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OF

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY:

OR,

YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS IN SCIENCE AND ART

HORE SG

MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS
IN :

MECHANICS, USEFUL ARTS, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY,
ASTRONOMY, GEOLOGY, ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, MINERALOGY,
, METEOROLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, ETC.

TOGETHER WITH

NOTES ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1863; A LIST
OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS; OBITUARIES OF
EMINENT SCIENTIFIC MEN, ETC.

EDITED BY

DAVID A. WELLS, A.M.,M.D.,

AUTHOR OF PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY,
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY, ETC.

BOSON:
GOUIyD: AND L1'N © Otbaw,

59 WASHINGTON STREET.
NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY.
CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD.
LONDON: TRUBNER & CO.

1864,

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
GOULD AND LINCOLN,
In. the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

=~

NOTES BY THE EDITOR

ON THE

PROGRESS OF SCIENCE FOR THE YEAR 1863.

THE thirty-third annual meeting of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science was held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sir William
Armstrong (the gun-maker) being in the chair. The meeting was
above the average, as respects the numbers in attendance and the
interest of the papers brought forward. Sir Charles Lyell was se-
lected as the President for 1864.

From the annual address of the President, reviewing the recent prog-
ress of Science, we make the following extracts. Referring to the
district of Newcastle as the birth-place of Stephenson, and of locomo-
tives and railways, he said, “ The history of railways shows what
grand results may have their origin in small beginnings. When coal
was first conveyed in this neighborhood from the pit to the shipping-
place on the Tyne, the pack-horse, carrying a burden of three hun-
dred-weight, was the only mode of transport employed. As soon as
roads suitable for wheeled carriages were formed, carts were introduced,
and this first step in mechanical appliance to facilitate transport had
the effect of increasing the load which the horse was enabled to carry,
from three hundred-weight to seventeen hundred-weight. The next
improvement consisted in laying wooden bars or rails for the wheels of
carts to run upon, and this was followed by the substitution of the four-
wheeled wagon for the two-wheeled cart. By this further application
of mechanical principles the original horse-load of three hundred-weight
was augmented to forty-two hundred-weight. These were important
results, and they were not obtained without the shipwreck of the for-
tunes of some men whose ideas were in advance of the times in which
they lived. The next step in the progress of railways was the attach-
ment of slips of iron to the wooden rails. Then came the iron tramway,
consisting of cast-iron bars of an angular section ; in this arrangement,

It

Dra SS Ea

IV NOTES BY THE EDITOR

the upright flange of the bar acted as a guide to keep the wheel on the
track. The next advance was an important one, and consisted in
transferring the guiding-flange from the rail to the wheel ; this improve-
ment enabled cast-iron edge-rails to be used. Finally, in 1820, after
the lapse of about 200 years from the first employment of wooden bars,
wrought-iron rails, rolled in long lengths, and of suitable section, were
made, and eventually superseded all other forms of railway. Thus,
the railway system, like all other large inventions, has risen to its pres-
ent importance by a series of steps; and so gradual has been its prog-
ress that Europe finds itself committed to a gauge fortuitously deter-
mined by the distance between the wheels of the carts for which wooden
rails were originally laid down.

Last of all came the locomotive engine, that crowning achievement
of mechanical science, which enables us to convey a load of 200 tons at
a cost of fuel scarcely exceeding that of the corn and hay which the
original pack-horse consumed in bonieyi ns its load of three hundred-
weight an equal distance.

_In thus glancing at the history of railways, we may observe how
promptly the inventive faculty of man supplies the device which the
circumstances of the moment require. No sooner is a road formed fit
for wheeled carriages to pass along than the cart takes the place of the
pack-saddle : no sooner is the wooden railway provided than the wagon
is substituted for the cart: and no sooner is an iron railway formed,
capable of carrying heavy loads, than the locomotive engine is found
ready to commence its career. As in the vegetable kingdom fit con-
ditions of soil and climate quickly cause the appearance of suitable
plants, so in the intellectual world fitness of time and circumstance
promptly calls forth appropriate devices. The seeds of invention ex-
ist, as it were, in the air, ready to germinate whenever suitable con-
ditions arise, and no legislative interference is needed to insure their
growth in proper season.”

Necessity for a New System of Writing.— “The facility now given
to the transmission of intelligence and the interchange of thought is one
of the most remarkable features of the present age. Cheap and rapid
postage to all parts of the world, — paper and printing reduced to the
lowest cost, — electric telegraphs between nation and nation, town and
town, all contribute to aid that commerce of ideas by which wealth and
knowledge are augmented. But while so much facility is given to
mental communications by new measures and new inventions, the fun-
damental art of expressing thought by written symbols remains as im-
perfect now as it has been for centuries past. It seems strange that

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. W

while we actually possess a system of short-hand by which words can
be recorded as rapidly as they can be spoken, we should persist in
writing a slow and laborious long-hand. It is intelligible that grown-up
persons who have acquired the present conventional art of writing
should be reluctant to incur the labor of mastering a better system ;
but there can be no reason why the rising generation should not be in-
structed in a method of writing more in accordance with the activity
of mind which now prevails. Even without going so far as to adopt
for ordinary use a complete system of stenography, which it is not easy
to acquire, we might greatly abridge the time and labor of writing by
the recognition of a few simple signs to express the syllables which are
of most frequent occurrence in our language. Our words are in a
great measure made up of such syllables as com, con, tion, ing, able,
ain, ent, est, ance, etc. These we are now obliged to write out over
and over again, as if time and labor expended in what may be termed
visual speech were of no importance. Neither has our written charac-
ter the advantage of distinctness to recommend it — it is only necessary
to write such a word as minimum or ammunition to become aware
of the want of sufficient difference between the letters we employ.”
National Uniformity of Weights and Measures. —“ Another subject
_ of a social character which demands our consideration is the much-de-
bated question of weights and measures. Whatever difference of
opinion there may be as to the comparative merits of decimal and duo-
decimal division, there can, at all events, be none as to the importance
of assimilating the systems of measurement in different countries.
Science suffers by the want of uniformity, because valuable observations
made in one country are in a great measure lost to another from the
labor required to convert a series of quantities into new denominations.
International commerce is also impeded by the same cause, which is
productive of constant inconvenience and frequent mistake. It is
much to be regretted that two standards of measure so nearly alike as
the English yard and the French métre should not be made absolutely
identical. The metric system has already been adopted by other na-
tions besides France, and is the only one which has any chance of be-
coming universal. We in England, therefore, have no alternative but
to conform with France, if we desire general uniformity. The change
might easily be introduced in scientific literature, and in that case it
would probably extend itself by degrees amongst the commercial classes
without much legislative pressure. Besides the advantage which would
thus be gained in regard to uniformity, I am convinced that the adop-
tion of the decimal division of the French scale would be attended with

Va NOTES BY THE EDITOR

great convenience, both in science and commerce. I can speak from
personal experience of the superiority of decimal measurement in all
cases where accuracy is required in mechanical construction. In the
Elswick Works [where the Armstrong guns are made. Ep.], as well
as in some other large establishments of the same description, the inch
is adopted as the unit, and all fractional parts are expressed in deci-
mals. No difficulty has been experienced in habituating the workmen
to the use of this method, and it has greatly contributed to precision of
workmanship. ‘The inch, however, is too small a unit, and it would be
advantageous to substitute the métre if general concurrence could be
obtained. As to our thermometric scale, it was originally founded in
error ; it is also most inconvenient in division, and ought at once to be
abandoned in favor of the centigrade scale. The recognition of the
metric system and of the centigrade scale by the numerous men of
science composing the British Association, would be a most important
step toward effecting that universal adoption of the French standards
in this country which, sooner or later, will inevitably take place ; and
the Association in its collective capacity might take the lead in this
good work, by excluding in future all other standards from their pub-
lished Proceedings.”

In this connection it may be interesting to add that a commission of
scientists has recently been convened in Germany, to consider what
measures may be best adopted there, to secure uniformity of weights
and measures, and the various continental Governments have been
called upon to examine the practicability of those which have been rec-
ommended. The Bavarian Government states its readiness to adopt
the decimal system for weight and long measure, but in surface and
cubic measure can only promise to have tables of reduction prepared
and circulated. The land-tax, as it exists in Bavaria, is the chief ob-
stacle to any simplification of the surface scale, while the fact that there
are different measures for fire-wood, for timber, for earth and for stone
would cause great confusion if any reform of cubic measure were to be
introduced.

Accuracy of Modern Astronomical Investigations. — In another part
of the present volume, attention is called to the discrepancy which ex-
ists in the estimates of astronomers respecting the solar parallax. This
has usually been represented by eight seconds and a half; but accord-
ing to the recent calculations of Hansen, the German astronomer, four-
tenths of a second should be added, which reduces the distance of the
earth from the sun about four millions of miles. Ata recent meeting
of the Royal Astronomical Society (G. B.), Mr. Pritchard thus rep-

‘

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. VII

resented the difference: “ Take a hair and measure it, and you will
find that the correction of the distance amounts to this, — that we have
to look at the hair at a distance of 125 feet. This is the correction
that astronomers have made: or, let us look at a sovereign at a distance
of eight miles ; it amounts to about the same thing. We ought to be
thankful that we are able to calculate and correct such inappreciable
quantities.”

Astronomical Memoranda. — The Lalande prize of the French
Academy has been awarded to Mr. Alvan Clark, of Cambridgeport,
Mass., for his discovery of the companion star of Sirius, the great object-
glass (18 inches in diameter), with which this most interesting discovery
was made, was Mr. Clark’s own manufacture, and was intended for the
observatory of the University of Mississippi. In consequence, however,
of the breaking out of the civil war, this glass was never delivered, and
has since been sold to the Astronomical Association of Chicago for
11,000 dollars. It is highly creditable to the West that such a purchase
should have been made for its busiest trading city, and we may antici-
pate that the observatory of Chicago, which has already done good
work, will achieve a reputation in the higher branches of astronomy.

At a meeting of the Royal Asiatjc Society held March, 1863, Dr.
Kern produced a translation of a portion of the works of Aryabhatta, a
celebrated Hindoo mathematician of antiquity, which seemed to prove
conclusively that the sphericity and diurnal rotation of the earth had
been correctly apprehended by that early Indian writer, who flourished
at an epoch variously estimated by different investigators, but which
must have been prior to A. D. 600, and has been placed as far back as
B. C. 100.

Extensionof Telegraphic Communication.—During the year 1863, com-
munication by electric telegraph has taken place between London and
Turnen, in Siberia, a distance of 4039 miles. It was anticipated that r
an extension of the wires will be made to Nikolaievski, on the Pacific,
by the end of 1863, and that telegraphic communication with New
York, via Siberia and California, will be established by the end of
1865. :

Meteorological Science.— The most important contributions to Me-
teorological Science of the year have been made through the balloon
ascensions of Mr. James Glaisher, under the auspices of the British As-
sociation. The observations of the meteorologist show that the de-
crease of temperature with elevation does not follow the law previously
assumed of 1° in 300 feet, and that in fact it follows no definite law at
all. Mr. Glaisher appears also to have ascertained the interesting fact

Vill NOTES BY THE EDITOR

that rain is only precipitated when cloud existsin adouble layer. Rain-
drops, he has found, diminish in size with elevation, merging into wet
mist, and ultimately into dry frog. Mr. Glaisher met with snow for a
mile in thickness below rain, which is at variance with our preconceived
ideas.

Cinchona Bark from India. — The gradual but certain destruction
of the Cinchona forests of America, which has been viewed with so
much anxiety by all who know how indispensable quinine is to the ex-
istence of Europeans in many of the tropical parts of the world, may
for the future be considered of minor importance, inasmuch as the suc-
cessful cultivation of the Cinchonas in India has been demonstrated
the past year. At a meeting of the Linnean Society, London, June,
1863, the first specimens of Cinchona bark sent from India to Europe
were exhibited. It was stated that these had been found to yield a
percentage of quinine, and the other febrifuge alkaloids, fully equal
to that furnished by the bark of the same species when grown in South
America; and it had also been ascertained that quinine might be ob-
tained in small quantities from the leaves. The successful culture of
the Cinchona plants in India must be regarded as a subject of the
highest importance, not merely to the prosperity of India, but indirectly
to the whole world; as the exploration and civilization of many tropi-
cal countries by Europeans is absolutely dependent on a reliable sup-
ply of quinine.

Acclimatizing Efforts in Australia. —'The work of acclimatizing
European animals in Australia, under the direction of proper authori-
ties, is being pursued vigorously, and with great success. Mr. Edward
Wilson, of Melbourne, Australia, in a report on the subject, states that
the English skylark and the thrush were breeding freely in a wild state,

, and “not only making various neighborhoods vocal, but absolutely, by
force of example, compelling the native birds to improve their song-
notes.” A number of fallow deer had been turned out, and taken
readily to bush life. Several kinds of English pond fish had been safely
brought over, and transferred to the native waters. A collection of
birds, amongst others the Indian .curassow, gold, silver, and common
pheasants, Ceylon peafowl, American and other waterfowl, were being
prepared in the Botanic Gardens for transfer to wild land, and it was
thought that all would eventually thrive. The lama has been acclima-
tized and its wool has become one of the products of Australia.

Steam Cultivation. — A “ General Steam Cultivation Company ” has
been started in London, with a capital of over a million dollars, whose
object is announced to be to purchase, keep on hand, and rent or leé

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. IX

to farmers, at reasonable rates, every kind of steam agricultural imple-
ment. The prospectus suggests that many farmers would gladly use
steam in ploughing and otherwise working their soil, but cannot afford
to invest several thousand dollars in the needful machinery. ‘To these
this company proposes to be helpful. It is asserted that applications
are already received for renting machinery to the vaiue of quarter of
a million of dollars. A Mr. Smith, of Woolston, England, who has es-
pecially exerted himself during the last few years to promote “ steam
culture,” has recently published a resumé of his personal experience in
this matter. He states, that the cost of preparing land for roots was,
with steam, $2.88; with horses, $10.03; for barley two years, $2.16
with steam against $5.05 by horse power ; four years for wheat, $50.20
by steam against the same for horse power, and foots up a total for a
number of other articles, which shows a gain of 200 per cent. in favor
of steam. ‘The writer says also that besides the economy of the plan,
he had much better crops.

Novelty in Architectural Construction.— A novelty in architectural
construction has been brought out during the past year in the construc-
tion of a building designed for a school of art at Nottingham, England.
The dome of the tower is to be covered, and some panels in the front
filled in with Minton’s encaustic tiles, patterned in bright colors. The
London Atheneum commenting on this peculiarity says, “‘ We cannot.
understand why, considering the exigencies of our town life and atmos-
phere, the whole exterior of a building could not be covered with ceram-
ics, comprising bands in bold relief richly moulded and colored, dec- -
orated heads for windows, and friezes of figures, either relieved, or,
preferably, drawn on the flat, in an architectonic character and soberly
toned in color, either on a white or a bright-hued ground. Glazed sur-
faces are obviously the only ones fit for exterior decoration in modern
towns. Let any one look at the waste of labor on the carvings of St.
Paul’s, what a stained and smeared great structure it is, or at the
Houses of Parliament, and see how the sooty streams trail over the
costly waste of mouldings and figures, and not only hide but eat them
away; then let him consider what the latter building will be a century
hence, judging by what he sees of the piebald state of the former. Do
we not make glazed earthenware for half the planet, and can we not
cover our own houses with it ? ”

Recent Progress of Chemical Science.— During the past year,
through the aid of the process of spectral analysis, another new body,
Indium, has been added to the list of the elements. Bessemer’s process
of manufacturing iron and steel may now be considered as having

_ ie NOTES BY THE EDITOR

passed out from the domain of theory, into the province of actual and
practical fact. The contributions made to our knowledge by Professor
Graham respecting the molecular constitution and properties of gases,
should also be included among the important novelties of the year in
inorganic chemistry. The recent advances in organic chemistry are
thus detailed by a writer in the London Pharmaceutical Journal, — Dr.
MacAdam. He says, “Not only does the manufacturing chemistry
of the day transform starch and sugar into alcohol by fermentation, as
in brewing operations ; sawdust into oxalic acid by the action of soda
and nitre; starch or sawdust into grape-sugar by the aid of sulphuric
acid ; wood and coal into paraffin and paraffin oils by the process of
destructive distillation ; coal into aniline and the coal-tar colors; and
guano into a magnificent color, rivalling that from the cochineal insect ;
but the organic chemistry of the day has proceeded to produce artifi-
cially many alcohols and ethers, including jargonelle pear essence and
pine-apple essence ; and to construct many alkaloids resembling quinine,
strychnine and morphine in theirscomposition and chemical properties,
encouraging the hope that we may soon be in possession of the means
of preparing by artificial processes these powerful medicines, and pos-
sibly others equally efficacious. And more than that, and principally
through the researches of Berthelot, dead mineral matter has been
worked up by stages into organic compounds. Thus Berthelot, taking
carbon and sulphur, combines these into bisulphide of carbon, a mo-
bile, ethereal liquid ; and therefore, by the mutual reaction of copper,
hydrosulphuric acid, and the bisulphide of carbon, he obtains olefiant
gas. The latter is absorbed by sulphuric acid (oil of vitrol) to the ex-
tent of 120 volumes of the gas in one of the acid, and thereafter by di-
lution with water and distillation, the acid mixture yields alcohol of
the same composition and properties as that obtained from ordinary
grain. Strecker takes the olefiant gas in solution in sulphuric acid,
and by adding water, neutralizing with. ammonia, evaporating and
heating, obtains crystals of taurine, one of the constituents of bile.
Wahler combines the simple elements, nitrogen and oxygen, by electric
discharges, into nitric acid, and then by the successive mutual reaction
of this nitric acid with tin, hydrochloric acid, and black lead, and lime
(or oxide of lead), he obtains a complicated organic substance, called
the hydrocyanate of ammonia. The latter may also be prepared by
passing a mixture of fhe gases ammonia and carbonic oxide through a
red-hot tube. The hydrocyanate of ammonia may then be employed
in yielding cyanogen, hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid), oxalic acid, and
urea ; also formic acid, paracyanogen, cyanuric acid, sulphocyanogen,
and mellon.

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. xI

“ When cast-iron (which contains carbon) is dissolved in dilute sul-
phuric or hydrochloric acid, there is evolved a volatile oil resembling
turpentine, and there is left in the vessel a small quantity of graphite,
and a brown mould resembling vegetable mould. Ordinary carbonate
of soda (washing soda) can have carbon extracted from it, and if the
latter is acted upon by dilute nitric acid, and the solution evaporated,
an artificial tannin is obtained, which has the property of precipitating
gelatine or glue trom its solution, like ordinary tannin obtained from
gall nuts or oak bark. Berthelot has taken carbonic oxide and caustic
potash, and compelled them to produce formic acid (yielded naturally
by red ants) ; and with a single link of the chain awanting, he has
manufactured glycerine, which is the base of fatty substances, and com-
bining it with the fatty acids, he has prepared artificially the oils and
fats generally obtained from the plant and the animal, and many more
new oils and fats not known in nature. Berthelot has acted upon gly-
cerine by putrefying animal matter, and obtained artificially grape
sugar ; and has converted oil of turpentine into ordinary camphor and
Borneo camphor ; whilst, in conjunction with De Luca, he has prepared
artificially one of the chief constituents of oil of mustard (sulphocyanide
of allyl).

“‘ These researches in organic chemistry may appear, at this, the mo-
ment of their birth, to have little influence on the arts and manufac-
tures and on mankind in general. But are they not researches into
the deep mysteries of nature ? and who can predict the influence which
they miy yet have on the prosperity of the human race ? ”

Change of Color in Stars. —Itis more than suspected by some of
the European astronomers that an example of a star successively
changing its color may now exist in the stellar body known as ninety-
five Herculis. Mr. Higgins, in his observation on Spectra of Stars,
has had occasion to notice the phenomena, and he describes the
change as observable, even after intervals so brief as three or four
nights.

The so-called Spiritual Phenomena. — A recognition of the reality
of many of the phenomena — physical or physiological — which are
popularily classified under the term “ Spiritual” appears to be gradu-
ally gaining ground among the scientific men of the United States
and Europe. Among the names of note who are reported during the
past year as having extended such a recognition, we find that of Prof.
De Morgan, who is confessedly one of the most distinguished of liv-
ing British physicists and mathematicians. The position which this
gentleman and others assume is probably well expressed in the follow-

XII NOTES BY THE EDITOR.

ing extracts of a letter recently published in the London Athenceum.
This observer says : —

“J divide, for brevity sake, all the phenomena into physical and meta-
physical, — a division which, if not strictly philosophical, will be sufti-
giently understood by those who have been present at any so-called
sitting. My testimony, then, is this: —I have seen and felt physical
facts wholly and utterly inexplicable, as I believe, by any known and
generally received physical laws. I unhesitatingly reject the theory
which considers such facts to be produced by means familiar to the
best professors of legerdemain. Ihave witnessed also many very sur-
prising and extraordinary metaphysical manifestations. But I cannot
say that any of those have been such as wholly to exclude the possibil-
ity of their being deceptive, and indeed, to use the honest word
required by the circumstances, fraudulent. This is my testimony
reduced to its briefest possible expression.

“Tf it be asked what impression, on the whole, has been left on my
mind by all that I have witnessed in this matter, I answer, one of per-
plexed doubt, shaping itself into only one conviction that deserves the
name of an opinion, namely, that quite sufficient cause has been shown
to demand further patient and careful inquiry from those who have
the opportunity and the qualifications needed for prosecuting it ; that
the facts alleged, and the number and character of the persons testify-
ing to them, are such that real seekers for truth cannot satisfy them-
selves by merely pooh-poohing them.”

Interesting Report on Fisheries. — An interesting instarte of a
governmental inquiry, under scientific auspices, into a branch of natu-
ral industry, has been presented to us during the past year, in a re-
port to the British Parliament, of a commission appointed to consider
and investigate the subject of the herring fishery, particularly as it
is connected with British interests. This commission consisted of Col.
Maxwell, Dr. Lyon Playfair, and Mr. T. Huxley; and the following
is a resumé of the more important features of the report in question.
The conclusion is arrived at, that the herring does not, as some natu-
ralists have affirmed, migrate to the seas within the Arctic circle, but,
probably, on disappearing from the shores of the British Islands, passes
into deep water near them. The herring is found under four different
conditions: —— 1st, Fry or Sill; 2d, Maties, or Fat Herring; 3d,
Full Herring ; 4th, Shotten, or Spent Herring. It is extremely diffi-
cult to obtain satisfactory evidence as to the length of time which the
herring requires to pass from the embryonic to the adult or full con-
dition. The commissioners, after considering all the evidence obtain-

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XTII

able, are of the opinion, that the herring attains to full size and matu-
rity in about eighteen months. It is also probable that this fish arrives
at its spawning condition in one year, and that the eggs are hatched
in, at most, two to three weeks after deposition, and that in six or
seven weeks more the young have attained three inches in length. The
maties, or fat herring, feed, develop their reproductive organs, and be-
come full herrings in about three or four months. The herrings then
aggregate in prodigious numbers for about a fortnight in localities
favorable for the reception of their ova. Here they lie in tiers, cover-
ing square miles of sea bottom, and so close to the ground that the
fishermen have to practise a peculiar mode of fishing in order to take
them, while every net and line used in the fishing is thickly covered
with the adhesive spawn which they are busily engaged in shedding.
So intent are the fish on this great necessity of their existence that
they are not easily driven from their spawning ground; but when once
their object has been attained, and they have become spent fish, the
shoal rapidly disappears, withdrawing in all probability into deep water
at no great distance from the coast. There is no positive evidence as
to the ultimate fate of the spent herrings; but there is much to be
said in favor of the current belief, that after a sojourn of more or less
duration in deep water, they return as maties to the shallows and lochs;
there to run through the same changes as before. The commission-
ers were unable to gain any information respecting the time which
one and the same herring may pass through the cycle. The enemies
of this fish are, however, too numerous and active to render it at all
likely that the existence of any one fish is prolonged beyond two or
three reproductive epochs. Great difference of opinion has been held
respecting the spawning season of the herrings. The commissioners’
conclusion is, that the herring spawns twice annually, in the spring
and in the autumn. It is not, however, at all likely that the same fish
spawn twice in the year; on the contrary, the spring and the autumn
shoals are most likely perfectly distinct; and if the herring, as is
probable, comes to maturity in a year, the shoals of each spawning
season would be the fry of the twelvemonth before.

The food of the herring consists of crustacea, varying in size from
microscopic dimensions to those of a shrimp, and of small fish, particu-
larly sand-eels.

The commissioners ascribe the remarkable variableness in the
annual visits of shoals of herrings to the British coasts to the varying
quantity of food of the fish, and to the number and force of the
destructive agencies at work. Any circumstance which increases or

XIV NOTES ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

decreases the quantity of crustacea and sand-eels must exercise great
influence on herring-shoals; but these are even more acted upon by
their great destroyers. The latter may be ranged under the heads of
fish, birds, marine animals, and man. Of these, by far the greatest de-
stroyers are fish and marine animals, as porpoises and other cetacea.
It is estimated that the total annual take of herrings by British fisher-
men is 900,000,000 ; a prodigious number ; but great as this is, it sinks
into comparative insignificance when compared with the destruction
effected by other agencies. Cod alone destroy ten times as great a
number as are captured by all our fishermen. It is a very common
thing to find a cod-fish with six or seven large herrings in his stomach.
When it is further considered that the conger and dog-fish do as much
mischief as the cod and ling, that the gulls and gannets slay their mil-
lions, and that porpoises and grampuses destroy additional countless
multitudes, it will be evident that fishing operations, extensive as they
are, do not destroy five per cent. of the total number of full herrings
that are destroyed every year by other causes. These facts, which
cannot be controverted, prepare us for the conclusions arrived at by
the commissioners with reference to the legislative enactments relating
to the herring fishery.

They recommend that all prohibitory or restrictive laws bearing on
the herring fishery be repealed, and that the fishermen be allowed to
follow their business in any manner they may think proper. Tn con-
clusion they add: “If legislation could regulate the appetites of cod,
conger, and porpoise, it might be useful to pass laws regarding them ;
but to prevent fishermen catching one or two per cent. of herring in
any way they please, seems, in the opinion of the Commissioners, a
wasteful employment of the force of law.”

We present to the readers of the Annual of Scientific Discovery for
1864, the portrait of Major-General Q. A. Grttmore, U. S. A., best
known in science for his investigations and researches respecting
“limes, mortars, and cements,” and for the brilliant military engineer-
ing displayed by him in the reduction of Forts Pulaski, Sumter, and
Wagner.

THE ~ £. va

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS.

THE SEWERS OF PARIS.

THE present system of sewerage in Paris, decreed by the Emperor
Napoleon II. in 1852, consists of six main galleries, called collectors,
fifteen secondary ones opening into the former, and themselves fed by
a vast number of smaller ones intersecting the city in every direction.
Three of the collectors are located upon “the right bank of the Seine,
and three upon the left bank. The united lenoth of the former is
8.600 metres; of the latter, 9.200 metres.

The ratio of the section to be given to the various sewers has been
fixed, as experience required, at from two to three square metres of
wet surface tor every 100 hectares. On this principle, twelve different
sizes have been chosen, the smallest having a section of 2.15 metres in
height by 1.15 in breadth, and the largest one of 4.40 metres in height
by 5.60 in breadth. The former is of an ovoid shape, and offers ample
space fora man and a wheelbarrow. ‘The largest sewer or collector
has a circular segment for its section; its breadth is divided into three
parts, the two lateral ones being foot pavements, and the middle one a

utter or drain 1.20 metres broad. On each foot pavement, a series of
iron forks support a water pipe, varying in diameter from 1.10 metres
to 0.80. In some of the galleries there is but one water-pipe. ‘To
cleanse the drain a small cart, running on iron rails laid along the bot-
tom, is pushed forward by two men; ‘the front of this cart is “provided
with a drop-plank, acting like a sort of sluice, which, when down,
exactly closes the section of the gutter, and pushes all the mud before
it as the cart advances. By the sewers above described, all the foul
waters of the right bank are easily brought to the Place de la Con-
corde, where a general collector receives them and carries them off to
Asnieres. But what was to be done with the sewerage of the left bank,
which, according to the system adopted, was also to be poured into the

15

16 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

general collector. After much reflection, it was decided that the waters
of the left bank should be carried over by a siphon passing under the
bed of the Seine; and this singular engineering feat has actually been
accomplished. An enormous pipe of wrought iron having an interior
diameter of one metre, and about 200 meires in length, is sunk, a little
above the Pont de la Concorde, two metres below the low-water mark,
and thus the desired communication is established. As to the general
collector, it is the most stupendous work of the kind in existence. It
is 5 metres in height by 5.61 in breadth, with a length of about five
kilometres and a half, in nearly a right line, except a turn under the
Place de la Madeleine. The foot pavements are 1.90 metres on each
side, the central drain is 3.60 metres in breadth, with a depth of 1.35;
so large, in fact, that a well sized boat is kept afloat on it for the pur-
pose of cleansing. ‘This boat is also provided with a drop-plank in
front; this is let down to a distance of 15 centimetres from the bottom,
while the boat advances, whereby such a head of water is obtained in
front as to drive all the sedimentary matter — nay, even stones—to a
distance of 100 metres. There the boat finds it again as it advances,
and drives it further and further, till the orifice of the emissary is
reached. Four boats perform this work, and it takes sixteen days to
cleanse the whole length. Ventilation 1s provided for by air-traps at
certain distances, and the gallery is lighted with oil lamps. The exe-
cution of this immense system of sewers has cost fifty millions of francs.
M. Dezobry, comparing this gallery with the far-famed Cloaca Maxima
of Rome, shows that it is infinitely superior to it in size, not to mention
the improvements in construction, of which the Romans had no idea.
The Cloaca Maxima is two metres in height, and only 4.48 broad, and
is supposed never to have exceeded a length of 900 metres. The di-
mensions we have given abundantly show how vastly superior the
modern Trench construction is to the ancient Roman one.

THE NEW SEWERS OF LONDON.

Tt is well known to our readers (See Annual Sci. Dis., 1859-60)
that for the last few years, there has been in the course of construction
in London, a system of sewage, of such magnitude as to form one of
the marvels of modern engineering, and of such cost, as but few cities
could afford to pay for. The object of the scheme is to do away with
the present plan, whereby all the enormous drainage of London is dis-
charged into the Thames;—a plan which has latterly converted the
river itself into one vast sewer, to the great annoyance and sanitary
detriment of the vast population contiguous toits waters. “ At the very
first glance,” says the London Times : —“ This arrangement seems bad
enough, though it is infinitely worse when we come to examine how it
was arranged to work. On both sides of the river the banks are very
hitle above high-water mark, while the average level of the ground im-
mediately behind them is much below it; half Lambeth and Rother-
hithe being six feet below high-water level. Of course, when this is the
level of the ground, the sewers are much lower still, and their outlets so
completely tide-locked that it is only at dead low-water that they can
empty themselves at all. Thus, for nearly eighteen hours out of the
twenty-four, the sewage on both sides of London is to an immense ex-
tent, pent up, giving off its miasma into every street and house. As

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 17

we have said, it could only escape at dead low water, when the return-
ing tide immediately churned it up the river, keeping all its abomina-
bic ‘flotsam and jetsam’ above bridge till the tide ebbed out, finding
200,000 or 300,000 gallons of filth ‘to be operated upon ina similar
manner on its return. This was the arrangement twelve years ago,
and is almost entirely so still; but, even bad as this was, it was capa-
ble of being made worse, and worse accordingly it was made. In
1849, most of the houses in London had cesspools attached to them,
and a very large proportion were without any drains at all. The
alarming nature “of this evil showed itself slowly but surely in the Bills
of Mortality, and the then Commissioners of Sewers, who were feebly
battling with the evils of the drainage system, set to work to mitigate
the cesspool danger by drainage, making the Thames, as usual, “the
general receptacle. From that time to the present some 700 or 800
miles of new drains have been made, and all cesspools made to drain
at once into the river. By this ‘improved’ drainage some 200,000
additional gallons of sewage were daily added to the Thames at ‘low
water, containing no less than 300 tons of ‘ organic matter, which in
this case is the scientific term of filth. The ‘result, as a matter of
course, has been that in the summer months the stench from the river
has occasionally been intolerable. In 1857, great quantities of lime
and chloride of lime were put in daily; in 1858, the same expedient
had to be resorted to again ; and in 1859, the dose had to be increased
into 110 tons of lime and 12 tons of chloride of lime, costing 1,500/.
per week. Even in a pecuniary point of view, however, this was not
the only evil of the system. The Thames in hot weather runs short
of water; and when there is no rain, the collections of refuse in the
sewers have to be flushed into the river by artificial means. This
flushing alone during summer costs 20.000. a year to get the poison
into the Thames, where 20. 000/. more is generally required to keep it
from breeding a plague.” To obviate these difficulties, an immense
new sewage system was devised, and for the last few y ears has been in
the course of construction, whereby London will be effectually drained,
and the Thames purified. As may easily be imagined, it is impossible,
in an article like the present, to give more than an outline of this oreat
plan, which may best be bricfly described as consisting of three gigan-
tic main tunnels or sewers on each side of the river. These completely
divide underground London, from west to east, and cutting all existing
sewers at right angles intercept their flow to the Thames, and carry
every gallon of London sewage under certain conditions into the river
at a point far below the city limits and not far distant from the sea.
“ These main drains are called the High, Middle, and Low Level sew-
ers, according to the height of the localities which each respectively
drains. The High Level, on the north side. is about eight miles in
length, and runs “from Hampstead to Bow, being at its rise only four
feet six inches in diameter, and thence increasing in circumference, as
the waters of the sewers it intercepts require a * wider course, to five
feet, six feet, seven feet, ten feet six inches, eleven feet six inches,
and at its termination to twelve feet six inches in diameter. This
drain is now entirely finished, and in full work. Its minimum fall is
twelve feet in the mile; its maximum at the beginning nearly fifty
feet a’mile. It is laid at a depth of from twenty to. twenty-six feet be-
2%

18 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

low the ground, and drains an area of fourteen square miles. The
Middle Level, as being lower in the valley on the slope of which Lon-
don is built, is laid at a greater depth, varying from thirty to thirty-six
feet, and even more below the surface. This is nearly complete, and ex-
tends from Kensal Green to Bow. The Low Level will extend from
Cremorne to Abby Mills, on the marshes, near Stratford. At Bow, the
Low Level waters will be raised, by powerful engines, at a pumping sta-
tion, to the junction of the High and Middle Level ducts, thence descend-
ing by their own gravity through three tunnels to the main reservoir and
final outfall. These three tunnels are each nine feet six inches in diam-
eter, and nearly four miles long. Great engineering difficulties existed
in the construction of these main arteries, as, from the height at which
they all meet, it was necessary to take them above the level of the marshes
leading to Barking. For a mile and a half the embankment which en-
closes the three tunnels is carried on brick arches, the piers going eighteen
feet below the surface, and being based on solid concrete. In the marshes
at Barking, a reservoir for the reception of the sewage of the north
side has been formed. ‘This reservoir is a mile and a half long by one
hundred feet wide, and twenty-one feet deep. It is made of this great
length in proportion to width to allow of its being roofed with brick
arches, which are again covered with earth to a considerable thick-
ness, so that not the slightest smell or escape of miasma can take
place. This is capable of containing more than three times the
amount of sewage which can enter it while the pipes are shut, and
thus, when all is complete, the works will not only be large enough to
take off all London’s sewage now, but its sewage when London is
double its present size.

‘While the sewage is in the reservoir we have spoken of, it will be
completely deodorized by an admixture of lime. When the tide is at
its height the sluices which pass from the bottom of the re€ervoir far
out into the bed of the river will be opened, and the whole allowed to
flow away. It takes two hours thus to empty the reservoir, by which
time the tide will be flowing down strongly, and will carry its very last
gallon a distance of thirteen miles below Barking, which, being itself
thirteen miles below London, will place the contents of the sewers,
every twelve hours, twenty-six or more miles distant from the metrop-
olis. Thus, instead of letting loose the rankest of this great city’s
abominations in the very midst of London, and leaving it to stagnate,
or, still worse, to be agitated backwards and forwards in a small body
of water, it will all be carried away a distance of thirteen miles, then
deodorized, then suffered to escape into a body of water more than a
hundred times greater than that into which it now crawls, and thus
disinfected and diluted, so as to be without either taste or smell, swept
still further down the stream, till every trace of it is lost.

‘On the south side, the three great sewer arteries are constructed on
similar plans, — the High Level, from Dulwich to Deptford; the Mid-
dle, from Clapham to Deptford; and the Low Level, from Putney to
Deptford. At this point is a pumping station, which raises the water
from the low to the high level, whence it flows away through a ten feet
tunnel to Crossness Point. One part of this tunnel, passing under
Woolwich, is a mile and a half in length, without a single break, and
driven at a depth of eighty feet from the surface. At the outfall will

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 19

be another pumping “station, to lift the water to the reservoir. The
southern reservoir is only five acres in extent; that on the north is
fourteen. In the reservoir it will be deodorized and discharged in a
similar way to that we have already described. \

“ The pumping stations will each consist of an engine-house, contain-
ing ten boilers calculated to work up to five hundred horse-power nom-
inal. This power, working through eight pumps of seven feet diameter
and four feet stroke, will daily raise 119,000,000 cubic feet of sewage
from nineteen feet below low water to the level of the outfall; but, in
case of necessity, the pumps can raise 250,000,000 cubic feet per day.
The reservoir into which it will all flow is not yet finished, but when
roofed in with brick will hold 20,000,000 gallons of sewage.

“ The total length of the three rows of intercepting sewers, the course
of which we have sketched on each side of the river, will be fifty
miles, and before all the works are completed 800,000 cubic yards of
concrete will be consumed, upwards of 300,000,000 of bricks, and
4,000,000 cubie yards of earthwork.”

During the past year, a part of this great work has been so far com-
pleted, that a portion of the sewage of London has been diverted from
its old channels.

UNSINKABLE TIMBER SHIPS.

At the last meeting of the British Association, Admiral Belcher stat-
ed that many years since, Mr. Walters, an architect, tried to render
ships for mercantile purposes unsinkable, by introducing copper cylin-
ders between the timbers, the hold-beams, and, indeed, every opening
where the cargo did not prevent; and he calculated that these dis-
placements or cells would about compensate for difference of specific
gravity between cargo, vessel, and gear, so as to simply reduce her to
the state of a water-logged craft, to save crew, vessel, and such portions
of cargo as might be secured in air-tight vessels.

Latterly, the pneumatic trough had suggested itself to his (Admiral-
Belcher’s) mind the propriety of close-ceiling the holds, or under-
planking the hold-beams, and saving those spaces between them for
the storage of light dry-goods above that deck (which was generally
lost), and placing loose planks (indeed, as we were in the habit of
hatching many, of our brigs of 386 tons and under) as a temporary
deck. Now, in the event ofa dangerous leak, or even a large hole being
stove in the bows or bottom of a ship, he proposed securing the hatches
from beneath to hatches above, screwed firmly in opposition to each
other, and filled in by pitch from the upper or open hatch. Now, it
would be apparent that if the ship was air-tight, the water could only
enter so long as the air was compressible, and by inverting the pump-
boxes and rendering them air-pumps, the leak would not only be
stopped, but, by the continued action of the air, it would be expelled by
the very orifice by which it entered. Therefore, the customary and con-
tinued labor and wear of the powers of the crew would not be required
to such an extent, if at all, when once the necessary quantity of air
had been forced in. He came now to the use of iron plates in forming
air-tight cellular vessels, and he hoped to’ be able to show that, by
pursuing this mode of constructién, a vessel would not only be very
much less liable to injury by collision with a ram, but if carefully and

20 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

scientifically fitted, might be overrun by an adversary, and come up
on the other side. He claimed the introduction into the navy of the
air-tight compartments, by constructing a vessel upon the plan of a
ship within a ship — the outer, sectional compartments each mdepend-
ent per se for coals or stores; the inner to contain compartments and
accommodation, if necessity demanded, for the crew. The oval form
would secure the means of withstanding, externally, any compression ;
it would facilitate the delivery of coals from the bunkers, and if any
one of those bunkers was perforated or stove, you possessed the en-
gine-power, to be exerted from within, of expelling the water, by
forcing in air, making every such valve self-acting from the interior.

STEERING SCREW FOR STEAMERS.

Some experiments have recently been made by the British Admiralty
on a new arrangement of that screw propeller which has for its object
steering, as well as the propulsion of a vessel.’ The peculiarity of the
screw is that a universal joint is placed within the hollow boss of the
screw, which is thereby connected with the main shaft, the centre of
gravity of the screw and the centre line of the rudder intersecting
the centre line of the main shaft, so that the entire weight of the
screw is borne by the shaft; and by means of a tail or spindle to the
screw, projecting from the boss working in the rudder, or an iron car-
rier in lieu of rudder, whatever may be the movement of the tiller or
wheel, it communicates an equal movement to the screw, which be-
comes not only the propelling but also the guiding power of the ship. One
of these screws, fitted to a naval steamer of sixty-horse power, has been
tried upon the Thames, and the result is yeported in the London Post,
as unequivocally satisfactory, — ‘clearly demonstrating that it is no
longer needful to apply doable screws, hydraulic steering apparatus,
or add any other extra complications to the machinery of a steamer,
when by a wave of her own screw, her motion can be directed and con-
trolled at will.”

RAILWAY TUNNELS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

At a recent meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. J. 8.
Fraser stated that the aggregate length of the tunnels, now daily
traversed by railway trains in the united kingdom, amounts to eighty
miles; and, supposing their cost to have been on an average fifteen
pounds per lineal yard, their construction must have caused the ex-
penditure of six and a half millions sterling.

STEEP RAILWAY INCLINE.

The Bhore Ghaut Incline of the Great Peninsular Railway of India
has occupied more than seven years in construction, and during the great-
er part of that time there have been 45,000 workmen daily employed
upon it. The incline is a series of tunnels through mountains of
rock, and viaducts stretching across valleys, alternating with each
other; each part a triumph of modern science and skill.

The incline reaches at one long lift the height of 1,832 feet, the
highest elevation yet attained by any railway incline. It is 15} miles
long, and its average gradient consequently 1 im 46.39. The highest
gradient is one in 37, and the sharpest curve 15 chains radius. ‘The

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. ye |

tunnels are twenty-five in number, the greatest length of any of them
being 3414 yards. There are eight viaducts, one consisting of eight
arches of 50 feet and being 129 fect high, and another, of a like num-
ber of arches, with a maximum height of 143 feet. The quantity of
cutting amounts to 2,067,738 cubic yards, and of embankments to
2,452,308 cubic yards. There are twenty-two bridges of various spans,
and seventy-four culverts. The total cost of the works has been
£1,100,000, or £68,750 a mile.

STEAM BOILER EXPLOSIONS.

Vith reference to these destructive accidents, Dr. Joule, at a recent
meeting of the Philosophical Society, of Manchester, England, stated
his belief that, in nearly every-instance, rupture took place simply be-
cause the iron, by wear or otherwise, had become unable to withstand
the ordinary working pressure. Various hypotheses, set up to account
for explosions, were worse than useless because they diverted attention
from the real source of danger. He believed that one of these hy-
potheses — that which attributed explosions to the introduction of water
into a boiler, the plates of which were heated in consequence of de-
ficiency of water — was quite inadequate to account for the facts; al-
though weak boilers might be exploded at the moment of starting the
engine, in consequence of the swelling of the water through renewed
ebullition throwing hot water over the heated plates. The absolute
necessity of employing the hydraulic test periodically had been point-
ed out so frequently that he considered that the neglect of it was
highly cruminal.

UTILIZATION OF THE TIDES.

Let us suppose (says a writer in the Chemical News) that by the action
of the tides, the difference of level of the surface of the ocean at a cer-
tain spot is twenty-one feet between high and low water. Omitting for
the present all consideration of the power of the subjacent liquid,
what is the mechanical value of a space of one hundred yards square
of this water? One hundred yards square by twenty-one feet deep,
equal 70,000 cubie yards of water, which is lifted toa height of twenty-
one feet, or to 1.470,000 cubic yards lifted to a height of one foot.
Now, since one cubic yard of water weighs about 1683 pounds, 1,470,000
cubic yards weigh 2,474,010,009 pounds, which is lifted in six hours.
This is equivalent to lifting a weight of 412,335,000 foot pounds in
one hour; and since one-horse power is considered equivalent to rais-
ing 1,800,000 foot pounds per hour, we have, locked up in every one
hundred yards square of sea surface, a power equal to a two hundred
and thirty horse power steam-engine; acting, be it remembered, day and
night to the end of time ; requiring no supervision ; and costing nothing
after the first outlay but the wear and tear of machinery. By means
of appropriate machinery connected with this tidal movement, any
kind of work could be performed readily.

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH.

In the Annual of Sci. Dis. 1863, p. 43, the application of the prin-
ciple of forcing packages through tubes by atmospheric pressure to the
conveyance of mail-bags in London, to and from. the District Post

22 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Office and the Euston Street Railway station (a distance of 1800 feet)
was described as about to be put in practical operation. A recent
report of the Pneumatic Despatch Company now states, — “ That
since the 20th of February, 1863, the authorities have discontinued
their street conveyances, and intrusted the company with the trans-
mission of the mails, and that the service of the district had since
been entirely performed by the company. ‘Thirty trams per diem
(Sundays excepted) have been despatched with perfect regularity,
and upwards of 4,000 trains have run without impediment or delay.
The time occupied in the transmission has not exceeded seventy sec-
onds. The daily cost of working has averaged £1. 4s. 5d.; and five
times the number of trains could have been conveyed without any
appreciable increase of expense.”

The successful result of these experiments has induced the com-
pany to proceed to the laying of an additional line of pipe for further
post-oflice accommodation, which will be 23 miles in length and 54
inches in diameter, at an estimated total cost of £65,000. Tt is confi-
dently predicted that, in the course of a few years, ‘the entire trans-
mission of the London mails throughout the city will be accomplished
by atmospheric pressure.

IMITATION RUSSIA SHEET IRON.

At a recent meeting of the Franklin Institute, Prof. Fleury pre-
sented specimens of imitated Russia sheet i iron, made under the patent
of Mr. Wm. Riesz from ordinary rolled iron, the original cost of which
was 5 cents per pound; the expense of the process was 2} cents, mak-
ing the total cost of the iron in its present condition, al cents per
pound. He stated that “the inventor, who was for a number of years
director of a large iron manufacturing establishment in Germany, had
made it his par ticular study to examine theoretically and practically
the manufacture of the iron which was imported in large quantities
from Russia. By repeated analyses of the iron, and also “thr ough no-
ticing its beautiful, smooth, and incorrodible surface (by scraping off
the surface from a large number of sheets), he came to the curious con-
clusion that the Russia iron was not, as he had thought, and as the gen-
eral impression among iron manufacturers still seems to be, covered by
a film of carburet of iron, but that the smooth surface consisted of an
atomic accumulation of a ‘peculiar substance, @ NITRIDE of tron com-
bined with about 20 per cent. of carbon: the nitro-carburetted iron of
Fremy. The quantity of carbon and nitrogen diminished gradually
towards the centre, where the iron was nearly pure and very flexible.
After years of experiments, he has finally succeeded in producing from
ordinary sheet iron the best imitation of Russia sheet iron which, in
my opinion, can be made.”

“Though the process is very simple, it requires considerable skill;
but once jearned, by short practice under the guidance of the ‘inventor,
it can be carried on in the most regular manner. The iron is cleaned
in a sulphuric acid bath, then washed with an alkali and water, and
placed in a peculiar mixture described in the patent, which prevents
oxidation; it is then rolled with the before-named coating, and, after
being re-heated, placed under the hammer to receive the required tem-
per and smoothness.”

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. pe

PROTECTION OF IRON FROM RUST.

At a recent meeting of the Society of Arts, London, the question of
preserving iron from rusting formed a subject of conversation. It was
stated that galvanized iron wire for telegraphs was not affected with
rust in passing through the rural districts of England; but that the
coating of zinc on the iron afforded no protection to wires in cities.
The acid gas generated by the combustion of fuel attacked the coating
and decomposed it. A new substitute for covering telegraphic wire
was desirable.

With respect to paints for coating iron, such as the plates of iron
vessels, machinery, &c., Mr. John Braithwaite stated that pure red lead
was the best. His experience dated as far back as 1806, with the use
of red lead, and for fifty years he had used it with success. White
lead was more injurious than beneficial as a paint for iron. In April
last, he inspected a well, two hundred feet deep, a short distance out of
London, where he had put up an engine forty-five years ago; the long
iron rods which had been placed in it had been painted with red lead,
and the metal had remained unchanged in all that period. The same
preservative effects of red lead paint on iron, he had witnessed upon
other iron-work which had been many years in use.

ALUMINUM BRONZE.

It has long been an object with scientific inquirers to reduce the
weight of the philosophical instruments which they have to employ.
Especially is this the case with magnetical and astronomical instru-
ments used in the triangulation of a country for a survey, or the highly
important operation of measuring an arc of the meridian. Aluminum
bronze supplies the long-sought desideratum. This metal is produced
from a mixture of ten per cent. of aluminum with pure copper; and a
most remarkable metal it is. Col. Strange, m a recent communication
to the Royal Astronomical Society, thus enumerates some of its proper-
ties: Good gun-metal will break with a-strain of 35,000 Ibs. to the
square inch; aluminum bronze requires 73,000 lbs to the square inch
to break it. It resists compression equally well; it is malleable when
heated ; can be easily cast, and behaves well under the file. “ It does
not clog the file; and in the lathe and planing-machine, the tool re-
moves long elastic shavings, leaving a fine, bright, smooth surface.”
Moreover, “it can be worked with much less difficulty than steel; tar-
nishes less readily than any metal usually employed for astronomical
instruments, and is less affected by changes of temperature than either
gun-metal or brass.” This latter quality is especially important in in-
struments used for surveying in the tropics, as expansion by heat would
very much impair their accuracy. It is remarkably well fitted to re-
ceive graduation, as it takes a fine division, whichis pure and equable,
surpassing any other cast metal in this respect. Col. Strange remarks
that in its elasticity it is said to surpass even steel, and it would there-
fore appear to be the most proper material for the suspension strings of
clock pendulums. ie

C. Tissier, Director of the Aluminum Works at Rouen, shows that
one per cent. of aluminum in copper makes the latter more fusible,
giving it the property of filling the mould in casting, at the same time

24 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

preventing it from rising in the mould. The action of chemical agents .
upon it is also weakened, and the copper gains in hardness and tena-
city without losing its malleability, thus producing an alloy which has
the malleability of brass, with the hardness of bronze.

Aluminum bronze has been selected by Col. Strange as the most ap-
propriate metal for the construction of the large theodolite for the use
of the Trigonometrical Survey of India. The horizontal circle of this
theodolite is three feet in diameter, and the effect of using this alloy
will be to keep the weight of the instrument within reasonable limits,
notwithstanding its possession of means and appliances not hitherto
bestowed on such instruments. In the manufacture of the alloy, Col.
Strange says that extremely pure cepper must be used; electrotype
copper is best, and Lake Superior copper stands next, giving an alloy
of excellent quality. The ordinary coppers of commerce generally
fail, owing, it 1s said, to the presence of iron, which appears to be spe-
cially prejudicial. Further, the alloy must be melted two or three
times, as that obtained from the first melting is excessively brittle.
“Each successive melting, up to a certain point, determined by the
working, and particularly the forging properties of the metal, improves
its tenacity and strength.” The present price of English-made 10 per
cent. aluminum bronze is 6 shillings 6 pence per lb. This is four or
five times that of gun-metal.

MALLEABLE IRON NAILS.

There is a description of nails of cast malleable iron coming into use
for fixing slates on to the roofs of factories and similar buildings. They
oxidize much less in damp air than common iron nails, or even copper
ones. To manufacture them, very hot metal is run into ordinary sand
moulds. These malleable iron nails are very brittle before being placed
in the annealing furnace. Their sojourn in the furnace renders them
very ductile. They are then put into polishing barrels, in which they
are cleaned, whereupon they are thrown into a zinc bath to obtain
a coating.— London Mechanics’ Magazine.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEEL WORKING.

Mr. Anderson, Assistant Superintendent of Woolwich Arsenal, an-
nounces the discovery of a simple process by which steel is rendered as
tough as wrought-iron without losing its hardness. This change is ef-
fected in afew minutes by heating the metal and plunging it in oil,
after which the steel can be bent, but scarcely broken. ‘The value of
this discovery will be at onze appreciated by those who are aware of
the difficulties hitherto experienced in obtaining a suitable material for
the interior tubes of built-up guns.

FILES MADE BY MACHINERY.

The manufacture of files by machinery is said to have been success-
fully commenced in Birmingham, England. The blanks are forged by
machinery, and they are then cut with the French machine of M. Ber-
not. The machine, which is very compact, resembles a small steam-
hammer in its general appearance. It is provided with a vertical slide,
carrying a chisel on the lower end. The top of this slide is pressed by
a flat spring, which is governed by a cam mounted upon a shaft, and

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. pi

actuated by a ratchet wheel and pawl; and thus the strength of the
blow of the chisel is regulated to the varying breadth of the file. <A
projection at the other end of the slide comes in contact with a cam
upon the driving shaft of the machine, and so sets the machine in mo-
tion. The blank to be cut is placed upon a travelling slide, resting
upon a semicircular bed, which is mounted in trunnions resting upon
swivelling journals, so that the surface of the blank can be presented
at the desired angle to the chisel. The blank is held parallel to the
edge of the chisel by means of a weighted “leveller.” All being
ready, the file is fixed in the bed, the machine is set in motion, and
presently the file runs out cut. The chisel makes from 800 to 1,500
cuts per minute, and will produce about five or six times the amount of
work which can be supplied by hand-cutting. A comparison of the
two modes of cutting — hand and machinery, — shows that, while a
machine, to cut fourteen-inch hard files, makes 1,000 cuts per minute,
or 600,000 cuts per day, a good file-cutter, upon the same size and
description, could only make 140 cuts per minute, or 84,000 per day.

COPPER PAINT.

A paint prepared by M. Oudry, of Paris, from electrotype copper re-
duced to an impalpable powder (by the aid of a steam-hammer), and
diffused in varnish, is, undoubtedly, a most important industrial discoy-
ery. The preparation of the color is not difficult and not expensive.
It is stated to be susceptible of easy application to wood, plaster, cem-
ent, brass, or iron, and also to the hulls of ships. It forms a perfect
covering, dries rapidiy, and takes an agreeable lustre susceptible of re-
ceiving, by means of chemical agents, the tone of bronze, bright or
dark, verd-antique, or Florence green, which has never before been
communicated to pure copper. Ornaments in brass or statues in plas-
ter, when painted in this manner, lose none of their most delicate de-
tails, and they assume completely the appearance of objects in bronze.
Even statues in plaster appear to resist remarkably inclement condi-
tions of the atmosphere. By mixing the powder of galvanoplastic cop-
per with certain fatty oils, Oudry obtained very beautiful greens of
varied hues.

REPAIRING THE SILVERING OF LOOKING-GLASSES.

The repairing of the silvering on the backs of looking-glasses has
hitherto been considered a very difficult operation. A new and very
simple method, however, has been described before the Polytechnic
Society of Leipsic. It is as follows: — Clean the bare portion of the
glass by rubbing it gently with fine cotton, taking care to remove every
trace of dust and grease. If this cleaning be not done very carefully,
defects will appear around the place repaired. With the point of a
knife cut upon the back of another looking-glass, around a portion of
the silvering of the required form, but a little larger. Upon it place a
small drop of mercury: a drop the size of a pin’s head will be sufficient
for a surface equal to the size of the nail. The mercury spreads imme-
diately, penetrates the amalgam to where it was cut off with the knife,
and the required piece may now be lifted and removed to the place to
be repaired. This is the most difficult part of the operation. Then
press lightly the renewed portion with cotton: it hardens almost imme-

: 3

26 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

diately, and the glass presents the same appearance as a new one. —
Builder.

CEMENT FOR ROOMS.

A recent invention by M. Sorel, of Paris, is described to consist in
the discovery of a property possessed by oxychloride of zinc, which
renders it superior to the plaster of Paris for coating the walls of rooms.
It is applied in the following manner:— A coat of oxide of zinc mixed
with size, made up like a wash, is first laid on the wall, ceiling, or
wainscot, and over that a coat of chloride of zine applied, being pre-
pared in the same way as the first wash. The oxide and chloride
effect an immediate combination, and form a kind of cement, smooth
and polished as glass, and possessing the advantages of oil paint, with-
out its disadvantages of smell.

WIRE LATHING FOR WELLS.

W. E. Gedge, of London, England, has secured a patent for the em-
ployment of iron wires as a substitute for wood laths used on the walls
of rooms that require plastering. The wires are stretched and crossed
on the studs and joists and then secured in screw rings. ‘ The wires are
fixed at such a distance apart that the priming coat of thick plaster
mixed with hair will adhere to them perfectly. These wires do not
shrink nor warp like laths, and on this account they are said to be su-
perior for plastered walls.

PREVENTION OF FIRE ACCIDENTS.

An English architect proposes to construct buildings in an improved
manner by economizing the space which the staircases usually occupy,
and to render them fire-proof by dividing or insulating the staireases
from the building of which they form part. This he proposes to ac-
complish by arranging the stairs (which are to be made of mcombusti-
ble materials), in a recess formed in the outer wall of a building ; which
recess is to extend from the foundation to the roof, and have no open-
ing whatever on its inner side ; but it is to be provided, where neces-
sary, with openings or doorways on its outer face, leading to balconies
(which are also to be formed of incombustible materials) fixed at the
level of, and giving access to, each of the floors or flats of the building.
By means of this arrangement of staircase and balconies, each floor will
be rendered totally distinct from, and independent of, that one below
or above it, so far as regards any internal communication therewith or
therefrom.

WATER-PROOF WALKS.

The following new method of path-making is recommended by the
London Gardener's Magazine, for its excellence, permanence, and
economy. Instead of making the walk of loose material, on the old
fashion, concreting is resorted to, by which the appearance of gravel is
retained with all its freshness and beauty of contrast to grass and flow-
ers, and the walk itself is rendered as dry and durable as the best
pavement. The modus operandi is as follows :— Procure a sufficient
quantity of the best Portland cement; then, with the help of a laborer,
turn up the path with a pick, and have all the old gravel screened, so

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 27
as to separate the loam and surface weeds from it, and to every six
parts of the gravel add three parts of gritty sand of any kind,— but
soft pit sand is unsuitable,—and one part, by measure, of Portland
cement. When these are well mixed together in a dry state, add sufli-
cient water to make the whole into a moderately stiff working consist-
ence, and lay it down quickly two inches thick on a hard bottom. A
common spade is the best tool with which to spread it; it must be at
once spread, as it is to remain forever, and a slight convexity given to
the surface. In forty-eight hours it becomes as hard as a rock; not a
drop of rain will go through it, and if a drop lodges on it, blame your-
self for not having made the surface even; but a moderate fall is suffi-
cient with such an impenetrable material. Not a weed will ever grow
on a path so formed; not a worm will ever work through it; a birch
broom will keep the surface clean and bright, and of course it never
requires rolling. It is necessary to be very particular as to the quality
of the cement. For the flooring of a green-house, fowl-house, or barn,
this is the best and cheapest that can be had,— always clean, hard,
and dry, and never requiring repairs of any kind if carefully put down
in the first instance.

HOW MUSKET BARRELS ARE STRAIGHTENED.

A curious and interesting part of the operation of manufacturing
muskets is the straightening of the barrel. This straightening takes
place continually in every stage of the work, from the time the barrel
first emerges from the chaotic mass produced by heating the scalp,
until it reaches the assembling-room, where the various parts of the
musket are put together. As you enter the boring and turning rooms
of the Springfield armory, you are struck with surprise at observing
hundreds of workmen standing with musket-barrels in their hands,
one end held up to their eyes, and the other pointing to some one of
the innumerable windows of the apartment, Watching them a few
moments, however, you will observe, that, after looking through the
barrel for half a minute, and turning it around in their fingers, they
lay it down upon a small anvil standing at their side, and strike upon
it a gentle blow with a hammer, and tien raise it again to the eye.
This is the process of straightening.

In former times, a very slender line, a hair or some similiar substance,
was passed through the barrel. This line was then drawn tight, and
the workman, looking through, turned the barrel round so as to bring
the line into coincidence successively with every portion of the inner
surface. If there existed any concavity in any part of this surface,
the line would show it by the distance which would there appear be-
tween the line itself and its reflection in the metal. This method has
not, however, been in use for over thirty years. It gave place toa
system which, with a slight modification, is still in practice. This
method consisted in placing a small mirror upon the floor near the
anvil of the straightener, which reflected a diagonal line drawn across
a pane of glass in a window. The workman then placed the barrel of
the musket upon a rest in such a position that the reflected line in the
mirror could be again reflected, through the bore of the barrel, to his
eye, —the inner surface of the barrel being in a brilliantly polished
condition from the boring. When the barrel is placed at the proper

28 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

angle, which practice enables the person performing this duty to ac-
complish at once, there are two parallel shadows thrown upon opposite
sides of the inner surface, which, by another deflection, can be made to
come to a point at the lower end. The appearance which these
shadows assume determines the question whether the barrel is straight
or not, and if not, where it requires straightening. Although this
method is so easy and plain to the experienced workman, to the un-
initiated it is perfectly incomprehensible, the bore of the barrel
presenting to his eye only a succession of concentric rings, forming a
spectacle of dazzling brilliancy, and leaving the reflected line in as
profound a mystery after the observation as before.

At present, the mirror is discarded, and the workman holds the
barrel up directly to the pane of glass, which is furnished with a
transparent slate, having two parallel lines drawn across it. The only
purpose subserved by the mirror was that of rendering the operation
of holding the barrel less tiresome, —it being easier to keep the end of
the musket presented to the line pointing downwards than upwards.
Formerly this means of detecting the faults, or want of straightness in
the barrel, was the secret of one man, and he would impart it to no
one for love or money. He was watched with the most intense
interest, but no clue could be obtained to his secret. They gazed into
the barrel for hours, but what he saw they could not see. Finally,
some fortunate individual stumbled upon the wonderful secret, — dis-
covered the marvellous lines, —and ever since it has been common
property in the shop. — Atlantic Monthly.

SMITH’S AIR-LIGHT.

A highly successful and economical application of the oxy-hy-
drogen lime light has recently been made by Dr. G. H. Smith, of
Rochester, New York ; — atmospheric air being substituted in the place
of oxygen gas, and carburetted hydrogen, or common gas, in the place
of hydrogen. The rendering of these substitutes applicable for the
production of the oxy-hydrogen light—a project which at first seems
chimerical —is explamed by the inventor as follows: “Common air
contains one part of oxygen and about three parts of nitrogen gas;
hence it would require four parts of air to give the amount of oxygen
required for illuminating purposes; 7. e. to obtain one part of oxygen
four feet of air would be needed, as three feet would be nitrogen.
Now, the great difficulty in using air as a substitute for pure oxygen,
in the production of the lime light, is due to the fact (and to this
solely) that when four parts of air are combined with one of common

as, the gas is so greatly diluted as to prevent its burning readily, and,
what is still worse, if combustion was complete, the nitrogen, not being
combustible, would fly off unconsumed, and carry away the heat gen-
erated to such a degree as to render the luminosity of the cylinder of
lime (against which the ignited jets of the combined gases are direct-
ed) of no practical value. But if an amount of heat, from any source,
is applied to the current of air previous to ignition, sufficient to supply
the loss of heat abstracted by the inert nitrogen, at the time of com-
bustion, no heat is lost upon the lime, and the whole power of the oxy-
gen is obtained as though no nitrogen was present. Hence, by sup-
plying a current of preheated air to one of common gas ignited, an

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 29

ample supply of oxygen is afforded, and all the heat generated is
saved and concentrated upon the lime.” Herein is the principal feature
of Dr. Smith’s invention. The invention is practically carried out for
railway (locomotive) lights—the purpose for which it has thus far
been applied —as follows: The burner is composed of four compound
jet tubes encircling a small cylinder of lime. A current of atmos-
pheric air, and one of coal-gas, is conveyed to each jet, and the two
allowed to mingle after leaving their respective jet orifices. The tube
conveying the stream of air, passes over several small gas burners,
which heat the air-tube to a high degree of heat, at a point near the
orifice of the tube, and by this device, the air current is intensely
heated before it reaches the jet and mingles with the jet of coal-gas.
The effect is, to produce the dazzling whiteness of the lime, peculiar
to the oxy-hydrogen light. When placed in the focus of a parabolic
reflector, such as are in present use upon locomotive engines, it is in-
creased to a ball of light twenty inches in diameter, or to the size of
the mirror. The flow of air and gas is reliably and simply controlled
by durable regulators and stop-cocks, within the lamp. Two gas-
holders containing air and coal-gas, respectively, under pressure, placed
under the engine, and communicating with the lamp by a small pipe
for each, carry twice or three times the requirements of a trip. These
receive their charge at the engine-houses, before starting, from two
stationary holders of larger dimensions, which are kept filled by a
small pump driven by the local power employed at those places. To
fill the holders on each locomotive occupies its engineer only from
three to four minutes—very much less time than is required for filling
and trimming an oil lamp.

This light has within the past year been introduced upon the loco-
motive engines of the New York Central Railroad, and its efficacy
and great economy has been so fully demonstrated that the invention
may without doubt be ranked among the most useful and novel of the
year.

IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE-SETTING.

Mr. Thomas Rooker has lately introduced into the Tribune office, N.
Y., type-cases with movable bottoms. In these cases, the bottoms may
always be kept conveniently full in composition, and in distribution
the bottoms may be lowered so as to receive a large quantity of type.
Mr. J. H. Tobitt, of New York, and Mr. A. H. Bailey, of Boston, have
also recently interested themselves, to introduce composite type, or the
plan of uniting two or more letters upon one body, so that by one lift
two or three letters are set up instead of one. Mr. Bailey’s system of com-
binations is calculated to save from twenty to forty per cent. in com-
position. When it is considered that the word the forms six per cent.
of the language, and and about four, while many others exceed about
two per cent. the advantage of a combination system is evident. The
difficulty in the matter is as to how many and what combinations may
be used with profit.

SCENE PAINTING.

M. Foucault proposes to remedy certain defects in scenic arrange-
ments by the following means. At present, our mountains, towns, and
3%

30 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

villages are of one piece with the back-scene; and while nature pre-
sents objects to us through a cone of visual rays drawn from the eye,
the stage represents them in an exactly inverted position — that is, we
see them through the base, instead of through the vertex of the cone.
By M. Foucault’s ingenious and artistical plan, all these inconvenien-
ces are obviated. The sky being so often required,‘he has made the
upper part of it fixed, of a dome-like shape, as in nature; the lower
or perpendicular part is of canvas stretched on frames, and arranged
cylindrically, so as to form a panorama, the end of which cannot be
perceived from any point of the house. His mountains or towns of the
background are independent of the sky, and stand forth in real relief;
so do his trees or shrubs, which are made to rise from or descend below
the floor. As for those objects which are nearer the foreground, they
are made of two pieces, the lower one to sink down, the upper one, a
fly, to be drawn upward when a change of scene is required. His
views of the sea or of interminable plains display a vast expanse never
yet seen on a stage; rich architecture is also cut out, and shows beau-
tifully on the fixed sky of the background, which, however, is so con-
trived that all the phenomena of storms, sunset, approaching night,
travelling clouds, with varying illuminations, etc., are imitated with
surprising fidelity.

SQUARING THE CIRCLE.

M. Robinet has presented to the French Academy a series of equa-
tions laboriously worked out and represented as having a remarkable
approximation to accuracy. The proportion of various multiples and
fractions of the diameter to the circumference is given, and it 1s stated
that “the side of a square equivalent to a circle of a diameter equal to
unity = 143 — 0.000,0006 = 0.8862269.”

A NEW SLOPE-LEVEL, BY M. RIBOT.

This instrument is designed to solve practically either of the follow-
ing inverse problems, namely, to find the slope per metre of a given line;
or, to set a line to a given slope per metre (or per yard). The instru-
ment is so simple as scarcely to need description. The horizontal dis-
tance between the feet or points of support is exactly one metre (or
yard). The right hand foot of the figure is capable of protrusion by
a screw, and is provided with a scale to measure the amount of this
protrusion. When the two feet are ona level, the index is at the
zero of the scale. If you want to determine a given slope, project
the foot until the instrument stands on the slope ; the protrusion mea-
sured on the scale gives the slope in terms of the distance apart of the
feet (metres or yards). If you want to establish a given slope, set the
foot to the indicated point of the scale, and adjust your plane to the
instrument. ‘The lower bar of the instrument may be graduated so
that the plummet shall read angles of slope. — Bull. Soc. @ Encour.
pour V Indus. Naivonale.

A NEW MODE OF CONSTRUCTING CASKS.

A new method of constructing casks has been recently patented by
~- John Connolly, of Boston. It consists in making the heads of the cask
of iron, or other metal, so arranged that the iron head serves at once

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 31

as a head, a cap for oozing staves, and as a head-hoop, all combined in
one. The head may be screwed on, the flanch or hoop part of the
head having a female screw cut on it which cuts a worm for itself,
and embeds in the stave as it goes on ; or it may be barbed with con-
centric rings, and driven on with a hammer. This latter method, the
patentee considers as generally preferable. The advantages of this
improvement for preventing leakage and furthering the durability of
the casks are considered to be very great.

Mr. Connolly also recommends the construction of casks of iron in
the place of wood, with heads applied in accordance with his improve-
ment. The body of the cask might be rolled out in one piece, or it
might be of two, three, or more pieces, which, being ground at joints,
or rebated, or tongued and grooved and put together in any way with
packing, would insure a tight joint, if well bound, as at present, with
hoops. A cask so constructed, of boiler-iron, could be more readily
‘“‘shooked ” and “ set up” than a wooden one. If dented, it could be
beaten out. No more shrinkage, with its consequent leakage and
labor, would then occur. Such casks would last for generations.

A NEW BRICK AND MORTAR ELEVATOR.

There is no operation in all the arts in which the waste of labor is
more palpable than that of carrying up brick and mortar in erecting
buildings. In order to raise forty or fifty pounds, the hod-carrier is
required to exert muscular effort to raise his own weight (some one
hundred and fifty pounds) in addition, thus involving a waste of about
three-fourths of the power expended. An invention to economize the
power required in this operation, devised by Mr. T. F. Christman, of
Wilson, North Carolina, is substantially as follows: An endless chain,
formed of iron links, passes around two pulleys, one at the ground,
and the other at the top of the wall. The pulleys have spurs which
take into holes in the belt, to prevent slipping, and the upper pulley
is furnished with a crank for turning it. Hoppers are secured upon
the upper side of the belt for receiving the brick, and as the wall rises,
the belt is lengthened by the insertion of additional links, which are
furnished with hooks so that this may be readily done. — Scientific
American.

NEW MATERIAL APPLIED TO THE ARTS.

At the great London Exhibition, 1862, a new material applied to
the manufacture of fancy articles, such as picture-frames, canes, inlaid-
work, &c., attracted considerable attention. It is obtained from sev-
eral species of marine plants, washed up on the shores in the vicinity
of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, but principally from the
laminaria buccinalis. It is of a dark color, and when fresh, it is thick
and fleshy, but when it is dried it becomes compact and its surface
looks like a beautifully-grained deer’s horn. After it becomes dry
and hard it can be rendered soft again by steeping in water, and in
this condition it may be stretched and formed into various shapes.
When dry it can also be reduced to powder, then made plastic by
soaking in water, and in this condition it may be struck into almost
any shape in a die press. It comes out of the moulds like articles
formed of gutta percha. ‘The discoverer of the use of this substance

32 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

prepares the plant by cleaning it first with weak caustic alkali, and
then with dilute sulphuric acid, after which it is washed, and before it
is quite dry it may be pressed into sheets or any other form. It then
may be rendered very hard by steeping it in a_ hot solution of
alum, after which it is removed toa hot room where it is dried, and
retains its shape afterward. Reduced to powder. it may also be
mixed with various substances, like india rubber, and moulded into a
great variety of articles. When it is bleached, by treating it first with
a-warm alkaline solution, and afterward with sulphurous acid gas, it
resembles ivory and may be used as a substitute for that material.

MANUFACTURE OF STRINGS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS,
AND OTHER USES, OF GUT AND SINEW.

The London Mechanics’ Magazine publishes the following interest-
ing article on the above subject : —

A manufacture, of which comparatively little is known, is the pre-
paration of the substance usually termed catgut, though for the most
part made from the dried, twisted, peritoneal coverings of the intes-
tines of sheep. Catgut cord is used for a variety of purposes where
strength and tension are required, as for the strings of musical instru-
ments, for suspending clock-weights, bow-strings for hatters’ use, and
for archers’ bows.

The manufacture of musical strings requires a great amount of care
and skill, both in the choice of materials and in the manufacturing
processes, in order to obtain strings combining the two qualities of re-
sistance to a given tension and sonority. Until the beginning of the
last century, Italy had the entire monopoly of this trade, and they
were imported under the names of harplings, catlings, lute-strings,
&e.; but the trade is now carried out, with more or less success, in >
every part of Europe. However, in the opinion of musicians, Naples
still maintains the reputation of making the best small violin strings,
because the Italian sheep, from their leanness, afford the most suitable
material; it being a well ascertained fact, that the membranes of lean
animals are much tougher than those of high condition. The smallest
violin strings are formed by the union of three guts of a lamb (not
over one year old), spun together.

The chief difficulty in this manufacture is in finding guts having
the qualities before mentioned, namely, to resist tension, and giving
also good vibrating sounds. It is far more easy to arrive at the proper
point in the making of harp, double-bass, and other musical strings, and
the manufacturer is not so much circumscribed in the choice of the
proper material. The tension upon the smallest string of the violin,
which is made of only three guts, is nearly double that on the second
string, formed by the reunion of six guts of the same size.

In the preparation, the sheep’s guts, well washed and scoured, are
steeped in a weak solution of carbonate of potash, and then scraped
by means of a reed cut into the shape of a knife. This operation is
repeated twice a day, and during three or four days, the guts being
every time put into a fresh solution of carbonate of potash, prepared
to the proper strength. In order to have good musical strings, it is
indispensable to avoid putrid fermentation ; and as soon as the guts

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 33

rise to the surface of the water, and bubbles of gas begin to be evolved
from them, they are immediately spun.

In spinning, the guts are chosen according to their size ; combined
with three or more, according to the volume of the string required,
they are fastened upon a frame, and then alternately put in connexion
with the spinning-wheel, and submitted to the required torsion. ‘This
operation performed, the strings, left upon the frame, are exposed for
some hours to the vapor of sulphur, rubbed with a horse-hair glove,
submitted to a new torsion, sulphured again, further rubbed, and
dried.

The dried strings, rolled upon a cylinder and tied, are rubbed with
fine olive oil, to which one per cent. of laurel cil has been previously
added. The oil of laurel is supposed to keep the olive ou from be-
coming rancid.

The gut-strings employed by turners, grinders, and for cleaning
cotton, &c., are made with the intestines of oxen, horses, and other
animals. ‘These, cleared by putrefaction of the mucous and peritoneal
- membranes, and treated by a solution of carbonate of potash, are cut
into straps by means of a peculiar knife, and spun in the same way as
the musical strings. The uses of bladders and gut for holding lard,
for covering gallipots and jars with preserves, as cases for sausages,
oe &c., and other domestic purposes, are well known. Lately,

owever, the vegetable parchment, as it is termed (which is ordinary
paper steeped in sulphuric acid), has come into extensive use for this
purpose.

Insufflated, or inflated guts, are chiefly employed for the preserva-
tion of alimentary food. ‘They have to pass through a long series of
modifications and processes, before becoming fit for use. The end of
these preparations is, to free the muscular membrane of the intestine
from the two other membranes covering it, the peritoneal and the
mucous.

The first operation of scouring consists in freeing, by means of a
knife, the gut from the grease attached to it, and also of the greatest
part of the peritoneal membrane. The scoured guts are washed and
turned inside out, then tied together, put into a vat without any more
water than that adhering to them, and left in this state to undergo a
putrid fermentation. The time required for this operation will be from
five to eight days in winter, and two or three days only in summer.
If the fermentation were pushed too far, the guts would be disorgan-
ized: to avoid this inconvenience, the workmen are often obliged to
add some vinegar, in order to neutralize the ammoniacal compounds
formed, and also because fermentation is slow in the presence of acids.
After this fermentation, the mucous membrane is completely decom-
posed, and the remaining portions of the peritoneal membrane are
easily taken off. The guts are then well washed, and insufflated (in-
flated).

The operation is performed in the same way as swelling a bladder,
with this difference, that the extremity of the gut is tied by a ligature,
serving also to join a new gut insuflilated (inflated) in the same way.
During this operation, the guts exhale the most noxious smell, and
workmen employed at such work could not blow or insufflate many
days in succession without having their health affected.

34 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

In order to prevent that inconvenient, unhealthy process of manu-
facture, the Société d’Encouragement of Paris proposed a premium
for a chemical process enabling the manufacturers of these articles to
dispense with putrid fermentation. The process suggested by Mons.
Labarraque, the successful candidate, is remarkable for its cheapness
and the facility of its application. In following the method recom-
mended by this chemist, these animal matters can be worked more
easily, and kept for a longer time without evolving any noxious
smell.

The guts, previously scoured, are put into a vat containing, for
every forty guts, four gallons of water, to which 13 pounds oxychloride
of sodium, marking 13° on the areometer of Beaumé, is added. After
twelve hours of maceration, the mucous membrane is easily detached,
and the guts are free from any bad smell; by this method, the process
of insufflation is more easily performed.

The insufflated guts are suspended in a dry room until the desicea-
tion is complete; and, once dried, the extremities by which they were
tied together are cut, and, in pressing the hand over the length of the
insufflated (inflated) gut, the air inside is completely, taken out. The
guts are then submitted to fumigation by sulphur, in order to bleach
and to preserve them from the attacks of insects. After this last opera-
tion, the guts are fit for use.

Besides a large home supply of bladders, England imports several
hundred thousand a year, packed in salt and pickle, from America and
the Continent; and the aggregate value of the bladders used in Great
Britain, is stated at £40,000 or £50,000.

NEW METHOD OF PREPARING GUNPOWDER.

Mr. W. Bennett, of England, has invented a new method of manu-
facturing gunpowder, the ingredients consisting of lime, nitre, sulphur,
and charcoal ; the lime is dissolved in a suflicient quantity of water
to bring the other elements into a paste. The lime, after having
been made into a solution, is strained through a fine sieve ; this solu-
tion is then added to the other ingredients, and the whole is put into
a mill, and ground until it becomes a paste; it is then taken out of the
mill, and passed between two rollers, one grooved and the other plain.
The paste, by passing between the rollers, is formed into long strips of
a triangular shape; it is then carried on an endless web or canvas
over-some hot tubes, which are heated by steam, hot water, or any
other artificial heat which may be applied; by this means, the strips
are easily broken into grains. This mode of manufacture prevents a
great deal of danger, as the powder is pulverized and brought into
grain while in a wet state. The lime makes a firm grain, resists the
damp, and gives it a degree of lightness which increases the bulk 25
per cent. over ordinary gunpowder, —a great advantage for blasting
purposes. Plaster of Paris, Roman or Portland cement, or other strong
cementing substance, may be used as a substitute for lime. And the
patentee finds that for blasting purposes the following proportions an-
swer well,—that is to say, nitre, 65 lbs.; charcoal, 18 Ibs.; sulphur, 10
Ibs.; and lime, 7 lbs.; but the proportions may be varied according to
the strength required.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 35

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAFES.

The following is an abstract of a series of highly interesting and im-
portant researches recently made by Prof. E. N. Horsford, vof Cam-
bridge, Mass., on the “ Construction of Safes,” intended for proiection
against jire, dampness, rust, and frost: —

Protection against Fire. —'The experience of the last few years has
practically demonstrated, what might have been foreseen, that protec-
tion against fire can be relative only, not absolute. Fire-proof buildings,
so called, yield, when stored with combustible materials and for a long
time surrounded by flame. The best of fire-proof safes are destroy ed,
when exposed to heat sufliciently intense and prolonged. This being
admitted, how shall the largest practical measure of protection against
fire be secured? First. By placing the books, papers, etc., to be pre-
served, in an incombustible enclosure, as of iron. Second. By sur-
rounding the books, etc., by a non-conductor of heat. Third, and
chiefly, by interposing between the incombustible enclosure, or outer
iron shell, and the wooden case containing the valuables, a substance
which on the approach of fire, is converted into -vapor, absorbing the
heat and carrying i away.

