1826. Joseph, Samuel, sculptor, London. 1839. 1850. Memes, Rev. Dr, Hamilton. Milne, Captain Alexander, R.N. burn. 1826. Nasmyth, James, engineer, Patricroft, Manchester. Nasmyth, George, engineer, London. 1831. Potter, Professor R., University College, London. 1832. Paterson, And., lathe-maker, Edinburgh. 1826. Smith, John, Darnick. 1846. Vulliamy, Benjamin S., F.R.A.S., &c, clockmaker to the Queen, London. Jameson, Rev. A., St Mungo, Lockerby. 1828. Johnston, Professor James F. W., A.M., 1829. Williamson, James, Melrose. F.R.SS. L. & E., Durham. The following ORDINARY FELLOWS, included in the foregoing List, are ordered to remain, till they return to Scotland, in the following SUSPENSE LIST. William Cooper, glass-manufacturer, late of Picardy Place, Edinburgh, and now in America. Joseph M. Kronheim, ornamental designer, London. Edward Sang, civil-engineer, Constantinople. Lieut.-Col. Blanshard, R.E., Mauritius. George Buist, LL.D., Bombay. Mungo Ponton, F.R.S.E., 11 Lansdowne Place, Clifton. P. B. Ainslie, Chertsey, England. F. E. Seeligmann, punch-cutter, London. APPENDIX (F.) PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH SOCIETY OF ARTS, SESSION 1851-2. The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held in the Hall, 54 George Street, on Monday, 10th November 1851, -Thomas Grainger, Esq., F.R.S.E., President, in the Chair. The following Communications were made: 1. The President delivered the following address : GENTLEMEN,—I beg to express the gratification which I experience in again meeting you at the commencement of another (being the thirtyfirst) session of this Society, and I have also the pleasure again to congratulate you on the continued prosperity of the Society. The papers read during the last session were numerous, and many of them highly interesting and important, and such as would have been cordially received in any similar association in the kingdom. The papers for which premiums have been awarded, and a list of which will be read this evening, will shew the importance attached by the Council to the various subjects brought under our notice during the last session. I have also to congratulate you on the state of the Society's finances, which are in a more satisfactory condition than at any former period. They have been increased by the legacy of £200, bequeathed by the late Mr William Auld, under the title of the "Reid and Auld Bequest," and which has now been paid to the Society. The terms of this bequest are, that the annual interest is to be given in one, two, or three prizes, to masters or journeymen clock and watch makers, for the best model of anything new in that art or line of business; and if no model is invented in the course of any year, or one so trifling as to be unworthy of attention, then the produce of the bequest for that year to be paid by the Society in charity to such of the poor of the trade residing in and within ten miles of Edinburgh as the treasurer of the Society, in his discretion, shall select. While I have to congratulate the Society on a considerable increase of its members since the commencement of last session, we have to lament the decease of the following Ordinary Fellows :-The Right Hon. Lord VisVOL. IV.APP. ƒ count Melville, Sir Henry Jardine, Dr Patrick Neill, Mr J. H. Tasker, C E., Mr Grant S. Dalrymple, C.E., Henry Marshall, Esq., M.D., Mr William Grierson Yorston of Garroch, and Mr James Greig, W.S. Also of the following Honorary Members:-Mr M. Schumacher, astronomer, Altona; Mr J. J. Audubon; and Mr George Stephenson, C.E. The late Dr Neill was well known to you and to the citizens of Edinburgh generally. He attended pretty regularly the meetings of this Society, and during a long and useful life he devoted much of his time and attention to the promotion of the arts and other kindred objects. Botanical science was, however, his favourite pursuit, and to this he applied himself with much enthusiasm. Mr J. H. Tasker was a native of Greenock, and had been trained to the profession of a civil engineer under Mr Locke; and, for his years, he had acquired a high reputation in his profession. He had but recently joined our Society, when his sudden decease caused the deepest grief among all who, like myself, had the pleasure of his acquaintance. I feel called on to make honourable mention of my late friend Dr Henry Marshall, who also took a deep interest in our proceedings, and frequently attended our meetings, and whose valuable researches connected with the statistics of the army are well known. He will unquestionably be regarded as the father and founder of Military Medical Statistics, and their varied application. The only other name to which I shail allude more particularly is that of Mr George Stephenson, the eminent civil engineer, whose death I neglected to notice at the opening of last session, who, by his great natural abilities, ingenuity, and application, raised himself from a very humble station in life to the highest eminence in his profession. His name was more generally connected with the construction of railways and locomotive engines. But having been in early life connected with the coal-mines in the north of England, he was then brought into notice by his researches on the subject of the safety-lamp for the use of miners, and contests with Sir Humphry Davy the merit of that most valuable invention. The all-absorbing subject of general interest during the vacation, as connected with the arts and manufactures, has been the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. In adverting to the Exhibition at the opening of last session, I stated that by it the means of comparison in the different branches of the arts and manufactures would be afforded to 66 an extent which no age or country had as yet presented, and such as would prove of universal advantage in the relations of manufactures, commerce, and the social interests of society. It is believed that foreigners will contribute largely, and I hope that the articles sent from this side of the Tweed, and for the manufacture of which Scotland is celebrated, will bear a favourable comparison with any that may be exhibited." these anticipations-sanguine as they may have appeared at the time— have been more than realised. This Exhibition will ever be regarded by all as highly honourable to our country, in the history of which the year 1851 will be ever memorable. From the manner in which this magnificent enterprise has been supported by foreigners of all parts of the world, and the satisfactory way in which the details were carried out, the result cannot fail to be highly gratifying to our countrymen generally, but more especially to His Royal Highness Prince Albert, by whom the design was first conceived, and under whose auspices it was All brought to so favourable a close. I hope that all of you had an opportunity of inspecting it personally, and that some of you are prepared to favour the