Mr. Johnson also showed to the members two original Acts of Parliament, one of them of the 43rd of Elizabeth.

Mr. Marsh laid on the table for inspection, a volume containing original letters of Dr. Priestley, from which his paper had been compiled; also a portrait of Dr. Priestley.

The Special Committee which had been appointed on the 29th ult., presented their Report, which was read to the meeting.

The Secretary announced that J. T. Danson, Esq., who had acted as Chairman of of the Committee, was the author of the letter alluded to.

It was then moved by Dr. Hume, seconded by the Rev. Thomas Moore, and resolved— That the Report be adopted, and that the Memorandum and forms of Circulars be referred to the Courcil.

A communication was read from Mr. James Boardman, intimating that one part of Mr. Harding's Model of Ancient Liverpool was erroneous. A bridge was ordered to be built across the Pool, but that which is represented as a three-arch stone bridge never was erected. His evidence was first negative, no such bridge appearing on any map or being mentioned in any document subsequent to its being ordered; and second positive, as the unvarying tradition of his own ancestors was that the mouth of the Pool was crossed by a ferry boat, and that there was a rude pier at each side.*

The following Papers were then read :

On some Correspondence of Dr. Priestley, preserved in the Warrington Museum and Library, by J. F. Marsh, Esq., and on Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb,-their objects, difficulties and advantages,-by David Buxton, Esq.

[The following is the form in which the Paper respecting "Science in Lancashire and Cheshire" was afterwards prepared for issue by the Council.]

Introduction.

This Society was founded, on the 20th of June, 1848, at a Public Meeting held in the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool, the Worshipful the Mayor in the chair. Its original Object was, by collecting, arranging, and publishing,-to illustrate all those subjects which are connected with the GENERAL HISTORY of the two counties; and to this the efforts of all the members were exclusively directed for the first six years. During that period, an annual volume of Proceedings and Papers was published; and the Society is bound to continue the series,-the size of course depending on the quantity and quality of the matter. An interesting Library and Museum have also been collected, local in their character and very varied in their contents.

The Council of the Society found, however, that their Laws were too stringent with respect to the local limit; and they were frequently obliged, with reluctance, to decline papers of great value and interest, because they had no direct bearing upon these two counties, or occasionally on any place whatever. They also found that Literature, and especially Archæology, having a much stronger reference to particular places than Science generally, papers on the application of Science were rarely produced, and those on its abstract principles were regarded as inadmissible. For these and other reasons, at a Special General Meeting, held on the 30th of August, 1854, the Members agreed unanimously to extend the objects and operations of the Society, from local and special to general. At the same time, they classified the inquiries under the three general heads of ARCHEOLOGY, LITERATURE, and SCIENCE; appointing an equal number of Sectional

*In a letter dated 1st June, 1855, Mr. Boardman states that additional evidence has altered his opinion. He is now satisfied that a bridge did exist.

Meetings during each Session, for the discussion of these subjects respectively. They also increased the number of meetings from eight to about twenty; and distinguishing between Resident and Non-resident Members, raised the annual subscription of the former. A Seventh Session, in these new circumstances, is now nearly completed, and the experience of it is highly gratifying to the Council. The Society has received a large addition of new and valuable members; the meetings, though more frequent, have been much better attended, and have excited a more lively interest; the papers have been numerous, and of a high class; and the promises of intellectual support have been more numerous than on any former occasion.

The Council desire to state distinctly, however, that the Society has merely extended its field of inquiry, it has not abandoned it; and that a primary, but no longer exclusive, object still is, the thorough description and illustration of the two counties of LANCASSHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Within these limits, most of their members reside; and those who do not, take a special interest in the district. The inquiries of almost all whose contributions give interest to the Society's volumes, are modified by local circumstances, so that it is a matter of convenience as well as of duty to cultivate the field already entered upon. And as the general subjects of inquiry have been separately named, and specific time set apart for their investigation, so it is desirable to systematise the details as much as possible, that every topic of importance may receive due attention.

The Council are fully sensible of the difficulties which they are likely to meet with, in realizing any considerable portion of their wishes. The labourers are all voluntary, for example, and though doubtless both able and willing, and inspired only by the highest motives, they are not yet provided with the requisite facilities for combined and harmonious action. It will be the duty of the Council to consider maturely, how far these facilities can be speedily and efficiently increased.

It has appeared to them, that with such an object in view, they may appeal with perfect propriety, not merely to their own members, but also-and even more pointedly-to others whose labours have thrown light upon any portion of the district. Even apart from any such local reference,-and only bearing in mind the valuable contributions which the Society has already received from without,-they cannot hesitate to address themselves to those who have established an enduring claim on their respect, by individual eminence in any of the branches which they desire to cultivate. It has therefore been thought advisable, to address a personal and respectful communication, along with this Paper, to a limited number of intellectual men for whom our object may probably have some degree of interest, requesting such counsel or more direct aid, as they may be quite at leisure, and kindly disposed to render.