If the second and third be omitted, the contents of the safe will be
destroyed as soon as the iron enclosure has become sufficiently hot to
set them on fire. If the third only has been omitted, the power of
preservation will be proportioned to the thickness of the layer of non-
conducting material ; and this, at the best, is relatively but for a brief
period. If the second, only, has been omitted, since the protection
arising from vaporization is due to the absorption of heat in convert-
ing liquid or solid substances into vapor, it will obviously be propor-
tioned to the quantity of substance so converted into vapor. A hun-
dred pounds of water will absorb twice as much heat in passing off in
the form of steam, as fifty pounds will; and a safe that contains one
hundred pounds of water to be evaporated, will preserve its contents
in safety, through a fire in which a safe containing but fifty pounds
would be destroyed. A safe will then, manifestly, ‘be a better protec-
tion against fire, in proportion as it unites within it, an incombustible
shell, the best non-conductor, with the largest amount of liquid or solid
to be converted into vapor, at a temperature not dangerous to the con-
tents of the safe.

Dampness. — Injuries from dampness in safes are not unfrequently
of a most serious character ; such as the mildew, and disintegration of pa-
pers, writings, &c. These injuries arise from the transmission of water
irom the fire-resisting composition, through cracks imperfectly closed
at the time of manufactur e, or made ‘subsequently by rusting; or
through the pores of the wooden case ; or by the freezing of the water of
the composition, by the expansion of which the walls are separated from
each other, and communication established between the filling and the
chamber of the safe. They may be prevented by so constructing
the safe as absolutely to prevent any communication of water or
vapor between the filling of the safe and the books and papers.

In acclimate lke ours, a safe may be exposed occasionally to tem-
peratures below freezing. Any of the safes, as at present construeted,
cannot contain any considerable quantity of water above that in chem-

36 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ical combination, without the danger of bursting by cold. This open-
ing of the seams of the safe at once exposes the contents of the case
to the exhalation of moisture from the filling. The protection against
this kind of injury manifestly lies in such construction of the safe as
will provide for the expansion consequent on freezing, without opening
the joints or seams of the various parts.

Rust.— This is one of the agencies by which communication be-
tween the filling and the chamber of the safe is effected after the lapse
of time; and by which the contents of the chamber become damp.
It may be prevented by consuming the oxygen of the air which would
otherwise act on the iron. Chemical compositions are prepared which
will, by absorbing the oxygen, perfectly protect the iron from corrosion
or rust, even in the presence of air and water.

Varieties of Safes in use.— The safes at present in use differ from
each other in various respects, but chiefly in the capacity of the com-
position employed, to yield vapor.

The earliest safes were designed chiefly to protect treasure against
burglary, and were distinguished for their strength. Next came safes
having non-conducting walls as protection against fire. In 1840, a
safe appeared which took advantage of the principle of vaporization of
water as protection against fire. ‘The alum safe, upon the same prin-
ciple was devised in 1843. The gypsum safe, also on the same princi-
ple, has long been in use. ‘The cement safe, in which hydraulic cem-
ent is substituted for gypsum, has been many years in use. In the
English safe of Milner, invented in 1840, the space between the
iron shell and wooden case is occupied with closed tubes containing
water, these tubes being imbedded in saw dust. On exposure to fire,
the tubes burst, and the water, flowing into the sawdust, is converted
into vapor, and escapes through the jomts of the iron shell.

In the alum safe, invented by Messrs. Tann, of England, and a
modification of which is produced in this country, the vapor is derived
from the water of crystallization of the alum. Twenty per cent. of the
weight of the alum is converted into vapor at 212°, and eighteen more
at 250°. The remainder is given up only at a heat destructive to the
contents of the safe.

In the ordinary gypsum safes, the surplus water added in the mixing,
if it does not remain to do injury by charging the case and books with
dampness, or by freezing, is in process of time exhaled until there re-
mains only what has entered into chemical combination. This latter
amounts to twenty per cent. Of this, ten per cent. is given up at 212°,
and half of the remainder below 800°. The cement safes, as they are
usually prepared, contain, after setting, and after time for giving up
the surplus water, about six per cent. of water. Of this, one per cent.
goes out at 212°. As the Alum safes are prepared in this country, the
alum is mixed with pipe clay, and this mixture with fragments of brick,
the former to absorb the water as the alum melts and to facilitate the
vaporization ; the latter to give support and prevent the composition
from falling when the alum melts. The proportion of alum is about
one quarter of the whole. This would give of water from the compo-
sition, at 212°, only five per cent., and at 250°, four and a half per
cent. more, or only nine and a half in all. If the alum were raised to
the proportion of one half of the whole mixture, it would give up but

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. ed

ten per cent. of water at 212°, and nine more at 250°, or only nineteen
per cent. at temperatures not dangerous to the contents of the safe.

In most fires the exposure is for so brief a period that the protection
in some of the best safes is adequate ; but there is the constant possi-
bility that the fire may be too powerful and too protracted for the com-
position employed, and the protection consequently inadequate.

Can this protection against fires be increased ?—The incombustible
inclosure is of wrought iron, and nothing could be better than this.
The points, therefore, remaining for consideration are, What is the
best practicable non-conductor ? and, What is the best composition for
keeping down heat for vaporization ?

In answer to the first question, experiments were made, among other
materials, with Infusorial Earth ; a mixture of Sal Soda and Gypsum ;
a mixture of Glaubers Salt and Gypsum; set Cement; Alum and dry
Cement ; Gypsum with Gelatine.

A wrought-iron cup, containing about eight ounces of water, was filled
with each substance in its turn, and the bulb of a thermometer imbed-
ded to the same distance from the bottom in all. The vessel and its
contents were then subjected to the same degree of heat. The con-
ducting power, or the facility of heating throughout, was measured by the
number of degrees swept over by the ascending column of mercury in
successive minutes. ‘The range of heat was from 220° to 572°.

Infusorial earth was heated 27° in one minute.

Sal soda and gypsum taken in equal parts, 14° in one minute.,

Glaubers salt and gypsum, taken in equal parts, 12° in one minute.

Cement, set and dried, 11° in one minute.

Potash alum, 3 oz.) 5° per minute, from 220° to 300°.

Dry cement, 6 a 4° per minute, from 300° to 572°.

Gypsum, 6 oz., and water, 6 Oz, ) 2° per min. from 220° to 300°.

with 3 per cent. of gelatine, ) 4° per min. from 300° to 572°.

From each, the water due to a temperature of 212°, had, as already
intimated, been driven out. In the cement, alum, and gypsum, there
remained water in combination. The infusorial earth proved the best
conductor, and would of course be the poorest substance for fillmg a
safe. Of all,the gypsum and gelatine, as prepared for this experiment,
throughout the range in which the contents of the safe are secure
against fire, namely, below 300°, affords the best protection, so far as
conduction is concerned. It is, indeed, difficult to conceive of a sub-
stance better suited for non-conduction than this mass of set plaster and
gelatine, after the surplus water alternating with every particle of gyp-
sum has been driven out, leaving behind an infinity of minute cavities,
rendering the whole porous and non-conducting to the last degree.

How shall this quality be combined most advantageously with the
second requisite mentioned above, that of supplying matter to be va-
porized, thereby carrying the heat away ?

Two sets of experiments were undertaken to determine this point.
The first on a small scale, the second ona large and more practical
seale. The first was conducted at the same time with the series al-
ready detailed, and employing the same apparatus. The wrought-iron
cup was filled with each mixture in turn, supported at a constant alti-
tude over a flame of uniform height, and the thermometer imbedded to
the same depth in all.

38 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The results showed, that, as regards protection to be afforded by
vaporization from 212° to 220°, the following substances ranked in
value in the order stated :—Gypsum, gelatine, and water; Cement;
Glaubers salt and gypsum; Sal soda and gypsum ; Alum.

The question of using a composition which should give up vapor ata
temperature above 212° only, was tested in the use of a mixture of
sulphate of ammonia and common salt, diluted with powdered coke,
which, on the application of heat, yielded salammoniac. Experiments
were also made with a mixture of ammonia-alum and common salt, dilu-
ted, like the above, with coke. This yielded water in addition to sal
ammoniae. Clay and powdered brick were substituted for coke. They
gave results inferior to all except the potash-alum.

In addition to these laboratory experiments, a series were undertaken
on a scale of such magnitude as to render the results of more direct
practical value. As the object was to determine the relative excellence
of different kinds of safes in which all the circumstances of exposure
were the same, it was conducted with great attention to details, and
was, on many accounts, the most important ever made of which any
record has been preserved.

Experiments in Reverberatory Furnaces.—Five wrought-iron safes were
constructed, each of one cubic foot capacity. For each, a small wooden
box four inches in the clear, and three-quarters of an inch in thickness,
was prepared to represent the inside case. When in place, there was
a space for composition of three inches thickness on every side of the
box. In each wooden box was placed a piece of parchment, some
white writing paper, cotton batting, a piece of sealing-wax, a self-
registering thermometer ranging to 600°, and a series of small ther-
mometers bursting at given temperatures.

No. 1 contained sulphate of ammonia, 15.5 Ibs.; common salt, 15.5
Ibs.; powdered coke, 24 Ibs.; wooden box, 2 lbs.; iron shell, 27 lbs.
Total, 84 lbs.

No. 2 contained potash-alum, 26 Ibs.; pipe-clay, 26 lbs.; brick, 28?
Ibs. ; dry cement, to fill, 3 lbs. ; wooden box, 2 lbs. ; iron shell, 28? lbs.
Total, 1124 Ibs.

No. 3 contained ammonia-alum, 264 Ibs.; common salt, 133 lbs. ;
coke, 16 lbs.; wooden box 2 lbs.; iron shell, 293 lbs. Total, 877 Ibs.

No. 4 contained cement, 60 Ibs. ; water, 193 lbs.; soapstone front, 9
Ibs.; wooden box, 2 lbs.; iron shell, 30 Ibs. Total, 1203 Ibs.

No. 5 contained plaster of Paris, 50 lbs.; water, 21 lbs.; dry cement,
to fill, 9 lbs.; wooden box, 2 Ibs.; iron shell, 28 Ibs. ‘Total, 110 Ibs.

These safes were carefully introduced into a reverberatory furnace
from which a discharge of twenty thousand pounds of molten iron had
just taken place, and when the walls were nearly at the temperature
of melted iron. The safes were placed on the bottom of the furnace,
the door closed, and after adjusting the draft so as to permit the fur-
nace to cool slowly down in the usual way, the safes were left from five
o'clock in the afternoon till ten the next morning.

On taking the safes from the furnace, they were first weighed. No.
1 had lost 83 lbs.; No. 2,153; No. 3,7 162; No. 4,13; No. 5, 16.

_ 1 This is the common alum safe, except that one-third of alum was employed
instead of one-quarter.

2 One pound of this, and of each of the preceding two, isdue to the charring of
the wooden box.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 39

The temperature of No. 1 had been above 600°. ‘The paper, cotton
batting, and box were charred; the parchment and sealing-wax were
destroyed.

The temperature of No. 2 had been as high as 580°. ‘The paper,
cotton, and box were charred. The parchment and sealing-wax were
destroyed.

The temperature of No. 3 had been 350°. Contents were much
less injured than those of No. 1 and No. 2, but were still greatly dis-
colored. The box was partially charred.

The temperature of No. 4 was 287°. The paper and cotton were
discolored. The box thoroughly dried and shrunken somewhat, but
not charred. The parchment was shrivelled and the sealing-wax
melted.

The temperature of No.5 had been 212°. The parchment was
somewhat shrivelled, and sealing-wax melted; but the paper, cotton
batting, and box were uninjured.

In the safes filled with potash-alum, clay, and brick, — with ammonia-
alum, salt and coke, — and with sulphate of ammonia, salt, and coke, a
coarse porous wall around the interior wooden case was preserved after
the volatile matters had been driven out. In the cement safe, the cem-
ent retained about one-third of its water and the form perfectly. Ino
the gypsum and water safe, the plaster retained its form. It had parted
with about four-fifths of its water. (Strictly $8.)

From the foregoing, it is evident that in keeping the temperature
down a given time, 74 lbs. of sal-ammoniac are inferior to 143 lbs. of .
water from potash-alum ; and these inferior to 153 lbs. of water and
sal-ammoniac, from ammonia-alum and salt; and these inferior to 13
lbs. of water from the cement safe; and these inferior to 16 lbs. of
water from the plaster and water safe.

In the gypsum and water safe, 5 pounds of water were fixed in the
setting, and 16 pounds were held by capillary attraction. These 16
were driven out at 212°. There remained 5 in combination, at the
close of the experiment, to be driven out at the same temperature. In
the cement safe, 6 pounds were fixed in the setting, and 133 pounds
were held by capillary attraction. Of these 133, 13 were driven out
at 212°. There remained but 2 of a pound to be driven out at 212°.

In the alum safe, there were but 8 lbs. expelled at 212°.

In summary—the gypsum and water safe lost 16 lbs. at 212°; the
cement and water safe, 13 lbs.; the alum safe, *8 lbs.

The water remaining to be expelled, at 212°, from the gypsum and
water safe, was 5 lbs. ; from the cement safe, was ? Ib. ; from the alum -
safe, was 0. >

Not only was there no water to be driven out at 212°, but 6? lbs.
had been driven out at much higher temperatures, the last at 580°.

A cement safe, as ordinarily made, set and dried, of these dimensions,
contains a little more than half a pound of water to be driven out at
212°. In a plaster safe, set and dried, there would have been but 5
Ibs. to be driven out at 212°. In an ordinary alum safe, there would
have been less than 8; while in the gypsum and water safe, as
here prepared, there were 21 lbs., which, by the process already de-
scribed, might have been increased to 50 lbs.

1 A part of this loss was evidently due to the moisture in the clay.

40 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The potash-alum safe lost altogether within 13 lbs. as much water as
the plaster and water safe, but nearly one-half went out at temper-
atures from 212° to 580°, a range destructive to books and papers.
The ammonia-alum and salt safe lost about 20 per cent. more of water
and sal-ammoniac than the cement safe of water alone, and yet did
not afford the same degree of protection, for the cement safe was heated
only to 287°,’ while the ammonia safe was heated to 350°.

Experiment in a Furnace at a White Heat.— Another experiment
was undertaken with four safes of the capacity cf one cubic foot each.
Each contained a wooden box, enclosing a series of thermometers con-
structed to burst at given temperatures.

No. 1 contained cement, 64 lbs.; water, 33 kbs. This is cement
containing the quantity of water which remains after the filling is set
and dried.

No. 2 contained plaster, 624 lbs.; water, 12 lbs. This is a plaster
of Paris safe, containing twenty-five per cent. more than the quantity
of water due to plaster set and dried.

No. 3 contained alum, 33 lbs.; pipe-clay, 33 Ibs.; brick, 194 Ibs.
This safe, with a smaller proportion of alum, is in extensive use in this
country.

No. 4 contained plaster, 28 lbs.; gelatine,? 14 lbs.; water, 43 lbs.

These safes were placed in the same reverberatory furnace in which
the preceding experiment was conducted. There was this difference
between the experiments: ‘The first was conducted with a constantly
falling temperature. This with a temperature carried from freezing
up to a white heat, and there maintained for thirty minutes; and then
permitted to cooldown. At the end of the first half hour, Nos. 1 and
2, which were least exposed, were red hot; No. 3 was at low red, and
No. 4 was dark.

At forty minutes, the condition was the same. At forty-two min-
utes, pronounced melting heat by the workmen, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were
red, but 4 still dark equally. At fifty minutes, No. 4 became low red,
and No. 3 was burnt through and melted away at points nearest the
fire. At 60 minutes, No. 3 was at a white heat, and No. 4 was red.

This white heat was maintained for thirty minutes, when the furnace
was opened and cooled down sufliciently to examine the condition of
the safes.

No. 4 was burned so as to crack a little on one side, but was not
melted in any part. No. 3 was melted away from the top, front, and
two sides. ‘The side farthest from the fire, and bottom, were alone
whole. No. 2 was scarcely less injured. ‘The melting did not, how-
ever, extend so far down the sides. No. 1, which was further from the
fire and sheltered by the other safes, was burned but not melted.

The fire was again raised to the melting point, the furnace closed,
and the safes left in this heated chamber, slowly cooling down, from five
o’clock in the afternoon till ten o’clock the next morning.

1 This elevated temperature, while there was still water in the cement, is mani-
geetly de to the conducting power of the soapstone upon which the wooden box
rested.

2 Temploy the term gelatine as expressing in a single word the substance ob-
tained by the action of boiling water from gelatinizable substances, like sea-weed,
of the variety known as Iceland moss, or potato starch, or animal membranes,
or from other similar vegetable and animal substances.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 41

On opening the furnace, the appearances of the safes had not appar-
ently changed since the examination at the close of the first experi-
ment. The wooden boxes in Nos. 1, 2, and 3, had heen destroyed.
The temperature in No. 2 had been above 600°, and in Nos. 1 and 3,
above 300°, but not to 600°, though probably not far below.

The wooden box in No. 4 was as fresh as when putin. The ther-
mometer bursting at 150° was destroyed, but that bursting at 212°
was sound. The heat had not attained to that of boiling water. It
will be borne in mind that No. 1 is the ordinary cement safe, No. 2 is
the ordinary plaster of Paris safe, No. 3 isthe alum safe, and No. 4
the new safe. The first three were destroyed, while the temperature
in No. 4 was, at the utmost, entirely within the range of safety to the
books and papers. *

Conclusions. — 1st. It is evident that the protection against fire is
mainly proportioned to the quantity of water the safe can give up to be
carried away as steam, and not to the non-conducting quality of its filling.

2d. It is evident, further, that the protection against fire is not
simply as the quantity of water that may be present in the composition
for filling, but as the quantity of water that may be parted with unre-
strained by chemical affinity, or WATER AS SUCH. ‘The more powerful
the chemical affinity resisting the escape of vapor, the more elevated
must be the temperature at which it will leave, while the capacity of
the escaping vapor to render heat latent or to absorb and carry it
away will remain unchanged. ‘The same quantity of water in combi-
nation in alum is not so serviceable in keeping down the temperature
as when free.

8d. It is evident, further, that while the water, in its uncombined
or natural state, must constitute a large part of the filling of a safe in
order to make its protection against fire in the highest degree avail-
able, this water must be held in solid form so as to give strength to the
safe ; and the safe must be so constructed as to prevent the water from
passing off by leakage or as vapor, to the injury of the books and pa-
pers, or to the lessening of the fire-proof qualities of the safe ; and yet
be so constructed as to allow, on the application of high heat, the most
free escape of vapor from those points to which the heat is applied,
without endangering the strength of the safe, or driving the vapor into
the interior chamber of the safe; and withal so arranged as to permit
freezing, without injury to the safe or its contents.

In a safe made in the light of the foregoing experiments, from 70 to
80 per cent. of the space appropriated to filling was occupied by
water, and yet was exposed for a day and two nights to a temperature
of zero without injury.

On exposure to fire the water is resolved into vapor first at the outer
surface of the filling, and leaves the best non-conductor, according to
the results of foregoing experiments between the watér which remains
and the heated metal of the exterior shell. At length, when all the
water has been driven out as vapor, there remains the non-conductor
of the whole thickness of the filling, to protect, as long as it may, the
contents of the case.

4*

42 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

THE GREAT BOSTON ORGAN.

During the past year there has been erected in the Music Hall, of
the city of Boston, Massachusetts, an organ, which for absolute power
and compass ranks among the three or four mightiest instruments ever
built; and in the perfection of all its parts, and in its whole arrange-
ments, challenges comparison with any the world can show. ‘The in-
strument in question was built by E. F. Walcker, of Ludwigksburg,
in the kingdom of Wirtemburg, and was upwards of six years in the
course of construction. Its cost was upwards of $50,000, and the case
alone cost $15,000.

In itself, this organ may be described as really comprising five dis-
tinct organs, or systems of pipes, which are capable of being played on
alone, or in connection with each other. Four of these are played
upon by manuals or hand key-boards, and the other by pedals or a
foot key-board. The lowest of the former controls the swell organ,
the pipes of which, as in other instruments, are enclosed in a box (in
this case, itself as large as many complete organs), and so arranged
that it may be open or perfectly tight at the will of the performer, thus
giving opportunity for light and shade in endless variety. This organ
contains 18 registers or stops, with which are drawn on or shut off an
equal number of ranks or series of pipes, all of which, or any of them
separately or in combination, may be made to speak through the swell
manual. Next above this is placed the key-board of the “great
organ,” as it is technically called. Here we have 25 registers, all
of which connect with pipes on a large scale, and are the loudest
voiced pipes in the whole organ. Here are the grand diapasons which
form the foundation of the whole sound-superstructure, and the im-
mense trumpets and clarions which ring out like a call to battle. Above
the great organ manual comes that of the choir organ, which has 15
registers, and is in many respects the “ sreat organ ” on a softer scale,
but without the harsher reed stops. The last and upper manual be-
longs to the solo organ, which also answers for the echo organ, con-
taining 11 stops, and among them the famous vox humana, the quali-
ties of which have not yet been publicly tested. The pedals are the
only remaining key-board, and in connection with them are 20 dis-
tinct stops, 15 loud and the rest soft, some of the former being monster
reeds and a close imitation of orchestral instruments. We have then
a total of 89 speaking stops, which may all be combined, and a grand
_ total of 5474 pipes. The largest of these pipes measure thirty-two
feet in length, and are sufficiently capacious in diameter to allow men
to crawl through them, while the finest tubes “ are too small for a baby’s
whistle.” The breath to thése pipes, “to be poured forth in music,” is
furnished by twelve pairs of bellows, moved by water-power derived
from the Cochituate reservoirs.

But this great instrument does not differ from other organs merely
in size and wonderful variety of stops, but it excels them in almost
every detail which can be mentioned. The principal diapasons are
made of the purest English tin which is consistent with stability, and
the pipes in the swell organ, although they are always hidden from
view, are finished with the most scrupulous nicety. The dip of the
keys of ordinary organs is three-eighths, or at the most three-eighths

>

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 43

and a sixteenth of an inch, while the keys of this organ dip no less than
five-eighths of an inch, presenting a considerable obstable to players
unused to such great depth. But the difficulties which would arise
from such a vast amount of mechanism connecting with the keys, ask-
ing of an organist’s finger the strength of a blacksmith’s arm, are over-
come by a delicate pneumatic action, which is called too easy rather
than otherwise. The arrangement of the stops is controlled to a great
extent by the feet, there being twelve separate pedals for this purpose,
so that the most beautiful and changeful effects can be made without
removing either hand from the key-board. There is also a pedal by
which all the stops of the organ may be gradually, one by one or
instantaneously, drawn on or shut off, thus producing the most mag-
nificent crescendo and diminuendo, as well as explosive effects. Thus
a tone which is scarcely heard at first can be augmented by degrees
until it makes the air quiver with its thunders, and then slowly sink
again to hushed repose; or the crash can come without warning and
with almost deafening power, and as suddenly sink into mus‘e of which
the listener can catch but the slightest murmurs. The value of such
immense power under perfect contro] will be easily appreciated.

This great instrument, enclosed in a case of black walnut covered
with carved statues, busts, faces and figures in bold relief, is placed
upon a low platform, the outlines of which are in accordance with its
own. Its whole height is about sixty feet, its breadth forty-eight feet,
and its average depth twenty-four feet.

MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES BY MACHINERY.

The old system of making boots and shoes entirely by hand labor is
rapidly yielding to the march of improvement, and will soon, to all ap-
pearances, be numbered with the relics of the past. This change in
the character of the manufacture of a great staple industrial product,
although slowly progressing for the last eight or ten years in the United
States under the spur of competition, has been rapidly consummated
within the last two years under the influences growing out of the pres-
ent civil war; hand labor having proved entirely inadequate to supply
the immense demand for boots and shoes required by government for
its armies. Machines, therefore, have been invented, and are now in use,
executing the different operations necessary to the manufacture of such
articles, and with a rapidity and accuracy of action which far excel the
efforts of hand labor.

The following interesting account of a manufactory in New York
city, in which boots and shoes are made upon an extensive scale by
machinery, we derive from a recent number of the Scientific American:

Three large apartments are occupied by the operatives, mechanism,
and goods. The skins for the uppers’ are first spread out, examined,
and selected according to the purposes for which they are required.
' Different cutters then cut out the respective parts according to the size-
and form required, and these are all arranged and classified. After
this these separate parts are given out in lots to be sewed by machines,
and those uppers which are intended for boots are crimped, and the
whole made ready for receiving the soles. ‘The more heavy operations

of punching, sewing, pegging the soles and finishing the articles, are

' eerie

~~

46 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

iron, and the gas generator connected with it. The heated chamber
is of the usual form, but instead of a fireplace there are four passages
(two at each end of the chamber) leading downwards into four regen-
erators or chambers filled with loosely piled firebricks. The lower ex-
tremities of these four regenerator chambers communicate with two
cast-iron reversing valves. The gas arriving from the producer through
a pipe is directed by the valve into one regenerator or other, according
to the position of the valve. The gas then ascends through the one
‘regenerator, where it takes up the heat previously deposited in the
brickwork, and issues into the furnace at a point where it meets with a
current of heated air arising from the second regenerator to effect its
combustion. ‘The products of combustion pass away through the oppo-
site regenerator and the reversing valves into the chimney flue. The
last-named regenerators receive at this time the waste heat of the fur-
nace, becoming heated at their upper extremity to the temperature
nearly of the furnace itself, but remaining comparatively cool towards
the bottom. Every hour or half-hour the direction of the currents is
reversed by a change of the valve lever, the heat before deposited in
the one pair of regenerators is now communicated to the air and gas
coming in, while the waste heat replenishes the second pair of regener-
ators. The gas producer consists of two inclined planes upon which
the fuel descends, being gradually deprived in heating of its gaseous
constituents, and finally burnt to carbonic oxide by the air entering
through the grate at the bottom of the inclines. Water admitted at
the bottom also assists in the decomposition of the ignited coke at the
bottom, converting the same into carbonic oxide and hydrogen gas.
The saving of fuel which has been effected by this arrangement
amounts to from forty to fifty per cent. In the application to re-heat-
ing and puddling furnaces, a saving of iron has been effected, owing to
the mildness of the gas flame, of from three to four per cent. of the en-
tire quantity put in; the iron also welds more perfectly than it does in
the ordinary furnaces. Smoke is entirely obviated. By another ar-
rangement the regenerative principle has been applied also to coke
ovens, the result being that the separation of the coke from its gaseous
constituents is effected without losing the latter. In placing the coke
ovens, constructed on this plan, near the works where the iron is pud-
dled and re-heated, the latter operation may be entirely effected by the
gas generated in producing the coke necessary for the blast furnace in
producing the pig iron. The gas resulting from the regenerative coke
oven may be used to heat the blast and boilers connected with the
blast furnace. These latter improvements are now in course of being
carried into effect on a large scale. The gas produced from the last-
named producers is of a very illuminating character, and may, it is re-
ported, be used for that purpose in preference to the hydrocarbon now
manufactured for that purpose by a much more expensive process.
American manufacturers desirous of acquainting themselves in detail
with the principles of Siemans’s furnace will find a descriptive paper by
me apvenicn in the Proceedings of the Society of Mechanical Engineers,
ondon.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 47

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SCIENCE OF WAR.

In accordance with the plan pursued during the last two years, we
give under the above head a summary of such inventions, discoveries,
and applications relative to the science of war, brought before the pub-
lic during the past year, as have seemed to the editor as most worthy of
notice.

IMPROVEMENTS IN GUN-COTTON.

At the British Association meetings of 1862, a joint committee of
chemists and physicists was appointed to inquire into and report on
the so-called “Austrian Gun-Cotton.” At the last meeting of the
Association, a chemical report was submitted by Dr. Gladstone, and a
report on the mechanical portion of the question by Mr. J. Scott Russell.
We present first an abstract of Dr. Gladstone’s report. .

Chemical Report. — Since the discovery of gun-cotton by Schonbein,
its application to war purposes has been frequently thought of; and
many experiments, with a view of using it, have been made, especially
by the French. Such serious difficulties have, however, presented
themselves, that the idea gradually came to be abandoned everywhere
but in Austria. Here experimentation was kept up, and it having
been reported on good authority that the experimenters had
succeeded in overcoming many of the difficulties encountered else-
where, the committee of the Association applied to the Austrian gov-
ernment for information, which was furnished them. The following is
a summary of the more important facts elicited. In the first place, the
gun-cotton prepared by Baron Von Lenk, the inventor of the Austrian
system, differs from the gun-cotton generally made in its complete con-
version into a uniform chemical compound. It is well known to chem-
ists that if cotton is treated with mixtures of strong nitric and sulphuric
acids, compounds may be obtained varying considerably in composition,
though they all contain elements of the nitric acid, and are all explo-
sive. The most complete combination (or product of substitution) is
that described as C., H., (9 NO,) Os, which is identical with that
termed by the Austrian chemists trinitrocellulose, C,, H; (3 NO,) Ov.
This is of no use whatever for the making of collodion ; but it is Von
Lenk’s gun-cotton, and he secures its production by several precau-
tions, of which the most important are the cleansing and perfect dessic-
cation of the cotton as a preliminary to its immersion in the acids, —
the employment of the strongest acids attainable in commerce, — the
steeping of the cotton in a fresh strong mixture of the acids after its
first immersion and consequentim perfect conversion into gun-cotton, —
the continuance of this steeping for forty-eight hours. Equally neces-
sary is the thorough purification of the gun-cotton so produced from
every trace of free acid. This is secured exclusively by its being
washed in a stream of water for several weeks. ‘These prolonged
processes are absolutely necessary. It seems mainly from the want of
these precautions that the French were not successful. From the evi-
dence before the committee it appears that this nitro compound, when
thoroughly free from acid, is not liable to some of the objections which
have been urged against that compound usually experimented upon as

48 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

gun-cotton. It seems to have a marked advantage in stability over all
other forms of gun-cotton that have been proposed. It has been kept
unaltered for fifteen years; it does not become ignited till raised to a
temperature of 136° C. (277° Fahr.) ; itis but slightly hygroscopic, and
when exploded in a confined space, is almost entirely free from ash.
There is one part of the process not yet alluded to, and the value of
which is more open to doubt, — the treatment of the gun-cotton witha
solution of silicate of potash commonly called water-glass. Some Aus-
trian chemists think lightly of it; but Von Lenk considers that the
amount of silica set free on the cotton by the carbonic acid of the at-
. mosphere is really of service in retarding the combustion. He adds,
that some of the gun-cotton made at the Imperial factory has not been
silicated at all, and some imperfectly ; but when the process has been
thoroughly performed, he finds that the gun-cotton has increased per-
manently about 3 per cent. in weight. Much apprehension has been
felt about the effect of the gases produced by the explosion of gun-cot-
ton upon those exposed to its action. It has been stated that both ni-
trous fumes and prussic acid are among these gases, and that the one
would corrode the gun and the other poison the artilleryman. Now,
though it is true that from some kinds of gun-cotton, or by some meth-
ods of decomposition, one or both of these gases may be produced, the
results of the explosion of the Austrian gun-cotton without access of
air are found to contain neither of them, but to consist of nitrogen, car-
bonie acid, carbonic oxide, water, and a little hydrogen and light car-
buretted hydrogen. These are comparatively innocuous, and this
weight of evidence is, that the gun is less injured by repeated charges
of gun-cotton than of gunpowder, and that the men in casemates suffer
less from its fumes. It seems a disadvantage of this material, as com-
pared with gunpowder, that it explodes at a temperature of 277° Fahr. ;
but against the greater liability to accidents from this cause may be set
the almost impossibility of explosion during the process of manufacture,
since the gun-cotton is always immersed in liquid, except in the final
drying.1 Again, if it should be considered advisable at any time, it
may be stored in water, and only dried in small quantities as required
for use. The fact that gun-cotton is not injured by damp like gunpow-
der is, indeed, one of its recommendations, while a still more important
chemical advantage which it possesses arises from its being perfectly
resolved into gases on explosion; so that there is no smoke to obscure
the sight of the soldier who is firing or to point out his position to the
enemy, and no residuum left in the gun to be got rid of before another
charge can be introduced.

Physical Report.— Mr. Russell stated, that greater effects are produced
by gases generated from gun-cotton than by gases from gunpowder,
and it was only after long and careful examination that the committee
were able to reconcile this fact with the low temperature at which the
mechanical force is obtained. The great waste of force in gunpowder
constitutes an important difference between it and gun-cotton, in which

_ 1 In ten years’ experience it is proved that this temperature is sufficiently high to
insure safety of manipulation ; 277° Fahr. is an artificial temperature, and artificial
temperatures accidentally produced are generally high enough to ignite gunpow-
oe. nae greater liability to accident from this cause can, therefore, scarcely be
a e .

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 49

there is no waste. ‘The waste in gunpowder is sixty-eight per cent. of
its own weight, and only thirty-two per cent. is useful. This sixty-
eight per cent. is not only waste in itself, but it wastes the power of the
remaining thirty-two per cent. It wastes it mechanically, by using up
a large portion of the mechanical force of the useful gases. The waste
of gunpowder issues from the gun with much higher velocity than the
projectile ; and if it be remembered that in one hundred pounds of useful
gunpowder this is sixty-eight pounds, it will appear that thirty-two
pounds of useful sunpowder gas is wasted in impelling a sixty-eight pound
shot composed of the refuse of gunpowder itself. There is yet another pe-
culiar feature of gun-cctton. It can be exploded in any quantity instan-
taneously. This was once considered its great fault; but 1t was only a
fault when we were ignorant of the means to make that velocity anything
we pleased. Baron Von Lenk has discovered the means of giving
gun-cetton any velocity of explosion that is required by merely the
mechanical arrangements under which it is used. Gun-cotton, in his
hands, has any speed of explosion, from one foot per second to one foot
IN > j5y Of a second, or to instantaneity. The instantaneous explosion
of a large quantity of gun-cotton is made use of when it is required to
produce destructive effects on,the surrounding material. The slow
combustion is made use of when it is required to produce manageable
power, as in the case of gunnery. It is plain, therefore, that, if we can
explode a large mass instantaneously, we get out of the gases so explo-
ded the greatest possible power, because all the gas is generated before
motion commences, and this is the condition of maximum effect. It,is
found that the condition necessary to produce instantaneous and com-
plete explosion is the absolute perfection of closeness of the chamber
containing the gun-cotton. ‘The reason of it is, that the first ignited
gases must penetrate the whole mass of the cotton, and this they do,
and create complete ignition throughout, only under pressure. This
pressure need not be great. For example, a barrel of gun-cotton will
produce little effect and very slow combustion when out of the barrel,
but instantaneous and powerful explosion when shut up withinit. On
the other hand, if we desire gun-cotton to produce mechanical work,
and not destruction of materials, we must provide for its slower com-
bustion. It must be distributed and opened out mechanically, so as to
occupy a larger space, and in this state it can be made to act even more
slowly than gunpowder; and the exact limit for purposes of artillery
Von Lenk has found by critical experiments. In general, it is found
that the proportion of eleven pounds of gun-cotton, occupying one cubic
foot of space, produces a greater force than gunpowder, of which from
fifty to sixty pounds occupies the same space, and a force of the nature
required for ordinary artillery. But each gun and each kind of projec-
tile requires a certain density of cartridge. Practically, gun-cotton is
most effective in guns when used as + to 4 weight of powder, and oc-
cupying a space of 1;1,th of the length of the powder-cartridge. The
mechanical structure of the cartridge is of importance as affecting its
ignition. The cartridge is formed of a mechanical arrangement of spun
cords, and the distribution of these, the place and manner of ignition,
the form and proportion of the cartridge, all affect the time of complete
ignition. Itis by the complete mastery he has gained over all these
minute points that Von Lenk is enabled to give to the action of gun-
5

50 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cotton on the projectile any law of force he pleases. Its cost of pro-
duction is considerably less than that of gunpowder, the price of quan-
tities which will produce equal effects being compared. ~Gun-cotton is
used for artillery in the form of a oun-cotton thread or spun yarn. In
this simple form it will conduct combustion slowly im the open air, ata
rate of not more than one foot per second. This thread is woven into
a texture or circular web. ‘These webs are made of various diame-
ters, and it is out of these webs that common rifle cartridges are made,
merely by cutting them into the proper lengths, and inclosing them in
stiff cylinders of pasteboard, which form the cartridges. (In this shape
its combustion in the open air takes place at a speed of ten feet per
second.) In these cylindrical webs it is also used to fill explosive

shells, as it can be conveniently employed in this shape to pass in
‘through the neck of the shell. Gun-cotton thread is spun into ropes in
the usual way up to two inches diameter, hollow in the centre. This
is the form used for blasting and mining purposes; it combines great
density with speedy explosion. The gun-cotton yarn is used directly
to form cartridges for large guns by being wound round a bobbin so as
to form a spindle like that used in spinning-mills. ‘The bobbin is a hol-
low tube of paper or wood, the object of the wooden rod is to secure in
all cases the necessary leneth of angnibien"s in the gun required for the
most effective explosion. The gun-cotton circular web is inclosed in
close tubes of India-rubber cloth, to form a match line, in which form it
is most convenient, and travels with speed and certainty. In large
quantities, for the explosion of mines, it is used in the form of rope, and
in this form it is conveniently coiled in casks and stowed in boxes. As
regards conveyance and storage of gun-cotton: it results from the fore-
going facts, that one pound of gun- -cotton produces an effect exceeding
three pounds of gunpowder in artillery. This is a material advantage,
whether it be carried by men, by horses, or in wagons. It may ‘be
placed in store, and preserved with great safety. The danger from
explosion does not arise until it is confined. It may become damp and
even perfectly wet without injury, and may be dried by mere exposure
to the air. This is of great value in ships of war, and in case of danger
from fire, the magazine may be submerged without injury. As regards
its practical use in artillery, it is easy to gather from the foregoing gen-
eral facts how eun-cotton keeps the gun ‘clean and requires ‘less wind-
age, and therefore performs much better in continuous firing. In gun-
lowe there is sixty-eight per cent. of refuse, or the matter of fouling.

n gun-cotton there is no residuum, and therefore no fouling. Exper-

iments made by the Austrian committee proved that one hundred
rounds could be fired with gun-cotton, against thirty rounds of gun-
powder. From the low temperature produced by gun-cotton, the gun
does not heat. Experiments showed that one. hundred rounds were
fired with a six-pounder in thirty-four minutes, and the gun was raised
by gun-cotton to only 122° Fahrenheit, whilst one hundred rounds
with gunpowder took one hundred minutes, and raised the temperature
to such a degree that water was instantly evaporated. ‘The firmg with
the gunpowder was, therefore, discontinued; but the rapid firing with
the gun-cotton was continued up to one hundred and eighty rounds
without any inconvenience. The absence of fouling allows all the
mechanism of a gun to have much more exactness than where allow-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 5¢

ance is made for fouling. The absence of smoke promotes rapid firing
and exact aim. ‘There are no poisonous gases, and the men suffer less
imconvenience from firing in casemates, under hatches, or in closed
chambers. The fact of smaller recoil from a gun charged with gun-
cotton is established by direct experiment. Its value is 2 of the recoil
from gunpowder, projectile effect being equal. To understand this
may not be easy. The waste of the solids of gunpowder accounts for
one part of the saving, as in one hundred pounds of gunpowder sixty-eight
pounds have to be projected in addition to the shot, and at a much higher
speed. ‘The remainder Von Lenk attributes to the different law of
combustion. But the fact is established. The comparative advanta-
ges of gun-cotton and gunpowder for producing high velocities are
shown in the following experiment with a Krupp’s cast-steel gun, six-
pounder. With ordinary charge thirty ounces of powder produced 1,338
feet per second. With charge of thirteen and one-half’ ounces, gun-cot-
ton produced 1,563 ft. The comparative advantages in shortness of
gun are shown in the following experiments, twelve-pounder : —

Velocity
Calibers. Charge. feet per second.

Cotton, length i0 me 1S: 9:02: 7 i & ° Cede ° 1,426
Powder, ‘ 13 ° 49 (normal powder charge) . ° ° 1,400
Cotton, ee 9 . e a . ° e . ~~! ° . 1,402

Wie.

_ As to advantage in weight of gun, the fact of the recoil being less in
the ratio of 2: 3 enables a less weight of gun to be employed, as well
as a shorter gun, without the disadvantage to practice arising from
_ lightness of gun. As regards durance of gun, bronze and cast-iron
guns have been fired 1,000 rounds without in the least affecting the
endurance of the gun. As regards its practical application to destruc-
tive explosions of shells, it appears that from a difference in the law of
expansion, arising probably from the pressure of water in intensely-
heated steam, there is an extraordinary difference of result, namely,
that the same shell is exploded by the same volume of gas into more
than double the number of pieces. This is to be accounted for by the
greater velocity of explosion when the gun-cotton -is confined very
closely in very small spaces. _ It is also a peculiarity that the stronger
the shell, the smaller the fragments into which it is broken. As re-
gards mining uses, the fact that the action of gun-cotton is violent and
rapid in exact proportion to the resistance it encounters, tells us the
secret of its far higher efficacy in mining than gunpowder. The
stronger the rock, the less gun-cotton, comparatively with gunpowder,
is necessary for the effect ; so much so that while gun-cotton is stronger
than powder as three to one in artillery, it is stronger in the propor-
tion of 6.274 to 1 in a strong and solid rock, weight for weight. It
is the hollow-rope form which is used for blasting. Its power of split-
ting up the material is regulated exactly as wished. As regards mili-
tary and submarine explosion, it is a well known fact, that a bag of
gunpowder nailed on the gates of a city will blow them open. In this
case gun-cotton would fail. A bag of gun-cotton exploded in the
same way is powerless. If one ounce of gunpowder is exploded in
scales, the balance is thrown down ; with an equal force of gun-cotton,
nothing happens. To blow up the gates of a city, a very few pounds
of gun-cotton, carricd in the hand of a single man, will be suflicient,

52 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

‘only he must know its nature. In a bag it is harmless; exploded in a
box it will shatter the gates to atoms. “Against the palisades of a for-
tification: a small square box containing twenty- -five pounds, merely flung
down close to it, will open a passage for troops; in actual experience
on palisades a foot diameter and eight feet high, piled in the ground,
backed by a second row of eight inches diameter, a box of twenty-five
pounds cut a clean opening nine feet wide. To this three times the
weight of gunpowder produced no effect whatever, except to blacken
the piles. Against bridges : a strong bridge of oak, twenty-four feet span,

was shattered to atoms’ by a small box of twenty-five pounds laid on its
centre ; the bridge was not broken, it wasshivered. As to its effects un-
der water : in the case of two tiers of piles, in water thirteen feet deep,
ten inches apart, with stones between them, a barrel of one hundred
pounds gun-cotton, placed three feet from the face and eight feet under

water, made a clean sweep through a radius of fifteen feet, and raised
the water two hundred feet. In Venice, a barrel of four hundred pounds
placed near a sloop in ten feet water, at eighteen feet distance, threw it in
atoms to a height of four hundred feet. All experiments made by the
Austrian Ar tillery Committee were conducted on a grand scale, —
thirty-six batteries, six and twelve pounders (gun- cotton) having been
constructed, and practised with that material. ” The reports of the Aus-
trian Commissioners are all based on trials with ordnance, from six-
pounders to forty-eight-pounders, smooth bore and rifled cannon. ‘The
trials with small fire-arms have been comparatively few, and are not re-
ported on. ‘The trials for blasting and mining purposes were also made

‘on a large scale by the Imperial Engineers’ Committee.

Sir William Armstrong said it was impossible to listen to the report
which had been read without being very much impressed with the great
promise there was of gun-cotton’s beeoming a substitute for gunpowder ;
but at the same time there were certain peculiar anomalies about it
which he certainly should like to have cleared up, and until they were,
they could not feel that perfect confidence in the results that they
wished to do. In the first place, with regard to the heat evolved, they
were told that, with such a quantity of eun-cotton as would produce a
given quantity of gas, a certain initial velocity was imparted to the
projectile, and that the heating effect upon the gun was much less than
when a similar -velocity was produced by an equivalent quantity of
gunpowder. The absence of heat in the gun implied an absence of
heat in the gas. Where was the projectile force to come from, if there
was no heat in the gas? He could not, for his part, conceive how it
was possible of explanation. The next point that occurred to him was
with regard to the recoil. It was stated that the recoil was very much
less. That was ascribed to the absence of solid inert matter in the
charge, which, in gun-cotton, was next to nothing. If the recoil was
only two-thirds that of gunpowder, it would require, in order to account
for that difference, a much larger quantity of solid matter than there
really was in the case of gunpowder. The report stated that the use
of gun-cotton enabled them to reduce the length of the gun. It was
quite certain, however, that with a short oun they could not get an
equal initial velocity as with a lone gun. ‘If the initial velocity were
increased, there was more danger of bursting the gun than with gun-
powder. Because, if they g cot any velocity, or an equal velocity with

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 53

the shorter gun, it must be concluded that it was done by virtue of a
ereater initial pressure and an earlier action upon the shot. That
necessarily implied a greater strain upon the gun at the first explo-
sion, and that would necessitate the employment of stronger guns. He
should have expected a smaller velocity by a shorter gun, for the ac-
tion of the gas was necessarily shorter than inalonger gun. The heat
question, however, was to him. the greatest puzzle ‘of all. How they
could have the propelling power without heat in the gas, and if they
heated the gas, how they escaped heating the gun, he could not under-
stand. Prof. Pole said he was quite unable to give any explanation of
the difference of recoil. Ifthe shot left the gun with the same velocity
as when fired with pumpoma; it was natural to suppose that there
must be the same quantity of recoil. Mr. Siemans, having briefly spo-
ken on the dynamical question involved in the matter, suggested that
the greater heat imparted to the gun in the case of ounpowder might
be owing to the greater amount of solid matter, which, taking up the
great heat of the gases under a pressure of some four hundred atmos-
pheres, imparted a portion of the same by radiation to the side of the
oun, while in the case of gun-cotton gases only were produced, which
could only impart heat to the gun by the slower process of conduction,
and left a larger margin of heat to be dev eloped in force by expansion.
Admiral Sir E. Belcher thought that the reason the gun was not heat-
ed by an explosion of oun-cotton might be because ‘the gases had not
time to heat-the gun, owing to the rapidity of the explosion, which was
slower in the case of gunpowder; or that it might arise from the great-
er amount of fouling in the case of gunpowder. Mr. Scott Russell then
said he would endeavor to clear away the many difficulties which at-
tended this very difficult subject. How was it that in gunpowder and
in gun-cotton, where there were equal quantities of gas put in, the gas
in the case of gunpowder was raised to an enormously high tempera-
ture, and came out at an enormously high pressure, showing that they
had gas enormously expanded by heat ; “whereas in the case of gun-cot-
ton the gas came out quite cool, so that you might put your hand upon
it, and the gun itself was quite cool? He (Mr. Russell) had a theory.
Steam was a gas, and steam expanded just by the same laws as other
gases did. ry great deal of the gas of gun-cotton happened to be steam.
Let them conceive one hundred pounds of gun-cotton shut up in a cham-
ber that just held it. They had got there all the gases that had been spo-
ken of, but they had also got twenty-five pounds of solid water — about
one-third of acubie foot of water —in that chamber. Whatdid they do
with it? They put fuel, they put fire to it. They heated the whole
remaining pounds of patent fuel. If, then, they considered the gun-cot-
ton gun as the steam-gun, they got rid of two difficulties. They would
have, first, the enormous elasticity of steam; and secondly, they would
get the coolness of it. They ali knew that if they put ‘their hand to
expanded high pressure steam, it had swallowed up all the heat and
came out quite cool. He believed that the gun-cotton gun was neither
more nor less than Perkins’s old steam-oun, with only this difference,
that you bottled up the fuel and water, “and let them ficht it out with
each other. They did their work, and came out quite cool. He hoped,
however, that it was understood that he did not dogmatize. He put
all he had said with a note of interrogation upon it. Prof. Tyndail
5*

54 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

said he thought that a note of interrogation ought to be put to what
Mr. Russell had said.

The subject was considered of so much importance that the Associa-
tion not only reappointed the joint committee to continue the inves-
tigations, but passed a resolution requesting the government to investi-
gate the matter separately. :

Submarine Batteries, or Torpedoes.—M. F. Maury, formerly
an officer in the United States service, who was present, re-
marked in the course of the above discussion, that Mr. Rus-
sell’s report “ was important as affording an element of security by giv-
ing the preponderance on the side of defence. | Ever since steam had
been applied to purposes of naval warfare, it had been considered a
matter of very great doubt by many professional men how far ordinary
steamers and men-of-war, where forts were to be passed at the mouth
of a river, were capable of sustaining the fire of such forts and passing
up the river. And to show that there was ample time for them to do
so, they had only to recollect the fact of steamers having fought forts
for several hours. In the Crimea and at Charleston, the steamers
had remained under fire for several hours, — a much longer time than
was necessary to enable them to pass the forts and go higher up the
river into a place of safety, where they could do damage to the enemy.
Tron-clads had rendered this much more easy than it had previously
been. If, then, their principal defences failed them at the mouth of a
river in this way, the question was whether they should not have re-
course to mining for the destruction of the invading vessels? He him-
self had been engaged upon the subject. He found this difficulty in em-
ploying gunpowder, that in order to be sure of destroying the vessel as
she passed in a given line by means of gunpowder, the magazines must
be in actual contact, or very nearly in actual contact, with the side of
the vessel; otherwise, the probability was that the vessel would not be
destroyed. Recently they had the intelligence of a vessel having had
a mine exploded under her on the James River. That magazine con-
tained several thousands of pounds of powder. The vessel did not
know that the mine was there; but the mine did not destroy the ves-
sel. It merely threw up a column of water, which washed some of the
men overboard. His own conclusion was that to make sure of destroy-
ing a vessel after she had passed the forts, they must mine the channel
in such a manner that the vessel must come in contact with one or other
of the mines. It was found that wooden vessels to contain the pow-
der would not do. They would not confine the powder long enough to
produce a sufficient force. It was necessary to make them of stout
boiler-iron. It would not do to leave the magazines on the top of the
water, and it would not do to put them at the bottom, for then there
would be a cushion of water between the bottom of the ship to be de-
stroyed and the magazine, which would protect the vessel. In short,
they had to anchor them beneath the surface with short buoy-ropes,
at a depth proportioned to the kind of vessel expected to come up.
But when they made the magazine of boiler-iron, they had to have
buoys to float it so large that they were always in danger of being
carried away by the vessels crossing the line of magazine. The plan
was to place those magazines in a ring in such a position that the ves-
sel in passing would have to come in contact with at least one and

~

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 55

probably two of them. It was necessary to place those magazines of
powder so that when you saw the vessel in that range you had only to
bring the two poles of the galvanic battery together and make the ex-
plosion. There was, as already stated, a difficulty i in using gunpowder.

ut since gun-cotton had the remarkable effect of destroyi ing a vessel
—he did not know her strength — at a distance of eighteen “feet, and
that not vertically, but later ally, the question arose whether ' they might
not fortify and protect those channel ways: by placing a ring of gun-
cotton magazines along the bottom; but, at any rate, if that was not
necessary, “they could float them at any depth, and out of reach of the
vessels generally using the channel. That appeared to him to be one
of the most important uses of gun-cotton, and it was one which would
give safety to cities which were some distance from the mouths of nav-
ivable rivers. Admiral Belcher stated that the explosion of powder
under water was once done under one of his own vessels to clear away
ice. He placed it upon the ground, thinking that its explosion would
blow the ice clear of her bows without touching the vessel. There
was, however, sufficient water to form a cushion, and when the explo-
sion took place it only produced a gre eat wave upon which the vessel
rose.

EXPERIMENTS AND RESULTS IN RELATION TO GUNS, ARMOR,
AND PROJECTILES.

Armor for Ships of War. — Ever since iron-clad ships were invented,
there has been a conflict of opinions upon the subject of their armor.
The proper thickness, the mode of fastening it, whether single plates or
a number of thin ones are the best, with wood backing or “Without, —
these are only a few of the questions bearing upon the subject which
have received attention. That some one plan has not been universally
adopted is owing to obvious natural causes. Each person or govern-
ment thinks himself or itself best qualified to judge where his or its im-
mediate interest is at stake.

In this country, we have more generally adopted the series of thin
plates in preference to heavy single ones; although there are some ex-
ceptions to this statement. In Europe, the reverse is true. Thus far
we have had more practical experience with iron-clad ships than any
hae people. ‘The last to adopt these engines of war, we have been

the first to put them into actual service, and our success has been wholly
with the combinations of thin plating. The gunboats on the Western
rivers — Conestoga and Lexington —were plated with solid iron 2}
inches in thickness, yet they were completely riddled in the attack on
Fort Henry by the ordinary guns at that point; so also was the Hssex
before her reconstruction. Che Ericsson batteries are all armored
on the principle of many layers of thin plates, and they have proved
themselves mpregnable, so far, to every assault. The arguments in
favor of thin plates may be aed up in the following list : —<Jf. is
claimed that they are stronger for a given weight of metal than thi cker
forged armor, by reason of the “se ale” or cuticle being preserved in-
tact, as well as by the intimate relations of the fibers which occur when
small quantities of the metal are subjected to intense pressure; for this
reason it is apparent that the structure of thin plates must be, celeris
paribus, more reliable than forged ones. By the same reasoning, how-

56 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ever, some may assert, that if the requisite machinery existed in this
country for giving the same proportionate tenacity and tensile strength
to heavy single plates, as good results would be produced. This se-
quence, although a natural one, is not, it seems by experience, a cor-
rect one. A combination of thin plates is said to be more effective in
resisting the impact of a heavy shot than a single plate of the same
thickness, by reason of their elasticity or reaction after the instant of
percussion. All experience goes to prove this assertion; where heavy
plates have been shattered to fragments, the thin ones have been dis-
placed and bent, but not destroyed, and the injuries to them rarely ex-
tend through a whole section of armor. ‘The heavy plates, when
smashed, require much time and expense for their renewal, and are at
best a poor substitute for thinner coats in many layers.

Recent improvements have rendered the thin plates still more ef-
fectual. The gunboat Essex, after her misadventure at Fort Henry, on
the Cumberland river, was taken to St. Louis and there re-clad on the
forward casemate with iron plates only one inch thick; under these
were placed India-rubber sheets one inch thick, the whole being in-
clined at an angle of 45° upon a wooden backing of oak 16 inches
through. Thus defended, the ship went into service.

“In the action between this gunboat, commanded (at that time) by
Commodore W. D. Porter, and the batteries at Vicksburg, Port Hud- .
son, and other points on the lower Mississippi River, the forward case-
mates were struck repeatedly by solid shots, varying from 32 to 128
pounds, some of which were fired from rifled guns at shortrange. None
of those shots penetrated the forward casemat®, but some of the larger
ones indented the armor plates, started the wood-work, and broke in
pieces, showing that the force of the shot was entirely spent. The
after-casemates, covered with iron of the same thickness, and made by
the same manufacturers, but without india-rubber, were penetrated in
several places by shots fired from the same batteries and similar guns;
in all, over 125 shots struck this vessel at about the same range, proving
that this thickness of iron affords no protection when placed immedi-
ately upon a solid timber support.” — Scientific American.

Corrugated Armor Plates. — 'The following is an abstract of a paper on
the above subject, read to the British Association, 1863, by Mr. George
Bedford. ‘The principle of protecting ships by thick plates of iron against
projectiles of steel or homogeneous iron, hardened and tempered, would
appear to be erroneous, for the following reasons, namely, that iron
plates must always be softer than the projectile, while the latter has an
almost unlimited advantage in the force which can be given to it by
strengthening guns so as to bear very large charges, and thus gain in-
crease of velocity with increased weight of shot. Still more is this the
case if flat-headed projectiles, hardened and tempered as the Whitworth
shell and shot, are to be provided against. The method which I pro-
pose is founded upon two principles of strength, — cohesive strength and
mechanical strength. ‘The plates being made of steel, hardened and
tempered as nearly as possible up to the cohesive strength of the Whit-
worth shot and shell, are of two kinds, — one thick and corrugated, the
other thinner and plain. The steel corrugated plates, which are three
inches thick, are placed upon the thinner plates of one inch, also tem-
pered, and bolted through the skin of the ship to the ribs in the iron

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. if

ship, or to the timbers in a wooden one. If iron plates of the corru-
gated form were backed with an inch plate of steel, hardened and tem-
pered, they would, I think, prove impenetrable ; and even smooth iron
plates of 4 inches thus laid upon steel would be more effective than iron
plates even of 7 inches thick, backed by timber. In explaining the
mode in which I conceive this kind of compound armor-plating to act,
it is necessary to consider to what the great force of flat-headed projec-
tiles is due. It will be admitted that this is not to be attributed to the
velocity of the shot, but to its flat form and great cohesive strength;
because spherical and conical projectiles sent with -higher velocity do
not pierce iron plates. ‘The rationale of the punching action may not
yet be quite clearly understood, but this much seems to be established,
that a flat-headed shot pierces because its whole force is applied equally
in one direction, and free from the lateral resistance which the conical
and round shot meet with. I venture also to state that the suddenness
of the impact of such a body has much to do with the effect; it would
seem that time is an important’ element in the consideration, and there-
fore if this perfect impact can be delayed, and still more, if it can be
prevented altogether, the piercing of the plate will not be effected. As
an illustration of the difference between force applied with time and
force without it, may be pointed out the simple experiment of striking
an anvil with a small hammer, and placing the same force in weight
gradually, or with time. In the first case, the force is not conducted
away into the mass of the anvil, but is spent in repelling the hammer,
and possibly in breaking it into fragments. This 1s also exemplified in
the smashing of round shot against an iron target of proper thickness.
In the case of the hammer’s being pressed upon the anvil, no effect is
produced upon either the one or the other. Another familiar illustra-
tion is in the effect of soft materials, such as gun wads or tallow candle,
being sent at high velocity through wooden planks, and, as frequently
occurred, killing persons struck by them. Velocity, then, may be de-
seribed as force with the least possible element of time ; the best exam-
ple, perhaps, of which is electric force m the form of lightning. The
analogue of this force is seen in the flash of flame which occurs when a
shot strikes at high velocity upon an iron plate. Now, the object of
the steel plates, bemg hardened and tempered, is to delay the shot by
its cohesive strength, and to prevent, by the corrugated surface, the
whole area of the flat-head projectile bearing upon the plate at the
same moment of impact. The shot is delayed partly by this means,
and partly by meeting with a metal as hard and tough as itself, and
thus time is allowed for the conduction of the force away into the sur-
rounding metal without fracture and penetration ; the objects which I
consider most important being, first, to prevent penetration of the outer
plate, and to oppose a shot which did pierce it, when it has expended
its force, by covering the skin of the ship with a thin steel plate, in
preference to increasing the thickness of the outer plating. The me-
chanical strength of this arrangement of plates consists in the double
arch form combined with a certain amount of “ play ” and elasticity, ob-
tained by fixing the corrugated plate upon a flat one. The flat action
of the projectile is also prevented by, as it were, converting it into a
round head or a hollow head before it reaches the inner plate. The
space between the corrugations being about four and a half inches, a

58 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

flat-head shot of five inches diameter would begin to bear upon less
than one square inch of plate if it struck across a furrow, while if it
struck upon a corrugation, the surface pressed upon, even with aseven-
inch shot, would be seven square inches instead of thirty-nine, whichis
the area of impact of a shot of this diameter upon a flat surfacé. In a
large proportion of hits the shot would have to cut through in ‘an ob-
lique direction about six inches of metal before reaching the plain plate.
The advantages of the plan proposed are, besides the protection of the
ships, the reduction of the weight of armor much below that contem-
plated for the new.ships of war. The saving of at least one inch in
thickness of plates would give a reduction of 100 tuns; and if itshould
be found that timber backing can with this armor be dispensed with,
a point now so much the subject of inquiry, — the reduction of weight
would be about 250 tuns in a ship of the Warrior class. The extra
cost would be to a great extent met by the saving in the thickness of
plates and the timber backing.

Interesting English Experiments with Iron-targets, Whitworth and
Armstrong guns.— Some interesting experiments with guns and ar-
mor-plates, made under the direction of the British ordnance board, have
been reported during the past year. The following account of trials
on the 3d and 17th of March, at Shoeburyness, will be found especially
worthy of notice. Upon the first named date, four guns were tried,
viz:— One of Whitworth’s,.of 74-inch bore, with hexagonal rifled
grooves; one Armstrong 9-inch smooth-bore, and one 104-inch bore,
rifled; also one of Thomas’s rib-rifled 7-inch bore. The target con-
sisted of several iron plates, 5, 6, 7 and 8 inches in thickness, 20
inches in width, and 8 feet in length. It was 11 feet in width and
8 feet high, with an embrasure of 34 by 24 feet. The plates were
fastened to huge bars of iron, placed vertically and crosswise, secured
with 3-inch through bolts, serewed up behind. This target represented
the strongest experimental gun-shield which has yet been constructed.
The first experiment was made with Whitworth’s 7-inch muzzle-load-'
ing rifled gun, weighing 74 tuns, and nominally throwing a 120-pound-
er shot, though in reality made for projectiles of the weight of 150
Ibs. and upward. ‘This was loaded with 25 lbs. of powder and a flat-
headed hardened projectile, weighing 137 lbs. It struck on the left
side of the target with terrific force, emitting, at the moment of con-
tact, a sheet of flame as broad and vivid as if another cannon had been
fired from the mark in reply. The massive bar frame of 12 inches
solid iron behind the plates was dislodged, and an 8-inch plate was
cracked. The impact velocity of the shot was 1,240 feet per second.
The next shot was from the Armstrong 9-inch smooth-bore, with a 100-
pound round shot of wrought-iron, and a charge of powder of 25 Ibs.
The missile struck full upon the thick side of the target with a velocity
of 1,470 feet per second, inflicting a tremendous circular dent 2+
inches deep, cracking one of the inner plates of the target, and knock-
ing off one of the massive bolt-heads. The target was roughly shaken,
but not pierced.

A new bolt was screwed into it and the third shot was fired from the
105-inch Armstrong shunt-rifled gun. This piece of ordnance weighs
11ftuns. It is rifled with 10 deep grooves on the shunt principle —
the shot enters freely by the muzzle down one series of grooves, but it

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 59

is recularly shunted into another series, along which it comes ont when
the gun is fired, and the grooves for exit being shallower than those for
entrance, they, as it were, squeeze the shot with suflicient force to make
it take the form of rifling, and give it the rotation on its axis. It was
loaded with a hollow-headed conical-shaped shot, 19} inches in length,
weighing 250 Ibs., with a 45-lb. charge of powder behind it. It sent
the shot with a velocity of 1,405 feet per second full on the thick part
of the target, inflicting a broad damaging indent, shaking the whole
structure a good deal, and cracking an outer upper plate; but still
there was no through penetration. .

The next shot was by Thomas’s 7-inch muzzleloader. This gun

was 11 feet 6 inches long, rifled on a new plan, somewhat in ap-

earance like the canon rayé of the French, but with this difference,
that instead of three grooves it has three ridges projecting nearly an
inch into the bore; the elongated projectiles, 24 diameters long, fitting
into and between the ridges. The shot fired was a wrought-iron one
of 151 lbs. weight, with a charge of 25 lbs. of powder. It was the
first time the gun had ever been fired, and it hit the white spot aimed
at so truly as quite to obliterate the mark, doubling up the shot itself
into the form of a huge cauliflower, and making an indent almost as
severe as that of the 100-pounder smooth-bore. Its velocity was 1,215
feet per second when it struck. The target appeared much shaken,
but was still unpenetrated.

Mr. Whitworth’s gun was then again fired, at the same range and
with the same charge of powder and shot. The shot was aimed at
the untouched plates, below the embrasure, and so close to the ground
that the projectile struck the earth first, making a deep furrow ; and,
of course, considerably diminishing the force of its blow. For this
reason it made but a very slight impression, and did no injury to the
target that was worth speaking of.

The 10-inch Armstrong gun was again fired, with a charge of 45
lbs. of powder, and a wrought-iron shot of 230 lbs. This tremendous
missile injured the target considerably, and sent fragments of it flying
through the air in all directions, with a hoarse rear that was terrible to
hear. The force of this blow broke some of the plates in fresh places,
knocked the head off one of the bolts, and drove out another like a
rocket.

Thomas’s gun was again fired, with 274 lbs. of powder, and a steel
bolt weighing 133 lbs. Its maker stated he was afraid of his gun, as it
was too deeply bored; and it was, therefore, fired with electricity, fro
a battery some distance off. When the charge was ignited, the gun
burst into frazments! The explosion was so complete that the masses
were scattered in every direction, one piece weighing nearly a ton
being thrown to a distance of 140 yards. The experiments were then
terminated for the day. This gun had a steel interior tube, and an
iron breech banded with a shrunk hoop 13 inches in width and 3
inches thick. The total diameter where it burst at the breech was 29
inches. It was claimed that the victory remained with the target.

Qn the 17th of March following, the experimentation commenced
on the third was continued. The target used on this occasioh was 12
feet square, formed of three great plates of the best rolled iron; the
upper one being 5} inches thick, the middle one 74 inches, and the

60 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

lower one 64 inches. One-half of the target was backed with teak-
wood planking 10 inches in thickness, and the wood was backed with
inside plates of iron 24 inches in thickness. The other half of the
target had. the outside plates bolted to strong vertical iron ribs, but
had no teak backing or inner skin plates. "Six feet _square of the
target, therefore, were formed of 10, 9,and 8 inches in thickness of
iron and 10 inches of teak. The quality of the plates was superior
to any ever tested in a target. The firing was at a distance of
200 yards ; and the guns tried consisted of the old smooth 68-pounder,
Armstr ong’s 110-pounder service gun (with special steel shot cut
down at the base to reduce them to 65 Ibs. weight), Armstrong’s
300-pounder muzzle-loading rifled shunt gun, Whitworth’s muzzle-
loading 150-pounder or 7-inch gun, and Thomas’s 9-inch or 300-
pounder rifled muzzle-loading gun. Both these latter were made by
Colonel Anderson, at Woolwich, on the built-up coil principle adopted
by Armstrong; both were admirable specimens of workmanship,
though, before the experiments commenced, Whitworth’s gun was
found to have a crack or flaw in the centre steel tube round which the
coils of wrought-iron are wound and welded in the course of manu-
facture. This defect prevented its being used in the course of the
experiments except for one discharge with a line-shell. Thomas's oun

was an enormous piece of or dnance, nearly 18 feet long, weighing 16
tons, and with a thickness of 17 inches of metal around the powder
chamber at the breech. 'Thouch nominally ¢ 300-pounder, this gun is
claimed to be capable of throwing panies of various forms and
weight, from 250 lbs. up to 410lbs. Armstrong’s 300-pounder weighs
less than 12 tons.

The first shots, three in number, were fired from the old smooth-bore
68-pounder, with the usual service charge of 16 lbs. of powder; these
were directed against the 54, 65 and 7. 1-inch plates, and were immedi-
ately followed by three shots from Armstrong’ 8 110-pounder, loaded
with special steel projectiles weighing 65 Ibs., and fired with the same
service charge as the smooth-bore 68-pounder. Where the 68-pounder
had struck, the indentation varied from 24 inches to 3 inches in depth ;
where the steel shot of Ar mstrong’s had hit, the mark was in one case
deeper, and the plate showed a perceptible crack about 8 inches. long,
though apparently of very triflmg depth. But the most careful exam-
ination failed to discover any mark on the back of the target to show
that it had been hit at all.

. The next shot was fired from Armstrong’s 300- -pounder, loaded with
a conical steel shot of 296 Ibs. weight, and fired with 45 Ibs. of powder.
This tremendous missile struck, with a velocity of 1,298 feet per sec-
ond, full upon the centre of the 7 inch plate, where it was backed,
driving i in a circular piece of iron 10 inches in diameter quite through
the plate, bending in the whole plate itself to the depth of an inch and
a half, and buekling its ends outwards more than an inch. The mas-
sive wroucht j iron girder which crossed the whole back of the target
hor rizontally was bent out and broken in several places, as were also
the inner ribs; the 24-inch skin was bulged and cracked, the rivet
heads loosened, and many knocked off altogether. . The examination
showed that the target had received a most serious shake, though, from
the wonderfully good quality of the iron, there was little of ac ‘tual frac-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 61

ture, except in the spot on which the shot itself had struck. Had the
object struck been a ship’s side, the damage would have caused a most
serious leakage. It is hardly possible, however, to institute compar-
isons between any armor-clads yet known and this target, as no sea-go-
ing vessel could possibly carry the masses of iron that were here fired
at, although a floating battery might. This last steel shot rebounded
from the target, and, when examined, showed little signs of damage. All
competing artillerists at Shoeburyness seem to agree that the range
for testing the powers of rifled guns shculd not be less than 1,000 yards,
at which distance the force of smooth-bore projectiles would be re-
duced one-half, while the rifled shot would be flying at nearly their
greatest impetus.

The next shot was from Sir William’s 300-pounder, loaded with a
cast-iron shell weighing 286 lbs., and charged with 11 lbs. of powder.
This was fired with the usual 45 lbs. charge, and struck full in the
centre of the 54-inch backed plate with a velocity of 1,330 feet per
second. It shattered its way completely through it, leaving a rough
hole about 10 inches in diameter, and then burst in the inside, blow-
ing the teak to minute fragments, setting it on fire, breaking off many
of the rivet heads, and tearing the imner skins of iron, 24 inches thick,
into rough shredded gaps, as if they had been so much cardboard.
When water had been procured and the fire in the wood extinguished,
it was seen at a glance that the question of the resistance which the
strongest British iron frigates would be able to offer to such ordnance
was settled in the most unpleasant manner. By the side of the target
was a powerful partition of wooden beams, and an examination of
this, after the shell had exploded, gave terrible proofs of its destruc-
tive powers. There was scarcely a square inch of its whole surface
that was not deeply penetrated with fragments of the shell of all
shapes and sizes, from one pound weight to ragged particles as mimute
as small shot.

Mr. Whitworth’s 150-pounder was next tried, loaded with a steel flat-
headed shell of 156 lbs. weight, with a bursting charge of 6 lbs. of pow-
der, and fired from the gun with 25 lbs. of powder. This shell struck
within about five inches of the spot where Sir William’s had struck,
burst and destroyed the teak backing. ‘The Whitworth shell passed
quite through the plate and burst amone the debris of splinters behind.
The hole in the plate wasof the small, clean-cut, punched kind. It
was claimed that the result was equal to what had been accomplished
by Armstrong’s gun, with a 286 lb. shell and 45 lbs. of powder. Ow-
ing to the flaw in its breech no further trials were made with this
gun.

Thomas’s gun was the next competitor: Unfortunately the gun-was
not well pointed, and its first 330 lb. shot missed the target altogether.
The next shot, weighing 307 lbs., and fired with a 50 Ib. charge of
powder, struck the hollow part of the target, where it was 74 inches
thick, and bent the plate. The third shot was more successful. It
was a steel projectile of 330 Ibs. weight, fired with the same charge.
Tt struck on the edge of the 74-inch plate, and made a broken inden-
tation to the depth of 105 inches, sufficient to establish the most alarm-
ing leak in the side of any vessel. The terminal velocities of both
these last shots were lower than any fired, which. was attributed to

6

62 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

what is believed to be the excessive pitch in the mode of ribbed rifling
adopted by Mr. Thomas.

Sir Wiliam Armstrong then fired his 300-pounder with an ordinary
cast-iron round shot, weighing 144 Ibs., with acharge of 45 Ibs. of pow-
der. ‘The terminal velocity with which this struck the 7J4nch plate
on the unbacked portion was the highest attained — no less than 1,636
feet a second — and almost in exact proportion to its velocity was the
damage it inflicted. Not only was it indented larger and deeper than
any shot that had gone before, but on the inner side it broke the plate
both vertically and horizontally, leaving a cruciform tear nearly two
inches wide at the openings, besides shaking the target to its very
foundations.

The massive. target was now so much damaged, both in plates and
fastenings, that further experiments became almost useless. The iron,
even where most torn, held together in a manner that was really won-
derful ; but Mr. Thomas had knocked off several of the massive screw
bolt heads, and the effect of the entire day’s work had been so to bend
the plates and destroy the backing that there was really no part left
that aiforded the means of a fair test of resistance.

The practical results elicited by the day’s experiments seem to be
these — first, that iron plates of 74 inches, or greater thickness, can be
produced with as much perfection, as to quality and strength, as those
of 4 inches ; secondly, that there are guns the fire of which the strong-
est armor-clads could not face and float for ten minutes.

‘Perhaps the most remarkable fact connected with these experiments
was the smashing of the target with a cast-iron shell. From previous
experiments it had been concluded that all cast-iron shot would break
in pieces in striking thick wrought-iron plates.

The Armstrong Gun.— Confidence in the Armstrong gun in Great
Britain has been greatly diminished during the past year, both from
the public discussion of its merits in the public prints, and through the
publication of the report of a government committee appointed to in-
quire into the whole subject.

According to the Western Morning Mail, Mr. Armstrong has, since
the commencement of his appointment of government gun-founder,
“ constructed not less than ten different kinds of guns; that of each
kind he made and put into the government’s hands a considerable num-
ber, and was paid for them, and that not one of all these cannon has
proved serviceable without great and expensive alterations. He made
110-pounders, 120-pounders, both muzzle and breech loading ; 150-
pounders, 800-pounders, 200-pounders, 12-pounders, 40-pounders, 100-
pounders ; and the only guns of all these which are even claimed to be
successful are the 12-pounders. But of these we read that they have
been returned and are now having twelve inches cut off the muzzle to
make them safe. They will, consequently, when ‘fixed, be only
J-pounders, with a diminished range.”

There are a number of Armstrong guns now in use in the British
navy, 110-pounders for the most part, but the committee report that
“although useful as chase guns, they ought not to be introduced as broad-
side guns.” The report adds that they are “not sufficiently powerful
to penetrate iron-plated ships, and are imperfect for general naval ser-
vice, owing to the difliculty of managing and manufacturing the vent

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 63

pieces.” The Duke of Somerset testified that “the Admiralty had a
report that the Armstrong gun had the greatest range and the greatest
power of penetration of any gun tried; but that when they came to
try it themselves, they found ‘that the report was not confirmed by the
facts. For naval purposes at two } hundred yards it certainly had not
the greatest power ; our old 68-pounder i is a more powerful gun than
the Armstrong 100-pounder.”

Captain Wainwricht of the iron-clad frigate Black Prince, in exami-
nation before the committee, stated that in a sea-way, the practice with
the Armstrong guns was very unsatisfactory, particularly i in ricochet
practice, the smooth-bores beating them in accuracy. An attempt at
explanation was made, on the eround that the shot was delayed in the
Armstrong gun after the trigger was pulled, longer than in the old
smooth-bore guns, consequently the aim, in a rolling sea-way, must be
less accurate. Captain Wainwright stated that the Black Prince, which
he commanded, being armor-clad, had very small ports, and that the
smothering sensation “from the black smoke produced by these guns was
hardly endurable ; this he imagined to be from something in the wad;
he had no other conjecture to hazard.

19-inch Rifled Steel Guns. — Krupp, the celebrated cast-steel manu-
facturer of Germany has recently furnished to the Russian Government
a number of 19-inch rifled cast-steel guns, designed to throw a 300-
pound shell, or a 450-pound solid shot. The London Times gives an
account of some experimental firing with one of their guns, at St. Peters-
burg, with a view of testing certain shell, and the quality of a large lot
of 4 ‘inch armor-plates, manufactured for the Russian government at
Sheffield, Eneland. It says: —“ First, a series of cast-iron shells, 300
pounds ache were fired at different ran ges, and then shellsmade by Krupp
were fired at the 44-inch armor-plates. The first shell, of hard cast-
steel, was 221-inches long (two and a half diameters), with a flat end
4 inches in diameter. Fired with 50 pounds of powder at 700 feet dis-
tance, it passed through the plate, oak and teak backing, and broke
into many pieces, although filled with sand only. The second and thirc
shells were also of Krupp’s steel, the same length, but with 63-mch
ends. ‘These shells pierced plates, wood, etc., and also went to pieces,
although only filled with sand. ‘The fourth shell was made of puddled
steel the same dimensions as the second and third, went through iron,
teak, etc., but was only bulged up from 9 inches to 12 inches, and the
end flattened ; not a single crack being visible in the shell. The fifth
shell, the same as the fourth, passed through iron, teak, and a second
target, and went at least a mile beyond. The sixth and seventh were
from Krupp, and were charged with powder ; they were quite flattened,
9 inches in diameter. One exploded in the plate, the other in the
wood. ‘The eighth and ninth shells were of cast-iron, and, although they
passed through the plates, were of course destroy ed. The results on
the plates were highly satisfactory. In a space of 4 feet 6 inches by 3
feet 6 inches, eight holes were made without any crack of the slightest
description.”

resisting qualities of Hogs-hair Targets. —'The U.S. Bureau of Ord-
nance, Navy Department, have recently published the results of some
ee imental trials to test the resisting qualities of targets made essen-
tially of hogs-hair, the invention of a Mr. Brady. The target used was

64 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

made of 5 bales of hogs-hair, faced and backed with pine plank 4 inches
thick, and fastened with 28 wrought-iron bolts. Two of the bales had
been subjected to one and the same amount of compression, and two
others were compressed alike but differing’in degree from the former,
and the remaining bale, as stated by the inventor, was but slightly
compressed. The bales were bound with iron hoops. The target was
backed with 4 feet of solid clay.

Dimensions of Target. — Eleven feet, three inches long; four feet
wide; three feet, three and a half inches thick.

The gun used was a rifled 50-pounder ; charge 34 lbs. cannon pow-
der; weight of projectile 88 lbs. ‘The result of the fiting was unsatis-
factory ; the shot passing entirely through the bales and the clay back-
ing, and embedding themselves in a bank of earth 18 feet in the rear
of the target.

Wire-Rope Target— Experiments have been made at the Wash-
ington Navy Yard with a target devised by Mr. Hodge, consisting of
three thicknesses‘of half-inch plate iron, backed by a tissue of wire-
ropes fourteen inches thick. The target was mounted on timber nine
inches thick, consisting, first, of two one-inch boards (one horizontal
and one vertical) and then of two layers of timber three and one-half
inches thick, disposed of vertically and horizontally. The dimensions,
of the target were as follows: Length, sixty-seven and one-half inches ;
width, fifty and one-half inches; iron thickness, fifteen and one-half inch-
es; timber, nine inches. Two shotswere fired at this target from a
eleven-inch gun, distance eighty-three feet. The first shot, a wrought
iron projectile weighing one hundred and _ fifty-six pounds, with a
charge of twenty-five pounds of powder, hit direct and passed clear
through the target. Shot No. two, cast-iron, weieht one hundred six-
ty-five pounds, charge of powder fifteen pounds, hit direct, and, pass-
ing clean through the target, buried itself im an earth-bank to a depth
of nine feet six inches.

On the Results of Experiments in Gunnery with Iron Targets. —
Jn a discussion on this subject, before the British Association, 1863, Mr.
Galvin stated that the earlier experiments showed that four and one-
half inch plates at least were necessary to resist shot. This thickness
of iron still left the platelable to be hurt or fractured, and knocked off
even when not directly penetrated, and the extent to which it would
thus suffer would in some degree be regulated by the backing. The
plan adopted in the Warrior was simply that suggested by the idea of
bolting a plate of iron to the sides of a wooden ship. The iron skin of
the Warrior is covered with two layers of teak planking, each nine
inches in thickness, the one horizontal, the other vertical, and outside
of those is the armor-plate, four and one-half inches thick, secured by
bolts, screwed up with nuts inside of the ship. The wood backing
was to prevent the injuries sustained by the plate from being communi-
cated immediately to the ship, but.it afforded no effectual support to
the plate itself. The results of experiments with iron targets having a
rigid backing, composed wholly of iron, had demonstrated that this plan
was not desirable. The arrangement required for the armor-plating
of a ship was a strong front plate, in which deflection under blows
should be prevented, but which should have some cushion behind to
prevent the full concussion of the blow being communicated to the side

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 65

of the ship. Mr. J. Nasmyth expressed his opinion that for armor-plates
to answer the end for which they were designed, they must be backed
by some elastic substance, and, in his opinion, that best adapted to give
the requisite elasticity was compressed wool. As Mr. Maury was present,
he should like to have his opinion on the subject of cotton, and
whether it had been found to answer so far as his experience went.

Mr. M. F. Maury, late an officer in the U. S. Navy, said he had not
had an opportunity of gaining a great deal of experience on this sub-
ject, nor had he had an opportunity of witnessing the experiments that
had been made upon cotton. There had been experiments to test the
capability of cotton to resist cannon-balls, but the results had by no
means been satisfactory. He thought that cotton had got a false repu-
tation. In the early days of the American difficulty, they thought that
cotton could resist balls successfully ; but when it came to the test, they
found the bales did not answer the purpose. Mr. J. Scott Russell said
the whole course of experience had been to show that they must arrest
and shatter the shot at the earliest possible moment, and in the short-
est space of time when it struck the armor.

