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Feitelberg, Samuel, Fairview, Main-road, Greenpoint, Cape Town, South Africa.

Felton, Henry James, 4, Beach-mansions, Southsea, Hants.

FitzGerald, William Walter Augustine, Carrigoran, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Clare, Ireland.

Fleischmann, F. N. A., F.C.S., 6, Collinghamgardens, S.W.

Gardiner, James, Molyneux-park-mansions, Tunbridge Wells.

Grant, Lawford Stanley Foster, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., 46, St. George's-avenue, Tufnell-park, N.

Green, Henry Lumb, Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, South America.

Hamlyn, John F., Grosvenor Works, Davies-street, W.

Hennessy, John F., City Chambers, 243, Pitt-street,
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Jones, Thomas, 40, Mount-pleasant, Liverpool.
Jones, Hon. William Hall, New Zealand.
Kelty, John Kenyon, M.A., P.O. Box 821, Cape
Town, South Africa.

Kerly, Alexander William, The Gables, Horndon on the Hill, Grays, Essex, and 14, Great Winchesterstreet, E.C.

Kitching, Alfred, M.I.Mech.E., Superintendent's Office, Ocean Steam Ship Co., Singapore, Straits Settlements.

Ligertwood, T. G., Education Department, P.O. Box 4439, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa. Loubser, Matthew Michael, Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, South Africa.

MacFarlaine, Robert Melbornie, care of Henry S. King and Co., 9 Pall Mall, S.W.

Macleod, Arthur William (Messrs. Fuller, Macleod and Co.), 9 Red Lion-court, Cannon-street, E.C. Mallmann, Paul J., M.A., 116, Victoria-street, S.W. Murdock, George J., 248, Sixth Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A

Nicholas, Askin, Bank-place, Collins-street, Melbourne, Australia.

Phillimore, Rev. Arthur, M.A., Brightwell-park, near Wallingford.

Ricketts, Dashwood Poyntz, Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., Imperial Railways of North China, Shan Hai Kwan, North China.

Shipway, Robert Bruce, The Bays, Hampton Wick. Sperr, Professor Frederick W., Michigan College of Mines, Houghton, Michigan, U.S.A.

Storie, Edmund, Colonial Club, Whitehall-court, S.W.

Thanawalla, Dr. Framroze Cáwasjee, Aga Buildings, Bhendy Bazar, Bombay, India.

Thompson, Robert M., 3 East 69th Street, New York, U.S.A.

Tween, Charles Nelson, M. Inst.C.E., Goddards, Widford, Ware, Herts.

Usher, Sir Robert, Bart., 37, Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh.

Williams, Gilbert Percy, M.Inst. C.E., 14, Victoriastreet, Westminster, S. W.

The CHAIRMAN nominated Mr. Harry W. Barrow and Mr. William Keating, scrutineers, and declared the ballot open.

The SECRETARY then read the following

REPORT OF COUNCIL.

I. ORDINARY MEETINGS.

The session commenced as usual with an Address from the Chairman of the Council, Sir William Abney, the subject selected for special consideration being Commercial Education. Sir William dealt, to a large extent, with the examination work of the Society of Arts, and by the interpolation of a curve deduced from the numbers of candidates entering for examination from the year 1883 to 1903, he showed that there was every probability of the present number of candidates being doubled in a period of five years. The prophecy, so far as regards the present year, appears to be not very far from the truth, the calculated number being 18,400, whereas the actual number of candidates in the Commercial subjects is nearly 18,000.

At the first meeting of the session after the opening meeting, Mr. G. F. Parker, the American Commissioner in this country for the St. Louis Universal Exposition, gave an account of the preparations which were then being made for this exhibition. Mr. Parker's anticipations were more than realised when the exhibition was opened on the 30th of April last, though the growing disinclination of British manufacturers to take part in these international competitions has been shown at St. Louis even to a larger extent than it was eleven years ago at Chicago.