At the same time, there is addressed to the Members of the Society, a circular letter,* so framed as to afford to each of those who are disposed to take any active part in working out the design, the means of at once selecting and entering upon that department of it, to which previous study or present opportunity may most strongly direct his attention.

A Form of Letter was adopted for this purpose.

At the third meeting of the first session, a paper was read "ON THE BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY," by H. C. Pidgeon, Esq., Joint Hon. Secretary. The Council considered it so important, that an edition of it was printed apart from the annual volume, for circulation among those who were not members of the Society; and classified queries were appended to it, showing the subjects most deserving of attention. Nearly fifty topics were enumerated in detail, connected with the subjects of Archæology, Literature, Natural History, and general Science.

During the present session, a similar paper, by John Towne Danson, Esq., F.S.S., one of the Members, was privately printed and issued to all the Members whose names appear in the last printed list. Its title was "SCIENCE IN LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ;" and its suggestions referred almost exclusively to Science. The Council regard this as in some degree a fortunate circumstance; because their printed volumes, to which they can refer with much satisfaction as a specimen of their labours,-coutain comparatively few papers on Science, even in the extended sense of the term. They have, therefore, with Mr. Danson's consent, given a portion of his paper a permanent place in their Proceedings, and they gladly avail themselves of that portion, in this document, as expressing generally not only their sentiments, but also those of the Members at large.

They will only add, that in every paper which the Society publishes, the writer alone is responsible for the statement of facts and opinions, and for the omission of those, if any, which require to be stated.

"Before all else, we have to ascertain the Physical Geography of the two counties: and of this, first, the Geodesy, or divisions of the surface. These are more numerous, as well as more complicated, and less known, than, on approaching the subject for the first time, one is apt to suppose. They are, in character, civil, ecclesiastical and military, as well as natural. The civil divisions, which are of the greatest practical importance, are often hard to learn with precision, when such knowledge of them is needed. The divided areas of local taxation, and of local government: as townships, parishes, hundreds and counties, the boundaries conferring electoral rights, the limits of the jurisdiction of local courts, and the districts formed for the registration of births, marriages and deaths, afford instances of lines each of which is in constant use, and few of which coincide with any of the rest. All, so far as they are of use, should be known. But, apart from their immediate use, all are worthy of precise definition, as well for their historical value, as for the basis such information must afford to legislation for their improvement.

"The lines of division being laid down, we might next ascertain and record the precise latitude and longitude of remarkable fixed points-especially of our observatories.

"The Orography of the district is not only especially interesting, but also, I believe, admits of being presented, from existing materials, in a tolerably complete form. Few parts of the island exhibit a greater variety of surface with regard to altitude, or exhibit it under circumstances more interesting. The level country in the south and southwestern part of Lancashire, and the great plain of Cheshire, backed along the whole eastern border of the two counties by the central hills of England, and pierced by the valleys of the Lune, the Ribble, the Wyre, the Mersey and the Dee, afford almost every variety of altitude habitable in England. And further north we have, in the southern extremity of the Cumbrian range, and in the basins of Windermere and Coniston

Water, orographic features still more remarkable. And here, be it observed, a thorough execution of our work will require us to ascertain not only the elevation of principal points above a common level, but also every considerable modification of the surface in relation to height. Much of this is already done; leaving to us only the labour of judicious selection and compilation. The surveys for canals, and for railways, have called into existence well verified sections through the more densely peopled localities; and for the more elevated and the thinly peopled districts, we have the results of the levelling operations performed in connection with the ordnance survey. Nor is it probable that, if sought for such a purpose, access to any existing materials whatever, on this or any kindred topic, would be denied to the scientific enquirer.

"The Hydrography of the two counties-considered as another branch of their physical geography-presents itself in the double aspect of exterior and interior. We have a clear seabord westward of more than one hundred miles in length; and to this we may add a line of salt-water shores, within the shallow estuaries so remarkably characteristic of our coast, of some hundred and thirty miles more. The depth of the water along these lines, at ebb and flood tide-the action of the sea on the coaststhe extent and character of the sand-hills, and the river bars-the encroachments, recorded or threatened, and the sea-walls raised to prevent them-the tides, their mean rise, neap and spring, and any observed local variations-the direction, volume, rapidity, and observed effects, of currents along the coasts, are all points of more or less interest, the determination of which must precede a scientific knowledge of the very land we occupy.

"Of no less moment, and more within our reach, is the interior hydrography of the country. Our rivers are small, and not generally picturesque; but among them are the most useful streams in the world. And about them we have yet much to learn, and still more to collect and put upon record in a precise and reliable shape, fit for general use. For instance, we should know, as exactly as might be, their sources (constant and intermittent), their length, course, depth of fall-taken upwards from a fixed tidal level, and carried successively to every point of utility, and thence up to the principal sources the volume of water and the rapidity of flow at important points, and at different seasons, throughout a series of years-the existing shoals, their position, form, extent, and tendency to shift, with any observed relation of such tendency to known tidal or other currents.