New Vent-holes for Artillery.— A series of experiments have been
made during the past year at Shoeburyness, Eng., by the British Ord-
nance Committee, to ascertain how far a method now rather in favor
among French artillerists, by which a series of holes, about an inch in
diameter, are bored through the substance of the cannon near its muz-
zle, in order, by permitting a quick escape of gas, to diminish its recoil,
affects the service of the piece as to range and accuracy. The experi-
ments were made with two brass 9-pounder ordinary smooth-bore
fieldpiecss, which were loaded with the usual service charges, and
spherical shot. Five rounds were fired from each gun in succession,
the recoil of both being carefully measured after each discharge. They
were then shifted, so that each occupied the platform which had been
used by the other, when again more rounds were fired. The general
merits of the performances of each gun were exactly what were antici-
pated before a shot was fired. The recoil of the ordinary gun was, in
round numbers, just twice as great as that which had the holes bored
round the muzzle, while the range and accuracy of the latter were
scarcely more than half as good as those of the common piece. The
lateral escape of gas and flame through the side holes of the French
gun, if we may so call it, was very, great indeed, so much so as to prove
at once that even if the gun otherwise possessed the most transient
merits, it could never be used either on shipboard, in casemates, or even
at embrasures. In the open air the trigger had to be pulled by a lan-
yard nearly twenty yards long. One half of the force of the explosion
evidently escaped through the side holes before the force of the powder
was expended on the shot, and virtually, therefore, the barrel of the
gun 1s shortened by as much of its length as is thus perforated. As a
general rule, the recoil of the gun is always in exact proportion to the
force it exerts in propelling the shot, and anything which takes off
from this reeoil, by allowing the gas generated by the explosion to es-
cape before it has done its work, just diminishes by so much the range,
and therefore the accuracy, of its fire. The results obtained with this
curiously-bored gun were enough to satisfy the Ordnance Committee
that the device in questign was of no value.

6*

66 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

India Rubber Breech Piece for Cannon. — Numerous patents have
recently been taken, both in this country and Europe, for devices to
lessen the strain and liability of explosion in ordnance by the use of
vuleanized India-rubber or gutta-percha applied in the breech to con-
fine the air, against which the exploded powder will act, whereby the
sides of the bore are relieved from the immense strain of the ignited
charge. The objects of these inventions are to lessen the danger of
explosion and enable the gun to give a greatly-increased velocity to the
shot by using a larger charge of powder than is allowed or deemed safe
in the old kind of guns. A device recently patented by Horace Hi.
Day, of New York, consists essentially in inserting into the bottom of
the bore of the gun an India-rubber breech piece, or cushion, having
a conical recess at its base. Upon the top of this the charge and pro-
jectile are inserted in the usual manner. It was claimed that the effect
of this elastic cushion is to impart a gradual movement at the moment of _
explosion, which starts the bolt gently from its seat ; the gases then follow
it up and expel it with as much force as the powder 1s capable of ex-
erting. During the past year, a series of experiments to test this
invention have been made under the direction of the U.S. Ordnance
Bureau ; — the gun employed, in part, being a 130-pounder, filled with
a vuleanized: rubber breech-piece, 8 inches in length, .2 of an inch
smaller in diameter than the bore of the gun, with its rear shaped to
fit the bottom of the bore. Its weight was 22 Ibs. The projectile was
a solid shot, weighing 126 lbs., fired into a bank of earth at 85 feet dis-
tance. The following is the official record of three firings: — “1. Rub-
ber breech-piece was blown out and struck the bank. 2. Rubber
breech-piece started forward 504 inches. While sponging the gun out,
several small pieces of rubber were found. On examining the breech,
found it badly torn. 8. The rubber breech-piece was blown out, and
fell fifty feet to the front of the muzzle of the gun. Finding it so badly
damaged, the trial was discontinued.” The results with a 32-pounder
were nearly as unsatisfactory, no increase in the accuracy of fire being
obtained.

Experiments with Rifled Small Arms. — A series of valuable experi-
ments with rifled small arms have lately been conducted by the Ord-
nance Committee of the British Government. Rifles of different
calibers and systems of rifling were tested. As it regards the effect of
the number of grooves in the Enfield rifle, it was found that five were
better than three — the friction in loading and firing being less and the
shooting more accurate with the five grooves. ‘To test the effect of
the pitch in rifling, two Enfield rifles were tested, the one having a
revolution in sixty-three inches and the other ih forty-eight inches, but
both of uniform twist. In calm weather the slow pitch of sixty-three
inches was equal to the other at ranges up to 1,000 yards, but beyond
this it was not so accurate; and in windy weather the more rapid
twist was uniformly more effective at all ranges, but the barrel fouled
more rapidly with the residue of the powder. The caliber of these
rifles is 0.577 of an inch, and they were tried against a Lancaster rifle
of 0.55 inch caliber, elliptical bore, the twist commencing with one
revolution in 36 inches at the breech, increasing to one turn in 33
inches at the muzzle. At all ranges beyond 500 yards the Lancaster
rifle surpassed the Enfield in accuracy, and itywas not so liable to foul.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 67

The same kind of cartridges was used for both rifles. As it respects
the quality of these rifles for army purposes, the report of the Ordnance
Committee is strongly in favor of the Lancaster rifle; the report
says :—“ Having carefully considered the advantages of the Enfield
and Lancaster systems, a: applied to rifles of large calibers and adapted
to the same ammunition, the committee came to the conclusion that the
Lancaster system has the advantage as regards precision and non-ten-
dency to accumulate fouling, also in simplicity of management (a
smooth-bore being more easily cleaned than a grooved one), initial
velocity, and flat trajectory. As it relates to rapidity of fire and cost
of manufacture, the two rifles are about equal.”

Experiments were also made with smaller bore rifles, the ealiber of
which was .45 of an inch; the barrels heavier, but stocks lighter than
the Enfield service rifles. Four rifles of this caliber were tested, viz.,

- Whitworth’s, with a hexagonal bore and rapid regular twist ; Lancas-
ter’s, with a smooth elliptical bore and an increasing twist; Westley
Richard’s breech-loader, with a Whitworth barrel; and an Enfield rifle
of five grooves and regular twist of one turn in forty-three inches. No
less than 1,000 rounds were fired from each rifle without cleaning.
After the seventh round it became difficult to load the Enfield, and be-
fore the conclusion the bullet had to be driven down with a mallet.
The Lancaster did not foul so much, still the mallet had to be used oe-
ceasionally, but from first to last the Whitworth was loaded with perfect
freedom. As it regards precision, the smaller bore rifles surpassed the
larger bores which were first tried, at all ranges exceeding six hun-
dred yards. The convenience in charging the breech-loader was con-
siderable, and this advantage was fully appreciated.

As the result of these experiments, the Ordnance Committee’s
report states that the introduction into the army of a weapon of greater
precision at long ranges would materially increase the efficiency of in-
fantry, and this advantage would be secured in substituting a smaller
bore of rifle for the Enfield service rifle of large bore now in use. But
as the smaller bore rifles wear out faster than those of larger caliber,
their partial introduction into the army only is recommended for the
present. The Whitworth rifle is admitted to have surpassed all the
others for accuracy at long ranges; but as it requires very peculiar
long cartridges, it was thought these would be inconvenient for army
purposes. ‘The breech-loaders of Westley Richards were recommended
for the cavalry —the only apparent obstacle to their mtroduction for
infantry is their great cost —the price being about fifty dollars each.
The Lancaster system of rifling the barrels is recommended strongly
by the Ordnance Committee to supersede the present method of rifling
the Enfields, which latter has been copied from the American (Spring-
field) rifles. — Scientifie American.

Extraordinary Range of Artillery. — During the siege of Charleston,
S. C., carried on during the past year by the United States forces un-
der Gen. Q. A. Gilmore, some results have been attained to in artille-
ry practice which are without parallel in the history of warfare. . Fort
Sumter, a modern-built, casemated fort, of the best brick masonry,
with walls from six to nine feet in thickness, has been battered into an
irregular heap of ruins and completely destroyed by artillery placed
without elevation on Morris Island, at a distance of 3,500 yards. From

68 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

batteries situated upon the same island projectiles weighing from two
hundred to three hundred pounds have been also sent into the city of
Charleston itself, a distance of ten thousand five hundred and sixty
yards (or six miles) and the place successfully bombarded. In 1861,
pending the preliminary operations of the Confederate army before F ort
Sumter, the question was asked by letter of one of the best authori-
ties in gunnery in this country, whether it would be possible for the
Federal commander of the fort to bombard the city of Charleston
in the event of an attack being made upon him. (The armament of
Fort Sumier at that time consisted of the ordinary smooth-bored thir-
ty-two and twenty-four pounder siege guns, a few eight and ten inch
columbiads, and mortars.) The following was the reply to the inter-
rogatory :—
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 1861.

Yours of the 25th instant has been received. Iam unable to enter,
into the reasons on which the opinion is based, but believe that a
bombardment of Charleston from Fort Sumter by any ordnance now
there is out of the question.

Thus it will be seen, that since the commencement of the American
civil war in 1861, a most remarkable progress has been made in the
character of the ordnance used in military operations, and results have
been-attained to, which the most sanguine of experts would have hesi-
tated to predict.

English and American Views Respecting Heavy Artillery. — 'The Lon-
don Saturday Review says, —“ On the question of the best mode of con-
structing heavy artillery, it is possible that we may also have something
to learn from the Americans. All the experiments tried in this country
have pointed at one broad conclusion: that the penetrating power of
a shot depends mainly on the charge of powder, and that it makes com-
paratively little difference whether the powder is utilized by impress-
ing a very high velocity on a moderate-sized bolt, or a lower speed
upon such masses of metal as are hurled from the Dahloren guns. The
shot, after all, is only a means of carrying the force of the powder from
the cannon’s mouth to the target ; and it is not sur prising that the re-
sulting effect should depend more on the amount of the original impulse
than on the means employed for its transmission. Still, there must be
certain proportions between the charge and the shot which will pro-
duce the greatest effect; and upon this point English and American
views have long been diver gent. Our artillerists ‘have thought more
of increasing velocity, while the Americans have attached the ereatest
importance to the bulk of the cannon-ball. It may deserve considera-
tion whether (especially for long-range firmg) the Americans have not
come nearer than ourselves to the best model.”

The London Army and Navy Gazette also m commenting on the
reduction of Fort Sumter by the batteries established by Gen. Gil-
more on Morris Island, at a distance of 3,500 yards, says, —

“It may be concluded as certain that the guns used by Gilmore were
Parrott’s rifled ordnance. Their work has been effectually done. Had
such guns been available in the trenches before Sebastopol, the allies
would have made short work, not only of the Redan and Malakoff, amd
bastion du mat, but of the shipping and of the forts at the other side of
the harbor. It must not be supposed that Sumter was a flimsy, gin-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 69

gerbread fort. It was constructed of a peculiar kind of hard, close
brick, six and seven feet thick; the arches of the casemates and the
supporting pillars were of eight and nine feet in thickness. The faces
presented to the breaching batteries must have subtended at 3,500
yards, an exceedingly smail angle, and the elevation of the fort was
low. But so great was the accuracy of the fire that a vast proportion
of the shots struck it; so great the penetration that the brickwork was
perforated ‘like a rotten cheese ;’ so low the trajectory that the shot,
instead of plunging into, passed through the fort, and made clean
breaches through both walls. Now, the guns that did this work cost,
we believe, just one-fourth of our ordnance, cwt. for ewt.; they are
light and very easily handled. The gun itself is finely rifled, with
grooves varying from four and five in number for small calibers, to six
and seven for the larger; but, as Mr. Parrott is still ‘experimenting,’
no settled plan has been arrived at, and all we know is that the pitch
is not so sharp as is the case in our rifled guns. The projectile is like
the conical Armstrong, and has a leaden sabot and coating, — at least
it is coated and based with some soft metal. The Americans have con-
structed cannon of calibers which to us are known only as of theoreti-
eal and probable attainment, and they have armed batteries hundreds
of miles from their arsenals, with the most powerful guns ever used in
war, which have been carried by sea and in stormy waters to the ene-
-my’s shores. Before such projectiles as these guns carry, the breach-
ing of masonry, whether of brick or stone, is a question of short time.
And, in face of these facts, we are obliged to record that our scientific
officers are of opinion that our ‘ best gun for breaching purposes is the
old sixty-eight pounder!’ Why, we know what that cando! We
know that at 3,500 yards its fire would be about as effectual as that of
Mons Meg. ‘These trials at two hundred yards are perfectly fatuous,
if no other results than these, or such as these, be gained by them. It
is of no use saying Sumter was of brick; it was at least as good a work
as most of our existing fortifications, and infinitely less easy ‘ to splinter
up’ than a work of granite or rubble masonry. In substance it resem-
bled very much our martello towers on the beach at Hythe. Have we
any gun which could breach one of these at 3,500 yards ? 4
The authorities have had no experience of the effect of such shot as the
Dahlgrens and Parrotts propel. They have not got the guns to dis-
charge them. When next the ordnance officers and gentlemen meet,
let them apply their minds to the little experiments the Americans
have been making for their benefit at Sumter. It is astounding to see
what progress has been made in artillery since the Crimean war.”

The Material of a Great War.— From the report of the U. 8. Sec-
retary of War, December 1863, we obtain the following statement of
the amount of war material issued to the armies of the United States
from the commencement of hostilities in April 1861, to June 30th,
1863, a period of 264 months :— of siege and sea-coast artillery, 2,088
pieces; of field artillery, 2,481 pieces; firearms for infantry, 1,550,-
576; do. for cavalry, 327,170; sabres, 271,817; cannon-balls and
shells, 1,745,586; lead and lead bullets in pounds, 50,045,515; car-
tridges for artillery, 2,274,490 ; cartridges for small-arms, 378,584,104 ;
percussion caps, 715,036,470 ; gunpowder in pounds, 13,071,073 ; ac-
coutrements for infantry, 1,680,220 sets; do. for cavalry, 196,298 ;

70 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

equipments for cavalry horses, 211,670 sets; artillery harnesses,
(double) 17,485. And yet, notwithstanding this immense consump-
tion, to which should also be added an immense stock on hand await-
ing requisition and use, the Secretary states, “That the resources of
the country for the production of arms and munitions of war have
only commenced their development. At the beginning of the war,”
he continues, “we were compelled to rely upon foreign countries for
the supply of nearly all our arms and munitions. Now, all these
things are manufactured at home, and we are independent of foreign
countries, not only for the manufacture, but also for the materials of
which they are composed. The excellency of the arms and munitions
of war of American manufacture, which have been supplied by the
Ordnance Department to the army, has been so obvious that our sol-
diers are no longer willing to use those which have been imported from
other countries. The efforts made during the war to extend andimprove
the manufacture of arms and munitions have resulted in discoveries of
great importance to the country, in peace as well as war. Among the
arts thus improved is the manufacture of wrought-iron, now rivalling the
qualities of iron of Sweden, Norway, and England. ‘This country,
until the present year, has relied upon those countries for material to
make gun-barrels, bridle-bits, car-wheel tires and other articles requir-
ing iron of fine quality. Iron of our own production is now superior
to that obtained abroad.”

One interesting feature of the military operations of the present
civil war, is the extent to which telegraphic communication has been
resorted to as a means of facilitating and directing operations. It ap-
pears that since the commencement of the war there has been con-
_structed, and is now in operation, 5,326 miles of land and submarine
military telegraph; a length sufficient to girdle more than one-fifth
of the circumference of the globe. Over these lines there were sent
during the year, ending June 30th, 1863, at least 1,200,000 telegrams,
varying in length from ten to one thousand words.

IRON-CLAD SHIPS AND BATTERIES.

Number and Strength of the American Iron-Clad Fleet. — From the
report of the Secretary of the Navy, communicated to Congress, De-
cember 1863, it would appear that the U.S. Government is now in
possession of a larger number of iron-clad steamers than any other na-
val power. ‘The whole number afloat, or approaching completion, is
seventy-five; of which forty-six, carrying 150 guns, and having an ag-
gregate tonnage of 62,513, are intended for coast service ; and twenty-
nine, carrying 152 guns and a tonnage of 20,784, are for inland service.
Of the iron-clads launched during the past year, or now in the pro-
cess of construction, the following are especially worthy of notice :—

The Onondaga is an iron-turreted steamer, though not of the Erics-
son (monitor) model, but was built after a design furnished by her
constructor, Mr. George Quintard, of New York. She is constructed
wholly of iron. The hull is 226 feet in length and forty-eight feet in
width. The frames are of angle-iron five inches by three, riveted to
a central plate at the bottom. There is no keel, properly speaking,
but a ribbed or arched plating in the place of it, to which all the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. ra

frames are joined. There are no projecting armor shelves on the
sides, but the vessel is protected from shot by single plates four and a
half inches in thickness with the additional protection of a layer of
nine-inch locust and three-inch oak timber, covered again with two-
inch solid plates of iron, thus making the mail in reality 184 inches
thick, 61 of which are iron. The draught of the ship will be ten feet.

There are two propellers or screws, one on each side under the
stern, each propeller being driven by two engines. ‘The turrets are
the same as those upon all the monitors; eleven inches thick m the
walls, nine feet high and twenty-one feet in diameter inside. There
are two fifteen-inch guns in each turret. Neither the bow nor stern of
the Onondaga overhangs the hull, the stern projecting only enough to
cover the screws and protect them from damage by shot. ‘There are
thirteen transverse water-tight compartments, and the coal bunkers
surround the boilers in addition to the protection afforded by the iron
plating.

The Dictator.— This name has been given to an iron-clad war-ship
constructed during the past year in New York, from designs by Erics-
son, based on the principles of the first monitor, but superior, so far as
relates to size, speed, sea-worthiness, and impenetrability, to any armor-
clad vessel hitherto constructed in the United States. The following
statement of the points and dimensions involved in her construction we
copy from the Scientific American: ‘The extreme length of the
vessel over all, is 314 feet; its aft overhang being thirty-one feet, and
forward overhang thirteen, leaving 260 feet between perpendiculars ;
extreme breadth fifty, and depth 224 feet. The hull, in sides and
frame, is constructed of iron. ‘The armor shelf extends outside of the
hull four feet on each side, and is prodigiously strong. Some idea of
its impenetrable character will be derived from the following account
of its construction. The outside is covered with six one-inch plates of
iron fastened in the most substantial manner, and inside of this are
three feet of oak timber and an armor lining formed of 43 inch bars
extending all around. The armor shelf therefore consists of 104 inches
in thickness of iron, and three feet of timber, and between the metal
and timber is interspersed a thick layer of felting. No gun yet fabri-
cated can project a shot that will pierce this armor-jacket.

The keel-plate of the Dictator is of one-inch plate, the side plates 7th
inch, and the frame of double angle-iron, six by four inches. The in-
terior is divided into several water-tight compartments by plate bulk-
heads, and the space forward of the third bulk-head below will be used
for coal bunkers, through the middle of which will be a railway to
carry the fuel to the boilers. The deck beams are of kyanized oak.
Two engines, each having a cylinder of one hundred inches in diame-
ter and four feet stroke, will be employed to drive the screw, which is
four-bladed, 214 feet in diameter, and of thirty-four feet pitch. Six
boilers, capable of furnishing 5000 horse-power to the engines, supply
the motive force. The boilers have fifty-six furnaces and an aggregate
grate surface of 1,000,100 feet ; and allowing twelve pounds of coal
per square foot of grate surface, the vessel will require, at the least, 175
tons of coal per day of twenty-four hours, steaming at full speed.

As the Dictator is furnished with a strong bow, its speed, strength,
and mass will render ita most ellicient marine ram.. It is provided

72 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

with one revolving turret, capable of carrying two heavy guns, which
is believed to be impenetrable against any projectile hitherto experi-
mented with. The following are its dimensions. The diameter of the
inside turret is twenty-four feet. The turret itself being formed of six
thicknesses of inch-plate riveted together. Over and outside of this is
another turret forming a sleeve, consisting of seven thicknesses of inch-
plates riveted, while between the two are additional shields of tron
hoops or bars, having an aggregate of five inches; so that the whole
forms one great revolving iron tower eighteen inches in thickness,
twenty-seven feet in diameter, and weighing about two hundred tons.
A companion vessel to the Dictator, named the Puritan is also in the
course of construction.

The Dunderberg.— This name-has been given to a vessel now in the
course of construction, at New York, which combines the features of a
ram and an iron-clad monitor. Her length is 378 feet, width sixty-

eight feet, and depth of hold thirty-two feet. The model is peculiar ;
the floor is dead flat, at an angle with the sides, except at the forward
end, whete it is nearly vertical. The hull is divided into water-tight
compartments. The sides below the main deck are 64 feet thick, and
on the casemates there are three feet of solid timber firmly bolted.
The iron plating is 44 inches thick on the sides and 3} inches on the
casemate. This vessel is 7000 tons burthen. Her deck is bomb-
proof, and she will be rigged half-mast with yards and sails, which will
enable her to cruise without the aid of her engines.

The whole forward part of the vessel, for a distance of fifty feet, is
solid wood-work, covered on the sides and edge with the iron armor,
constituting the ram, which has the profile of an axe edge. Should
this ram be knocked away, which is improbable, the hull will still re-
main water-tight. The engines are of 6,000 horse-power.

The Dunderberg is to be furnished with two revolving turrets, twen-
ty-one feet in caameter inside, and nine feet high, placed fore and aft.
The hull is pierced for three broadside guns on each side, as well as
one fore and one aft for bow and stern chasers. The draught of water
of the Dunderberg when loaded will be twenty-one feet.

New Iron-Clads of the Monitor pattern. —'The iron-clad turreted
vessels, of the so-called Monitor: pattern, introduced by Ericsson,
having proved eminently efficient and suitable for harbor attack and
defence, the U. 8S. Navy Department has continued their construction,
and has already a large fleet of them afloat, or on the stocks. <Al-
though in the chief points of their structure there is great similarity
between the new vessels and the or iginal Monitor, there is neverthe-
less a considerable difference in their “details, which, as showing a prog-
ress in this department of naval architecture, is worthy of notice.
The following table shows the peculiarities of the original Monitor ;
of the Passaic, one of a second series of nine built subsequently ; and
of the Tecumseh, one of a third series of nine, built during the past
year (1863.)

Original Monitor. Passaic. Tecumseh.
Length : 190 ft 200 ft. . 235 ft.
380 <¢ 40 “ > 46 (74

Width :; ;

Depth of hold ,Anoeet P supe Oh6og Sin Gave amare (
Draft of water . a g «6 ‘ F . LON ase : avn ghd SS
Armor of sides . “ 44 in. . : > iin. . ° pee Os
Thickness of turret . 11 “ . : 4 7 RRS re A eet ed AS

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 73

Original Monitor. Passaic. Tecumseh.
Diameter of turret . 21 ft... . - PACH Uae wae ° i puealibe
Number of turrets . 1 “ E 2 1 - A a 1
Dimensions of cylinders 30 in. . 2 A Soiree ve : » 40 in.
Armament ° : 21l-in.guns. . Jiand 15-in.g guns. 2 13-in. guns.
Tonnage - - 800 = As sie Sees oekes 1,400

Tt will be observed that the most important differences between the
power of the first Monitor and the Tecumseh consist in the armor and
armament — the offensive and defensive attributes. Instead of four
and one-half inches we have nine inches of iron, and instead of one
eleven and one fifteen-inch guns, the Tecumseh will have two thir-
teen-inch guns, which, however, will be able to burn more powder
than the old fifteen-inch guns. It was impossible when adding more
weight of armor to the ship to make the draft of water as light as in
the Monitor, if that were even desirable, which is a matter not decided
on. One of the peculiarities of the Tecumseh is this, that she has
sponsons which tighten the frame to the vessel, as it were. In the
original Monitor this sponson was left out, and the consequence was
that the overhang was said to have been the cause of the loss of that
celebrated little vessel.

The accident that happened to one of the monitors during Dupont’s
attack on Charleston, which resulted in the temporary crippling of
the turret, cannot happen to the Tecumseh, because an immense band
of iron, several inches thick, perfectly solid and massive, covers the
whole external base of the turret, rendering it absolutely impossible
for any shot or shell to pierce it. This will insure the freedom of the
turret, so far as its revolving powers are concerned. The propeller is
driven by two powerful engines, with cylinders of forty inches in di-
ameter and twenty-eight inch stroke of piston; and it will be observed
that the speed of the Tecumseh vqll, in the natural course of things, be
much greater than that of the original monitors, as the dimensions of
her cylinders are nearly ten inches greater than those of the other
ships. The monitors of the Passaic series have not realized the speed
expected of them, but it is hoped that the Tecumseh series will do
better.

In still less important matters there are some points of difference ;
in keeping the anchor, for instance, an arrangement is now made by
which two holes are placed on each side of the bow, while in the other
monitors it was directly in the centre. In fastening, the armor-rivets
are substituted for bolts, as the latter give way and fly about when
struck by heavy projectiles*in a severe engagement. In the arrange-
ment of the machinery, the air and circulating pumps and the surface-
condensers are independent of the main engines, and can thus be op-
erated when the main engines are standing still, maintaining constant-
ly a vacuum, and being able to keep up the condensation of steam, in-
stead of blowing it off into the atmosphere, which every naval officer
will appreciate, because it has been one of the most ‘intolerable nui-
sances of the introduction of steam in the navy that when orders are
given upon the deck the blowing of the steam rendered them inaudible,
and it could not be silenced without danger of boiler explosions.

New pattern Monitors. — Several vessels of the Monitor pattern,
building in Boston, and intended for the defence of Massachusetts har-
bors, have some marked differences of construction from the monitors

7

74 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

described above, and constructed for the U. 8. Navy. These peculiar-
ities or improvements are thus described in the Boston Herald :— ‘One
of them is a water-tight compartment two feet in width, extending

around the whole body of the vessel. ‘The water is pumped out of this
compartment when the monitor is at sea. This lightens her, and, hav-
ing less surface exposed to the water, she can move more rapidly. If
the monitor is preparing for action, the compartment is filled. This
sinks her deeper into the water, so that little of the vessel, if any, ex-
cepting the turret, is visible. Outside of the water-tight division is to
be four feet of wood, and outside of the wood five inches of iron-plate.
To obviate the foul bottoms to which iron ships are liable, an oak bot-
tom is to be bolted on the iron one, and to be coppered like those of or-
dinary wooden vessels. ‘They carry propellers and are provided with
two screws, one under each counter, by which they can be turned in a
smaller circle and in much less time than by a single screw.”

The Comanche. — This vessel is one of the Ericsson monitors, and the
circumstance particularly noticeable about her is, that she was con-
structed in Jersey City, N. J., put together perfectly upon the stocks 3
and then taken apart and conveyed to San Francisco, California, where
she will be reconstructed. ‘This feat of taking apart a ship of the size of
the Comanche (200 feet) has never been attempted before, and was emi-
nently successful in this case, every bolt being put in its place before a
single particle of the hull was taken down. The armor-plating of the
Comanche is composed of five courses of plates, having an aggregate of
five inches thickness.

Sheathing for Iron-Clads. — Some very interesting practical experi-
ence has lately been gained in England in the use of paints for 1ron-
clad vessels; also in the use of brass sheathing to prevent their bottoms
from becoming foul. The large armor-irigate, Black Prince, after
having been five months in the water, was recently docked at Devon-
port and her bottom examined. It had been coated on one side with
a paint chiefly composed of oxide of copper, and on the other with ene
partly composed of the sulphate of copper. Both sides were corroded,
but the sulphate of copper was the cleanest; still there were thousands
of barnacles adhering to the plates on both sides. The Resistance,
another smaller armor-frigate, was docked at the same time, but it had
not been in service quite so long. One of its sides had been covered*
with the oxide of copper paint, and the other with another paint, the
composition of which has not been published ; along the bottom also
several patches had been covered with thm porcelain plates cemented
with marine glue. It was found that most of these plates had dropped
off, the glue not being capable of holding them, and the rest of the bot-
tom was nearly as foul as that of the Black Prince. But the most re-
markable case was that of the Royal Oak, which was also docked at
the same time. This was a wooden vessel which had been originally
designed for a line-of-battle ship, but was afterwards plated with iron.
A band of lead was then run around the whole vessel below the deep-
load line, below which the vessel was sheathed with Muntz metal, —
the common brass sheathing, containing about sixty per cent. of copper
to forty of zinc. The iron “plates were painted with red lead; and it
was supposed that the intermediate lead band, coated with paint,
would prevent contact and galvanic action between the iron and the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 75

sheathing. The latter was perfectly clean, but astonishment was
caused by the galvanic action which had been induced between the
iron and the sheathing. The lower tier of iron plates — each fifteen
feet in length, three feet two inches in breadth, and four and one-half
inches in thickness — were perfectly honey-combed, the holes varying in
depth from one-fourth to five-eighths of aninch. Judging from the rate
at which the corrosion had proceeded, the plates would have been entire-
ly dissolved, had the vessel remained in the water many months longer.
It had been supposed that wooden vessels could be built with iron plat-
ing descending below the water-line, and that their bottoms could be
sheathed with copper, and thus remain as clean as copper-bottomed
wooden vessels. Indeed, this very mode of constructing war vessels
has been advocated by a French naval architect as being superior to
all others, and several French and Italian armor-clads have been built
upon such ideas. The practical and expensive experiment made with
the Royal Oak affords us evidence that copper, or copper alloys, can-
not be employed with safety connected by sea-water with iron on a
vessel. The connection of these two metals forms a galvanic battery
leading to the rapid decomposition of the positive metal. — Scientific
American.

Conflict between the Weehawken ( Monitor ) and Atlanta, Iron-Clads.—
Some important information respecting the offensive and defensive
powers of iron-clad vessels and their improved armaments has been
derived during the past year from the conflict between the Weehawken,
one of Ericsson’s monitor. iron-clad vessels, and the iron-clad Con-
federate steamer Atlanta, which resulted in the surrender of the latter.
The Atlanta was originally a sea-going steamer, —the Fingal, — re-
modelled and iron-plated. Her armor is described as follows: First
and on the outside were wrought-iron bars, six inches wide by two
inches thick, running perpendicularly with her side, and proper-
ly secured, both above and below, by rivets and bolts. Across these
bars, horizontally, and on the inside, ran bars of like material and pat-
tern, fastened to the outside layer by the strongest rivets. Within this
layer, and fastened to it, were two thicknesses of live oak two-inch
plank, also running perpendicularly and horizontally, and again, within
these, were two more similar thicknesses of Georgia pine plank, form-
ing the last series of herarmor. The thickness of the Adlanta’s armor,
therefore, was twelve inches, — four of iron, four of live oak, and four
of pine planking. Her pilot-house is also thus described: Forward
of the smoke-stack was an elevation on the top deck, to all appearance
like a cone; updn this cone was a small, square lookout, just large
enough on the inside to allow a man’s head to turn with freedom. On
each side of this lookout were two small apertures, in the shape of
parallelograms, slanting toward the interior, and presenting to the pi-
lot’s optics, in the lookout, two lookouts, an inch and a half long by an
inch wide. This look-out was of wrought iron, four inches thick, and
the cone upon which it stood was the same thickness, with this addi-
tional strength, however, that the interior of the pilot-house being
square, the interstices between the sides of the upper part of the pilot-
house and the concave surface of the cone were filled with eight-inch,
square, live-oak blocks. From the top of the lookout to the base of
the cone was but two feet and a half.

76 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The action commenced by the Atlanta firing three shots. The Wee-
hawken then replied with her fifteen-inch gun, throwing a solid shot of
440 pounds; and the first shot virtually decided the action, for the ter-
rible missile tore through the At/anta’s iron-plating and timber-backing,
as if it were stubble, and prostrated about forty of her crew, — some by
splinters, but the most part by the mere concussion.

The second shot struck one of the Alanta’s port-stoppers, which
were protected by four inches of wrought iron, knocking it into
fragments, and wounding seventeen men. ‘The third shot smashed the
top of the pilot-house, wounding two of the pilots, and stunned the
two men at the wheel, prostrating the whole four on the floor of the

_pilot-house. The fourth shot struck her on the knuckle, that is, where
the iron casemate joins at a sharp angle the iron plating of the side ; and

_ the fifth shot went through her smoke-stack. After the fifth shot, the
Atlanta surrendered ; the whole action, from the firing of the first gun,
being over in fifteen minutes. The U.S. Secretary of the Navy, in
commenting on this engagement in his report to Congress, Dec. 1863,
says: “ This battle was to test not only the vessels but the new fif-
teen-inch ordnance, then for the first time brought into naval warfare,
and concerning which there had been, as well as with respect to the
vessels themselves, some variety of opinion. The conflict was so brief
and decisive that only one of the two monitor vessels present, though
not widely separated, and each eager for the fight, was able to par-
ticipate in the engagement. The Nahant, having no pilot, followed in
the wake of the Weehawken, but before she could get into action the
contest was over. Such was the brevity of the fight that the Weehaw-
ken, in about fifteen minutes, and with only five shots from her heavy
guns, overpowered and captured her formidable antagonist before the
Nahant, which was hastening to the work, could discharge a single
shot at the Atlanta. ‘This remarkable result was an additional testi-
mony in favor of the monitor class of vessels for harbor defence and
coast service against any naval vessels that have been or are likely to
be constructed to visit our shores.”

Other trials of Tron-Clads in Action. — But the most severe and practi-
cal test to which iron-clad vessels have as yet been subjected occurred
on the 7th of April, 1863, in the attack made by the U. S. fleet upon
the forts and earthworks commanding the harbor of Charleston, 8. C.
On that occasion nine iron-clads, — including seven vessels of the’
Monitor pattern, the Jronsides, an iron-clad broadside steamer, and
the Keokuk, an iron-clad of a peculiar and novel construction, (see
Annual of Sci. Dis. 1863, p. 63),— taking a position where they
were exposed, at comparatively short range, to the concentric and
cross-fire of two regularly-constructed forts, and some half-dozen earth-
works mounting heavy, and in part rifled ordnance, assailed Fort
Sumter, a fortress of modern construction and of great strength. The
result was, that after a contest of a little less than two hours, in which
the vessels engaged sustained the most fearful and concentrated fire on
record, — the forts and batteries using the heaviest and most improved
projectiles (including the Armstrong and Whitworth patterns), —
the fleet was withdrawn. Upon the monitors and the Ironsides, al-
though all these vessels were struck repeatedly (the Jronsides alone some
ninety times) no person was killed, or even seriously injured ; while the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. a 77

efficiency of these vessels was not permanently impaired : the most se-
rious injury, perhaps, occurred to the Passaic (monitor), which was
disabled by being struck at the base of its turret by a heavy shot, which
so jammed the contiguous plating as to prevent the tower from rotating.
The Keokuk, however, was more unfortunate. This vessel was smaller
than any of the monitors engaged, being plated with one and three-
fourths-inch plates on a four-inch backing of iron and wood ; the plates
being inclined at an angle which, amidships, was equal to 36°, with a
view of deflecting shot striking against them. The unfitness of such
armor for defensive purposes was illustrated in a very few minutes af-
ter the Keokuk came under fire. The armor was riddled with shot in
every direction ; a considerable number of her crew were wounded, and
one killed, while the vessel herself sunk some twelve hours after the
conclusion of the fight."

The Jronsides, —a non-turreted broadside steamer, plated with four
and one-half inch solid armor, backed by from twenty-four to thirty inches
of oak, — which took part in the above noticed attack, and in several
other subsequent actions, appears to be the most effective and in-
vulnerable of all the iron-plated vessels as yet constructed and sent in-
to service by the United States; some even claiming that she is equiv-
alent to any six vessels of the monitor pattern. In the various actions
in Charleston Harbor in which the Jronsides participated, from April
to September, she is reported to have been struck by shot and shell,
two hundred and thirteen times, none of which have caused serious 1n-
jury to life or limb of her crew, or essentially injured the vessel. The
water-line of the Ironsides alone bears the imprint of ten ten-inch
solid shot, while the most serious damage resulted from two shots strik-
ing the same plate, within a foot of each other, and within a foot of
the end of the plate. The result was the partial cracking of the
plate, bending it, and forcing it about an inch into the wood-work. It
occasioned no leak in the vessel. Several ten-inch solid shot, and one
eleven-inch, have passed through the unprotected part of the bow and
stern; but so much of their momentum was lost in the passage, that
they did not reach the wrought-iron bulkheads that cross the ship for-
ward and aft, and which would have effectually stopped their further

_progress.

The method of fastening the plating to the sides of the Ironsides has
proyed very effective. It consists of common wood-screws, put through
the plates from the outside, and tapped into the wood, having cylin-

TAI] vessels with inclined armor are supposed to be so constructed that the shot
will glance from them without doing any damage. If we conclude, for the purpose
of argument, that the enemy will fire a round shot at a very low velocity, on a line
with the horizon, then the assumption may be correct. The fact of the matter is,
however, that inclined sides simply present to barbette guns the fairest target they
could desire, and the supposed efliciency of the angle is utterly neutralized. The
Galena, at Drury’s Bluff, and other gunboats on the western rivers, which were
constructed with inclined armor, have been repeatedly pierced by guns fired from
elevations. Inclining the armor simply increases the thickness ot the plating to
be pierced when the shot is fired on a line with the horizon. A plunging fire is re-
ceived by inclined plating fair and square, and there are no instances on record
where acutely-inclined armor has resisted the impact of the heaviest rifled shot ata
fair range. The Parrott 300-pounder is said to have pierced nine inches of iron
inclined at an angle of 45°, and the Stafford projectile is known to have penetrated
seven one-inch plates, heavily backed up with timber, at the same inclination. In-
clined sides, with inadequate armor, are simply a delusion and a snare. — Scientific
American.

T*

78 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

drical heads countersunk into the plating and flush with the outside.
Several of these screw-bolts have been struck directly on the head with-
out causing any damage ; whereas, if the ordinary plan of using through
bolts or rivets had been adopted, it is very probable that some persons
would have been injured by fragments of the bolts being projected
inside the ship. In the case of the monitors, the most serious acci-
dents that have occurred on board them have arisen from the displace-
ment and breaking of the bolts that hold together the plates of their
turrets, through the impact of heavy shot. An idea of the fighting
capabilities of the Lronsides may be formed from the circumstance that
she threw, in the various attacks in which she participated from April
to September, upwards of 4,400 shells.

It is understood that one result of the attack on the fortifications of
Charleston, by the U. S. iron-clad fleet, has been the withdrawal from
the monitors of the fifteen-inch guns, with which their turrets were
armed, and the substitution of thirteen-inch guns in place.

New Port-Closer for Vessels of War. — An ingenious device for
closing the ports of iron-clads and other vessels of war has recently
been patented by Mr. W. S. Auchincloss, of New York City. The
nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following
clause of the patent: — The employment or use for a port-hole closer
of two rollers, each being made to rotate independently of the other,
and provided with a cavity, so that by turning the rollers to the proper
position an opening is obtained which allows of giving to the gun any
desired elevation, or of training the same to an angle of 45° or more.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TO-DAY.

“THE natural philosopher of to-day may dwell amid conceptions
which beggar those of Milton. So great and grand are they, that in
the contemplation of them a certain force of character is requisite to
preserve us from bewilderment. Look at the integral energies of our
world ; the stored power of our coal our winds and rivers, our
fleets, armies, and guns. What are they? They are all generated by
a portion of the sun’s energy, which does not amount toz-300,000,000 500
of the whole! This, in fact, is the entire portion of the sun’s force in-
tercepted by the earth, and in reality we convert but a small portion
of this fraction into mechanical energy. Multiplying all our powers
by millions of millions, we do not reach the sun’s expenditure. And
still, notwithstanding this enormous drain, in the lapse of human his-
tory, we are unable to detect a diminution of his store. Measured by
our largest terrestrial standards, such a reservoir of power is infinite ;
but it is our privilege to rise above these standards, and to regard the
sun himself as a speck in infinite extension ; a mere drop in “the uni-
versal sea. We analyze the space in which he is immer sed, and which
is the vehicle of his power. We pass to other systems and ‘other suns,

each pouring forth energy like our own, but still without infringement
of the law, which reveals immutability in the midst of change, which
recognizes incessant transference and conversion, but neither find gain
nor loss. This law generalizes the aphorism of Solomon, that there is
nothing new under the sun, by teaching us to detect everywhere, un-
der its infinite variety of appearances, ‘the same primeval force. To
nature nothing can be added; from nature nothing can be taken
away ; the source of her energies is constant, and the utmost man can
do, in ’ the pursuit of phy sical truth, or in the application of physical
knowledge, is to shift the constituents of the never-varying total, and
out of one of them to form another. The law of conservation rigidly
texcludes both creation and annihilation. Waves may change to rip-
ples, and ripples to waves; magnitude may be substituted for number,
and number for magnitude; ‘asteroids may aggregate to suns, suns

may revolve themselves into floree and faunz and flores and faune
melt in air; the flux of power is eternally the same. It rolls in music
through the ages, and all terrestrial energy, the manifestations of life,
as well as the display of phenomena, are but the modulations of its
rhythm.” — Prof Tyndall.

THE NATURE OF FORCE.

The following is an extract of a lecture recently delivered before
the Royal Institution, London, by Prof. Tyndall, on the above subject.
79

80 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

*‘ Standing upon one of the London bridges, we observe the current
of the Thames reversed, and the water poured upwards twice a day.
The water thus moved rubs against the river’s bed and sides, and heat
is the consequence of this friction. The heat thus generated is in part
radiated into space, and then lost, as far as the earth is concerned.
What is it that supplies this incessant loss? The earth’s rotation. Let
us look a little more closely at the matter. Imagine the moon fixed,
and the earth turning like a wheel from west to east in its diurnal ro-
tation. Suppose a high mountain on the earth’s surface; on approach-
ing the moon’s meridian, that mountain is, as it were, laid hold of by
the moon, and forms a kind of handle by which the earth is pulled
more quickly round. But when the meridian is passed, the pull of the
moon on the mountain would be in the opposite direction; it now
tends to diminish the velocity of rotation as much as it previously aug-
mented it; and thus the action of all fixed bodies on the earth’s sur-
face is neutralized. But suppose the mountain to lie always to the
east of the moon’s meridian, the pull then would be always exerted.
against the earth’s rotation, the velocity of which would be diminished _
in a degree corresponding to the strength of the pull. The tidal-wave
occupies this position; it es always to the east of the moon’s meridian,
and thus the waters of the ocean are in part dragged as a brake along
the surface of the earth; and as a brake they must diminish the veloc-
ity of the earth’s rotation. The diminution, though inevitable, is, how-
ever, too small to make itself felt within the period over which obser-
vations on the subject extend. Supposing then that we turn a mill by
the action of the tide, and produce heat by the friction of the mill-
stones; that heat has an origin totally different from the heat produced
by another mill which is turned by a mountain stream. The former is
produced at the expense of the earth’s rotation, the latter at the ex-
pense of the sun’s radiation.

“The sun, by the act of vaporization, lifts mechanically all the mois-
ture of our air. It condenses and falls in the form of rain; it freezes
and falis as snow. In this solid form, itis piled upon the Alpine
heights, and furnishes materials for the glacieys of the Alps. But
the sun again interposes, liberates the solidified liquid and permits
it to roll by gravity to the sea. The mechanical force of every river
in the world, as it rolls toward the ocean, is drawn from the heat of
the sun. No streamlet glides to a lower level, without having been
first lifted to the elevation from which it springs by the mighty
power of the sun. The energy of winds is also due entirely to the,
sun; but there is still another work which he performs, and his con-
nection with which is not so obvious. Trees and vegetables grow upon
the earth, and when burned they give rise to heat, and hence to me-
chanical energy. Whence is this power derived? You see this oxide
of iron, produced by the falling together of the atoms of iron and ox-
ygen; here also is a transparent gas which you cannot now see,— car-
bonie acid gas,— which is formed by the falling together of carbon
and oxygen. ‘These atoms thus in close union resemble our lead
weight while resting on the earth; but I can wind up the weight and
prepare it for another fall, and so these atoms can be wound up, sepa-
rated from each other, and thus enabled to repeat the process of com-
bination. In the building cf plants, carbonic acid is the material from

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 81

which the carbon of the plant is derived; and the solar beam is the
agent which tears the atoms asunder, setting the oxygen free, and
allowing the carbon to aggregate in woody fibre. Let the solar rays
fall upon a surface of sand; the sand is heated, and finally radiates
away as much heat as it receives; let the same beams fall upon a for-
est, the quantity of heat given back is less than the forest receives, for
the energy of a portion of the sunbeams is invested in building up the
trees in the manner indicated. Without the sun the reduction of the
carbonic acid cannot be effected, and an amount of sunlight is con-
sumed exactly equivalent to the molecular work done. ‘Thus trees
are formed; thus cotton is formed. I ignite this cotton and it flames;
the oxygen again unites with its beloved carbon; but an amount of
heat equal to that which you see produced by its combustion was sacri-
ficed by the sun to form that bit of cotton.

“ But we cannot stop at vegetable life, for this is the source, mediate
or immediate, *of all animal life. The sun severs the carbon from its
oxygen; the animal consumes the vegetable thus formed, and in its ar-
teries a reunion of the several.elements takes place, and produces ani-
mal heat. ‘Thus, strictly speaking, the process of building a vegetable
is one of winding up; the process of building an animal is one of run-
ning down. The warmth of our bodies, and every mechanical energy
which we exert, trace their lineage directly to the sun. The fight of a
pair of pugilists, the motion of an army, or the lifting of his own body
up mountain slopes by an Alpine climber, are all cases of mechanical
energy drawn from the sun. Not, therefore, in a poetical, but in a
purely mechanical sense, are we children of the sun. Without food,
we should soon oxidize our own bodies. A man weighing 150 pounds
has sixty-four-pounds of muscle ; but these, when dried, reduce them-
selves to fifteen pounds. Doing an ordinary day’s work for eighty
days, this mass of muscle would be wholly oxidized. Special organs
which do more work would be more quickly oxidized; the heart, for
example, if entirely unsustained, would be oxidized in about a week.
Take the amount of heat due to the direct oxidation of a given
amount of food; a less amount of heat is developed by this food, in
the working animal frame, and the missing quantity is the exact equiv-
alent of the mechanical work which the body accomplishes.

“T might extend these considerations, — the work, indeed, is done to
my hand, — but [am warned that I have kept you already too long.
To whom then, are we indebted for the striking generalizations of this
discourse ? All that I have laid before you is the work of a man of
whom you have scarcely ever heard. All that I have brought before
you has been taken from the labors of a German physician, named
Mayer. Without external stimulus, and pursuing his profession as
town physician in Heilbronn, this man was the first to raise the con-
ception of the interaction of natural forces to clearness in his own
mind. And yet he is scarcely ever heard of in scientific lectures, and
even to scientific men his merits are but partially known. -Led by his
own beautiful researches, and quite independent of Mayer, Mr. Joule
published his first paper on the ‘ Mechanical Value of Heat’ in 1843;
but in 1842 Mayer had actually calculated the mechanical equivalent
of heat from data which a man of rare originality alone could turn to
account. From the velocity of sound in air, Mayer determined the

82 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

mechanical equivalent of heat. In 1845, he published his Memoir on
‘Organic Motion,’ and applied the mechanical theory of heat in the
most fearless and precise manner to vital processes. He also embraced
the other natural agents in his chain of conservation.

“When we consider the circumstances of Mayer’s life, and the pe-
riod at which he wrote, we cannot fail to be struck with astonishment
at what he has accomplished. Here was a man of genius working in
silence, animated solely by a love of his subject, and arriving at the
most important results some time in advance of those whose lives were
entirely devoted to Natural Philosophy. It was the accident of bleed-
ing a feverish patient at Java, in 1840, that led Mayer to speculate on
these subjects. He noticed that the venous blood in the tropics was
of a much brighter red than in colder latitudes, and his reasoning on
this fact led him into the laboratory of natural forces, where he has
worked with such signal ability and success. Well, you will desire to
know what has become of this man. His mind gave way; he became
insane, and he was sent to a lunatic asylum. In a biographical dic-
tionary of his country it is stated that he died there; but this is incor-
rect. He recovered, and, I believe, is at this moment a cultivator of
vineyards in Heilbronn.”

EFFECTS OF THE EARTH’S ROTATION. |

M. Foucault’s beautiful experiment, by which, through the medium
of a pendulum, the rotation of the earth on its axis may be said to have
been rendered palpable to our senses, has had the effect of calling at-
tention to a great many other phenomena going on on its surface, into
which it enters as a modifying cause. To say nothing of those great and
general facts of the oblateness of its figure, and the trade-winds which
Newton and Hadley explained on this principle, we have seen the
phenomena of Cyclones reduced to a dependence on this cause, com-
bined with local disturbances of temperature; and, tracing the same
cause into its still more local, and, so to speak, miniature sphere of action,
it is recognized that the influence of the earth’s rotation cannot be left
out of consideration in the accurate pointing of long-range artillery,
inasmuch as in a flight of five miles, occupying twenty-five seconds of
time, it would carry a projectile pointed northwards, about forty-five
feet to the east, and southwards as much to the west, (7. e. in both cases
toward the right hand) of its line of fire. Pursuing the action of this
cause into geographical inquiries, it has been argued that the action of
a river flowing directly northwards or southwards, or indeed in any
direction considerably inclined to the parallel, cannot be equal on its
right and left banks; and that in either case (and indeed, whatever
be the direction of the stream, if at all so inclined), in the northern
hemisphere, the rotatory motion of the earth will have the effect of
driving the water against the right bank of the river, and thus causing
it to exert a greater erosive action on that than on the opposite side ;
and vice versé in the southern hemisphere; the effect in both being
more powerful the higher the latitude ; and nil on the equator. On
the other hand, it has been contended, that although, theoretically
speaking, this is a real cause, (a vera causa), yet the amount of ero-
sion thence arising must be far too small to produce any sensible ten-
dency in rivers to shift their courses to the right, or to eat away

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 83

their right banks perceptibly more than their left ; and this opinion
seems to have found currency among the French academicians, when-
ever the subject has been discussed at the meeting of the Institute.
Regarding this question as one of fact rather than of opinion, M.
Von Baer, in an elaborate memoir, read before the Imperial Academy
of St. Petersburg, and lately published in the bulletins of that body,
has brought together so large a mass of instances, drawn from observa-
tion of the courses of almost all the rivers of any note, both in Euro-
pean and Asiatic Russia as to justify this enumeration as a general feature
(not of course, without local exceptions, owing to the natural inequalities
of ground), over the whole of that vast region, that the right bank of a
river is higher and steeper; the left the flatter and more alluvial one,
and more subject to inundation, — the law being so general, that over
vast tracts of country, it may be predicted, almost without risk of fail-
ure, from the aspect of a stream in this respect, in which direction 1%

runs. It deserves remark, that this general tendency has already been ~

noticed by more than one geologist of eminence, without any suspicion
of its cause. Thus, even so long ago as 1847, Major Waugenheim von
Qualen had announced it as a general feature of the Russian River
system, in the bulletins of the Society of Naturalists of Moscow; and
besides giving the result of his own observations in the region to
the south and west of the Ural (where, from the absence of any con-
siderable mountain system, and the general flatness of the country, the
action of this cause would be little lable to be masked by local in-
equalities of a geological origin), cites the authority of M. Blode, as
having observed the same thing in southern, M. Bouiller in central,
and Baron Wrangell in northern Russia; Tschichatscheff, in central
Siberia; and Blasins, and other geologists, in many other parts of Rus-
sia, — adding that a feature so uniform, and prevailing over so vast an
extent of territory, must evidently be due to some uniform and general
cause. This cause he seeks, accordingly, in geological upheavals and
dislocations, though evidently at a loss to perceive bow such upheavals
should have affected always the right bank of the river, without regard
to the point of the compass toward which the water flows.

The same cause which throws the water of a river preferentially against
its right bank must act of course in every case where masses of matter
are in motion along definite lines of route, and therefore on railways,
wherever there is a double line of rail for up and down traffic. For in
such the right-hand rail on each line will be most worn; and, in all cases,
the flanges of the right-hand wheels of the carriages will suffer most
by abrasion, and a greater probability (though in a very slight ratio)
will exist of running off the rail to the right than to the left side of the
line of travel, especially in lines running due north and south.

CURIOUS DEVIATIONS OF THE PLUMB-LINE.

The deviations of the plumb-line at different points of the earth’s
surface from the general law of perpendicularity to the surface of a
spheroid, is usually considered as owing to the lateral attraction of
mountain masses drawing it toward them; but a singular case of a
quite contrary nature has been brought to notice in the immediate
vicinity of Moscow, where the operations of the Russian geologists,
confirmed by the subsequent and more recent researches of M.

So

84 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Schweizer, Director of the Imperial Observatory of that city, have
established the existence of a local deviation to the extraordinary
amount of nineteen seconds, within a very short distance of that me-
tropolis. At Moscow, the plumb-line is found to deviate eight seconds
from the spheroidical perpendicular toward the north. At twenty
Russian versts (thirteen English miles) to the northward of Moscow,
this deviation ceases. It does so, also, at twelve versts (eight miles) to
the south of the city ; but on going farther south, it recommences in a
contrary direction, and at twenty-five versts to the south of Moscow is
converted into asouthern deviation of eleven seconds. Proceeding from
Moscow in either an easterly or westerly direction, similar phenomena
are observed. As there is nothing deserving the name of a mountain
in the neighborhood of Moscow, it follows, as a necessary consequence,
from these facts, either, — ist. That there exist beneath Moscow enor-
mous cavities, occupied by air, or perhaps by water. 2d. That strata
of some substance of very weak specific gravity exist beneath that
city. Or, 3d, that there extends over the whole of the country sur-
rounding it a generally loose, unconsolidated mass of geological mate-
rial to a depth hopelessly beyond what human labor can ever expect to
penetrate. The interest of the observation does not terminate with
the particular case of Moscow, but seems to indicate that henceforth
in all instrumental determinations depending on the level or the
plumb line, attention must be given to the lithological character of
the place of observation. Here, again, is a point of contact between
the two antithetical sciences of astronomy and geology.

DEFLECTION OF THE PLUMMET CAUSED BY THE SUN’S AND
MOON’S ATTRACTION. *

Mr. Edward Sang, in a paper read to the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh, shows that the attraction of the sun causes a deflection of the
plummet, having its maximum about the 240th part of a second, and
proportional to twice the size of the sun’s zenith distance; the deflec-
tion is at its maximum when the sun is 45° above or below the horizon,
and occurs in the vertical plane passing through the attracting bedy.
The deflection due to the moon has its maximum about the 60th part
of a second, and follows the same law; it is toward or from the attract-
ing body according as the zenxh distance is less or more than 90°.
Upon the cross-level of a transit instrument, the joint effect is to cause
a semi-diurnal oscillation, small at the quarters and rising to the 24th
part of a second at new and full moon; while the influence upon me-
ridian observations is sufficient to cause a disagreement between the
greatest inclination of the moon’s orbit, as observed at St. Petersburg
and Madras, amounting to the fiftieth of a second.

The general conclusion drawn was, that we cannot determine the
positions of the heavenly bodies true to the one hundredth part of a
second, without having made allowance for this source of disturbance.

MEAN DENSITY OF THE EARTH.

In a memoir on this subject, by M. Faye, read at a recent meeting
of the French Academy, the following valuations, from pendulum ex-
periments, are given: 4.39 by Carlini and Plana, at Mount Cenis;
4,71 by Maskelyne, Hutton, and Playfair, at Schehallien, in Scotland;

. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. '

5.44 by Reich, 5.43 by Cavendish, and 5.56 by Baily, by means of the
torsion balance; and 6.55 by Airy, at the summit and bottom of a
coal-mine.

ATTRACTION AND ADHESION.

The phenomena of attraction and adhesion, as exhibited in solid
bodies, films, liquid globules, etc., have been investigated by Mr. Rich-
ard Norris, whose paper on the subject appears in the Proceedings of
the Royal Society, from which we extract a few experiments. These
Mr. Norris prefaces by reminding his readers that it has long been ob-
served that solid bodies floating on liquids modify the figure of the
surface of the liquid; pieces of tinfoil or greased bodies depress the
liquid around them, whilst other bodies elevate it, giving rise to small
mounds of liquid bounded by concave lines; likes attract likes, and
repel unlikes, etc. He states that the following experiments are
arranged to show that these effects of attraction are not peculiar to
floating bodies, and that the only requirement is that the liquid should
be associated with the bodies in which the movement occurs. 1. Let
two balls of sealing-wax, or other material of greater specific gravity
than water, be suspended by hairs in such a manner that they will both
be partially immersed in water to an equal extent, the points of sus-
pension being at a little distance apart, and the suspending hairs con-
sequently parallel. When brought within the proper range, they will
attract each other in the same manner as the floating bodies. In
doing so they necessarily describe a small are of a circle, of which the
suspending hair is the radius, and have, therefore, not simply moved
toward each other in a horizontal line, but have been raised to a
higher level. 2. Suspend movably, by means of a thread passing over
a pulley and a counterbalancing weight, a horizontal cork disc, from
the under surface of which a drop of water is hanging. On a support
beneath, formed by three upright pins, place a small piece of paper or
thin glass, on the surface of which there is also a drop of water. On
depressing the disc until the two drops of water touch each other, the
paper or plate will be instantly drawn up to it; or, if the plate at the
bottom be heavier than the disc, the latter will be drawn down.
3. When a soap-bubble is allowed to fali on an mregular surface, such
as a piece of lint or flannel, it maintains its spherical shape; but if a
smooth surface, such as a sheet of glass, be brought into slight contact
with it, the wall of the bubble will be immediately attracted and flat-
tened out upon it. In like manner, when two bubbles come in contact
by their convex surfaces and cohere, the cohering surfaces become flat-
tened, and the bubbles in a group cohere by plane surfaces.

STEAM BOILER EXPLOSIONS.

The following novel ideas respecting the explosion of steam-boilers
were given to the British Association, 1863, by Mr. Airy, the Astrono-
mer Royal. He said, that in considering the cause of the extensive
mischief done by the bursting of a high-pressure boiler, it is evident
that the small quantity of steam contained in the steam-chamber has
very little to do with it. That steam may immediately produce the
rupture; but as soon as the rupture is made, and some steam escapes,
and the pressure on the water is diminished, a portion of the water is

8

86 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

immediately converted into steam at a slightly lower temperature and
lower pressure, and this, in the same way, is followed by other steam
at still lower temperature and pressure, and so on till the temperature
is reduced to 212° Fahr.and the pressure to 0. Then there remains
in the boiler a portion of water at the boiling point, the other portion
having gone off in the shape of steam of continually diminishing pres-
sure. From this it is evident that the destructive energy of the steam,
when a certain pressure is shown by the steam-gauge, is proportional
to the quantity of water in the boiler. By the assistance of Prof. Mil-
ler and George Biddell, Esq., the author has been able to obtain a re-
sult which he believes to be worthy of every confidence. He first
stated, as the immediate result of Mr. Biddell’s experiments, that when
there were in the boiler of a small locomotive twenty-two cubic feet of
water, at the pressure of sixty pounds per square inch, and the fire was
raked out, and the steam was allowed gently to escape, with perfect
security against priming, the quantity of water which passed off before
the pressure was reduced to 0 was 23 cubic feet, or one eighth of the
whole. In regard to the use made of Prof. Miller’s theory, Prof. Miller
had succeeded in obtaining a numerical expression for the pressure of
steam at twelve different measures of the volume occupied by water
and steam, which expression the author had succeeded in integrating
accurately and had thus obtained an accurate numerical expression
for the destructive energy of steam. In regard to the use of General
Didion’s experiments, these experiments gave the velocity of the ball,
in cannon of different sizes, produced by different charges of powder.

‘ 4 Wr
The author found, by trial with the formula Sgeearoeh = weight of powder powder’

which of these experiments exhibits the greatest energy per kilooramme
of powder, and had adopted it in the comparison. The result is as fol-
lows: the destructive energy of oné cubic foot of water, at sixty
pounds pressure, per square inch, is equal to the destructive energy of —
two English pounds of gunpowder in General Didion’s cannon experi-
ments. General Didion’s experiments were made, as the author under-
stood, with smooth-bored cannon. It cannot be doubted that much
energy is lost in the windage; some also from the circumstance that
the propelling power*ceases at the muzzle of the gun, before all the
energy 1s expended ; and some from the coolness of the metal. If we
suppose that, from all causes, one-half of the energy is lost, then we
have this simple result: the gauge-pressure being sixty pounds per
square inch, one cubic foot of water is as destructive as one pound of
gunpowder. In one of Mr. Biddell’s experiments, the steam-valve was
opened rather suddenly, and the steam escaped instantly with a report
like that of a very heavy piece of ordnance. This is not to be won-
dered at; it appears from the comparison above that the effect was the
same as that of firing a cannon whose charge is forty-four pounds of
powder.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE ACTION OF THE SO-CALLED ‘ GIFFARD’S
INJECTOR.”

_ The paradoxical and apparently impossible action of Giffard’s in-

jector, employed instead of a feed pump in charging steam-engine

boilers, was illustrated in a remarkable manner by the Abbé Moigno,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 87

at the last meeting of the British Association, by means of a new in-
strument invented by M. Bourdon, of Paris, and called the “ Injector
of Solids.”

Giffard’s injector consists of three tubes united at one point: one of
these brings the supply of water for the boiler from any convenient
source ; the second is for the purpose of conveying the water into the
boiler, and opens below the level of the liquid in that vessel ; the third
brings a jet of steam from the upper part of the boiler. This jet of
steam has the power of injecting a constant supply of water into the
boiler, and so obviating altogether the necessity for a feed pump, and,
apparently impossible as it may appear, not only has the steam power
to inject water into its own boiler, but is capable of feeding another
boiler in which the steam has a much higher pressure than itself.

M. Bourdon’s Injector of Solids, which is capable of rendering this
action visible by means of solid bodies, consists of two air vessels, with
a communicating tube capable of being opened or closed at the will of
the experimenter. One of these vessels is made of glass, and furnished
with an aperture closed by a valve opening inwards. The other has a
small air-gun proceeding from it, the barrel of which is directed against
the opening in the first vessel. On condensing air into the two re-
ceivers, it is found that, even when four atmospheres are condensed into
the glass vessel, and only two in that connected with the air-gun, the
bullet driven by the latter has power to open the valve closed by the
pressure of four atmospheres and enter the glass receiver.

ESTIMATION OF DISTANCES AND SPEED.

Many people hear of distances in thousands of yards—a usual meas-
ure of artillery distances,—and have very little power of reducing
them at once to miles. Now, four miles are ten yards for each mile
above 7,000 yards, whence the following rule: the number of thou-
sands multiplied by four and divided by seven gives miles and sevenths
for quotient and remainder, with only at the rate of ten yards to a mile
in excess. Thus 12,000 yards is 48 of a mile, or 6$ miles; not 70
yards too great. Again, people measure speed by miles per hour, the
mile and the hour being too long for the judgment of distance and
time. ‘Take half as much again as the number of miles per hour, and
you have the number of feet per second, too great by one in thirty.
Thus 16 miles an hour is 16--8, or 24 feet per second, too much by 24
of a foot.— London Atheneum.

POWER OF WAVES.

The Paris Cosmos, in describing the effects of a stormy period in
January, 1863, on the coast of France, gives instances where “blocks
of stone weighing thirteen tons were hurled to a distance of more than
thirty feet, and blocks of three tons to more than one hundred yards.
The outer harbor of Fécamp was destroyed, and the mass of earth torn
from the north side of Cape la Heve was estimated at more than
300,000 square yards.”

MOTIONS OF CAMPHOR UPON WATER.

When small pieces of camphor are dropped on the surface of a glass
of water, several curious phenomena may be observed. They im-

88 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

mediately commence to rotate, and move about with remarkable
energy; varying sometimes in rapidity, but usually conducting their
gyrations in a strange and erratic manner. In order to obtain the best
eifects, some precautions are necessary: thus, the camphor should be
tolerably pure, the piece employed should be cut and separated from
the large lump with a perfectly clean instrument, and contact with the
fingers should be scrupulously avoided. Moreover, the glass should be
quite clean and the water pure. When these conditions are satisfied,
the phenomena are very striking. In the Annual of Sci. Dis. for 1863,
p- 131, the account of some operations by Mr. Tomlinson of Lon-
don on this subject was published. ‘The following additional mem-
oranda of interest have recently been laid before the public by Mr.
Lightfoot, another experimentalist. This latter gentleman states,
that if instead of using a torn or cut fragment from a lump of camphor,
one or two fine crystals are detached with a clean needle-point from the
cork of a phial in which camphor is kept, and these are let fall on
clean water, they at once begin to move about with wonderfully in-
creased rapidity, darting away in various directions, as if shot from
some miniature engine, or endowed with life and a will of their own;
each crystal quivering and rocking on the water with an apparently
high deeree of indignation at its forced contact with the humid sur-
face. This fury gradually diminishes, and a regular dance begins; the
various particles select partners to some of which they will seem to
cling with pertinacity ; whilst others will either remain indifferent, or,
if attracted, will only stay a very short time in embrace, and wander
again in search of more congenial floating associates. The explana-
tions which Mr. Lightfoot gives of these movements is the emanation
of a vapor from the volatile camphor, which has a very low tension ;
the water upon which it floats being capable of dissolving and diffus-
ing this vapor more readily in certain directions of the crystalline axes,
thereby removes sufficient vapor pressure at those points for the oppo-
site side to drive about (by recoil) the nicely-suspended particle. In
certain positions two crystals of camphor will attract each other, whilst
in other situations there is a mutual repulsion. It will sometimes hap-
pen that two crystals of camphor may be thrown on the water and not
have any tendency to locomotion. When this is the case, a continual
trembling or vibration will be noticed in the crystal. When two such
stationary vibrating crystals come in contact by attraction, immediate-
ly an eccentric, irregular change of place occurs, as if the force agitat-
ing each previous to the grouping, produced a new resultant force, in
obedience to which the combined crystals move.

As above stated, it is of essential importance that in separating and
placing the camphor in water everything should be quite clean, and
that the fingers should not touch the camphor in any stage. The
reason of this is found in the circumstance that if camphor is actively
moving on water, and the most minute particle of certain greasy sub-
stances touch the water, instantaneously, as if by some magic, the cam-
phor is deprived of all motion. The scene of previous activity is changed
into immobility. This curious property has been made use of by Mr.
Lightfoot to detect grease in quantities so extremely minute as would
appear almost fabulous, for camphor cannot be made to rotate on water
_ containing the most infinitesimal portion of grease. Mr. Lightfoot has

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 89
» . :

made use of this test in a most ingenious manner, to distinguish be-
tween the two different methods of dyeing cloth with madder and with
garancine. It is difficult and often impossible for calico-printers and
merchants to distinguish between the two; and as the garancine dye is
more fugitive than the first, and also of less intrinsic worth, it is some-
times substituted for it. There is however, a slight difference in the
process of manufacture, — madder-dyed goods are, in one stage of the
process, passed through a solution of soap to fix the color, whilst in
garancine-dyed goods the soap is replaced by hypochlorite of lime. By
proceeding as follows, it is easy to distinguish between the two kinds
of dye: Let camphor rotate on water in any glass vessel, as previously
described, then immerse a small strip of the cloth to be tested. If the
rotation stops, we infer the presence of soap, and conclude it to have
been dyed with madder. But if, on plunging in the small piece of
cloth, the rotation is not stopped, we then arrive at the conclusion that
garancine was the dyeing material used. In like manner the purity
of water may also, to a certain extent, be tested by dropping a frag-
ment of camphor upon its surface.

CURIOUS ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA.

Prof. Tyndall publishes the following account of some curious
electrical phenomena observed by Mr. R. Watson, and a party of
tourists in ascending a portion of the Jung frau Mountain in Switzer-
land. Mr. W., in a letter to Prof. Tyndall says, On the 10th of July,
1863, I visited with a party of three, and two guides, the Col de la
Jung frau. The early morning was bright, and gave promise of a fine
day, but, as we approached the Col, clouds settled down upon it, and,
on reaching it, we encountered so severe a storm of wind, snow, and
hail, that we were unable to stay more than a few minutes. As we
descended, the snow continued to fall so densely that we lost our way,
and, for some time, we were wandering up the Lotsch Sattel. We had
hardly discovered our mistake when a loud peal of thunder was heard,
and shortly after, I observed that a strange singing sound, like that of a
kettle, was issuing from my alpenstock. We halted, and, finding that
all the axes and stocks emitted the same sound, stuck them into the
snow. ‘The guide from the hotel now pulled off his cap, shouting that
his head burned; and his hair was seen to have a similar appearance to
that which it would have presented had he been on an insulated stool,
under a powerful electrical machine. We all of us experienced the
sensation of pricking or burning in some part of the body, more
especially in the head and face, my hair also standing on end in an
uncomfortable but very amusing manner. The snow gave out a hiss-
ing, as though a heavy shower of hail were falling; the veil on the
wide-awake of one of the party stood upright in the air, and on way-
ing our hands, the singing sound issued loudly from the fingers. When-
ever a peal of thunder was heard, the phenomena ceased, to be re-
sumed before the echoes had died away. At these times, we felt
shocks, more or less violent, in those portions of the body which were
most affected. By one of these, my right arm was paralyzed so com-
pletely that I could neither use nor. raise it for several minutes, and I
suffered much pain in it at the shoulder-jomt for several hours. At
half-past twelve, the clouds began to pass away and the phenomena

g*

90 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

. © ;
finally ceased, having lasted twenty-five minutes. We saw no light-
ning, and were puzzled at first as to whether we should be afraid or
amused. .

INTERESTING ELECTRIC ILLUMINATION.

Prof. W. B. Rogers communicates to Silliman’s Journal the follow-
ing observations on a powerful electric illumination, exhibited in Bos-
ton, August, 1863, by Mr. Ritchie, the well-known electrician, as a
part of the display attendant on a public rejoicing. The battery in
question, consisting of 250 Bunsen elements, having each an acting
zine surface of about eighty-five inches, and grouped in five battalions
of fifty each, was arranged’in the dome of the State House; and the
carbon light, and the photometric apparatus prepared for the purpose
were placed in line across the same apartment, commanding a range
of fifty feet. Prof. Rogers says: —

In view of the immense power of the light, as observed in the pre-
vious experiment, I substituted for the 20-candle gas burner, used at
that time as the standard of comparison, a unit ten times as great,
formed by the flame of a kerosene lamp placed in the focus of a small
parabolic reflector, and throwing its concentrated light on a photomet-
ric screen of prepared paper fixed in front of it at the distance of five
feet. Before the observation, the lamp and reflector were so adjusted
as to make the light cast on the near side of the screen equivalent by
measure to the action of 200 candles.

This was done by the intervention of a kerosene lamp fitted up with
a bridge of platinum wire for defining and restricting the height of the
square flame. Such a lamp I find of frequent use in ordinary photome-
try, as, when suitably adjusted, it gives the light of about eight stand-
ard candles, and thus transfers the measurement in the photometer to
the wider divisions of the scale. Being suspended in a balance of pe-
culiar construction, its rate of consumption enables us to correct for
any slight departure from the assigned illumination. The lamp thus
regulated was placed with its flat flame twelve inches from the screen,
while the lamp in the reflector was distant sixty inches, and the flame
of the latter was adjusted until the effects on the screen were equalized.

A platform supporting the standard lamp and screen at the assigned
distance was arranged to slide on a horizontal graduated bar, extend-
ing directly toward the carbon points so that the screen should receive
the rays from the electric light and from the reflector perpendicularly
on its opposite faces, In making the observations, the platform was
moved to and fro until the illumination on the opposite sides of the
screen was judged to be equal, and then the measured distances of the
two antagonizing lights from the screen gave by easy computation their
relative illuminating power.

By a series of such observations, it was found that the carbon heght
had a force varying from 52 to 61 times that of the lamp with reflector,
making it equivalent in illuminating power to the action of from 10,000
to 12,000 standard sperm candles, pouring their light from the same
distance upon the surface of the screen. This, it will be remembered, is
the effect of the unaided carbon-light sending its rays equally in all
directions from the luminous centre, and falls vastly short of the illumin-
ating force of the cone of collected rays which was seen stretching,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 91

like the tail of a comet from the surface of the great reflector. Judging
from some recent experiments on the power of such a reflector to aug-
ment the intensity of the light emanating from its focus, there can be
no doubt that, along the axes of the cone, when brought to its narrow-
est limits, the illuminating force of the carbon light as displayed on the
State House could be rivalled only by that of several millions of can-
dles shining unitedly along the same line.

In the above-described observations, a thick screen was necessary, on
account of the great intensity of the lights to be antagonized. I need
hardly say that the different color of the two lights added much to the
difficulty of the measurements. But, by marking in each case the ex-
treme limits on either side, it was practicable to adjust the screen pretty
accurately to equality of illumination.

The only previous experiment, of precisely the same kind, which I
can recall is that of Bunsen, cited in the books, which was made with
a battery of forty-eight elements. In this, the photometric equivalent
of the carbon hght was estimated at 572 candles, or nearly twelve
candles to the cell. My observations show a power more than three
times as great, or about forty candles to the cell; a difference due no
doubt largely to the more intensive battery at my disposal and the
cumulative effect of its arrangement. I suspect, too, that the elements
in Bunsen’s observation were of inferior size, but on this point I am
without definite information.

ELECTRICAL SUMMARY.

Electric Express. —M. Bonelli, the Italian electrician, suggests a
new application of electricity for the transmission of letters, light parcels,
&e. <A series of coils of insulated wire are adjusted along the route,
and through them runs a pair of rails upon which travels the wagon
which carries the despatch-box. This wagon also carries an electric
battery, and the end of the coils are so adjusted that the battery con-
nection is made, by means of the wheels and rails, through the coil which
it is just about to enter. As the wagon is of sheet-iron, it will be at-
tracted to the centre of the coil, and the momentum which it acquires
will carry it far enough to make the connection through the next coil,
when the impulse is renewed.

This contrivance will make a very pretty philosophical toy, or piece
of illustrative apparatus ; but can it be economically applied on a prac-
tical scale ? — Cosmos.

Efficacy of Lightning Conductors. — M. Quetelet, in commenting on
a remarkable thunder-storm that raged over a considerable part of
Belgium, in February, 1860, states that, in his statistics of the buildings
or vessels struck by lightning, “ he found that out of a hundred and sixty-
eight cases in which hehtning-conductors had been struck, only twenty-
seven, by reason of grave defects in their formation, had failed to
exercise a preservative power.” .

Influence of Heat on the Voltaic Battery. —M. Carlo Roberti, of Ve-
rona, in a note forwarded to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, states
that, while pursuing some experimental researches with Gauss’s appa-
ratus, he was struck first with the irregularity and afterwards with the
progressive periodical intensity of the pile he employed. He was soon
led to attribute this to the variation of the temperature, due to the

92 - ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

hourly advance of a solar ray which had penetrated his laboratory. He
immediately conceived the idea of applying this fact to the electric tele-
graph and other purposes, and states that he is now engaged in vigor-
ous experiments, with the view of arriving at the exact numbers which
establish the advantages which may be derived from the phenomena.

Magnetism, Electricity, and Vegetation. — In his Physique du Globe,
M. Quetelet tells us that on examining attentively the value of the
monthly magnetic variation, it is found to be in direct relation with the
force of vegetation. When the latter sleeps, which happens in the
months of November, December, January, and February, the magnetic.
variation, at Brussels, is almost uniformly 5’ 28”, or scarcely half during
the period of its full activity, that is to say, from April to September,
-when its mean is 10’ 15”. It reaches its plenitude in April, when the
mean is 11’ 14”, for Brussels. In another passage, M. Quetelet states,
that the electricity of the air is intimately connected with the action of
vegetation, and that the two phenomena have a nearly parallel march.
It is not pretended that one depends on the other, but that both arise
from the same cause. The quantity of atmospheric electricity at noon
is much greater in winter than in summer, the relation being about 10
to 1. This augmentation of electric force proceeds in a manner almost
parallel with the number of days of frost and fog, and inversely as the
number of days of thunder, of elevation of temperature, of actinic power.

Terrestrial Magnetism and Temperature. — At a recent meeting of
the Royal Society, the Astronomer Royal mentioned that the remark-
able change which had taken place in the phenomena of terrestrial »
magnetism, as observed at Greenwich since 1845, was such as might be
expected to take place, were the climate of the northern hemisphere
to become more wintry in its character, while that of the southern
hemispiere remained unaltered. It is already on record that Sir John
Herschel considers the climate of the earth to be undergoing a change
due to some cosmical cause. Is there any connection between his con-
clusions and those of the Astronomer Royal? To those who take in-
terest in the progress of terrestrial magnetism as a science, it will be
eratifying to know that Mr. Airy expresses himself decidedly in favor
of long-continued simultaneous observations in various parts of the
globe. With series of observations extending over many years it be-
comes possible to institute comparisons, to note fluctuations and disturb-
ances, and to discover something of their laws; while short and broken
series baffle investigation, and harass the inquirer to no useful purpose.
— London Atheneum.

Sun-spots and Auroras. —'The Comptes Rendus contains a letter
from M. R. Wolf to M. Remmont, in which the former says, “ I find, in
accordance with M. Fritz, that the frequency of solar spots corresponds
exactly with that of auroras, so that we observe in the latter both the
period of 114 years and the great period of 56 years, the existence of
which I have demonstrated for solar spots.”

Thunderstorms and the Moon. — M. Bernardin calls the attention of
the Belgian Academy to the fact that many thunderstorms have oc-
curred about the period of the new or full moon, and he invites inquiry
for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is any connection between
the movements of our satellite and the electrical condition of the at-
mosphere.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 93

RESEARCHES IN ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGY.

M. Matteucci has forwarded to the Academy of Sciences, at Paris,
an analysis of his latest electric researches in relation to physiology,
undertaken with the view of explaining one of the most remarkable
yet obscure laws of the science. He began by proving that the passage
of an electric current in a non-metallic body, which is, however, a con-
ductor of electricity on account of the liquid which it has imbibed, ac-
quires the property termed secondary polarity. By virtue of this
property, if it be touched by the homogeneous ends of the galvanometer,
it is found that this body is traversed by an electric current, directed in
a way opposite to the voltaic current which has excited the polarity.
Such is the ease with a cotton wick moistened with water, a vegetable
stem, a membrane, and a nerve, independently of its vitality. Among
these different bodies a nerve is remarkable by the rapidity with which
it is polarized in all its points, and by the intensity of its polarity.

Electricity of the Circulation of the Blood. — M. Scoutetten has re-
ported to the Academy of Sciences at Paris an account of some experi-
ments made upon horses which were previously made insensible to pain.
He found that the electric positive sign, indicating the direction of the
current, was constantly from the red, or arterial, to the black, or venous,
blood. He concludes his memoir by saying that since it is demonstrated
that the red blood and the black blood, in their contact through the
walls of the vessels, which act as true porous vases, give stated electric
reactions to the galvanometer, we must admit, that as all the parts of
our body are traversed by sanguineous fluids, there must necessarily be
a constant disengagement of electricity in the most relaxed tissues of
our bodies. Thus each organic molecule is incessantly stimulated by the
electric fluid, and thus under the influence of this excitement, all the
functions of the body are performed. ‘The oxygen contained in the red
blood burns up the organie molecules with which it is in contact, and
produces heat, without which life is impossible. Under the influence
of electricity is effected, during digestion, the selection of the nutritive
molecules and their assimilation. The same action takes place in re-
spiration and in all the other functions. These facts perfectly agree
with the electric phenomena of combustion. The carbon takes the
negative electricity and the surrounding air the positive, or rather, the
current is established between the carbon and the oxygen of the air.
Now, the principal action of the red blood, by reason of the oxygen in-
it, is the producing a true combustion in our tissues.

Electric Conductivity of Muscle. — Ranke, a German physiologist, has
published, among the results of his investigations into the phenomena of
electric currents in the living muscle, the fact that dead muscle is a
much better conductor of electricity than living muscle, because of the
presence of certain products of decomposition which do not appear till
after death. He concludes, further, that the conducting power of living
muscle is three million times weaker than that of mercury, and one
hundred and fifteen million times below that of copper.

ELECTRICITY BY FRICTION Pai aera we DERIVED FROM ONE

H. Buff (Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm. Vol. 114) says: For electricity
to be evolved by friction, it is essential that the two surfaces which are

G4 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

rubbed against each other, are different in character, and if traces of
electricity do appear on rubbing together substances of similar kind, it
is owing to their being really in some way modified, either at the be-
ginning or while the friction is taking place. Chemical modifications
in this connection exert a much stronger influence than changes de-
pending on mechanical or physical causes.