Of the other papers before Christmas, two dealt with the Fiscal Problem-one by Sir Charles Kennedy, and a second by Sir William Preece. Both of these papers dealt with the subject in a non-political manner. Sir Charles Kennedy's long experience at the Foreign Office enabled him to put in a striking manner a great deal of statistical information about foreign trade, while Sir William Preece developed still further the thesis he had put forward in his Address as Chairman of the Council in November, 1902, that there is a true Science of Business with laws which can be deduced from experiment and from fact. In the other paper which was read in the earlier part of the session Mr. H. H. Cunynghame described the very ingenious

and convenient furnace which he has devised for laboratory work, especially for such work as enamelling and the production of small castings. The furnace is of quite simple construction, being merely built of fireclay mixed with some material which will after burning produce a porous mass, some binding material, such as wire-netting, being imbedded in order to bind the material together. The exterior of the furnace thus made is thickly covered with asbestos. The fuel which Mr. Cunynghame prefers to use in this furnace is petroleum burned in a Swedish blow-pipe lamp. It was shown that in a furnace of this construction the heat is very fully retained, hardly any being radiated from the exterior surface. The result of this is that the furnace is extremely economical and very effective.

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At the first meeting after Christmas Mr. Thomas Casson read a paper on Organ Design," while a few weeks later Mr. J. M. Coward read one on "Mechanical Piano Players." Both of these papers were fully illustrated. Mr. Casson had an organ of his own design built up in the room for the purpose, while Mr. Coward showed several typical mechanical pianos, and fully illustrated their capacity for playing various styles of music, and for accompanying vocalists. Mr. Gulston's paper on " Ice Breakers" derived special interest from the fact of public attention having been directed to the application of these vessels in the early stages of the war between Russia and Japan.

Two papers were devoted to the question of mechanical locomotion-one by Mr. Thomas Clarkson on "Steam Motors for Public Service," and one by Mr. Mervyn O'Gorman on "Popular Motor Cars." Professor C. V. Boys gave a very interesting paper on "Thermit" -the trade name for an aluminium compound, by the combustion of which intense local heat can be produced and various industrial processes, such as welding, soldering, &c., carried out. There were two papers which practically dealt with the question of housing rural and urban populations-that by Mr. A. R. Sennett on "Garden Cities," and one by Mr. T. Brice Phillips on "The Rural Housing Question." Building materials were dealt with also in two papers-Mr. Frank Tiffany on "Woods for Constructive and Decorative Purposes," and that by Mr. L. P. Ford on "Natural and Artificial Building Stones."

This session there was only one paper dealing with educational matters-that by Mr. J. C. Medd, on "Agricultural Education." In it

he showed what progress had already been made in providing genuine technical training in agriculture, and urged that further effort should be made towards developing, alike continuation schools for agricultural teaching, and higher grade agricultural schools. Dr. Robert Jones treated the question of "Physical and Mental Degeneration" in a paper discussing the causes for such degeneration, though the Chairman at the meeting-Sir William Church -hesitated to admit that the condition of things was quite as bad as had been pictured.

Mr. Thomas Tyrer brought forward a very important subject in his paper on "Duty-free Spirit." He showed how many native industries were handicapped by the high cost of spirit compared with its cost in foreign countries, and urged that with proper safeguards the tax might, to a large extent be remitted on spirit for industrial applications without injury to the revenue, and with great profit to many manufacturers. Mr. W. P. Digby, in his paper on "The Statistics of Iron and Steel Industries," urged the necessity for more detailed statistics on the subject of iron and steel industries, and suggested that such statistics, if provided, would lead to a rather more favourable impression of the condition of British iron and steel-making than at present existed. Mr. Richard Holmes greatly added to the interest of his paper on "Painting in Miniature" by an admirable series of illustrations. He utilised the modern process of three-colour photography to reproduce as lantern slides some of the finest examples of probably the finest collection of miniatures in the world that belonging to His Majesty at Windsor Castle, and under Mr. Holmes's charge. The appearance of these minute works of art, magnified to a scale which they were certainly never intended to approach, showed that they were quite able to bear comparison with work by the same artists executed the size of life.

