Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 60.djvu/329

302 the year is the distinguished mineralogist and geologist, M. Daubree. After leaving the iDcole Poly technique in 1832, he was sent on a mission to investigate the modes of occurrence of tin-ore in Cornwall and on the Continent. His reports showed such ability that he was appointed Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at Strasburg, at the age of 25; afterwards (1861-2) he became Professor of Geology at the Musee d’Histoire Naturelle at Paris, and at the same time Professor of Mineralogy at the Ecole des Mines; in the same year he succeeded to the Chair at the Institut vacated by M. Cordier. Prom 1872 to 1884, when the rules of the Service made retirement by reason of age compulsory, he acted as Director of the Ecole des Mines. M. Daubree was the leader in Prance in experiments for the synthetic reproduction of minerals and rocks, and his laboratory furnace was the first to yield crystals of oxide of tin having the lustre, colour, and hardness of the mineral cassiterite; his memoir on the zeolites and other minerals, produced since Roman times through the action of the hot springs of Plombieres on the bricks and concrete, has been of general interest both to mineralogists and geologists. Other important experiments led him to infer that circulating water, rather than heat or vapours, has been the essential agent in all phenomena of rock transformation. M. Daubree gave much attention to the description and classification of meteorites, and made numerous experiments relative to the reproduction of material having similar characters.

The Council was much occupied during the earlier part of the session with the consideration of the proposed “ Standing Orders ” relating to the conduct of the meetings, and to the Publications of the Society—a subject which has engaged the anxious attention of previous Councils. In framing these Standing Orders two principal objects were kept in view. Firstly, to increase the interest of the meetings by giving greater freedom in the conduct of them, and by enlarging the opportunities for discussion; and secondly, to obtain a more secure, and, at the same time, more rapid judgment as to the value of communications made to the Society; so that, while the high standard of the ‘ Philosophical Transactions ’ is retained, or even raised, greater rapidity in the publication of these und of the ‘ Proceedings ’ may be attained. To secure these latter objects, the Council has called to its aid, in the form of Sectional Committees, a number of Fellows much greater than that of the Council itself, to whom will be entrusted the task of reviewing the communications to the Society, and of making to the Council such recommendations with respect to them as may seem desirable. It is further probable that by using the special knowledge of the several Sectional Committees in the detailed consideration of special questions, the Council will have more time at its disposal than it has at present