The discharging force which makes its appearance at the point of
contact between two conductors, and which is known as “ electro-motory
power,” although first observed im conductors, is not wholly confined
tothem. On the contrary, it shows itself with equal constancy, wherever
two bodies, be they conductors or not, but of different kind, come into
contact, and it causes on one of these bodies the discharge of positive,
and on the other that of negative electricity. In the moment of the
separation of these bodies the fluida formed at their points of contact
are set free in the form of electricity. The direction taken by the
discharge is always the same for the same bodies, be they rubbed
against each other or only brought intocontact. The fluida, which are
kept separated during actual contact, in the case of conductors and
while they are thus separated, may be carried off in opposite directions ;
on this principle depends the circulation of electricity in the Voltaic
pile. Bad conductors offer resistance to this carrying away of the
fluida ; on the other hand, they favor the accumulation of frictional elec-
tricity. The process of friction itself not only multiplies the points of
contact, but aids their process of separation to penetrate still deeper.
It, however, does not influence the direction of the discharge ; this de-
pends upon the electro-motory force which again corresponds with or
depends upon the difference between the bodies so treated.

THE NATURE OF THE FORCES PRODUCING THE GREATER MAG-
NETIC DISTURBANCES.

The following are the chief points of discourse on the above subject,
delivered before the Royal Institution, London, by Prof. Balfour Stew-
art, of the New Observatory: — When a bar of steel is magnetized, it
has acquired a tendency to assume a definite relation to our earth.
Nothing in science is more mysterious than the cause of this. The
earth, like a great magnet, acts upon a magnetized needle with nearly
a directive force. At the present moment, a mariner’s compass-needle
points in a direction of about twenty-one and a half degrees west of
true north, termed a declination to that extent, and at the same time
dips downwards, making an angle of about sixty-eight degrees with the
horizon. This declination and dip vary with time and place. But
there are other changes which the magnet experiences when kept sus-
pended in the same place. 1. The secular change, viz., during a great
many years. 2. The annual variation. 3. The daily variation; and
4,a change due to the moon. In addition to these are those curious
and unaccountable changes termed magnetic disturbances, or storms.
Atmospheric storms, even the greatest, are only local phenomena; but
magnetic storms are cosmical, as has been shown by Gauss and Sabine,
and occur almost at the same moment all over the world. Hence
many colonial observatories have been established. Mr. Stewart having
explained the methods of observation, and referred to diagrams giving
results, showed that these magnetic disturbances are connected with

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 95

the sun, inasmuch as they obey a daily law, and are moreover
independent of the light of the sun. They have a yet still more
mysterious relation with our luminary. Schwabe, of Dessau, having
for nearly forty years watched and recorded the spots on its disc, saw
that these spots exhibit a maximum and minimum nearly every ten
years; and General Sabine having discovered that magnetic disturb-
ances have also a ten years’ period, fortunately thought of comparing
the two periods, and found that they were precisely the same, having
the same years of maximum and minimum. This brought us into the
presence of some great cosmical bond, other than gravitation. On one
occasion the sun was believed to be caught in the very act of causing a
magnetic disturbance. On Sept. 1st, 1859, Messrs. Carrington and
Hodgson, independently, observed a bright sun spot, and at the very
same moment the magnets at Kew were found to be suddenly disturbed.
It has also been proved that these disturbances are accompanied by
auroras and also by electric earth-currents, in some cases interfering
with the telegraph wires, both having a ten-yearly period. The na-
ture of the bond by which these phenomena are allied is still a pro-
found mystery. Mr. Stewart, however, with diagrams and models,
endeavored to elucidate it by the application of the laws of induced
primary and secondary electric currents, demonstrated by Faraday.
The earth, being considered as the iron core of an electro-magnet, is no
doubt excited by some primary current (probably in the sun), and,
having a conductor in the upper and rarer strata of the atmosphere, and
another conductor round it in the upper and moist crust of the earth,
has also an insulator in the lower and denser strata of the atmosphere.
Mr. Stewart considers that every time a small but rapid change takes
place inthe magnetism of the earth, it gives rise to a secondary or in-
duced current in the two conductors; and this occasions the electric
earth-currents and auroras, probably due to the inequality of the
earth’s surface. With regard to the spots on the sun’s disc, Mr. Stew-
art suggests that, if that luminary, by causing magnetic disturbances,
is capable of producing auroras in the earth’s atmosphere, it is surely
capable of producing similar phenomena in its own.

THE CAUSES OF FAILURE IN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES.

A recent article in the London Times states several important facts
in ‘reference to the causes of failure in various submarine telegraph ca-
bles, and in respect also to the precautions now taken to prevent future
similar disasters.

“ Every operation in submarine telecraphy — even the great Atlan-
tic line — has contributed its quota of valuable experience ; for, though
snecessfully laid by Sir Charles Bright and his assistant engineers, in
spite of its imperfect construction, it was destroyed by the wmjudicious
electrical treatment it received after submersion. ‘This fact is now so
well established that the cause of the failure of the Atlantic cable may
be considered as set at rest forever. The insulation of that line was
not very perfect, as may be imagined from the infancy of the science
at that time, but yet the electrical power used was such as would in-
fallibly break down even the most perfect cables manufactured at the
present day. Of this our readers may judge when it is stated that the
large induction coils first used in signalling between England and

96 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

America were probably equal in electrical power to 2000 battery cells,
while now it is found inexpedient to use more than two or three cells
in working the longest submarine lines in existence. Some of this
great power was no doubt used in the vain hope of forcing signals
through the line at a greater speed than the very slow and unremuner-
ative rate at which it has alone been found possible to communicate
through an unbroken length of 3000 miles. The result was disastrous,
but the experience, though dearly bought, has proved of great value.
It has taught electricians the value of moderating the power used in
working lines, and’ above all has pointed out the imperative necessity
of having no single section of a submarine line of more than six hun-
dred miles in length. To lay long submarine cables in a continuous
length without intermediate stations has been found to answer no oth-
er purpose than that of greatly diminishing the speed of working and
multiplying every imaginable risk both of manufacture and submersion.
The Indian Government, acting under the judicious counsel of their
scientific advisers, have wisely determined to divide the Persian Gulf
cable into three sections, though its total length will not exceed 1500
statute miles.”

The Red Sea line was destroyed by faults of another character.
Being laid without any allowance for slack, that the cable might con-
form the more readily to the irregularities of the bottom, the suspended
portions became loaded with barnacles and coral, and crumbled from
its own weight.

“'To obviate this cause of danger, which in the above-mentioned
lines has probably occasioned a loss of property to the value of over a
million sterling, the Persian Gulf line 1s cased in twelve No. 7 gauge
harddrawn iron wires, thickly galvanized, so as effectually to prevent
their corrosion. But, in order to secure more effectually the perma-
nent stability of the line, the whole finished cable is thickly coated with
two servings of tarred hemp yarn, overlaid with two coatings of a
patent composition invented by Sir Charles Bright and Mr. Latimer
Clark. The composition consists of mineral pitch or asphalt, Stockholm
tar, and powdered silica, mixed in certain proportions, and laid on in
a melted state. While yet warm, it is passed between circular rollers,
which give it a round, smooth surface. When quite cold this forms a
massive covering of great strength and perfect flexibility, totally im-
pervious to water, and incapable of being destroyed by the minute an-
imaleule which exist in such abundance in warm latitudes, and which,
when the cable is not protected against their attacks, eat every atom
of hemp, as in the case of the cable laid between Toulon and
Algiers.”

Another important fact is stated, that wire varies greatly — as much
as fifty or sixty per cent.— in its capacity for conducting electricity.
The cable for the Persian Gulf is so well selected, and so well protect-
ed by gutta percha and compound, that the loss by leakage is scarcely
appreciable by the most delicate instruments. To such minute per-
fection has the system of testing adopted by the engineers been carried,
that the loss of one thousand-millionth part of the current by leakage
would be detected and estimated. ‘The cost of this submarine section
will exceed $1,500,000.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 97

ON THE COMPARATIVE LIGHT OF THE SUN AND STARS.

The following interesting research is communicated to. Silliman’s
Journal by Mr. Alvan Clark, the discoverer of the companion to Sirius:

“Tf we place a lens of known focal distance, one foot for instance,
between the eye and a star of the first magnitude, or one of any con-
siderable brightness, with conveniences for guiding its movement in
distance, to any point where it may be needed, and find the star just
visible, or reduced to a sixth magnitude, when the lens, if a convex, is
eleven feet from the eye, it becomes clear that, since the star has un-
dergone a reduction of ten diameters, it would be visible, if removed in
space to ten times its present distance. This, however, is on the sup-
position that no absorbing or extinguishing medium exists in space. If
a concave lens be employed, the measure must be commenced at the
lens itself, but if convex, at the focal point; or once the focal distance
must be subtracted from the measure, and the number of focal distan-
ces remaining corresponds to the number of reductions under which the
object is viewed.

e 10°3 times,
11 “cc

Castor is visible, when reduced, . .
Pollux, = a e ° . ° °

e e e °
Procyon, ° . ° . ° : ° ° ° . pele DG
Sirius, : - : “ - - ~ 3:20 sc
The full Moon, ° ° ° r ° e e ° 3,000 <6
The Sun, Si ie ee aC eee ari ee 1,200,000 + *

I have actually seen the sun under such a reduction; attended by
circumstances which have led me to believe that it is about the limit
at which the naked human eye could ever perceive this great
Juminary.

I have an under-ground, dark chamber, two hundred and thirty feet
in length, one end terminating in the cellar of my work-shop, and the
other communicating with the surface of the ground by a vertical open-
ing, one foot square, and five feet deep. In a movable partition, be-
tween this opening and the end of the chamber, a lens of such focal
distance as I choose can be inserted. A twentieth of an inch focus I
have employed, of the best finish possible ; its flat side cemented to one
face of a prism with Canada balsam. No light whatever can enter the
dark chamber, except through this little lens. A common, plane, silvered
glass mirror, placed above-ground, over the vertical opening, receives the
direct rays from the sun, and sends them down into the prism of total
reflection, by which they are directed through the little lens into the
ehamber. An observer, in the cellar, twe hundred and thirty feet dis-
tant, sees the sun reduced 55,200 times; and its light, in amount,
varies but little from that of Sirius. Upon a little car, movable in
either direction, by cords and a pulley, is mounted another lens, witha
focal distance of six inches. The eye of the observer is brought into a
line with the lenses, or so near it, that he sees the light through the six
inch lens; then, by the cord, he sends the car into the chamber, to the
greatest distance at which he can see the licht, like that from a star of
the sixth or seventh magnitude. At noon, March 19th, with a per-
fectly clear sky, I found the sun visible through the six-inch lens, when
it was removed to the distance of twelve feet from the eye. The dis-
tance between the lenses being two hundred and eighteen feet, the re-
duction by the small lens, if viewed from the peint occupied by the six-

9

98 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

inch lens, would be 52,320times; and that again by the six-inch, dis-
tant from the eye twelve feet, or twenty-four times its focal distance, is
reduced twenty-three times; making the total reduction 1,203,360
times.

Tt becomes now an important matter to ascertain, as nearly as possi-
ble, the proportion of light lost by and through the media above de-
scribed — the looking-glass, the prism, and two lenses — though joiming
the little lens with balsam to the prism, it may be regarded as one
piece. I have only investigated by experiments with artificial lights ;
but I find, when the mirror is placed at the angle which the sun re-
quires at the date above given, the difference in the distance at which
a direct light, and the same light reflected, are brought to a minimum
visible, does not exceed one-eighth part of the entire distance, and
could not reach one-seventh, when the prism and lenses were in-
terposed. .

Again: the image of the highly-illuminated atmosphere, for some
degrees about the sun, is admitted with the sun’s direct light, through
the little lens, to the dark chamber; and the light, thus augmented, is
observed in contrast with a darkness greater than that of a clear noc-
turnal sky. The entire loss by reflecting and absorbing is manifestly so
small, and the light of the sky in the immediate vicinity of the sun, so
great, that I can readily believe the waste, in effect, is fully made up;
especially when considering the absolute blackness of the ground upon
which the light in the dark chamber is projected; and I can find no
reason to doubt that the sun would appear as a star of the sixth magni-
tude, or be only just visible to the unassisted human eye, even setting
aside the idea of an extinguishing medium, if removed 1,200,000 times
his present distance; and at 100,000 times his present distance, he
would only rank asa pretty bright star, of the first magnitude ; though
his parallax would be double that imputed to any star in the whole
heavens. If his intrinsic splendor generally proves to be less than that
of those stars whose distances have been measured, we need not infer
that it is less than the average of existing stars; for, in case of a diver-
sity among them, bearing any proportion to that among organic bodies,
on the face of the earth, or the planets of our system where the num-
bers are so comparatively small, the visible stars would, of course, ex-
ceed, upon the average, our sun; for, by the laws of perspective, the
small ones would be lost to our view, at distances from which the
brighter individuals would appear as conspicuous objects. Such would
be the case with telescopic magnitudes, as well as with those visible to
the naked eye. ‘The number of stars visible, by aid of the more pow-
erful telescopes, is far less, in proportion to the power of the instru-
ments, than those visible to the unassisted eye, or with smaller tele-
scopes. ‘This fact has given rise to the doctrine of an extinguishing
medium in space; which is accepted by the most able astronomers as
the truth, and has been the foundation of much ingenious reasoning.

Plausible or probable, as this appears, I see no difficulty in under-
standing that an exceedingly great diversity in the intrinsic brightness
of the stellar orbs, promiscuously scattered through space, might result
in the same appearances as those on which this doctrine is founded.
For, at the smaller distances, we should see the whole, both great and
small, when using only moderate powers; but in the regions bounding

sa

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 99

the remotest reach of the great telescopes, though the great and the
small might be there, it would be only the great that we should see;
and those only as the most minute specks of light that can be im-
agined.

The vast number of smaller, or more moderate lights, like our sun,
which may remain concealed among those of extraordinary splendor,
ret so remote as only just sensibly to impress our vision when aided to
the utmost that human skill can do, will be better understood when we
consider the ratio in which an increase of radius increases the cubic
contents of a sphere. Upon the outer limits of such a sphere as would
embrace the great mass of telescopic stars, a moderate’ depth, extended
round the whole, would afford an immense amount of room for stars of
all imaginable sizes. I desire to be particularly understood, that it is
in those very remote regions, or beyond where any telescope, now in
use, can possibly show stars of the average, or smaller sizes, that we
may lok for the modification introduced, by such supposed diversities,
into the investigation of this doctrine of an absorbing medium. Were
all the stars in existence of one pattern, one uniform brightness, scat-
tered broadcast through all space, I think the great telescopes would
count up more nearly the numbers belonging theoretically to their
powers than they now do. However, with these suggestions, I leave
this interesting branch of my subject for the present.

The ratio, in which the light from a celestial object diminishes with
an increase of distance, needs no explaining; and I will close by
briefly giving, in tabular form, my own results, with those published by
Mr. Bond of the Harvard College Observatory, and by Dr. Wollaston,
in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, of comparisons be-
tween the bright’star a Lyre and the sun.

To bring the magnitude of our sun to an equality with that of this
star, his distance would require to be increased, according to

Wollaston, nearly - ° ° ° ° ° . . 425,000 times.
Bond, . - ° ° . ° . : ° ° « 155,000 <°
Clark: . . . . ° . . . ° ot we) 102,000")

The light received from these luminaries differs, according to

Wollaston, as - é ‘ é ‘ é P - 180,000,000,000 to 1
Bond, - 5 - ‘; : - - » 24,000,000,000 ‘¢
Clark, ee 5 e ° ° : ° ° » 10,400,000,000 ‘¢

T have alluded to the light in the atmosphere about the sun, as giv-
ing an increase to his photometrical force, though I am aware that
such must be the case with a star; and it must bear the same propor-
tion to the star’s light that it bears to the sun’s light. The difference,
in effect is here: we have several thousand stars playing into our at-
mosphere at once, but only one sun. If the distances imputed to
several of the stars, from parallax, can be true, I am sure those having
the taste, talent, and leisure, necessary for following up photometrical
researches with efficiency, cannot fail to find our glorious luminary a
very small star ; and to the human understanding, thus enlightened,
more than ever must the heavens declare the glory of God.

100 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

THE TENEBROSCOPE FOR PROVING THE INVISIBILITY CF LIGHT.

_At the last meeting of the British Association, the Abbé Moigno
exhibited and described an instrument invented by M. Soleil, of
Paris, for illustrating the invisibility of light, and called the “ Tenebros-
cope.” It is well known to scientific men, although the general public
do not sufficiently appreciate the fact, that light in itself 1s invisible
unless the eye be so placed as to receive the rays as they approach it,
or unless some object be placed in its course, from whose surface the
light may be reflected to the eye, which will generally thus give notice
of the presence of that object. Thus, if a strong beam of sunlight
be admitted into a darkened chamber through a small opening, and re-
ceived on some blackened surface placed against the opposite wall, the
entire chamber will remain in perfect darkness, and all the objects in
it invisible, except in as far as small motes floating in the air mark the
course of the sunbeam by reflecting portions of its light. Upon pro-
jecting a fluid or small dust across the course of the beam its presence
also becomes perceptible. The instrument exhibited consisted of a
tube with an opening at one end to be looked into, the other end
closed, the inside well blackened, and a wide opening across the tube
to admit strong light to pass only across. On looking in, all is perfect-
ly dark, but a small trigger raises at pleasure a small ivory ball into
the course of the rays, and its presence instantly reveals the existence
of the crossing beam by reflecting a portion of its light.

THE STAR CHROMATOSCOPE. BY M. CLAUDET.

The scintillation and change of colors observed in looking at the
stars are so rapid that it is very difficult to judge of the separate
lengths of their duration. If we could increase on the retina the
length of the sensations they preauce, we should have the better means
of examining them. This can be done by taking advantage of the
power by which the retina can retain the sensation of light during a
fraction of time which has been found to be one-third of a second —a
phenomenon which is exemplified by the curious experiment of a piece
of incandescent charcoal revolving round a centre, and forming a con-
tinual circle of light. It is obvious that if the incandescent charcoal,
during its revolution, was evolving successively various rays, we could
measure the length and duration of every ray by the angle each would
subtend during its course. This is precisely what can be done with
the light of the star. It can indeed be made to revolve like the incan-
descent charcoal, and form a complete circle on the retina. When we
look at a star with a telescope, we see it on a definite part of the field
of the glass; but if with one hand we slightly move the telescope, the
image of the star changes its position, and during that motion, on ac-
count of the persistence of sensation on the retina, instead of appear-
ing like a spot, it assumes the shape of a continued line. Now if, in-
stead of moving the telescope in a straight line, we endeavor to move
it in a circular direction, the star appears like a circle, but very irregu-
lar, on account of the unsteadiness of the movement communicated by
the hand. Such is the principle of the instrument employed by the
author to communicate the perfect circular motion which it is impossi-
ble to impart by the hand. The instrument consists of a conical tube,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 101

placed horizontally on a stand, and revolving on its own axis by
means of wheels; inside this tube, a telescope or an opera-glass is
placed, by which, by means of two opposite screws, the end of the
object-glass can be placed in an eccentric position in various degrees
according to the effect desired, while the eye-glass remains in the
centre of the small end of the tube. Now, if we understand that
when the machine makes the tube to revolve upon its axis, the tele-
scope inside revolves in an eccentric direction, during the revolution
the star seen through it must appear like a circle. This circle exhibits
on its periphery the various rays emitted by the star, all following each
other in spaces corresponding with their duration, showing also blank
spaces between two contiguous rays which must correspond with the
black lines of the spectrum. The instrument, in fact, is a kind of spec-
troscope, by which we can analyze the light of any star, study the
cause of the scintillation, and compare its intensity in various climates
or seasons and at different altitudes. — Proc. “ British Association,”
1863.

SOME PHENOMENA PRODUCED BY THE REFRACTIVE POWER OF
THE EYE.

In a paper read before the British Association, 1863, by Mr. A.
Claudet, the author gave an explanation of several effects of the re-
fraction of light through the eye; one of which is, that objects
situated a little behind us are seen as if they were on a straight line
from right to left. Another, that the pictures of external objects
which are represented on the retina, are included in an angle much
larger than one-half of the sphere at the centre of which the observer
is placed; from this point of view a single glance encompasses a vast
and splendid panorama extending to an angle of 200°. This is the
result of the common law of refraction. All the rays of light passing
through the cornea to the crystalline lens are more and more refracted
in proportion to the angle at which they strike the spherical surface
of the cornea. Consequently, the only objects which are seen in their
true position are those entering the eye in the direction of the optic
axis. By this refraction, the rays which enter the eye at an angle of
90° are bent at 10°, and appear to come from an angle of 80°. This
phenomenon produces a very curious illusion. Where we are lighted by
the sun, the moon, or any other light, if we endeavor to place our-
selves in a line with the light and shadow of our body, we are sur-
prised to find that the light and the shadow seem not to be connected
at all, and that, instead of being in a line, they appear bent to an
angle of 160° instead of 180°, so that we see both the light and the
shadow a little before us, where they are not expected to be. The
eye refracts the line formed by the ray of light, and the shadow and
the effect is like that of the stick, one-half of which being immersed in
water, appears crooked or bent into an angle at the point of immer-
sion. This enlargement of the field of vision to an angle of 200°, is
one of those innumerable and wonderful resources of nature by which
the beauty of the effect is increased. Our attention is called to the
various parts of the panorama which appear in any way a desirable
point of observation, and we are warned of any danger from objects
coming to us in the most oblique direction. ‘These advantages are

ge

102 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

particularly felt in our crowded towns, where we are obliged to be
constantly on the lookout for all that is passing around us.

BREWSTERIAN LIGHT FIGURES.

Prof. von Kobell, of the University of Munich, has recently pub-
lished an account of some interesting experiments similar to those
made by Brewster in 1837, relating to the appearance of bright stars,
elliptical colored rings, and various coruscant forms visible, at certain
angles, in particular minerals and salts. Pliny was aware of this phe-
nomenon, and mentions a stone that he calls Astreos, which showed a
bright star reflected within it. The stone he alludes to is, however, be-
lieved to be no other than a sapphire, which presents the brilliance de-
scribed.

For a long time, it was believed these appearances were only to be
seen in sapphires and garnets, until about the same time as Brewster,
Babinet and Volger discovered the incorrectness of that opinion.

Babinet found that the phenomenon was produced by numberless
parallel grooves or furrows, whose sides were all situated at regular
angles to each other; so that the light which fell on the erystal was
reflected back from an infinitesimal number of such furrows’ sides or
little angular slopes. He therefore gave the forms of light thus pro-
duced the name of “trellis-work appearances ;” and the more simple
forms may be produced by engraving on a smooth copperplate the fit-
ting parallel lines in close proximity to each other, and then, in a
darkened room, holding the plate before a candle in such wise that the
reflected light of the flame be transmitted from the plate to the eye.
In this case, a streak of light is perceived on the spot where the lines
are drawn ; should, however, two sets of lines be drawn on the plate at
right angles to (crossing) each other, a streak of light crossing the other
bright streak at right angles will be seen. If the lines on the plate —
the rows of little furrows rather— cross each other at an acute angle,
then the lines of the bright cross, which becomes visible, are also at an
acute angle to each other. Should the drawn lines all emanate from a
common centre, then, if the light be transmitted at a certain angle, a
parhelion is observed. This last appearance may often be seen in a
small piece of glass rod about one-third of an inch thick, when the base
of the portion thus cut off is ground smooth. Be it observed, however,
that it is not every piece which shows it. By bringing this at a proper
distance between the eye and a taper, as above described, a ring of
light is seen, in the midst of whose periphery the flame of the candle
will be placed. In crystals, a perfectly formed parhelion is very seldom
seen.

Babinet attributed these appearances to the filamentous structure
and the corresponding laminated transits of the crystal. Volger called
attention to the fact, that very often it is the various faces of a twin
formation which cause this coruscation, and that the star-like appear-
ance in a ribbed or striped outer crystalline surface changes when the
said surface is polished and then again looked through. ‘“ But,” ob-
serves von Kobell, “neither of them makes any mention of the re-
searches which Brewster, contemporancously with Babinet, made in
the matter, by experimenting with surfaces naturally corroded, as well
as with those whose inner structure was made available for the pur-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 103

pose, either by a slight artificial corrosion or by roughening the surface
of the crystals by means of friction.”

Brewster observed, that when he used water, muriatic acid, nitric
acid, etc., as a corrosive, the figures changed according to the corrosive
used. When, however, the surface of the crystal was prepared, by
rubbing on a stone or by means of a file, similar figures were produced,
but not clearly and distinctly formed; and, what was most extraordi-
nary they appeared in a position directly the reverse of those produced
by corrosion. :

Brewster examined minutely crystals of the cubic, pyramidal, and
hexagonal systems only; with those of the rhombic and the klinic sys-
tems he could obtain no determined results by means of artificial corro-
sion.

It may be well here to give a few hints as to the method -to be ob-
served when experimenting with crystals whose surfaces are to be thus
etched. An essential necessity is that such surfaces be smooth and
polished, and that a beginning be made with only a slightly corroding
power. For salts easily soluble in water, Prof. von Kobell adopted
the following mode of procedure. He wetted a piece of woollen cloth
(broadcloth) with water, leaving one part of it dry; then laying the
crystal evenly on this dry part, he glided it forwards to the part which
was damp and back again immediately. This was repeated according
to circumstances. The crystal should be held by the thumb and fore-
finger of each hand close to the taper, and low down, in order that the
rays may fall upon it as perpendicularly as possible. The eye is to be
brought as close to it as may be, and the crystal then slowly turned
till the appearance of the reflection of the light be clearly seen on its
surface. It will be well to have a sheet of dark paper on the table, at
the spot where you hold the crystal.

If the transparency of the crystal allows the observation of transmit-
ted light, it may then be held between thumb and finger close to the
eye, and the flame of the taper gazed at through it. A side-light is to
be carefully guarded against; it may be remarked, too, that the bright
figure is generally seen distinctly when you stand two or three or more
steps distant from the candle. In judging of the figure thus seen, you
must not forget to observe whether only one surface has been etched,
or its parallel also; for the latter will often give the figure of the
former reversed. Thus, for example, if three radiating lines of light
are seen when one surface has undergone corrosion, a star with six
rays would be observed, should the parallel surface have also been
etched.

Such figures are most easily observed in, and produced by, alum.
If a damp piece of cloth be passed once or twice over the smooth sur-
face of an octahedron, and it then be wiped with a dry one, a three-
rayed star at once appears. If wetted thus several times, then a
change takes place in the central part, and three additional short lines
of light appear in the space between the rays. The star, however,
will be instantly turned into one with six rays of light, if the surface of
the crystal be wetted in the manner described above, with a solution
of muriatic or nitric acid. If again wetted with pure water and dried
on a bit of cloth, the six-rayed star instantly changes back into one
with three rays. Brewster also asserts that such an etched or corroded

‘

104 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

surface on which a number of little triangular forms are observed, may
be restored to its original perfect state by dipping the crystal into a so-
lution of alum. ‘To use his own words, “ The singular fact in this ex-
periment is the inconceivable rapidity with which the particles in the
solution fly into their proper places upon the disintegrated surface, and
‘become a permanent portion of the solid crystal.”

Von Kobell made the above experiment, without, however, obtaining
the same result as Brewster. But the further he went in his investiga-
tions, the more wonderful and inexplicable were the revelations that
unfolded themselves. ‘The existence of certain infinitesimal combina-
tions became evident, which it is as impossible for the human mind even
to comprehend, as it is for science to follow or to fathom. In one such
crystal is enlocked a world of wonders. Subtle powers are there at
work, elementary changes going on, of which, as yet, we have not the
slightest, the remotest conception ; immutable Jaws are there governing,
whose existence we have no knowledge of, and whose manifold bear-
ings our bounded understanding would be quite inadequate to grasp.
And the more we discover on this particular field, the more are we in-
clined to start back in bewilderment at the boundlessness of the horizon
which opens before us.

Well may von Kobell observe, that “ theoretic crystallography stands
here, as it were, before a mirror, which shows all the difficulties and
riddles which must be conquered and solved, — riddles which, as yet, it
seems, will never be brought to a solution.” And he further quotes
what Brewster once expressed when writing on the subject: “ In
whatever way crystallographers shall succeed in accounting for the va-
rious secondary forms of crystals, they are then only on the threshold
of their subject. The real constitution of crystals would be still un-
known; and though the examination of these bodies has been pretty
diligently pursued, we can at this moment form no adequate idea of
the complex and beautiful organization of these apparently simple
structures.”

One of the discoveries which Professor von Kobell made gives us
some insight ito the marvels of this organization ; not, however, ex-
planatory of it, but showing us, behind newly-discovered wonders,
others half-hidden, receding with systematic order into absolute infinity.

He discovered, namely, that the luminous appearances in calcareous
spar are quite different when the surface of the crystal is disintegrated
by means of nitric acid from those when muriatic acid is employed.
And what is very extraordinary is, that when the corrosion is produced
by muriatic acid, a shining figure is called into existence, regularly
formed of straight lines; but when nitric acid is used to corrode the
polished face of the crystal, then it is elliptic figures — offshoots like
tendrils—which show themselves. Here then, we have, in addition to
the final phenomena, the fact that the molecular construction of the
crystal is affected by one acid only in one direction, and by another in
a direction quite different. How marvellous the combination of the
atoms,—admitting now a channel between them, and now closing it her-
metically against the intruding acid! What a strange secret of affini-
ties and alienation does this disclose of qualities and powers that we
cannot even conceive of ? On a hexagonal prism of calcareous spar,
when the surface is subjected to the corrosive influence of muriatic

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 105

acid, a luminous figure appears, resembling the hilt of an ancient
sword.

Without going into further detail, what has been here described will
sufficiently show how interesting the results are which have been ob-
tained by the different experiments. Prof. von Kobell has named
these beautiful luminous appearances after their first discoverer, our
illustrious countryman, Brewster. He calls them “ Brewster’sche
Licht-figuren,” which may most fitly be rendered by “ Brewsterian
Light Figures.”

THE COMPOSITION OF LIGHT AND THE LAW OF HARMONIOUS
COLORING.

In a work published some time since, on “‘ Chromotography,” by Mr.
Field of London, the author has described an experiment by means of
which he considers he has determined the proportion of colored rays
which constitutes white or solar light. The problem, the solution of
which Mr. Field has attempted, is admitted to be one of the most deli-
cate and unmanageable in the domain of physical science, and phi-
losophers who have instituted experiments and speculated on the sub-
ject — from Newton, in former days, to Brewster and Herschel, in our
own time — have felt and confessed the difficulties which beset the in-
quiry. Itis well known that Newton, from his famous experiment
with the prism, concluded that white or solar light is composed of seven
colors of different refrangibility, which he named violet, indigo, blue,
green, yellow, orange, and red. He also measured the size of the
variously-colored portions of the spectrum, in order to ascertain the
amount of colored light in the sunbeam. Should we admit with New-
ton that white light is made up of no fewer than seven parts, still the
difficulty of measuring the colored spaces of the spectrum is great, if,
indeed, the task be not quite a hopeless one. It is hardly possible to
find two persons who see so nearly alike that they can agree as to
where one color ends and the next begins, and thus no two estimates
of the colored spaces are likely to be the same. A notable instance of
variance is afforded in the values assigned to the spaces by Newton
and Fraunhofer. While they are at one in their opinion of the size of
the orange and indigo spaces, the former finds the yellow and violet to
be in the ratio of 40 and 80, whereas the latter assigns them the very
different ratio of 27 and 109. No subsequent observer has ventured
to alter either estimate, and no one who is familiar with the spectrum
will put much faith in any measurement of it, by whomsoever or with
what care soever it may have been made.

Another analysis of light was afterwards made by Dr. Wollaston, a
high authority in optical questions. As he employed a narrow beam
of light, he obtained a spectrum which consisted apparently of only
four colors, namely, red, green, blue, and violet; and on dividing the
space occupied by the spectrum into 100 equal parts, he found these
colors to occupy respectively 16, 23, 36, and 25 of the divisions. A
single narrow band of yellow, dividing the red from the green space,
was all he could detect, and he hastily concluded that this color was
merely a mixture of red and green, and consequently not a primary
and important element in the composition of light. -This statement of
Wollaston’s analysis shows how widely the observations of this observer
differed from those of Newton.

106 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. |

An important step in the analysis of light was made by Sir David
Brewster when he showed that, by looking at the spectrum through
absorbing media of different colors, it is seen to consist neither of
seven colors as Newton believed, nor of four as Wollaston alleged,
but of three spectra — red, yellow, and blue, which have equal lengths
but varying intensities, superposed on one another. Beyond this con-
clusion, however, Brewster did not go; and he certainly does not
hazard an estimate of the quantity of red, yellow, and blue rays present
in solar light. It is true that in accounting for the presence of the
white light which becomes visible at any point of the spectrum when a
sufficient amount of the colored light at that point has been absorbed,
he conjectures that there is a combination of some definite proportion
of red, yellow, and blue rays which forms the white light. He.conjec-
tures, for example, that if we admit the intensity of white light to be
10, this intensity may result from the combination of three rays of red,
five yellow, and two of blue. These numbers are given, be it observed,
merely by way of example; and the great master of experimental
optics who gives them is too profoundly versed in his science to im-
agine fora moment that he has attained such knowledge of light as
to express in numbers the amount of its constituent elements. The
preceding hypothesis was given upwards of thirty years ago in more
than one article on the New Analysis of Light, and that the author
has not changed his views in the interim is proved by his employing,
in the last edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, precisely the same
words in elucidating the subject.

A consideration of the difierence in the views of Newton, Wollaston,
and Brewster ought to convince every one of the extreme difficulty —
to say the very least of it — of determining the amount of colored rays
which compose the sunbeam. Mr. Field offers a solution of the
question that professes an accuracy to which no one of the three now
given lays any claim. His analysis so far agrees with that of Brewster
as to give red, yellow, and blue as the constituents of light, but it
differs from it inasmuch as it assigns definite numerical proportions to
these colors. White light, Mr. Field says, is. composed of red, yellow
and blue colors, in the proportion of five, three, and eight respectively.
This, it will be seen, differs wholly from the hypothesis of Brewster, in
which is assigned a proportion of three, five, and two to the same rays.

Mr. Field’s analysis of light does not appear to have found favor
with scientists, but the practical art of ornamental coloring has very
generally been inclined to adopt it. Thus Mr. Owen Jones, in his
Grammar of Ornament, states his first law of importance, as follows,
“The primary colors of equal intensities will harmonize with or neutral-
ize each other in the proportion of three yellow, five red, and eight blue,”
etc. The same law is also given in the short handbook on Harmony of
Color issued at the Kensington School of Art, —apparently with the
sanction of government,— and widely circulated among the art-stu-
dents of the Kingdom. — London Atheneum.

CURIOUS SPECULATIONS ON THE NATURE OF LIGHT.

The following curious speculations on the nature of light are put
forth by Mr. B. S. Barnard, in the London Photograph News : —
““¢ As white as fine linen,’ ‘as white as snow,’ are frequent compari-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 107

sons; but they are all dull examples as compared to many chemical
precipitates. Precipitated chalk far outshines the natural varieties,
and fine qualities of magnesia carbonate surpass this. Microscopic ex-
amination indicates that this latter consists of particles, clear and
colorless, but very minute. White lead consists of particles equally
minute and also transparent, but of a yellow-brown color by trans-
mitted light; consequently, when seen in bulk it appears of a less pure
white. But magnesia cannot be used as a pigment because it possesses
no body ; and the difference between the white lead and the magnesia
in this respect depends upon the different refractive powers of the in-
dividual particles which compose the separate powders. They are
both transparent in their individual particles, but the magnesia is more
so. Thgy are both bodies possessed of considerable refractive power,
but the lead is more so. When air intervenes between their particles
the reflective power of both so much exceeds that of air, that they are
highly reflecting and very slightly transmitting; but the less absorbing
power of the magnesia makes it the whitest, the more reflecting of the
two. But when oil intervenes, as would be the case if they were used
for pigments, the refractive power of the magnesia so nearly coincides
with that of the oil, that much transmission and little reflection is the
result, and this constitutes what painters call want of body. But the
lead so greatly exceeds the oil in refracting power that its reflective
property is not much interfered with, and even with its greater absorb-
ing power it reflects much and transmits little light; and this is what
painters call great body.

“ The leneth of an undulation of violet light is seventeen millionths
of an inch; the red undulation is twenty-six millionths; undulations
Jonger or shorter than these not being visible. Again, the length cf
the light wave varies in the medium. An undulation in air measuring
four will measure only two and a half when it enters glass, and will
again elongate to its former measure on its exit. When an undulation ©
passes from air into water, or into the humors of the eye, it likewise
becomes shortened. If we say that luminous undulations, which in air
measure twenty-two millionths of an inch, look yellow when they enter
the eye (that being the wave length belonging to what we cail yellow
light), we must also remember that they measure one-third less in that
organ in consequence of its refracting power. We then come to the
singular conclusion that the blue sky is yellow, sunshine is red, and the
rosy tints of evening are not luminous at all till they enter the eye. If
the color depends upon the length of the light wave, and the length
of the wave depends upon the retracting power of the medium through
which it is passing, every beam of light changes color; red it may be
on passing through the region of the stars, yellow or green it may be
when it enters our earth’s atmosphere, blue or violet when it enters
water, non-luminous as it passes through glass. But if light, which we
perceive as violet while it exists in the aqueous humor of the eye, was
red originally, what color must that light be which we perceive is red ?
Its undulations in air must be too long to be luminous at all. This in-
troduces us to the solemn thought that all this vast universe is dark !
Light only exists in the eye. It is only a sensation, a perception of
that which in nature exists as a force capable of producing a sensa-
tion.”

108 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

NEW METHOD OF PROPAGATING LIGHT.

“A New Mope or PropaGatTine Licur” is the title of a note
lately read by M. Babinet 1t a meeting of the Academy of Sciences at
Paris, in which he treats of the regular luminous waves which result
from a network or streaked surface placed in the path of a luminous
band. From this proceed many spectra of great brilliancy, anterior
and posterior, the origin of which cannot be derived either from prop-
agation in a straight line, or from reflection, refraction, or diffraction.
The very regular wave from the network borrows each of its elements
from the waves which successively arrive at the network, and thereby
obtains characters quite exclusive. The compensation in the celebrat-
ed experiment of Arago, which, according to Fresnel, prevents the in-
fluence of the motion of the earth from becoming sensible in the
phenomena of the prism, has no place in regard to the network ; and
M. Babinet concludes that, by substituting the network for the prism,
we shall be able to render sensible that influence, so long and so un-
successfully sought for by Fresnel and himself.

COLOR OF WATER.

The color of water has been frequently discussed by physicists.
Arago said, “The reflected color of water is blue, and the trans-
mitted color is green;” and explained “ the green color of the waves
by considering them as prisms of water, of which one of the faces re-
flects white light, which is refracted by the following wave, and thus
goes forth green.” Bunsen asserts that water chemically pure is not
colorless, but is of a pure blue color. M. Wettstein, after minute
chemical researches, states that the green color is due to the presence
of organic matters. M. Beetz has recently investigated the subject,
and records his interesting observations in the Bibliotheque Universelle
of Geneva, the results of which are opposed to the conclusion of Arago,
and favor the opinion of Wettstein that the color is due to minute
particles of matter suspended in the water, modified by the color of
the sky and surrounding objects.

THE GREAT FOUCAULT TELESCOPE.

M. Léon Foucault has laid before the French Academy an account
of the great telescope constructed upon his principle for the Observa-
tory, at Paris. He observes that his efforts to obtain large instruments
. with reflectors of silvered glass could not be deemed completely suc-
cessful until he had reached dimensions exceeding those of the largest
achromatic objectives, and that it was only by way of establishing a
claim to the recognition of his plans that he announced the formation
of mirrors of 10, 20, and 40 centimetres in diameter. Now, he is able
to speak of one nearly 80 centimetres in diameter, having a focal
length of 44 metres,! which has been completed in the establishment
of M. Seerétan. This mirror, mounted in a Newtonian telescope, has
been at work for some months, at the Observatory, performing to the
entire satisfaction of the director, M. Chacornac.

1The metre is 39.3779 inches; the centimetre 0.3937 of an inch.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 109

CURIOUS OPTICAL ILLUSION — ARTIFICIAL GHOSTS.

An interesting optical phenomenon, namely, the production of
spectral apparitions, or ghosts, has been recently devised by Professor
Pepper, of the Polytechnic Institution, London, and most successfully
and practically applied in theatrical exhibitions.

The manner in which the illusion is used for effect, in a theatrical
play, may be siated as follows : —

An acior in the character of a murderer is seen asleep on a lounge
in the rear of the stage, which is dimly lighted. Presently he rises in
his sleep and begins to rave under the tortures of remorse for his crime.
Instantly there appears at his side a bright image of a skeleton, so
luminous that it sheds some light upon the obscurity around. Though
startlingly distinct, it is seen to be only the image of a skeleton, as ob-
jects on the stage are visible directly through the bones. The mur-
derer strikes his sword through the grizzly horror, but it is as impalpa-
ble as air. After a brief space the apparition vanishes as suddenly as
it came. It makes no movement up or down or to either hand, but
simply disappears, the whole effect being so perfect, that the spectator
can hardly bring himself to realize that he is really the subject of a
deception.

The scientific explanation of the phenomena may be thus stated : —

When any one looks into a glass or metallic mirror, he sees an image
or ghost of himself. If his neighbor looks over his shoulder he, too, sees
the same ghost. What gives this business of ghost-making its chief
mystery is the plan of concealing adroitly the person or object who or
which is to be ghostified, and showing only the image or ghost, and
thus snapping the otherwise palpable connection between the true ob-
ject, animate or inanimate, and its picture or representation. If a plain
metallic or silvered glass mirror only were employed in producing the
ghost, a child would not be startled at the effects produced, however
compktely the original object might be concealed from view ; but it is
otherwise, and all are surprised, when an image or ghost is called up
before the observer without any apparent connection with mirror action
abeales 2

Now, without going into the questions in optical science respecting
the reflection of light from plane surfaces, the formation of images by
plane mirrors, or of multiple images formed by glass mirrors, we may
remark that metallic mirrors have but one reflecting surface, giving
only one image of an object. With glass mirrors this is different.
They give rise to several images which are readily observed when the
image of a candle is looked at obliquely in a common looking-glass.
A very feeble image of a candle is seen, and then a very distinct one.
Behind this there are several others, whose intensity or clearness gradu-
ally decreases until it disappears. This phenomenon or appearance
arises from the looking-glass having two reflecting surfaces, —that of
the face of the plate, and that of the layer of metal which covers the
hinder surface of the glass. The greater feebleness of the image re-
flected from the glass than from the metal surface arises from the cir-
cumstance that metal reflects better than glass. It completely intercepts
the light reflected from the original object, and throws it back to the
eye.

10

110 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

In ghost-making, a plate of clear glass is placed between the observers
and where the ghost is made to appear ; and what ts seen as the ghost is
nothing more than the feeble image of a true object, produced by re-
flection from the surface of the plate. But the ghost, when well shown,
is an intensely vivid image, the very reverse of feeble ; and the question
is, How is the intensification of an originally feeble image effected? It
is effected by greatly reducing or extinguishing all other lights, and by
concentrating an intense light on the original object, and thus greatly
increasing the reflecting power of the clear glass plate, and by at the
same time forming a dark background behind the plate, which further
assists in throwing out the image or ghost to the eye of the spectator.
All this is quite a common occurrence in the shop-windows along the
streets, and perhaps still better shown in a lighted railway-carriage at
night. The ghosts of the passengers in the carriage are shown through
the carriage windows upon the apparent ground of the dark sky, and
the carriage lamp, from its being the most luminous object, presents the
most vivid ghost of all. -

As applied to theatrical performances the arrangements for the repre-
sentation of a ghost are substantially as follows: Upon the stage of
the theatre is placed a large plate of glass, inclined at an angle toward
the person or object that is to be “ ghostified.” ‘The audience does not
always perceive this, because the stage is darkened, and because objects
behind the glass may be seen through it. In front of this glass is a
large trap, opening beneath the stage, and forming a square enclosure ;
this is lined with black cloth. The person whose ghost is to be repre-
sented stands in a sloping position against the back of this place, and a
strong light is thrown upon his figure from # lamp placed opposite.
Now the image of the object is reflected from the glass plate to the
audience, and this image is seen by them to be as far behind the plate
as the true object is placed in advance of it. The light used to illumi-
nate the person should be very powerful, as the “lime,” or Drummond
light, though a good argand burner with a reflector will answer. The
ghost is seen to be illuminated from below up, and this comes of placing
the lamp low and throwing the light on the true object upwards. A
Wee lustrous dress given to a female personating the ghost exalts the
effect. ,

All the room-lights are in the mean time reduced, otherwise the audi-
ence also, as in the case of the passengers in the railway-carriage, would
be converted into ghosts. As much light, and no more, is left on the
stage as admits of the actors on it being seen. These performers see
no ghost; all their movements are calculated as to place and time.
The ghost placed on the stage, so far as the adaptations of this illusion
have yet gone, is fixed; a hand or part of the body may be moved, but
not the whole, beyond a very small distance.

Ghost-making, according to the above device of Prof. Pepper, can
be applied for social, as well as theatrical entertainment, and the sim-
plicity of the apparatus employed for the production of the many illu-
sions of which this arrangement is capable will doubtless henceforth
furnish a fruitful source of amusement.

The introduction in London of the above-described optical arrange-
ment into theatrical performances, for the production of ghostly images,
gave rise to a lawsuit of an interesting character. The device in question

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 111

proving profitable as an adjunct to the theatre, a patent was applied
for by Prof. Pepper; the issue of which was strenuously opposed by
competing exhibitors; to compass their ends, the latter lodged objec-
tions against the issuing of the patent, just before it was to receive the
Great Seal, and the provisional patentee was allowed one month to
answer the objections. The trial of “the ghost” came off before the
Lord Chancellor, and distinguished counsel appeared for both parties.
Mr. Bower, for the objectors, against Prof. Pepper, put in several afii-
davits to the effect that “the ghost ” was somewhat of an antiquated
personage, that he was well known to several public characters, and
could not be justly claimed as the exclusive property of Prof. Pepper.
It was averred that a respectable spectre was shown in London in 1845,

by Herr Dohler, the celebrated conjurer, and that it made the tour of

the whole country with him. Other evidence of a similar nature was
also produced ; and in the course of the arguments on the subject, the
Lord Chancellor himself stated that he had seen a ghost, fifty-five years
before, exhibited by the celebrated Belzoni. Upon the other side, how-
ever, evidence was put in, from no less scientific personages than Prof.
Wheatstone and Sir David Brewster, to the effect that the invention
was new; and the Lord Chancellor hearing both sides fully, came to
the conclusion that the ghost in question was a new ghost, and accord-
ingly gave judgment for the defendant, Prof. Pepper.

That Prof. Pepper’s plan of producing spectral appearances is, how-
ever, a very old affair, seems to be proved by the following extract
from a work written by John Baptista de Porta, in 1558, upon “ Natur-
al Magick” ; and translated into English in 1582.

It says: ‘“ How we may see in a chamber things that are not —I
thought this an artifice not to be despised ; for we may in any chamber,
if a man look in, see those things which were never there ; and there is
no man so witty that will think he is mistaken: Wherefore to describe
the matter. — Let there be a chamber whereinto no other light cometh
unless by the door or window where the spectator looks in; let the
whole window or part of it be of glass, as we used so to do to keep out
the cold ; but let one part be polished, that there may be a looking-glass
on both sides, whence the spectator must look in ; for the rest do nothing.
Let pictures be set over against this window, marble statues and such
like; for what is without will seem within, and what is behind the
spectator’s back he wil! think to be in the middle of the house, as far
from the glass inward as they stand from it outwardly, and so clearly
and certainly that he would think he sees nothing but truth. But lest
the skill should be known, let the part be made so where the ornament
is that the spectator may not see it, as above his head, that a pavement
may not come between above his head; and, if an ingenious man do
this, it is impossible that he should suppose that he is deceived.”

PHOTOGRAPHY IN CONNECTION WITH ART.

The following is an abstract of a lecture on the above subject, recent-
ly read before the Cornwall Polytechnic Society, of England, by Col.
Wortley: The lecturer began by alluding to photographie portrait-
ure, as carried on in the present day; and asked his hearers to disa-
buse their minds of a common error into which most people fall, namely,
that a photograph, because it is taken as it were by machinery, must

112 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

necessarily be a likeness. He stated that this was not the case, and for
the following reasons: ‘ The photograph portrait lens is not a per-
fect instrument, and of necessity magnifies the objects that are nearest
to it, and makes them out of proportion with those situated in a plane
somewhat further front the instrument. To prove this, you have only
to look over any collection of photographic portraits, and you will at
once see that the hands or feet, or any object prominently brought for-
ward, are larger than they should be, to be in due proportion. This
defect, of course more visible in the case of a hand, foot, or other large
object, alters the proportion, and indeed the expression, of a sitter’s head
and face. If, then, in posing a sitter, you allow the chin to be elevated,
or brought forward, it 1s of course appreciably magnified ; and the fore-
head and eyes, being thrown back at the same time, are diminished,
and a coarse, foolish expression given to a face that may be full of in-
tellizence and refinement of feature. This defect is of course much
greater in a cheap, bad lens than in one by any of the best makers ;
though it is one that can easily be guarded against.”

Entering on a wider field, the lecturer then alluded to the true difli-
culty in photographic portraiture, — that of being able to give a pleas-
ing and natural pose to a sitter. ‘“ You have,” said he, “ probably the
pictures of many ladies in your respective albums. Now, how many
of those photographs do the ladies justice? Doany? Are not the
majority atrocious libels? In how many of the positions selected by
the photographer would a portrait-painter have placed his sitter? It
appears singular that such an utter want of artistic feeling and taste
should be shown in the majority of photographic portraits; but such is
undeniably the case. It is not the want of color in a photograph that
makes it so unsatisfactory. You must all of you have come across, oc-
casionally, most charming portraits in monochrome, chalk, and crayon
drawings, in sepia, and even with pencil and pen and ink, and occasional-
ly a photograph.” The lecturer then inquires why the good photograph
is the exception and not the rule? ‘In many cases, the professional
photographer has taken up photography as a profession, and so long as
he makes it pay he is content. He does it by machinery. He has no
knowledge of art, no feeling for the beautiful, and in many cases, as
any one can see, is entirely ignorant of the optical properties of his len-
ses. And the amateur, — he takes to photography because it is so nice to
be able to get pictures of all one’s friends! He gets photographs of
them certainly, but between photographs and pictures there is a wide
chasm, bridged by a narrow plank, across which not many of our ama-
teur portraitists have yet walked, and as few of our professionals.”

The following counsel was then given as to portrait photography :—
It was recommended to adopt the style of taking the head and should-
ers only, making the head about the size of a shilling, and carefully
vignetting it, using alwaysa plain background, varying the color of the-
latter according to the color of the sitter’s hair, dress, ete. Then, di-
recting attention to landscape photography, — a branch of the art more
practised by amateurs, but requiring on their part more knowledge of
hich art, more feeling for all that is beautiful and glorious in nature,
and more perseverance and hard work before they can attain to emi-
nence, — Col. Wortley said: “I maintain that the highest art, the
purest taste, is shown in the most scrupulously faithful transeript from

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. ; EGS

nature itself; because nothing, and no imaginary form or coloring, can
equal, or, I might indeed say, approach in beauty what we, if we care
to look for it, and know how to find it, can find for ourselves in nature.
And it is preéminently this earnest desire to seek for and discover the
beauties of nature, and the knowledge of how and where to find them
that distinguish the artist from the mere paintér or photographer. .. .
If vou aim at art in photography, you must study nature, and you must
give as faithful a transcript of nature as you can. Suppose a painter
were to say, ‘ Well, I cannot be at the trouble to do skies or clouds to
my landscapes; people must be content with carefully painted fore-
grounds,’ what should we think of that individual ? who would look at
his pictures? what would the photographer himself say to them ?
Then, what does he imagine artists, and all who have a feeling for and
a love of nature, think of his photographs? I hold all such productions
to be unfaithful to nature and untrue to art.

‘“‘ But in addition to the real feeling for the beautiful, some knowledge
is desirable, some study of the works of celebrated painters, in order to
know how to combine the various beauties of nature. To give an illus-
tration of my meaning :— A view may be very beautiful from a certain

oint, but it might happen that, by moving two or three yards one way -
or the other, you may make exactly the same view more available, as
a picture, by including some object for the foreground, such as a mass
of rock, an old gate, the trunk of a tree, or any object that may hap-
pen to be within reach. -

“There are many other branches of photography to which I might
call your attention, — the copying of pictures, photolithography and its
various processes, and composition photography. But I am anxious to
confine myself to photography in connection with its claims to be con-
sidered as a fine art. Composition photography, more than any other,
shows how difficult it is to attain really artistic results in photography,
and shows most forcibly the weak points of photography in its claims to
the rank of a fine art. Wonderful results may be achieved considering
the means at our disposal, but the insurmountable difficulty of control-
ling the sitter’s expression of face, not to mention other minor difficul-
ties, will always prevent that class of photography from rising beyond
a certain level, and will always remind us that photography has much
that is mechanical, and that it is necessary to obtain far greater rapid-
ity than any process at present possesses, before composition photography
can worthily assist in claiming for photography in general the dignity
of a fine art. In conclusion I should strongly recommend an amateur
to adopt a rapid process, so as never to have any difliculty in getting
life into his pictures. A man in the foreground, a cow, a wagon, and
team, give life and reality to a photograph, and are often of the utmost
value, and even necessity to the composition of a picture. In the pres-
ent state of photography, with the minutiz of the processes carefully
laid down by experienced photographers, two or three months’ hard
study should make any lover of nature and art an accomplished photog-
rapher ; and if he knows somewhat of chemistry, or studies it a little at
the same time, so much the better. . . Iam confident that, by photog-
raphy, pictures are to be obtained far superior to anything else ever
produced in monochrome ; and any one can cbtain these by study, al-
ways allowing that they have the feeling and taste for nature and art

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116 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

those recently discovered; and he got up a petition, signed by a num-
ber of artists, and presented either to or through the Lunar Society,
entreating that the manufacture of these pictures might be stayed, as
it would inevitably ruin the picture trade. A sort of foreman of Boul-
ton’s, named Edginton, appears to have superintended the production
of these pictures, if he did not actually discover the process by which
the transfer to paper was done. Several of his letters are extant re-
ferring to the subsequent coloring which some of the pictures under-
went; none of them, however, afford any clew as to the original method
of their production. But a little later, and after the alarm was taken
by the artists, we find a talk of granting Edginton a government pen-
sion. ‘This fell through because of a curious autograph letter of Mat-
thew Boulton’s which has been fortunately found. In this letter, offi-
cially addressed to the Minister, he claims for himself the discovery of
the process on account of which Edginton’s annuity had been contem-
plated ; he intimates his knowledge that the grant was only intended
to insure the discontinuance of the process, suggests that he could ar-
range this in a much more certain way, and concludes his letter with
a strong hint that he is opem to be dealt with. Whatever ensued as
the result of this letter, it seems very clear that the production of the
pictures was thenceforward discontinued.

Here the evidence comes to an end, so far as regards these curious
paper pictures, and the silvered plates which the highest authorities re-
fer to about the year 1791. In this same year, Thomas Wedgwood,
son of the famous potter, was certainly at work on photography, as is
shown by his bills and orders for apparatus and chemicals. At the
meeting of the Photographic Society there was exhibited, side by side
with the above-mentioned metal plates, a photograph of a neatly-laid
breakfast-table taken upon paper by Wedewood, and the information
about it tended to the conclusion that it also was done in the year
1791.

Thus far, we have written the history of this curious discovery in ac-
cordance with the evidence laid before the Photographic Society; but
still there are many links wanting before it can be taken as proved that
the pictures found at Soho were produced by photography. If it shall
be shown that they were so produced, then it will also be established
that at that time photographic feats were done which we cannot nowa-
days accomplish. For it has been proved by chemical analysis that
these pictures do not contain a trace of silver, and must therefore, if of
photographic origin, have been produced by some process that has
been lost to us. That an art promising such great results should have
been suffered to die out, is in itself curious in these days of diffusion of
knowledge; but still more remarkable is the double coincidence ex-
isting between the independently produced metal and paper photo-
graphs of Boulton and Wedgewood in 1791, and of Daguerre and Fox
Talbot in 1839.

LUNAR PHOTOGRAPHS.

At a recent meeting of the New York Photographie Society, Octo-
ber, 1863, Dr. Henry Draper gave an account of some extensive ar-
rangements made by him for the photographic delineation of celestial
objects, and of the results he had already attained to in this depart-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 117

ment of science. He stated, that in the autumn of 1858, he “ deter-
mined to make the largest reflecting telescope in America. Its con-
struction, together with the various improvements successively added,
has occupied me up to the present time, — more than five years. The
instrument, which is nearly sixteen inches in aperture and thirteen feet
in focal length, was intended to be devoted to celestial photography, and
consequently contains many novelties especially fitting 1t for that pur-
pose. It has now the largest silvered-reflector of any instrument in the
world except that in the Observatory at Paris.” ‘ The reflecting tele-
scope,” said Dr. Draper, “is greatly superior to the achromatic for
photographic purposes. In my instrument, a movement of the sensi-
tive plate, one-hundredth of an inch on either side of the true focus,
visibly injures the image. In the great achromatic at Cambridge, on
the contrary, the position of the plate may be varied over an inch with-
out any noticeable change. The difference is simply that, while by
reflection the visual and chemical rays both converge to the same fo-
cus, by refraction they do not. A sensitive plate, put where the eye
sees the image sharply, produces a fine result in a reflecting telescope,
but does not in an achromatic. Besides this, more light is reflected by
a large silver mirror than an achromatic of equal size can transmit.

“ At first, I used speculum metal for my mirrors, but abandoned it at
Sir John Herschell’s suggestion in favor of silvered glass, the reflect-
ing power of the latter being ninety-three per cent., while that of the
former is at the best but seventy-five per cent. A large achromatic
only transmits about seventy-five per cent. The glass mirror, too,
weighs not more than one-eighth as much as the metal one, the one
weighing sixteen pounds, the other one hundred and twenty-eight
pounds. It is also greatly more permanent; for if the silver coating
which covers the glass concave should by chance be injured, it can be
dissolved off easily with nitric acid, and the mirror re-silvered in an af-
ternoon ; and this may be repeated indefinitely. A person making such
a silvered glass reflector is content to take the greatest pains to produce
a glass concave of the utmost perfection; for when once it is obtained it
need never be lost. The thin sheet of silver deposited upon it, only
one two-hundred thousandth of an inch thick, copies with the last de-
gree of accuracy the glass beneath, and does not modify the figure of
the surface, but only increases the reflecting power from two or three
per cent. up to more than ninety. This silver coating is transparent,
and shows bright objects, such as the sun, of a light blue tint by trans-
mitted light. |

“ As regards the degree of excellence that can be reached by such
telescopes, I can only say that mine can show every object that other
instruments of similar size do, and more too. I can see the 18th mag-
nitude pair near 8 Capricorni, discovered by Herschell’s eighteen and
a half inch speculum ; and in tests for sharpness of definition, it will sep-
arate the blue component of Andromeda with a power of four hun-
dred, and the instrument, on a favorable night, will bear three times
that power. It must not be supposed, however, that so excellent a re-
sult was obtained without labor. I have ground and polished more
than a hundred mirrors, of sizes varying from nineteen inches to one-
quarter of an inch in diameter.

“The mirror is sustained in a walnut tube hooped with brass and

118 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

supported in a frame which holds the tube at both ends. This is to
avoid the tremulous motions so common in large instruments. The eye-
piece, or, what is the same thing, the place of the photographic plate,
is stationary at all altitudes, and an observer has never to strain him-
self by awkward positions, but always looks straight forward. When
photographs of the moon are taken, the telescope is not driven by clock-
work, but is allowed to come to rest completely. The sensitive-plate
alone is moved in a direction and at a rate to correspond with the
moon’s motion. The difference is, that instead of having to carry more
than half a ton, the clock has only one ounce to move. Of course,
there is no comparison between the precision of movement possible in
the two cases.

“The observatory where the above-described instrument is erected,
is at Hastings, Westchester County, N. Y., and is a building twenty
feet square and twenty-two feet high, and is one-half excavated out of
the solid rock, so as to keep the reflector at a uniform low temperature,
and at the same time give steadiness and immobility to the telescope.
It stands on a hill two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the
sea. ‘I'he photographic laboratory is attached to the observatory on
the western side, only a few feet intervening between the telescope
and developing sink. It contains all the requisite conveniences for
taking photographs up to three feet in diameter, and is furnished with
a tank which holds a ton of rain-water. This supply is procured from
the roof of the buildings, which are on this account painted with a
stone paint so as not to contaminate the water.

“ This instrument,” said Dr. Draper, “has been in working order
for eighteen months, but a large part of the time has been unused be-
cause of my absence with the Twelfth Regiment in Virginia, and on ac-
count of professional duties. I have, however, taken some fine photo-
graphs during the past summer. Some changes have been made in
the photographic processes commonly used, in order to fit the pictures
for bearing high magnifying powers. I have negatives which can be
enlarged by a power of thirty-two without showing granulation or other
defects to an offensive degree. The photograph which I show you to-
night is nearly two feet in diameter, and is magnified to two hundred
and ten times the size of the moon, as seen by the naked eye. I have
now another, however, still larger in my observatory, — nearly three
feet in diameter, — made under a power of three hundred and twenty.
It represents the moon on a scale of seventy miles to the inch. In the
picture before you, attention should be directed particularly to the Ap-
ennine Range, Copernicus, with his reflecting streams, the great groove
from Tycho, the numerous craters, with an internal cone, the irregu-
larities visible in the bottom of the Mare Imbrium. But it is useless
to particularize; there is an almost inexhaustible supply of objects for
study and admiration.

“The Society will see that, although celestial photography may be, as
yet, only in its infancy, it is rapidly advancing. Every day is giving
origin to improvements, and even now the limit of size in these pictures
is rather owing to the great expense and difficulty of working such
enormous plates than to any intrinsic defect of the images to be copied.”

Upon the conclusion of his paper, Dr. Draper exhibited a photo-
graphic view of the moon’s surface, the singular distinctness and beauty

/

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 119

of which took the audience quite by surprise. It was a view of the
moon when about half full, and presented a semicircle of nearly two
feet in diameter. The whole of this surface was pictured with great
vividness, covered with long ranges of mountains, or dotted with huge
voleanic summits into the depths of which one could look down. From
one of these central points, the lava streams could be traced for some
eight inches, which, as an inch in length in the picture corresponds to
a hundred miles upon the moon’s surface, afforded ocular evidence of
volcanic agency through a line of eight hundred miles. From another,
vast fissures were seen to radiate, which displayed evidence of convul-
sions reaching through an area of half that diameter. When it is con-
sidered that the largest photographs hitherto obtained of the moon are
not more than from four to six inches in diameter, it will be perceived
how great a triumph has been achieved by the science and skill which
have been requisite for so great an improvement as a picture of twenty-
two inches across.

Foreign Lunar Photographs. — Mr. De la Rue, of London, who has
long been successfully experimenting in lunar photographs, has also
recently succeeded in obtaining two of these images of our satellite, 39
inches (34 feet) in diameter, which he has exhibited to the French
Academy.

THE DIOPTRIC AND ACTINIC QUALITIES OF THE ATMOSPHERE
AT HIGH ELEVATIONS.

In a paper on the above subject, read before the British Association,
1863, by Professor Piazzi Smyth, he stated, that the chief object of the
astronomical experiment on the Peak of Teneriffe in 1856 was to as-
certain the degree of improvement of telescopic vision, when both tele-
scope and observer were raised some two miles vertically in the air.
Distinct accounts have, therefore, already been rendered as to the ma-
jority of clouds being found far below the observer at that height, and
to the air there being dry, and in so steady a state and homogeneous
a condition, that stars, when viewed in a powerful telescope with a high
magnifying power, almost always presented clear and well-defined mi-
nute discs, surrounded with regularly-formed rings, — a state of things
which is the very rare exception at our observatories near the sea-level.
Quite recently, however, the author had been engaged in magnifying
some of the photographs which he took in Teneriffe in-1856, at various
elevations, and he finds in them an effect depending on height, which
adds a remarkably independent confirmation to his conclusions from
direct telescopic observations. The nature of the proof is on this wise :
at or near the sea-level a photograph could never be made to show the
detail on the side of a distant hill, no matter how marked the detail
might really be by rocks and cliffs illuminated by strong sunlight ; even
the application of a microscope brought out no other feature than one
broad, faint, and nearly-uniform tint. But on applying the microscope
to photographs of distant hills taken at a high level in the atmosphere,
an abundance of minute detail appeared, and each little separate “ re-
tama” bush could be distinguished on a hill-side four and a half miles
from the camera. Specimens of these photographs thus magnified
have been introduced into the newly-published volume of the Edinburgh
Astronomical Observations.

120 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

HELIOCHROMY.

It is well known that M. Niepce Saint-Victor of Paris, has for aleng
time occupied himself with the very interesting subject of the repro-
duction of colors by photography. Some time since he announced to
the scientific world his success in obtaining red, blue, and green; but,
at the same time, he confessed:that to obtain a yellow tint in combina-
tion with others was a matter of extreme difficulty, if not, at that time,

_practically impossible to him. Of course, there was nothing at all sur-
prising in this, as every one knows that yellow is most troublesome even
in ordinary photography. Within the past year, however, he has an-
nounced to the French Academy, that he has at last succeeded in re-
producing yellow tints by preparing his silver plates in a bath composed
of hyperchloride of soda instead of potash, and he produced specimens
which are said to hold out great expectation of complete success. He
has not yet, however, succeeded in absolutely fixing the colors; they
remain perfect so long as the plate is kept in the dark, but soon disap-
pear when exposed to the light. But in this respect, also, M. Niepce
has made important progress; for, by the application of gum benjamin
as a varnish to the plate, he has managed to retair the colors for three
or four days even when exposed to the full glare of a July sun. The
recent memoir read before the Academy by M. Niepce contains much
interesting: matter. Amongst other things, he has discovered that all
‘compound colors are decomposed by the heliochromie process. The
examples given are highly interesting, — for instance, if a natural green,
such as that of the emerald, of arsenite of copper, of oxide of chromium,
sulphate of nickel, or carbonate of copper, be presented, it is repro-
duced on the plate; but, if the green be a compound formed, for in-
stance, of chrome yellow and Prussian blue, that of a textile fabric dyed
with a mixture of the two latter colors, or that produced on glass in a
similar manner, it produces a blue color in whatever manner it 1s treated.
Moreover, when transparent blue and yellow glasses are used, so as to
produce a green, it matters not whether the blue be before-or behind
or placed between two glasses of the other color, the effect is invari-
ably the same ; no matter how long they are exposed to the light, the
product is always blue. An orange effect produced by the combination
of red and yellow glasses produces invariably red. A red and blue
glass together produce at first a violet, because the plate itself is red ;
but the result is ~blue. White paper colored green by means of the
recently-discovered Chinese green, made from the juice of the buck-
thorn, has but a sluggish action upon the heliochromic plate ; but, after
a long exposure to the light, a blue-gray is produced ; and the same ef-
fect is obtained from foliage of a grass-green color in the camera; but
bluish-green foliage, such as that of the leaves of the dahlia, produces
a tint that is almost positive blue. The eye of a peacock’s feather is
well rendered in the camera, the tints appearing to vary between
blue and green. Apart from photographic purposes, the experiments
of M. Niepce Saint- Victor promise to be of considerable assistance in
the analysis of the solar spectrum, for it is evident that his attempts to
fix the colors of nature on a heliochromic plate go far to confirm the
new theory which recognizes the existence of three, but not of the seven
primitive colors; namely, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange
and red.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 121

NOVELTIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Permanency of Photographs. —The Paris correspondent of The
Photographic News (London) states that, at a late meeting of the Paris
Photographic Society, M. Davanne presented two photographic pic-
tures, on paper, which had been submitted to the test of exposure in two
exhibitions (1861 and 1862), and which showed no signs of fading or
alteration whatever. This, then, may be accepted as a satisfactory
proof that photographs, when carefully prepared, are permanent ; for
the pictures in question were submitted to the severest test to which
photographs are ever likely to be exposed, the conditions being every
variation of light, heat, moisture, etc., and they remain as fresh ayd pure
as at first. It was also remarked that photographs are more lable to
change when kept in a portfolio than under glass exposed to luminous
action. A sulphurized proof, if kept in a perfectly dry place, remains
for a very long time without exhibiting any signs of alteration, while
in a damp place, change is immediately evident. Thus, a photograph
carefully framed is much better sheltered from humidity than when
kept in a portfolio.

Photographic Engraving. — The London Atheneum, under date of
November 14th, 1863, states that it has recently seen a beautiful speci-
men of photoglyphic engraving on steel,—ain other words, a photo-
araphic picture on steel, — effected solely by the agency of light acting
on certain chemicals. The specimen (it is stated by Mr. Fox Talbot)
is quite untouched. It represents an exquisite scene in Java, — a ra-
vine and rivulet fringed with banana-trees. Not the least wonderful
circumstance connected with it is, that at least 5,000 copies can be
taken before the plate deteriorates. Such a result, after somany years
of labor, must be, for Mr. Fox Talbot, a genuine triumph.

New Photographic Fixing Agent. — To fix photographic pictures, a
solution of the hyposulphite of soda has been the common agent em-
ployed. In this, the picture is treated, and is thus prevented from
changing. The London Photographic News asserts that the days of
this agent in photography are numbered, and that sulphocyanide of
ammonium will take its place as a superior agent, by the use of which
a faded positive picture will be unknown. The original source of the
cyanide of ammonium is the thick, tarry liquid remaining after the
separation of the free ammonia from gas liquor: this has long been
known to contain large quantities of sulphocyanide of ammonium, but
hitherto all attempts to separate it from the impurities which accom-
pany it have failed.

Photo-Lithography. — A communication has been recently made to
the French Academy, by M. Morvan, in which he describes a new
method for obtaining photographic impressions upon stone, and which
he can afterward print off. He first applies a coating, in the dark, of a
varnish composed of albumen and bichromate of ammonia. Upon this he
lays the right side of the image to be reproduced, whether it be on glass,
canvas, or paper, provided it be somewhat transparent. This done, he
exposes the whole to the action of light for a space of time, varying be-
tween thirty seconds and three minutes, if in the sun, and between ten
and twenty-five minutes, ifin the shade. He then takes off the original

11

124 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

>

to the water, and in a few minutes we saw the delicate transparent film
separated from the paper, and floating in the water. After rinsing, we
placed a piece of white enamel glass underneath the floating film, and
by a little careful management lifted it from the water uninjured, and
stretched flat upon the glass, where it dried, smooth, bright, and firm.
We now exposed a couple more, and printed until the image was com-
pletely buried ; after which, before toning, we trimmed the print to the
shape we desired, as we found it was a difficult thing to shape the film
when once detached from the paper. We toned this time in a bath
containing a little carbonate of soda, and we observed in the subse-
quent rinsing that the blisters began to rise; these increased in the
hypo bath, and in the course of the subsequent washings, the film read-
ily separated and floated away from the paper. A subsequent couple
were toned in the lime-bath, washed, and fixed. ‘These also separated
in the subsequent washing without any trouble; but a longer time was
necessary, some hours elapsing before the film of albumen was quite
detached. The attenuated film, as delicate as the wing of the smallest
fly, at first sight seems quite unmanageable, curling, twisting, and fold-
ing itself with the slightest disturbance of the water ; and if the object
on which it is to be placed be brought under it, and both lifted out of
the water without proper precaution, it will probably be found to have
run up together into a shapeless mass, apparently beyond remedy. If
it be carefully returned to the water, the probability is that it will
gradually float straight out again, and present itself quite uninjured.
A little care and patience will be required. The variety of ornamen-
tal purposes for such transfers will readily suggest themselves. When
transferred to plain white enamel glass, the pictures acquire not only a
beauty as transparencies, but also as positives, which they did not pos-
sess before. ‘The pure white and fine surface seems to impart a won-
drous charm of delicacy and brilliancy altogether unexpected, which,
for locket and brooch portraits, will possess especial value. It is prob-
able that the film so transferred to ivory will be of value to the minia-
ture painter. As ornaments for vases of opal glass, etc., many very
beautiful effects may be produced. ~ In the art of diaphanie, and as an
adjunct to the now fashionable art of decaleomanie, it will probably be
found useful; and in a variety of ways which do not now occur to us.
At present, the only protection is a hard varnish, but it is possible that
by the use of an enamel powder fusing at a low temperature, a vitre-
ous surface might be secured.”

A NEW KIND OF MINIATURE POSSESSING APPARENT SOLIDITY
BY MEANS OF A COMBINATION OF PRISMS.

A very ingenious and beautiful application of optical principles to
the mounting of photographic miniatures has been recently made by
Mr. Henry Swan, photographic artist of London. The effect of the
new process is to exhibit the subject of the portraiture with life-like
verisimilitude, and in natural relief, the image being apparently imbed-
ded in the thickness of a small inclosed block of glass or crystal, there-
by defining form and expression with a degree of accuracy unattaina-
ble in a flat portrait. The projection of the nose, the moulding of the
lips, and all the gradations of contour, are as distinct as if an able
sculptor had exercised his skill; while the hair and the flesh are of

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 125

their proper tint, and the whole thing has a singularly vital and comfort-
able look. Indeed, were it not for the reduction in size, it would be
difficult to avoid the belief that an actual man or woman, in ordinary
dress, and with characteristic expression, was presented to your eye.

This curious and beautiful effect is produced by a new application
of the principles of binocular vision employed in the ordinary stereo-
scope. ‘T'wo portraits (taken at an angle suitable for the effect intend-
ed) are produced by the ordinary photographic means. To effect the
combination of these, the block of glass or quadrangular prism, in the
interior of which the solid image is to appear, is composed of two rect-
angular prisms ground to an angle of ahout 39° or 40°. These are
placed together so as to form one solid quadrangular prism, divided
lengthwise by athin film of air. If one of the pictures be now placed
at the back of this combination, and the other picture at the side, on
attempting to look through the combination the two images will be su-
perposed on each other (forming one solid image, apparently imbedded
in the crystal), all the rays which fall on one side of a line perpendicu-
lar to the surface of the prism next the eye suffexéng total reflection at
the inner oblique surface of that prism, while nearly all those rays
which fall on the other side of this line will be transmitted, unaltered
in direction, through the body of the combination. Thus one of the
eyes only perceives the object at the back at the prisms, while to the
other eye the picture at the side is alone visible, and that lying appar-
ently at the back also, producing the perfect appearance of solidity.
It is evident that, to produce these results, care must be taken, not
only that the pictures are not misplaced so as to produce the pseudo-
scopic effect, but also that the picture which suffers reflection shall be
reverted to compensate for the reversion occasioned in reflection.

All these portraits are viewed as transparencies; the photographs
being printed from ordinary negatives on small mica plates which are
affixed to the prisms.

THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT AND THE SUN’S DISTANCE.

From an article contributed to the American Journal of Science (Sept.
1863), by Prof. Lovering, of Cambridge, we derived the following in-
teresting memoranda respecting the above subjects: Four methods
have been devised for determining the velocity of light, two of which
may be termed astronomical and two experimental. The results ob-
tained from these determinations, although agreeing so essentially as to
prove their comparative accuracy, yet differ slightly among themselves
to an annoying and at present inexplicable extent. The first discov-
ered method for obtaining the velocity of light, was by observations on
the eclipses of Jupiter’s Satellites, and the result obtained was 193,-
350 statute miles per second. The second process which astronomy
has supplied is through observations on the aberration of light, and
the result obtained gives 191,513 miles as the velocity of light per sec-
ond. The determination of the velocity of light, by the two methods
of astronomy, differ therefore by 1837 miles; a small quantity compar-
atively, being only 1 per cent. of the whole velocity. It should be also
stated that the velocity which aberration ascribes to light belongs to it
at the earth’s surface; that is, in the dense atmosphere ; whereas the
velocity discovered from the eclipses is that which extends from the

11*

126 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

planetary spaces. This distinction, however, will do little toward
bringing the two results into greater accordance, as the theoretical dif-
ference of velocities is less than 3,/,, of the whole, or less than 70 miles.

Compare with these conclusions of astronomy two experimental re-
sults on the same subject. The first attempt to obtain the velocity of
light, by direct experiment and test, was made by the eminent, 'rench
physicist, Fizeau, in 1849. The plan adopted by him for resolving
this abstruse problem will be readily understood from the following
description. If a wheel finely cut into teeth on its circumference is
put in rapid rotation, a ray of light, which escapes between two con-
secutive teeth, will, after being reflected perpendicularly by a mirror,
return to strike the wheel at a different point, and either be intercept-
ed by a tooth or admitted at another interstice. Suppose the velocity
of the wheel just sufficient to bring the adjacent tooth to the position
whence the ray first started, in the time which the light occupies in
going to the mirror and returning. In this time the wheel has moved
over an angle found by dividing 360° by twice the number of teeth
which the wheel contains. Therefore the time taken by light, in go-
ing over a line equal to twice the distance of the mirror, is that portion
a second found by dividing unity by the product of the number of
turns the wheel makes in a second, multiplied by double the number
of teeth on the wheel; the velocity of the wheel being first made the
smallest which will cause it to intercept the light. Such an experi-
ment was made in 1849, by Fizeau, the wheel being placed in a tower
‘ at Suresne, near Paris, and the mirror upon a hill (Montmartre) at the
distance of 8633 metres. As the wheel contained 720 teeth, and the

and return. Hence its velocity was 313,274,304 metres, or 194,667
tiles a second. .
Since then, M. Foucault bas successfully achieved the measurement
of the absolute velocity of light by an experiment which admits of be-
ing brought within the compass of a single room. The apparatus em-
ployed by him embodied substantially the principle of Fizeau’s appa-
ratus, but was much more complicated, and so accurately devised that
Foucault states that the mean result of his experiments can be trusted
to the fraction of <4;. This result gives for the velocity of light 185,-
177 statute miles per second; which is less by 6336 miles than the ve-
locity for light usually admitted into science, namely, the velocity ob-
tained from the aberration of light. This discrepancy between the re-
sults of experiment and that of the astronomical determination, which
comes nearest to it, is three times greater than the variation between the
velocity deduced from aberration and that derived from eclipses. Now,
neither the velocity by Foucault’s experiment nor the value of aberra-
tion can be charged with a possible error of three per cent., or of any
error approaching to this large discrepancy; and the question arises,
how is the new velocity of light obtained by Foucault to be reconciled
with the old value of aberration? It should be stated that aberration
establishes only the ratio between the velocity of light and the velocity
of the earth; but this ratio being established, the astronomer is enabled
to assign the value of the one with all the accuracy which pertains to
his knowledge of the other. Now if this ratio cannot be tampered with,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 125

and if one term of it (the velocity of light) must be diminished three
per cent. to’suit Foucault’s experiment, then we must at the same time
diminish the other term (the velocity of the earth) proportionally ;
and the old ratio will be preserved, and the value of aberration will be
left unchanged. Is it possible, therefore, that there can be an uncer-
tainty to the extent of three per cent. in the velocity of the earth? If
so, the tables are turned ; and, instead of employing the ratio which
aberration supplies to calculate the velocity of light from the velocity
of the earth, as the best known of the two, we henceforth must calcu-
late the velocity of the earth from the velocity of light. For Foucault
has found the latter by experiment more accurately than astronomy
gives the former. If there is an error of three per cent. in the velocity
of the earth, it is an error in space and not in time. To diminish the
velocity of the earth sufficiently by a change of time would demand an
increase in the length of the year amounting to eleven days nearly.

The only other way of reaching the velocity of the earth is by dimin-
ishing the circumference of the earth’s orbit, and this, if diminished,
changes proportionally the mean radius of the orbit; that is, the sun’s
mean distance. The question, therefore, resolves itself into this: Can
the distance of the sun from the earth be considered uncertain to the
extent of three per cent. of the whole distance ?

The answer to this question leads to a discussion of the processes by
which the sun’s distance from the earth has been determined, and the
limits of accuracy which belong to the received value. ‘To know the
sun’s distance, the astronomer studies the solar parallax, which is the
angle between the directions in which two astronomers, located at op-
posite extremities of the earth’s diameter, point their telescopes when
- they are looking at the sun at the same moment.

As Kepler’s third law establishes a relation between the distances of
the different planets from the sun, and their periods of revolution, if thg
astronomer finds either distance by observation, the others can be com-
puted from this law. As the solar parallax is only about eight seconds,
and an error of one-tenth of a second includes an error of more than a
million of miles in the sun’s distance, he takes advantage of the law of
Kepler, and selects a planet which comes occasionally nearer to the
earth than the sun. The choice lies between Venus at inferior con-
junction and Mars at opposition.

What are the results which have been obtained ?

