No debate was more important than that in the Theological Institution Committee on the causes of the scant supply of candidates for the ministry. It is a fact which requires closely looking into that many Methodist young men, who are either deterred from offering themselves as candidates for the Methodist ministry by the quality of our examinations, or having offered could not pass the scrutiny, have, after training in Mr. Spurgeon's College, in the Congregational Institute in Nottingham, or elsewhere, proved acceptable Baptist or Congregationalist ministers.

It is a saddening index of the low temperature of zeal amongst us that there should be, owing partly to the objections of parents to their sons hazarding their lives on the high places of the field, so much difficulty in obtaining men, especially for Missionary service. At present our lack is more of men than of money. Mr. Vanner was clearly right in urging that our first and great resource is prayer to the Lord of the harvest. But the observations on the necessity of paying greater attention, and in some Circuits greater respect, to the Local-preachers were of much weight.

The Lord's-Day Committee has maintained its attitude of sensitive watchfulness, as "set for the defence" of the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath. In the Auxiliary Fund Committee, Mr. Rattenbury reported, with benevolent joy, that he had already secured nearly threefourths of the £100,000 the raising of which he has chosen as the closing achievement of his very successful course. The Report of the Chapel Committee was, like its predecessors for several years, a cheering record of well-applied munificence and hopeful material extension,

The lamented Home Missionary Secretary has left the enterprise with which his name will for ever be honourably associated in the history of Methodism, with stalwart proportions and in wonderful efficiency, seeing that it has only just attained its majority; and we doubt not that his experienced, zealous, and variously-qualified successor will, by the blessing of God, still further develop its energies, so that it may yet more largely meet the spiritual and social needs of our Fatherland. The Missionary Committee of Review sustained the interest which has made it the subject of eager anticipation from year to year. The speech of Mr. Jenkins was of itself sufficient to accomplish this. It had all the vividness of an eloquently told personal narrative of eagerly observant travel. There was an Oriental glow about it which lent it the fascination of romance.

In the Fernley Lecture, the Secretary of the Conference in no wise fell below the expectations based upon his reputation as a theologian and expositor. The attendance was large; and the Lecture was delivered with energy and effect.

The nine elections into the Hundred, whether by nomination or "on the ground of seniority," paid due honour to men who have honoured God, and whom God Himself has honoured, in faithful and efficient service, whether in the Circuit or in some special department of our home economy, whether at abroad.

or

Never, we believe, has Divine guidance in the election of a President been more manifest and marked, never more devoutly and gratefully acknowledged, than in the instance of Alexander M'Aulay. We hold that in faithfulness to the believing, self-distrusting, promptly and honestly acquiescent prayer of His

people, the Head of the Church so guides the voting of His servants as to determine, not only the who, but also the when of Presidency of the Methodist Conference. The President of the Conference of 1876 was called to the chair at a moment of almost unprecedented delicacy and difficulty. He had to pilot the Connexional bark through the loud breakers of an anxious and exciting discussion, to a momentous and critical decision. Who could have accomplished this service with greater coolness, vigilance, skill, good temper and good humour than Alexander M'Aulay? The fact is, he knew where his great strength lay. He "put his burden right" from the beginning. Hence, the whole bearing and spirit of this perfervid Scot declared "My trust is in the living Lord." Verily, "he was marvellously helped, till he was strong." Throughout the fluctuations of debate, he dwelt between the shoulders of Omnipotence. Besides, was he not sustained by the prayers of the brotherhood? For all the brethren loyally pray for him who is elected to such grave responsibilities. With no taint of self-assertion, he did not shrink from chair-assertion, whenever occasion might require. He knew also when to infuse a timely tinge of pleasantry into the seething caldron of discussion. The

"Ruler of the night and dark

Guides through the tempest His own ark."

Senior Secretary of the Chapel Committee. Thirty-six Methodist ministers have fallen in Great Britain, Ireland, and on the Missionfield. Their characters and services are lovingly and faithfully recorded in the obituaries published in the Minutes of the Conference to which the lack of space compels us, though regretfully, to refer our readers.

