The Chairman said:—Before the papers in our to-night's programme of business are taken up there is a statement which, at the special request of the Council of this Society, I have to make from the chair. I have been requested to allude to the deaths of three much esteemed Fellows of this Society, which have occurred since our last ordinary meeting—Professor Macquorn Rankine of Glasgow University; the Very Rev. Dean Ramsay, Edinburgh; and Archibald Smith of Jordanhill. The Council think that it is only a fitting tribute to the memory of our deceased colleagues that I should express regret at the loss which we, in common with others, have sustained, and that I should also briefly allude to their connection with this Society and with science, leaving to a future occasion the duty of giving a fuller biographical account of each.