1. Only two transits of Venus have occurred since the time when
the sagacious Dr. Halley invoked the attention of posterity to these
rare, astronomical events, as pregnant with the grandest results to
science, namely those of 1761 and 1769. The astronomers of the last
century did not neglect the charge which Halley consigned to them.
The transit of 1769 was eminently favorable, offering a chance which
comes only once in a millennium; and whatever verdict posterity shall
pronounce on the deductions from the observations then made, they
will never, says Encke, reproach astronomers or governments with neg-
ligence or want of appreciation toward this golden opportunity. The
solar parallax which Encke deduced from an elaborate discussion of all
the observations, fifty years after they were made, is 8.57116. This
corresponds to a solar distance of 95,360,000 statute miles.

Although transits of Venus will take place in 1874 and 1882, and

128 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

astronomers already begin to talk of preparing for them, Encke declares
that, in comparison with that of 1769, the next two transits will be so
unfavorable that nothing short of perfection in the construction of in-
struments, and in the art of observing, can compensate for the natural
disadvantage ; so that the reduction of the possible error in the sun’s

arallax within the limit of one-hundredth of a second is hopeless for at
east two centuries more.

2. The solar parallax may also be derived from the parallax of Mars,
when this planet is in opposition. In 1740, the French astronomer,
Lacaille, was sent to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the parallactie
angle observed between the direction of Mars as seen from that station
and from the observatory of Paris (deduced from observations of decli-
nation), the horizontal parallax of Mars was computed, and consequent-
ly that of the sun. The solar parallax thus found was 10/ .20, with a
possible error not exceeding 0/!.55. Henderson, by comparing his own
observations of the declination of Mars at its opposition in 1832 with
corresponding observations at Greenwich, Cambridge, and Altona,
computed the solar parallax at 9//.028.

The United States Naval Astronomical expedition to Chili, under
the charge of Lieut. J. M. Gilliss, during the years 1849-1852, had
for its object the advancement of our knowledge of the solar parallax,
partly by observations of Mars at opposition, and partly by observations
of Venus during the retrograde portion of her orbit, and especially at
the stationary points, in conformity with a method suggested by Dr.
Gerling; the whole to be compared with simultaneous observations at
northern observatories. Although the observations at Chili were made
on two hundred and seventeen nights, covering a period of nearly three
years, the cooperation of northern astronomers was so insufficient that
only twenty-eight corresponding observations were made. On this ac-
€ount, the second conjunction of Venus was useless : the other conjunc-
tion of Venus and the second opposition of Mars were of little value ;
and even the first opposition of Mars led to no significant result. Dr.
B. A. Gould has computed the solar parallax from the first opposition
of Mars, observed at Chili, at 8//.50.

3. The solar parallax can also be computed from the law of univer-
sal gravitation. The principle may be thus stated: the motion of the
moon round the earth is disturbed by the unequal attraction of the sun
on the two bodies. The magnitude of the disturbance will be in some
proportion to the distance of the disturber, when compared with the rel-
ative distance of the two disturbed bodies; and this ratio of distances is
the inverse ratio of the parallaxes of the sun and moon. By selecting
one of the perturbations in the moon’s longitude, particularly adapted
to this purpose, Mayer, as early as 1760, computed the solar parallax
at 7/'.8. In 1824, Burg calculated this parallax, from better observa-
tions, at 8//.62. Laplace gives it at 8/'.61. Fontenelle had said that
Newton, without getting out of his arm-chair, found the figure of the
earth more accurately than others had done by going to the ends of the
earth. Laplace makes a similar reflection on this new triumph of theory :
“Tt is wonderful that an astronomer, without going out of his observa-
tory, should be able to determine exactly the size and figure of the
earth, and its distance from the sun and moon, simply by comparing his
observations with analysis, the knowledge of which formerly demanded

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 129
*

long and laborious voyages into both hemispheres.” The accordance
of the results obtained by the two methods is gne of the most striking
proofs of universal gravitation. Pontecoulant makes the solar parallax,
by this method, 8/'.63. Lubboch, by combining Airy’s empirical deter-
mination of the coefficient with the mass of the moon, as he finds it from
the tides (viz., 4,) makes the solar parallax 8/’.84. If the mass of 4
is substituted, the parallax is changed to 8//.81. Finally Hansen, in
his new Tables of the Moon, adopts 8/!.8762 as the value of the solar
parallax. Moreover, Leverrier, in his Theory of the apparent motion
of the Sun, deduces a solar parallax of 8/’.95 from the phenomena of
precession and nutation.

The conclusions of this review are summed up in the following table ;
in which the values of the solar parallax and of the sun’s distance, by
the three methods of astronomy, and by the experiment of Foucault,
are placed in juxtaposition; also the different velocities of light found
by astronomical observations and by experiment.

Observer
or Method. Parallax. Distance.

Computer.
Encke, By Venus (1761), 8/753 95141830 miles
Encke, os Soe (1769); 8 .59 95820610
Lacaille, By Mars, 10 .20 76927900
Henderson, ee a 9 .03 90164110
Gilliss and Gould, se ¥ 8 .50 96160000
Mayer, s By Moon, 7 .80 104079100
urg, bee ares 8 .62 94802440
Laplace, se * 8 .61 94915970
Pontecoulant, se o 8 .63 94689710
Lubboch, tc tt 8 .84 92313580

es ec s 8 .81 92652970
Hansen, J as 8 .88 91861060
Leverrier, 2 rs 8 .95 91066350
Foucault, By Light, 8 .86 9208734
Fizeau, ss S 8 .d1 9511700
Velocity of Light, By Eclipses, 193350

s & ‘© Aberration, 191513

4: cS ‘¢ Fizeau’s experiment, 194667

+ ee ‘“ Foucault’s experiment, 185177

The three astronomical methods present solar distances, which, even
if we select the most trustworthy decision of each, differ by three or
four millions of miles; that is, by three or four per cent. of the whole
quantity. Though the best products of the first and third methods
were at one time within a million of miles of each other, an increase of
lunar observations, and especially improvements in the lunar: tables,
have now carried that difference up to four millions of miles. If Fou-
cault’s experiment were allowed to give the casting vote, it would de-
cide in favor of the third method; thus making the reflection of La-
place, already quoted, still more memorable.

In regard to the commonly receivéd distance of the sun, which is
based upon Encke’s profound discussion of all the observations made at
the last two transits of Venus, the case stands thus: Encke decides,
from the weights of the observations, discussed in the light of the math-
ematical principle of least squares, that the probable error of the sun’s
distance, as given by the transits, does not exceed 3}, of the whole

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132 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

been made to ascertain what substance allowed them to pass most freely.
The principal results attained to were as follows : —

Of the solids experimented with, rock-crystal, ice, rock-salt, iceland
spar, and the diamond, in the order named, exhibited the greatest photo-
graphic transparency ; while thin glass, mica, iodide of potassium, and
nitrate of potash, considerably affected the transmission of the photo-
graphic rays. The photographic transparency of different liquids may
be indicated as follows: water, 74; alcohol, 63 ; chloroform, 26; oil of
turpentine, 8; of gases, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonie acid,

-have a photographic transparency indicated by the number 74; coal
gas, 37; sulphurous acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen, 14 each. This
remarkable fact was also noticed, namely, that solid bodies, when dis-
solved or melted, maintain exactly the same photographic transparency
as when in the solid state. The same was the case when they were
converted into vapor, which showed that this power was part of the
nature of the substance.

The lecturer then described the phenomenon of fluorescence, and
showed that the chemical rays of the spectrum corresponded with the
rays of fluorescence, by taking a photograph in that part of the spec-
trum which, though otherwise invisible on the screen, lighted up a so-
lution of esculine. He then showed -that all metals give characteristic
photographic spectra, some of them bearing a strong family resemblance
to each other, as in the cases of iron, cobalt, and nickel ; the last metal
giving one of the longest spectra observed, and which extended to 190°
of the scale. Arsenic, antimony, and tin showed as great differences
in the invisible as visible part of the spectrum. ‘The most interesting
of the metals to study, in this respect, was magnesium, which opened
a wide field for investigation. There were certain points of resemblance
between the spectrum of magnesium and that of the sun, which led to
the supposition that this metal existed in the solar atmosphere. The
comparison of the spectrum of magnesium with that of the sun led also
to some important considerations as to the temperature of the sun. It
was known that the higher the temperature the more refrangible were
the rays of light emitted by a body. We have no conception of the
temperature of the electric spark. The heat of the strongest wind-fur-
nace was estimated at 4500° F., and that of the oxy-hydrogen jet was
supposed not to exceed 15,000° F.; yet with neither of these could the
same effects be produced as with the electric spark. The lines of the
puotographic spectrum of magnesium were not seen in photographs of
the solar spectrum, and yet there was no doubt that this metal was
present in the solar atmosphere. Karchoff, had discovered that. solids,
when heated, give a continuous spectrum, but that bodies in the form
of gas give rays of definite and limited refrangibility, each substance
emitting licht of a definite property. He had also noticed that hght
from a luminous mass, by passing through ignited vapor, which, per se,
would give bright lines in the spectrum, became furrowed out in dark
bands, occupying exactly the same position in the spectrum as_ the
bright lines. Now, ignited magnesium vapor emitted green rays which
were absolutely identical with the group of fixed lines } in the solar
spectrum, and it was, therefore, certain that magnesium was a constitu-
ent of the sun. It was, moreover, probable that the heat of the sun
was inferior to that of the electric spark, inasmuch as it was insufficient

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 138

to bring out the highly refrangible lines observed in photographs of
the magnesium spectrum.

There were thirteen bodies known on earth, which these researches
lead us to suppose existed in the solar atmosphere. Nor are they lim-
ited merely to the sun. Fraiinhofer, had examined the spectra of sev-
eral stars, and found that, although they presented no similarity to that
of the sun, nor to each other, yet that some general relationship between
them was observable. Mr. Huggins and the lecturer had recently
been investigating this subject, and had obtained very perfect maps of
the visible spectra of several stars. They had also obtained a photo-
graph of the spectrum of Sirius. This star is 130,000,000,000 of miles
distant, and the light which produced the photograph must have left
it twenty-one years ago.

A photograph of the spectrum of Capella, which is three times further
distant than Sirius, had also been obtained, the light to produce which,
the lecturer said, must have left that star when the oldest in the room
was a little boy.

Spectrum Analysis applied to the Stars. —In a communication
published in the Intellectual Observer (London), by Mr. W. Higgins
F. R. 8. who was associated with Prof. Miller in the foregoing de-
scribed investigations, the author speaks more particularly respecting
the results arrived at in respect to the spectra of the fixed stars. He
says, “ A single glance at the spectra afforded by Sirius, .Aldebaran,
and a@ Orionis, will show that the fixed stars have been created upon
the same general plan as our sun, and yet that to this unity of plan is
added variety of purpose in the different groupings of the elements
composing each. In Aldebaran, a Orionis, Capella, Arcturus and oth-
er stars, the sodium line of the solar spectrum is so clearly defined, that
the proof of the presence of this metal in the stellar atmospheres may
be considered as conclusive. Amongst some fifty stars observed, a very
large number, if not all, have lines coinciding with those proved to re-
sult from the presence of hydrogen. This would show that hydrogen —
the element upon this earth, next to oxygen, perhaps, the most wide-
ly present, and equally essential with oxygen to the structure of every-
thing that has life — is also very widely diffused through the universe.
Magnesium and iron would seem to be present in a large number of
stars.”

Mr. Higgins and Prof. Miller considered the direct observation of
the coincidence of stellar with metallic lines so important that they
intend not to rely upon measures, but to compare the metals directly
with the stars. ‘This has already been done with some metals. Most
of the star spectra appear to be as full of lines as is the solar spectrum.
Other lines have been seen in Sirius, in the orange and in the green.

If these distant suns have thus an analogous constitution with our
sun, may we not suppose that the planets, which, doubtless, they uphold
and energize, are of like material structure? And if terrestrial ele-
ments, with their properties unchanged, be present, may we not fur-
ther surmise, that life in forms not wholly dissimilar to those on this
planet, and which these elements are so ¢minently adapted to subserve,
may not be wanting? ‘The spectrum of solar light reflected from the
planets has also been observed. Numerous lines have been measured
in the spectra of Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon. They have also been

“42

a

134 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

recognized in Saturn and Mars. No addition or change of lines has
been seen to indicate that the light has undergone any change by re-
flection from them. It is probable that, with the exception of the
moon, we receive the light reflected from clouds or vapor in the at-
mosphere of the planets, and not from the true planetary surface. ‘The
light would not, under these circumstances, pass through so great a
length of planetary atmosphere, and in the same proportion would it
be less liable to have any modification impressed upon it.

At a recent meeting of the Astronomical Society, Prof. Airy, in an
account of the observations on stellar spectra made at the Royal Ob-
servatory, stated that the line F of Fratinhofer indicating iron was
seen in most stars, the sodium line D in two stars; and a line near-
ly, but not quite coinciding with Gin many. ‘The star a Orionis ap-
peared most like our sun, but generally the stars seemed not to be so
complex in constitution.

Temperature of the Sun and Stars. — Besides the light of the sun,
which, when spread out, forms the visible spectrum, the sun sheds
upon us a large amount of energy invisible as hght. Professor Stokes’s
investigations have shown that this invisible energy, when passed
through a prism of quartz, is spread out like light, and contains lines
or spaces where this energy is absent, similar to the dark lines in the
visible spectrum. By the substitution of a collodion plate for the eye,
Professor Miller has investigated the invisible spectra of metallic flames.
These are as distinct and characteristic of each metal as is the hght
spectrum of each. Observation has shown that the length of these spec-
tra of invisible energy and their lines are closely connected with the
temperature of the source of; heat. Thus, when photographs of the re-
frangible portion of the solar spectrum and that of: the metal magne-
sium were compared, it was observed that that of the magnesium ex-
tended much beyond the solar, and it was especially noticeable, that
there was a strong band in the magnesium spectrum just beyond the
limits of the solar. Yet no metal has been proved to be present in the
sun with more certainty than magnesium. Professor Miller regards
this difference as an indication of the solar temperature. The magne-
sium spectrum was obtained by the electric spark. If, in place of this
intensely high temperature, the oxy-hydrogen flame of only 15,000° F.
be substituted, the magnesium spectrum is shortened, and does not ex-
teiid beyond that of the sun. From this, Professor Miller infers that
“the temperature of the sun may be approximately estimated to be
not higher than that of the oxy-hydrogen flame. It certainly appears
to be tar below that of the electric spark.” This seems to be scarcely
in accordance with the known law of the decrease of radiant heat.
This decreasing, inversely as the square of the distance, gives an in-
tense amount of heat to the solar surface. Waterston, in a communica-
tion to the Royal Astronomical Society, in February, 1860, states that
his experiments, founded upon the supposition that the difference be-
tween the temperature in the sun and the temperature in the shade
is a function of the sun’s absolute temperature, give above “ten mil-
lion degrees, probably twelve million, Fahrenheit,” to the solar sur-
face. .

Is it not possible that vapors may exist in the solar atmosphere
which, as Professor Miller shows to be the case with sulphuretted by-

*
‘

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 135

.

drogen, are but imperfectly diactinic, and so arrest these extreme rays
of energy? Not that sulphuretted hydrogen, or any compound body,
can be supposed to exist upon the solar surface. ‘The elements there
must stand too much aloof, by the mutual hate of the fierce heat, to
unite themselves in alliances with each other. It may be, however,
that conditions unknown to us alter or modify the terrestriat law of de-
crease of heat.

It seemed, however, an object of great interest to know if similar
ae spectra could be obtained of the stars. Mr. Higgins and

r. Miller have already been successful in photographing the more re-
frangible portion of the spectra of Sirius and Capella.

New Observations on Spectral Analysis by Prof. Plucker. — The
following new views respecting spectral analysis were presented to the
British Association by Prof. Plucker: “ It is generally admitted now,”

e said, “ that every gaseous body rendered luminous by heat or elec-
tricity sends out a peculiar light, which, if examined by the prism,
gives a well-defined and characteristic spectrum. By such a spectrum,
by any one of its brilliant lines, whose position has been measured,
you may recognize the examined gas. ‘This way of proceeding con-
stitutes what is called spectral analysis, to which we owe, until this
day, the discovery of three new elementary bodies. In order to give
to spectral analysis a true and certain basis, you want the spectrum of
each elementary substance. Most recently, some eminent philosophers,
in examining such spectra, met with unexpected difficulties, and doubts
arose in their minds against the new doctrine. These doubts are un-
founded. The fact is, that the molecular constitution of gases is much
more complicated than it has been generally admitted to be till now.
The spectra, therefore, always indicating the molecular constitution of
gases, ought to be more complicated also, than it was thought at first.
By these considerations, a new importance, a rather physical one, is
given to spectral analysis. You may recognize by the spectrum of a
gas, not only the chemical nature of the gas, but you may also obtain
indications of its more intimate molecular structure —quite a new
branch of science. Allow me now to select out of the results already
obtained two instances only. Let me try to give what I may call the
history of the spectra of two elementary bodies — of sulphur and nitro-
gen. In order to analyze by the prism the beautiful light produced
by the electric current, if it pass through a rarefied gas, I gave to the
tube in which the gas is included such a form that its middle part was
capillary. Thus I got within this part of the tube a brilliant film of
light, extremely fitted to be examined by the prism. After having
provided myself with apparatus more suited to my purposes, I asked,
about a year ago, my friend, Prof. Uittorf, of Munster, to join me in
taking up my former researches. The very first results we obtained
in operating on gases of a greater density opened to us an immense
field of new investigation. We found that the very same elementary
substance may have two, even three, absolutely different spectra,
which only depend on temperature. In our experiments we made use
of Rahmkorff’s induction coil, whose discharge was sent through our
spectral tubes. In order to increase at other times the heating power -
of the discharge, we made use of a Leyden jar. Now, let us supposea
spectral tube, most highly exhausted by Geissler’s mercury pump, con-

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NATURAL PHILOSOrUY.

.
drozen, are but unperfectly diactinic, and so arrest thar
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py a

138 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

was placed under the jet at various points; the cloud was cut sharply
off at that point, and when the flame was placed near the efflux orifice,
the cloud entirely disappeared. ‘The heat of the lamp completely pre-
vented precipitation.

This same vapor was condensed and congealed on the surface of a
vessel containing a freezing mixture, from which it was scraped in
quantities suflicient to form a small snow-ball. The beam of the elec-
tric lamp, moreover, was sent through a large receiver placed on an air-
pump. A single stroke of the pump caused the precipitation of the
aqueous vapor within, which became beautifully illuminated by the
beam; while, upon a screen behind, a richly-colored halo, due to dif-
fraction by the little cloud within the receiver, flashed forth.

The waves of heat speed from our earth, through our atmosphere,
toward space. These waves daslgin their passage against the atoms
of oxygen and nitrogen, and against the molecules of aqueous vapor.
Thinly scattered as these latter are, we might naturally think meanly
of them as barriers to the waves of heat. We might imagine that the
wide spaces between the vapor molecules would be an open door for
the passage of the undulations; and that if those waves were at all in-
tercepted, it would be by the substances which form 994 per cent. of
the whole atmosphere. Three or four years ago, however, it was
found by the speaker that this small modicum of aqueous vapor inter-
cepted fifteen times the quantity of heat stopped by the whole of the
air in which it was diffused. It was afterwards found that the dry air
then experimented with was not perfectly pure, and that the purer the
air became, the more it approached the character of a vacuum, and the
greater, by comparison, became the action of the aqueous vapor.' The
vapor was found to act with thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy times the
energy of the air in which it was diffused ; and no doubt was enter-
tained that the aqueous vapor of the air which filled the Royal Institu-
tion Theatre, durmg the delivery of the discourse, absorbed ninety or
one hundred times the quantity of radiant heat which was absorbed by
the main body of the air of the room.

Lookiug at the single atoms, for every two hundred of oxygen and

1 Melloni of Italy, who has been styled the ‘‘ Newton of Heat,” was the first to
apply the thermo-electric pile to the investigation of dark, thermal radiations which
are emitted from all bodies below a red heat, by the use of plates, lenses, and
prisms of rock-salt (common salt in blocks), which is transparent to dark heat,
Melloni first engaged in these researches, and in fact founded this brauch of science.
Prof. Tyndall, taking up the subject where Melloni left it, investigated the rela-
tions of radiant heat to gases and vapors in the following manner: He prepared a
long glass tube, closed air-tight at its ends with plates of rock-salt. and which he
could empty and fill with various gases at pleasure. At one end he placed his
source of heat, —a canister of hot water, — and at the other the sensitive face of a
thermo-electric pile. By exhausting the air and forming a vacuum, and then intro-
ducing various gaseous bodies, he determined how much dark heat passed through
and also the different absorbing or intercepting powers of the various substances
in the tube. It was found that the simple gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen
arrested hardly a trace of the passing heat, acting toward it as practical vacuum.
On the contrary, other equally transparent gases, as ammonia, carburetted hydro-
gen, ete., stopped enormous numbers of the dark rays ; in fact, were almost opaque
to them. The small trace of ammonia, exhaled into an apartment by opening a
lady’s smelling-bottle arrested many times more of the dark heat rays than the ni-
trogen and oxygen gases which form the body of the atmosphere. Professor
Tyndall found that perfectly pure air stopped an exceedingly minute portion of the
heat, which he assumed as the unit for comparison of other bodies, and upon in-
vestigation it proved that the small amount of aqueous vapor contained in the air
struck down sixty or seventy times as much heat as the gases of the air itself.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 139

nitrogen there is about one of aqueous vapor. This one, then, is
eighty times more powerful than the two hundred; and hence, compar-
ing a single atom of oxygen or nitrogen with a single atom of aqueous
vapor, we may infer that the action of the latter is 16,000 times that
of the former. This was a very astonishing result, and it naturally
excited opposition, based on the philosophic reluctance to accept a re-
sult so grave in consequences, before testing it to the uttermost. From
such opposition, a discovery, if it be worth the name, emerges with its
fibre strengthened; as the human character gathers force from the
healthy antagonisms of active life. It was urged that the result was
on the face of it improbable; that there were, moreover, many ways
of accounting for it, without ascribing so enormous a comparative ac-
tion to aqueous vapor. For example, the cylinder which contained
the air in which these experiments were made was stopped at its ends
by plates of rock-salt, on account of their transparency to radiant heat.
Rock-salt is hygroscopic; it attracts the moisture of the atmosphere.
Thus, a layer of brine readily forms on the surface of a plate of rock-
salt; and it is well known that brine is very impervious to the rays of
heat. Illuminating a polished plate of salt, by the electric lamp, and
casting, by means of a lens, a magnified image of the plate upon a
screen, the speaker breathed through a tube for a moment on the salt ;
brilliant colors of thin plates (soap-bubble colors) flashed forth imme-
diately upon the screen, — these being caused by the film of moisture
which overspread the salt. Such a film, it was contended, is formed
when undried air is sent into the cylinder; it was, therefore, the ab-
sorption of a layer of brine which was measured, instead of the ab-
sorption of aqueous vapor.

This objection was met in two ways. First, by showing that the
plates of salt, when subjected to the strictest examination, show no trace
of a film of moisture. Secondly, by abolishing the plates of salt alto-
gether, and obtaining the same results in a cylinder open at both ends.

It was next surmised that the effect was due to the impurity of the

‘London air; and the suspended carbon particles were pointed to as the
cause of the opacity to radiant heat. This objection was met by bring-
ing air from Epsom Downs, a field near Newport, in the Isle of Wight, +
and a sea-beach. The aqueous vapor of the air from these localities in-
tercepted at least seventy times the amount of radiant heat absorbed
by the air in which the vapor was diffused. Experiments made with
smoky air proved that the suspended smoke of the atmosphere of
London, even when an east wind pours over it the smoke of the city,
exerts only a fraction of the destructive powers exercised by the
transparent and impalpable aqueous vapor diffused in the air.

The cylinder which contained the air through which the calorific
rays passed was polished within, and the rays which struck the interior
surface were reflected from it to the thermo-electric pile which meas-
ured the radiation. The following objection was raised: You permit
moist air to enter your cylinder; a portion of this moisture is con- —
densed as a liquid film upon the interior surface of your tube; its re-
flective power is thereby diminished ; less heat therefore reaches the pile ;
and you incorrectly ascribe to the absorption of aqueous vapor an

_ effect which is really due to diminished reflection of the interior surface
ef your cylinder. But why should the aqueous vapor so condense ?

mm

140 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The tube within is warmer than the air without, and against its inner
surface the rays of heat are impinging. There can be no tendency to
condensation under such circumstances. Further, let five inches of
undried air be sent into the tube —that is, one-sixth of the amount
which it can contain. These five inches produce their proportionate
absorption. The driest day on the driest portion of the earth’s sur-
face would make no approach to the dryness of our cylinder when it
contains only five inches of air. Make it ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-
five, thirty inches: you obtain an absorption exactly proportional to
the quantity of vapor present. It is next to a physical impossibility
that this could be the case if the effect were due to condensation. But
lest a doubt should linger in the mind, not only were the plates of
rock-salt abolished, but the cylinder itself was dispensed with. Humid
air was displaced by dry, and dry air by humid in the free atmosphere;
the absorption of the aqueous vapor was here manifest, as in all the
other cases.

No doubt, therefore, can exist of the extraordinary opacity of this
substance to the rays of obscure heat; and particularly such rays as
are emitted by the earth after it has been warmed by the sun. It is
perfectly certain that more than ten per cent. of the terrestrial radia-
tion from the soil of England is stopped within ten feet of the surface
of the soil. This one fact is sufficient to show the immense influence
which this newly-discovered property of aqueous vapors must exert on
the phenomena of meteorology.

» This aqueous vapor is a blanket more necessary to vegetable life
than clothing is to man. Remove for a single summer-night the
aqueous vapor from the air which overspreads this country, and you
would assuredly destroy every plant capable of being destroyed by a
freezing temperature. ‘The warmth of our fields and gardens would
pour itself unrequited into space, and the sun would rise upon a land
held fast in the iron grip of frost. The aqueous vapor constitutes a
local dam, by which the temperature at the earth’s surface is deepened ;
the dam, however, finally overflows, and we give to space all that we
receive from the sun. ‘The sun raises the vapors of the equatorial ocean ;
they rise, but for a time a vapor screen spreads above and around
them. But the higher they rise, the more they come into the presence
of pure space, and when, by their levity, they have penetrated the
vapor screen, which lies close to the earth’s surface, what must occur ?

It has been said that, compared atom for atom, the absorption of an
atom of aqueous vapor is 16,000 times that of air. Now the power to
absorb and the power to radiate are perfectly reciprocal and propor-
tional. The atom of aqueous vapor will therefore radiate with 16,000
times the energy of an atom of air. Imagine then this powerful
radiant in the presence of space, and with no screen above it to check
its radiation. Into space it pours its heat, chills itself, condenses, and
the tropical torrents are the consequence. ‘The expansion of the air,
no doubt, also refrigerates it: but in accounting for those deluges, the
chilling of the vapor by its own radiation must play a most important
tgs The rain quits the ocean as vapor; it returns to it as water.

ow are the vast stores of heat set free by the change from the vapor-
ous to the liquid condition disposed of ? Doubtless, in great part they
are wasted by radiation into space. Similar remarks apply to the

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 141

eumuli of our latitudes. The warmed air, charged with vapor, rises in
columns, so as to penetrate the vapor screen which hugs the earth; in
the presence of space, the head of each pillar wastes its heat by radia-
tion, condenses to a cumulus, which constitutes the visible capital of an
invisible column of saturated air.

Numberless other meteorological phenomena receive their solution,
by reference to the radiant and absorbent properties of aqueous vapor.
It is the absence of this screen, and the consequent copious waste of
heat, that causes mountains to be so much chilled when the sun is with-
drawn. Its absence in Central Asia renders the winter there almost
unendurable ; in Sahara the dryness of the air is sometimes such, that
though during the day “ the soil is fire and the wind is flame,” the chill
at night is painful to bear. In Australia, also, the thermometric range
is enormous, on account of the absence of this qualifying agent. A
clear day, and a dry day, moreover, are very different things. The
atmosphere may possess great visual clearness, while it is charged with
aqueous vapor, and on such occasions great chilling cannot occur by
terrestrial radiation. Sir John Leslie and others have been perplexed
by the varying indications of their instruments on days equally bright —
but all these anomalies are completely accounted for by reference to
this newly-discovered property of transparent aqueous vapor. Its
presence would check the earth’s loss; its absence, without sensibly
altering the transparency of the air, would open wide a door for the
escape of the earth’s heat into infinitude.

DYNAMICAL THEORY OF HEAT.

Professor Frankland, in a recent lecture before the Royal Institution,
London, presented the following points in reference to the dynamical
theory of heat: ‘The amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature
of a body through a given number of degrees (e. g. from 32 deg. to 212
deg.) is termed “the specific heat” of that body, and that an atom of
each solid element requires the same quantity of heat to raise its tem-
perature through the same number of degrees. Hence, at any given
temperature, the amount of heat-force associated with each solid element-
ary atom is the same ; but the proportion of this force evolved during
chemical combination differs in each element (which was shown experi-
mentally in the case of heated balls of lead and iron placed on cakes of
wax ; the iron dissolving more wax than the lead). It was stated that
the greater the amount of heat evolved during combination, the more
difficult is the compound to decompose ; and it was shown that even
when atoms of the same kind are combined, heatis liberated. This oc-
curs, also, whenever alcohol and water are mixed, when paper is moist-
ened, etc. The heat-force associated with the atoms of matter exists as
molecular motion. When two or more atoms unite or come into col-
lision, a certain amount of this motion is destroyed and takes the form
of heat. The greater the amplitude of the molecular motion of two
bodies, in. so-called contact with each other, the more imminent is the
collision of their atoms. An augmentation of temperature increases
the amplitude of this molecular motion ; hence, heat usnally promotes
chemical combination. In some cases, the molecular motion of two
bodies, at ordinary temperatures, is sufficient to bring them into col-
lision; hence, what is termed “ spontaneous combustion” (e. g., phos-

142 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

phorus burns in air, potassium in water, etc.). In regard to the
spontaneous combustion of the human body, Professor Frankland
showed that it was a physical impossibility, on account of the large.
amount of water in its constitution.

Gunnery and the Dynamical Theory of Heat.— In an address at the
opening of the British Association, 1863, Sir W. Armstrong stated,
“that the science of gunnery was intimately connected with the dy-
namical theory of heat. When gunpowder is exploded in a cannon,
the immediate effect of the aflinities, by which the materials of the
powder are caused to enter into new combinations, is to liberate a force
which first appears as heat, and then takes the form of mechanical
power communicated in part to the shot and in part to the products of
explosion which are also propelled from the gun. The mechanical
force of the shot is reconverted into heat, when the motion is arrested
by striking an object, and this heat is divided between the shot and the
object struck, in the proportion of the work done or damage inflicted
upon each. These considerations recently led me, in conjunction with
Captain Neble, to determine experimentally, by the heat elicited in the
shot, the loss of effect due to its crushing when fired against iron plates.
Joule’s law, and the known velocity of the shot, enable us to compute
the number of dynamical units of heat representing the whole mechani-
cal power in the projectile, and by ascertaining the number of units de-
veloped in it by impact, we arrived at the power which took effect
upon the shot instead of the plate. ‘These experiments showed an
enormous absorption of power to be caused by the yielding nature of
the materials of which projectiles are usually formed; but further ex-
periments are required to complete the inquiry.”

THE EFFECT OF INTENSE HEAT ON LIQUIDS.

At a recent meeting of the London Chemical Society, Mr. Grove, in
a paper on the above subject, first called attention to the difference ex-
isting between the boiling of water, under ordinary circumstances, and
that of sulphuric acid. He stated that the equable evolution of steam,
when water is boiled in an open vessel, is caused by the presence of a
certain amount of air dissolved in the water, and that boiling may be
regarded as an evaporation into the liberated bubble of air set free by
the elevated temperature. In an open vessel, a suflicient amount of air
is continually reabsorbed, so that the ebullition goes on equally. On
the contrary, when water is heated in a very long tube, it boils in the
first instance evenly, but after the air is expelled it boils with the most
violent concussions ; during the regularly-recurring intervals between
the sudden and violent emissions of steam, the temperature rises far
above 212°, and then a sudden explosive production of steam occurs,
almost resembling the discharge of gunpowder. By placing a portion
of water in a flask under the vacuum of a good air-pump, and heating
it by the transmission of a strong electric current, passed through a
fine platinum wire contained in the water, Mr. Grove proved that the
water did not boil at all, but that the whole burst up into violent con-
cussions at regularly-recurring intervals. When the air was exhausted,
ebullition occurred at intervals of about a minute, upon which a burst
of vapor would almost eject the contents of the flask. On this action’s
increasing, the water would again become perfectly tranquil, and re-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 143

main so for a minute, when another tumultuous ebullition would occur,
to be succeeded by a period of rest; and the same phenomena would
be repeated at such regular intervals that the apparatus might almost
serve as an indicator of time. If a thermometer were placed in the
flask, it would be found that the temperature alternately rose and fell
some few degrees. Indeed, it could not be asserted that the boiling
point of water was constant, for it depended upon the amount of air in
solution ; and Mr. Grove believed that no one had yet succeeded in ob-
serving the boiling point of absolutely pure water.

Mr. Grove suggested that the phenomena of the Geysers, or inter-
mittent explosive fountains of Iceland, would admit of a more satisfac-
tory explanation by reference to these facts than on the supposition of
the existence of complicated subterranean chambers.

In the course of his experiments, Mr. Grove ascertained that it was
almost impossible to free water from gaseous bodies; and, asa proof of
this, he cited the following experiment: A long glass tube closed at one
extremity, was bent in the middle to nearly a right angle; the closed
limb was then half-filled with water, from which, by long boiling, the
air was supposed to have been expelled; the remaining space in the
tube was then completely filled with olive oil, and the open extremity
was dipped into a small basin of the same. Heat was then applied to
the tube until the water boiled, and this temperature was maintained
for a considerable time. Each bubble of steam which left the surface
of the water passed through the column of oil, becoming smaller and
smaller during its ascent; but it never condensed without leaving a
microscopic bubble of gas, which at length accumulated to such an ex-
tent that it could be examined. It was found to consist of pure nitro-
gen ; and he had never succeeded in expelling the whole of this gas
from the water. ‘The evaporation of nineteen-twentieths of the water
did not secure the remainder from being mixed with nitrogen. On
boiling ordinary water, air containing a slightly-increased proportion of
oxygen was first driven off, the oxygen gradually diminishing until pure |
nitrogen was expelled. The avidity with which such water again ab-
sorbs air is remarkable. In the expressive words of Mr. Grove, “ it
sucks it up again almost as a sponge takes up water.” By a slight
modification in the apparatus, the experiment was repeated with mer-
cury, instead of oil, in contact with the boiling water. It furnished a
similar result.

A number of facts regarding the solubility of gas in water were
finally enumerated. The general conclusion drawn from the experi-
ments, was to the effect that water had a very powerful affinity for the
gases of the atmosphere ; that the oxygen could be eliminated by seve-
ral processes, but the nitrogen resisted all attempts to expel it from
solution ; so much so that it might be doubted whether chemically pure
water (i. e., a compound of the two elements, oxygen and hydrogen,
only), had ever been prepared ; and, further, that ebullition (as applied
to water), under all circumstances, consisted merely in the production
and disengagement of bubbles of aqueous vapor, formed upon a nucleus
of permanent gas. The question, therefore, was raised as to whether
nitrogen is so absolutely inert a body as had formerly been supposed.

144 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

JOULE’S N EW SENSITIVE THERMOMETER.

At arecent meeting of the Manchester Philosophical Society, Dr.
Joule exhibited an exquisitely sensitive air thermometer, capable of
being affected by the ;,/,5 of a centigrade degree of heat. ‘The con-
struction is thus described: A glass vessel in the shape of a tube, two
feet long by four inches in diameter, is divided longitudinally by a
blackened pasteboard diaphragm, leaving spaces at the top and bottom,
each little over an inch. In the top space, a piece of magnetized sew-
ing needle, furnished with a glass index, is suspended by a single fila-
ment of silk. It is evident that the arrangement is similar to that of a
bratticed coal-pit shaft, and that the slightest excess of temperature on
one side over that on the other must occasion a circulation of air, which
will ascend on the heated side, and, after passing across the fine glass
index, descend on the other side. It is also evident that the sensibility
of the instrument may be increased to any required extent, by dimin-
ishing the directive force of the magnetic needle. I purpose to make
several improvements in my present instrument ; but in its present con-
dition, the heat radiated by a small pan, containing a pint of water
heated 30°, is quite perceptible at a distance of three yards. A further
proof of the extreme sensibility of the instrument is obtained from the
fact that it is able to detect the heat radiated by the moon. A beam
of moonlight was admitted through a slit in the shutter. As the moon
(nearly full) travelled from left to right, the beam passed gradually
across the instrument, causing the index to be deflected several degrees,
first to the left and then to the right. The effect showed, according to
a very rough estimate, that the air in the instrument must have been
heated by the moon’s rays a few ten-thousandths of a degree, or by a
quantity, no doubt the equivalent of the light absorbed by the black-
ened surface, on which the rays fell.

CHANGE OF FORM IN METALS BY IRREGULAR COOLING.

Colonel H. Clerk has communicated to the Royal Society some curi-
ous experiments on this subject. It appears that a wheel had to be
shod with a hoop-tire, which was required to have a bevel of about
8ths of an inch, and one of the workmen suggested that this could be
accomplished by heating the tire red-hot, and immersing one-half its
depth in cold water. ‘This was done, with the predicted result ; the part
out of the water being reduced in diameter. A series of experiments
followed, with similarity of action, the cylinders always exhibiting a
contraction above the water-line, followed, if they were sufficiently high
out of the water, by an expansion corresponding to that below the fluid.
The explanation given is, that the parts under the water cooled quick-
ly, and those above it slowly. If no cohesion had united the two parts,
both would have obtained the same diameter, one first, and fhe other
afterwards; but as the cohesive power of cast-iron, or other metal, is
great, the under part tends to pull in the upper, and the upper to pull
out the under. In this contest, the cooler metal, being the stronger,
pee and so the upper part gets pulled in, a little above the water-
ine, while still hot. But it has still to contract in cooling, and this it
will do to the full extent due to its temperature, except so far as it may
be prevented by its connection with the rest.— Proceedings of the
Royal Society.

4

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 145

IGNEOUS CONDITION OF MATTER.

Tn a recent work “ On Matter and Ether ; or, the Secret Laws of
Physical. Change,” by Thomas Birks, M. A., Cambridge (England),
1862, the author, in a chapter entitled the “Igneous Condition of
Matter,” sets forth the follewing views: ‘“ According to the present
theory of the laws of matter, there may be more truth than has latterly
been recognized in the old arrangement of the four elements, which
placed a fourth region of fire above the solid, liquid, and gaseous con-
stituents of our globe. In fact, above the region where the air, though
greatly rarefied, is still elastic, there must be a still higher stratum
where elasticity has wholly ceased, and where the particles of matter,
being very widely separated, condense around them the largest amount
of ether. All sensible heat, in the collision or oscillation of neighboring
atoms of matter, will thus have disappeared; but latent heat, in the
quantity of condensed ether or repulsive force ready to be developed
on the renewed approach of the atoms, will have reached its maximum,
and may be capable of producing the most splendid igneous phenomena,
like the northern lights, or tropical thunder-storms.”

THE FORMATION OF SMOKE-RINGS.

Mr. W. B. Tegetemeir, in the London Intellectual Observer, nm an
article on the production of “smoke-rings,” such as are produced by
the spontaneous combustion of phosphuretted hydrogen, and by practised
tobacco-smokers, describes an interesting method by which these rings
can be produced at pleasure by mechanical means. He says, “If six
ordinary, oblong cards, each about three inches by four, are taken and
the ends folded down, after being partially cut through, so as to leave
a central square, as here shown, they may with a
kittle dexterity be combined into a very pretty
cubical box. Previous to being put together, a
circular hole about the size of a fourpenny-piece
should be cut in one card. If the box so con-
structed be filled with any dense smoke, such as that from a tobacco-
pipe, or by allowing vapors of hydrochloric acid and ammonia to enter
together, smoke-rings, in any number, and at any desired rate of suc-
cession, may be caused to issue from the hole in the box, by the slight-
est series of gentle taps on one of the sides. Their production in this
manner is so facile, and so perfectly under control, that their formation
constitutes —if the experiment be performed in a room in which the
air is perfectly still—a very interesting and pretty experiment.

“So much for the mode of producing these rings. Now let us con-
sider their construction. Ifthe reader has ever observed an ascending
column of smoke, on a perfectly calm day, he cannot fail to have been
struck with the extreme beauty of its form, — rising, perhaps, from the
summit of one of those tall factory chimneys, now, alas, so smokeless’
It ascends perpendicularly, spreading out as it rises, and gradually as-
suming the form of an elongated convolvulus, or, to use a less poetical
and more homely comparison, that of along funnel. This spreading
out is due to the resistance of the air, which is greater, being more con-
centrated, toward the centre than at the outside.

“Tf the reader can imagine the emission of smoke to be intermittent,
instead of continuous, it is obvious that this expanding column would be

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146 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

broken up into rings, the constantly enlarging circular form of which
would be due to the same cause as that which produces the enlargement
of the column, namely, the greater pressure of the air in the centre.
That this is the case will be evident on a close inspection of a single
ring, when it will be found to consist of a vast number of rapidly ro-
tating circles, arranged on a circular axis. Let us imagine a number
of common, circular, bone button-moulds, each with a single hole
through its centre, strung on a piece of wire, which is then bent in a
eircular form. ‘This would give a correct idea of the structure of a
smoke-ring ; and if we imagine, further, each of these bone moulds rota-
ting downward and inward, as the ring rises and expands, the resem-
blance would be still more complete.”

PHENOMENA OF SOUND.

The following is an abstract of a recent lecture before the Royal In-
stitution, London, by Prof. Tyndall, on the “phenomena of sound :”—

He began by showing how musical sounds can be produced by caus-
ing water to flow through small apertures, these sounds being probably
due to the viscosity of the liquid, causing it to ergate tremors in the or-
ifice. He then proceeded to consider and exemplify the phenomena of
resonance in open tubes, the cavity of the mouth being adduced as an
instance, as in the ease of the jewsharp, which thereby becomes a mu-
sical instrument. The human voice, it was also stated, is produced by
a reed instrument, the reeds being vibrating membranes, which can be
tightened so as to vary the pitch (as has been made visible by Czer-
mak’s remarkable apparatus, the laryngoscope). Vibrating reeds, or
tongues, also produce the sound in the concertina and harmonica, and
are also associated with organ pipes. The latter part of the lecture
was devoted to the consideration of the phenomena of interference, and
discord or dissonance, in accordance with the following principles, based
on the researches of Young, Wheatstone, Savart, and other philoso-
phers. The sonorous shocks communicated to the ear by two tuning-
torks shehtly out of unison are termed beats, which succeed each other
more rapidly as the departure from perfect unison augments, — their
number, in a given time, being equal to the difference in the number of
vibrations executed in that time by the sounding bodics. When the
beats were slow, they could be counted with ease ; but when exceeding-
ly rapid,they manifested themselves to the ear by the roughness which
they impart to the sound; the roughness is the cause of dissonance.
Professor Tyndall concluded his lecture by exhibiting some of Lissa-
jous’s remarkable acoustic experiments, by means of tuning-forks, mir-
rors, and the electric lamp. It having been proved that a tuning-fork
does not emit sound with the same intensity in all directions, and that
the sounds of two tuning-forks which vibrate exactly at the same rate
Blend together $o as to give the impression of a single sound, it was
next shown that if one tuning-fork vibrate a little more rapidly than
the other, at certain times both forks conspire to augment the sound,
and at other times they act in opposition to each other. The conse-
quence being an intermittent effect, composed of successive periods of
sound and silence. When two sounds thus neutralize each other, the
effect is technically called interference. It was also shown how, by the
stifling of a portion of the vibrations of a sounding disk, we can aug-
ment the sonorous intensity.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 147

Propagation of Sownd in the Air. — Newton was the first to study the
propagation of motion in the atmosphere, and the solution which he
gave still excites the admiration of geometers, and is termed by Laplace
‘‘a monument of his genius.” Sometimes, however, it does not entirely
agree with experience ; for instance, it gives for the swiftness of propa-
gation a value of about a sixth below that given by observation. Since
his time Lagrange, Euler, Laplace, Poisson, and other geometers, have
occupied themselves with this problem with the view of either estab-
lishing the true mathematical theory, or discovering the cause of the
difference between calculation and experience. The subject has also
been taken up by the eminent mathematician Duhamel, who has laid
a memoir befgre his associates of the French Academy, giving his cal-
culations, whfreby he arrives at this singular consequence, — “that the
theoretic swiftness of sound in the air, supposing that there is no eleva-
tion of temperature, is identical with that given by experience.” The
hypothesis of an elevation of temperature, which appears so probable,
and which comes so conveniently to the assistance of the theory, be-
comes a difficulty, and we find ourselves compelled either to demon-
strate that this hypothesis is not legitimate, or to find a new and hith-
erto unknown cause which shall neutralize the effect.

Transmission of Sound toa great Distance. — Dr. F. C. Robinson,
of Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pa., says that the report of ar-.
tillery at the battle of Gettysburg, on the 3d of July, was distinctly
heard at Greensburgh, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles
from the seat of conflict ; on lying down on the ground, jarring could be
distinctly felt. Dr Robinson says, “ That the whole neighborhood
claim to have heard the firing. During Friday, the air was calm and
the sky cloudless.” ,

Function of the Ear. — Prof. Helmholz regards the snail-shell, or
cochlea, as the special organ for transmitting musical sounds to the
nerves, while noises affect other portions of the ear. The so-called
“ fibres of Corti,” of which there are about three thousand, he considers
each capable of being affected by a simple sound, while a compound
sound acts upon several, and produces a corresponding impression on
the nerves. Each filament of the acoustic nerve is united to an elastic
filament, which he supposes to be thrown into vibration by appropriate
sounds.

VIBRATING WATERFALLS.

The American Journal of Science and Arts, for November, 1863, con-
tains an article, by Prof. E. Loomis, discussing anew the subject “‘ vibrat-
ing waterfalls,” and detailing observations on three vibrating water-
falls, narbely, in South Natick, Holyoke, and Lawrence, Mass. In 1843,
Professor Loomis published an article on this same subject, in which he
suggested that the dam itself was the vibrating body, and that the vi-.
brations were analogous to those of a stretched cord. Prof. Snell, of
Amherst, however, differed from such a conclusion, and in turn attribut-
ed the cause of the vibrations to a column of air behind the sheet of
water falling from the dam. Prof. Loomis, after an extended series of
observations, has apparently abandoned his original views, and arrived
at conclusions similar to those of Prof. Snell. A series of careful obser-
vations were made, in 1862, by Mr. William Edwards, at the request of

148 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Professor Loomis, on the vibrations of a dam at South Natick, Mass.
These resulted in ascertaining that the time of a vibration, according
to the depth of water on the edge of the dam, was a little less than the
time in which a solid body would fall through a space equal to the
depth of the water. ‘Thus, when the depth of water was 5.06 inches,
the time of one vibration was 0.138 of a second, while the time ofa
solid body falling through that depth was 0.162 of a secon

The dam across the Connecticut River, at Holyoke, Mass., is 1017
feet long, and 30 feet high. It is formed of square timbers inclined 22
degrees to the horizon. From the crest of the dam, the water descends
along an apron about four feet in length, sloping downward at an angle
of 22 degrees. The sheet of water falling over this dam exhibits three
different rates of vibration, namely, about 256, 135, and 81 vibrations per
minute, corresponding to depths of 16, 28, and 56 inches of water on
the dam. The change from the first to the second rate of vibration
takes place when the depth of water is from 23 to 26 inches; and the
change from the second rate to the third takes place when the depth is
from 35 to 47 inches. The vibrations are not noticed when the depth
of water is less than about 12 inches, and they also disappear when the
depth is as great as 80 inches.

At Lawrence, Mass., Mr. B. Coolidge, engineer, made a series of ob-
servations, as also did Prof. Loomis. In all these, the time of the vibra-
tions was taken, and compared with the time which a solid body would
occupy in falling from the same height; and the number of vibrations
of a column of air of the depth behind the sheet of falling water has
been calculated. Now, as to the conclusions, Prof. Loomis says, “I
do not know of any theory which will enable us to compute the precise
influence of a sheet of water of given dimensions; but at present, it
seems probable that the vibratory motion originates in the column of
air behind the sheet of water, and that the ‘descending sheet serves
merely as a load to retard the velocity of these vibrations.” When the
edge of the dam is uneven, and when the sheet of water is very thin,
an opening will be left for the column of air behind the sheet, and no
vibrations are produced. In reference to this point, Prof. Loomis
says, “It is believed that most waterfalls exhibit some degree of vi-
bratory motion, at certain stages of water; but in order that these
vibrations may be powerful and long-continued, the edge of the dam
must be horizontal, and quite smooth; otherwise, the thickness of the .
descending sheet will not be uniform; and the sheet will swell into
ridges in some places, while other parts become thin. The sheet will
divide in some places before reaching the bottom of the fall, and this
leaves an opening in the enclosure which contains the column of vibrat-
ing air. ‘This is probably the reason why many waterfalls never ex-
hibit this phenomenon in a palpable manner; and why, in only a few
cases, is the vibration so powerful as to cause any annoyance.’

The answer to the question, Why the vibrations vary or disappear
with variations in the height of the water is given as follows: “ The
descending sheet of water must have a thickness of several inches ; oth-
erwise, it is divided by the action of the air, and the column of air
ceases to be enclosed on all sides. With a fall of nine feet, as at South
Natick, a thickness of four or five inches is requisite ; and with a fall
of thirty feet, as at Holyoke, a thickness of nearly a foot is requisite.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 149

At Lawrence, with a fall of thirty-four feet, the vibrations are not no-
ticed when the depth of water is much less than three feet; but this
seems to be owing to the inequalities on the top of the dam. The vi-
brations-cease almost entirely when the water exceeds a certain height
because the thickness of the sheet becomes too great in comparison with
its height, and there being some cohesion between the particles of the
liquid, the sheet partakes somewhat of the rigidity of a solid body. In
order to produce a strong effect, the thickness of the sheet must not ex-
ceed about one-sixth or one-eighth of the height of the fall. At South
Natick, with a fall of nine feet, which is somewhat diminished by the
back-water at the time of a freshet, the vibrations cease when the depth
of water much exceeds ten inches. At Holyoke, with a fall of thirty
feet, which is also diminished by the back-water at the time of a fresh-
et, the vibrations cease when the depth of water much exceeds five
feet. At Lawrence, also, where the fall is a little greater than at
Holyoke, the vibrations cease when the depth of water, on the crest
of the dam, much exceeds five feet.”

According to these views, all dams may be built so as toavoid jarring
vibrations.

SCIENTIFIC BALLOON ASCENSIONS.

Under the auspices of the British Association, the balloon ascensions
inaugurated in 1862, for scientific observation and experiment, have
been continued during the past year by Mr. Glaisher the well-known
British meteorologist, and the former aeronaut, (see Annual Sci. Dis.
1863, pp. 137-144.) At the last meeting of the Association, this gentle-
man gave the following resumé of the facts and deductions arrived at in
his recent ascensions : —

On ascending with a cloudy sky, the temperature usually declines till
the clouds are reached ; but on breaking through them, there is always
an increase of several degrees of temperature ; and after this the de-
cline of temperature usually continues, and would do so continuously
if there were no disturbing causes in operation. On ascending with a
clear sky, we start with a higher temperature than with a cloudy one
as much higher as the loss of heat caused by the clouds; an approxi-
mate measure of which is that sudden increase of temperature in passing
from cloud to a clear sky. In no instance have I met with the atmos-
’ phere in a normal state in respect to temperature ; at different eleva-
tions even up to four or five miles, warm currents of air have been met
with. By warm, I mean ‘that their temperature was higher than in the
stratum beneath. These warm strata are variable in thickness, from
1,000 feet to 10,000 feet, and varying from 1° to 20° in excess. It is
necessary, in considering the law of the decrease of temperature, to
take into account the state of the sky, and to separate the experiments
made in one state from those in the ather. The results in the cloudy
state do not at all confirm the theory of a decline of 1° of temperature in
300 feet. If we now consider the decrease at heights above the cloud
plane, —the decrease of the temperature of the air, at heights exceeding
5,000 feet, — the results follow almost in sequence with those found
with a partially clear sky, and show that an average change takes
place of 1° of temperature in 139 feet near the earth and that fora
change of 1° at the height of 30,000 feet, we have to pass through at

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150 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

least 1,000 feet. If we now take the whole decrease of temperature
with elevation, we shall have the following results: From the ground
to 1,000 feet 7.2°, or 1° in 139 feet. About 14,000, the average is the
same as would be given by using the mean as found from observations
on mountain-sides, namely 1° in 300 feet; but at heights less and greater
than 14,000‘feet the space is less or greater than 300 feet. It is cer-
tain, then, in any balloon ascent, between 8,000 and 20,000 feet, if
the temperature on leaving the earth, and at the highest elevation,
were only used, that the results, 1° in 254 feet in the former, and 1°
in 355 in the latter, would have been looked upon as generally con-
firming the theory of a decline of 1° in 300 feet, and hence the ne-
cessity of noting the temperature on leaving the earth, as frequent-
ly as possible afterwards, and extending the observations to the
highest point possible. It would appear from the results obtained
that the decline of temperature is largest near the earth, smallest at
the highest elevations, and intermediate with increasing spaces for the
same decrease of temperature, in these respects agreeing, therefore,
with the general law, as formed from the extreme high ascents. ‘This
law seems to me more natural and consistent than a uniform rate of
decrease could be, received as a physical law, up even to moderate
elevations. But I have reasons to believe that the amount of change
is different at different seasons of the year, and I think it is different
during the night from that during the day. And it seems certain that
these Jaws will not hold good for all countries, although they probably
will for very large tracts of country. I have reason to believe they
will not hold good in India.

From all the experiments made in the year 1862, it was found that
at the earth’s surface there were upon the average very nearly five
grains of water in a cubic foot of air, in the invisible shape of vapor,
or 1-50th part of a cubic inch of water; or a cube of water whose
sides were a quarter of an inch nearly. This value decreased grad-
ually to one-half at the height of 5,000 feet, where there was only
1-100th of an inch of water in a cubic foot of air. At the height of
10,000 feet this amount was reduced to less than 1} grain; at 15,000
feet high there was only 9-10ths of a grain, or 1-280th part of a cubic
inch; at 20,000 feet, this was reduced to half a grain; and at 25,000
feet to 1-10th only of a grain or to a drop of water, = 1-2530th part ofa
cubic inch, being 1-50th part only of the water at the surface of the
earth; in other words, about a drop of water but little more than 1-
100th of an inch in diameter. But the actual amount met with on any
ascent will most probably differ from these results, as, like the temper-
ature of the air, the diffusion of water seems to be very rarely in a
normal state. The amount of water in the air at the same height
seems to be constantly varying, and to be affected with diurnal
changes, so that on comparing the moisture shown at one ascent with
that experienced in another, the time of day at which the experiments
were made will have to be considered. I have been speaking of the
amount of water actually present in the air. This information, with-
out reference to temperature, gives no“idea of the moisture of the at-
mosphere, since a capacity of air for moisture doubles itself for an in-
crease of about 20° of temperature; a clearer idea of the relative
moisture at different heights will be given, by considering that amount

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. Ta

of water in the air which would saturate it as divided into 100 parts,
and then ascertaining how many of these parts are present. From all
the experiments treated in this way, the laws of moisture thus expressed
are, with an overcast sky, almost uniform degree of humidity to the
height of 3,000 feet — or 77 out of the 100 parts — then a rather sud-
den decrease to 80, and to 83 at 5,000 feet. With a partially clear
sky, the laws of moisture show a humidity on the ground, with 15 out
of 100 parts more than in partially clear skies, and of 14 at 5,000 feet.
Above 5,000 feet, the humidity decreases to 10 at 25,000 ; that is, low
as the temperature there is, 10, out of the 100 possible to be present, at
the temperature, is all that is present. Higher than this, there would
seem to be an almost entire absence of aqueous vapor. These seem
to be the general laws; but, as I have before remarked, the regular
dimensions are frequently interrupted, and strata of moist air may ex-
ist at great elevations.

As regards the blue color of the sky, Mr. Glaisher was inclined to at-
tribute the phenomena to reflection of light from the molecules of air,
and not, as some have supposed, to reflection from the thin pellicle of
water forming the vesicles of vapor floating in the air; inasmuch as
the blue was found to be brightest at the greatest heights (six and
seven miles) attained to by the aeronaut, where the air is almost de-
prived of moisture.

In an ascent made in a rain-storm on the 27th of July, Mr. Glaisher
directed his attention particularly to observe whether there was a
stratum of cloud at a certain elevation above that from which the rain-
drops fell; and also as regards the size of the drops at different eleva-
tions. The conclusions arrived at were, that whenever rain is falling
from an overcast sky, there is a second stratum above; but with an
overcast sky and no rain, then the sun is shining on the upper surface
of the clouds. In regard to the second point, he says, “ The size of
the rain-drops, as they fell on my note-book before starting, was fully
as large as a four-penny piece; they decreased in size on ascending ;
but our upward movement was too quick, and we soon passed. out of
rain. On descending from above the clouds, we first encountered a
dry and then a wet for; passed into that which may be described as
damp air or exceedingly fine rain; then experienced very fine but de-
cided drops of rain, like pins’ points, covering the note-book ; these in-
creased in size on approaching the earth, but more rapidly when very
near the earth. The drops of rain, on returning to the earth, were as
large as those noted on leaving ; and rain had been falling heavily all
the time we were in the balloon.” Another curious fact elicited in
these ascensions is that the action of the sun’s rays upon “ sensitized”
photographic paper is much less at great altitudes than near the earth’s
surface. In an ascension made April 2ist, 1863, Mr. Glaisher took
with him slips of such paper, and arranged that similar slips should be
exposed at Greenwich Observatory, and the amount of coloration not-
ed simultaneously every five minutes. In his report, he states that the
paper in the balloon was exposed to the full rays of the sun, with this
extraordinary result, — that at three miles high the paper did not color
so much in half an hour as in the grounds of the Royal Observatory in
one minute ; —a fact which would seem to indicate that the chemical
effects of light are largely due to its passage through the atmosphere,

152 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.
or at least to the density of the atmosphere through which it has re-
cently passed.”

In this same ascent, observations were made on the solar spectrum,
especially upon the fixed lines of the spectrum. The number of lines
visible seemed to be innumerable, and the conclusion arrived at is thus
given: “The number of lines in the solar spectrum appear to be in-
creased when viewed from a position above the clouds, and therefore
none of the lines as viewed from the earth would seem to be atmos-
pheric.”

The most extraordinary ascent was made in the month of June
1863, of which Mr. Glaisher’s record is as follows : —

“We left the earth at 1h. 5m. Pp. M.; at 1h. 9m. we were at the height
of two thousand feet; at 1h. 15m. we passed above eight thousand
feet; a height of eleven thousand feet was reached at ih. 17m.; in
nine minutes afterwards, we were fifteen thousand feet from the earth,
and rose gradually to about four and a quarter miles at 1h. 55m.; on
descending, at 2h., we were twenty thousand feet from the earth; at 2h.
13m. about fifteen thousand; at 2h. 17m. ten thousand; at 2h. 22m.
five thousand ; and on the ground 2h. 28m. Before starting, the tem-
perature of the air was sixty-six degrees. It decreased rapidly on
leaving the earth ; it was fifty-four degrees at three thousand feet high,
forty-nine degrees at four thousand feet, forty-one degrees at one mile,
thirty degrees at two miles; and, up to this time, every succeeding
reading was less than the preceding. But here the decrease was
checked; and, while passing from two to three miles, the temperature
at first increased to thirty-two degrees, then decreased to twenty-nine
degrees. A second increase followed, and at the height of three and
a quarter miles the temperature was thirty-five degrees. A rapid de-
crease then set in, and at three and a half miles the temperature was
twenty-two degrees. From this time till the height of four miles was
reached, the temperature varied frequently between twenty-two de-
grees and eighteen degrees, and at the height of four and a quarter
miles, the lowest temperature took place — namely, seventeen degrees.
On descending, the temperature increased to twenty-six degrees, at the
height of twenty-three thousand feet; and then to thirty-two degrees,
at the height of four miles; it then decreased nine degrees in one min-
ute to twenty-three degrees. It continued at this value for some time,
then increased slowly to twenty-nine degrees at nineteen thousand
feet. It continued almost constant for a space of two thousand feet,
then increased to thirty-two degrees at fifteen thousand feet; and was
thirty-two degrees or thirty-three degrees, almost without variation,
during a snow-storm which we experienced from thirteen thousand
five hundred feet to ten thousand feet, where an increase set in; at
five thousand feet, the temperature was forty-one degrees, and sixty-
six degrees on the ground.”

At a height of two miles the sighing or rather moaning of the
wind was heard, as preceding a storm, and was the first instance in
which Mr. Glaisher had heard such a sound at such a height. It was
not owing to any movement of the cordage of the balloon above, but
seemed to be below, as from conflicting currents beneath. “ At the
highest point reached, about four and a quarter miles, the sky was very
much covered with cirrus clouds, and its color, as seen through the

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 153

breaks in the clouds, was of a pale blue, such as is seen from the
earth through a very moist atmosphere. We were above clouds, but
there were no fine views or forms, — all was dirty-looking and confused,
the atmosphere being thick and murky.

“ At the height of three miles a train was heard, and at four miles
another. These heights are the greatest at which sounds have ever
been detected, and indicate the generally moist state of the atmos-

mere.”

R Mr. Glaisher concludes: ‘This ascent must rank amongst the
most extraordinary ever made. The results were most unexpected.
We met with at least three distinct layers of cloud on ascending, of
different thicknesses, reaching up to four miles high, when here the
atmosphere, instead of being light and clear as it always has been in
preceding ascents, was thick and misty; but perhaps the most ex-
traordinary and unexpected result in the month of June was meeting
with snow and crystals of ice in thé atmosphere at the height of three
miles, and of nearly one mile in thickness.”

ASCERTAINING THE HEIGHT OF CLOUDS.

At the British Association, 1863, Prof. Chevallier gave the following
description of an instrument of his invention, designed to ascertain the
height of clouds. It consisted, he said, of two jointed rulers, graduated
from the centre of the joint, and one of them furnished with an up-
right sliding-piece, with an opening to allow the sun’s light to pass, the
edge of which is at a known distance by the scale from the ruler on
which the piece slides. If, then, the distance in miles or yards at which
the shadow of a cloud is cast upon the earth be known, by laying one
branch of the ruler toward the shadow of the cloud and the other in
the direction of the vertical line from the part of the cloud which casts
the shadow directly on the earth beneath the cloud, and then moving
the sliding-piece along this latter branch of the ruler until the shadow
of the edge of the opening just reaches the middle of the rod laid in the
direction of the shadow of the cloud, you have on the ruler and the
sliding-piece an exact representation in miniature of the actnal circum-
stances of the cloud, and a simple rule-of-three calculation gives the
vertical height of the cloud above the earth. Thus, “ multiply the
distance of the shadow of the cloud (supposed to be known) by the
height of the sliding-piece, and divide by the distance of the shadow of
the sliding-piece from the angle of the rulers, and the quotient is the
height of the cloud required.”

OBSERVATIONS ON WINDS.

Prof. Dove, the celebrated meteorologist of Berlin, in the second edi-
tion of his Law of Storms, recently published by the Longmans, of
London, thus explains his so-called ‘“ Laws of Gyration,” or the rota-
tion of the wind in relation to the rotation of the earth. He says, —
“In the northern hemisphere, when polar and equatorial currents suc-
ceed each other, the wind veers in general in the direction S., W.,
N., E., S., round the compass. Exceptions to this rule are more com-
mon between S. and W. and between N. and E., than between W.
and N. or between E. and 8.

“Jn the southern hemisphere, when polar and equatorial currents

154 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

succeed each other, the wind veers in general in the direction S., E.,

N., W., S., round the compass. Exceptions to this rule are more com-
mon between N. and W. and between S. and E., than between W.
and S. or between E. and N.

This is the phenomenon which I have termed THe Law or Gyra-
TION.”

The trade-winds and monsoons are special causes of this law. Pro-
fessor Dove enters into a minute examination of the phenomena of the
first, dividing what he calls the permanent winds into the under and
upper trade- “winds. Both, he is disposed to regard, as imperfectly de-
veloped monsoons, the word monsoon being as he shows, derived
from the Arabic mausim, or season. This is confirmed by the fact that
where monsoons exist, there are but two oscillatory movements of the
atmosphere annually ; monsoons being polar and equatorial currents,
alternately, according to the season of the year; so that their directions
in the northern hemisphere are N. E. and S. W., and in the southern
S. E. and N. W. Violent as monsoons generally are, they are tame
in comparison to cyclones, which are truly terrible. Fortunately, the
area of these hurricanes is comparatively limited, being confined to
the West Indian seas ; their usual course being in a parabolic curve,
_ having some point near Bermuda for its focus — originating in the
Gulf of Florida — and running along the coast of the United States,
following generally the course -of the Gulfstream. Cyclones, as their
name imports, are strictly rotatory, and they never deviate from the fol-
lowing rules. Cyclones in the northern hemisphere possess a motion
that is retrograde, or in the contrary direction to the hands of a watch,
whereas, those occurring in the southern hemisphere have a converse
motion. On the equator itself cyclones never occur. According to
Professor Dove, they are —

“ Most common in the district between the S. E. trade-wind and
the N. W. monsoon, which is called the region of the ‘ variables.’

“The rotatory motion takes place in the direction from E. through
S. toward W. and N. ‘The intensity of the cyclone increases regu-
larly toward its centre. At the centre itself there is adead calm, and
the greatest violence of the storm is experienced at the edge of this
calm circle. The diameter of this circle is greatest when the storm is
just commencing. If the rotatory motion increases in violence, the di-
ameter of this circle is decreased to about ten or twelve English miles.

“ The advance of the cyclone, up to lat. 20° S., is at the rate of 200
to 220 miles in the twenty-four hours. From that point it becomes
less rapid up to the outer edge of the 8. E. Trade. The direction of
the advance is from lat. 10° S., near the Indian Archipelago, to lat. 28°
or 30° on the east coast of Africa; first toward W. S. W., then to-
ward 8. W. by S., and lastly toward 8. S. W.

“ Throughout the whole of the cyclone, torrents of rain fall, which
are more violent in front of it than behind it. The clouds are dark,
massive, and lead-colored, as the centre is approaching. Electrical ex-
plosions are most frequent on that side of the cyclone which is nearest
to the equator. The sea is disturbed irregularly to the distance of 300
or 400 miles during every such storm. The barometer falls rapidly as
the centre of the cycloné approaches, but the lowest level appears to
occur a little before it passes.’

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 155

Direction of the Wind. — Professor Airy has observed some curious
facts respecting the direction of the wind. It seems that there are
only eight points of the compass from which the wind ever blows stead-
ily for any length of time, namely, the S. S. W., the W. 5. W. a point
between the W. and N. W., another between the N. and E., another
between E. and S. S. W., the N., the W., andthe E. The wind never
blows directly from the south.

PRESSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE, OCEAN, ETC.

The following novel views respecting the pressure of the atmosphere,
and of the waters of the ocean at varying depths have been communi-
cated by Mr. C. E. Townsend, Esq., of Tompkinsville, N. Y.:—

According to the philosophy of the day, the pressure of the atmos-

-phere at sea-level is calculated at fifteen pounds for every square
inch, being equal to a column of water one inch broad and thirty-
three feet in height, and every thirty-three feet descent into the ocean
adds an additional fifteen pounds pressure, over every square inch,
thus augmenting the density of parts beneath in proportion to the
superincumbent pressure. Recent discoveries prove that a high order
of radiate animals and fleshy inhabitants of shells, in vast numbers,
are found living at the bottom of the ocean one and a half miles
down. ;

In a paper from Dr. I. C. Wallack, in the Scientific Annual for
1862, page 344, Professor Agassiz, is made to say “ that animals sub-
ject to such enormous pressure, to avoid being crushed by the weight,
from depths at fifteen pounds for every thirty-three feet descent, must
admit water very freely through their tissues.” Surely such explana-
tion must be unsatisfactory, for the animal tissues remaining, they coul
not possibly sink in a medium one and a half miles down, which, ac-
cording to the old philosophy, is equal to two hundred and forty times
the specific gravity of surface water. Wood, which is specifically a
little heavier than surface water, is supposed to sink to the bottom,
whatever that depth may be, and to enable it to do so, in accordance
with the above estimates of increasing pressure, must have its bulk di-
minished 240 times to enable it to sink into the lower stratum, whose
density is equal to 83600 pounds to the square inch. Thus a block of
wood six inches square, would have to be reduced by successive pres-
sures to a little less than one inch square, to reach the bottom. Animal
life could not exist subject to such disorganizing pressures and survive
on being brought to the surface, subject to a corresponding indation,
and yet we know animals do live at the bottom, and are brought to the
surface alive. Indeed, according to this old philosophy, the shells must
be subject to the same contraction and expansion, which is hardly a
supposable case.

it is said that animal bodies, on the surface of the earth, support a
pressure of fifteen pounds to every square inch, which is equal to 30,-
000 pounds pressure for the average size of man ; and to enable him to
bear this weight (for it is not supposed that his muscular power is
equal to the task), it is contended that the pressure exists equally on
all sides, pressing with equal force upwards, downwards, sideways, in-
wards and outwards, thus confessedly making such supposed weight a
nullity. As this same pressure acts on the same principle throughout

156 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the mass of the earth, water and air, it is necessarily a nullity every-
where, and consequently only an imaginary philosophy. ‘The true ex-
' planation is, we suggest, the existence of a molecular repulsion, as well
as admitted attraction, operating throughout the mass of all solids,
liquids, and gases, in their normal condition, which effectually prevents
any considerable condensation from simple incumbent weight, and this
molecular repulsion and attraction may be positive and negative
electricity.

RESEARCHES ON THE FIGURE OF THE MOON.

Some interesting researches have recently been made respecting the
figure of the moon, which suggest many interesting speculations. Prof.
Hansen, the German astronomer, claims to have proved by investiga-
tion, that the hemisphere of our satellite, which alone is visible to us,
is nothing but a mountain-range, raised twenty-nine miles above the
average level of the moon’s surface ; or, to express the same thing more
technically, that the centre of gravity of the moon is not her geometri-
eal centre, but twenty-nine miles on the opposite side of her geometrical
centre. That is, the more solid part of the moon would be on the iar
side from the earth, and all that we see of her would be a bulging
hemisphere, comparatively much less dense and weighty, projecting
twenty-nine miles beyond the surface which the moon ought to show to
us if the density were equal throughout ; and if the hemisphere on this
side, therefore, were uniform in weight and form with the hemisphere
on the other side, Prof. Hansen supposes, in fact, — and astronomers
appear to think that he has proved his case, — that the moon turns a sort
of tower of crusty, broken, porous, and therefore lighter, substance to
the earth ; so that we see only an exaggerated Alpine or Andes region,
projecting nearly thirty miles beyond the average level of the lunar
suriace. If this be true, there are all sorts of provoking consequences.
As we never get a glimpse of the other side of the moon, which keeps al-
ways facing about just so as to avoid showing us her other hemisphere,
we never get a glimpse at the average level of the lunar surface.
Hence, all our conclusions as to the uninhabitability of the moon, de-
rived from a knowledge that no clouds and no atmosphere of any ap-
preciable degree exist on this side of the moon, are untrustworthy.
‘Twenty-nine miles above the average surface of the earth, the rarity of
even our own atmosphere would be ‘probably so great as to render it
scarcely appreciable at all, even to astronomical instruments, and quite
unequal to the support of any of the vegetable or animal life of our
earth. Accordingly, conjecture may take full possession of this invisi-
ble side of the moon; and conjecture does, in fact, give it back the
atmosphere which had been denied it, the outer margin of which is sup-
posed so far to touch the mountain heights of this barren side, as to
justify those astronomers who fancy they have seen proof of a very
thin atmosphere in the refraction of stars just on the edge of the moon ;
and to confirm the assertion of the astronomer Schroter, that he had
discovered traces of twilight there, which could, of course, only be due
to an atmosphere of some kind. Thus much may certainly be granted,
that if Prof. Hansen is correct, the lunar atmosphere, if it exist at all,
would certainly be attracted to the opposite or heavy side, and might
well fail to be sensible at an elevation of twenty-nine miles, even though

4s

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 157

quite dense enough to support terrestrial life and vegetation at the
average level of the lunar surface. It gives no proof that such an at-
mosphere exists, but dees give very good reasons why, if there be one,
we have failed to detect it with any certainty.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCHES ON THE FIGURE OF THE MOON.

No one who has seen Mr. De la Rue’s (London) stereoscopes of the full
moon, in which the two images are obtained separately, but by one and
the same optical instrumentality at the epochs of her extreme eastern
and western librations in longitude, according to Mr. Wheatstone’s in-
genious suggestion, can fail to have been struck by the marked and un-
deniable deviation from the spherical form which the double picture
suggests, standing out, as the convex surface does, in bold and full re-
lief; exhibiting the most complete appearance of a round, projecting
(vaguely speaking), globular figure. It is quite obvious, in a certain
mode of presenting the-images to the eyes, that, were it really a solid
object so presented to our view, no one would hesitate to pronounce it
rather ego-shaped than spherical. ‘The apparent curvature of the sur-
face under such circumstances is not that of a perfect sphere, alike
throughout ; but conveys the irresistible impression of an elongation in
one direction, and that, not directly toward the eye, but forming a
pretty considerable angle, with the visual ray joining the eye and the
moon’s centre. Nor does the form even presenta perfect symmetry, as
of a solid of revolution ; but, on the contrary, somewhat distorted, or, as
it were, skewed. The question which now arises is, how far any such
appearances in a stereozraph are to be received as evidence of a cor-
responding reality of conformation in the moon itself. And here we
must at once reject any idea of explaining them by optical distortion,
due to instrumental causes, or to photographic error, or subsequent dis-
tortion in procuring the positive impressions from the original negatives.
The instrumental means at Mr. De la Rue’s command preclude the one
supposition, and the photographic process employed (collodion on glass,
optically copied), the other.

Mr. Gussew, Director of the Imperial Observatory at Wilna, with a
view to determine how far the whole or any part of this apparent
anomaly of figure is real, has subjected each of the two pictures of a pair
in his possession, given him by Mr. De la Rue, to careful and rigorous
microscopic measurement, by selecting on each of the pictures’ a con-
siderable number of sharply-defined, and securely identifiable points,
identical in each, and by measuring with extreme precision, by the aid
of an apparatus constructed for the purpose, their distances from the
centres and several points in the circumferences of the pictures. From
these measures (which under such circumstances must be regarded as
fully entitled to all the confidence of micrometrical measures, astro-
nomically taken at the telescope), on subjecting them to mathematical
computation, and applying the necessary corrections for parallax and
refraction as afiecting the diameter of the moon, and the apparent figure
of her disk, Mr. Gussew has been led to conclude that a real eccen-
tricity of the figure actually does exist, and that, in point of fact, a por-
tion of the moon’s surface having its axis directed about five degrees
from the earth as seen from the moon at the epoch of her mean libration,
may be considered as belonging to a sphere of smaller radius (and,

14

158 ‘ ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

therefore, more convex) than the mean radius of the moon by about
eighteen parts in 1,000, and, of which, the centre is situated nearer to
the earth than that of the whole moon, by seventy-three thousandths
of such mean radius (seventy-nine English miles). The portion of the
moon, then, turned toward the earth may be considered as a continu-
ous mountain mass, in the form of a meniscus lens, capping the sphere
of the moon, and rising in its middle to a height of about seventy-nine
English miles above the general level of its figure of equilibrium.

THE MATHEMATICS OF THE BEEHIVE.

In the Annals of Natural History (London), 1863, will be found an
analysis of the mathematics of the beehive, by the Rey. 5. Houghton,
in which the theory of the bee’s forming hexagonal cells is completely
overthrown. Lord Brougham, in his treatise Dialogues on Instinct,
remarks: “ There is no bee in the world that ever made cylindrical
cells;” and the fact of the existence of hexagonal cells in the honey-
comb is generally quoted as a wonderful example of instinctive com-
bination of means to ends in a low form of animal existence. Mr.
Houghton, however, shows that the bee makes only cylindrical cells,
and that the hexagonal and rhomboidal cells are alike the result of
pressure, and represent the angles of equilibrium between the pressure
and the resistance, just as the orbits of the planets are the midway lines
between centrifugal and centripetal forces; the bee is not, therefore,
such a mathematician as has been generally supposed. The alleged
economy of material resulting from the bee’s method of working is also
shown to be fallacious. Several mathematicians have carefully inves-
tigated the relation of expenditure of material to the mathematical re-
quirements of connected cells of given dimensions, and of a form adapt-
ed to the uses to which they are to be put. L’Hullier, in 1781, arrived
at the conclusion that the economy of wax referred to the total expen-

diture is jst, so that the bees can make fifty-one cells instead of:

fifty by the adoption of the rhombic dodecahedron. He also showed
that mathematicians can make cells of the same form as those of the
bees, which, instead of using only a minimum of wax, would use the
minimum minimorum, so that five cells could be made of less wax
than that which now makes only four, instead of fifty-one out of fifty.
The humble-bee, moreover, in the construction of its cells, uses propor-
tionably more than three times the amount of material that is used by
the hive-bee.

SUBSTITUTE FOR WOOD-ENGRAVING.

The London Art Journal gives the following description of a process
invented by Mr. Schulze, a German architect, for producing blocks
for type-printing, to be used as asubstitute for wood-engraving. “ The
material on which the drawing is to be made may be of glass or any
other hard and smooth surface. The drawing is produced with a pen,
and ink composed of pure gum-arabic dissolved in water, with the ad-
dition of sufficient sugar to prevent it cracking when dry; lamp-black,
or any other color, is mixed with the gum solution torender the work
visible. When the drawing is completed, it is covered with a coat of
bees-wax, asphaltum, resin, and linseed oil. The thickness of the cov-
ering depends on the kind of work adopted by the artist; if the lines

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 159

of the drawing are very close together, a thin coat will suffice. After
this ground has been applied, the plate or glass has to be submerged
in water for about ten or fifteen minutes ; then a strong stream of wa-
ter is poured upon it, which will remove the waxy substance above the
lines of the drawing, but will leave that between the lines undisturbed.
In most cases, the grounding will be sufficiently high to insure a good
electrotype for printing; but where considerable height is required be-
tween lines far apart, this can readily be effected by applying wax ac-
cording to the method now employed by stereotypists, or by adding as-
phaltum with the brush. Should the artist prefer to make his drawing
on paper, the latter must first be rendered water-proof; and after it
has undergone this process, it should be attached, with a water-proof
paste, to a hard and even plate before it is covered with the wax ; in
all other respects, it is treated in the manner just described. Before
taking the electro deposit the plate must be covered with alcoholic
ae and when dry, black-lead — plumbago— is applied with a soft
rush.

“ The advantages of the process are stated by the inventor to be —
The obtaining a perfect fac-simile of the artist’s work; the drawing has
not to be reversed, as in the methods now in use for copying on the
wood pictures or objects; cheapness, and saving of time.”

New Process of Engraving. — The following new process has been
devised by M. Dalos, of Paris: A plate of copper is covered with a
varnish of india-rubber and zinc-white. Lines are traced through this
surface down to the metal by an ivory point. ‘The plate is then
plunged in a solution of hydrochlorate of ammonia, the positive elec-
trode being a plate of iron in cgmmunication with the negative pole
of the pile. Iron is deposited on all the parts of the copper exposed by
the ivory point, but not on the varnish, which is removed by benzine.
The plate is once more exposed to electric action in a bath of silver,
and that metal is precipitated on the copper but not on the iron. It is
then heated to 80° C., and an alloy, fusible at that temperature, is
poured over it. The liquid moistens the silver and adheres to it, but
not to the iron, which it does not moisten. When cold, the fusible
alloy will be found standing on each side of every line, and forming a
mould, from which a new plate, adapted to printing, is obtained by a
galvanoplastic process.

DESIDERATA IN SCIENCE AND ART.

The London Society of Arts proposes annually a list of subjects for
invention, discovery, or explanation, for the attainment of which it of-
fers medals, or money premiums, varying in amount from $100 to $500.
From the list proposed for this year, 1864, we copy such of the sub-
jects as seem to us most important and suggestive, and as best illustra-
tive of the more practical wants of the present epoch.

Goldsmith’s Work.— For the best essay on ancient goldsmith’s
work.

Bronzes. — For the best essay on the manufacture and casting of
bronzes, and on bronze washes.

Moulds for Metal Casting. — For the production of a material to be
used in the formation of moulds for casting bronzes and other molten
metals, so as to enable the casts to be produced without seams.

160 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Pigments. — For an account of the various pigments used in the
Fine Arts, with suggestions for the introduction of new and improved
substances.