An additional meeting of the Society was arranged for Wednesday, June 22nd, in connection with the London meeting of the "International Olympic Games Committee," in order to afford Colonel Viktor Balck, President of the Northern Games Committee, the opportunity of delivering a lecture on "The Northern Games in Stockholm." The Lord Chief Justice presided, and there was a large and interested audience. The Northern Games include Skating; Sleighing with Horses, Reindeer, and Teams of Dogs; Ski Running; Ski Jumping; Horse

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Testimony to the public services discharged from year to year by this Section was borne by the Secretary of State of India, Mr. Brodrick, M.P., who presided at the meeting in January, when Sir William Lee-Warner made a valuable contribution to the "Provinces of India" series of papers. This series began in 1901, and will be continued until the whole of the Indian Empire has been dealt with in similar detail. Sir W. Lec-Warner's subject was "The Presidency of Bombay," particular stress being laid upon the past glories and future prospects of India's Western Province.

Sir Thomas Holdich's paper, "Our Commercial Relations with Afghanistan," attracted considerable attention both here and in India. Speaking with a wide knowledge of Afghanistan, the author advocated the adoption of a bolder and more definite commercial policy with regard to that country. He also strongly advised the linking together of the Indian and Russian railway systems, which he believed would be the means of promoting friendship between the "two great Powers of Asia" and preserving peace. He thought that the Ameer's present deter. mination not to have a railway in Afghanistan at any cost would disappear if we entered into "a direct agreement with Russia."

The Indian aspect of the fiscal question was raised in Mr. J. M. Maclean's able paper on "India's Place in an Imperial Federation." The author maintained that as "the one market in the world which is perfectly open to us" India has nothing in common with the aims of the self-governing colonies.

In the paper read by him on May 31, the distinguished ex-Director-General of Statistics, Mr. J. E. O'Conor, described the impressions of Indian economic conditions acquired by him during a prolonged period of service. After allowing for the marked advance that has been made and for the excellence of the Administration, there is, Mr. O'Conor affirms, no doubt that India is still an extremely backward country in comparison with Western nations. This backwardness, is in his opinion, due to various causes for the exist

ence of most of which the State is not directly responsible, but the conditions might, he suggests, be improved by the adoption of certain administrative measures.

The remaining papers had to do with two Indian industries, one nascent, and the other long-established-China Grass and Tea. In dealing with the former subject, Mr. Frank Birdwood discussed the past, present and future of the fibre, coucluding his excellent paper with some suggestions as to the manner in which State help might be given to rhea cultivation in India. Mr. A. G. Stanton's 'British Grown Tea" usefully suppaper on plemented previous papers on the subject, and gave a clear account of the position of an industry which in India alone gives employment to more than 500,000 natives and a large number of Englishmen. In the discussion various questions affecting the industry, such as the scarcity of labour, estate liquor shops, the increased duty, &c., were referred to.

III. COLONIAL SECTION.

The principal feature of a successful session was the exceptionally large amount of interest aroused by the meeting at which Lady Lugard read a valuable paper on “Nigeria.” The importance of the occasion was shown not only by the accommodation being insufficient for all who wished to hear the first account of Lady Lugard's impressions of our new tropical possession, and by the character of the audience, but by the special attention. devoted to the proceedings by the press, English and African. Lady Lugard referred to the change that is taking place in the development of imperial and colonial questions. Hitherto the principal current of interest has been directed to the self-governing communities. Our next colonial chapter, she thinks, will be a tropical chapter. The vast possibilities of Nigeria as a cotton-growing country were touched upon, and the need for improved means of transit was also pointed

out.

