ble
discussion that originated by Professor Oliver Lodge, upon the "Seat of
the Electromotive Force in a Voltaic Cell."

This was an experiment on the part of the British Association.
Discussions, as a rule, have not been the case at our meetings. Papers
have been read and papers have been discussed; but on this occasion three
or four subjects were named as fit for discussion, and distinguished
professors were selected to open the discussion.

On this particular subject, Professor Oliver Lodge opened the discussion,
and he did so in an original, an efficient, and in a chirpy kind of manner
that took by storm not only the professors who knew him, but those who did
not know him; and I am bound to say that I do not think we could possibly
better spend an evening during the coming session, or more profitably,
than by asking Professor Oliver Lodge to bring the subject before this
Society, so as to allow us on this side of the water to discuss the same
subject.

Of course the prominent figure at our meetings was Lord Rayleigh; and I do
not think that any person could possibly have been present at those
meetings of the British Association without feeling an intense personal
admiration for this man, and an affection for the way in which he
maintained the position of an English gentleman and the credit of an
English scientific body, to the astonishment and delight of every one
present. Then, again, we had our past President, Sir William Thomson, who
was not quite so ubiquitous as usual; he did not dance from section to
section as he usually does, but remained as president of his own section,
A. I think he only left his section for a day, and that was to attend the
electrical day in Section G; but in his own section he brought down those
words of wisdom that one always hears from him, and which make one always
regret that there is not always present about him a shorthand writer to
take down thoughts and ideas that never occur again, and are only heard by
those who have the benefit of being present.

The subjects brought forward were not of intense interest. We had a paper
by Dr. Traill, describing the Portrush Railway, and there were various
other papers; and I can pass over some of the other subjects, because I
shall have to deal with them under another head. But while we were in
Montreal, a deputation of American professors and members of the American
Association came over, and invited a good many of those who were present