Substitute for Wood Blocks. — For the discovery of a substitute for
the blocks used by wood-engravers, so as to supersede the necessity of
uniting several pieces of wood.

Photographs on Enamel. — For the best portrait obtained photo-
graphically and burnt in in enamel.

Photographs on China. — For the production of a dessert or other
service, in china or earthenware, ornamented by means of photog-

raphy, and burnt in from an impression obtained either directly from
the negative, or from a transfer trom a metal plate obtained directly
from the photograph.

Photographs on Windows. — For the production commercially of or-
namental glass for windows by means of vitrified photographs.

Fluorie Acid. — For a substitute for fluoric acid, to be used for en-
graving on glass, which shall be free from noxious fumes.

Reproducing Designs for Printing. —¥or a rapid means of repro-
ducing artistic designs or sketches, tor surface-printing by machinery,
such process to provide for lowering portions of the work to fit it for
steam-printing.

Rollers for Calico-Printing. — For any important improvements for
facilitating the production and economizing the cost of engraving roll-
ers for printing calicoes and other fabrics.

Aniline Colors. — For a means of fixing upon cotton and other fab-
rics all the ordinary aniline colors, so that the dyed fabric will effec-
tually resist the action of soap and water, or cold dilute alkalies.

Napthaline. — For a process for converting the napthaline of gas-
works into alizarine or madder-red.

Chlorophyll. — For the manufacture of chlorophyll from grasses,
suitable for dyeing silk and other fabrics of a green color.

Green Dyes. —For the manufacture of green dyes from coal, or
wood-tar.

Paints for Carriages. — For the production of cheap purple and
yellow lakes of good quality, suitable for carriage-builders, etc., and
not liable to fade or change color.

New Scarlet Dye. — For the production of a scarlet dye for cotton.

Bleaching Wool. — For an account of any important improvements
in the bleaching of wool.

Thickening Colors. — For the introduction of any substance, the use
of which will essentially economize the cost of thickening the colors and
sizes used in dyeing and dressing fabrics.

Substitute for Egg-Albumen. = For a thoroughly decolorized blood-
albumen, or any economic and efficient substitute for egg-albumen in
calico-printing.

Uses of Seaweed. — For the extraction from seaweed of any sub-
stance or preparation capable of extensive application as a dye, drug,
thickening, tanning agent, or any other generally useful product.
Also, fora means of ‘rendering seaweeds generally available as a whole-
some vegetable food on board ship.

Mining Machinery. — For improvements in the machinery for dress-
ing poor ores of tin, lead, ete. ‘

2 NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 161

Regenerative Furnaces. — For the best account of the structure and
application of regenerative furnaces to manufacturing purposes.

Meiting Cast-Steel.— For an easy and cheap method of melting
cast-steel in large masses.

Hydraulic Engine. — For a small, simple, cheap, and effective hy-
draulic engine, which, in connection with the ordinary water service
of towns could be applied to lifts in warehouses, driving lathes, blowing
the bellowses of organs, and many other purposes where steam cannot
be made available.

Protecting Iron.— For the invention of an efficient method of pro-
tecting iron from the action of air and water, applicable to the various
forms in which iron is used as a building material generally, and also
to iron ships and armor-plated vessels.

Shoal Recorder. — For an instrument to indicate the depth of wa-
ter under a ship’s bottom, to prevent danger when at sea or nearing
land.

Application of Electricity to Organs. — For the production of an
organ in which, by the use of electricity or magnetism, tunes of greater
length and variety than those ordinarily produced in barrel-organs may
be performed mechanically.

Lace Machinery. — For a mechanical substitute for hand-labor in
running in the outline to figures in machine-wrought lace.

Woven Garments. — For the production in the loom, and introduc-
tion into commerce, of woven garments, suited for soldiers, sailors,
emigrants, operatives and others, so as to economize the cost of pro-
duction, and reduce the amount of hand-labor.

Incombustible Paper. — For the production of an incombustible pa-
per, so as to render the ledgers of commercial men, bankers, etc., in-
destructible by fire.

Dyeing and Dressing Leather. — For improvements in the method
of dyeing or dressing morocco or calf-leather, in such manner as to
prevent the surface from cracking in working, and to render it more
fit to receive the gilding required in ornamenting books, furniture, and
other articles.

Leather Cloth. — For improvements in the manufacture of leather-
cloth, or artificial leather, especially in imparting strength and durabil-
ity, so as to fit it for the purposes of saddlers, harnessmakers, trunk-
makers, shoemakers, bookbinders and others.

New Gums. — For any new substance or compound which may be
employed as a substitute for india-rubber or gutta-percha in the arts
and manufactures.

New Gums or Oils. —For any new gums or oils, the produce of
Africa, calculated to be useful in the arts and manufactures, and ob-
tainable in quantity. Samples of not less than twenty-five pounds of
gum, and fifty pounds of oil, to be transmitted to the Society.

Elastic Tubing. — For an elastic material for tubing, suited to the
conveyance of gas, and not liable to be affected by alterations in tem-
perature, or to be acted upon by the gas itself.

Color for Japanned Surfaces.— For the preparation of any color,
applicable to the Japanned surfaces of papier maché, that shall be free
from the brightness (or glare) of the varnished colors now used, but
possess the same degree of hardness and durability.

14*

162 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Color for Slate. — For the preparation of light colors to be used in
enamelling or Japanning slate, which will stand the action of the heat
from the fire without blistering or discoloration, and be sufficiently
hard to resist scratches.

Electric Weaving. — To the manufacturer who practically applies
electricity to the production commercially of figured fabrics in the
loom.

Japanning Zinc. — For a process whereby the surface of articles
manufactured in zinc may be economically japanned.

Coating Walls. — For the production of a cheap white enamel-like
composition for the interior walls, etc., of houses, applicable to all or-
dinary surfaces, easily cleansed, not liable to crumble or chip, and
capable of being tinted.

Subsittute for Turpentine. — For a new and efficient substitute for
turpentine, applicable to the manufacture of varnishes and to purposes
for which turpentine is now ordinarily applied.

Substitute for Pitch. — For a cheap substitute for pitch, tar, &c.,
equally impervious to air and moisture, but not inflammable.

Paper Machinery. — For a portable machine for planing the bars
of a rag-engine-roll true when the roll is in position.

Rollers for Printing Paper-Hangings. — For a composition for feed-
ing rollers for printing paper-hangings by cylinder-machinery, similar
in consistency and texture to the gelatine rollers used in letter-press
printing, but adapted for working in water-colors.

Paper-Hangings Colored in the Pulp.—¥or the manufacture of
papers from colored pulp, bearing upon them designs, either colored or
white, discharged after the manner of calico-printing.

Green without Arsenic. — For the manufacture of a brilliant green
color, not containing arsenic, copper, or other poisonous materials.

Improved Chemical Balance.— For the best chemical and assay
balance, suitable for the use of students and experimentalists, which
will (with 600 grains in each pan) show a difference of .005 or less.
To be sold at a moderate price.

Cheap Spectroscope. — For the best and cheapest form of spectro-
scope.

Dialysing Apparatus. — For the best and cheapest form of dialysing
apparatus, capable of being packed in a small compass, but of sufficient
size to aid the country practitioner in the detection of poisons and
adulterations, and in the preparation and purification of salts and drugs.

Incombustible Wick. — For the production of an incombustible wick,
suitable for oil, spirit, and other lamps.

Cyanogen Compounds. — For the economical production of cyanogen
compounds for employment in the arts, or as manures.

Oxygen Gas. — For a more economical process of obtaining oxygen
gas than any in present use.

New Edible Roots. — For the discovery and introduction into this
country of any new edible root, useful as food for man or cattle, and
capable of exsensive and improved cultivation.

Edible Seaweeds. —For a means of rendering seaweeds generally
available as a wholesome vegetable food on board ship.

Colored Starches. — For the production of a series of colored starches,
which can be applied to articles of dress, such as lace, ete., without in-

a

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 163

juring or staining the fabric, but at the same time give to them the re-
quired tints, and thus render them in harmony with other portions of
dress. ,

Titanium. — For the best essay upon titanium, with suggestions for
extracting and utilizing the metal.

Smelting Zinc. — For an account of the processes now in use for
smelting zinc ores, with suggestions for their improvement.

Emigrants’ Dwellings. — For the best essay (for the information of
emigrants proceeding to new settlements), descriptive of the means of
treating existing natural products in any locality, such as earths, shells,
chalks, and limestones, woods, barks, grasses, ete., and applying them
in the construction of dwellings. Diagrams and illustrations of the
methods of applying materials should be given.

Dutch Prizes for Investigation. — The Dutch Society of Sciences have
also recently issued a prize-list of subjects for scientific investigation,
to which they invite answers to be sent, in prior to January, 1865 ; and
the followint are some of the topicsselected: A gold medal is offered for a
paper on the Vertebrata (not including fishes) of the Indian Archipelago,
ee those of Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas, and above ail
those of New Guinea. In astronomy, a prize is offered for a deter-
mination, as exact as possible, of the errors of Hansen’s Lunar Tables,
by the occultations of the Pleiades, observed during the last revolution
of the node of the lunar orbit. In electricity, the celebrated physicist,
Ruhmkorff, has obtained sparks of extraordinary length, by the induct-
ive machines which bear his name. Required: a determination, by
experimental and theoretical researches, of the laws which govern the
length and intensity of these sparks in machines of different sizes and
construction. Other questions are, What difference is there between
the perception of sounds with one and both ears? Is fermentation, as
indicated by the researches of Pasteur and others, due to the develop-
ment of cryptogamia and infusoria ? and, if so, what is the exact de-
scription of these plants and animals and their mode of action? Re-
quired: an investigation into the heat-conducting power of certain
insulating, or non-conducting substances, as glass, marble, ete. Another
is stated as follows: The researches of Gladstone and others have di-
rected the attention of physicists to the changes which the indices of
refraction of liquids undergo by achange of temperature. The Society
attach great importance to a knowledge of the relation between the in-
dex of refraction and the temperature, convinced as they are that this
knowledge would throw light on other very interesting points of the
theory of light. They therefore invite a series of exact researches on
these changes, in pure liquids and in solutions. The prizes are a gold
medal worth 150 florins, and an equal amount in money.

CHEMICAL SCIENCE.

THE RECENT PROGRESS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY.

The following is an abstract of an address made to the chemical
section of the British Association, 1863, by Professor Williamson, on
assuming the Chair: —

One of the features of our science is the rate at which materials
have been accumulating by the labors of chemists, in the so-called or-
ganic department of the science. The study of the transformation of
organic bodies leads to the discovery of new acids, new bases, new al-
cohols, new ethers, and at a constantly increasing rate. Some of these
new substances are found to possess properties which can at once be
applied to practical manufacturing processes, such as dyeing, but the
greater number of them remain in our laboratories and museums, and
text-books. New discoveries are constantly coming in to fill up the gaps
which still disfigure our growing system. In mineral, or in organic
chemistry, there is not the same scope for discovery at present, inas-
much as the elements which belong to it do not combine in those numer-
ous proportions which occur among the chief elements of organic bodies.
But yet, mineral chemistry has not been standing still, for even the
heavy metals, most remote in their properties from those volatile and un-
stable substances of organic chemistry, have been made in many instances
to combine together, and the organic metallic bodies thus formed have
not only proved most valuable and powerful agents of decomposition,
but they have served as a connecting link between the two branches of
chemical science. A system.of classification of elements is now coming
into use, in which the heavy metals arrange themselves harmoniously
with the elements of organic bodies, and in accordance with the prin-
ciples which were discovered by a study of organic compounds. It is
now many years since the attention of chemists was directed by a
French professor to some inconsistencies which had crept into -our sys-
tem of atomic weights. Gerhardt showed that the principles which
were adopted in fixing the atomic weight of elementary bodies gener-
ally required us, to adopt for oxygen, carbon, and sulphur, numbers
twice as great as those generally in use for those elements. The logic
of his arguments was unanswerable, and yet Gerhardt’s conclusions
gained but few adherents. It is to be observed, taat for some years
Gerhardt represented chemical reactions by so-called synoptic formule,
which took no account of the existence of organic radicles. These
synoptic formule represent in the simp!est terms the result of a chemi-
cal reaction ; but they give no physical image of the progress by which
the reaction is brought about. The introduction, in this country, of the

164

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 165

water-type in connection with poly-atomic as well as mon-atomic radi-
cles, was found to satisfy the requirements of the synoptic formule.
Gerhardt was the first to adopt them from us. He gave a system of
organic chemistry on that plan, and his book has been of immense ser-
vice to the development of our science. ‘The extension of these prin-
ciples to mineral chemistry had been commenced in the cases of the
commonest acids and bases, but their general introduction met with
difficulties, and sometimes seemed wanting to their complete success.
It was reserved for Prof. Cannizzaro, of the University of Palermo, to
show us how the remainder of the knot could be untied. He argued,
upon physical as well as chemical grounds, that the atomic weight of
many metals ought to be doubled, as well as those of oxygen, sulphur,
and carbon. His conclusions are confirmed by the constitution of those
organo-metallic bodies which I mentioned just now, and it certainly
does seem to supply what was still wanting for the extension of our
system of classification from the non-metallic elements to the heavy
metals themselves. The elements are now arranged into two principal
groups :—1. Those of which each atom combines with an uneven num-
ber of atoms of chlorine or hydrogen. 2. Those of which each atom
combines with an even number of atoms of chlorine or hydrogen.
Like every classification founded upon nature this one draws no abso-
lute line, as some elements belong to both classes. The first group in-
cludes the mon-atomic elements of the chlorine family, the tri-atomic
elements of the nitrogen family, hydrogen, and the alkali metals, silver
and gold, — in all about eighteen elements. The usual atomic weights
of these are retained. The usual atomic weights of all the other ele-
‘ments, biatomic, tetratomic, etc., are doubled. This second group in-
cludes the oxygen family, carbon, silicon, and the alkaline earths, the
metals zine, iron, copper, lead, etc. Every step in our theoretical de-
velopment of chemistry has served to consolidate and extend the atomic
theory, but it is interesting to observe that the retention of that theory
has involved the necessity of depriving it of the absolute character which
it at first possessed. Organic compounds were long ago discovered,
containing atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in proportions far
from simple; and the atomic theory must have been abandoned, but for
the discovery that the atomic, or rather molecular, weights of these
compounds correspond invariably to entire numbers of the elementary
atoms. We now use the term “ molecule ” for those groups which hold
together during a variety of transformations, but which can be resolved
into simpler constituents ; whilst we reserve the word “ atom ” for those
perce which we cannot break up, and which there is no reason for
elieving that we ever shall break up.

RELATION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO MEDICAL SCIENCE.

At the last meeting of the British Association, several examples were
brought forward demonstrating the direct bearing of scientific research-
es upon the advance of medical science. No sooner is any new sub-
stance (whether an elementary body, such as thallium, or a compound)
discovered, than experiments are made to investigate its physiological and
therapeutical action on the living organisms of men and animals. In
many cases, these experiments are made by the observers on their own
bodies, and the records of science offer several examples of enthusiastic

er”

166 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

investigators whose lives have been perilled by the self-administration of
dangerous reagents. Asa rule, these investigations are made, in the first
instance, on the lower animals; but the results so obtained only give a
very slight approximation to what would be the nature of the action of
these bodies on the human frame.

We know absolutely nothing of the different constitutional powers in
the different animals, so that our only means of acquiring a knowledge
of the therapeutical action of remedies is by direct experiment in every
case. For example, the goat and the sheep are so slightly different in
structure and organization that it is difficult even to discover a well-de-
fined specific distinction between the two animals. Nevertheless, many
substances are fatal to the sheep that the goat eats with impunity. A
goat will eat at a meal a sufficient quantity of laurel twigs (Cerasus
Lauro cerasus) to destroy the life of a cow, a ruminating animal, whose
organization closely resembles its own. In the same manner, tobacco
— one of the most fatal of all poisons to the human frame — is eaten by
goats and monkeys with great avidity, and without any apparent evil
consequences. Sir Emerson Tennant, in his work on Ceylon, referring
to the invulnerability of the mongoose to the bites of poisonous serpents,
says, ‘‘ Such exceptional provisions are not without precedent in the
animal economy; the hornbill feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit
of the strychnos; the milky juice of some species of euphorbia, which is
harmless to oxen, is invariably fatal to the zebra ; and the tsetse fly, the
pest of South Africa, whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and
the horse, is harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the forest.”

Among the most important new remedies which science has bestowed
upon medicine may be mentioned the preparations of the element bro-
mine. ‘This, as is well known, belongs to the same group of elements
as chlorine, iodine, and fluorine ; each of these, though perfectly capa-
ble of replacing each other in chemical combinations, has a totally dif-.
ferent action on the vital organism.

Chlorine is an essential to the life of all animals, and is supplied in
the form of common salt, chloride of sodium. Iodine is, both when sim-
ple and in combination, a powerful stimulant, exciting the glandular
_ system.

Fluorine, though never yet isolated, is in some of its combinations a
powerful poison.

Bromine has been discovered by Dr. Gibb to possess, when admin-
istered in the form of bromide of ammonium, Br N Hy, a power of pro-
ducing insensibility or even partial paralysis of the nerves going to the
glottis and larynx, or organs situated at the top of the windpipe. This
knowledge has been at once applied to practical medicine. ‘The pain-
ful disease known as whooping-cough owes its chief danger and discom-
fort to spasm of the nerves going to the respiratory organs. It has been
found that the administration of a few grains of bromide of ammonium
three times a day has the effect of allaying this spasm, and so prevent-
ing the most dreaded symptoms of the disease.

Having alluded to the newly-discovered metal, thallium, it may be
as well to mention that M. Lamy states that continued investigation
into its properties has resulted in extreme lassitude and pain in the
lower limbs. With a view of determining its real influence on the ani-
mal economy, he has administered it to the lower animals, and he men-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 167

tions that a decigramme of the sulphate given to a dog has caused death
in forty hours. Mr. Crookes, on the other hand, denies its power, and
states that he has occasionally swallowed a few grains of its salts with-
out injurious effect.

THE SYNTHETIC PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES.

A lecture was recently given before the French academy by M. Ber-
thelot, “On Synthetic Methods in Organic Chemistry.” It was an
able résumé of the chief steps by which complex, organic substances
have been built up from the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and
nitrogen. Although no absolutely new facts were given, yet-the treat-
ment of the subject was such as to present some of the phenomena in a
new light. It was illustrated by several experiments; the most inter-
esting among these showed the first and most important synthetic step
—the direct combination of carbon and hydrogen with formation of
acetylene, C, H,. The union was thus accomplished : a stream of hy-
drogen was conducted into a globe, in which the electric are was shown
between two carbon poles. ‘The particles of carbon, transferred me-
chanically from one pole to the other, took no part in the chemical
action, but the volatilized carbon combined, in the intense heat, with
the hydrogen present. The acetylene thus produced was converted
into a compound with copper; from this substance olefiant gas was pre-
pared, and, finally, from olefiant gas, alcohol.

Prof. Franklin stated, in a recent lecture before the Royal Institu-
tion, London, that more than one thousand organic bodies can now be
produced from these inorganic elements (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
carbon, ete.) without the agency of vitality.

CONVERSION OF ALBUMEN INTO FIBRIN.

A paper by Mr. Alfred Suree, Jr., recently read before the Royal
Society, appears, so far as can be judged at present, to have a bearing
on physiological chemistry. In few words, the facts may be thus sta-
ted: Pass a stream of oxygen through a quantity of albumen, and por-
tions of that albumen will be converted into fibrin. The albumen may
be derived from the serum of blood, from eggs, or from the gluten of
wheat ; the result is the same, — formation of fibrin. Taking the facts
for granted, this is a very remarkable discovery ; and it is thought that
it may throw some light on the phenomena of fibrinous diseases, —
Se ape peritonisis, and the like, — which are obscure in their origin.

a small quantity of potash be mixed with the albumen, there is then
no formation of fibrin.

THE MOLECULAR MOBILITY OF GASES.

The following paper on the above subject by Prof. Graham, pre-
sented to the Royal Society, June, 1863, is a continuation of that em-
inent scientist’s researches on dialysis, and is one of the most important
contributions made to science during the past year : —

The molecular mobility of gases is here considered in reference
chiefly to the passage of gases, under pressure, through a thin porous
plate or septum, and to the partial separation of mixed gases, which
can be effected, as will be shown, by such means. In the diffusiom-
eter, as first constructed, a plain cylindrical glass tube, rather less

,

168 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

than an inch in diameter and about ten inches in length, was simply
closed at one end by a porous plate of plaster-of-paris, about one-third
of an inch in thickness and thus converted into a gas-receiver. <A su-
perior material for the porous plate is now found in artificially com-
pressed graphite, of the quality used for making writing-pencils. A
circular dish of this graphite, reduced to the thickness of a wafer (one
half a millimetre) is attached, by resinous cement to one end of the
glass tube, above described, so as to close it and form a diffusiometer.
The tube is filled with hydrogen gas over a mercurial trough, the po-
rosity of the graphite plate being counteracted for the time by cov-
ering it tightly with a thin sheet of gutta-percha. On afterwards re-
moving the latter, gaseous diffusion immediately takes place through
the pores of the graphite. The whole hydrogen will leave the tube
in forty minutes or an hour, and isreplaced by a much smaller propor-
tion of atmospheric air (about one-fourth) as is to be expected from
the law of the diffusion of gases. During the process, the mercury will
rise in the tube, if allowed, forming a column of several inches in
height, — a fact which illustrates strikingly the intensity of the force
with which the interpenetration of different gases is effected. The
native or mineral graphite is of a lamellar structure, and appears to
have little or no porosity. It cannot be substituted for the artificial
graphite as a diffusion septum.» Unglazed earthenware comes next
in value to graphite for this purpose. The pores of artificial graphite
appear to be really so minute that a gas in mass cannot penetrate the
plate at all. It seems to be molecules only which can pass; and these
may be supposed to pass wholly unimpeded by friction ; for the smallest
pores that can be imagined to exist in the graphite must be tunnels in
magnitude, to the ultimate atoms of a gaseous body. The sole motive
agency appears to be that intestine movement of molecules which is
now generally recognized as an essential property of the gaseous con-
dition of matter. According to the physical hypothesis now generally
received, a gas is represented as consisting of solid and perfectly elas-
tic spherical particles or atoms, which move in all directions, and are
animated with different degrees of velocity in different gases. Con-
fined in a vessel, the moving particles are constantly impinging against
its sides, and occasionally against each other, and such collisions take
place without any loss of motion, owing to the perfect elasticity of the
particles. Now, if the containing vessel be porous, like a diffusiometer,
then gas is projected through the open channels by the atomic motion
described, and escapes. Simultaneously, the external air or gas, what-
ever it may be, is carried inwards in the same manner, and takes the
place of the gas which leaves the vessel. To the same atomic or mole-
cular movement is due the elastic force, with the power to resist com-
pression, possessed by gases. The molecular movement is accelerated
by heat and retarded by cold; the tension of the gas being increased
in the first instance and diminished in the second. Even when the
same gas is present, both within and without the vessel, and is therefore
in contact with both sides of the porous plate, the movement is sus-
tained withont abatement; molecules continuing to enter and leave
in equal numbers, although nothing of the kind is indicated by change
of volume or otherwise. If the gases in communication be different,
but possess sensibly the same specific gravity and molecular velocity,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 169

as nitrogen and carbonic oxide do, an interchange of molecules also
takes place without any change in volume. With gases opposed of un-
equal density and molecular velocity, the amount of penetration ceases,
of course, to be equal in both directions. These observations are pre-
liminary to the consideration of the passage through a graphite plate
in one direction only, of gas under pressure, or under the influence of
its own elastic force. It is to be supposed that a vacuum is maintained
on one side of the porous septum and that air or some other gas, under
a constant pressure, is in contact with the other side. Now, a gas may
pass into a vacuum in three different modes, or in two modes besides
that immediately before us, 1st. The gas may enter the vacuum by
passing through a minute aperture in a thin plate such as a puncture
In platinum-foil, made by a fine steel point. The rate of passage of
different gases is then regulated by their specific gravities, according
to a pneumatic law, which was deduced by Prof. Robinson from Torri-
celli’s well-known theorem of the velocity of efflux of fluids. A gas
rushes into a vacuum with the velocity which a heavy body would ac-
quire by falling from the height of an atmosphere composed of the gas
in question, and supposed to be of uniform density throughout. ‘The
height of the uniform atmosphere will be inversely as the specific grav-
ity of the gas; the atmosphere of hydrogen for mstance, sixteen times
higher than that of oxygen. But as the velocity acquired by a
heavy body in falling is not directly as the height, but as the square
root of the height, the rate of flow of the different gases into a vacuum
will be inversely as the square root of their respective densities. ‘The
velocity of oxygen being 1, that of hydrogen will be 4, the square root
of 16. This law has been experimentally ihe is The times of the
effusion of gases, as I have spoken of it, are similar to those of the law
of molecular diffusion ; but it is important to observe that the phenom-
ena of effusion and diffusion are distinct and essentially different in
their nature. The effusion movement affects masses of gas, the diffu-
sion movement affects molecules; and a gas is usually carried by the
former kind of impulse with a velocity many thousand times greater
than by the latter. The effusion velocity of air is the same as the
velocity of sound. 2. If the aperture of efflux be in a plate of in-
creased thickness, and so becomes a tube, the effusion rates of gases
are disturbed. The rates of flow of different gases, however, assume
again a constant ratio to each other when the capillary tube is consid-
erably elongated, when the length exceeds the diameter at least 4,000
times. These new proportions of efflux are the rates of the “ Capillary
Transpiration of Gases.” The rates were found to be the same in a
capillary tube composed of copper as they are in a tube of glass, and
appear to be independent of the material of the capillary. A film of
as, no doubt, adheres to the inner surface of the tube, and the friction
is really that of gas upon gas, and is consequently unaffected by the
nature of the tube-substance. ‘The rates of transpiratiorf are not gov-
erned by specific gravity, and are, indeed, singularly unlike the rates
of effusion. The transpiration velocity of oxygen being 1, that of chlo-
rine is 1.5, that of hydrogen 2.26 ; of nitrogen and carbonic oxide half
the velocity of hydrogen; of olefiant gas, ammonia and cyanogen 2,
double, or nearly double, that of oxygen ; of carbonic acid 1.376. In
the same gas, the transpirability of equal volumes increases with den-
js

170 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

sity, whether occasioned by cold or pressure. The transpiration ratios
of gases appear to be in constant relation with no other known prop-
erty of the same gases, and they form aclass of phenomena remarkably
isolated from all else at present known of gases. ‘There is one prop-
erty of transpiration immediately bearing upon the penetration of the
graphite plate by gases. The capillary offers to the passage of gas a
resistance analogous to that of friction, proportional to the surface, and
consequently increasing as the tube or tubes are multiplied in number
and diminished in diameter, with the area of discharge preserved con-
stant. The resistance to the passage of a liquid through a capillary
was observed by Poiseuille to be nearly as the fourth power of the di-
ameter of the tube. In gases, the resistance also rapidly increases, but
in what ratio has not been observed. The consequence, however, is |
certain that as the diameter of the capillaries may be diminished be-
yond any assignable limit, so the flow may be retarded indefinitely,
and caused at last to become too small to be sensible. We may, there-
fore, have a mass of capillaries of which the passages form a large ag-
gregate, but which are individually too small to permit a sensible flow
of gas under pressure. A porous, solid mass may possess the same re-
duced penetrability as the congeries of capillary tubes. Indeed, the
state of porosity described appears to be more or less closely ap-
proached by all loosely aggregated mineral masses, such as lime-plas-
ter, stucco, chalk, baked clay, noncrystalline earthy powders, like hy-
drate of lime, or magnesia compacted by pressure, and in the highest
degree perhaps by artificial graphite. 3. A plate of artificial graphite,
although it appears to be practically impenetrable to gas by either of
the two modes of passage previously described, is readily penetrated
by the agency of the molncular or diffusive movement of gases. | This
appears on comparing the time required for the passage of equal vol-
umes of different gases under a constant pressure. Of the following
three gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbonic acid, the time required
for the passage of an equal volume of each through a capillary glass
tube, in similar circumstances as to pressure and temperature, was for- |

merly observed to be as follows : —
. Time of capillary
trapspiration.
Oxygen . e e e . e . . J . . e .
Riebonmeieid win a ete te eR se SS Le ae ge ea
Hydrogen 5 . . . “ . . . . - ° ° 0.44
Through a plate of graphite, of half a millimetre in thickness, the same
gases were now observed to pass, under a constant pressure of a column

of mercury of 100 millimetres in height, in times which are as follows:

Time of molecular Square root of density
passage. (oxygen 1).
Oxygen . . . . ° : ° ° 1 : 1

Hydrogen 5 . : 5 ‘ 5 2 0.2472 4 0.2502

Carbonic acid Hi isn Ven ater eth ARIBBE Aas 1.1760
It appears, then, that the times of passage through the graphite plate
have no relation to the capillary transpiration times of the same gases
rst quoted above. This penetration of the graphite plate by gases ap-
pears to be entirely due to their own proper molecular motion, quite
unaided by transpiration. It seems to offer the simplest possible ex-
hibition of the molecular or diffusive movement. ‘This pure result is
to be ascribed to the wonderfully fine porosity of the graphite. The

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 171

interstitial spaces, or channels, appear to be sufficiently small to extin-
guish transpiration, or the passage of masses entirely. The graphite
becomes a molecular sieve, allowing molecules only to pass through.
With a plate of stucco, the penetration of gases under pressure is very
rapid, and the volumes of air and hydrogen passing in equal times are
as 1 to 2.891, which is a number for hydrogen intermediate between
its transpiration volume 2.04 and diffusion volume 3.8; showing that
the passage through stucco is a mixed result. The rate of passage of
gas through graphite appeared also to be closely proportional to the
ressure. Further, hydrogen was found to penetrate through a graph-
ite plate into a vacuum, with sensibly the same absolute velocity as it
diffused into air; establishing the important fact, that the impelling
force is the same in both movements. The molecular mobility may
therefore be spoken of as the diffusive movement of gases ; the passage
of gas through a porous plate into vacuum, as diffusion in one direction
or single diffusion ; and ordinary diffusion, or the passage of two gases
in opposite directions, as double, compound or reciprocal diffusion.
Atmolysis. — A partial separation of mixed gases and vapors of un-
equal diffusibility can be effected by allowing the mixture to permeate
through a graphite plate into a vacuum, as was to be expected from
the preceding views. As this method of analysis has a practical char-
acter and adinits of wide application, it may be convenient to distin-
guish it by a peculiar name. ‘The amount of the separation is in pro-
portion to the pressure, and attains its maximum when the gases pass
into a nearly perfect vacuum. <A variety of experiments were made
on this subject, of which perhaps the most interesting were those upon
the concentration of the oxygen in atmospheric air. When a portion
of air confined in a jar is allowed to penetrate into a vacuum, through
graphite or unglazed earthenware, the nitrogen should pass more rapid-
ly than the oxygen in the proportion of 1.0668 to 1; and the propor-
tion of oxygen be proportionally increased in the air left behind in the |
jar. The increase in the oxygen actually observed when the air in
the jar was reduced from 1 volume to 0.5 volume, was 0.48 per cent. ;
to 0.25 volume, was 0.98 per cent. ; to 0.125 volume, was 1.54 per cent. ;
to 0.0625 volume, was 2.02 per cent.; or, the oxygen increased from
21 to 23.02 per cent. in the last sixteenth part of air left behind in the
jar. The most remarkable effects of separation are produced by means
of the tube-atmolyser. ‘This is simply a narrow tube of unglazed earth-
enware, such as a tobacco-pipe stem two feet in length, which is placed
within a shorter tube of glass and secured in its position by corks, so as
to appear like a Liebig’s condenser. The glass tube is placed in com-
munication with an air-pump, and the annular space between the two
tubes is maintained as nearly vacuous as possible. Air or any other
mixed gas is then allowed to flow in a stream along the clay tube, and
collected as it issues. The gas so atmolysed is, of course, reduced in
volnme, much gas penetrating through the pores of the clay tube into
the air-pump vacuum ; and the slower the gas is collected, the greater
the proportional loss. In the gas collected, the denser constituent of
the mixture is thus concentrated in an arithmetical ratio, while the
volume of the gas is reduced in a geometrical ratio. In one experi-
ment, the proportion of oxygen in the air after traversing the atmolyser
was increased to 24 50 per cent., or 16.7 upon 100 oxygen originally

172 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

present in the air. With gases differing so much in density and dif-
fusibility as oxygen and hydrogen, the separation is, of course, much
more considerable. The explosive mixture of two volumes of hydrogen
and one volume of oxygen gave oxygen containing only 9.3 per cent.
of hydrogen, in which a taper burned without explosion; and with
equal volumes of oxygen and hydrogen, the proportion of the latter
was easily reduced from 50 to 5 per cent. :
Speculative Ideas respecting the Constitution of Matter.—It is con-
ceivable that the various kinds of matter, now recognized as different
elementary substances, may possess one and the same ultimate or
atomic molecule existing in different conditions of movement. The
essential unity of matter is an hypothesis in harmony with the equal
_ action of gravity upon all bodies. We know the anxiety with which
this point was investigated by Newton, and the care he took to ascer-
tain that every kind of substance, ‘“ metals, stones, woods, grain, salts,
animal substances, etc.,” are similarly accelerated in falling, and are
therefore equally heavy. In the condition of gas, matter is deprived
of numerous and varying properties with which it appears invested
when in the form of a liquid or solid. The gas exhibits only a few
grand and simple features. These again may all be dependent upon
atomic and molecular mobility. Let us imagine one kind of substance
only to exist, — ponderable matter ; and further, that matter is divisible
into ultimate atoms, uniform in size and weight. We shall have -one
substance and a common atom. With the atom at rest the uniformity
of matter would be perfect. But the atom possesses always’ more or
less motion, due, it must be assumed, to a primordial impulse. This
motion gives rise tovolume. ‘The more rapid the movement, the greater
the space occupied by the atom, somewhat as the orbit of a planet
widens with the degree of projectile velocity. Matter is thus made to
differ only in being lighter or denser matter. The specific motion of
an atom being inalienable, light matter is no longer convertible into
heavy matter. In short, matter of different density forms different
substances, — different inconvertible elements as they have been con-
sidered. What has already been said is not meant to apply to the
gaseous volumes which we have occasion to measure and practically
deal with, but to a lower order of molecules or atoms. (The combming
atoms, hitherto spoken of, are not therefore the molecules of which the
movement is sensibly affected by heat, with gaseous expansion as the
result. The gaseous molecule must itself be viewed as composed of a
group or system of the preceding inferior atoms, following, as a unit,
laws similar to those which regulate its constituent atoms. We have,
indeed, carried one step backward, and applied to the lower order of
atoms, ideas suggested by the gaseous molecule, as views derived from
the solar system are extended to the subordinate system of a planet
and its satellites. The advance of science may further require an in-
definite repetition of such steps of molecular division. The gaseous
molecule is, then, a reproduction of the inferior atom on a higher scale.
The molecule or system is reached which is affected by heat, — the diffu-
sive molecule, of which the movement is the subject of observation and
measurement. The diffusive molecules are also to be supposed uniform
in weight, but to vary in velocity of movement, in correspondence with
their constituent atoms. Accordingly, the molecular volumes of differ-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 173

ent elementary substances have the same relation to each other as the
subordinate atomic volumes-of the same substances. But further, these
more and less mobile or light and heavy forms of matter have a singu-
lar relation connected with equality of volume. Equal volumes of two
of them can coalesce together, unite their movement, and form a new
atomic group, retaining the whole, the half, or some simple proportion
of the original movement and consequent volume. This is chemical
combination. It is directly an affair of volume, and only indirectly
connected with weight. Combining weights are different, because the
densities, atomic and molecular, are different. The volume of com-
bination is uniform, but the fluids measured vary in density. This
fixed combining measure —the metron of simple substances — weighs
1 for hydrogen, 16 for oxygen, and so on with the other ‘“ elements.”
To the preceding statements, respecting atomic and molecular mobility,
it remains to be added, that the hypothesis admits of another expression.
As in the theory of light we have the alternative hypothesis of emission
and undulation, so in molecular mobility the motion may be assumed
to reside either in separate atoms and molecules, or in a fluid medium
caused to undulate. A special rate of vibration or pulsation originally
imparted to a portion of the fluid medium enlivens that portion of mat-
ter with an individual existence, and constitutes it a distinct substance
or element. With respect to the different states of gas, liquid and
solid, it may be observed that there is no real incompatibility with each
other in these physical conditions. They are often found together in
the same substance. The liquid and the solid conditions supervene
upon the gaseous condition rather than supersede it. Gay-Lussac
made the remarkable observation, that the vapors emitted by ice and
watef, both at 0° Cent., are of exactly equal tension. The passage
from the liquid to the solid state is not made apparent in the volatility
of water. The liquid and solid conditions do not appear as the ex-
tinction or suppression of the gaseous condition, but something super-
added to that condition. ‘The three conditions (or constitution) prob-
ably always coexist in every liquid or solid substance, but one
predominates over the others. In the general properties of matter we
have, indeed, to include still further (1.) the remarkable loss of elas-
ticity in vapors under great pressure, which is distinguished by Mr.
Faraday as the Caignard-Latour state, after the name of its discoverer,
and is now undergoing an investigation by Dr. Andrews, which may
be expected to throw much light upon its nature ; (2.) the colloidal
condition or constitution, which intervenes between the liquid and
crystalline states, extending into both, and affecting probably all kinds
of solid and liquid matter in a greater or less degree. The predomi-
nance of a certain physical state in a substance appears to bea distine-
tion of a kind with those distinctions recognized in natural history as

eing produced by unequal development. Liquefaction or solidifica-
tion may not, therefore, involve the suppression of either the atomic or
the molecular movement, but only the restriction of its range. The
hypothesis of atomic movement has been elsewhere assumed, irrespect-
ive of the gaseous condition, and is applied by Dr. Williamson to the
elucidation of a remarkable class of chemical reactions which have their
seat in a mixed liquid. Lastly, molecular or diffusive mobility has an
obvious bearing upon the communication of heat to gases, by contact

15*

174 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. |

-with liquid or solid surfaces. The impact of the gaseous molecule, upon
a surface possessing a different temperature, appears to be the con-
dition for the transference of heat, or the heat movement, from one to
the other. The more rapid the molecular movement of the gas, the
more frequent the contact, with consequent communication of heat.
Hence, probably, the great cooling power of hydrogen gas as compared
with air or oxygen. The gases named have the same specific heat for
equal volumes, but a hot object placed in hydrogen is really touched
3.8 times more frequently than it would be if placed in air, and 4
times more frequently than it would be if placed in an atmosphere of
oxygen gas. Dalton had already ascribed this peculiarity of hydrogen
to the high “ mobility” of that gas. The same molecular property of
hydrogen recommends the application of that gas in the air-engine,
where the object is to alternately heat and cool a confined volume of
gas with rapidity.
THE NEW METALS.

Indium. —In the summer of 1863, thallium having been detected in
minute quantities in many of the products of the smelting works at
Freiberg, Saxony, F. Reich and Th. Richter, examined some of the
ores, at the laboratories of the works, hoping to ascertain its source.
These ores consisted of pyrites, mispickel, blende, and galena; with
earthy matter, silica, manganese, copper, and minute quantities of tin
and cadmium. ‘The ores were roasted to expel the greater part of the
sulphur and arsenic ; then mixed with hydrochloric acid, evaporated to
dryness and distilled. The impure chloride of zinc thus obtained was
examined before the spectroscope for thallium. No thallium line was
found; but, instead, an indigo blue line, entirely new, and different
from that produced by any known substance. The experimenters suc-
ceeded in isolating the conjectural substance, necessarily in very minute
quantity, partly in the form of chloride, partly as hydrated oxide, and
partly in the metallic state. On submitting these, moistened with
chlorhydric acid, to the spectroscope, the blue line was seen so brilliant,
sharp, and persistent, that they did not hesitate to conclude that it be-
longed to a hitherto unrecognized metal, to which they accordingly
gave the name Jndium. Its chemical properties have not as yet been
fully determined. Its chloride is not precipitated from an acid solution
by sulphuretted hydrogen, but is precipitated from the same solution
by ammonia, as a hydrated oxide. The oxide, fused on charcoal with
soda, yields a lead-gray globule of metal, very soft and ductile; while
the metal heated alone on charcoal gives a yellow coating, which,
upon being moistened with nitrate of cobalt, gives no characteristic
reaction.

2ubidium and Cesium. —M. Seybel,an Austrian chemist, has re-
cently prepared five ounces of the chlorides of rubidium and ccesium,
in a state of perfect purity, from 800 lbs. of the mica of Finnwald, in
Bohemia. This mica contains nearly 3 per cent. of the oxides of these
two metals, which is a more considerable proportion than is known at
present in any other substance. M. Seybel is engaged in making ar-
rangements for the production of these interesting substances in larger
quantities, so as to render them accessible to all interested in chemical
pursuits. Prof Bunsen, of Heidelberg, also announces, that he has met

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. L75

with a kind of lepidolite which contains three per cent. of rubidium ;
and that Mr. O. Struve, manufacturing chemist at Leipzig, is ready to
deliver a raw salt containing twenty per cent. of chloride of rubidium
at the comparatively moderate price of 23 francs the kilogramme.

The Properties of Rubidium. — Bunsen, who has succeeded in re-
ducing rubidium to a metallic state, thus enumerates its properties: As
a metal, it is very brilliant, like silver, white, with a scarcely perceptible
tinge of yellow. In the airit oxidizes instantly to bluish-gray suboxide,
and takes fire, after a few minutes, much more easily than potassium.
At—10° C. it is still as soft as iron: it melts at 58°.5 C., and below a
red heat is converted into a blue vapor with a shade of green. Ac-
cording to Bunsen, the true fusing point of sodium is 95°.6 C., and that
of potassium 62°.5 C.; the latter does not pass through an intermediate
pasty condition in fusing. The density ofrubidium is about 1.52. It
is considerably more electro-positive than potassium, takes fire upon
water, and burns with a flame which cannot be distinguished from that
of potassium by the eye. Rubidium burns with brilliancy in chlorine,
and in the vapor of bromine, iodine, sulphur, and arsenic.

Additional Facts Respecting Thallium. — This new metal, which was
first publicly shown at the London International Exhibition, 1863, has
since that time been produced in comparatively large quantities. At
the meeting of the British Association, 1863, Mr. Crookes, its discoverer,
exhibited a mass weighing upwards of a quarter of a hundred-weight,
and demonstrated its more obvious properties. It is the softest of the
new alkaline metals, being easily scratched by a point of lead. When
obtained, in larger quantity, thallium will doubtless be employed to
furnish a magnificent green flame. Eight parts of chlorite of thallium,
two of calomel, and one of resin, yields a splendid light on being ignited,
and a very little reduction in price would enable it to be used for
ship-signals; its extraordinary intensity and monochromatic character
enabling it to penetrate through a hazy atmosphere, which alters alto-
gether the color of the ordinary green lights produced by the salts of
baryta.

Mr. Crookes finds, in testing for thallium in the fine dust which
accumulates in the flues of furnaces burning iron pyrites, that the
spectrum analysis is comparatively useless from its extreme delicacy ;
zalsa part of thallium in a mass being indicated as strongly and vividly
as the pure metal itself. Mr. Crookes has been experimenting upon
several tons of this dust. The most ready method of extraction he
finds to consist in washing it with pure water, acidulating the liquid
with hydrochloric acid, so as to convert the thallium into chloride. In
this manner, he has obtained from three tons of flue-dust sixty-eight
pounds of impure chioride, which was afterwards converted into
sulphate by heating with sulphuric acid; this conversion into chloride
and reconversion into sulphate being repeated, in order to get rid of
impurities. Finally, the sulphate was reduced to the metallic state by
fusing with black flux or with cyanide of potassium. Thallium melts at
550° Fahr., and can consequently be easily fused over a gas jet, its
surface being protected from the air by a stream of coal-gas. Mr.
Crookes also detailed the following circumstances connected with the
discovery of this new metal: About three years ago he was engaged
in the examination of a residue from a sulphuric acid manufactory at

176 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Tilkerode. Many of the chemical properties of this substance induced
him to believe that the rare metal tellurium was present; but all at-
tempts at a separation of this metal by chemical means failed. Still
unsatisfied of its absence, he then had recourse to the most recent
method of chemical analysis by means of the spectroscope. In the
spectrum obtained, there was no evidence of tellurium, but a magnifi-
cent green band was observed, which had never been noticed in the
spectrum of any known element. It was this that convinced Mr.
Crookes that he had in the substance under examination a body en-
dowed with properties distinct from those of any other, and in course
of time led him to the isolation of the new metal. He pointed out a
curious parallelism between the history of the discovery of thallium and
of selenium. The great Swedish chemist Berzelius, a little more than
half a century ago, was engaged on the examination of a residue from
a sulphuric acid manufactory, similar to that Mr. Crookes examined.
Berzelius, too, was looking for tellurium. He failed to find it; but in
the course of his examination he discovered selenium, a body belonging
to the sulphur group of elements. Had Berzelius been acquainted
with spectrum analysis, Mr. Crookes remarked, it is very probable he
would have discovered thallium also, since the new metal gives the
simplest and best-defined spectrum hitherto observed. Mr. Crookes
first succeeded in isolating thallium by the use of voltaic electricity in
September, 1861. It is precipitated from its solutions by this means,
like lead and tin; but, if the precipitation be carefully conducted, the
metal crystallizes out in elegant tufts, which spread out in branches re-
sembling some of the delicate seaweeds. This was beautifully shown
on a screen by means of the electric light. When precipitated more
rapidly, it comes down in a spongy state, and can then be easily pressed
into an ingot.

Report of the French Academy on Thallium. — A committee of the
French Academy, instructed to report on the subject of the new metal,
in a paper presented to them during the past year, remarks, “ That
its discovery forms an epoch in the history of chemistry, on account of
the astonishing contrast between its chemical and physical characters
— and they call it the ‘“ ornithorynchus of metals.” It has nearly the
same appearance as lead, may be cut in a similar manner, and leaves
a similar trace on paper. It has, moreover, the same density, nearly
the same fusing point, and the same specific heat. Its solutions, like
those of lead, yield a black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen, a
yellow one with iodides and chromates, and a white one with chlorides.
But it indubitably belongs to the family of alkaline metals, which re-
cent discoveries have doubled in number. In this list thallium stands,
as regards the weight of its equivalent, at the opposite extremity of the
scale to lithium, the numbers being, lithium, 7; sodium, 23; potas-
sium, 89; rubidium, 85; ccesium, 120; thallium, 204. The commis-
sion remark that the equivalent of sodium is exactly the mean between
that of potassium and lithium; that if double the atomic weight of
sodium is added to that of potassium, the equivalent of rubidium is
obtained ; that adding double the weignt of sodium to double that of
potassium gives very nearly that of cesium; and that adding deuble
the weight of sodium to four times the weight of potassium, gives
nearly that of thallium. The equivalents of all the hikaline metals,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 177

thallium included, must be halved to make them fit Dulong and Petit’s
law concerning the relation of atomic weight to specific heat. The
commissioners further observe that the alkaline metal series contains
one, lithium, whose atomic weight is so light as to place it near hy-
drogen, and another, thallium, so heavy as to rank with bismuth
whose equivalent is the heaviest known.”

Thallium in American Furnace Products. —Mr. W. 'T. Roepper, in
a communication published in Silliman’s Journal, states that he has
detected thallium in the dust deposited on the boilers of the Bethlehem
Tron Works, of Penn., and in similar dust from a furnace on the Lehigh.
He considers it not unlikely “that it is a common product of the an-
thracite furnaces, and is perhaps derived from the pyrites accompany-
ing the coal.” Mr. Roepper states, however, that he has not been able
as yet to detect it in the ashes of anthracite from a common stove.

PREPARATION OF MAGNESIUM.

At a recent meeting at the Royal Institution, London, Mr. Teget-
meier exhibited a mass of magnesium which had been prepared by Mr.
E. Sonstadt, who has recently patented a process whereby this metal
may be obtained in quantity. Mr. Faraday called the attention of the
members to the remarkable properties of this metal. Its whiteness,
resembling that of silver, and high metallic brilliancy, were shown by
means of the electric lamp. A wire of the metal was ignited in the
flame of a candle, when it burnt with a white light of such dazzling in-
tensity as totally to obscure the ordinary illuminating agents, such as
gas and candles, and to rival the brilliancy of the electric light. Mr.
Faraday stated that notwithstanding its strong attraction for oxygen,
it was preserved from change, when in a mass, by the thin film of ox-
ide covering and protecting the exterior surface from the exposure of
the air.

Mr. Sonstadt’s process for preparing magnesium on a manufacturing
scale consists in decomposing a mixture of fused chlorides of magnesium
and sodium by means of metallic sodium, and in the employment of
iron vessels to effect the decomposition. It is found that the magnesium
acts on the silica of earthenware crucibles, decomposing it, and uniting
with the silicon ; nor can platinum crucibles be employed, as the mag-
nesium alloys with that metal, causing it to become fusible at a moder-.
ate temperature. The chloride of magnesium employed is best obtained
from the mother liquor, left after evaporating sea-water for its salt.
Mr. Faraday stated that as every ton of sea-water contained above
two pounds of magnesium, in the form of chloride, the entire ocean
would contain 160,000 cubic miles of magnesium. This would form a
solid block fifty-four miles cube. The specific gravity of magnesium
is 1.75, resempling in its lightness the analogous metal aluminum.
Now that magnesium is capable of being obtained quickly, there is no
doubt that important applications of its singular properties will present
themselves. The metallic bases of the earths are in so much greater
abundance than the ordinary metals, that any attempt to isolate them
for economic and practical purposes must be regarded with great inter-

_est, as bearing strongly on the advance of not only the scientific arts,
but also of those having reference to daily life and advancing civil-
ization.

178 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

CHEMISTRY OF STEEL.

M. Caron, in a communication made to the French Academy of
Sciences, attributes the combination of iron with carbon or other ele-
ments of the same family, by which tempered steel is formed, to the
sudden shrinking of the mass, which he considers as analogous to the
instantaneous compression produced by hammering. In illustration of
this point, he found that by hammering a bar of iron heated to a
bright redness, on an anvil covered with powdered charcoal, the face
of the bar in contact with the charcoal, was, in spots, converted into
steel, and made capable of resisting the file. His researches also con-
firm the results of previous experiments, that the density of steel is de-
creased by tempering. In one specimen, after thirty successive tem-
perings, the density was reduced trom 7.817 to 7.743.

BESSEMER’S PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF IRON AND STEEL.

This method of converting pig-iron into steel and bar-iron (described
- In former numbers of the Annual Sci. Dis)., is constantly increasing in
favor among European ironmasters, and thousands of hundred-weight
of Bessemer steel and iron are now annually produced in England and
Sweden and it has become an article of commerce ; while large works
are also being erected for the employment of the method in France.
Whenever the proper raw material is used, Bessemer’s process gives
steel, which in all respects is fully equal to the best varieties of cast-
steel ; and iron of as good quality as the best forge iron. The loss in
converting pig-iron into steel, by this method, is twelve to fifteen per
cent., and in making bar-iron eighteen to twenty-two per cent. In five
toten minutes, fifteen to twenty cwt. of fluid pig-iron are converted into
steel or bar-iron with scarcely any cost for fuel, and without hand la-
bor. The pressure of blast used is from one-half to one one-half atmos-
pheres, and the amount is 800 to 1200 cubic feet of cold air of the or-
dinary atmospheric density. Only good charcoal-iron is adapted for
conversion by this method, and the reason of the failure of the earlier
experiments was the employment of improper and inferior raw-materi-
al. Swedish pig-iron is now always used in Eneland for the produc-
tion of the best sorts of steel and iron. In some of the new iron works,
attempts have been made to improve the quality of English pig-iron
which has been carried to the point of conversion by adding to it melt-
ed Swedish pig-iron; manganese compounds have also been used for
the same purpose. But the separation of the deleterious substances as-
sociated with carbon in pig-iron still remains an unsolved problem. For
the success of this method, a good quality of pig-iron is therefore indis-
pensable, and further a high temperature ; this last is attained by con-
verting large quantities of iron in a single operation. In Sweden, fif-
teen cwt. for a charge is the minimum quantity used, and if sixty to
one-hundred cwt. be employed, the result would be still more favorable.
In converting large quantities at one operation, the cost is proportion-
ally diminished, and the product may also be made more uniform.
One great advantage of Bessemer’s process is that so much larger
quantities of material can be operated upon at one charge than in the
ordinary methods of refining, and this quantity is not restricted within
narrow limits, as in puddling and hearth refining. For the production

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 179

of the proper temperature, the relative amount of blast to the pig-iron
operated upon should be carefully regulated. If too little, the process
goes on slowly, and much heat is lost by radiation ; on the other hand,
if too much blast is used, there is also a loss from the heat carried off
by the air which is forced through the iron before it has effected the
desired decomposition. The pressure of the blast must, at all events,
be greater than that of the’ column of iron in the furnace, in order
that the bath of molten iron shall be thoroughly penetrated and the
whole melted mass set in violent agitation. In Sweden, the pressure
of half an atmosphere has in most cases been found sufficient, while in
England a pressure equal to one one-half atmospheres has been used.

Prof. Tanner, a German scientist, places particular emphasis on the
employment of a high pressure with hot blast. He says that if the
blast were to be heated to 200 — 300° C., or perhaps even to 500-
600° C., the conversion would unquestionably proceed with great reg-
ularity and completeness, and the difficulties in the manufacture of
soft bar-iron and steel would be overcome. Further, it is to be borne
in mind, that, in order to produce a given variety of steel or iron, the
process of conversion must be interrupted whenever the refining has
reached the desired point; this last is determined by observing the
character of the gases and sparks which escape from the furnace, very
much as is the case in hearth refining; practice is of course required
to be able to determine this point with accuracy. The fracture of the
metal serves as a control in sorting the different qualities. The cost
for furnace-repairs is much less than was at first anticipated, but the
waste product in conversion (equal to 20-30 per cent., when the iron
is made into bars) demands consideration, especially as no use has yet
been found for this more or less impure product. If, however, we take
into consideration the length of time that has been necessary to bring
the puddling process to its:present perfection, while on the other hand
Bessemer’s process has accomplished so much in so short a time, we
have every reason to hope that the day is not far distant when the
still remaining difliculties in this process will be reduced to a minimum.
— Polytechnisches Journal, clxvi. 447. [A wide field is open for the
application of Bessemer’s process in this country, where pure iron ores,
fully equal in quality to those of Sweden and Norway, occur in such
abundance. | — Silliman’s Journal.

A NEW COMPOUND OF SILICON SENSITIVE TO LIGHT.

The addition of a new member to a class of bodies is always of in-
terest, but the discovery of a new and very sensitive photographic body
is of especial value, more particularly, if entirely new ground is opened
out by it, and the stranger comes before us as the representative of a
new series of elementary bodies hitherto unsuspected of the slightest
tendency to photographic change. If we had had to hazard a predic-
tion as to the body whence the next photographically sensitive com-
pound would be derived, certainly the last substance which would have
suggested itself would have been common flint or silica. Until the last
few years, silicium, the basis of this, was about the most uninteresting
substance in chemistry; but now, through the researches of Wohler,
it bids fair to rival any of the other elements in the number and inter-
est of its compounds. This chemist has recently discovered several

180 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

new compounds of silicium which are ofthe highest importance. The
starting-point of them all is a curious, metallic-looking alloy of silicium
and calcium, which is easily prepared by fusing together silicium, chlo-
ride of calcium, and sodium, with certain precautions. The silicide of
calcium is then obtained in a button of a lead gray color and perfect
metallic lustre. In water, this slowly disintegrates, forming a mass of
lustrous scales like graphite, some impurities being extracted from it
by this solvent. Strong nitric acid does not attack the silicide, and
this acid affords the best means of obtaining it free from impurities.
The most remarkable action of the silicide of calcium is its behavior
with hydrochloric acid, by which it is changed into an orange-yellow
substance, a brisk evolution of hydrogen taking place. This yellow
body is called by the discoverer silicon, an inappropriate name ; as the
metallic basis of silica, siliecwm, is often called silicon, and is generally
known under that name in chemical books. Silicon is prepared in the
following way: ‘The silicide of calcium, purified as above, is treated
with concentrated hydrochloric acid. An evolution of hydrogen soon
takes place, and the silicide is gradually transformed into silicon. ‘The
mixture is then diluted with six or eight times its volume of water, the
silicon filtered off, carefully protected from the light, well washed, and
finally dried in a vacuum over sulphuric acid, the bell-glass being cov-
ered with a black cloth. Silicon is of a bright orange-yellow color.
It is composed of transparent yellow laminz. It is insoluble in water,
alcohol, and other solvents ; when heated, it becomes of a dark orange
yellow. On applying a stronger heat, it takes fire with a faint defla-
gration and some sparkling, leaving a residue of silicic acid.

“ The behavior of silicon when exposed to the light is very remark-
able. In the dark, even when moist, it remains quite unchanged. In
diffused light it becomes paler; but in direct sunlightit, in a short time,
becomes perfectly white, and hydrogen is given off. When placed
under water in sunlight, hydrogen begins to be evolved immediately,
and continues like a fermentation until the silicon has become quite
white. The purer the substance, the more quickly does the change
take place, and several grammes are transformed in a few hours. If,
however, it has not been perfectly protected from the light in the
course of preparation, it is much longer before the whole is altered in
sunlight. The formula of silicon is not accurately settled ; but it con-
tains silicium, hydrogen, and oxygen, and is supposed to resemble an
organic body, in which silicium replaces the carbon. Professor Wohler,
indeed, suggests that it may, perhaps, be the type of an entire series
of similar bodies, and it would then open the prospect of a special chem-
istry of silicium as of carbon.

“ The behavior of silicon with metallic salts is curious. In the pres-
ence of an alkali, even of dilute ammonia, it is gradually changed into
silicie acid, with evolution of hydrogen. When mixed with an alkali
whilst this decomposition is going forward, it acts as a powerful reduc-
ing agent on the salts of the heavy metals. Solutions of copper or sil-
ver salts soon become black, and gold solutions brown. A solution of
lead in caustic soda is precipitated in the metallic state as a gray mass.
The reducing agent, in all these cases, is evidently the hydrogen in a
nascent condition. When silicon is thoroughly acted on by light, it is
converted into a white body, to which the name Leukon has been

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 181

given. The composition of this is also a matter of doubt, but it is a
body of a somewhat similar composition to silicon, and in the presence
of alkalies it behaves in the same way with some metallic salts. The
mode of formation of leukon from silicon, under the influence of light,
is also obscure ; the most probable theory is that four atoms of water
are decomposed, four of oxygen and one of hydrogen uniting to the sil-
icon, and the other three of hydrogen being set free.”

MANUFACTURE OF ALCOHOL BY ILLUMINATING GAS.

The French correspondent of Silliman’s Journal thus describes a
process of manufacturing alcohol at a very low cost from common
illuminating gas which has been devised in France, and which has of
late attracted attention ; a quantity of alcohol so prepared being one of
the principal curiosities at the last London Exhibition. To carry out
this invention, the patent for which has been issued to a French chem-
ist, by the name of Cotelle, a company has been organized at St. Quen-
tion, France. ‘The patent,” says the correspondent of the Journal,
“is founded upon the experiment by means of which Berthelot, in 1855,
accomplished the synthesis of alcohol, by causing the absorption of ole-
fiant gas, C* H*, by sulphuric acid, thus converting it into sulpho-vinic
acid, a compound readily turned into alcohol by processes long since
known. ‘This experiment, made known by Hennell, thirty years ago,
has now been repeated with C* H* prepared from alcohol. Mr. Cotelle
employs mostly illuminating gas, which, as we know, contains from
four to twelve per cent. of C* H*. Separating this, by means of sul-
phuric acid, there remains a gaseous mixture, composed of C* H*, CO,
fi, &e.; very suitable for burning, so that this first material ought to
cost very little, especially if the manufacture be undertaken at the
mines, so as to take advantage of the gas which issues from the coke
furnaces. ;

“To produce one hectolitre of alcohol of ninety per cent., Mr. Cotelle
uses not more than forty cubic metres of C* H*, which corresponds to
about two tons of the northern coal used at St. Quentin. But the dif
ficulty is not solely in the production of C* H*; there is also needed a
large amount of concentrated sulphuric acid, (ten parts of HO SO’ to
one of alcohol). This, used at 66° of Beaume’s areometer, remains, af-
ter the completion of the work, at from 20° to 25°. It is necessary,
then, either to ccncentrate it again for a new process, or to utilize it
in its diluted state; from this, we see the necessity for either concen-
trating apparatus or leaden chambers; for a hectolitre of alcohol re-
quires for its production 1500 kilometres of sulphuric acid at 66°. Thus
we perceive a series of difficulties which are not yet overcome, but
which are vanishing, day by day. Still, Cotelle’s process is interesting,
and we will give it ina few words. Starting with the purification of
gas, we free it from sulphydric acid and ammonia, then desiccate it by
passing it over HO SO*. Drawn along by suction hke that of a pump,
the dry gas is directed to a column of glass or sandstone furnished with
trays or diaphragms pierced with small holes, from which descends HO
SO} in a finely divided state, to meet and dissolve the C* H*. This so-
lution takes place slowly, so that the apparatus needs as many as forty
trays to distribute enough sulphuric acid to absorb the gas and be satu-
rated with it..The sulpho-vinic acid thus obtained is next treated with

16

182 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

five times its volume of water, and the mixture submitted to the action
of a stream of vapor which carries over the alcoholic product. The
vapors are condensed ; the alcoholic liquid thus obtained is re-distilled
over a little lime, to separate any sulphuric acid which may have dis-
tilled over, and the liquid condensed from this distillation is rectified to
produce alcohol of 90°. ‘The residue of this operation is, as we have
seen, sulphuric acid of 20° to 25°, and_a gaseous mixture representing
the gas from ordinary coal less HS, N H’, and C* H*; this latter can
be advantageously used for fuel.”

PASTEUR’S RESEARCHES ON FERMENTATION AND PUTREFACTION.

For some years past, M. Pasteur, a distinguished French chemist,
has been engaged in investigating the phenomena of fermentation and
putrefaction, and the results attained to by him constitute some of the
most important contributions made to chemical science during the past
few years. In the report of researches heretofore published, (see An- -
nual of Scientific Discovery, 1861, p. 228; 1862, p. 237, and 1863, 237.)
M. Pasteur claims to have proved that the effects hitherto attributed
to the atmosphere of oxidizing and thus consuming dead organic mat-
ter, are really dependent on the growth of infusorial animalcule. Ina
recent paper submitted to the French academy, M. Pasteur says, —
“« We must banish from science those preconceived views which con-
sisted in the supposition that a whole class of organic substances — the
nitrogenous — could acquire, by the hypothetical influence of direct
oxidation, an occult force characterized by an internal movement,
ready to communicate itself to organic substances pretended to be
slightly stable.” And further, “ the slow combustion of organic matter
after death, though real, is scarcely perceptible if the air is deprived of
the germs of the lower organisms. It becomes rapid if the organic mat-
ter is permitted to cover itself with moulds; mildews, bacteriums, and
monads. . . . The intermediate principles of organized beings
would be, in some sort, indestructible, if we were able to suppress
altogether those beings which God has made so extremely small, so use-
less in appearance, and life would become impossible, because the re-
turn to the atmosphere and to the mineral kingdom of that which had
ceased to live would be entirely suspended.”

M. Pasteur’s latest researches have led to the opinion that all fer-
mentation, properly so-called, as well as the phenomena of putrefaction,
is due to the presence of infusorial animalcules, which are able to live,
(and do in fact live) and multiply without the presence of free oxygen
gas, and without any contact with air. These animalcules belong to
the genus vibrio, a genus which according to Ehrenberg contains six
species. Why they should thus act as ferments, M. Pasteur does not
undertake to explain, but he calls attention to this interesting fact;
namely, “ That while the ordinary actions of vegetables and animals
upon the principles (substances) which nourish them, is not associated
with fermentation, properly so-called ;” we have, in the case of these
animalcules, “ the fact of nutrition accompanied by fermentation, and a
nutrition without the consumption of free oxygen.”

M. Pasteur’s latest paper presented to the French Academy dis-
cusses especially the phenomena of putrefaction, and it contains so many
points of interest, that we give from the Comptes Rendus a full abstract
of it. He says, —

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 183

“In every case in which animal or vegetable matter undergoes
spontaneous alteration and develops fetid gases, putrefaction is said to
ecur. We shall perceive in the course of our examination that this
definition has two opposite defects. It is too general, because it brings
together phenomena that are essentially distinct ; and it is too restricted,
because it separates others which have the same nature and origin.
The interest and utility of an exact study of putrefaction has never
been misunderstood. Long ago it was hoped it might lead to practical
consequences in the treatment of maladies which the old physicians
termed putrid. Unfortunately the disgust inseparable from labors of
this kind, jomed to their evident complication, has hitherto arrested
the majority of experimenters, so that nearly everything has still to be
done. My researches on fermentation have naturally conducted me
toward this study; and to the general conclusion that putrefaction is
determined by organic ferments of the genus vibrio.

“ The conditions under which putrefaction is manifested may vary
considerably. Suppose, in the first instance, the case of a liquid, that
is to say of a putrescible substance, of which all the parts have been
exposed to contact with the air. Either this liquid may be shut up in
a close vessel, or it may be placed in an open vessel, having an aper-
ture more or less large. I will examine in succession what happens in
the two cases.

“It is commonly known that putrefaction takes a certain time to
manifest itself, and that this time varies according to temperature,
neutrality, acidity, or alkalinity of the liquid. Under the most favor-
able circumstances a minimum of about twenty-four hours is necessary
before the phenomenon begins to be manifested by external signs.
During this first period the liquid is agitated by an internal movement,
the effect of which is to deprive of its oxygen the air which is in solu-
tion, and to replace it by carbonic acid gas. The total disappearance
of the oxygen when the liquid is neutral or slightly alkaline is due, in
general, to the development of the smallest: of the infusoria, the Jonas
crepusculum and Bacterium termo. A very slight agitation occurs as
' these little beings travel in all directions. When this first action of
exhausting the oxygen in solution is accomplished, they perish and fall
to the bottom of the vessel like a precipitate; and if by chance the
liquid contains no fecund germs of the ferments I have spoken of, it
remains indefinitely in this condition without putrefaction — without
fermenting in any way. ‘This is rare, but I have met with several ex-
amples. Most frequently when the oxygen in solution has disappeared,
the vibrion-ferments, which have no need of this gas, begin to appear,
and putrefaction immediately sets in. Gradually it accelerates itself,
following the progressive march of the development of the vibrions.
The putridity becomes so intense that the microscopic examination of
a single drop is very unpleasant. The fetid odor depends chiefly on
the proportion of sulphur the substance contains. The odor is scarcely
sensible if the matter is not sulphuretted, as, for example, in the fer-
mentation of the albumenoid matter which water can carry away from
the yeast of beer. The same is the case with butyric fermentation ;
and after my experiments butyric fermentation must, from the nature
of its ferment, be considered as a phenomenon of exactly the same or-
der as putrefaction properly so-called. Thus we see what happens

a
‘

184 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

when putrefaction is in some sort restrained. It results from what
precedes, that contact with air is not necessary to the development of
putrefaction, but that, on the contrary, if ‘the oxygen, dissolved in a
putrescible liquid, is not removed by the action of special beings, pu- -
trefaction will not occur, as the oxygen would cause the vibrions to
perish if they tried to develop themselves.

“T shall now examine the case of free putrefaction in contact
with air. That which I have already said might make it appear that
it could not take place under such circumstances, as oxygen kills the
vibrions which excite it. Notwithstanding this, I shall demonstrate
that putrefaction in contact with air is more complete than when it is
effected under shelter from air. Let us go back to our aerated liquid,
this time exposed to contact with air in a wide-mouthed vessel. ‘The
removal of the oxygen takes place as previously described. The dif-
ference is that the bacteriums, ete., do not perish, but propagate them-
selves to infinitude at the surface of the liquid which is in contact with
the air. They form a thin pellicle, which gradually thickens, falls into
rags to the bottom of the vessel, is formed again, and so forth. This
pellicle, with which is usually associated divers mucors and mucedines,
prevents the solution of oxygen gas in the liquid, and thus permits the
development of the vibrio-ferments. For them the vessel is as if closed
against the introduction of air. ‘They can even multiply in the pellicle
at the surface, because they find themselves protected by the bacteri-
ums and mucors against too direct an action of the atmospheric air.

“The putrescible liquid thus becomes the seat of two kinds of action,
very distinct, and which are in relation to the physiological functions
of the two kinds of beings that nourish themselves init. The vibrions,
on one hand, living without the aid of atmospheric oxygen, determine,
in the interior of the liquid, acts of fermentation — that is to say, they
transform nitrogenous substances into more simple, though still com-
plex, products. ‘The bacteriums or the mucors burn these same pro-
ducts, and bring them back to the simple condition of binary compounds,
water, ammonia, and carbonic acid.

“We have yet to distinguish the very remarkable case in which the
putrescible liquid forms a layer of slight thickness with easy access to
atmospheric air. I shall demonstrate experimentally that both putre-
faction and fermentation may be absolutely prevented, and that the
organic matter will yield only to the operation of combustion.

‘“‘ Such are the results of putrefaction effected with free contact with
the atmosphere. On the contrary, in the case of putrefaction under
shelter from the air, the products of the doubling’ of the putrescible
matter remain unchanged. ‘This is what I meant when I said that
putrefaction in contact with air is a phenonemon, if not always more
rapid, at least more complete, more destructive of organic matter, than
putrefaction under shelter from air. In order to be better understood,
I shall cite some examples. Let us putrefy —I employ the word de-
signedly in this instance as a synonym of ferment, — let us putrefy lac-
tate of lime sheltered from air. ‘The vibrion-ferments will transform
the lactate into several products, one of which is always butyrate of

1“ De doublement de la mati:re putrescible.’ Pasteur means the products of
the putrefactive fermentation, which lie has described as complex, though more
simple than the original substances.

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 185

lime. This new compound, indecomposable by the vibrio which pro-
voked its formation, will remain indefinitely in the liquid without any
change. But repeat the operation in contact with air. As fast as the
vibrion-ferments act in the interior of the liquid, the pellicle on the
surface gradually and completely burns the butyrate. If the fermen-
tation is very active, this combustion is arrested, but entirely because the
carbonic acid that is disengaged hinders the arrival of atmospheric air.
The phenomenon recommences as soon as the fermentation is finished
or lessened in rapidity. It is precisely the same, if we cause a naturally
sweet liquid to ferment under shelter from air; the liquid is charged
with alcohol almost indestructible ; while if we operate with contact of
air, the alcohol, after being acetified is burnt and transformed entirely
into water and carbonic acid. Then the vibrions appear, and in their
suite putrefaction, when the liquid only contains water and nitrogenous
matter. At length, in their turn, the vibrions and the products of pu-
trefaction are burnt by the bacteriums or the mucors, of which the last
survivors incite the combustion of their predecessors, and thus is ac-
complished the return of the organized matter to the atmosphere and
to the mineral kingdom.

“‘ Let us now consider the putrefaction of solid bodies. I have re-
cently shown that the body of an animal is, under ordinary circum-
stances, shut against the introduction of the germs of inferior beings ;
consequently putrefaction begins first at the surface, and afterwards
reaches the interior of asolid mass. If a whole animal is left after death
either in contact with, or sheltered from air, its surface is covered with
germs of inferior organism which the atmosphere has conveyed. Its
intestinal canal in which fecal matters are formed is filled not only
with germs, but with fully-developed vibrions, as Leewenhoek per-
ceived. ‘These vibrions are much in advance of those on the surface
of the body. They are adult individuals, deprived of air, bathed in
liquids, and in process of multiplication and function-performance. It
is by their aid the putrefaction of the body begins, which has only been
preserved up to that time by life and the nutrition of its organs.”

After a few observations, M. Pasteur declares his conviction that
“neither in their origin nor in their nature is there any resemblance
between putrefaction and gangrene,” and he adds, “ instead of being a
putrefaction, properly so-called, gangrene appears to be that condition
of an organ in which one part is preserved in spite of death from pu-
trefaction, and in which the liquids and solids act and react chemically
and physically beyond the normal actions of nutrition.”

We shall only remark upon this very important and interesting
paper that few English microscopists adhere to Ehrenberg’s notion,
which is adopted by M. Pasteur, that vibrions are animals. On the
contrary, most authorities, agree that they belong to the vegetable
kingdom, and are in many cases transitional forms of Algz.

FERMENTATION AS A CAUSE OF DISEASE.

M. Polli, of Milan, Italy, has recently published a treatise “on fer-
mentation as the cause of various diseases.” He states that there exists
a great analogy between the processes of fermentation and many or-
ganic metamorphoses, which occur in some diseases; and he has made
experiments by injecting substances into the blood-vessels of animals,

16*

186 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

which have acted as ferments, and have produced a state of action re-
sembling natural diseases. By injecting purulent putrid matter into
the veins of animals, diseases presenting all the characteristics of ty-
phoid fever were produced. Contagious diseases, such as glanders,
which is produced by the injection of glanderous humors, are facts
which prove that a general afiection may be induced by the simple in-
troduction into the blood of a substance capable of acting as a ferment.
M. Polli also believes that he has proved, by a series of experiments,
that it is possible to neutralize morbific ferments in the blood of animals,
by chemical substances which do not act in a manner incompatibie
with life; and it is by these substances that he hopes to treat success-
fully those diseases of which fermentation is the primary cause. It is
well known that sulphuric acid gas prevents alcoholic and acetic fer-
mentation, and also the fermentation of animal substances and organic
matters in general. Thus, it arrests, if it be already begun, the fer-
mentation produced by saliva and diastase in contact with starch. M.
Polli has proved that alkaline or earthy sulphites possess the same an-
tiseptic properties.

From a number of experiments made upon dogs, and alluded to in
his memoir, he has determined the safe and efficacious dose of sulphites
for internal administration, the changes which they undergo in the or-
ganization, and their curative action in the affections produced by the
injection of putrid or contagious matters into the blood. The following
is an account of some of his experiments : —

Ten grammes of sulphite of soda were given to a dog during a period
of five days, then one gramme of pus was injected into the femoral vein.
The animal became dull, and refused the food which it was offered, but
the next day its spirits returned and it ate willingly. ‘Two days after,
the same experiment was repeated, and was followed by the same re-
sults. At the end of a few days, the animal was perfectly cured.

One gramme of pus was injected in two portions into the veins of a
dog, of a more robust nature than that operated upon in the preceding
experiment. The animal became spiritless, but the next day took some
food ; the following day it was very low, it breathed with difficulty, its
wounds were sanious, its left leg and foot swollen, and it died ten days
afterward. a e

An equal quantity of putrid blood was injected into the veins of three
dogs; one died five hours after the infection, another after five days of
illness, and the third, to which some sulphite of soda had been adminis-
tered, after having experienced some trifling symptoms of illness, rap-
idly recovered.

Numerous other experiments made with putrid blood and morbific
mucus proved that the animal died with all the symptoms of a general
infection, whenever sulphite of soda was not administered, and that, on
the contrary, they speedily recovered under its influence.

In a communication, on essentially the same subject as the above,
made to the Lritish Association, 1863, by Dr. G. Robinson, the author
alluded to the circumstance of the analogy between many of the phe-
nomena of fevers and other zymotic diseases, and the ordinary process
of fermentation having been perceived and recognized by Hippocrates
and the oldest writers on medicine. Their idea was, that a poisonous
ferment existing in the atmosphere entered the mass of the blood, and

~ CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 187

induced in it a series of changes, which gave rise to the excessive heat
and other peculiarities of that class of diseases. At the present time,
this doctrine, modified by the discoveries of Liebig and other chemists,
has been adopted by most physicians, and forms the basis of the classifi-
cation of disease framed by Dr. Farr, and used by the registrar-gene-
ral. It thus supposes living germs to exist in the atmosphere, which,
when introduced into the body, give rise to a specific and regular series
of morbid actions, pursuing a definite course in a definite time, asin
small-pox, — those germs being disclosed and multiplied, and producing
others capable of reproducing in other bodies the same succession of -
changes. Other pathologists have supposed that the atmospheri¢ poison
acts on the blood chemically, by giving rise to what may be termed
catalytic actions; while the author is disposed to believe, from what he
saw during the cholera epidemic in Newcastle, in 1853, that some of
these volatile organic matters in the atmosphere are capable of acting
on the human body as direct poisons ; and that this inanimate, volatiie,
poisonous matter also furnishes nutrition to the organic germs suspend-
ed in the air. After these preliminary remarks, he proceeded to refer
briefly to a number of scattered facts, which seemed to him to indicate
the existence of a great principle, which might hereafter be found ap-
plicable to the prevention or mitigation of epidemic diseases, by the
direct use of substances capable of arresting the process of morbific fer-
mentation. He mentioned the following facts as converging to this
conclusion: — 1. Antiseptic substances, ranging from simple, innocuous
matters, such as sugar, up to the powerful metallic poisons, such as cor-
rosive sublimate, and forming a very numerous and diversified group,
have been long known to be capable of arresting the putretaction of
animal and vegetable structures. 2. The same substances prevent the
formation of fungi, as is seen in the use of solutions of metallic salts in
taxidermy, in the prevention of dry-rot, etc. 3. Many of those agents are
also known to arrest at once the process of fermentation, — as, for in-
stance, sulphurous acid ; and Emi and other chemists have observed under
the microscope the rapid stoppage of the vitality of the yeast-plant when
a solution of arsenious acid was added to the fermenting liquor. 4. The
formation of the fungus in and on the plant, which causes the vine dis-
ease, is prevented by applying sulphur to the affected vines. 5. In
Cornwall, it is believed that the arsenical fumes from the tin-calcining
furnaces exercised an influence over the potato-plants in the neighbor-
hood, which preserved them from the disease then affecting other parts
of the same county. [A statement to this effect, signed by Capt.
Charles Thomas, sen., of Dolwath, and sixteen cottagers was here
read.| 6. It has been found, that when a species of fermentation has
taken place in the human stomach, resulting in the development in
large quantities of a minute organism (the sarcina ventriculi), this mor-
bid action can be controlled and stopped by the direct anti-zymotic in-
fluence of certain salts, such as sulphate of soda, in doses pertectly
compatible with the patient’s safety. 7. In different parts of the world,
among different races, a belief has long existed that certain antiseptic
substances, of which arsenic may be taken as the type, are capable of
acting as antidotes or preservative and curative agencies against atmos-
pheric and other poisons; and in some cases that popular belief has
proved to be well-founded. The experience of the multitude discov-

188 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ered the value of arsenic as a cure for ague long before it was recog-
nized as such by physicians. The arsenical fumes of certain works in
Cornwall were stated by the late Dr. Paris to have stopped the ague,
previously endemic there. More recently it has been stated, that the
arsenic eaters of Styria are peculiarly exempt from fevers and other epi-
demic diseases; and in India the natives have long used arsenic as an
antidote to the poison of snakes. Dr. Robinson concluded by express-
ing a belief that these scattered observations were not only sufficient to
justify and necessitate further inquiries in this direction, but seemed in
themselves to shadow forth the outline of a great law, which might at
some future time be productive of immense benefit to mankind.

PESTILENCE IN INDIA.

The following is extracted from the Calcutta correspondence of the
London’ Times, dated April 9th, 1863: “The country of Jessore, on
the confines of which the Ganges loses itself in those innumerable
creeks which constitute the rich Sonderbund marshes, is well known as
the source of that cholera which in 1817 infected Lord Hastings’ army,
and then became, for the first time, the scourge of Europe. In the
same country, a pestilence like the Egyptian plague, generally preceded
by cholera, has long been endemic, and during the last three yeags
—since June, 1860 —has spread all round Calcutta and along the
line of the East Indian Railway to Burdwan. It has slain no less than
40,000 victims, or sixty per cent. of the whole population affected. By
dispensaries and native doctors, Government, always benevolent, in
vain attempted to arrest it, but in November, 62, with the last fall of
rain, it spent its fury. For miles whole villages are abandoned, and
there were none left to bury or burn the dead, whose corpses still pol-
lute the air. The report of Dr. Elliott, appomted to investigate the
epidemic, reveals horrors which even the technical language of the
medical man does not modify. All is attributed to malaria, and water
so filled with decaying organisms that an oily scum floats on its surface.
A Bengalee village is always covered with the densest vegetation, for
the sake of privacy and fruit, and is destitute of the simplest means of
conservancy. Orders have gone forth for the clearance of jungle and
the filling up of pestilential pools, but the people are apathetic and hate
cleanliness, and probably the next rainy season, in June, will see a re-
currence of the plague, described as a remittent, congestive fever,
which carries off the victim in periods of from five hours to fifteen days.
Fortunately for the tropics, where vegetation is so dense, the great heat
destroys or checks malaria ; but the four months of rain are deadly.”

