to the Owens College. Manchester, box, if a all to a new corporation with powers to inscrporate the Owens College, and such other institutions as may now or bereafer be able to full the conditions of incorporation labi down in the charter; not to confer upon the said aniversity the name of a town or of any person whose claims to such distinction are merely local." The Memorial was unanimously adopted on the motion of Mr. E. R. RUSSELL, seconded by Dr. BROWN. Dr. RICKARD explained his new method of exhibiting the effect of Polarisation of Light by means of the Oxyhydrogen Microscope, which might be made available also for the electric lantern. Mr. MALCOLM GUTHRIE then read a paper on “A Critical Examination of Mr. Herbert Spencer's Fundamental Physics," of which the following is a SYNOPSIS. 66 SECTION 1.-Two questions proposed. 1.-"Does Evolution claim to be an exhaustive theory of the Universe?" 2.-"Is it a mechanical theory?" Reply to first question on p. 341. Consideration of the second question. Examination of Dissolution, ch. 23. It results in the re-establishment of the Homogeneous, viz. :-" A sphere of like units of resistance having equal mutual motions of attraction and repulsion;" that is to say, "Matter in motion" (the chapter on Direction of Motion). Conclusion that Evolution is a mechanical theory, and that it does not account for the primary differentiations, nor for the phenomena of life and consciousness. SECTION 2.-Since we only know "Force " in its manifestations of matter in motion, the use of the terms "force" and "forces" is objected to throughout Book 2 on the Knowable, since it obscures the argument; or else the Formula of Evolution, which only recognises "matter in motion," should be amended so as to include "Force." This not to be done; the Formula of Evolution must be in terms of "matter in motion" only. SECTION 3.-Examination of ch. 19, "On the Instability of the Homogeneous"; and ch. 13. "On Compound Evolution." Ladies were invited to this Meeting. FOURTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. ROYAL INSTITUTION, April 29th, 1878. THOS. HIGGIN, F.L.S., VICE-PRESIDENT. in the Chair. The Rev. H. H. HIGGINS. M.A., referred to the death of the Rev. Dr. Booth, Ex-President of the Society, and gave some interesting reminiscences of the Society's proceedings during his term of office. The following vote of sympathy with Dr. Drysdale, President, as approved of and recommended by the Council, was then unanimously carried : "That the members of the Literary and Philosophical Society greatly regret the sad affliction which has befallen their respected President, and they desire to express their heartfelt sorrow at this calamity, and to assure him of their cordial sympathy with him in his bereavement.”* The evening was devoted to miscellaneous business. Mr. ISAAC ROBERTS, F.G.S., described the result of the borings he made on East Hoyle Bank : • Dr. Drysdale's son was drowned while boating on the river Dee. 19th April. 1878. BORING ON EAST HOYLE BANK. East Hoyle Bank is situate opposite the village of Hoylake, and measures in length from north to south about four miles, and in breadth from east to west about one to three miles. Its form is shown on the ordinary charts of the port. The highest part of the bank is about 13 feet above the Old Dock Sill, and spring tides cover it to a depth of about 8 feet. At low water it dries about 23 feet at its highest point. There are several historical records preserved concerning this bank, to which I think it instructive to call your attention. The first I shall refer to is An Enquiry into the Changes of Level in the Sea and Land, by J. A. Picton, F.S.A., in 1849. He quotes the following from the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1796:-"That what now forms the banks of Burbo and Hoyle, must have been land attached to the Peninsula of Wirral." In the Courier for 1828, Mr. Nimmo says "that a graveyard was seen by him 150 or 200 yards below the flow of the tide, nearly opposite the Leasowe Lighthouse. "It is stated that Sir Thomas Mostyn has in his possession maps, plans, and other documents, proving beyond doubt that his ancestors have lost hundreds of acres of land opposite the Point of Ayr." In 1863, Dr. Hume's work on Ancient Meols was published, and he goes over the same ground after Mr. Picton, and, with similar data, draws similar inferences. He says, "that large numbers of relics were found on Hoyle Bank. That east and west Hoyle Banks were joined together at a higher elevation than at present," and refers to an alleged map at Mostyn Hall, which represents cattle grazing on Hoyle Bank. Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith, in a paper read before the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, supports views similar to those already quoted by Mr. Picton and Dr. Hume. But Mr. Joseph Boult, in a series of papers on the Topography of Liverpool, denies the accuracy of many of the statements made and inferences drawn from them. It was in the year 1869 or 1870 that the discussion of the subject culminated. Since that date the different parties, having fixed in their own minds the views that satisfied them respectively, based upon the evidence then available, tacitly let the subject drop; but it occurred to me that the questions involved might be settled more satisfactorily to the greatest number by obtaining positive evidence on the spot, and with that object in view I, on the 22nd July, 1870, went on East Hoyle Bank with boring tackle, to ascertain by boring into it of what materials it is composed. The method which I adopted will be best understood if I explain the parts of the boring tackle which are exhibited before you, and then give the results obtained. The position of the bore hole was on a line joining the Bell Buoy and Hilbre landmark, and distant about one mile from Hoylake, and opposite the Church, that being the most sheltered and highest part of the bank. The tinned tubes which I had provided for lining the bore hole were sunk to a depth of 10 feet into the bank, when one of the joints was found to be defective, so I had to take them up and begin again. This represents a full day's work for myself and two men. The next day the tubes were sunk to a depth of 16 feet, and then the pump was jammed in them by the silt, and it could not be withdrawn, so I had to pull up the tubes and begin again. On the fourth day the tubes were sunk to a depth of 22 feet, without mishap. On the fifth day they were sunk to the depth of 24 feet, when the frictional resistance of the silt was so great, that in driving down the tubes with a hammer, the joints were so injured that they had to be abandoned. The sixth attempt was made with cast iron pipes, but these failed to penetrate to a greater depth than 8 feet, so these also had to be abandoned. The seventh trial was made with strong wrought iron pipes, such as are used in the conveyance of steam or water. On the 8th September, 1870, the pipes were sunk to a depth of 22 feet. On the 9th they were sunk to 32 feet. On the 23rd October they were sunk to 46 feet. On the 2nd November, the chain by which the pump was worked broke, and it fell to the bottom of the pipes, and was firmly fixed there by the silt. On the 6th September, 1871, I succeeded in fishing up the pump, and then resumed the operations of boring, but could not sink the pipes any lower. On the 7th September, I succeeded in sinking the pipes to the depth of 53 feet 6 inches, and at that depth they rested upon the thin bed of gravel which forms the surface of the boulder clay here, and on the bed of Hoyle Lake. Into this gravel I screwed my augur so firmly that I could not pull it up again, although I tried then, and in October, last year, with a lever, lifting about one and a half tons. There the pipes, and the augur within them, will probably remain; and possibly after East Hoyle Bank has sunk deep beneath the sea; bas been consolidated into a sandstone rock; and has again emerged into dry land, the tubes and augur will again be found, and be a puzzle to some geologists of the future as to what they are and how they got there. The controversy may even be warmer in its character than that which Dr. Hume, Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith, and Mr. Boult have put on record, and I cannot, of course, expect the Proceedings of this Society will be then extant to throw light upon the discovery. The materials of which the bank is composed are tidal silt, consisting of coarse and fine sand of blueish colour, with |