The danger which confronts the great cotton industry of this country, owing to an insufficiency of the raw material, was brought before the Society by Mr. Alfred Emmott, M.P., who, in an admirable paper, described the efforts that are being made by a powerful association to increase the area under cultivation, not only in Northern and Southern Nigeria, but in other parts of the Empire as well as in the Soudan. Sir Edward Grey, M.P., presided, and other prominent public

men of both parties took part in the discussion. This national and imperial question had not previously been fully placed before a London audience.

In a striking paper on "The Biology of the Empire" Sir John Alexander Cockburn traced the close analogy that he finds to exist between the laws of life" and the various processes that have operated and are operating

to provide for the world-wide British possessions an organisation sufficiently elastic to permit the full play of the British genius for self government, and yet at the same time sufficiently co-ordinated for mutual purposes." Was Great Britain doomed to succumb in the struggle to some world power capable of higher organisation? Reason joins with instinct in assuring us that this cannot be.

Two other instructive papers were readone by Mr. Ben. H. Morgan on "The Regeneration of South Africa," and the other by Mr. W. L. Griffith on " Canada and Great Britain."

IV. APPLIED ART SECTION. At the first meeting of the Section on December 15th, 1903, Mr. Frank Warner read a paper on "The British Silk Industry," which contained a full account of its decay since 1860, and suggestions as to the best means for reviving it. A brilliant collection of furniture silks was exhibited on the walls of the Meeting-room. At the second meeting, Mr. George Coffey, in dealing with "Celtic Ornament," chiefly confined himself to the consideration of the scroll pattern, and illustrated his subject by lantern slides of fine examples, dating from the 3rd century, B.C., which had been found between the Danube and the West Coast of Europe. Mr. Alan Cole, C.B., in his paper on "Recent Developments in Devonshire Lacemaking," drew attention to the public action which was being taken in Devonshire for the improvement of the teaching of the art of designing, and showed photographs of some of the specimens sent to the St. Louis Exhibition. Mr. Alfred East, A.R.A., in his paper on "The Sentiment of Decoration," drew attention to the principles upon which decorative design should be founded, drawing distinctions between the classic, the naturalistic, and the emotional, and claiming that the decorative quality was as esssential to fine art as to applied art. In his paper on "Crystalline Glazes and their Application to the Decoration of Pottery," Mr. William Burton

explained how in his own practice the chief difficulties connected with the use of these glazes had been overcome, and the erratic character of their flow been brought under control. The paper was illustrated by the exhibition of a fine collection of glazed pottery. The last paper of the session was by Mr. Arthur Lasenby Liberty on "Pewter and the Revival of its Use." In it the author, after giving a history of pewter, drew special attention to the attempts which had been made in England and in Germany to revive the use of this interesting metal. A large collection of specimens of old and modern pewter was shown. At the invitation of Mr. Carmichael Thomas, Treasurer of the Society, a visit was made on Thursday evening, February 18th, by the Applied Art Section, to the new printing offices of the Graphic newspaper in Tallisstreet, Victoria Embankment. The newspapers were in course of production, and the whole process, from the composition of the type and the preparation of the illustrations, was shown and explained to the visitors, who highly appreciated the completeness beauty of the arrangements.

V. CANTOR LECTURES.

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Five courses of Cantor Lectures were delivered during the session. The first of these by Mr. Bennett H. Brough on "The Mining of Non- Metallic Minerals," was supplementary to the course on "The Nature and Yield of Metalliferous Deposits," which he gave in 1899. The minerals treated included coal, which was dealt with very briefly, as it has already been the subject of previous lectures, bitumens, such salts as nitrates and phosphates, stones, together with clays, gypsum, asbestos, &c., and precious stones. The second course was by Professor J. Lewkowitsch on "Oil and Fats." The treatment included the supply of the various fats, animal and vegetable, and their manufacture, also their numerous applications for food, paints, varnishes, linoleum, candles, soap, &c. The third was a short course by Mr. Charles T. Jacobi on "Modern Book Printing," in which the character of modern type was dealt with, and the style and character of modern typography. The important subject of "Electro-Chemistry" formed the subject of the fourth course by Mr. Bertram Blount. This course may be looked upon as a continuation of the course delivered by Mr. James Swinburne, in 1896, and dealt entirely with recent work in electro-chemistry. In addi

