and P. G. Taylor. The leader of the opposition, who had recently won the Frank Pick Memorial Prize for Design, was making his first speech from the platform and impressed the House with well-informed arguments which converted some of the die-hards, and the motion was lost by a substantial majority. At the last meeting (13th March), Staines proposed that "History is Bunk" and was seconded by Claydon. Mr. Manby and Dunwell led the opposition and carried the day, arguing that history helps us to understand our present problems. This proved too strong for the proposers, who made the appeal to "progress", which is usually a sure-fire success in the Society, their main point. The motion was lost by 89 to 7, with 22 abstentions. This closed the Society's meetings for 1953-54. We shall be losing some of our most promising speakers before the next session begins, but the Society has sufficient reserves to be able to view this, not indeed without regret, but at least with some equanimity.
THE SCIENCE SOCIETY Owing to the shortness of the term only four meetings were held. The first of the series, given by members of the Rise, was divided into two parts. M. T. 'Powell talked about Coal and its uses, and started by describing the formation of coal in the Carboniferous period. Some common types of coal were then mentioned before he went on to describe a few uses of coal, e.g., the formation of artificial mineral oils. 'Powell concluded by describing the various processes involved in the manufacture of coal gas. The second lecture, by W. R. Ibberson and C. H. Lewis, was given the title "The Harmony and Direction of the Body Machine", or "Are we really responsible for our actions?" They began by stating that the body is a perfect machine and, after explaining the functions of the brain and spinal column, showed the way in which a stimulus is passed along a nerve. The muscle of a previously dissected frog was then made to "jerk" by an electrical stimulus, after which the muscles in the arm of a volunteer were subjected to a series of electrical impulses, during which he found it impossible to keep his arm at rest. The two lecturers finished by describing how the brain could be divided into conscious, subconscious and cataloguing systems, and by means of a Wheatstone's bridge obtained a balance point for the resistance of the body. On asking the subject certain questions a deflection was registered on a galvanometer, showing the resistance to have changed. Mr. Crews was in the chair.
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