ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

December 22, 1868.

CHARLES HUTTON GREGORY, President,
in the Chair.

MESSRS. C. FREWER, H. HAYTER, T. MARR JOHNSON, T. M. SMITH, and JOSEPH TAYLOR, were requested to act as Scrutineers of the Ballot, for the election of the President, Vice-President, and other Members and Associates of Council; and it was resolved that the ballot papers should be sent for examination, at intervals of fifteen minutes, in order to expedite the labours of the Scrutineers.

The list of members prepared for Council, together with the record of the attendances of the Members of Council, in Council and at the Ordinary General Meetings, was read, and the Ballot was declared open.

The Annual Report of the Council, on the proceedings of the Institution during the past year, was read.

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Resolved, That the Report of the Council be received and approved; and that it be referred to the Council, to be printed and circulated with the Minutes of Proceedings, in the usual

manner.

Resolved,―That the thanks of the Institution are due, and are presented to Messrs. J. D. Baldry and C. E. Hollingsworth, for the readiness with which they undertook the office of Auditors of Accounts, and for the clear statement they have laid before the Meeting; and that Messrs. C. E. Hollingsworth and Charles Hawksley be requested to undertake the office of Auditors for the ensuing year.

Mr. Baldry returned thanks.

The Telford and Watt Medals, and the Telford and Manby Premiums of Books, which had been awarded, were presented.

Resolved, That the cordial thanks of the Institution be presented to George Parker Bidder, Esq. (Past-President), and to George Robert Stephenson, Esq. (Member of Council), for their very liberal contributions to the Institution in aid of the New Building, as recorded in the Annual Report.

Mr. Stephenson returned thanks.

Resolved, That the Council be authorized to grant the use of the Rooms of the Institution when such use may be thought expedient.

Resolved, That the thanks of the Institution are justly due, and are presented to the Vice-Presidents and other Members of Council, for their co-operation with the President, their constant attendance at the Meetings, and their zeal on behalf of the Institution.

Mr. Hawksley, Vice-President, returned thanks.

Resolved unanimously, That the cordial thanks of the Meeting be given to Mr. Gregory, President, for his strenuous efforts in the interests of the Institution, for his extraordinary attention to the duties of his office, and for the urbanity he has at all times displayed in the Chair.

Mr. Gregory, President, returned thanks.

Resolved,―That the special thanks of the Meeting be tendered to Mr. T. H. Wyatt, the Architect, for the skill displayed in the design of the New Building of the Institution.

Resolved, That the thanks of the members be presented to Messrs. Holland and Hannen, the builders, for the satisfactory manner in which they have performed their contract.

The Ballot having been open more than an hour, the Serutineers, after examining the papers, announced that the following gentlemen were duly elected to fill the several offices in the Council for the ensuing year:

Resolved, That the best thanks of the Institution be given to the Secretaries, not only for their usual valued services, but

especially for the watchful attention they have given to the interests of the Institution in the arrangements and construction of the New Building.

Resolved, That the thanks of the Meeting be given to Messrs. Frewer, Hayter, Johnson, Smith, and Taylor, the Scrutineers, for the promptitude and efficiency with which they have performed the duties of their office; and that the Ballot Papers be destroyed.

[ANNUAL REPORT.

ANNUAL REPORT.

SESSION 1868-69.

THE Council to whom was confided at the last Annual General Meeting the direction and management of the affairs of the Institution beg leave to submit the following Report upon its present state and condition.

During the past session there were twenty-three Ordinary General Meetings, when Papers were read and discussions took place on various professional subjects. These included the benefits and expedients of Irrigation in India, Spain, and other warm climates, and on the proper construction of Irrigating Canals; the manufacture and wear of Railway Bars; the relation of the Fresh-water Floods of Rivers to the areas and physical features of their basins; on Floods in the Nerbudda Valley, with remarks on Monsoon Floods in India generally; on the Victoria Bridge, on the line of the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway; on New Railways at Battersea, and the widening of the Victoria Bridge; the City Terminus Extension of the Charing Cross Railway, embracing a description of the Cannon Street Bridge and Station; the Durability of Materials; the Supporting Power of Piles, and on the Pneumatic Process for sinking Iron Columns, as practised in America; and the Experimental Determination of the Strains on the Suspension Ties of a Bow-string Girder.

Although the topics thus dealt with have been comparatively limited in number, yet, it is believed, they may be fairly regarded as representing some of the principal problems now engaging the attention of engineers. There is, for instance, probably no question of greater national importance, having regard to the interests and welfare of so many of the Queen's subjects, than that of Irrigation. Hitherto the records of the Institution have been a blank upon this branch of engineering practice; while treatises on the subject, at least in the English language, have previously been almost entirely wanting.

For these communications the following Telford and Watt Medals, and Telford and Manby Premiums of Books, have been awarded:

1. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to George Higgin, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "Irrigation in Spain, chiefly in reference to the Construction of the Henares and the Esla Canals in that country."

2. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to Christer Peter Sandberg, Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Manufacture and Wear of Rails."

3. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to Lieut.Colonel Peter Pierce Lyons O'Connell, R.E., Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Relation of the Fresh Water Floods of Rivers to the Areas and Physical Features of their Basins."

4. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to William Wilson, M. Inst. C.E., for his "Description of the Victoria Bridge, on the line of the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway."

5. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to Charles Douglas Fox, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On New Railways at Battersea; with the Widening of the Victoria Bridge and Approaches to the Victoria Station."

6. A Telford Medal, and a Telford Premium, in Books, to John Wolfe Barry, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the City Terminus Extension of the Charing Cross Railway."

*7. A Watt Medal to Edwin Clark, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On Engineering Philosophy; the Durability of Materials." 8. A Telford Medal to William Jarvis McAlpine, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Supporting Power of Piles; and on the Pneumatic Process for sinking Iron Columns, as practised in America.”

9. A Telford Premium, in Books, to Thomas Login, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Benefits of Irrigation in India; and on the Proper Construction of Irrigating Canals."

10. A Telford Premium, in Books, to Allan Wilson, M. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On Irrigation in India."

11. A Telford Premium, in Books, to Wilfrid Airy, Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On the Experimental Determination of the Strains on the Suspension Ties of a Bowstring Girder."

12. The Manby Premium, in Books, to Andrew Cassels Howden, Assoc. Inst. C.E., for his Paper "On Floods in the Ner

budda Valley; with Remarks on Monsoon Floods in India generally."

The record of the attendances at the Ordinary General Meetings during the past session shows that there were present on an * Has previously received a Telford Medal.

[1868-69. N.S.]

M