"Of the lakes, we ought to know the level of their waters, with reference to a fixed sea level, and its variations (if any), their extent, form, depth, and the connected streams, affluent and effluent. And similar data are required as to our marshes and bogs in particular of the extensive peat mosses so numerous in Lancashire, alike in the high and in the low districts.

"Finally, the entire water shed of the two counties, which is known to differ remarkably, in some of its incidents, from that of any other district of like extent in the kingdom, should be minutely and carefully delineated.

"We come next to what may be termed the Terrestrial Physics, as distinguished from the physical geography of the district. With a surface of tolerably regular slope from a considerable elevation, nearly due westward to the sea-level, and a wide expanse of open and deeply indented coast facing the prevailing winds from the Channel, and more remotely from the Atlantic, we have reason to expect from observations in this department, easily made and of a very simple character, results, not only interesting in a scientific point of view, but suggestive of many useful applications. The surest test of the progress of material civilization is found in the gradual discovery of the powers of nature, and their application to the purposes of man; and no means to this end more effectual have yet been suggested than a patient and systematic observation of such natural phenomena as we have here to deal with-familiar, more or less, to all-calculated to be useful to all-but little noted, because familiar, and hence little known in a practical sense.

"We should know the temperature of the soil, as well at various depths as at the

surface, with the diurnal, monthly, and annual oscillations of the thermometer; and this at spots selected for their difference of elevation, soil, and aspect. A like series of observations upon the waters of springs, rivers and brooks, lakes, and the sea along the coast, could not fail to throw additional light upon the same subject. We have even some rare opportunities of examining the oscillations of temperature occurring simultaneously in large masses of water in the same locality, and at different elevations. I may instance Easthwaite and Coniston lakes, in the district of Furness, near to each other, and with a (reported) difference of elevation amounting to upwards of one hundred feet.

"Scarcely less easy of observation, though less obvious till observed with care, are the phenomena of Terrestrial Magnetism. We require an accurate notation-diurnal, monthly, and annual-of the declination; the actual value of the inclination and its annual diminution; and the observed intensity of the magnetic force, with its variations. It would also be useful to register, with as much precision as possible, the length of the pendulum beating seconds at each of our observatories, the exact latitude and longitude of which should be ascertained.

Meteorology-a science which is but just taking rank as one of logical deduction from observed facts, we can do as much to aid the practical advancement of as any body of men in the empire. Nowhere in the world would a sound exposition of the laws governing the weather be more valuable than in Lancashire and Cheshire; and in no district of similar extent are there a greater number of persons who know this, and who have all the requisites of good observers of the phenomena from due registration and examination of which we can alone hope to learn these laws. The barometer, thermometer, rain-gauge, and anemometer, are now all well-known instruments. Little costly now, they would be less so if more generally used. And it would not be difficult for a society like ours to arrange for a daily and simultaneous registration of the weight, heat, and moisture of the atmosphere, the direction and force of the wind, and the fall of rain, in some hundreds of selected localities within the two counties. Concert with the managers of the existing observatories would secure the necessary correspondence in time and in method; and neither the time nor the money required would be felt as an obstacle by any one of many hundreds of active men, who, in this part of the country, apart from any care for the science in the abstract, would willingly know better when to look for fair and foul weather. The amount and variations of the electricity of the atmosphere do not, at present, admit of being so generally observed; but even here much more might be done with ease than is at present attempted.

To say that the Geology and Mineralogy of Lancashire and Cheshire are worthy of all the attention we can give them, is but to paraphrase what all the world has been saying of us for the last fifty years-that the main springs of our commercial greatness lie under our feet. The distribution of the coal-measures of England, westward of a line from Newcastle to Nottingham, and thence to Plymouth, bas, for the last half century, determined the distribution of the population, the productive power, and the political influence of the country. Yet the situation and extent of our coal fields remains to be ascertained with the fulness and precision the importance of the subject demands. Some of them, especially such as are detached from the larger beds, are but partially explored; and others, probably, are quite unknown. The more systematic working of the mines, during the last twenty years, has brought into existence, in private hands, a large quantity of valuable materials, in the shape of underground maps and measurements, and reports upon the state and tendency of the more extensive workings, the greater part of which, so far as they would be required for a purely scientific purpose, would doubtless be laid open to competent and trustworthy enquirers acting under the auspices of our Society.

"Nearly the same remarks, as to the paucity of recent and reliable information on a most important topic might be made as to the saline deposits of the valley of the Weaver and its affluents. These form one of the most remarkable mineralogical features of the island; and, properly regarded, afford an opening for local research, than which there are few more tempting, or more sure to reward whatever exertion