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Mathematical Society, June 9.—S. Roberts, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Prof. Mannheim and Mr. T. Craig (United States Coast Survey) were admitted into the Society, and Mr. G. R. Dick, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal College, Mauritius, was elected a member.—Much interest was excited at the meeting by the fact that one of the Society's Foreign Members was present, and proposed to read a paper. M. Mannheim is well known in this country to be a most elegant cultivator of the modern geometry on the lines of Poncelet and Chasles. He has more especially worked at the following subjects:—(1) The method of geometrical transformation, following out in this direction Poncelet's researches in the theory of reciprocal polars; (2) the plane representation of certain space-figures; (3) the wave surface (his early papers form the subject of an article in the Quarterly Journal for 1878 by Prof. C. Niven, F.R.S.); but lastly, he has been more particularly engaged upon the study of properties relative to the displacement of figures in space; to this he has given the name of “Géométrie Cinématique” (Dr. Ball in his “Theory of Screws” says, “To M. Mannheim belongs the credit of having been the first to study geometrically the kinematics of a constrained body from a perfectly general point of view”):—his recent work with this title has obtained a warm recognition propter merita in this country —on this occasion Prof. Mannheim communicated a paper “Sur les surfaces parallèles,” which was characterised by all the clearness and power of exposition so well known to belong to mathematicians of the French school. Dr. Hirst, F.R.S., in proposing a vote of thanks, lightly touched upon the novelties of the communication, and expressed the pleasure it gave him and the meeting to see his fellow-student and friend present in the Society's rooms. A cordial vote of thanks having been carried, M. Mannheim briefly thanked the members present for their kind reception of him.—Other communications were:—On certain symbolic operators, by Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S.—On a system of co-ordinates, by Prof. Genese.—Note on a system of Cartesian ovals passing through four points on a circle, by Mr. R. A. Roberts.—On the Gaussian theory of surfaces, by Prof. Cayley, F.R.S.—On a theorem in the calculus of operations, by Mr. J. J. Walker.—On spherical quartics, with a quadruple cyclic arc and a triple focus, by Mr. H. M. Jeffery, F.R.S.—Note on the wave surface, by Prof. Mannheim.
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Societies and Academies . Nature 24, 159–160 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/024159a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/024159a0