tion to the methods of electrolytic refining and winning of metals, both in aqueous solution and from fused electrolytes, Mr. Blount described the methods applicable for obtaining electro-chemically such non-metallic products as alkali and bleach, chlorates, baryta, nitric acid, &c. The last lecture was devoted to the electric furnace and its products, such as calcium carbide, carborundum, phosphorus, &c. This lecture was illustrated by experiments on what was practically a manufacturing scale, for a large electric furnace was built up in the meeting-room, and practial demonstrations were given of the production by its means of calcium carbide and carborundum. The fifth course was by Professor Langton Douglas on "The Majolica and Glazed Earthenware of Tuscany." The lecturer, in tracing the history of this famous artistic earthenware, brought to bear on his subject the result of much original research among the Italian archives. In the first lecture he pointed out that the prominent position held for a time by Siena in the production of the ware. In the second lecture a full account was given of the family of Della Robbia and the majolica of Florence. Montalupo and Cafaggiola, and the smaller fabbriche of Tuscany were dealt with in the third lecture.

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VI. JUVENILE LECTURES.

The Juvenile Lectures this year were delivered by Mr. Eric Stuart Bruce, the subject being The Navigation of the Air." As usual, the course consisted of two lectures, the first being devoted to balloons and parachutes, the second to airships, kites, and flying machines. A short historical sketch of the progress of ballooning was given, and special reference made to the use of balloons in war. An account of the airships of Santos Dumont, Severo, Spencer, and Lebaudy was also given, also of the flying machines depending on aeroplanes, such as those proposed by Sir Hiram Maxim and Professor Langley. The use of kites for scientific investigation was also described.

VII. ALBERT MEDAL.

The Albert Medal for the present year has been awarded, with the approval of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, President of the Society, to Mr. Walter Crane, "in recognition of the services he has rendered to Art and Industry, by awakening popular

interest in Decorative Art and Craftsmanship, and by promoting the recognition of English Art in the forms most material to the commercial prosperity of the country."

Mr. Crane's reputation as a decorative designer stands very high in his own country, but it stands even higher on the Continent of Europe and in America, where his work has met with the fullest appreciation. His writings on decorative art have had a very great influence in the revival of that branch of the arts, while the establishment, greatly due to Mr. Crane and Mr. Lewis F. Day, of the Art Workers' Guild and the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, have largely aided to secure for the industrial arts of the United Kingdom that public recognition as a department of art which has long been wanted. Mr. Crane's work as a decorative designer has not only secured wide popularity, but has received the approbation of those best qualified to appreciate it.

The Council have long felt that while the claims of Applied Science have been fully recognised in the awards of the Albert Medal, those of the application of art to industry have never received the recognition they deserved, and it has been a matter of regret not only to the members of the present Council, but to their predecessors, that there is only a single name (Sir Henry Doulton) on the long list of the recipients of the Albert Medal to whom the medal has been given for services rendered to the application of art to industry. They are, therefore, specially gratified that His Royal Highness, the President of the Society. has ratified their award of the medal on the present occasion to Mr. Walter Crane.

VIII. MEDALS.

Amongst the readers of papers during the past Session there were several Members of the Council, and, according to the usual practice, medals were not awarded for such papers. These are (in the Ordinary Meetings): Sir William H. Preece, who read a paper on "The Science of Taxation and Business," and Mr. H. H. S. Cunynghame on Furnaces suitable for Jewellers' Work, Enamelling, Art Casting, and other similar Industries;" also (in the Indian Section) Sir William Lee-Warner, on "The Presidency of Bombay," and Sir Thomas H. Holdich, on

Our Commercial Relations with Afghanistan." The Council have had pleasure in acknowledging the merit of all these papers

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