The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-08 00:00:00

THE LATE JOSEPH B. YATES, ESQ.

Before the general business proceeded, the Chairman, in
conformity with a resolution of the Council, called the atten-
tion of the society to the loss sustained in the death of Mr.
Joseph Brooks Yates, and the propriety of their recording
their sense of that loss, and of considering an address of con-
dolence to the bereaved family. In suggesting this course,
the Chairman said that Mr. Yates would be sensibly regretted
by many of the charitable institutions in the town, and his
memory long cherished in the society as one of its most ac-
complished and zealous members, during a period of many
years, and as one who had its interests most at heart.
The Rev. H. H. Manua then moved the following reso-
lution :—" That this society having received from the Presi-
dent the announcement of the death of Joseph Brooks
Yates, Esq ' desire that an expression of their profound sorrow
be recorded on their minutes, and conveyed to the bereaved
family. As one of its founders the deceased claimed the
respect of the society; and this became the private feeling of
the members, from those qualities which eminently dis-
tinguished him. To an untiring zeal was added the matured
experience of ripened years, which led the society to receive
his counsels with attention ; while his extensive knowledge of
belles lettres and the fine arts enabled him frequently to lay
the fruits of his researches before the society. Thus did he
doubly earn the devotion of the society, which now mourns
his loss." Mr. Higgins said he was glad to have the oppor-
tunity of being present on this occasion, though the duty he
was called upon to perform was a melancholy one. They had
lost one who had been the chief supportof the society, and whose
extensive stores of knowledge had made themselves felt in
nearly every discussion at their meetings, and added greatly
to their interest. He believed many of them would mourn
in him not only one whom they would be delighted to meet as
a member of their society, but also as a private friend—as one
whose hospitality had been retnarkable, and whose benevo-
lence made him the benefactor of many of the charitable insti-
tutions of the town. There had been much centered in Mr.
Yates which should make all who knew him deeply feel his
loss. He (Mr. Higgins) was sure that the resolution would
pass with unanimous accord.
Mr. SALT rose to second the resolution, observing briefly
that he could truthfully re-echo all that had been said by the
mover.

The resolution was then carried unanimously.
MISCELLANEOUS.

rile Rev. M. Fisehall was announced to have 'been elected
a member of the Council. Mr. Hess (of the firm of Yates and
Hess) was introduced as a member of the society, and Mr.
C. E. RaWlins, jun., was elected a member.
Mr. T. C. ARCHER submitted a drawing of the microscopic
Appearance of the silicious spicules of the new specie of sponge
-(belonging to the genus Geodes) found by the president, Mr.
Robert McAndrew, in deep water off the coast of Norway ;
.also_an'imusuaLly large duster of the fruit of the oil palm.

The Rev. Mr:HIGGINS exhibited a specimen of vegetable
substance 'thrown up in a lake near Ellesmere, in Shrop-
shire (closely resembling a pile of felt, in the shape of an
hussar's tap), and called in the neighbourhood a " mere's
(lake's) egg." A similar specimen, obtained from one of the
Cumberland lakes, was produced from the museum of the
society.
Mr. BLoxe.x drew attention to an alleged important dis-
covery, by a Belgian lady, of a
,process by means of which
liquefied ivory is employed to take the impression of bas-
reliefs and sculpture of the largest dimensions. Reduced to a
paste, the ivory is run into a mould without any pressure,
and when it has returned to a solid state, it renders the model
with the most perfect exactness and detail. Having no know-
ledge of the process, Mr. Blotharn said he felt confounded
at seeing bas-reliqfs of a very large size in a, single piece
of ivory. He 'noticed that the -sculptured sides of the choir
at Notre Dame had just been 'reproduced by this novel and
-beautiful method. Some conversation ensued as to the use
made in this-couutry of plates of ivory produced by cylindrin-
cal cutting of the original piece.
The paper for the evening was by Mr. Towsox, " On the
Instruments used in their Observations by the Liverpool
Compass Committee." Mr. 'Towson described minutely the
difficult scientific obstacles 'encountered in determining the
variations,of the compass. He was followed by Mr. Rtmdell,
secretary of the Compass Committee, who explained, by
diagrams, a series of interesting experiments made in the' iron
ship Sarah Palmer, during her progress of building, and
afterwards while being fitted out at Liverpool.