The allied Methodist Conferences were nobly represented. Right glad were we to see again our old friends from France and Ireland, the admirable brethren J. Hocart and W. Cornforth from the former country, J. W. M'Kay and W. M Mullen, from the sister-island, and to welcome also their ardent and eloquent young colleague, Brother W. Gard. Then, we had from the United States, Dr. Alexander Clark; from the Australasian WesleyanMethodist Church, the Rev. James Buller, President of the New Zealand Conference, the Rev. James Bickford, President of the South Australian Conference and the Rev. Joseph Oram from New South Wales; and from Canada, Mr. Savage and Dr. Ryerson. On the lastmentioned name we cannot but linger awhile. This now glory-crowned veteran, whose "laurels are green, though his locks are grey," whilst yet a stripling won an honourable place in the history of his native land, as the successful champion of religious equality in Canada, during the famous contest about the Clergyreserves. This brought him into early and confidential association with some of the foremost English

The death-roll of the year was very heavy. Two Ex-Presidents and three heads of departments have been summoned higher: the Senior Editor, the General Secretary

the Home-Missions, and the

Derby, Sir Robert Harry Inglis and Macaulay. We are old enough to remember his second visit to this country, when his mind was already full of the benevolent enterprises which, by Divine help, he has so happily accomplished. He has also

been for many years the presiding genius of public elementary education in Canada. The venerable old man has still all the fire of his youth, and presents a picture of saintly senectitude, reminding one of such worthies as Joseph Entwisle, Joseph Sutcliffe, and Richard Reece; his illumined features inspiring us with mingled reverence and admiration.

We have only left ourselves

space just to allude to the memorable conversation on the state of the Work of God. Never, as it seemed to us, was the spiritual temperature of the Conference so fine. The tone of speeches and prayers alike was as remote from self-glorification and carnal elation as from querulous fault-finding and thankless despondency.

BY THE REV. W. H.

THE observations made by the English observers of the Transit of Venus are being rapidly reduced; and the results may be expected in a few months. The amount of work involved has been far greater than the public would suppose. There were, for example, five thousand transits of stars taken in order to correct the clocks and determine the errors in the instruments. The longitudes of the stations at Mauritius and Rodriguez, were measured from Suez by Lord Lindsay, with no fewer than fifty chronometers ; and six thousand microscopic measures were made to determine the optical distortion of the photoheliographs or instruments for photographing the planet in its passage over the solar disc. Many similar works in detail were also effected to secure exactitude of result; of course the English result will not determine the problem of the sun's distance, even to the extent to which its determination is possible, by means of this transit. It is only when the results of all the expeditions are compared and reduced, that the ultimate and final issue will be given.

But the work done in studying the phenomena of the Transit has

revived an old inquiry :-has Venus a satellite? There is amongst the older astronomers a curious consensus of what seems like valuable observation tending strongly to an affirmative reply. But singularly enough, with all the accuracy of observation, increase of observers, and incomparable improvement in optical apparatus, it has received no confirmation from modern and recent observers. While at the period of the transit, when every variety of appliance was employed, and some of the observers kept the possibility of its apparition specially in view, yet no trace of a satellite could be discovered.

When, however, the names of the observers, who affirm the existence of a moon attendant upon Venus, and the nature of their observations on this subject are considered the difficulty is only enhanced.

It was, for example, seen by Cassini in 1672 and 1686. While in 1759, Meir declares, "I saw above Venus a little globe of far inferior brightness, about one and a half diameters of Venus from herself. . . . . It continued for half an hour, and the position of the little globe with regard to Venus, remained the same, although the

position of the telescope had been changed."

In 1761, Montaigne declares that he saw a minute crescent twenty seconds from Venus. Three years later Rödkier, at Copenhagen, saw the same appearance for two evenings, and on the second occasion with two telescopes; while in the following week the same thing was seen by four observers together; and before the month was ended, it had been also seen quite independently at Auxerre. Finally, in October, 1740, an observation was made by the celebrated optician, James Short, F.R.S., in which he affirms that with two separate telescopes he discovered a moon to Venus, which "seemed about a third, or somewhat less, of the diameter of the planet herself." "I saw it," he continues, "for the space of an hour several times that morning; but the light of the sun increasing, I lost it altogether about a quarter of an hour after eight."