Society with papers on some of the more important articles exhibited. I avail myself of this opportunity-the last which I shall have as your President-to call your attention to a subject of the very highest importance, to the agricultural as well as to the manufacturing and commercial interests of the country. I refer to the cultivation and preparation of flax-the raw material of one of the staple manufactures of the United Kingdom. The subject is one which has recently engaged much attention in Ireland, and also to a considerable extent in England, but more especially in districts where the linen trade is extensively carried on; and although it has not been altogether overlooked in Scotland, it has not hitherto received the attention which, I think, its importance demands the soil and climate of which are admitted to be admirably adapted to its cultivation. I cannot conceive any object which better deserves the consideration of such a Society as this than the collecting and diffusing of correct information regarding the cultivation and preparation of so important a material as flax, and I therefore take the liberty of earnestly pressing the subject on the attention of my successor in this chair, and of the members generally. Its importance to the agriculturist consists in its being (under proper management) much more remunerative than any cereal crop whatever; and it is by no means so exhaustive to the soil as is generally supposed. And even were it otherwise, the means of supplying artificial manures are now so various that the fertility of the soil can easily be restored. In an excellent letter recently addressed to the Prime Minister on the cultivation of flax in the Highlands, by Mr Alexander M'Ewan of Sunderland, in the island of Islay, he says:-"Impressed with the idea that the soil and climate of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were admirably adapted to the growth of flax, I submitted in the early part of this year a proposal to two of my principal tenants to join with me in making an experiment on a large scale, for the double purpose of obtaining a remunerative crop, and of giving employment to the people. So far our success has been complete. We have now growing on the estate of Sunderland, in the island of Islay, 120 acres of flax, which, I believe, with very little exception, will scarcely be surpassed." Almighty wisdom has ordained that each soil and climate has crops peculiarly adapted to it. The south of England may grow better wheat than the Highlands of Scotland; but I am satisfied the latter, from its humidity, will grow better flax than the former. The agricultural money value of an acre of well-cultivated flax is equal to that of wheat, but the commercial and manufacturing value of flax is infinitely greater. The subsequent process to which it may be subjected, the vast amount of labour it creates, and the enhanced value it may realise before it reaches the consumer, are especially important to a country seeking employment for its people. I am convinced the day is not far distant when a flax-growing farm will be accounted as valuable as a wheat-growing farm. The introduction of flax cultivation is not only a valuable crop, as suited to the soil and climate of the Highlands, but it is peculiarly adapted to the present state of the Highland population; it would at once absorb the whole unemployed labour of men, women, and children; it is not too much to anticipate that the 66 splendid waterfalls would be made available for the erection of flax-spinning factories, and a new era would dawn on the Highlands; the great desideratum that has hitherto existed would be supplied; the combination of commercial and manufacturing enterprise with agricultural industry spreading plenty and contentment among our romantic glens and villages, and elevating the people in the social scale." In an admirable pamphlet recently published by Mr Robert Brown of Hamilton, and to which I beg to refer such of you as wish to obtain information on the subject, he states," The small tenants' possessions in the Highlands are, from locality, soil, climate, and facilities for manuring, admirably adapted for the cultivation of flax; and, considering the great abundance of labour to be had at a cheap rate, are possessed of capabilities for that purpose which, perhaps, no other part of the United Kingdom can present." These observations, it will be seen, are referable to the Highlands and Islands, but they apply with equal force to other parts of Scotland, the climate and soil of which are in many respects more suitable for cultivation of flax than those of many of the countries from whence we obtain our chief supplies. I might also enlarge on the importance of this subject to the agricultural labourer, but the only other testimony which I shall at present particularise is the following:-" The condition of the inhabitants of the village of Trimmingham," says Mr Warnes, “was a few years since most deplorable, and the amount of pauperism exceeded that of the adjoining parishes. Since the introduction of flax culture, this state of things has passed away. There is not a pauper in the parish; the poor-rates are nominal; there is not one able-bodied labourer, or any portion of his family, who may not obtain constant employment throughout the whole of the year, and the moral and social state of the village will bear comparison with most. If the growth of flax can produce results elsewhere similar to those which I have witnessed at Trimmingham, there can be no doubt that the sooner it is cultivated to a greater extent in this country, the sooner will the enormous burden of pauperism decrease, and happiness and contentment be more generally diffused among the large masses of our labouring population." It is much to be regretted that, instead of promoting and lending its fostering care to the cultivation of flax in Scotland, the present Government have resorted to the miserable make-shift of expatriating the people of the West Highlands. The voice of this Society and of the country ought to be loudly raised against a proceeding so unworthy of a great nation. It has been rather fashionable of late to charge the Highlanders with indolence and reluctance to labour; but, from my own observation and experience of them, and the testimony of others well qualified to judge, I consider them to be by no means wanting in industry whenever they have an opportunity of exerting it. Their present state of destitution is their misfortune, not their fault. The time is not long past when our army was recruited and our navy manned, to no inconsiderable extent, by our brave Highlanders; and the time may come-though I hope it is very distant-when similar supplies may be again required. I regard the expatriation of our Highland population as an act discreditable to the Government, and one which they may yet deeply regret. I agree with the poet who says |