SOLVENT FOR SILK.

M. Persoz, the eminent French chemist, has recently discovered
that when silk is exposed to the action of a neutral solution of chloride
of zine (concentrated to about 60° of the areometer), it is converted
at first into a gummy mass, preserving the threads of the tissue, then
gradually changes into transparent clots, and finally becomes completely
dissolved. In fact, the process of solution is very similar to that of dis-
solving gun-cotton in alcoholized-cther. The solution of silk in chlo-
ride of zinc, of the above strength, takes place gradually at ordimary
temperature ; but if heat is applied to the solvent, the solution is rapidiy

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 189

effected, becoming viscous and capable of being drawn into threads
like thick syrup. It then resembles a strong solution of gum-arabic.
By employing Mr. Graham’s method of dialysis, the silk can now be
entirely separated from the chloride of zinc, used as its solvent, and ob-
tained in a pulpy or gelatinous state, resembling golden-yellow var-
nish. M. Ozanam, another French chemist, taking advantage of this
. fact, informs the Academy of Sciences that he is experimenting as to
the possibility of manufacturing silk without the trouble of spinning or
weaving. The silkworm produces a soft, gummy thread which gradually
hardens, and the proposal is to imitate nature and to draw out the silk
into threads of any length and of any thickness, and thus avoid the
trouble of spinning, by a process similar to wire-drawing. Or silk cloth
might be produced, either by a process of pouring out and rolling, or
in endless lengths, after the manner of paper-makers. Other applica-
tions suggest themselves ; and if the silk-pulp can be hardened on dry-
ing, it might be manufactured into ornamental and useful articles for
which gutta-percha is now used. And with this capability of reduction
to the gelatinous condition, we have the means for reconverting old
waste silk, woven or twisted, refuse cocoons and floss, to a useful and
valuable article of commerce.

M. Persoz’s discovery has also suggested a method for detecting tricks
of trade as practised by silk-manutacturers. Much of the woven silk
contains a large proportion of wool or cotton, sometimes of both. Now,
as above stated, chloride of zine dissolves the silk, but leaves untouched
the wool and cotton; the wool in turn is dissolved by an aqueous solu-
tion of caustic potash, which leaves the cotton uninjured. M. Ozanam,
in a recent communication to the French Academy, also carries the
question a step further, by showing that the several operations may be
accomplished in one single bath of ammoniuret of copper. Let the
piece of cloth be plunged into this, and in a short time the cotton dis-
appears; at the end of three, six, or twelve hours, according to the
strength of the bath, the silk is dissolved, leaving the woolintact. Thus
the quality and proportions of the materials of the warp and weft may
be easily determined.

Extent of the Sik Trade of Europe.— The importance of the silk-
trade may be judged of by a few particulars concerning the produce of
Europe only. In an ordinary year, the silk-crop of Italy, including
Southern Tyrol and the canton of Ticino, amounts to more than 100,-
000,000 pounds’ weight, worth, according to quality, from fifteen-pence
to half a crown a pound. ‘The total value is thus seen to be of great
importance ; and from that a notion may be formed of the loss arising
from the silkworm disease, a disease for which no effectual cure has yet
been discovered. In an average year, Lombardy alone produces 30,-
000,000 pounds of silk.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS.

Mr. William Armstrong, in his address before the British Association,
1863, thus alludes to some recent improvements in the manufacture of
illuminating gas: “In this connection,” he says, “it may be proper for
me to notice a recent discovery by Berthelot of a new form of carbu-
retted hydrogen possessing twice the illuminating power of ordinary
coal-gas (see Annual Sci. Dis., 1863, p. 197). Berthelot succeeded in

190 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

procuring this gas by passing hydrogen between the carbon electrodes —
of a powerful battery. Dr. Oddling has since shown that the same
gas may be produced by mixing carbonic oxide with an equal volume
of light carburetted hydrogen, and exposing the mixture in a porcelain
tube to an intense heat. Still more recently, Mr. Siemnes has de-
tected the same gas in the highly-heated regenerators of his furnaces,
and there is now every reason to believe that the new gas will become
practically available for illuminating purposes. Thus it is that dis-
coveries which in the first instance interest the philosopher only, almost
invariably initiate a rapid series of steps leading to results of great
practical importance to mankind.”

A correspondent*of the N. Y. Tribune, under date of Oct. 24, 1863,
also describes some improvements in the manufacture of gas, recently
effected by Dr. W. Elmer, of New York. These improvements, he
says, are based upon the general fact that all the materials it is desir-
able to convert into illuminating gases have in them an excess of carbon
over even the requirements of the richest gas that can be ordinarily
burned ; — still more, over what the common or coal-gas process can
convert. All those materials have in them some hydrogen, but none of
them enough to render all their carbon available. In the first place,
then, the new method obtains from an extraneous source an abundant
supply of the simple element hydrogen, adequate to the needs of any
of the crude materials operated on ; and it regulates this supply so as
to afford to each of the sorts of materials just the percentage of hydro-
gen required, in view of its composition and that of the gas to be gen-
erated.

This additional supply of hydrogen, it is proposed to obtain, by
decomposing the vapor of water, by bringing steam in contact with
metallic zinc at a high temperature, — oxide of zinc and free hydrogen
being the resultant products. This oxide of zinc, in the form of zinc-
white, it is claimed, has a higher value as a pigment than the metallic
zinc originally employed; and, therefore, the cost of hydrogen, liberated
through its agency, is comparatively trifling. The hydrogen, as above
produced, is, by means of an appropriate apparatus, intermixed, at or
near the moment of its liberation, with hydro-carbon vapors containing
an excess of carbon, and obtained by the distillation of bituminous
coals, shales, peat, resin, or other similar substances ; the effect of which,
it is stated, is to produce a mixture containing any desired percentage
of carbon, or such a one as will have the greatest illuminating property.
Illuminating gas, thus produced, is claimed to be more economical in
its production and uses than that manufactured by any other process.

Purifying Gas. — An important improvement in purifying coal-gas,
having for its main object the removal of sulphur, has been lately made
by the Rey. Mr. Bowditch, of England. All gas that is purified in the
common way contains certain quantities of sulphur in the form of
bisulphide of carbon, and probably also in that of sulphur-organic com-
pounds. The gas may be passed in the usual manner over lime or the
peroxide of iron ; but, this operation does not, in the slightest degree,
affect the sulphur compounds in question. During the combustion of
the gas, however, the sulphur is converted into sulphurous acid, which
diffuses itself in the apartment in which it is burned, and a great deal
of the discomfort of which many complain in the use of gas is due to

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 191

this cause. Mr. Bowditch discovered that though cold hydrate of lime
will not remove these impurities, they are, to a great extent, got rid of
by heating the hydrate of lime to a temperature varying from the boil-
ing point of water up to 400° or 500° Fah.; a temperature of 400°
being probably the most convenient for the development of the effects
of his process. This process has been found by repeated experiments
to remove all but about 2 or 3 grains of sulphur per 100 cubic feet of
gas, the quantity of sulphur originally contained in the gas varying
from 5 or 6 grains up to as much as 40 or 50 grains per 100 feet.

CHEMICAL MEMORANDA.

Remarkable Chemical Terms.— The production of numerous new
organic bodies in chemical research, which are the derivatives of sev-
eral prior derivatives, have led chemists to the coining of terms, which
although expressive, are in some instances absurdly complicated and
unpronounceable. ‘Thus, Messrs. Perkin and Church, English chem-
ists, who are devoting themselves to the preparation and practical ap-
plication of the various dyes and other derivatives of coal-tar, announce
in a recent communication to the London Chemical Society, that they
have discovered a new organic base, to which they have applied the
name ‘“ Azodinapthyldiamine ;” and to a derivative of the base, a new
organic acid, they give the still more remarkable name of “‘ Azodinap-
thyldicitraconanaic.”

Mercuric Methyl.— This name is given to a remarkable substance
discovered by Dr. Frankland, of London. It is formed by allowing
iodide of methyl to act upon sodium amalgam, in the presence of acetic
ether. When purified it forms a colorless, highly-refracting liquid, of
the specific gravity 3.069, being in fact the heaviest known liquid, with
the exception of mercury itself. _ So dense is it that a piece of heavy
glass will float upon it. Dr. Frankland states that in the event of this
organo-mercuric compound being required in quantity, no difficulty
_ would be experienced. Upon seeing the specimen of mercuric methyl
handed round at a late meeting of the Chemical Society, London, the
idea occurred to a correspondent of the Chemical News to apply this
liquid to the manufacture of prisms. At present, the only liquid suit-
able for this purpose is bisulphide of carbon, which is not above half
the density, besides being objectionable from its offensive odor, its great
volatility and the ease with which it ignites. The mercuric methyl ap-
a to be superior to the bisulphide of carbon in all these respects.

esides its use for prisms, this liquid might be advantageously employed
in the manufacture of lenses. Formerly, compound lenses, in which
one of the constituents was a fluid held between outer meniscus lenses,
were somewhat in vogue, but were abandoned owing to the advantages
of their construction not being sufficiently great to counterbalance the
difficulties.

New Source of Oxygen for the Animal Organism. — At a recent
meeting of the Munich Academy of Sciences, Baron Liebig announced
what he considered as a very important discovery. The atmospheric
air has hitherto been regarded as the chief or only source of the oxy-
gen employed in the processes of nutrition and metamorphosis within
the animal organism. By the aid of an apparatus, for which the King
of Bavaria provided 7,000 florins from his private purse, it has now

192 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

been shown that within the bodies of carnivora, a very considerable
amount of oxygen is produced from water; and that, under given cir-
cumstances, a powerful process of decomposition i is set up, resolving the
water into its constituent parts, its oxygen serving for the formation of
carbonic acid, and the hydrogen (which often exceeds the volume of
the animal in quantity) being discharged by expiration.

Microscopic Use of Magenta Dye. — Magenta dye can be employed
in microscopic research to great advantage, to tinge blood-globules or
animal cells. It causes nuclear structures to be distinctly displayed.

Pigments from Coal Tar Colors. — The practical application of the
beautiful colors extracted from coal-tar has recently received a further
extension, in the discovery, by a French chemist, of a method whereby
pigments can be prepared from the dyes suitable for use in oil paint-
ing. ‘The process consists essentially’ in mixing a solution of the coal-
tar color in an alcoholic solvent, with a solution of pure white soap in
hot water. ‘To this is added alumina im a gelatinous state (prepared
from alum), when the colors are precipitated in connection with the
alumina. By these means, and especially by the assistance of an animal
matter in a soapy state, the colors are rendered solid and durable, and
are applicable for painting. When the blue and yellow products are
combined, a fine green is obtained, and the mixture of red and yellow
produces an orange color ; and, by the mixture of the different colors,
all varieties of tints can be procured. ‘The richness of these colors is
unequalled; and it is claimed that they remain unchanged when ex-
posed to light.

Poisoning by Nitro-Benzole.— By a paper communicated to the
Royal Society (G. B.) by Dr. Letheby, it appears that if a dose of ni-
tro-benzole be not too large, its poisonous action will not be imme-
diately apparent, but it may “ destroy life by a lingering illness, which
shall not only defy the skill of the physician, but shall also. bafile the
researches of the jurist.” After death, the blood of animals so killed
is black and turbid, and the large organs congested, and no nitro-ben-
zole can be discover ed, if sufficient time has elapsed, as it will then be
converted into aniline. Such facts show the necessity of having medi-.

cal men well trained in chemistry. Aniline produces sy mptoms very
similar to nitro-benzole. The conversion of the latter into the former
takes place in a a stomach, or by contact with putrid flesh for sev-
eral hours.

Effects of Sohrronios Action of Skin. — Edenhuizen has performed
some experiments on rabbits, sheep, a dog, and other animals, for the
purpose of ascertaining what changes take ‘place i in the organism when
the action of the skin is s suppressed. ~ When one- eighth to one-sixth of the
skin of an animal was covered with glue, oil- color, varnish, gum, tar, etc.,
it was sure to die of the effects. Edenhuizen infers from his researches
that in the healthy state, a small quantity of nitrogen in a gaseous form
is given off by the skin, and that this function being suppressed, the
nitr ogen is retained in the blood in the form of ammonia, which is then
deposited as triple-phosphate in the subcutaneous areolar tissue, and in
the peritoneum. The nitrogenous conipound retained in the blood
acts as an irritant to the nervous system, producing rigors, palsies,
cramps, and tetanic attacks.

Secretion of Urea and Chloride of Sodium. — Dr. Emil Becher, as-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 193

sistant-surgeon army medieal staff, took advantage of a voyage to China
to make a series of observations on the relation between air tempera-
ture and the secretions above mentioned, as carried on in his own per-
son. He found a constant increase of the secretions with the rising
temperature from 50° to 70°, and an equally constant falling off, with
the further rise of temperature from 70° to 90°. — From Proceedings
of the Royal Society.

Causes of Coagulation of the Blood.—Prof. Lister observes, “ that
the coagulation of the blood is in no way connected with the evolution
of ammonia any more than with the influence of oxygen or of rest.
The real cause of the coagulation of the blood, when shed from the
body, is the influence exerted upon it by ordinary matter, the contact
of which for a very brief period effects a change in the blood, inducing
a mutual reaction between its solid and fluid constituents, in which the
corpuscles impart to the liguor sanguinis a disposition to coagulate.” —
Proceedings of the Royal Society.

The Effect of Petroleum upon Health has lately been made the
subject of investigation. A memorial was sent to the Liverpool Health
Committee, signed by several hundred citizens, and complaining of the
storage of petroleum in their neighborhood as “a nuisance and prejudi-
cial to health.” The question was referred to Dr. French, the medical
officer of the Board of Health; and, after a very thorough personal
examination of the case, he reported that, while he had no hesitation
in pronouncing the oil a nuisance on account of its strong, offensive
smell, his investigation satisfied him that petroleum was not prejudicial
to health. In order to make a full investigation, he visited 153 houses
in the vicinity of the oil stores, and found no cases of sickness arising
from the petroleum.

New Application of Chloroform. —M. Graw, a French physician,
proposes to destroy the taste of intensely-bitter medicines, by mixing
chloroform with them in certain proportions. He claims that the taste
and odor even of assafcetida can be annihilated.

New Substitute for Albumen. —In consequence of a prize having
been offered in France, for the invention of a substitute for albumen
prepared from hens’ eggs, an albumen equal in quality and much
cheaper has been discovered, which is made from fish-roe.

Artificial Manufacture of Ice. —M. Nickles, in his correspondence
with Silliman’s Journal, states that an invention by M. Carré’s for the
artificial production of ice is finding its way into various branches of
French industry. Brewers use it to freeze the wort of beer destined
to undergo fermentation ; coffee-house keepers for making ices and
sherbets ; vine-growers to concentrate wine, etc. The principle of this
apparatus is based upon the great quantity of heat which ammonia,
liquefied by condensation absorbs in becoming again gaseous, as this
body contains an immense amount of latent heat.

Ammonia in the gaseous state is readily obtained, as is well known,
by boiling the ammoniacal liquid known in commerce as “ volatile al-
kali,” to reproduce which it is only necessary to expose ammonia in
the presence of water: to liquefy the gas, simple pressure is adequate.
As it so readily takes the gaseous form, it is sufficient simply to remove
the pressure which retains it as a liquid, and as this change of state is
possible only on the condition that the liquefied ammonia retakes the

17

194 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

heat lost in its liquefaction, we perceive that it will rapidly cool the
vessel which contains it and, consequently, the neighboring material.

To undertake the method of putting these principles in operation, we
have only to suppose an apparatus composed of two retorts soldered to-
gether by the necks, the whole perfectly close and without communica-
tion with the outer air. In the larger, of these retorts, we place a
concentrated solution of ammonia in water and heat it. Driven off by
the heat, the gaseous ammonia cannot escape without becoming lique-
fied in the small retort.

Reduction of Chloride of Silver.— MM. Millon and Commaille have
communicated to the French Academy of Sciences an extremely ele-

ant reaction, by which absolutely pure metallic silver may be precipi-
tated from its ammoniacal combinations, with all the accuracy necessary
for rigid analysis, and in such a division as to render it available in the
arts.

The reagent employed is ammonio-subchloride of copper. When
this substance 1s added to ammonio-nitrate or ammonio-chloride of silver,
the whole of the silver is at once thrown down in the metallic state as
a gray amorphous precipitate. The precipitate readily assumes a me-
tallic lustre under the burnisher, and may be applied to the surfaces of
wood, stone, etc. The reaction takes place so periectly that it may
be employed either for the estimation of silver, or for the analysis of
a mixture of sub and protosalt of copper ; every atom of silver thrown
down representing one atom of sub-chioride of copper. It is, however,
especially valuable for reducing the chloride of silver residues of the
laboratory. These are dissolved in ammonia, and the ammoniacal sub-
chloride of copper added, when the metallic silver is at once obtained
in its purity. Moreover, it is only necessary to digest the filtrate with
a little powdered zinc in a closed flask, in order to reduce again the
copper salt, and it is ready for a fresh operation. In this way, the same
quantity of copper solution suffices for an indefinite number of precipi-
tations.

Tinned Lead Pipes, etc. — At a late meeting of the Liverpool Chem-
ists’ Association, specimens of lead pipe and sheet-lead, electro-plated
with tin, were exhibited by Mr. Holt, and some discussion ensued re-
specting the use of lead coated in this manner for water cisterns and
pipes. It appeared to be the opinion of the meeting that a coating of
tin, instead of preserving the lead, was far more likely to ensure its
more rapid corrosion ; for if the coating of tin by any means happened
to be scratched off, even to the slightest extent, galvanic action would
take place, and the lead would be destroyed very quickly. Dr. Nevins
and Dr. Edwards stated that their experiments had proved that such
would undoubtedly be the case ; Dr. Edwards remarking that in one
case which he had examined, a cistern made of lead, in which was an
accidental admixture of tin, was eaten out by well-water in six months,
the lead being rapidly precipitated in the form of sulphate, ete.

Use of Dead-Sea Water.—M. Roux has laid before the French
Academy an analysis of this water, which shows that, in addition to
considerable quantities of chlorides of magnesium, sodium, calcium, and
potassium, it contains bromide of magnesium to the extent of 0.364
grammes in 100,000 grammes. M. Roux considers that it may prove
a very valuable medicine in scrofulous, syphilitic, and many other

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 195

affections. Shall we have this locality converted into a fashionable
watering-place, and find Dead-Sea water figuring amongst the articles
of import trade? It is evident that if bromides come into greater de-
mand for photographic, medical, and other purposes, they might be
economically prepared on this spot, at least to the extent of evaporating
the water in shallow basins by natural heat, and sending the solid
residue to our laboratories for future manipulation.

Interesting Applicution of Dialysis. — Already an economical appli-
cation of Mr. Graham’s ingenious process of dialysis has been discovered,
and tried, with an interesting result, in the utilization of brine. In the
curing of meat, there commonly remains a quantity of waste brine ; but
Dr. Marcet, by dialysing this refuse liquor, separates the salt from the
juice of the meat, and the latter remains fit for use as an article of diet.
Separated in quantities on a great scale, it might be converted into
soup for prisons and penitentiaries, or for half-starved cotton-spinners
in Lancashire. From this beginning it would, perhaps, be safe to pre-
dict that dialysis will prove as valuable to commerce as to science.

Cement of Casein.—Dr. Wagner, in The Technologist, recommends the
employment of a cold saturated solution of borax or of silicate of soda,
to dissolve casein. The solution of casein by borax, is a clear liquid,
of viscid consistence, more adhesive than gum, and able to replace in
many cases strong glue. Stuffs of linen and cotton impregnated with
this solution can be treated with tannic acid or acetate of alumina and
rendered impermeable.

Non-Inflammable Fabrics. — A French chemist recommends the
following simple method of rendering muslins and all other light stuffs
incombustible ; it is merely necessary to mix with the starch used in
making therm up the half of its weight of carbonate of lime, commonly
ealled Spanish chalk or Spanish white. The muslin or other stuff is
then ironed as usual. ‘The chalk thus added in no respect injures
either the appearance, the quality, or the whiteness of the stuff. —
Times. -

M. Lauvageon, a French investigator, has also discovered that cot-
ton cloth which has been exposed for a certain time to the vapor of
burning sulphur assumes such an amount of incombustibility that al-
though it will char and become brittle when held over the flame of a
spirit lamp, it cannot be made to take fire, while under like conditions
similar cloth, but unprepared in this way, inflamed immediately. If
the alleged facts be borne out in practice, the problem is solved; for
the simplest domestic means may be devised for subjecting, after being
washed, all white clothing to the vapor of sulphur, which will tend to
make it still whiter. Moreover, it may not prove necessary to repeat
the exposure so often.

Coffee Crushed vs. Coffee Ground.—TIt is not generally known
that coffee which has been beaten is better than that which has been
ground. Such, however, is the fact; and in his brief article on the
subject, Savarin gives what he considers the reasons for the difference.
As he remarks, a mere decoction of green coffee is a most insipid drink,
but carbonization develops the aroma, and an oil, which is the peculi-
arity of the coffee we drink. He agrees with other writers that the
Turks excel in this. They employ no mills, but beat the berry with
wooden pestles in mortars. When long used, these pestles become

-

196 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

precious and bring great prices. He determined by actual experiment
which of the two methods was the best. He burned carefully a pound
of good Mocha, and separated it into two equal portions. The one
was passed through the mill, the other beaten, after the Turkish fashion,
in a mortar. He made coffee of each. Taking equal weights of each,
and pouring on an equal weight of boiling water, he treated them both
precisely alike. He tasted the coffee himself, and caused other com-
petent judges to do so. The unanimous opinion was, that coffee beaten
in a mortar was far better than that ground in a mill. And after men-
tioning that any may repeat the experiment, he tells a strange anec-
dote of the influence of one or the other kind of manipulation, namely :
“‘ Monsieur,” said Napoleon, one day, to Laplace, “ how comes it that
a glass of water into which I put a lump of loaf sugar tastes more pleas-
antly than if I had put in the same quantity of crushed sugar ?” “ Sir,”
said the philosophical senator, “there are three substances, the con-
stituents of which are identical — sugar, gum, and starch; they differ
only in certain conditions, the secret of which nature has preserved.
I think it possible that in the effect produced by the pestle, some sac-
charine particles become either gum or amidon, and cause the differ-
ence.” — Boston Transcript.

THE DISSOCIATION OF WATER.

This term will seem strange to English ears, but perhaps not more
so than its equivalent, ‘la dissociation de eau” to the French, and at
any rate it seems most advisable to preserve the name given by M. H.
St. Claire Deville to the very interesting phenomena described by him
to the French Academy, in a paper of which we proceed to give an
account.

M. Deville commences by stating that if a tolerably rapid cur-
rent of hydrogen is made to traverse a porous earthen tube and the gas
which escapes is collected, it is found to be, not hydrogen, but in round
numbers, oxygen twenty-one, and nitrogen seventy-nine. ‘Thus the
hydrogen is dispersed through the atmosphere, and air is absorbed by
the porous tube in virtue of endosmose, and in spite of the pressure of
some centimetres of water, or mercury, into which the abducting tube
is plunged, and which is maintained in the interior of the apparatus.”
If the porous tube is introduced into an impermeable porcelain tube,
shorter than itself, and closed at each end with a cork, through which
the porous tube is inserted, a space is enclosed into which any kind of
gas canbe admitted. For this purpose, the corks are pierced so as to
admit an exit and entrance tube of glass. The porous tube is similarly
provided, and if a current of carbonic acid gas 1s made to traverse the
space between the porous tube and the porcelain tube, while hydrogen
is driven through the former, the hydrogen changes its place, and may
be inflamed at the exit where the carbonic acid might have been ex-
pected, while the porous tube allows nearly pure carbonic acid to es-
cape. These facts, observes M. Deville, are in accordance with the
observations of Professor Graham and M. Jamin.

If the preceding apparatus is placed in a furnace supplied with dense
fuel, affording a heat of 1100° to 1300° (C.), it will suffice to demon-
strate the spontaneous decomposition of water, a phenomenon which
M. Deville terms dissociation. To accomplish this, vapor of water is

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 197

passed through the porous tube, instead of the hydrogen in the former
experiment, while carbonic acid gas traverses the space between the
two tubes. The gases that emerge are collected over a bath containing
otash, to absorb the carbonic acid, and received in small glass jars.
Vhen the furnace is in activity, the tubes yield an explosive mixture
of oxygen and hydrogen — the elements of water.

Thus it appears that part of the water is decomposed or “ dissociated ”
in the porous tube. “ The hydrogen, attracted (appelé’) by the carbonic
acid in the annular interspace, has traversed the walls of the porous
tube, and separated itself by the simple action of a filter from the oxy-
gen which remains in the interior tube. A considerable quantity of
carbonic acid is attracted in a contrary direction, according to the rule
established in the preceding experiments, and mingles with the oxy-
gen.” This is the broad explanation which M. Deville gives, but he
remarks that the action is in reality more complicated; as, when the
hydrogen comes in contact with the heated carbonic acid, some car-
bonic oxide is formed, and a certain quantity of the latter gas is found
to replace the hydrogen. It is also difficult to avoid the escape of some
hydrogen, which leaves the oxygen in excess, and the water contains
enough air to effect the result. ‘The carbonic acid determines the
separation of the gases by endosmose; but it may also act mechani-
cally.”

i explanation of these facts, M. Deville states, that the temperature
of the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen is not equal to 2500° C., at
which point the volume of the gases, estimated at 0° C., is multiplied
tenfold, and beyond which the complete decomposition of water takes
place. ‘“ But this decomposition is accompanied by a considerable ab-
sorption of latent heat, to the extent required to keep the molecules of
oxygen and hydrogen at a distance beyond the radius of the sphere of
their affinity. Thus the decomposition of a body resembles the ebulli-
tion of a liquid, the principal characteristic of which is invariableness
of temperature under the same pressure.” Admitting the comparison
between decomposition and ebullition, M. Deville regards “ dissociation,”
or partial decomposition at a temperature below the decomposing point,
as resembling the evaporation of liquids below their boiling point.
“Tf” he observes, “‘ you shut up some water in a small vessel, at ordi-
nary temperature, the evaporation is slight, on account of the tension
that is produced when vapor is formed ; but, if you introduce a piece of
chloride of calcium, the water evaporates until that substance is satu-
rated, the tension remaining constant all the time.” He imagines the
carbonic acid to carry off the dissociated gases just as the chloride of
calcium absorbs the vapor, and then the process of dissociation, like
that of evaporation, is enabled to go on.

Porosity of Platinum.— In prosecuting further experiments in re-
gard to the above subject, some interesting facts relative to the porosity
of platinum and its endosmotic action were elicited. They caused a
platinum tube to be drawn out of one piece, so as to be free from all
solder, and to present a uniform and unbroken surface. This platinum
tube was introduced into a porcelain one, so that an empty cylindrical
space was left all round between the two, properly stopped at each
end. Through this space, a constant current of hydrogen was made to

pass, by means of two glass tubes inserted at the extremities, so as not
17*

198 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

to allow of the slightest communication with the platinum tube, which
was filled with dry air. On exposing this tube to a high temperature,
the air by degrees lost its oxygen, and water was formed; a circum-
stance which could only be explained by admitting that hydrogen had
penetrated through the pores of the platinum tube; and, on the tem-
perature being further raised, a considerable quantity of free hydrogen
was found to issue from that tube. This shows that platinum, at a
high temperature, is capable of producing the phenomena of endos-
mosis with gases.

CONCENTRATION OF MINERAL WATERS.

Sea-water, in freezing, forms flakes of ice consisting of nearly pure
water, and an extremely saline liquid which in northern countries is
utilized in the production of marine salt. Very recently, Dr. Robinet,
a physician of Paris, has discovered that the same process can be ap-
plied in the purification of fresh water. In freezing water from the
Seine, from wells, and from springs, he found the ice produced to be so
entirely free from the salts of lime and magnesia which were contained
in the water, that, thus purified, it may be considered as nearly equal
to distilled water. So it is now proposed to procure water on board
ships, no longer by distillation but by congelation.

The same fact is made use of in the concentration of mineral waters,
a problem which has offered itself for a long time, but which the em-
ployment of heat could not solve, on account of the gas originally in
solution which the heat expelled. Cold works better. Dr. Ossian
Henry, of Paris, has experimented with forty different varieties of
water, and finds that it is possible, by congelation, to reduce mineral
waters to one-eighth, one-tenth, one-fifteenth, or even one-twentieth of
their original volume, without producing any alteration in the gases
contained in them. 100 litres of mineral water can thus be reduced to
5, giving great economy to transportation; moreover, the ice itself is
also valuable. But we do not believe that the therapeutic properties
of the extract will be identical with those of the water in its original
state, because of the changes which manifestly take place in the con-
tained salts, changes so evident that Mr. Balard has been able to base
upon them a manufacture of sulphate of soda, by exposing to a tem-
perature sufficiently low the water containing NaCl and MgO, SO%,
which result from the manufacture of sea-salt by the evaporation of
sea-water.

The publication of this process has given occasion for a protest on
the part of Mr. Tichon, an apothecary of Aix les Bains (Savoy), ac-
cording to which the same process has been used since 1856, by him
and a Mr. Melsens, who was staying at Aix for his health. The min-
eral water which he drank here, and which is sulphurous, proving dis-
agreeable to his taste, he undertook to remove part of the odor by sub-
mitting it to a freezing mixture. In this way, he was able, not only to
mask the disagreeable odor, but also to concentrate the mineral in-
gredients. Mr. Tichon adds that congelation will not suit all mineral
waters, inasmuch as it alters the organic matter therein dissolved.

CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 199

FORM OF A DROP.

Without examination, of: a close and careful character, we are apt
to assume that a drop of any known fluid has one form. It is round:
and whether it be a drop of oil, a drop of water, a drop of ether, or
any other of the innumerable fluids which are known, they all appear
to be round. Prof. Tomlinson, of King’s College, London, finds, how-
ever, if we examine drops of different liquids under certain conditions,
that each drop assumes a form peculiar to its own kind of liquid, by
which it may be known and identified. A drop of otto of lavender
puts on one shape, a drop of turpentine another. Drops of sperm-oil,
olive-oil, colza-oil, naptha, creosote — indeed, each individual drop, be
the fluid what it may — can be easily recognized byits form. In order
to test any of these forms or shapes, we have but to place a drop of
the fluid under examination upon water. For this purpose, we must
employ a glass to hold the water, taking the greatest care that it is
quite clean ; it must even be rinsed after being wiped, lest there be the
least dust from the cloth adhering to the vessel. ‘The glass being then
filled with distilled or clean filtered river water, we let fall upon it a
drop of the fluid, and watch the shape or form it puts cn.. A very lit-
tle practice will show how easy it is thus to distinguish a drop of one
fluid from that of another. Even more; if one fluid be mixed with an-
other, for any sinister motive or design, we can thus detect the mix-
ture, because we can see each fluid in one drop of the mixture. Thus,
by the examination of one drop of sperm-oil adulterated with one-
twentieth of colza-oil, the mixture is instantly discovered. So, if tur-
pentine be mixed with otto of lemons, or otto of lavender, we have now
a ready mode of discovering the cheat. — Scientific American.

SUBSTITUTION OF SOLUBLE GLASS FOR THE RESINOUS SOAP
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORDINARY SOAP.

In many countries, but especially America, enormous quantities of
colophony have long been used in making hard brown or yellow soap.
These compound soaps are very useful, and in point of cheapness no
other soap can compete with resinous soap. The civil war in America,
by causing the blockade of the ports of the Slave States, whence most of
the resin is derived, has induced an extraordinary rise in the price of
colophony, so that the further manufacture of cheap soaps seemed for
the time arrested.

To meet this difficulty, the attention of soap-makers has been di-
rected to the preparation of soaps containing silicate of soda, or the
so-called “soluble glass.” This idea is by no means new, and has been
for some time practically introduced in England; but the process
lately introduced into the United States differs notably from those
pious in use, by making use of a product rich in silica, capable of

orming a hard and comparatively neutral soap, instead of extremely
alkaline mixtures, as in England.

The American process commences in preparing, by the dry way, a
silicate of soda containing five equivalents of silica and two of soda,
which is dissolved by prolonged boiling in water. The solution is
sometimes hastened by pressure. The limpid solution, freed from all in-
soluble impurities, is decanted and concentrated to about 35° B.;

200 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

.

1.32 specific gravity being the state in which it is sold. After prepar-
ing, by the usual process, a certain quantity of pure soap with tallow,
oil, or other kind of grease, and when the boiling is just finished, it is
poured, while still hot and in a fluid state, into forms or moulds, and
the desired quantity of concentrated solution of silicate of soda, either
cold or heated, is added at the same instant. To incorporate the sili-
cate thoroughly, the mass is stirred until the cooling renders this op-
eration difficult. It is then left to harden. By this process, the sili- |
cate of soda becomes so perfectly incorporated with the soap that as
much as sixty per cent. of this solution at 35° B. may be added, and
yet yield a soap of adequate consistency. But generally not more
than from twenty-five to forty per cent. of silicate is added to the soap.
It is this power of adding so large a proportion of alkaline silicate,
thoroughly saturated with silica, which forms one of the great advan-
tages of the American process.

Soap prepared by the American process differs materially from or-
dinary resin soap neither in appearance or action. It has passed sat-
isfactorily through the trial of a great demand, and appears to serve
perfectly well for all the uses to which ordinary soap is applied. The
American government has already bought large quantities of it for the
use of the army at a much lower price than was formerly given for
resinous soaps, and it has undergone all the tests exacted by its agents.

It may also be remarked, that a mixture of silicate of soda and or-
dinary soap has been preferably used for some time in washing woollen
fabrics in one of the largest establishments of the United States.

Silicate of soda is useful to soap-makers for several qualities not pos-
sessed by resin; for instance, the addition of a large quantity of silicate
of soda imparts to the soap neither that disagreeable odor nor the glue-
iness which too great a proportion of resin communicates. It may be
introduced into soap in much larger proportions than resin without in
any way injuring the sale of the product.

It is not probable that resin will ever resume its former importance
to the soap-maker. It will still be used conjointly with the silicate of
soda, since a little resin serves to correct the nauseating odors of in-
ferior fats, and because, according to some makers, it augments the
detersive action of the soap.

The use of soluble glass in hard soaps should not be confounded with
the use, as detergents, of simple solutions of silicate of soda. The latter
are simply alkaline solutions, similar to those of alkaline carbonates.
They act chiefly, if not wholly, by their chemical nature, for they do
not lather, and in that and other respects are unlike real soaps; while
the silicate of soda soap, owing to the portion of fatty acid it contains,
lathers abundantly, and behaves like ordinary soap, the mechanical
and chemical conditions required by a good soap being fulfilled.

It should be borne in mind that silicate of soda soap is distinct from
siliciferous soaps formerly prepared by the mechanical addition of silica
or of some insoluble silicate, such as silicate of alumina, which is sim-
ply a useless adulteration, while in soaps containing soluble glass a
portion of fatty acid, so to speak, is replaced by a weak, mineral acid,
equally efficacious in modifying the causticity of the alkali.

The introduction of soluble glass for the manufacture of soap con-
stitutes another example of the rapidity with which one industrial pro-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 201

cess displaces another, previously preferred, but whose further devel-
opment is impeded by circumstances.

THE COLORING MATTER OF THE RED SEA.

To Ehrenberg is due the merit of having first described (in 1826)
the nature of the organism from which this coloring matter is derived.
He found it in the Bay of Tor, and called it Trichodesmium Erythra-
eum, which another writer, Montagne, advisedly changed to T. Ehren-
bergii. “ No one,” says Mr. Carter, ‘“‘ who has read the memoir of
M. Danste on this subject, can doubt that this is not the only organism
which colors the sea red in different parts of the world.” In June,
1862, Mr. Carter himself had an opportunity of seeing the color of the
Red Sea, on which he gives a few observations. When approaching
Aden, on May 31, he passed through large areas of a yellowish-brown
oily-looking scum on the surface of the sea; and on June 2, when off
the Arabian side of the first island sighted in the lower part of the Red
Sea, after leaving Aden, it again appeared, and he frequently passed
through large areas of it. Only once, he saw a portion of brilliant red
and one of intense green together in the midst of the yellow. The
odor which came from this scum was like that of putrid chlorophyll or
like that from water in which green vegetables have been boiled. He
drew up some of this scum, and found it to be composed of little short-
cut bundles of filaments, like oscillatona. On examining the specimens,
microscopically, in January, 1863, he found the little bundles, which
were still just visible to the naked eye, like so much sawdust. Their
color was still faint yellowish to the naked eye; but the filaments un-
der the microscope were faintly green. After referring to the evidence
of other observers, Mr. Carter considers that the occurrence of Trich-
odesmuim Ehrenbergii in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Aden, the In-
dian Ocean and the Sea of Onan isso far substantiated; and as the
yellow color, in all instances, probably passes into red, we have appar-
ently the explanation of the whole of these seas having been called by
the Greeks, Erythraean (red). Next to the yellow color, red is most
prevalent and green least of all. Although Mr. Carter adds many
other interesting particulars, he concludes by saying that much yet re-
mains to complete the history of this little plant, which unfortunately,
can only be obtained by watching it long and narrowly in its habitat.
— Annals of Natural Mistory.

THE NUTRITION OF PLANTS.

One of the vexed questions in vegetable nutrition has long turned
upon the source from which plants derive their nitrogen. As this gas
is so abundant in atmospheric air, the early speculators naturally as-
sumed that plants derived their nitrogen from the air, by the simple
process of direct absorption. This was, however, subsequently shown
to be eminently improbable, and the very chemists who propounded
the hypothesis, retracted it. The denial has for many years been
stereotyped in text-books, and M. Dumas felt some hesitation in bring-
ing forward the recent discovery of a young chemist, M. Jobin, which
proves that the Confervee —if no other plants — really are capable of
the direct absorption of nitrogen, instead of receiving it by a decom-
position of nitrates. His experiments consist in placing Conferve

202 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

- where they can receive no nitrogen except that which is in the air, the
rest of their food being furnished from simple carbonates, such as sugar,
glycerine, etc. Under such conditions, they grow and develop per-
fectly ; and as growth is impossible without a supply of nitrogen, the
conclusion is irresistible. Moreover, M. Jobin finds, that at the mo-
ment of the absorption of the nitrogen by the plant, the hydrogen
thus released combines with the nascent oxygen given off by the plant,
and thus forms water. — Proc. French Academy.

THE CAPABILITIES OF SOILS.

Prof. Voelcker, the well-known agricultural chemist, in a recent lec-
ture before the Royal Institution, London, on the “ soils of England,”
advocated several views opposed to the general belief of agriculturists.
He stated that the fertility of land was not capable of being perma-
nently decreased by bad management, whereas, by good management
the poorest land may be made to yield large and remunerative crops,
as evidenced by the success of Flemish agriculture. Formerly the in-
fluence of the mechanical properties of the soil were much overrated,
and at the present time too much influence is ascribed to the chemical
properties. When potash or ammonia salts pass through soils the basic
portion is retained, the acids passing away in conjunction with the
lime of the soil. Soda, which is of less importance to plants, is not re-
tained, whereas potash and ammonia are absorbed both by clay or sili-
cate of alumina, and by hydrated oxide of iron, and retained in spite
af repeated washings. The sesquioxides, of which those of iron (Fe*
O°) and aluminum (AI? O°) are taken as types, may be regarded as
weak acids, retaining the alkalies in the soil. Prof. Voelcker men-
tioned that so far from the soil of England being in the process of ex-
haustion, that its fertility was being greatly augmented, in good farm
practice the restoration being in advance of the exhaustion. Asa
proof of this he stated that in Norfolk the average produce of wheat
was —in 1773 = 15 bushels peracre. In 1796 = 28 bushels per acre.
In 1862 == 82 to 36 bushels peracre. The increase being due to drain-
age, tillage, and to the growth of improved varieties.

NEW RESEARCHES ON OZONE.

In a communication to the Annales de Chimie, M. De Luna states
that, — 1. Every time that chemical reaction takes place in atmospheric
air the oxygen in the air is ozonized. 2. The ozonoscopic paper made
blue by the ozone is decolorized in an atmosphere of hydrogen. ‘The
coloration and decoloration of the paper can thus be produced nearly in-
definitely, by plunging the paper alternately in ozonized air and hydro-
gen. The following is the mode of operation: In an empty flask, per-
fectly dry, is placed a tube terminating with a funnel, by which
sulphuric acid may be so poured in that the extremity of the tube may
rest in it, the tube having a piece of ozonoscopic paper twisted round
it. While the flask is dry, no change takes place ; but if the flask be
made damp, when the sulphuric acid is poured in, the combination of
the latter with the water ozonizes the air, and the paper becomes blue.
Ozonification takes place when chemical action is set up by putting
fragments of soda or potash into the dry flask. M. De Luna also easily
prepares ozone by adding to a flask of oxygen a concentrated solution

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 203

of caustic potash and a little sulphuric acid. As soon as the ozono-
scopic paper becomes blue, the odor of ozone is perceived, and the gas
may be removed by the ordinary modes.

The Composition of Ozone.— Comptes Rendus, No. 14, 1863, con-
tains an important paper on ozone, by M. J. L. Soret, presented to
the French Academy by M. Regnault, in which, amongst other facts,
he states that if ozone is destroyed by heat, by bringing a platina spiral,
passed up into a globe containing ozonized oxygen, to a dull red heat,
the volume of oxygen is considerably increased, while a very slight in-
crease takes place in oxygen that has not been ozonized. For this
and other reasons, the writer regards ozone as composed of more than
two atoms of oxygen. M. Soret observes that many chemists regard
oxygen in its ordinary gaseous state as composed of two atoms, 00, and
he says we may conceive molecules of ozone to consist of three atoms
of oxygen, 000, and to constitute a binoxide of oxygen. He thinks it
may contain more than three atoms of oxygen, but to determine the
exact number its density should be known.

Ozone as a Disinfectant. — Dr. Delabrousse recommends the manu-
facture of ozone in the wards of hospitals, for the purpose of their dis-
infection. “‘ What we want is,” he says, “a proper supply of ozone — that
is, of a body which is capable of decomposing, and so of neutralizing,
the miasms constantly arising in hospital wards, and which at the same
time is not hurtful to the patients.” And thus, he tells us, the problem
is solved. Ozone is such a body, and may be thus used. A spiral
platinum wire is placed beneath an inverted funnel, and is rendered
incandescent by means of Bunsen’s pile. Hereupon the characteristic
smell of ozone is perceived in the heated air circulating above the fun-
nel; and its presence is shown by the test paper. Thus may we obtain
a ready and practical supply of ozone, and so insure the disinfecting
of our hospital wards. — british Med. Jour.

ABSORPTION OF GASES BY CHARCOAL.

The absorption of gases by charcoal is the subject of a paper by
Dr. R. Angus Smith (so eminent for his method of testing the purity
of the atmosphere), in a recent number of the Proceedings of the Royal
Society. His observations show that — 1. Charcoal absorbs oxygen so
as to separate it from common air, or from its mixtures of hydrogen and
nitrogen, at common temperatures; and, 2, that charcoal continues this
absorption for at least a month, although the chief amount is absorbed
in a few hours, sometimes in a few seconds, according to the quality of
the charcoal. 3. It does not absorb hydrogen, nitrogen, or carbonic
acid for the same period. 4. Although the amount absorbed is some-
what in the relation of the condensability of the gases by pressure, this
is not the only quality regulating the absorption of oxygen at least.
5. When it is sought to remove the oxygen from charcoal by warmth,
carbonic acid is formed, even at the temperature of boiling water, and
slowly even at lower temperatures. 6. Charcoals differ extremely in
absorbing power and in the capacity of uniting with oxygen, animal
charcoal possessing the latter property in a greater degree than wood
charcoal. 7. Nitrogen and hydrogen, when absorbed by charcoal, dif-
fuse into the atmosphere of another gas with such force as to depress
the mercury three-quarters of aninch. 8. Water expels mercury from

204 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the pores of charcoal by an instantaneous action. 9. The action of
porous bodies is not indiscriminate, but elective. Dr. R. Smith, in his
“‘ Theoretical Considerations,” says, “ The elective nature of porous
bodies may be closely allied to three properties, — the condensability of
the gases, the attraction and perhaps inclination to combine, and the
capacity of combination. Chemical affinity issupposed to involve an
attraction which is purely chemical. We have no proof of any such
attraction as a separate power; we have only a proot of the combina-
tion. Attraction may exist without the power of combining chemically,
or without, in other terms, chemical affinity, which is only known by
combination. The previous attraction has never yet been shown to be
of two kinds; and it seems more in accordance with nature to diminish
than increase the number of original powers.”

THE QUALITY OF WATER IN RELATION TO THE ARTS AND
MEDICINE.

The quality of water in relation to the arts and to medicine has
been very fully considered by M. E. Chevreul in his “‘ Chemical Re-
searches on Dyeing,” the thirteenth and fourteenth memoirs of which
have just been laid before the French Academy of Sciences. Although
the employment of distilled water in dyeing has been found to possess
many advantages over well-water and river-water, such as that of the
Seine (e. ¢., the first with salts of copper giving an azure tint, which
the other will not), yet it is found that, when woollen stuff is passed
through steam, the sulphur that is contained in the wool will form with
the salts of copper the reddest color that would have succeeded to the
azure-tinted whiteness of the wool. In accordance with the results of
many of the researches of the present day, M. Chevreul says that his
experiments prove the grave inconveniences of the “ absolute” in our
judgments. In regard to medicinal waters, he considers that we have
been indebted to empiricism for our knowledge of the diverse actions
of sulphurous, ferruginous, and alkaline waters in the animal economy.
He exemplifies the necessity of accurate analyses by pointing out the
errors which have ensued in the preparation of artificial mineral waters.
For instance, it has only lately been discovered that some mineral
waters contain arsenic. How, then, can a water be prepared without
fully comprehending the effect which this ingredient has upon the hu-
man system, one which almost certainly would be lost in the imitation.
To determine the true action of medicinal waters, M. Chevreul requires
that we should know —1, The definite matters or chemical species
contained in the water; 2, The influence of the climate in which the
water is taken by the sick persons; 3, The change in their habits con-
sequent upon their removal from home ; and, 4, The influence of their
respective idiosyncrasies (their physical and mental peculiarities).

Water for Domestic Purposes. — At a late meeting of the London
Chemical Society, Dr. Woods read a paper on the character of the
water which should be used for drinking and domestic purposes. He
insisted that organic matter in water was injurious to health, and it was
as much the duty of a physician to prevent as to cure disease. He
stated that his attention was pointedly directed to this subject by the
case of two French ships that had been dispatched simultaneously with
troops from Algiers to France, and under similar circumstances except-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 205

ing the water with which they had been furnished. The water of one
was obtained from a marshy place where the ague was prevalent ; that
of the other from an elevated position where the ague did not prevail.
Soon after sailing, the troops on board of the vessel supplied with water
from the marsh spring were seized with remittent fever, while not a
case occurred on board of the other vessel. Dr. A. Smee, who was
present, stated as his opinion that as a rule all animal excreta in water
should be considered poisonous to animals of the same class, and all or-

ganic matter of a decomposable character in water was highly preju-
dicial to health.

DEODORIZATION OF SEWAGE.

_ A late number of the London Journal of Gas-Lighting and Sanitary

Improvement contains a report of Dr. Letheby, on the deodorization of
sewage at Northampton, England, where there is an establishment for
the purpose. About 100,000 gallons of drainings from the sewers are
received at the works daily. Lime and the chloride of iron are used
for defecation ; ten bushels of the former and sixty pounds of the latter
are used for 100,000 gallons of sewage. The two substances are mixed
with water in separate tanks, and the solutions flow over in graduated
quantities, into a common discharge pipe, whence they pass into the sew-
age as it flows from the outfall of the town into the subsiding tanks. Here
the solid matter precipitates, and the comparatively clear water runs
away by an overflow at the opposite end of the tank, into the outfall-
ditch. After working continuously in this manner for about a fort-
night or three weeks, the solid matter, in a slushy condition, is drawn
up from the bottom of the tanks, and run into prepared pits, where it
is mixed with about its own bulk of ashes. This gives consistence to
the material, and converts it into a solid compost, which is sold for
manure. Respecting this mode of deodorizing the sewage, Dr. Letheby
says, —

“‘ The chloride of iron should be dissolved in water, and allowed to
run by a graduated stream into the sewage before it reaches the lime.
A contrivance should also be used for effecting a perfect mixture of
the iron solution with the sewage. This having been accomplished, the
sewage should then receive its dose of lime-liquor, and be again well
agitated, so as to be thoroughly mixed. In this manner, a heavy, clot-
ty precipitate will be produced, which will rapidly fall in the subsiding
tanks, and leave the supernatant liquor clear, and perfectly inoffensive.
The proportion of chloride of iron and lime should be about 4 or 5 grains
of the former, and 14 or 15 of the latter toa gallon of sewage. The
total for a day’s working with 100,000 gallons of sewage would be about
64 pounds of the former, and about 200 pounds of the latter. The

uantities should be so regulated that the supernatant liquor at the
outfall should be clear, colorless, and but faintly alkaline. With this
modification of the process, I am of opinion that the sewage works may
be conducted and managed so as not to be at all offensive or injurious
to those who reside in the neighborhood.”

SUGAR AS FOOD.

Mr. Bridges Adams, the English physiologist, in a recent paper on
the “Uses of sugar in assisting assimilation of food,” says, ‘ I know
18

206 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

by experience the difference in nutritious effect produced by the flesh
of tired cattle on a march, and those slain in a condition arising from
abundant food and healthy exercise. In a former case any amount
might be eaten without the satisfaction of hunger, whilst in the latter
a smaller amount removed hunger. But I discovered that certain other
food of a different quality, such as grape-sugar and fruit, would help the
tired meat to assimilate, and thus to remove hunger.” Puddings and
fruit-tarts are not, therefore, simply flatteries of the palate, but digest-
ive agents; provided, always, they are not themselues made of rebel-
liously indigestible materials. The reviewer alludes to the fondness of
artisans for confectionery, and of patients just discharged from the hos-
pital asking for ‘‘ sweets” in preference to “ good substantial food,” as
examples of a correct instinct. There is no doubt that in children, in
whom the requirements of growth call for a rapid and efficient trans-
formation of food into tissue, the demand for sweets is very imperious ;
and parents should understand that the jampot will diminish the butch-
er’s bill, and increase the amount of nutrition extracted from beef and
mutton.

THE CHEMISTRY OF DIGESTION, BY DR. MARCET.

Until very recently, but little attention had been bestowed by
chemists on those changes which go on under the influence of organic life,
and, in consequence, many vague speculations had been entertained
and published concerning this most interesting department of science ;
of late years, however, many able investigators had taken the subject
in hand, and much progress had already been made. Many obstacles
attended these inquiries, on account of the difficulty of observing the
conditions of the immediate principles during life; the term ‘“ imme-
diate principles” being applied to those substances produced by organ-
ic life from which no less complex body could be obtained without a
complete destruction of the substance in question. As an example of
the power possessed by organic substances of preventing ordinary
chemical reactions, the influence of albumen or the serum of blood on
lactate of iron was shown. <A mixture of this salt with white of egg
gave no color with ferrocyanide of potassium, although the lactate
itself furnished the ordinary blue precipitate. With respect more es-
pecially to the chemistry of digestion, it appeared that after a long fast,
the contents of the stomach were alkaline, and very small in quantity -
as soon, however, as food was introduced, the gastric juice was secreted
in quantity, and an acid reaction was perceptible. The object of the
action of the gastric juice was, no doubt, to render the food capable of
absorption ; and accordingly it was found that albuminous, gelatinous,
and other similar matters introduced into the stomach, became convert-
ed into a substance called “ peptone,” which, according to Lehmann,
might be viewed as the same body, whatever nitrogenous food was
employed; it had been shown, however, that the peptones resulting
from the digestion of cartilage and the mucous membranes rotated the
plane of polarization of light, whereas peptones from albumen had not
this power. The gastric juice, which was at first abundant, gradually
diminished in quantity and became more acid, probably in order that
it might act on the less masticated or less easily digestible portions of the
food. Besides the conversion of the albuminous matter into peptone,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 207

another important change took place in the stomach, namely, the de-
composition of the neutral fats and setting free of the fatty acids; this
was an important decomposition, for the bile would form an emulsion
with a fatty acid, but not with a neutral fat; some of the fat sometimes
escaped decomposition, but the pancreatic secretion formed an emulsion
with this portion. The formation of an emulsion seemed to depend on
the incrustation of each globule with a layer of soap, which prevented
the globules from coalescing, and increased their specific gravity, so
that they remained for a long time suspended in the liquid. Dr. Mar-
cet considered that in experiments on digestion it was always better to
employ gastric juice obtained directly from the stomach of an animal,
instead of an artificial compound, such as was employed by some physi-
ologists. There was some dispute as to the nature of the free acid ex-
isting in the gastric juice, — some supposed it consisted of hydrochloric
acid, while others imagined that other free acids, especially lactic acids,
were present ; since quantitative determinations of the amount of hy-
drochloric acid and of the bases present in the gastric juice showed
that there was more hydrochloric acid than was sufficient to combine
with all the base, it was evident that there must be some free hydro-
chloric acid present; it was highly probable, however, that other acids
were present in a free state; for on placing some gastric juice ina
dialyzer and leaving it until all the hydrochloric acid had passed away,
the remaining matter was found to be still acid. It had been supposed
that the soda introduced in the shape of common salt with the hydro-
chloric acid of the gastric juice was employed in the formation of bile;
but it appeared from the interesting researches of Dr. Bence Jones
that this was not exactly the case, for healthy blood was always alka-
line, but appeared to have an incessant tendency to become acid; the
acid was, however, as rapidly removed by the secreting organs ; and it
had been found that when the secretion of gastric juice was active, the
urine became less acid, and it gradually increased in acidity as the
gastric secretion was moderated, so that the two actions balanced one
another. It appeared that if no salt were supplied with the food eaten,
the hydrochloric acid secreted was totally absorbed again with the
food, furnishing an example of that wonderful power of adaptation to
circumstances which enabled animal life to continue under varying
external conditions. The only materials of the food that passed through
the stomach and intestines undigested were such substances as hair,
horns, etc.; together with these, however, a small quantity of excre-
mentitious matter, obtained from the various secretions poured into the
intestines, was always present, and a crystalline matter of definite
chemical composition, and bearing some analogy to cholesterine, might
be extracted from it.

LIEBIG’S THEORY OF FOOD.

After having for many years enjoyed an almost uncontested appro-
val from physiologists and chemists — after having been the universal
doctrine taught in class-rooms and text-books — and after having been
put to the test by cattle-breeders — Liebig’s theory of food is now be-
coming less and less accepted among real investigators; that is to say,
among men who, loyal to fact, are able to resist the seduction of a fa-
cile formula which seems to explain the mystery, but really leaves it

208 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

untouched. The latest opponent we have to name is Mr. Savory,
who recently presented a paper before the Royal Society, entitled, Hz-
periments on Food ; its Destination and Uses.

Liebig’s theory may be briefly stated thus : — Animals require food
to build up the fabric, and keep up the temperature of their bodies.
The plastic, or tissue-making food, is furnished by certain organic sub-
stances which contain nitrogen, and only by these; it is therefore
called, indifferently, either nitrogenous, or tissue-making food. The
heat-making food is furnished by certain organic substances destitute
of nitrogen ; it is therefore called, indifferently, either non-nitrogenous
or calorifacient food. Albuminous substances, rich in nitrogen, form
the animal fabric ; carbonaceous substances, — fats, oils, starch, sugars,
alcohol, etc., are quite incapable of forming any part of the animal
fabric, and are used as so much fuel, which is burned in the body to
keep up the temperature.

The theory is thus here re-stated, simply with a view to enable our
readers to better appreciate the experimental results arrived at by
Mr. Savory. He fed animals upon different diets, taking particular
note of the weight, temperature, and general condition of the animals.
In one class, they were fed on a non-nitrogenous diet, consisting of
equal parts, by weight. of arrow-root, sago, tapioca, lard, and suet; in
this mixture there was only a slight fraction of nitrogen, (.22 per cent.)
In another class, the diet was nitrogenous, with only a small amount of
fat, (1.55 per cent.) In the third class, the diet was mixed. What
were the results? These :—

Nitrogenous materials are not only heat-making, but, under some
circumstances, suflice alone to maintain the requisite temperature.
[This is in perfect accordance with the results obtained by Bischoff
and Voit. ]

It is in the highest degree probable, that under certain cireumstan-
ces, nitrogenous materials may prove directly heat-making, without
previously forming tissue. Although life cannot be maintained with-
out nitrogenous food, no matter how abundantly the other kinds are
supplied, life, and even health and the normal temperature, can be
maintained upon a diet almost exclusively nitrogenous.

Finally, “in these experiments the significant fact appeared, that
while the weight, strength, and general condition of the animals varied
very widely ander the different diets to which they were subjected,
no considerable fluctuation was observed in their temperature. Even
the slight variation from time to time recorded, seemed rather to result
from other causes, than to depend directly on the food.”

It is unnecessary to point out the irreconcilable contradiction be-
tween Liebig’s theory, and such facts. We will only add in conclu-
sion, that Liebig’s theory was not founded on any precise investigations,
but was simply a deduction from certain chemical premises, supported
by random facts drawn from the reports of travellers, the observa-
tion of a few countries, and such-like sources. The theory had so
plausible an air that the illustrative facts seemed merely required
to render it popularly intelligible, and not to serve as proofs, But a
rigorous scrutiny of the theory detects its initial mistake, a rigorous
confrontation with facts exposes its want of solid basis.

GEOLOGY:

THE EARTH’S CLIMATE IN PALEOZOIC TIMES.

The following interesting suggestion relative to the climate that pre-
vailed upon our earth during the paleozoic epoch, is communicated to
the American Journal of Science by Prof. 'T. S. Hunt.

The late researches of Tyndall on the relation of gases and vapors
to radiant heat are important in their bearing upon the temperature of
the earth’s surface in former geological periods. He has shown that
heat, from whatever source, passes through hydrogen, oxygen and ni-
trogen gases, or through dry air, with nearly the same facility as
through a vacuum. These gases are thus to radiant heat what rock-
salt is among solids. Glass and some other solid substances, which are
readily permeable to light and to solar heat, offer, as is well-known,

reat obstacles to the passage of radiant heat from non-luminous bod-
ies; and Tyndall has recently shown that many colorless vapors and
gases have a similar effect, intercepting the heat from such sources,
by which they become warmed, and in their turn radiate heat. Thus
while for a vacuum the absorption of heat from a body at 212° F. is
represented by 0, and that for dry air is 1, the absorption by an at-
mosphere of carbonic acid gas equals 90, by marsh gas 403, by olefiant
gas 970, and by ammonia 1195. The diffusion of olefiant gas of one-
inch tension in a vacuum produces an absorption of 90, and the same
amount of carbonic acid gas, an absorption of 5.6. The small quanti-
ties of ozone present in electrolytic oxygen were found to raise its ab-
sorptive power from 1 to 85, and even to 136; and the watery vapor
present in the air at ordinary temperatures in like manner produces
an absorption of heat represented by 70 or 80. Air saturated with
moisture at the ordinary temperature absorbs more than five-hun-
dredths of the heat radiated from a metallic vessel filled with boiling
water, and Tyndall calculates that, of the heat radiated from the earth’s
surface warmed by the sun’s rays, one-tenth is intercepted by the
aqueous vapor within ten feet of the surface. Hence the powerful in-
fluence of moist air upon the climate of the globe. Like a covering of
-glass, it allows the sun’s rays to reach the earth, but prevents to a great
extent the loss by radiation of the heat thus communicated.

When, however, the supply of heat from the sun is interrupted dur-
ing long nights, the radiation which goes on into space causes the pre-
cipitation of a great part of the watery vapor from the air, and the
earth, thus deprived of this protecting shield, becomes more and more
rapidly cooled. If now we could suppose the atmosphere to be min-
gled with some permanent gas, which should possess an absorptive
power like that of the vapor of water, this cooling process would be in
a great measure arrested,°and an effect would be produced similar to

is* 209

210 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

that of a screen of glass; which keeps up the temperature beneath it,
directly, by preventing the escape of radiant heat, and indirectly by
hindering the condensation of the aqueous vapor in the air confined
beneath.

Now, we have only to bear in mind that there are the best of reasons
for believing that, during the earlier geological periods, all of the carbon
since deposited in the forms of limestone and of mineral coal existed
in the atmosphere in the state of carbonic acid, and we see at once an
agency which must have added greatly to produce the elevated tem-
perature that prevailed at the earth’s surface in former geological peri-
ods. Without doubt, the great extent of sea, and the absence or rar-
ity of high mountains, contributed much to the mild climate of the Car-
boniferous age, for example, when a vegetation as luxuriant as that
now found in the tropics flourished within the frigid zones; but to
these causes must be added the influence of the whole of the carbon
which was afterwards condensed in the forms of coal and carbonate of
lime, and which then existed in the condition of a transparent and per-
manent-gas, mingled with the atmosphere, surrounding the earth, and
protecting it like a dome of glass; To this effect of carbonic acid it is
possible that other gases may have contributed. The ozone, which is
mingled with the oxygen set free from growing plants, and the marsh
gas, which is now evolved from decomposing vegetation under condi-
tions similar to those then presented by the coal-fields, may, by their
great absorptive power, have very well aided to maintain at the earth’s
surface that high temperature the cause of which has been one of the
enigmas of geology.

SECULAR COOLING OF THE EARTH.

Professor William Thomson, in a communication to the Royal So-
ciety of Edinburgh, says, “The fact that the temperature of the
earth increases with the depth below the surface implies a continual
loss of heat from the interior by conduction outwards, through, or into
the upper crust. Since the upper crust does not become hotter from
year to year, there must, therefore, be a secular loss of heat from the
whole earth. It is possible that no cooling may result from this loss of
heat, but only exhaustion of potential energy, which, in this case, could
scarcely be other than chemical affinity between substances forming
part of the earth’s mass. But it is certain that either the earth is be-
coming, on the whole, cooler from age to age, or that the heat conduct-
ed out is generated in the interior by temporary dynamical action
(such as chemical combination). To suppose, as Lyell has done, that
the substances combining together, according to the chemical hypothe-
sis of terrestrial heat, may be again separated electrolytically by thermo-
electric currents, due to the heat generated by their combination, and
thus the chemical action and its heat continued in an endless cycle,
violates the first principles of natural philosophy, in exactly the same
manner and to the same degree as to believe that a clock constructed
with a self-winding movement may fulfil the expectations of its ingen-
lous inventor by going forever.

_ “Adopting as the more probable, the simpler hypothesis that the earth
1s merely a heated body cooling, and not, on the whole, influenced to
any sensible degree by interior chemical action, the author applies

ZOOLOGY. " 211

Fourier’s theory of the conduction of heat to trace the earth’s thermal
history backwards. From data regarding the specific heat and thermal
conductivity of the earth’s substance, he investigates the time that must
elapse from an epoch of any given uniform high temperature through-
out the interior, until the present condition of underground tempera-
ture could be reached. Taking into account the very uncertain char-
acter of the data when high temperatures are concerned, he infers that
most probably either the whole earth must have been incandescent at
some time from 50,000,000 to 500,000,000 years ago, or that at some
less ancient date, but still anterior to the earliest human history, there
must have been up to the surface a temperature above the boiling
point of water. Either alternative —or indeed any theory whatever
consistent with the principles of natural philosophy regarding previous
conditions of the earth — is as decisive against the views of those nat-
uralists who acknowledge no creation of life on the earth within fath-
omable periods of time, as the plainest elements of dynamics are against
those who maintain that we have no evidence in nature of an end.” —
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

THE FORMS OF STRATIFIED ROCKS.

The following is a report of a lecture, embodying some curious and
original views, delivered before the Royal Institution, London, by Mr.
J. Ruskin, the well-known writer on art. The purpose of the dis-
course was to trace some of the influences which have produced the
present external forms of the stratified mountains of Savoy, and the
probable extent and results of the future operation of such influences.
The subject was arranged under three heads, —1. The Materials of the
Savoy Alps. 2. The Mode of their Formation. 3. The Mode of their
subsequent Sculpture. 1. Their Materials. The investigation was
limited to those Alps which consist, in whole or in part, either of Jura
limestone, of Neocomian beds, or of the Hippurite limestone, and in-
clude no important masses of other formations. All these rocks are
marine deposits; and the first question to be considered, with respect
to the development of mountains out of them is the kind of change
they must undergo in being dried. Whether prolonged through vast
periods of time, or hastened by heat and pressure, the drying and solid-
ification of such rocks involved their contraction, and usually, in con-
sequence, their being traversed throughout by minute fissures. Under
certain conditions of pressure, these fissures take the aspect of slaty
cleavage ; under others, they become irregular cracks, dividing all
the substance of the stone. If these are not filled, the rock would be-
come a mere heap of debris, and be incapable of establishing itself in
any bold form. ‘This is provided against by a metamorphic action,
which either arranges the particles of the rock, throvghout, in new
and more crystalline conditions, or else causes some of them to separate
from the rest, to traverse the body of the rock, and arrange themselves
in its fissures; thus forming a cement, usually of finer and purer sub-
stance than the rest of the stone. In either case, the action tends con-
tinually to the purification and segregation of the elements of the stone.
The energy of such action depends on accidental circumstances. First,
on the attractions of the component elements among themselves; sec-
ondly, on every change of external temperature and relation. So that

912 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

mountains are at different periods in different stages of health (so to
call it) or disease. We have mountains of a languid temperament,
mountains with checked circulations. mountains in nervous fevers,
mountains in atrophy and decline. This change in the structure of ex-
isting rocks is traceable through continuous gradations, so that a black
mud or calcareous slime is imperceptibly modified into a magnificently
hard and crystalline substance, enclosing nests of beryl, topaz, and sap-
phire, and veined with gold. But it cannot be determined how far, or
in what localities, these changes are yet arrested ; in the plurality of
instances, they are evidently yet in progress. It appears rational to
suppose that as each rock approaches to its perfect type the change
becomes slower; its perfection being continually neared, but never
reached ; its change being liable also to interruption or reversal by new
geological phenomena. In the process of this change, rocks expand or
contract : and, in portions, their multitudinous fissures give them a duc-
tility or viscosity like that of glacier-ice on a larger scale. So that
many formations are best to be conceived as glaciers, or frozen fields
of crag, whose depth is to be measured in miles instead of fathoms;
whose crevasses are filled with solvent flame, with vapor, with gelatin-
ous flint, or with crystallizing elements of mingled natures; the whole
mass changing its dimensions and flowing into new channels, though
by gradations which cannot be measured, and in periods of time of
which human life forms no appreciable unit.

2. Formation. Mountains are to be arranged, with respect to their
structure, under two great classes, — those which are cut out of the beds
of which they are composed, and those which are formed by the con-
volution or contortion of the beds themselves. The Savoy Mountains
are chiefly of this latter class. When stratified formations are contort-
ed, it is usually either by pressure from below, which raises one part
of the formation above the rest ; or by lateral pressure, which reduces
the whole formation into a series of waves. "The ascending pressure
may be limited in.its sphere of operation; the lateral one necessarily
affects extensive tracts of country, and the eminences it produces van-
ish only by degrees, like the waves left in the wake of a ship. The
Savoy Mountains have undergone both these kinds of violence in very
complex modes and at different periods, so that it becomes almost im-
possible to trace separately and completely the operation of any given
force at a given point. The speaker’s intention was to have analyzed
as far as possible, the action of the forming forces in one wave of sim-
ple elevation, the Mont Saléve ; and in another of lateral compression,
the Mont Brezon; but the investigation of the Mont Saleve had pre-
sented unexpected difficulty. Its facade. had been always considered
to be formed by vertical beds, raised into that position during the terti-
ary periods; the speaker’s investigations had, on the contrary, led him
to conclude that the appearance of vertical beds was owing to a pecul-
larly sharp and distinct cleavage, at right angles with the beds, but
nearly parallel to their strike, elsewhere similarly manifested in the
Jurassic series of Savoy, and showing itself on the fronts of most of the
precipices formed of that rock. The attention of geologists was invited
to the determination of this question. The compressed wave of the
Brezon, more complex in arrangement, was more clearly defined. A
section of it was given, showing the reversed position of the Hippurite

GEOLOGY. 213

limestone in the summit and lower precipices. This limestone wave
was shown to be one of a great series, running parallel with the Alps,
and constituting an undulatory district, chiefly composed of chalk beds,
separated from the higher limestone district of the Jura and lias by a
long trench or moat, filled with members of the tertiary series —chiefly
nummulite, limestones, and flysch. On the north side of this trench,
the chalk beds were often vertical, or cast into repeated folds, of which
' the escarpments were mostly turned away from the Alps; but on the
south side of the trench, the Jurassic, Triassic, and Carboniferous beds,
though much distorted, showed a prevailing tendency to lean toward
the Alps, and turn their escarpments tothe central chain. Both these
systems of mountains are intersected by transverse valleys, owing their
origin, in the first instance, to a series of transverse curvilinear frac-
tures, which affect the forms even of every minor ridge, and produce
its principal ravines and boldest rocks, even where no distinctly excavat-
ed valleys exist. Thus, the Mont Vergi and the Aiguilles of Salouvre
are only fragmentary remains of a range of horizontal beds, once con-
tinuous, but broken by this transverse system of curvilinear cleavage,
and worn or weathered into separate summits. The means of this ulti-
mate sculpture or weathering were lastly to be considered.

3. Sculpture. The final reductions of mountain form are owing
either to disintegration, or to the action of water, in the condition of
rain, rivers, or ice, aided by frost and other circumstances of tempera-
ture and atmosphere. All important existing forms are owing to dis-
integration, or the action of water. That of ice had been curiously
overrated.- As an instrument of sculpture, ice is much less powerful
than water; the apparently energetic effects of it being merely the ex-
ponents of disintegration. A glacier did not produce its moraine, but
sustained and exposed the fragments which fell on its surface, pulver-
izing these by keeping them in motion, but producing very unimport-
ant effects on the rock below; the roundings and striation produced
by ice were superficial; while a torrent penetrated into every angle
and cranny, undermining and wearing continually, and carrying
stones, at the lowest estimate, six hundred thousand times as fast as
the glacier. Had the quantity of rain which has fallen on Mont Blane
in the form of snow (and descended in the ravines as ice), fallen as
rain, and descended in torrents, the ravines would have been much
deeper than they are now, and the glacier may so far be considered
as exercising a protective influence. But its carriage is unlimited, and
when masses of earth or rock are once loosened, the glacier carries
them away, and exposes fresh surfaces. Generally, the work of water
and ice is, in mountain surgery, like that of lancet and sponge, — one
for incision, the other for ablution.. No excavation by ice was possi-
ble on a large scale, any more than by a stream of honey; and its va-
rious actions, with their limitations, were only to be understood by
keeping always clearly in view the great law of its motion as a viscous
substance, determined by Prof. James Forbes. The existing forms of
the Alps are, therefore, traceable chiefly to denudation as they rose
from the sea, followed by more or less violent aqueous action, partly
arrested during the glacial periods, while the produced diluvium was
carried away into the valley of the Rhine or into the North Sea. One
very important result of denudation had not yet been sufficiently re-

#

214 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

garded ; namely, that when portions of a thick bed had been entirely
removed, the weight of the remaining fasses, pressing unequally on
the inferior beds, would, when these were soft, press them up into arched
conditions, like those of the floors of coal-mines in what the miners
called “ creeps.” More complex forms of harder rock were wrought
by the streams and rains into fantastic outlines: and the transverse
~ gorges were cut deep where they had been first traced by fault or dis-
tortion. The analysis of this aqueous action would alone require a
series of discourses; but the sum of the facts was, that the best and
most interesting portions of the mountains were just those which were
finally left, the centres and joints as it were of the Alpine anatomy.
Immeasurable periods of time would be required to wear these away ;
and to all appearances, during the process of their destruction, others
were rising to take their place, and forms of perhaps far more ndbly-
organized mountains would witness the collateral progress of humanity.

THE FORMS AND WASTE OF ALPINE PEAKS.

Mr. Whymper, a well-known Alpine explorer, in a letter to Prof.
Tyndall, thus describes his observations respecting the causes which
give form to, and at the same time tend to degrade, the prominent
of the Alps. He says, The manner in which the peak of the

Jatterhorn has been produced has given rise to much speculation
amongst geologists and others, but hardly any theory which has been
advanced can be regarded as satisfactory, while the simple agency of
frost does not seem to have been taken into sufficient consideration.
The enormous power brought into play by the action of frdst, and its
influence in forming the outlines of mountains, more particularly the
Matterhorn, are subjects which recurred to me on this expedition on
many occasions. It was, indeed, impossible not to think about them.
Whence come these avalanches of rocks which fall continually, day
and night ? They fall from two causes: the first, and least powerful,
is the action of the sun, which detaches small stones or masses of rock
which have been arrested on ledges, and bound together by snow or
ice. Many times, when the sun has risen high, I have seen such re-
leased, fall gently at first, gather strength, and at last grow into a
shower of stones. ‘The second, and by tar the most powerful, is the
freezing of the water which has trickled during the day into the clefts
and crannies of the rock. This agency is, of course, most active in
the night, and then, or during very cold weather, the greatest falls take
place. It is not too much to say that I have, on several occasions,
seen hundreds of tons of rocks careering down one particular part of the
Matterhorn well known to all those who have attempted to ascend the
mountain. During seven nights which I have passed on it, at heights
varying from 11,509 to nearly 13,000 feet, the rocks have fallen inces-
santly in showers and avalanches. The greatest fall I have heard or
seen was at midnight in 1861. I was dozing in a blanket-bag, when
from high aloft there carhe a tremendous report, followed by a second
of perfect quiet. Then, mass after mass poured over the precipices,
the great rocks in advance, and as they descended toward the place
where we lay in safety, we could hear them smiting each other, bound-
ing and rebounding from cliff to cliff, making a hurricane of sound, —
the more impressive as the cause was invisible. It seemed to me, at

bs

GEOLOGY. 215

the time, as if the entire face of a cliff had fallen outwards, producing
the first great crash, and had afterwards rolled over as I have described.
This action of the frost does not cease in winter, inasmuch as it is im-
possible for the Matterhorn to be entirely covered with snow. Less
precipitous mountains may be entirely covered during winter, and if
they do not then actually gain height, the wear and tear at least is sus-
pended in their case. It is impossible that agencies so powerful as
these can be continually at work without producing some visible alter-
ation in the form of the mountain, and I was not surprised on the last
attempt to find many places very much changed. The ledges, for in-
stance, which are traversed below the Col are becoming difficult from
breaking away, and in many other places I noticed great alterations.
We arrive, therefore, at the conclusion that, although such snow peaks
as Mont Blanc may in the course of ages grow higher, the Matterhorn
must decrease in height. Whether the action of frost is sufficient to
account entirely for the separation of the peak of the Matterhorn from
the ranges of which it is part, may be doubtful ; it is, however, a fact
worthy of notice, that the southern arétes of the mountain, those on
which the combined action of the sun in melting and cold in freezing
is most powerful, are crenellated in a most extraordinary manner,
while the northern faces are comparatively smooth and unworn. Not
only is it so in the case of the Matterhorn, but also in that of the Dent
d’Erron, and many other rocky peaks among the first-class mountains
of the Alps.

- CONFORMATION OF THE ALPS.

Prof. Tyndall, in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine, No. 161,
_ arrives at the following conclusions, after having, during the last seven
summers, viewed the Alps from many commanding points : —

It is, then, perfectly certain that all this mountain region was held
by ice, enormous as to mass, and in incessant motion. That such an
agent was competent to plough out the Alpine valleys cannot, I think,
be doubted ; while the fact that during the ages which must have elapsed
since its disappearance the ordinary denuding action of the atmosphere
has been unable, in most cases, to obliterate even the superficial traces
of the glaciers, suggests the incompetence of that action to produce the
same effect. That the glaciers have been the real excavators, seems
to me far more probable than the supposition that they merely filled
valleys which had been previously formed by water denudation. In-
deed, the choice lies between these two suppositions: shall we assume
that the glaciers filled valleys which were previously formed by what
would undoubtedly be a weaker agent? or shall we conclude that they
have been the excavators which have furrowed the uplifted land with
the valleys which now intersect it? I do not hesitate to accept the
latter view ; and this view will carry us still further. According to it
the glacier is essentially self-destructive. The more deeply it ploughs
the surface of the earth, the more must it retreat. Let the present
Alpine valleys be filled to the level of the adjacent ridges, and vast
fag: os would again start into existence; but every one of these val-
eys is a kind of furnace which sends draughts of hot air up to the
heights, and thus effectually prevents the formation of ice. While
standing on the summit of the Grauhaupt a week or two ago, I was

216 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

perfectly astonished at the force with which these gusts of heated air
rose vertically from the Val du Lys. Marked by the precipitated va-
pors which chanced to be afloat at the time, the vertical gusts were
often as violent as the draught from a factory chimney. ‘Thus, given
the uplifted land, and we have a glacial epoch; let the ice work down
the earth, every foot it sinks necessitates its own diminution ; the gla-
ciers shrink as the valleys deepen; and finally we have a state of things
in which the ice has dwindled to limits which barely serve as a key to
the stupendous operations of a bygone geologic age. ‘To account for
a glacial epoch, then, we need not resort to the hard hypothesis of a
change in the amount of solar emission, or of a change in the temper-
ature of space traversed by our system. Elevations of the land, which
would naturally accompany the gradual cooling of the earth, are quite
competent to account for such an epoch; and the ice itself, in the ab-
sence of any other agency, would be competent to destroy the condi-
tions which gave it birth.

STRUCTURAL ORIGIN OF ROCKS.

It has long been known that pressure has an important effect on the
solubility of salts. Mr. Sorby, the well-known English geologist and
microscopist, has recently found, that by filling the tubes with which
he experiments, at a very low temperature, and placing them after-
wards in proper situations, he is enabled to keep the solutions which
they contain, under a pressure of from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds to the
square inch, for weeks or months continuously, and to watch the re-
sults. The pressure is measured and indicated by a capillary tube en-
closed within the principal one. The researches of Mr. Hopkins and
Prof. W. Thomson have made us acquainted with the effects of pres-
sure on fusion and freezing, and there appears to be an intimate connec-
tion between them and the experiments here under notice. Mr. Sorby
has proved that if a salt contract in dissolving it is more soluble under
pressure, and that if it expand it is less soluble. The law, as might be
anticipated, varies with the nature of the salt. For common salt it
may be stated thus: the extra quantity dissolved varies directly and
sumply as the pressure. On comparing sulphate of copper with ferri-
cyanide of potassium under the same pressure, it is found that one
quantity dissolved of the former is ten times that of the latter; and
there is a still greater variation of the mechanical equivalents. Rea-
soning upon the interesting facts brought out by this investigation, Mr.
Sorby concludes that the experiments “indicate that in some cases
pe causes a slower and in others a quicker chemical action. And

think it probable,” he continues, “that further research will show that

ressure weakens or strengthens chemical affinity according as it acts
in opposition to or in favor of the change in volume, as though chemi-
cal action were directly convertible into mechanical force, or mechani-
cal force into chemical action, in definite equivalents, according to
well-defined general laws, without its being necessary that they should
be connected by means of heat or electricity.” Apply these principles,
and it seems easy to explain peculiarities in the structure of metamorphic
rocks, to account for slaty cleavage, for some of the phenomena of
crystallization, that is, the direction in which the crystals are formed,
and forthe impressions made by oné limestone-pebble in another, as

.GEOLOGY. PAF

seen in the “ Nagelflue,” — the latter a much-debated question amongst
the geologists of Switzerland, Germany, and France.— Proc. Royal
Society. )

GLACIAL MUMMIES.

In the year 1844, aman of the commune of Passy, situated between
Chamounix and Sallenches, went on a pilgrimage of devotion to the
celebrated hospice of St. Bernard. He accomplished his journey, paid
his devotions at the perilous shrine, and returned by the mountain road
to Martigny, where he purchased at the fair then holding there a
large roll of cloth, which he intended to smuggle into Savoy, then be-
longing to Sardinia, while Martigny was, as now, in the canton of Val-
ais, in Switzerland. But the pilgrim of St. Bernard never reached his
home in Passy. His wife mourned his absence, the villagers wondered
for a few days, and gradually, as years glided along, he was compara-
tively forgotten, and his memory began to be lost in obscurity.