Now there are only two means of explaining away these carefully recorded observations: the first is optical illusion, dependent on defect in the telescopes, or peculiarity in the optical condition of the air; or else the presence of a star, unknown to the observers, so near the planet as to lead to the supposition that a satellite had been found. But it must be confessed that, in consideration of the observations themselves, and the observers by whom

The changes that have long been observed to take place in the great nebula, or cosmical cloud, around the star known as Eta Argus, are of so gigantic and almost overwhelming a nature, from the intensity of the activities they represent, and the enormous distance from us at which they occur, that astronomers naturally look with some eagerness to discover similar activities in other parts of the heavens. There is a nebula known as Omega, from its similarity to the form of this letter; and Professor Holden has been able to show that this great gaseous mass is also subject to vast mutations which, considering their distance from us, and their enormous bulk, are far too immense to be properly conceived, or at all comprehended.

The Challenger has reached home after her more than three years' voyage for strictly scientific purposes. The results are not yet published in their complete form; but they are unquestionably of inestimable value. On the formation of the sea-bed alone, facts are presented which must greatly modify the conclusions of geologists, especially on the subject of great periods of time, and the recurrence of powerful physical and biological revolutions. It has been shown indeed that there may be an overlapping of contemporaneous deposits in the same sea, which hitherto were sup

M. Paul Henry has discovered a new, small planet. He detected it on the 13th of July, at the Observatory at Paris. This is the one hundred and sixty-fourth of these remarkable bodies revolving between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

occupy the vast epochs of time now shown to be sufficient for the production of the whole taken together.

It has been proved also that large seas have a universal lowering of temperature with increase of depth: and the continuity of animal forms supposed to be extinct is made clearly manifest. So that geological time is reduced, and some of the

geological "epochs" are not interrupted or at an end; but are continuous to our own day. About ninety miles off the Island of St. Thomas, the sounding lines reached three thousand eight hundred and seventy-five fathoms; and the pressure at this depth was so enormous that the bulbs of the thermometers, which were made to stand a pressure of three tons, were broken to pieces. The vessel has during the time of her absence from England sailed nearly seventy thousand miles, crossing both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Her soundings reached in the Pacific a depth of at least five miles. Many of the biological specimens dredg、d up are curious in a very high degree. There was one crab especially remarkable. It came to the surfa e only at night, and its head is described as being nearly all eye, that being composed of a host of lenses. The body was so transparent that all the organs within could be clearly seen. Thus it would be almost invisible-ghostly at least whilst watching for its prey. It has five pairs of legs in the ordinary way, and three supplementary pairs. It has two pairs of foot jaws and is possessed of branchiæ or gills.

Another remarkable form was one of the lobsters possessed of no eyes; but the deficiency was made up by intense delicacy of touch. Near Amsterdam island, in the South Indian Ocean, the ship encountered a belt of gigantic sea-weed of which single plants are said to attain a length of a thousand feet, and a thickness equal to that of a man's body. A gale of snow to which she was exposed in the Antarctic Ocean, consisted of beautiful star-like crystals, which burned the skin as if they were red hot particles. We shall hope to return to the remarkable facts and experiences of this most

valuable voyage when the complete report is presented.

The Trap-door Spiders have been long known to the naturalist as a very remarkable group of animals; they have had many ardent students of their habits in their native state; but lately a very happy and unusual opportunity has arisen from the fact, that there is a curious spider belonging to the Mygale species, in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris.

It is commonly known that this species is so powerful as to prey on birds; but apparently this is the case only in extremity, and with the very largest specimens; for they are not furnished with a poisonous secretion in sufficient strength to overcome such large prey, and are dependent wholly on superior strength. The one in the Gardens has as usual eight eyes; its mandibles are armed with sharp teeth; its feet have retractile claws like a cat; and that part of the creature which has the legs articulated to it, is of a velvety black, with an olive lustre. The abdomen and feet are covered with reddish hair. Its length is over three inches, and its breadth including the legs-is seven inches. Its favourite food is crickets; these it takes in the night, being somnolent or torpid during the day.

This remarkable "beast" lies in tubes which it digs in clay banks, and which exhibit remarkable sagacity. The tubes are vaulted from one end to the other with a hard, compact mortar, which is afterwards hung with an exquisite tapestry of silk woven by the spider. Before however covering its walls with these delicate hangings, a coarser material is laid on the walls as a foundation to which the more delicate fabric is secured. Having completed this vaulted subway, the