single specimen. Hence there are several points on which my work will require confirmation.

As the dissection of the cranial nerves of Chimæra elucidated facts of a more interesting character than I had anticipated, it was thought desirable to publish a preliminary statement containing a brief account of the facts, and to leave the full description with figures and morphological deductions for a future communication, which I hope to lay before the Eoyal Society in a few weeks' time. The present paper, therefore, pretends to be a brief review of the more important facts and nothing more.

Having nothing new to describe with respect to the olfactory and optic nerves, I shall commence with the oculo-motor:—

Third Nerve.—This is a large nerve, and arises from the crus cerebri by two principal roots just behind the pituitary body. On emerging from its foramen in the orbit, it immediately gives off a branch to the superior rectus muscle of the eye, and divides into two large dorsal and ventral branches running respectively over and under the optic nerve.

It is well known to all chemists that sulphuretted hydrogen does not give a precipitate of zinc sulphide in a solution of zinc chloride or zinc sulphate if a sufficient (quite small) quantity of a strong acid, such as hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, has been added to the solution. It is also quite well known that if we add a sufficient quantity of a solution of sodium acetate to the clear solution containing the zinc salt sulphuretted hydrogen and strong acid, we throw down the whole of the zinc as sulphide. This used to be explained as follows:—Hydrochloric acid acts on zinc sulphide thus, ZnS + 2HCl = H2S + ZnCl2, and therefore the opposite action ZnCl2 + H2S = ZnS + 2HCl cannot take place in the presence of hydrochloric acid. But as acetic acid is too weak an acid to act on zinc sulphide, the presence of acetic acid does not prevent the precipitation of zinc sulphide, and the hydrochloric acid originally there, as well as that produced by the reaction, acts on the sodium acetate to form sodium chloride and acetic acid. On the modern theory the explanation is this:—The zinc sulphide is attacked not by the hydrochloric acid, but by the hydrogen ions; these are present in the solution of hydrochloric acid; and that acid being to a great extent “ionised,” we have a great concentration of hydrogen ions. There is a limiting value for the concentration of hydrogen ions, above which the action ZnS + 2H. = Zn.. + H2S takes place, so that zinc sulphide cannot be formed by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen on a zinc salt in a solution containing hydrogen ions with a concentration above this limiting value.

In spite of the great amount of attention which has been bestowed upon this group by many workers, it must still be said that our knowledge of its systematic position is very meagre and uncertain, and that there are points in its anatomy which require elucidation. Through the kindness of Professor M‘Intosh I have been enabled to examine some specimens of P. australis, and also a Phoronis, which appears to be a new species. I reserve a detailed account of my results for later publication, and here only refer very briefly to leading points. I may mention that Professor M‘Intosh has also allowed me the inspection of his serial sections of P. buskii. M‘Intosh, and after a careful comparison I have not the slightest doubt that this is a distinct species from P. australis—it has been usual to regard the distinction between these two forms as not of specific value.

Divisions of the Body.—It is usual, in describing the structure of Phoronis, to refer to two different parts of the body which lie before and behind the septum respectively. I propose, for reasons shown later, to emphasise the division of the body into—(1) The epistome, lying dorsally to the mouth, and having very definite, though somewhat involved, relationship to the next part; (2) the tentacular region, which I prefer to call the collar, consisting of a ring round the mouth region, the oral part being produced into two arms or processes which bear tentacles and are coiled, and the aboral end being limited superficially by the nerve ring and fundamentally by the so-called septum; (3) the trunk, including all the region behind the septum.

According to the latest views of physiological chemists, the innumerable fine particles of milk are identified with the caseinogen. For instance, Halliburton regards these particles as caseinogen and nuclein which are obviously not fat-globules; and Stirling unhesitatingly accepts the view of the particulate nature of this proteid, adducing as proof the fact of the absence of all particles from the filtrate of milk through a porous clay-filter.

I used a “Berkefeld” diatomaceous filter (holding 150 c.c.) said to “sterilise” water. On immersing it in milk, and by creating a partial vacuum inside it, there was obtained an exhaustion-filtrate perfectly limpid and free from all particles. Unless sterilised by heat, a vigorous growth of fungi appeared in it, there being abundant nourishment for them, seeing that it contains lactose, chlorides, phosphates, sulphates, calcium, and a proteid (undoubtedly the lact-albumin), but is incapable of clotting with rennet. Its reaction is faintly acid. Caseinogen cannot, then, be held to be “dissolved” in the plasma, in the ordinary sense of a “solution,” else this pressure-filtrate would be coagulable; and only as a last resource should we fall back upon the rather unsatisfactory hypothesis that it may be present as molecules too large to pass through the pores of a diatomaceous filter.

There is in milk undoubtedly, besides what we have been accustomed to call the oil-globules, a very large number of extremely minute particles or granules exhibiting Brownian movement, and it is these that are held to be caseinogen exclusively, while the globules are said to be only fat.

An analysis of the versification of some of our nineteenth century poets has produced certain very interesting results that may be graphically represented. The subject of versification still demands more exact treatment, and any contributions which embody the results of real analytical treatment are of value.

It is well known that the chief objection to our iambic measure, which is the normal English measure, is its tendency to produce a monotonous pendulum-like tick-tick. If, on the other hand, we employ anapæstic measure, the triple movement to every foot demands too much exertion of the tongue. English verse possessing the finest cadences lies between the two extremes of a pure iambic treatment and a pure anapæstic treatment.

It may be laid down as a safe dictum that, in lyric verse at least, one anapaest in a line otherwise iambic constitutes it an anapæstic line. The poet who writes in iambics is not then free to introduce anapæsts. The expedient to which he will resort is a free use of the catch. We shall see that Gordon, in his exquisite ballad The Sick Stock-Rider, uses the catch, where emotion is at a high pitch, 13 times in 16 lines. A poet writing in anapæsts is free to use iambs where he will, and even the monosyllabic foot at the beginning of a line or after the cæsura. Browning, in his Abt Vogler, has actually one hexameter line (Stanza III. 1. 7) with only 5 unaccented syllables, or one less than an iambic line can have. It is the shortest line in the poem and is placed next to an 11-syllabled line, the longest line he uses.