During the last week of August, 1863, however, a hunter crossing
the glacier de Buet, while leaping a crevasse, had his attention attracted
by a dark object below, and peering down into the chasm, he saw, be-
neath a transparent sheet of pale blue ice, a human form laid as in an
icy sarcophagus! The features were ruddy and natural, though in hor-
rid contrast to this were the eyeless sockets, whence the eyes had fallen
away. The astonished hunter hastened to inform the village authorities
of Chamounix of his discovery; and on extricating the body it was
readily recognized as that of the long-lost merchant of Passy, and
more certainly identified by the roll of cloth bought nineteen years be-
fore at the Martigny fair, and which was lying near the glacier-
preserved corpse. It was evident that the smuggling mountaineer, in
trying to avoid the frontier authorities and regain his home by circuit-
ous Alpine passes, had fallen into some crevasse, and the slow motion
of the great glacier had gradually brought the lifeless, frozen body
down the slope of Mt. Blanc, to the point where it was discovered.

In the Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1862, page 306, an ac-
count was given of the discovery of a portion of .the body of one of
the three guides who perished in 1820, while attempting the ascent of
-Mt. Blane with Dr. Hammel, a Russian scientist. This body in 1861,
after an entombment of forty years in the ice, was, by the movement of
the glacier des Boissons, thrown out near its base, in a state of remark-
able preservation, though mutilated. During the past summer, addi-
tional remains of one of these guides have been ejected by the moving
glacier, namely, a foot covered with flesh and adhering by the nerves
to a dried up thigh-bone. By the side of the foot was found a compass,
probably that of the doctor, and carried by the guide Auguste Tairraz,
as stated by the surviving guides, which fact leaves but little doubt
of the identity of the limb now found. Strange to say, it was the
grandson of Tairraz who discovered it. A shirt-sleeve of one of the
victims was found in a crevasse, but the arm which it once protected,
being a thicker and larger substance, will, it is predicted, not be recov-
ered for two or three years yet. All the remains above referred to
were buried at Chamounix, with appropriate religious services. In this
connection, the following account, published by Dr. Hammel in 1820, of

19

218 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the disaster, which resulted in the death of his guides, while attempt-
ing the ascent of Mt. Blanc, will be read with interest. He says : —

“ When near the Rochers Rouges, my companion H——— and three
of the guides passed me, so that I was now the sixth in the line and
the centre man. I1——— was next before me, and as it was the first
time we had been so circumstanced during the whole morning, he re-
marked it, and said we ought to have one guide at least between us in
ease of accident. This I overruled by referring him to the absence of
all appearance of danger at that part of our march, to which he as-
sented. I did not then attempt to recover my place in front, though
the wish more than once crossed my mind, finding, perhaps, that my

resent one was less laborious. To this apparently trivial circumstance

owe my life. A few minutes after the above conversation, my veil
being still up, and my eyes at intervals turned toward the summit of
the mountain, which was on the right, as we were crossing obliquely the
long slope above described, which was to conduct us to the Mont Mau-
dit, the snow suddenly gave way beneath our feet, beginning at the
head of the line, and carried us all down the slope to our left. I was
instantly thrown off my feet, but was still on my knees and endeavor-
ing to regain my footing, when, in a few seconds, the snow on our
right, which was, of course, above us, rushed into the gap thus suddenly
made, and completed the catastrophe by burying us all at once in its
mass, and hurrying us downward toward two crevasses about a furlong
below us, and nearly parallel to the line of our march. The accumu-
lation of snow instantly threw me backwards, and [ was carried down,
in spite of all my struggles. In less than a minute I emerged, partly
from my own exertions, and partly because the velocity of the falling
mass had subsided from its own friction. I was obliged to resign my
pole in the struggle, feeling it forced out of my hand. A short time
afterwards I found it on the very brink of the crevasse. This had hith-
erto escaped my notice, from its being so far below us, and it was not
until some time after the snow had settled that I perceived it. At the
moment of my emerging, I was so far from being alive to the danger of
our situation, that on seeing my two companions at some distance be-
Jow me, up to the waist in snow, and sitting motionless and silent, a
jest was rising to my lips, till a second glance showed me that, with the
exception of Mathieu Balmat, they were the only remnants of the
party visible. Two more, however, being those in the interval between
‘myself and the rear of the party, having quickly reappeared, I was
still inclined to treat the affair rather as a perplexing though ludicrous
delay, in having sent us down so many hundred feet lower, rather than
in the light of a serious accident, when Mathieu Balmat cried out that
some of the party were lost, and pointed to the crevasse, which had
hitherto escaped our notice, into which he said they had fallen. A
nearer view convinced us all of the sad truth. ‘The three front guides,
Pierre Carrier, Pierre Balmat and August Tairraz, being where the
slope was somewhat steeper, had been carried down with greater rapid-
ity, and to a greater distance, and had thus been hurried into the cre-
vasse, with an immense mass of snow on them, which rose nearly to the
brink. Mathieu Balmat, who was fourth in the line, being a man of
great muscular strength as well as presence of mind, had suddenly
thrust his pole into the firm snow beneath, which certainly checked the

GEOLOGY. 219

force of his fall. The two guides, Julien Devassoux and Joseph Marie
Coutet, soon appeared. It was long before we could convince ourselves
that the others were past hope, and we exhausted ourselves fruitlessly
for some time in fathoming the loose snow with our poles. We ven-
tured in the crevasse, on the snow which had fallen therein. _ Happily
it did not give way beneath our weight. Here we continued above a
quarter of an hour to make every exertion for the recovery of our
poor comrades. After thrusting the poles in to theif full length, we
knelt down and applied our mouths to the end, shouting along them,
and then listening for an answer, in the fond hope that they might be
still alive, sheltered by some projection of the icy walls of the cre-
vasse ; but, alas! all was silent as the grave.” ;

This calamity, of course, resulted in the abandonment of Dr. Ham-
mel’s enterprise, and served for a time as a check to other attempts to
reach the summit of Mont Blane.

DISCOVERY OF GIGANTIC ANIMALS IN SIBERIAN ICE.

An effort has recently been set on foot, by the Imperial Academy
of St. Petersburg, for promoting the further discovery of the congealed
remains of gigantic mammalia in Siberia. Since the discovery, in
1771, of the rhinoceros imbedded in ice at Wiljui (lat. 64°), of which
hardly any portion was preserved; and that of the mammoth at the
mouth of the Lena, in 1806, of which the preservation of such remains
as still exist was owing to the purely accidental circumstance of the
failure of a Russian embassy to China, one of whose members, happen-
ing to be on the spot, succeeded in obtaining and preserving those
precious relics, but with little or no information as to the circumstances
of the locality, and with the loss of by far the larger portion of the car-
cass—a third of a century elapsed, when another of these gigantic
mummies, thus wonderfully preserved, came to light. Three years,
however, were allowed to elapse before any effective steps were taken
to obtain possession of what then remained, which by that time was re-
duced to an undistinguishable mass. What could be collected was
indeed despatched to St. Petersburg, but without so much as any pre-
cise information as to the place of the discovery, or any circumstances
beyond the fact of the discovery having been made. Since that time,
nothing has been done in the way of further research. It cannot,
however, be doubted that many other such relics must exist, similarly
preserved, and susceptible of detection by active and systematic re-
search. During the last two centuries, it is computed that, at the very
least, 20,000 mammoths, and probably twice or thrice that number,
have been washed out of the ice and soil in which they have been im-
bedded by the action of the spring floods, and among them the occur-
rence of perfect skeletons is far from infrequent.. The tusks only,
however, have been made an object of conservation, from their com-
mercial value as ivory.

THE GLACIERS OF THE HIMALAYAS.

An interesting communication on the glaciers of the Himalayas has
recently been made to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by Capt. Mont-
gomery, chief of the staff of the Trigonometrical Survey of India, now
in the course of prosecution by the British Government.

220 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

In one part of his communication, he tells us of “a continuous river
of ice, running sixty-four miles in an almost straight line, and without
any break in its continuity beyond those of the ordinary crevasses of
glaciers. The Biafo glacier is supplied in a great measure from a vast
dome of ice and snow about 180 square miles in area, in the whole of
which only a few projecting points of wall are visible. Further west,
the Holi Valley produces a fine glacier sixteen miles in length. The
Basha Valley contains the Kero glacier, eleven miles in length, besides
many branches and minor glaciers. The Braldo and Basha, in fact,
contain such a galaxy of glaciers as can be shown in no other part of
the globe, except it be within the Arctic Circle. Captain Montgom-
ery pointed out that the Baltoro, with its main glacier thirty-six miles
in length, and its fourteen large tributary glaciers of from three to ten
miles in length, would form a study in itself, and give employment for
several summers before it could be properly examined. It takes its
rise from underneath a peak 28,287 feet high. The crevasses in the
ice of these glaciers were of great breadth, and of the most formidable
description. An attempt was made to measure the thickness of the
ice by sounding one of these yawning chasms, but a line of 100 feet in
length failed to reach the bottom of it. Observation made at the end
of the glaciers gave a thickness of 300 or 400 feet, but doubtless higher
up a still greater thickness of ice will be found.

REMARKABLE DEPOSIT OF ROCK SALT IN LOUISIANA.

One of the facts of scientific interest brought to light during the
pending civil war is the discovery of an important deposit of rock salt,
of remarkable purity, on the island of Petite Anse, in Vermillion Bay,
on the Gulf coast of Louisiana. The island is a body of very produc-
tive land in every part, of undulating surface, growing rich crops of su-
gar-cane, corn, forest trees, shrubbery, etc., and rises to a height of
about 170 feet, in the midst of a wide-spreading sea swamp, and is
about two anda half miles long from north to south, and about one
and a half miles wide. The soil of the island is an umber-colored ar-
gillaceous loam, capable of forming good bricks. The salt deposit is
found near the southwesterly border of the island, under dry forest
ground, which ground is only about fifteen feet above the level of the
tide-water in the bayou. The salt quarry consists of a whitish or
cream-colored solid smooth rock, underlying the earth, within a space,
so far as yet ascertained, of about forty-five acres, and on an average
of nineteen and a half feet below the surface of the earth, and about
four and a half feet below the surface of the bayou or tide-water.

There is no water or brine moisture within the salt deposit. The
rock is hard, compact, and perfectly dry. The only moisture attend-
ing it is contained in the earthy soil above the rock.

The salt was discovered as follows: salt-springs were recognized on
the island as far back as 1791, and from time to time subsequently.
Salt was manufactured from their water by evaporation. In May, 1862,
the proprietor endeavored to improve one of the springs, and if possible
to find a better supply of brine by digging much lower into the earth ;
and when only about thirteen feet below the surface, the pickaxe man
at the bottom struck upon, as he thought, a cake of ice, but this, upon
being examined, proved to be nearly pure rock salt.

GEOLOGY. pubs |

A writer in the New Orleans Fra, describes the appearance of the
mine as follows: “‘ As we neared the saline bed, we could see through
the scattered trees and bushes white heaps of the quarried rock. salt,
stacked up in piles ten to fifteen feet high, and short distances apart ;
giving evidence of the wells or shafts excavated within the earth below,
and adjacent to these several piles of quarried blocks of salt.

“ The wells or shafts for the blasting and excavating this rock de-
posit are about twelve in number, of different sizes, and ‘located within
a radius of about four hundred feet. They consist of a square or ob-
long excavation down from the surface into the earth — a depth on the
average of about nineteen and a half feet below the surface — to the
hard, smooth, rock salt deposit below. From all of these pits there has
been excavated more or less salt, down into the rock to a depth of from
ten to thirty-five feet below its surface. The salt isso compact as to re-
quire a drill and powder blast for its excavation; the quantity appears
to be inexhaustible. An analysis of the Petite Anse salt by Dr. Rid-
dell, of New Orleans, gives the following composition : — Chloride of
sodium, 98.88; sulphate of lime, 0.76; chloride of magnesium, 0.23;
chloride of calcium, 0.18,—=100. From this analysis, the salt would
appear to be the purest natural salt yet discovered.

THE GOLDEN PARALLELS.

From a summary of interesting facts respecting the two great gold
fields of the world, — Australia and California, — given in a recent
number of the Edinburgh Review we derive the following. The gold
fields of New South Wales and Victoria extend without any interrup-
tion along the slopes of the great mountain range which separates the
eastern seaboard of Australia from the interior of the continent, and
the gold fields of California and British Columbia occur without inter-
ruption along the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Thus there
are presented two great gold-bearing regions, extending along two
widely distant elevations, and probably “owing their auriferous char-
acter to some influence connected with the upheaval. ” The possibility
of establishing a connection between these two gold-bearing regions
will be understood after a little consideration of their characteristics.
The American gold fields, under various names, run along the eastern
seaboard of the Pacific, almost from pole to pole — from Behring’s
Straits in the north to Cape Horn in the south. Throughout this vast
region, large quantities of the precious metal are found. “« From Chili,
in the south, to the British Possessions, in the north, its slopes, spurs,
and subordinate ranges are now yielding gold. From Chili we mount
through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, all still continuing to
yield “the precious metal, after some three centuries of gold mining.
Thence, after we pass the Isthmus, we find the gold miner at work
through Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, | until at length we
come to the British Possessions, str etching to the shores of the Arctic
Ocean.” Such is a brief description of the gold-bearing system of
America. Turning now to that of Australia, there is found a coast-
range running from the extreme northern point of the continent to
the extreme southern point. But this range neither begins nor termi-
nates in Australia. It extends across Bass’ Straits, on “the one hand,
and beyond Cape York on the other; in which direction the chain of

19*

vee 4 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

rocks forms at intervals numerous islands, such as New Guinea, the
Carolines, the Ladrones, and others, until Japan, with its gold-bearing
rocks, is reached. Thus, in accordance with this theory, the basin of
the Pacific has on each side a continuous elevation of volcanic origin.
At intervals, on both sides, gold is now found, from Behring’s Straits
to New Zealand; and it is stated that at the “ beach diggings” in Cal-
ifornia, a bluish sand, not unlike the pipe clay of Ballarat, is frequently
thrown up by the waves, and is found to contain gold in considerable
quantities.

The conclusion arrived at by this reasoning is, that the great gold
fields of the world, as at present known, are included in the vast sys-
tem of volcanic rocks which surround the Pacific. This chain,
though broken here and there, is said to be traceable between Aus-
tralia and America, and to be easy of identification on both sides of
the ocean. Such a continuous and well-marked line of volcanic eleva-
tion has often received the attention of geologists. Humboldt’s view,
which is the one generally accepted on the subject, is that the bed of
the Pacific attained its present depth at a comparatively late period ;
that its unbroken crust, forced down on the molten mass underneath,
caused a quantity of it to rush toward the line of fracture at the edges,
and that this disturbed matter found vent in the elevations which are
now connected with the gold fields of America and Australia. So far,
these considerations, as bearing on the science of geology, are highly
important; but it has to be shown in what way gold is to be connected
with volcanic shocks in some places, and not in others. On this point
it is laid down by Sir Roderick Murchison, that the rocks which
are the most auriferous are of the Silurian age, and that a certain
geological zone only in the crust of the globe is auriferous at all.
Gold, he states, has never been found in any stratified formations com-
posed of secondary or tertiary deposits, but only in crystallme and
paleozoic rocks, or in the drift from those rocks. ‘The most usual origi-
nal position of the metal is in quartzose vein-stones that traverse altered
Silurian slates, frequently near their junction with eruptive rocks.
Sometimes, however, it is partially diffused through the body of rocks
of igneous origin. From this it appears that volcanic eruptions, in
connection with Silurian rocks, are to be regarded as the origin of gold
formations. |

INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ON EARTHQUAKES,

It is well known to the scientific world that the subject of earth-
quake phenomena has for some years been made a specialty of investi-
gation by Mr. Robert Mallet, of England, and that several valuable re-
ports by this gentleman have been published by the British Association
and Royal Society, — including a descriptive catalogue of seven thou-
sand earthquakes. When the intelligence of the great Neapolitan
earthquake of December, 1857, reached England, Mr. Mallet was de-
spatched, under the auspices of the Royal Society, to examine the dis-
trict affected, with a view of reporting on the phenomena in question.
This report has recently been laid before the public, and from it we
derive the following information : —

The great Neapolitan earthquake of 1857 occurred in December,
thus adding another proof to the remarkable fact that earthquakes are

GEOLOGY. 223
s

more prevalent and violent in winter than during summer. Taking
the whole of Europe, the preponderance of earthquakes during winter
is very marked ; the earthquake catalogue to which we have alluded
shows that during fifteen centuries and a half 857 earthquakes occurred
during spring and summer, and 1157 during autumn and winter. And
with respect to Italy it is recorded that generally but little alarm has
been felt in summer when signs portended coming earthquakes, where-
as those in winter have always inspired the oreatest terror.

Mr. Mallet arrived on the scene of the “catastrophe in February,
1858, and although the weather was very inclement, he worked on
steadily until he had examined the entire area. This was about 200
miles long by 160 miles broad, and embraced the peninsula of Calabria
Ultra, south of a line from Cape Suvero to Cape Colonna. The
seismic force greatly varied throughout the region.

The general direction of the earth-waves, s ‘southeast of Naples, ap-
pears to have been from north to south, crossed, however, not unfre-
quently, by other waves from east to west. In both cases the waves
recoiled, producing the terrible replica, or return shock, which whelms
every object within its influence in immediate ruin. Saponara, a town
of eight thousand inhabitants, was absdlutely reduced to ruins in a few
minutes, its destruction being so absolute that it is not at all probable
that it will ever be rebuilt. “Beneath its ruins hundreds of human. be-
ings and animals lie entombed, with fragments of every household
utensil, personal and domestic ornaments, and innumerable records of
human art; yet such is the vitalizing property of the Italian climate
that in a few years verdure and luxurious vegetation will mantle the
heaps where once stood a city, and after but a few generations the ter-
rible fate of its inhabitants, nay, its very site, will have become a tra-
dition as dim as that of the neighboring Grumentum.

Although the earthquake was not felt sensibly at Rome, the disturb-
ance evinced by several delicate instruments in the observatory of that
city led the director of that establishment to conclude that a faint

earthquake wave passed beneath that city. Mr. Mallet traced it dis-
tinctly north of Naples, until the effects of it became lost in the allu-
vium near Terracina.

Having next ascertained the locality of the greatest seismic force, he
proceeded to investigate its depth from the earth’s surface. This he
found to be about five geographical miles, and he believes that the
greatest probable depth of origin of any earthquake impulse occurring
in our planet is limited to 30.64 geogr aphical miles, and therefore only
just touches the depth which, upon received notions as to the movement
of hypogeal temperature, is supposed to form the upper surface of the
imaginary ocean of liquid lava of the earth’s interior. Mr. Mallet, we
observe, doubts the existence of a general increment of temperature as
we descend from the surface of the earth. His speculations on volcanic
heat in connection with this subject are very interesting : —

‘When on Vesuvius, on the occasion of this report, I feel satisfied
that I could have so measured the temperature of the minor mouth,
then in powerful action, to the depth of several hundred feet, had I
possessed the instrumental means at hand. To this smaller mouth it
was then possible, by wrapping the face in a wet cloth, to approach so
near upon the hard and sharply-defined (though thin and dangerous)

294 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

crust of lava, through which it had broken, as to see its walls for quite
150 feet down by estimation. They were glowing hot to the very
lips, although constantly evolving a torrent of rushing steam with vary-
ing velocity. Accustomed as I have been, by profession, for years to
judge of temperatures in large furnaces by the eye, I estimated the
temperature of this mouth, by the appearance of its heated walls, at
the lowest visible depths; they were there of a pretty bright red, visi-
ble in bright winter sunlight overhead. I have no doubt, then, that the
temperature of the shaft at from 300 to 500 feet down was sufficient to
melt copper, or from 1900° to 2000° of Fahrenheit. From the ex-
tremely bad conducting power of the walls of a volcanic shaft, there is
scarcely any loss of heat from any cause except its enormous absorp-
tion in the latent heat of the prodigious volume of dry steam which is
constantly being evolved. It is perfectly transparent for several yards
above the orifice of the shaft, and is not only perfectly dry steam, but
also superheated ; and although this steam may be at the mouth very
much below the highest temperature of the hottest point, the temper-
ature of the shaft or duct that carries it off will be very nearly at all
depths the same, to probably within a very short distance of the point
of the greatest incandescence. In the absence, at present, of better
information, we may suppose the temperature of volcanic cavities in
this region (where Vesuvius is the most ‘ glaring instance’) to be about
2000° Fah. This would give a superior limit of temperature for the
interior of our seismic focal cavity, two and one-fifth times as great as
the maximum arrived at, by applying the supposed law of hypogeal
increment, and would raise the tension of the contained steam (admitting
that we know anything about the state of water at such temperatures
and pressures) to much more than that due to fired gunpowder. The
capability of producing an earthquake impulse depends greatly, how-
ever, upon the suddenness with which the steam is flashed off, and its
tension brought to bear upon the walls of the cavity ; and this is not
most rapid at the highest temperature of the evaporating surface, un-
less, indeed, intense pressure, by bringing the fluid more completely into
contact with the walls of the heated cavity, may modify the effects of
the spheroidal state. On the other hand, the experiments of Boutigny
and others indicate that the most sudden production possible of steam
would take place from the walls of a focal cavity heated to about 500°
or 550°, which is but a few degrees below that of the mean focal depth
as ascertained, namely, 582° Fah.”
The rate at which earthquake-waves travel has always been a sub-
a of great interest and doubt. Mr. Mallet’s investigations have,
owever, so far decided the question, that we may safely assume the
following data to be correct. The extreme velocities of the Neapolitan
earthquake-waves he found to be 1000 feet per second through substan-
ces highly adapted to transmit the waves without much opposition,
and 700 feet per second through bad transmitting materials. It is es-
sential to remark, that these velocities represent the transit of the wave
upon the surface. The velocity of the wave at its maximum, or that
of the wave of shock, is considerably less. Mr. Mallet found it to aver-
age twelve feet per second, which also agrees with the Holynead experi-
ments. Indeed, calculating from the data published by Humboldt of
the celebrated Riobamba earthquake, probably the most violent of

GEOLOGY. 225

which we have authentic records, — when the bodies of many of the
inhabitants were thrown upon a hillside several hundred feet at the
other side of the river, — the greatest velocity of the shock on that oc-
easion did not exceed eighty feet per second. This Mr. Mallet considers
to be the maximum force at present possible upon our earth; it is near-
ly as great as that with which the body of a man falling from the top
of the Duke of York’s Column would strike the pavement.

The latter portion of Mr. Mallet’s work is occupied by discussing the
curious and mysterious phenomenon attaching to earthquakes, called
their secular motion. Humboldt pointed out long ago that the mighty
seismic force which periodically desolates vast districts in South Amer-
ica is continually changing position ; and it is equally certain that the
centre of seismic intensity is not constant in the Italian peninsula.
Since the last century it has continued to move steadily northward of
Calabria, and in Sicily it is moving westward : —

‘These facts distinctly point toward some great conclusions. They
indicate that the same forces, whatever they may be, that develop
themselves as volcanic vents and as earthquakes, are operative every-
where along the lines of the seismic bands, — that is to say, along the
axial lines of nearly all the great mountain-ranges upon our globe, —
but that the intensity of these forces is greater by much at some points
along these axial lines than at others; that the imtensity remains con-
stant nowhere, but shows itself paramount at certain points for immense
periods of historic time ; that it wanes and again waxes powerful at the
same point (Vesuvius in volcanoes, Antioch in earthquakes, for exam-
ple, both long in repose, again long in intense action); and that the
points of greatest intensity at any given time have been found to shift
along the axial lines, now most active here, then further on, but slowly
moving, and in the same direction (or expanding in both directions, as
Humboldt says of the New Madrid band), in the same cycle of time.
Can we possibly, with these facts before us, rest in the commonly-re-
ceived vague notion that volcanic and seismic action have their com-
mon origin in an all-pervading and perfectly uniformly-distributed
planetary temperature, increasing everywhere alike by a uniform hy-
pogeal increment? Can we remain satisfied with the pompous but al-
most empty phrase, although sanctioned by a Humboldt, that ‘they
are due to the reaction of the interior of our planet upon its exterior,’
if the only meaning that we are to attach to the phrase is that the re-
action is that of a universal ocean of heated or of molten matter, every-
where to be reached within some certain limit of depth? Do not the
facts rather all pot toward some cause that has been long present,
and is so now, and still in action wherever mountain-ranges have been
elevated, as well as wherever volcanic vents are thrown or are throw-
ing up their lines of cones, but whose nature must be such as is called
locally and spasmodically into action, now most energetically at one
point, now at another of the same line, but yet is never exhausted at
any ? The discovery of the real nature of this cause will be the key to
all true knowledge, both of volcanic action, which is only its symptom,
and of all the forces that have produced and do produce the elevations,
or, to speak more correctly, the changes of level of the surface of our
own and that of other planets. Earthquakes, then, demand to be re-
garded not as themselves agents of permanent elevation of the land,

226 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

which they cannot be at all, and with respect to which even the great-
est volcanic efforts (accumulated cones) upon our globe are mere skin-
deep phenomena. We must regard seismic and volcanic phenomena
as both unequal effects and local evidences of a wide-spread and con-
stantly but unequally acting yet always active force, resulting in ele-
vation, which is not evidenced indifferently all over the surface of the
globe, but is mainly confined to broad bands conforming to its moun-
tain-ranges.”

We observe that Mr. Mallet dissents entirely from the doctrine that
earthquakes are agents of permanent elevation of the earth’s surface.
All his investigations and researches point, he maintains, to a totally
opposite conclusion. Earthquake waves may, he observes, and un-
doubtedly do elevate the ground, but only for a moment ; for when the
shock is over, the surface returns to its normal condition. His investi-
gations, however, indorse the doctrine that seismic force generally fol-
lows the lines of elevation of the globe, such’ as mountain chains and
ridges, while, on the other hand, the areas of the smallest or of no
known seismic disturbance are the great oceanic or terra-oceanic basins
or saucers, and the great islands existing in shallowseas. Earthquake
energy may, however, become sensible at any point of the earth’s sur-
face, its efforts being always more frequent as the great volcanic lines
of activity are approached.

NEW SUBMARINE VOLCANO IN THE MEDITERRANEAN,

During the month of July, 1863, a submarine volcanic eruption ac-
companied by the formation of a new island, took place off the coast of
Sicily in the Mediterranean, near the island of Pantillaria, and about
twenty-five miles from the shore. There is a report that a voleano ex-

_isted here in the year 1701, and on an old chart there is a reef laid
down precisely on the spot where the volcano now is. It was first
seen by smoke rising from the sea, about the 12th of July. This grad-
ually increased in volume for several days, till fire was seen, and even-
tually a small island was thrown up above the surface, about eighty
or ninety yards long and twenty or thirty feet high, composed of cin-
ders. In the centre of this is a crater, which at the time when the ac-
count from whence we derive our information was written (July 30th),
was in a constant state of eruption, ejecting great volumes of steam
and smoke, as well as cinders and large stones. It is noticeable that
the appearance of this voleano was nearly coincident with the occur-
rence of an earthquake in the island of Lamos.

A correspondent of the London Times, writing from Malta, thus
describes the appearance of the volcano as seen on the 19th of August,
1863. He says, “ when first seen, the voleano appeared like a low
black line, higher at each end than in the middle, with a column of
white smoke rising from the southeast end of it. Running our vessel
within a mile and a half, we landed in boats. The beach, which ap-
pears to be a mixture of ashes and sand reduced to powder, was as

ard as the firmest sand; but very few yards from the water side the
surface was extremely rough, composed of loose cinders of all sizes
heaped lightly together, and very hot to the touch. Vhe summit of
the island we estimated to be about 200 feet above the sea-level. The
crater was at a less elevation, about thirty or forty yards in diameter,

GEOLOGY. 297

with water in it: standing some twenty feet befow the highest edge.
This water was much discolored and boiling strongly, throwing up
quantities of white steam, with sulphurous vapor which much annoyed
us. There was apparently an underground rush of boiling water from
the southeast side into the sea, which might be traced a long way by
its dark color, as well as by the white vapors emitted. Nothing can
be more singular than the appearance of this mass of ashes in the mid-
dle of the sea. You may form some idea of the force of the fire that
must-have been required to form it by considering that it 1s, as near as
could be guessed, three quarters of a mile round, and that, where it
now stands, former charts give soundings in one hundred and thirty
fathoms, and from the soundings lately made it seems to stand on a
large base.” |

CURIOSITIES OF COAL MINING.

From the last volume of the Transactions of the North of England
Institute of Mining Engineers we derive the following interesting in-
formation relative to what may properly be termed the “ curiosities of
coal-mining.”

“ What is called Murton Pit, not far from Durham, is remarkable
for the difficulties overcome in sinking to the coal. In the process of
excavation, the sinkers encountered probably the largest body of water
ever met with in any one mining adventure. The estimated quan-
tities seem incredible. No less than nine thousand three hundred gal-
lons of water were lifted every minute from a bed of quicksand which
lay at a depth of five hundred and forty feet from the surface. This
bed was forty feet in thickness, and for its whole extent thoroughly
saturated with water. Any person may conceive of the difficulty of
sinking through such a quicksand. ‘To encounter and defeat not far
short of ten thousand gallons of flooding springs, minute after minute
and day after day, might well have appalled any engineer. But the
engineer fought the floods with theirown weapons: he made use of
the vapor generated from water — steam — and added horse-power to
horse-power, until, in all, he placed steam engines around that one pit
to the extent of no less than one thousand five hundred and eighty-
four horse-power. Night and day those pumping-eneines were at work
in pumping up the floods; cranks, ‘ crabs’ and all kinds of requisite en-
gineering were added, and the water was obliged to give in, or,
rather, to come out. Murton Colliery is now a thriving concern, and
sends up tubs of coal instead of gallons of water every minute to the
surface. But at what cost was this water pumped out ? At an ex-
penditure of no less than $2,000,000.

“Tt is remarkable that in another sinking for coal, about a couple
of miles from the same locality, the same enemy was again encountered,
and in a continuation of the same bed of quicksand. The colliery-
viewer, however, conducted his campaign so adroitly that he was able
to insulate each separate ‘ feeder’ of water as it was met with in each
stratum of sand and limestone; so that, while an aggregate amount
of upwards of five thousand gallons of water per minute was met with
in passing through the various beds, so cleverly was the whole passage
accomplished that at no time were there more than five hundred gal-
lons in one minute to pump away. ‘This, indeed, was a quantity sufli-

228 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cient to frighten some ; but in comparison with the nine thousand and
odd gallons at Murton it was nothing.

“There are pits where, long after coal has been for many years ex-
tracted from them, the waters break in and flood the mine. In these
instances, again, great enterprise is manifested. In the case of the
‘drowned’ colliery at Jarrow, an attempt was made a few years ago
to draw off the water and to resume ordinary operations. But the
sum of one hundred and ten thousand dollars was spent fruitlessly in
this attempt, and it was ultimately abandoned without drawing up a
single ton of coal.

“Whence all this subterranean water comes is an interesting ques-
tion, but scarcely capable of receiving a satisfactory reply. Its amount
must be immense to afford nearly ten thousand gallons per minute at
one sinking, and probably it is the accumulation of numberless cen-
turies of surface-waters which have percolated through the porous
strata. It is always threatening, and never materially diminished, as
respects its vast ageregate, by any efforts of man; on the contrary, it
is always gaining an man and filling up his excavations. No less than
thirty-six collieries near the river Tyne have been, in mining phrase,
‘drowned out,’ or rendered unworkable by an irresistible irruption of
water, after the best main Wallsend seam had been nearly exhausted.
These stand in the coal district like closed factories in the cotton towns,
with this difference, that the cotton factories may be reopened and
busily at work again, while the drowned collieries are probably
drowned for all future time.”

Exhaustion of the British Coal Mines. —'The subject of the possi-
ble exhaustion of the British coal mines formed a leading topic of con-
sideration in the address of the President of the British Association for
1863, Sir W. Armstrong. “If we contemplate,” he says, “ the rate at
which we are expending those seams of coal which yield the best qual-
ity of fuel, and can be worked at least expense, we shall find much
cause for anxiety. We have already drawn from our choicest mines a
far larger quantity of coal than has been raised in all other parts of
the world put together, and the time is not remote when we shall have
to encounter the disadvantages of increased cost of working and dimin-
ished value of produce. The estimates which have been made at vari-
ous periods as to the time requisite to produce complete exhaustion of
all the accessible coal in the British Islands, are extremely discordant ;
but the discrepancies arise, not from any important disagreement as to
the available quantity of coal, but from the enormous differences in
the rate of consumption, at the various dates when the calculations
were made, and from different estimates of the probable increase of
consumption in the future. The annual product of the British coal
mines has almost trebled within the last twenty years, and has prob-
ably increased tenfold since the commencement of the present century ;
but as this increase has taken place pending the introduction of steam
navigation and railway transit, and under exceptional conditions of
manufacturing development, it would be too much to assume that it
will eontinue to advance with equal rapidity. The statistics collected
by Mr. Hunt, of the Mining Records Office, show that at the end of
1861 the quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom had reached
the enormous total of 86 millions of tons, and that the average annual

GEOLOGY. 229

increase of the eight preceding years amounted to two and three-
fourths millions of tons. Let us inquire, then, what will be the dura-
tion of our coal-fields if this more moderate rate of increase be main-
tained.

“ By combining the known thickness of the various workable seams of
coal, and computing the area of the surface under which they lie, it is
easy to arrive at an estimate of the total quantity comprised in our
coal-bearing strata. Assuming 4,000 feet as the greatest depth at
which it will ever be possible to carry,on mining operations, and re-
jecting all seams of less than two feet in thickness, the entire quan-
tity of available coal existing in these islands has been calculated to
amount to about 80,000 millions of tons, which, at the present rate of
consumption, would be exhausted in 930 years, but, with a continued
yearly increase of two and three-fourths millions of tons, would only
last 212 years. It is clear that long before complete exhaustion takes
place, England will have ceased to be a coal-producing country on an
extensive scale. Other nations, and especially the United States of
América, which possess coal-fields thirty-seven times more extensive
than ours, will then be working more accessible beds at a smaller cost,
and will be able to displace the English coal from every market. The
question is, not how long our coal will endure before absolute exhaust-
ion is effected, but how long will those particular coal-seams last which
yield coal of a quality and at a price to enable this country to main-
tain her present supremacy in manufacturing industry. So far as this
particular district is concerned, it is generally admitted that 200 years
will be sufficient to exhaust the principal seams even at the present
rate of working. If the production should continue to increase, as it
is now doing, the duration of those seams will not reach half that pe-
riod. How the case may stand in other coal-mining districts I have not
the means of ascertaining; but as the best and most accessible coal
will always be worked in preference to any other, I fear the same
rapid exhaustion of our most valuable seams is everywhere taking
place. Were we reaping the full advantage of all the coal we burnt,
no objection could be made to the largeness of the quantity, but we
are using it wastefully and extravagantly in all its applications. It is
probable that fully one-fourth of the entire quantity of coal raised
from our mines is used in the production of heat for motive power ; but
much as we are in the habit of admiring the powers of the steam-en-
gine, our present knowledge of the mechanical energy of heat shows
that we realize in that engine only a small part of the thermic effect
of the fuel. That a pound of coal should, in our best engines, produce
an effect equal to raising a weight of a million pounds a foot high is a
result which bears the character of the marvellous, and seems to defy
all further improvement. Yet the investigations of recent years have
demonstrated the fact that the mechanical energy resident in a pound
of coal, and liberated by its combustion, is capable of raising to the
same height ten times that weight. But although the power of our
most economical steam-engines has reached, or perhaps somewhat ex-
ceeded, the limit of a million pounds raised a foot high per pound of
coal, yet, if we take the average effect obtained from steam-engines of
the various constructions now in use, we shall not be justified in assum-
ing it at more than one-third of that amount. It follows, therefore,

20

930 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

that the average quantity of coal which we expend in realizing a a given
effect by means of the steam-engines is about thirty times oreater than
would be requisite with an absolutely perfect heat-engine.

“ The causes which render the application of heat so uneconomic in
the steam-engine have been brought ta, light by the discovery of the
dynamical theory of heat ; and it now remains for mechanicians, guided
by the light they have thus receiv ed, to devise improved practical : meth-
ods of converting the heat of combustion into available power.

« Thave hitherto spoken of coal only as a source of mechanical power,
but it is also extensively used for the kindred purpose of relaxing
those cohesive forces which resist our efforts to give new forms and
conditions to solid substances. In these applications, which are gener-
ally of a metallurgical nature, the same wasteful expenditure of fuel is
everywhere observable. In an ordinary furnace employed to fuse or
soften any solid substance, it is the excess of the heat of combustion
over that of the body heated which alone is rendered available for the
purpose intended. The rest of the heat, which in many instances con-
stitutes by far the greater proportion of the whole, is allowed to escape
uselessly into the chimney. The combustion also in common furnaces
is so imperfect that clouds of powdered carbon, in the form of smoke,
envelope our manufacturing towns, and gases which ought to be com-
pletely oxygenized in the fire pass into the air with two-thirds of their
heating power undeveloped.”

“ Some remedy for this state of things, we may hope, is at hand, in the
gas regenerative furnaces recently introduced by Mr. Siemens. In
these furnaces the rejected heat is arrested by a so-called “ regenera-
tor,” as in Stirling’s air-engine, and is communicated to the new fuel
before it enters the furnace. The fuel, however, is not solid coal, but
gas previously evolved from coal. A stream of this gas, raised toa
high temperature by the rejected heat of combustion, is admitted into
the furnace, and there meets a stream of atmospheric air also raised to
a high temperature by the same agency. In the combination which
then ensues, the heat evolved by the combustion is superadded to the
heat previously acquired by the gases. ‘Thus, in addition to the ad-

vantage of economy, a greater intensity of heat is attained than by the
combustion of unheated fuel. In fact, as the heat evolved in the fur-
nace, or so much of it as 1s not communicated to the bodies exposed to
its action, continually returns to augment the effect of the new fuel,
there appears to be no limit to the temper ature attainable, except the
powers of resistance in the. materials of which the furnace is composed.

“With regard to smoke, which is at once a waste and a nuisance, I
can state with perfect confidence that, so far as the raising of steam is
concerned, the production of smoke is unnecessary and inexcusable.
The experiments to which I refer proved beyond a doubt, that, by an
easy method of firing, combined with a due admission of air anda
proper arrangement of firegrate, not involving any complexity, the
emission of smoke might be perfectly avoided, and that the prevention
of the smoke increased the economic value of the fuel and the evapora-
tive power of the boiler. As a rule, there is more smoke evolved from
the fires of steam-engines than from any others, and it is in these fires
that it may be most easily prevented. But in the furnaces “used for
most manufacturing operations the prevention of smoke is much more

GEOLOGY. 231

difficult, and will probably not be effected until a radical change is
made in the system of applying fuel for such operations.”

DEEP SEA PRESSURE.

Some interesting experiments have recently been tried in England,
in reference to the effect of deep sea pressure, and especially with a
view of experimentally ascertaining the effect of pressure upon a sub-
marine cable submerged toa depth of 24 miles. ‘The experiments were
made in a large hydraulic press capable of resisting a pressure of above
10,000 Ibs. on the square inch. The specimen of cable used is known
as the Persian gulf standard, having a coating of gutta-percha 3 of an
inch in diameter. It was subjected to’ a pressure equal to two miles
and one-quarter of a mile deep, and the pressire kept on for one hour.
An opinion had been expressed by some experts that this enormous
pressure — about 5,000 Ibs. on the square inch — would force the water
into the copper core, and by this means deteriorate the cable, if not
quite destroy it, but this theory was not sustained; on the contrary, the
condition of the cable, when the pressure was removed, was, so far as
electric conductivity was concerned, decidedly improved, and materially
had sustained no damage.

The occasion of testing the cable was taken advantage of by several
gentlemen present, to test the truth of stories current among sailors to
this effect; 1st, that when a bottle of wine securely corked, is sunk to
great depths in the ocean, and then raised to the surface, the wine is
replaced by salt-water ; and 2d, that if you take an empty bottle, se-
curely corked, and sink it to a great depth, it will come up filled with
salt-water, while the cork remains undisturbed.

In order to test the first of these theories, bottles of ale, lemonade,
and ginger beer were securely corked, wired down, and the corks cov-
ered with capsules, and then submerged. ‘To test the second theory,
one empty bottle was securely corked and wired down; one was corked
after the manner of a champagne bottle, with a large knob left on the
upper part of the cork, to prevent its being driven in; while a third
bottle had a cylinder of wood put inside, resting on the bottom, and
reaching the cork, to give another form of resistance to the cork. The
pressure was the same as before, and the time under pressure the same,
namely, one hour.

The results were as follows : — The ale, lemonade and beer came out
sound and unimpaired; the small space, however, left by the bottler
between the cork and the liquor was filled up. With this exception
all was the same. ‘The first empty bottle the cork was driven in, and
as a matter of course the bottle came up filled with water. The sec-
ond bottle with the large knob was also driven in, and the bottle came
up full. The third, that had the wooden cylinder inside, on which the
cork rested, was driven in to a certain extent, but not entirely, and
this bottle came up also full, showing that at great depths, no corking,
however secure, will prevent the water from getting into an empty
bottle, but that when you send the bottle down filled and well corked,
there is no danger of the liquor’s making its escape and being replaced
by salt-water.

Another interesting experiment was tried to test the accuracy of Dr.
Wallich’s statements as regards living creatures at great depths in the

932. _ ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ocean. Some live fish, lobsters, eels, etc., were enclosed in a cylinder,
and subjected to the same pressure as above, and for the same time,
i. e., one hour. At the expiration of this time the pressure was re-
moved, when the fish, etc., were found to have all perished; thus indi-
cating that Dr. Wallich’s statement needs additional confirmation.

NEW FACTS RESPECTING THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN;— DISCOVERY
OF HUMAN REMAINS IN THE DRIFT,

At the commencement of the year 1863, notwithstanding the dis-
covery of some thousands of flint implements, knives, arrow-heads, etc.,
in the drift-sand, and gravel of the north of France, and in similar
deposits in England, no fragment of a human skeleton, not even a
tooth, had been detected in connection with these ancient evidences of
man’s existence. At the same time, in these same formations, and in
close contiguity with the worked flints, the bones of mammalia belonging
to living and extinct species, occur in considerable abundance. On
the 28th of March, 1863, M. Boucher de Perthes, the French geologist,
who has so greatly distinguished himself during the last few years by
his investigations into the antiquity of man (see Annual Sci. Dis.,
1861, p. 331, and 1863, p. 276), discovered and extracted from a bed
of gravel, four and a half metres below the surface at Moulin-Quignon,
(a suburb of the town of Abbeville), France, the half of a human jaw-
bone, containing a molar tooth. The bed of gravel from which this
jaw was extracted contains the osseous remains of the mammoth and
the (extinct) rhinoceros; and at a short distance from the spot where
the jaw was found, a flint hatchet was also at the same time disinterred.
Attention having been immediately drawn to. this discovery, numbers
of scientific men visited Abbeville, among whom were M. Quatrefages,
of Paris, and Drs. Carpenter and Falconer, of London; and these
gentlemen, after examining the locality in question, concluded that it
was an undisturbed deposit, and that the fragmentary jaw was un-
doubtedly fossil. On the 15th of April, M. Perthes discovered in the
sand of the same bank, 3} metres below the surface, (or one metre
above the line of deposit from whence the jaw was excavated), the
fraoments of the tooth of a mammoth.

A number of English geologists and paleontologists having, however,
in communications to the London Times and otherwise, expressed
doubts on the authenticity of the alleged human fossil, a sort of inter-
national congress was proposed to discuss the whole matter; and such
a meeting convened in Paris on the 10th of May, 1863. The English
deputies consisted of Mr. Prestwich, Dr. Falconer, Dr. Carpenter, and
Mr. Busk. The French members were M. Milne Edwards, the emi-
nent zoologist, who acted as president of the meeting, M. de Quatre-
faves, M. Lartet, M. Delesse, and M. Desnoyers. Numerous other
scientists were also present at the conference. ‘Three days were occu-
pied in discussing the question of the flint hafchets and in the examina-
tion of the jaw, the latter of which was taken up on the third day.
No decisive result was arrived at. The English members of the Com-
mission maintained the unauthentic character of all the flint hatchets
which were yielded by the diluvial bank at Abbeville, and nothing
was established on the other side to shake their convictions. The jaw
Was sawn up and washed ; a black coating, derived from oxides of iron

GEOLOGY. 233

and manganese associated with the sand and gravel which surrounded
the jaw, was removed from it with the utmost facility; there was no
infiltration of metallic matter through the walls of the bone, and the
section was comparatively fresh-looking. The tooth was in every re-
spect remarkably fresh-looking also. The confidence of some of the
French members of the Commission was seriously shaken by the charac-
ters yielded by the jaw, which, so far as internal evidence went, was
wanting in every appearance which commonly distinguishes fossil bones,
and especially those found elsewhere in the deposits near Abbeville.
Had the conference been closed at Paris, it is not improbable that
the result might have been the Scotch verdict of Not proven, but,
at the suggestion of the President, the Commission adjourned to Abbe-
ville on the 12th, when the complexion of the case was at once altered.

Here, after taking great care to prevent any deception, they made
new excavations, and, at the depth of four metres, in a bed apparently
identical with that from which the jaw had been extracted, found many
hatchets of flint every way similar to those previously examined, whose
authenticity had been doubted by the English savants. Direct testi-
mony as to the actual finding and occurrence of the jaw in the gravel-
bed was also brought forward; so that the Commission unanimously
agreed as to the following facts: — 1st, that the worked flints in the
form of hatchets excavated from the gravel were authentic; 2d, that
the jaw was found where it was represented to have been, and that it
had not been introduced into the quarry surreptitiously. The majority
of the Commission also agreed that the age of the jaw, of the flints,
and of the gravel deposit, enclosing them, was substantially the same.
Dr. Falconer and Mr. Busk, however, dissented from this, and gave in
writing an opinion to this effect, ‘‘ that the finding of the jaw was au-
thentic, but that the characters which it presents, 7. e., the internal con-
dition of the bone, etc., are irreconcilable with an antiquity equal to
that assigned to the deposits at which it was found. From all this, it
will be seen that the question of the relative antiquity of the relic is left
open to discussion. It is manifest that the evidence was very conflict-
ing ; that it is in some respects of an incompatible character; and that
a great deal still remains to be cleared up before the scientific world
can arrive at a definite judgment on the case. The subject having
subsequently come up before the French Academy, M. de Beaumont.
the distinguished and veteran French geologist gave it as his opinion,
that the gravel deposit of Moulin-Quignon did not belong to the
Quaternary or Diluvian age at all, but that it was a member of
the terrains meubles of the actual or modern period, in which he
would not be in the least surprised if human bones were found; add-
ing, moreover, that he did not believe in the asserted existence of
man as a contemporary of the extinct elephants, rhinoceroses, ete. of
the Quaternary period! M. Milne Edwards, however, at the same
time, expressed his opinion most decidedly, that the jaw from Abbe-
ville was contemporary with the fossil bones obtained from the same
locality.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
The following is an extract of a paper read before the British Asso-

ciation at its last meeting, on the above subject, by Mr. J. Crawford,
20*

234 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the well-known British ethnologist. He commences by saying, “that
it is my conviction that the evidence which has of late years been ad-
duced, giving to the presence of man on the earth an antiquity far be-
yond the usual estimate of it, is already satisfactorily established.
There can, I think, now be no question that man was a contemporary
of daimals, such as lions, hyzenas, elephants, and rhinoceroses, extinct
far beyond the reach of human record. But among the evidences
brought forward to prove the antiquity of man, the paucity of relics of
his own person, compared with the abundance of those the unquestion-
able work of his hands, has attracted especial notice. Thus, in the
valley of the Somme and other places, where flint tmplements have
been found in abundance in the same drift with the bones of the ex-
tinct elephant and rhinoceros, not a single bone of a human skeleton
has yet been discovered. The scarcity of human remains, compared
with those of the lower animals, may, I think, be to some extent ac-
counted for. In the savage state, man is ever fewin number compared
with the wild animals; and when he first appeared on earth, — when
naked, unarmed, without language, and even before he had acquired
the art of kindling a fire, — the disparity must have been still greater.
In that condition, he would have to contend for life and food with fero-
cious beasts of prey, with nothing to depend upon but a superior brain
_and the capacity of wieldingaclub. In such circumstances, the won-
der is, not that he should be few in number, but that he should have
been able to maintain existence at all. Sir C. Lyell adopts the theory
of the unity of the human race, but neither Mr. Lyell nor any one else
has ventured to point out the primordial stock from which the many
varieties which exist proceeded. ‘The Ethiopian represented on Egyp-
tian paintings four thousand years old is exactly the Ethiopian of the
present day. The skeleton of an Egyptian mummy of the same date
does not differ from that of a modern Copt. A Persian colony settled
in Western India one thousand years ago, and which have rigorously
refrained from intermixture with the black inhabitants, are not now to
be distinguished from the descendants of their common progenitors
in the parent country. For three centuries, Africans and Europeans
have been planted in almost every climate of the New World and its
islands; and, as long as the races have been preserved pure and un-
mixed, there is no appreciable difference between them and the de-
scendants of their common forefathers. In the same manner, the hu-
man skeletons found in the pile buildings of the Swiss lakes, and com-
puted by some to be twelve thousand + years old, differ in no respect
from those of the present inhabitants of Switzerland. If the existing
races of man proceeded from a single stock, either the great changes
which have taken place must have been effected in the loc ality of each
race, or occurred after migration. Now, distant migration was impossi-
ble, in the earliest period of man’s existence. Man must have acquired
a considerable measure of civilization, — that is, he must have domesti-
cated some animals for food and transport, have cultivated some kind
of corn, and have provided himself with arms of offence and defence,
—to enable him to undertake even long land journeys, while the
physical geography of the world forbids the possibility of distant sea
voyages, which would imply the possession of strong boats or ships,
with some skill in navigation, and therefore a still greater advance in

GEOLOGY. | 235

civilization. With the exception of a few inconsiderable islands, every
region has, within the historical period, been found peopled, and usu-
ally with a race peculiar to itself. The peopling of these countries by
migration must have taken place in very rude times; and in such
times nothing short of a great miracle could have brought it about. It
is only within the last three centuries and a half that the existence of
half the inhabitants of the world became known to the other half.
But for one race of men more highly endowed than the rest, the dif-
ferent races of mankind would now have been unknown to each other.
It is this superior race which still keeps them in mutual acquaintance,
or at least in intercommunication. I conclude, then, that there is no
shadow of evidence for the unity of the human race, and none for its
having undergone any appreciable change of form. If one thousand
years, or four thousand, or one hundred thousand, — supposing this last
to be the age of the skeletons of the Belgian race contemporary with
the mammoth, — have effected no appreciable change, it is reasonable
to believe that multiplying any of these sums by a million of years
would yield nothing but the same cipher.

Mr. Lyell has adopted the Aryan theory of language, and fancies
-he finds in it an illustration of the hypothesis of the transmutation of
species by natural selection. The Aryan or Indo-European theory,
which had its origin and its chief supporters in Germany, is briefly as fol-
lows: In the most elevated table-land of Central Asia there existed,
in times far beyond the reach of history or tradition, a country, to
which, on very slender grounds, the name of Aryana has been given,
the people and their language taking their name from the country,
The nation, a nomadic one, for some unknown cause betook itself to
distant migrations, —one section of it proceeding in a southeastern di-
rection across the.snows and glaciers of the Himalayas, to people Hin-
dtistan, and another in a northwesterly direction, to people Western
Asia and Europe, as far as Spain and Britain. “ Before that time,”
says Prof. Max Miiller, the most recent expounder of the theory, “the
soil of Europe had not been trodden by either Celts, Germans, Sclavo-
nians, Romans, or Greeks,’ — an assertion which can be interpreted to
signify only that Europe at least was, before the supposed migration,
uninhabited. According to the theory, the human skeletons found in
the caverns near Liége must have belonged to the nomadic wanderers
from Central Asia or their descendants ; and so the era of the imagin-
ary migration carries us back to a time when man was a contemporary
of the extinct mammoth, the cave-lion, and rhinoceros.

The entire fabric is founded on the detection of words, in a
mutilated form, common to most, but not to all, of the languages of
Western Asia and Europe, a discovery, no doubt sufficiently remark-
able, but clearly pointing only to an antiquity in the history of man
far beyond the reach of history or tradition. A language which the
theorists have been pleased to call the Aryan is the presumed source
of the many languages referred to. But the Aryan is but a language
of the imagination, of the existence of which no proof ever has been,
or ever can be adduced. The object of the theory would seem to be
to prove that the many languages called the Aryan, or Indo-European,
sprang all of them from a single source. ‘The doctrine is extended to
all the other languages of the earth, with the hope of reducing them

236 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

from thousands to avery small number. The Aryan theory proceeds
on the principle that all languages are to be traced to a certain residu-
um called “ Roots.”” Some languages either are so, or are made to be so
by grammarians. The copious Sanskrit is said to be traceable to some
1,900 roots, all monosyllables. The languages to which I have myself
given special attention are certainly not traceable to any such roots.
In their simplest form, a few of the words of these languages are mon-
osyllables, but the great majority are dissyllabic or trissyllabic, without
any recondite sense whatever. But were the Aryan, or Indo-Euro-
pean, hypothesis as true as I believe it to be baseless, I cannot see
how it illustrates, or, indeed, can have any possible bearing at all on
the theory of the transmutation of species by natural selection, the
progress of which is so slow —if, indeed, there be any progress at all,
—that no satisfactory evidence of it has yet been produced. The
changes in language, on the contrary, are due to forces in unceasing
and active operation, and the evidences are patent and abundant.
They consist of social progress, and of the intermixture of languages
through conquest, commercial intercourse, and religious conversions.
Sir Charles Lyell attaches more value than I can do to the fact, that
philologists have not agreed as to what constitutes a language and
what a dialect. Following the philosophers of Germany, his object
would seem to be to reduce all languages to a small number of primor-
dial ones, in the same manner as the authors of the theory of the
transmutation of species would reduce all species to a few monads. If
there were any truth in the Aryan theory, which is here again advo-
cated, it would of necessity follow that there would be no language at
all in Western Asia or Europe, ancient or modern, and that Sanskrit,
Greek, Latin, with all the modern languages, would be reduced to the
rank of mere dialects or subdivisions of one primordial tongue, — the
airy, fabulous Aryan, the mere creature of Teutonic imagination. I
cannot give my belief to so monstrous a fiction, or see how it can be a
parallel to the transmutation of species by natural selection. Changes
in language are the exclusive work of man; those in species by natu-
ral selection, if they have any existence at all, the spontaneous work
of nature, unaided by man, and in operation long before he was cre-
ated. I come now to offer a few remarks on the work of Prof. Hux-
ley. The professor compares man with the apes, placing them anatom-
wally and physiologically in the same category; and here I must
premise that the views which I have to offer are more of a popular
than scientific character. To begin with the brain: even if there were
no material structural difference between the brain of man and that
of the most man-like ape, what would be the practical value of
the resemblance, when the working of the two brains is of a nature so
utterly different, — less an affair of degree than of absolute quality ?
The brains of the dog and elephant bear no resemblance to the brain
of man or ape, or even to those of each other; yet the dog and ele-
phant are equal, if not, indeed, superior in sagacity, to the most man-
hike ape. ‘The brain of the wolf is anatomically the same with that
of the dog; but what a vast difference in the working of the two
brains! The common hog is an animal of great intelligence, and
wants only a pair of hands-like the ape’s to enable him to make a dis-
play of it equal if not superior to that of the most anthropoid monkey.

GEOLOGY. 237

Sheep and goats have brains not distinguishable; yet the goat is a
very clever animal, and the sheep a very stupid one. In the dentition
of man and the apes there is certainly asingular accord. The diges-
tive organs also agree. Yet with this similarity, man is an omnivorous,
and the monkey a frugivorous animal, seemingly resorting to worms
and insects only from necessity. The teeth of the monkeys are more
powerful, proportionally, than those of man, to enable them to crush
the hard-rinded fruits on which they mainly subsist, as well as to serve
as weapons of defence, for they have no other. Prof. Huxley has very
satisfactorily shown that the designation of ‘ quadrumane,” or four-
handed, is incorrectly applied to the family of monkeys. Their feet are
real feet, although prehensile ones; but the upper limbs are true
hands, and it is in the possession of these, far more than in a similarity
of brain, that the ape approaches the nearest to man. Notwithstand-
ing his seemingly dexterous hands, the monkey can neither fashion nor
use an implement or weapon. It is his brain, anatomically so like that
of a man, but psychologically so unlike, that hinders him from per-
forming this seemingly simple achievement. All the different races of
man intermix to the production of fertile offspring. No intercourse at
all takes place between the different species of monkeys. Man, of one
variety or another, exists and multiples in every climate. The
monkeys are chiefly found within the tropics, and seldom above a few
degrees beyond them. The natural abode of man is the level earth;
that of the monkeys, the forest. Man came into the world naked and
houseless, and had to provide himself with clothing and dwelling by
the exercise of superior brain and hands. ‘The monkeys are furnished
by nature with a clothing like the rest of the lower animals, and their
dwellings are not superior to those of the wild boar. Man has the fac-
ulty of storing knowledge for his own use and that of all future gener-
ations; in this respect, every generation of monkeys resembles that
which has preceded it, and so, no doubt, has it been from the first cre-
ation of the family. The special prerogative of man is language, and
no race of men, however meanly endowed, has ever been found that
had not the capacity of framing one. In this matter, the monkey is
hardly on a level with the parrot or the magpie. But is it true that
the anthropoid apes come nearest to man in intelligence ? They ought
to do so, if they be the nearest grade to man in the progress of trans-
mutation by natural selection. Prof. Huxley has fully and faithfudy
described four of these anthropoids; and it appears to me that, among
them, those which anatomically approach the nearest to man are the
least like to him in intelligence. At the top of the list is the gorilla;
and all we know about him is, that he is ferocious and untamable.
The orang-utan, or mias, seems to me to be the nearest in form to man;
but he is described as a slow, sluggish, dull, and melancholy animal.
The other two species, the gibbon and chimpanzee, seem to me incom-
parably more lively, playful, and intelligent than the more anthropoid.
If, adopting the theory of the transmutation of species by natural se-
lection, we believe the gorilla to be the next step to man in the prog-
ress of change, it must be taken for granted that the transmutation
must have proceeded from the lower to the higher monkeys. Exclu-
sive of the lemurs, there are some two hundred distinct species.
Which species is at the bottom of the long scale implied by this num-

238 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ber? and has any naturalist ever ventured to describe the long grada-
tion from it till we reach the gorilla? How are the tailed and tailless
monkeys to be classed ? and how are we to place the monkeys of the
New World, with their four supernumerary teeth? In America there
is no anthropoid monkey at all; every one has a long tail, often a pre-
hensile one. Between man and the apes, then, in so far, at least, as
America is concerned, one great link is absent. The monkeys, then,
have an outward and even a structural resemblance to man beyond
all other animals, and that is all; but why Nature has bestowed upon
them this similarity is a mystery beyond our understanding.

THE EXTINCTION OF RACES.

The following is an abstract of a paper on the above subject, read to
the British Association, 1863, by Mr. R. Lee: The author said that
the rapid disappearance of aboriginal tribes before the advance of
civilization, was one of the many remarkable incidents of the age. In
every new country, from America to New Zealand, this seemed to be
the result of an approximation of different races, peculiar, however, in
degree at least, to this portion of the world’s history. Such circum-
stances have not always been the result even of enduring oppression,
still less of civilization. Two millions of the Coptic race still testify
to the inability of the ancient Eastern powers to destroy all remnants
of the people they subdued. Egypt numbers avast crowd of the lineal
descendants of the men who fell before the Persian tyrant 2,000 years
ago; and to come nearer home, the Celts, Britons, and Gauls have a
large host of worthy representatives upon their own soil. The author
then referred to the disappearance of the aboriginal inhabitants in
Tasmania and New Zealand. In 1815, the aborigines of Van Diemen’s
Land were estimated at 5,000. Five years later, this number was
reduced to 340; of whom 160 were females. In 1831, when they
were invited to place themselves under the protection of the local
authorities, there were but 196. In 1847, the party were removed
from Flinders Island— the station which had been assigned to them
—to an old convict station on the shores of D’Entrecasteaux’s Chan-
nel, and there were then only forty-seven. In 1855, there were only
sixteen. A similar process of extinction was now taking place in New
Zealand. From these facts it was evident that there were causes in
operation to produce an extinction of race which at present could not
be clearly defined. ‘The average mortality among them was greater
than among more civilized nations, and there was also an inequality of
the sexes. Out of several tribes the proportion of males to females
‘under fourteen was as 5.974 to 4.860; and above fourteen, as 16.443
to 11.989. The introduction among aboriginal races of some European
diseases and of injurious habits, intemperance and the like, as well as
an increasing mortality owing to the antagonism between the white
and native races, were among the artificial causes of this extinction ;
but none of these causes would account for the paradox that exists in
respect to the inequality of the sexes, the unusual diminution of fe-
males, and the increase to such an enormous extent of unproductive
marriages. For an explanation of all this, we must look deeper, and
it is more than a question whether at the present time anything like a
satisfactory explanation can be offered. As an almost abstract ques-

”

GEOLOGY. 239
tion for discussion, it might be suggested whether the disappearance
of the aboriginal tribes might be tahen as a type of what might happen
at a future period of the world’s kistory, when the present population .
shall have given place to an order of beings superior to the now domi-
nant race of mankind. Europe was now the centre from which this
flood of civilized life was overspreading the globe, and our own Anglo-
Saxon race contributed one of the chief elements of that civilization.
It might be the lot of nations now springing into existence at the anti-
podes to outstrip her in the pursuit of knowledge, and, when ages shall
have passed away, to supply a nobler race and a more perfect human-
ity to the lands which now rank foremost in civilization. To specu-
late upon this, however, was of little value. Viewed asa bare fact,
and taking it in connection with what we knew of the previous history
of man, there was nothing in the extinction of races to justify us in
regarding it as a type of anything to follow at some future period.
The man who now wanders free through the unknown wilds of Aus-
tralia had not only not advanced in moral development since the for-
mation of his species, but he had actually retrograded. We must,
therefore, regard this extinction of races rather as an illustration of
humanity in its crudest form shrinking and passing away before a race
endowed with superior intelligence.

FOSSIL EAR-BONES OF FISHES.

The fossil ear-bones, or as they are technically termed ofoliths, of
fishes, have generally escaped the notice of fossil collectors; but atten-
tion has been recently called to them by Mr. W. W. Stoddard in a
communication to the Intellectual Observer, (England.) He states
that although these remarkable little fossils are not described in any
work on geology hitherto published, they are to be obtained in great
numbers from some strata. Since 1859, when Mr. Stoddard’s notice
was first drawn to the subject, he has successfully determined the fos-
sil otoliths of the cod, whiting, whiting-pout, power-cod, pollack, flying
fish, and also of many of the Pleuronectide. They have been princi-
pally found in the Crag of Suffolk, the Eocene beds of Sussex, Hamp-
shire, and Isle of Wight.

In order to ascertain the species of fish to which the several ear-
bones belong, it is necessary to dissect an immense number of heads;
for a most striking fact has been demorfstrated, and one without anal-
ogy in natural history, namely, that a characteristic form is more pecul-
iar to the species than the genus or family. That is to say, the ear-
bones of a species have invariably a configuration peculiar to itself:
But no form has yet been observed that will point out a genus, family,
or tribe; for example, the same general form is equally found in the
ear-bones of the Clupeide and Scrombide, but still there is no diffi-
culty in determining, with the greatest confidence, the specific name
of a mackerel or a herring by the markings on their ear-bones, because
they are always constant, and never the same in two species.

With all these interesting relations, and the frequency of their occur-
rence, it is very remarkable that the fossil otoliths have not been no-
ticed before. Mr. Stoddard states, however. his collection even now
contains more than forty species of fossil otoliths, all distinct, and
many of fish hitherto unknown in the fossil state.

240 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Otoliths occur in the tertiary beds much more abundantly than any
other parts of fishes, and much more so than the teeth. This fact at
first sight may appear startling to the collector from the paleozoic
rocks, when the commonest remains are the teeth, spinous defences,
and scales. But a little reflection will easily solve the apparent riddle.
In the Silurian, carboniferous, etc., seas, the principal inhabitants were
cartilaginous fishes, and the hardest and most indestructible portions
of their bodies were the teeth and spines; whereas in the later tertiary
beds the osseous fishes predominated, which do not possess the fin-
spines or solid erushing teeth. Of them the hardest parts are the ear-
bones in question.

The appearance of the otoliths is very different in appearance from
the bones of the fish ; they have a porcellaneous appearance, and quite
distinct from the semi-transparent bones of the cranium. The otoliths
of the fresh-water are much more rounded and globose than those of
the marine fishes. As objects for the binocular microscope, none are
more beautiful than these bodies ; among them may be recommended
those of the sprat, brill, smelt, anchovy, and gray mullet.

GEOLOGICAL SUMMARY.

The Origin of the Granites. — At a recent meeting of the London
Geologists’ *Association, Mr. Tomlinson, after. adverting to the close
resemblance or identity of the slags and dross of iron-furnaces with
naturally formed volcanic rocks— as lavas, pitch-stones, etc., stated,
that while we may regard the plutonic origin of such rocks as certain,
it should be borne in mind, that volcanic rocks formed but a very small
proportion only of the rocks termed plutonic or fire-formed. All gran-
“ites and certain porphyries were generally regarded as having been
fused by such action at great depths. But as many of these plutonic
rocks contained magnetic iron-ore they could not be the results of
fusion, else their composition would be that of a vitreous instead of
crystalline rock. In cooling, quartz and iron would not separate, the
oxides having a strong affinity for silica. Another difficulty which
presented itself to the mind of the plutonist was that fossil forms were
occasionally met with in magnetic iron-ore, as the Devonian brach-
iopod, Spirifer speciosus, which was thus found, in a quartz rock, mixed
with iron-pyrites. Such facts pointed more to a neptunistic than a
plutonic origin for granite, quartz, and the allied rocks.

Professor Morris commented at considerable length upon the sub-
jects touched upon in Mr. Tomlinson’s paper. He described the evi-
dences, chemical, mineralogical, and dynamical, which favored the
conclusion to which most geologists had now come —that granite and
the allied rocks were formed under conditions dissimilar from those
which obtained at or near the surface of the earth. Water at a high
temperature was probably an important feature in these metamarph-
isms ; indeed, so important was it deemed by Professor Haughton, that
he had proposed to divide the granites into hydro- and pyro-metamorphic
groups.

The Origin and Subsequent Alteration of Mica-Schist. — Mr. H. C.
Sorby, in a paper on this subject, recently presented to the London
Geological Society, stated, that when ripples are formed whilst mate-
rial is being deposited, a structure is generated which is termed “ripple-

GEOLOGY. 241

drift.” This structure: may frequently be seen in polished sections of
clay-slates, and also, in a form modified through metamorphism, in
many mica-schists. From a consideration of the facts revealed by an
examination of those rocks, the author concluded that mica-schist is of
sedimentary origin, metamorphosed after deposition, and sometimes
after the production cf cleavage and other physical changes, and that
the bands of different minerals represent the planes of original depo-
sition.

Origin of Flint Nodules in Chalk.—In a recent discussion on this
subject in the London Chemical Society, Dr. Church claimed that the
flints in chalk could be traced to water holding silica in solution. Dur-
ing the percolation of such water through beds of chalk, the silica be-
came separated, and the carbonate of lime took its place in the water
thus deprived of its silica. An interesting example of the deposition
of silica in the form of chalcedony took place within a comparatively
recent date, geologically speaking. About the year 1400, a basket of
hen’s eggs had been left in a chalk pit at Winchester, England, and
this basket was lately found covered up with broken chalk. ‘The or-
ganic matter and the shell of the eggs had entirely disappeared and
their places were occupied with the semi-transparent variety of silica,
chalcedony. Silica was also deposited upon the willow twigs compos-
ing the basket, forming a crust of silica.

The Progressive Development of Organic Life. — At a meeting of
the British Association, 1865, Professor Harkness stated, that the re-
mains of reptiles, and the impressions of feet discovered within the last
few years in the sandstones of the northeast of Scotland, afforded evi-
dence of forms belonging to a period far more remote than any of
which paleontology had as yet taken cognizance; upon this, Sir C.
Lyell remarked, that if the facts put forward were true, one of the
greatest blows had been struck at the theory of development, as gener-
ally understood, that could possibly have been dealt. There had been
too great an inclination on the part of geological discoverers to assume
that any given form of animal entered into this planet at the period of
the rock in which it happened to be found; and the warning he had
constantly given against this tendency had been interpreted as a much
stronger protest against the doctrine of progression than it ought to
have been. When the first of these telerpetons, being a new form, was
announced to be found in a rock, reported on good authority to be
Devonian, or, at any rate, paleozoic, he did feel a pleasure in the re-
buke such a fact gave to the doctrine that no reptiles existed at that
period. It always appeared to him unphilosophical, merely because
we knew nothing of the vertebrate life of that period, to assume, there-
fore, that no reptiles existed older than the trias. But afterwards,
when it was discovered that the Stagonolepis, a supposed fish, was a
crocodilian reptile, and that some of the other forms were the same as
those of the crocodiles now living in the Ganges, he began seriously
to doubt whether his friends had assigned a true position in the geolo-
gical series to these beds. Now, he saw clearly from the investigations
that these must be admitted to be a consecutive regular series from un-
questionably Lower Red beds containing the well-known fishes of the
Old Red forms that were known to be carboniferous up to the beds
containing those reptiles.

21

249, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. ;

Succession of Strata. — Prof. Ramsay in the anniversary address
1868, before the British Geological Society, adduced evidence to
show that the epochs in the palzozoic formations not stratigraphically
represented in the British Islands were of longer duration than those
which are so represented. From these premises, the professor argued
that the apparent breaks in the succession of living forms were to be
accounted for by the incompleteness of the record, and not by theories
of violent destructions and new creations, which were not borne out by
known facts. Nor was it just to assume that we saw the dawn of life
in the earliest British strata, especially as older corals have been dlis-
covered in Canada.

Prof. Ramsay likewise adverted to the question of whether similar
formations in distant countries were contemporaneous, and stated his
opinion that in many cases the length of time occupied in the disposi-
tion of paleeozoie strata was so enormous as to have rendered a very
wide migration of species possible, and to make it probable that simi-
larity of organic remains indicated an approximation of date.

New Views Respecting Stratification. — Certain French geologists
are trying to account for the arrangement of geological strata by refer-
ring it either to the earth’s annual revolution or daily rotation. In
one or the other of these movements, they find an explanation of cer-
tain phenomena of stratification which are not easy to explain on any
other known theory, among which are the appearances of stratification
observable in embankments when cut through a few years after their
formation.

Submergence of the British Islands during the Drift Period. —
At the British Association, 1863, Sir C. Lyell, referring to certain
shells which had been found in Wales, said it was proved to demonstra-
tion that the whole of Snowdonia, the highest mountains in Wales,
were islands at the time the shells existed. The changes that must
have taken place in the earth’s crust to produce this permanent up-
heaval were really most astonishing; and it was proved how the study
of the living species of shells, which Mr. Jeffreys had so successfully
cultivated, opened up wonderful geological inferences m regard to the
changes that had taken place in the earth in modern times.

The Divisions of the Tertiary System. — At arecent meeting of the
Boston Society of Natural History, Prof. Agassiz gave an account of
the conclusions at which he had arrived by the study of tertiary fos-
sils in reference to the division of the strata in which they occur. He
was satisfied that the primary divisions given by Lyell were natural,
although the subdivisions are much more numerous, and the basis
upon which the larger groups had been founded was erroneous; the
relations of one group of beds to another being correctly based upon a
percentage of species, representative of, rather than identical with,
those now living. He was further satisfied that the principles upon
which fossiliferous deposits of distant regions had been synchronized,
namely, by the similarity of their organic forms, was entirely erroneous,
since such fossils, even when unquestionably contemporaneous, showed
frequently, when compared together, greater differences than the fos-
sils from successive horizons in the same country.

The Tertiary Shells and Corals of Jamaica.— At a recent meet-
ing of the British Geological Society, Mr. J. C. Moore communicated

GEOLOGY. 243

the result of an examination of seventy-one species of tertiary mol-
lusca from Jamaica, showing that twelve are still living, and that
twenty-eight are common to the tertiary beds of Jamaica and St. Do-
mingo. ‘The same relation between those deposits had been found to
exist by Dr. Duncan through a comparison of the corals. The “ Pa-
cific ” affinity of many of these shells and corals was noticed as confir-
matory of a conclusion arrived at by the author ina former paper ; and
it was shown, from the occurrence of tertiary beds on the Panama Isth-
mus at a height of 250 feet above the sea, that the complete separa-
tion of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans did not take place until after
the commencement of the tertiary period.

Formation of Coral Islands. —M. de Rochas announces to the
French Academy the result of his inspection of coral islands in various
parts of the globe, as not in harmony with the accepted theory on this
subject. That theory assumes that the polyps which build up the
earthy substance of these islands cease to build when the edifice
reaches the low-tide mark; and that the subsequent deposits, from the
waves dashing over its surface, completes the elevation. M. de Rochas
thinks that the first part of this statement is correct ; the second part
is incorrect. He attributes the elevation above the surface of the water
to voleanic agency. “ No coral island without an upheaval, which
pushes above the surface of the water the coral abandoned by the
polyps;” that is the formula of his experience. We finds the surface
free from the attrition and fractures which would result from the
throwing over them of pebbles and sand by the waves; and he also
finds the coral, in many places, where no upheaval has raised it above
the surface, remaining in precisely the same position in which it was
observed long ago, with no accumulation of debris on its surface.

Height of Mount Shasta, California. — A careful and elaborate series
of barometrical observations recently made by the State Geological
Corps of California has fixed the elevation of Mount Shasta at 14,440
feet. Previous to this the height of Shasta had been variously estimat-
ed. Fremont’s estimate was 15,000; Williamson’s, in the Pacific
Railroad Survey, 18,000; and Wilkes, 14,350.

The Mineral Statistics of Great Britain for 1862, as given by Mr.
Hunt of the School of Mines, are as follows: — the quantity of gold ex-
tracted was 5,209 ounces; silver, 686,123 ounces; tin, 8,476 tons;
copper, 14,843 tons; lead, 69,031 tons; zine, 2,151 tons ; coal, 81,638,-
338 tons ; representing a total value of £34,691,037.

Tin Ore in Maine ,— At a recent meeting of the Boston Society
of Natural History, Mr. A. E. Verrill called attention to the circum-
stance, that tin ore (cassiterite) has now been found at three locali-
ties in Oxford Co., Maine, in similar situations ; in each case, in a vein
consisting in great part of albite, passing through granite ; and in two
_ of the localities at least, it is intimately associated with these small crys-
tals of zircon, both often being seen in the same specimen. At the lo-
cality in Greenwood that he had discovered a few years ago, the asso-
ciated minerals were. zircon, pyrochlore and magnetite, all in small
crystals like the tin ore itself. At Mount Mica, in Paris, so well-known
for its rare minerals, he had found the ore in 1854 in a mass weighing
about five pounds, and also in small crystals. Specimens from this lo-
cality had already been exhibited to the Society. At this place the

244 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

principal associated minerals are the red, green, blue and black tour-
malines, lepidolite in large masses, mica, beryl, amblygonite yttrocerite,
brookite and zircon. These all occur disseminated through a wide
vein of albite and feldspar, with some other more common minerals. In
Hebron, about eight miles from this locality, there is another vein con-
taining nearly the same minerals, except perhaps the last three, which
have not yet been noticed; and, in addition, mispickel. Tin ore was
found here by Prof. Brush in small crystals. These localities will per-
haps serve as an indication of the manner in which this ore may occur
at other places in New England.

Cryolite. — This interesting mineral, which a few years since was
only looked upon as a mineralogical rarity, has now become an impor-
tant article in commerce. Aside from its use as a source of aluminum
as suggested by Percy and H. Rose, we learn from recent articles in
Dingler’s Polytechnisches Journal, that it is now extensively employed
in chemical works at Copenhagen and Harburg for the production of
caustic soda and salts of alumina.

J. Thomsen claims to have discovered in 1850 that eryolite could be
decomposed by lime and lime salts; and after perfecting his process, he
commenced the manufacture of soda in 1857, and in 1858 erected large
works at Copenhagen which now use 40,000 cwt. of cryolite annually.
The exploration of the cryolite deposit in Greenland has become so ex-
tended that another large manufactory has been erected at Harburg,
and-others are being put up at Prague, Selicie and Mannheim. It is
estimated that these manufactories will consume from 120,000 to 150,-
000 ewt. (6000 to 7500 tons) of eryolite annually. Cryolite is de-

livered at Harburg for about two dollars per cwt. — Silliman’s Jour-.

nal.

Natural Formation of Carbonate of Soda. — Prof. R. Haines, of
Bombay, has communicated to the London Pharmaceutical Journal a
note relating to a substance found all along the coast to the east of
Aden, to an extent of perhaps ten miles, and in quantity, practically,
unlimited. It is usually obtained in hollows behind or beyond high-
water mark, to which sea-water has access by percolation. The only
use made of it was to mix with snuff to give it pungency, and also, but
rarely, to wash clothes. Prof. Haines describes this substance as con-
sisting of “ irregular, nearly colorless, partly crystalline masses, of a
greasy feel, and rather strong, soapy odor, very similar to that of crude
borax. The chemical analysis gave — neutral carbonate of soda,
51.05; common salt, with traces ‘of sulphate of soda and chloride of
magnesium, 24.94; water and organic matter, 19.66; sand, 4.35. <A
writer in a later number of the Pharmaceutical Journal also adds : —
From a paper recently published by Mr. H. J. Carter in the Transac-
tions of the Royal Asiatic Society, on the geology of Arabia, it appears
that the whole of the southeast coast of Arabia is capped with num-
mulitic limestone, pierced at frequent intervals with basaltic effusions,
and in many places elevated so as to form lofty and abrupt cliffs, in
which, beneath the limestone, other formations are visible. As a re-
sult of this formation, the shingle on the coast consists mainly of lime-
stone ; and although no specific description of the coast immediately
to the east of Aden has been given, there is no reason to doubt that

s

the same peculiarities prevail there. It is then to the percolation of

GEOLOGY. 245

sea-water through a stratum of fragments of limestone that we must at-
tribute the production of the carbonate of soda, by which percolation,

robably, a partial interchange of elements has been effected between
the chloride of sodium and the carbonate of lime, giving rise to the for-
mation of chloride of calcium and carbonate of soda. It has been
long suspected that the natural production of carbonate of soda was
dependent on the presence of carbonate of lime, and was brought
about somewhat in this way ; but what the conditions are under which
the separation of the carbonate of soda from the chloride of calcium
is effected, without allowing the former to exert its ordinary converse
action upon the lime-salt and reproducing carbonate of lime, is a ques-
tion that would form a very interesting subject of scientific inquiry.
This is, I believe, the first time that the natural production of alkali
from sea-water itself, without organic agency, has been observed.

Odor of Precious Stones. — Fournet discovered that many precious
stones owed their colors to carburets of hydrogen. In 1855, J.
Schneider, by analysis confirmed this discovery. In a note recently
inserted in Poggendorff’s Annalen, Schneider calls the attention of
mineralogists to the empyreumatic oder which certain forms of quartz
and granite give forth when rubbed. He thereby perceives the indi-
cation of the presence of organic matter or a carburet of hydrogen. —
Cosmos.

Cavities in Precious Stones.— Sir David Brewster, in a paper re-
cently read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, gives a brief ac-
count of the various phenomena of fluid and gaseous cavities which he
has discovered in diamond, topaz, beryl, and other minerals. He
describes : —

1. Cavities with two immiscible fluids, the most expansible of which
has received the name of Brewstolyne, and the most dense that of Cryp-
tolyne, from the American and French mineralogists. 2. Cavities con-
taining only one of these fluids. 3. Cavities containing the two fluids,
and also crystals of various primitive forms, some of which melt by heat
and recrystallize in cooling. 4. Cavities containing gas and vapor.

The author states that the first class of cavities exist in thousands,
forming strata, plane and curved, and intersecting one another at vari-
ous angles, but having no relation to the primitive and secondary planes
of the crystal. From these facts, he draws the conclusion that the
minerals which contain them are of igneous origin; and he considers
this conclusion as demonstrated by the existence of what he calls pres-
sure cavities, which are never found in crystals: of aqueous origin.
These microscopic cavities, which are numerous in diamond, exist also
in topaz and beryl. The gas which fills them has compressed by its
elastic force the substance of the mineral around the cavities, as shown
by four sectors or quadrants of light which it polarizes; consequently
the mineral must have been in a soft or plastic state by fusion when it
thus yielded to the pressure of the included gas.

Localities of Primoidial Fossils. — 'The localities of primoidial fos-
sils in Europe, according to Mr. Marcou, are restricted to two places
in Bohemia. In this country they have been found at Braintree, Mass.,
St. Mary’s Bay (Newfoundland), Georgia, Highgate, and Swanton,
Vt., the vicinity of Quebec, and in Tennessee. In Vermont he had re-

Zi*

246 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cently discovered a species of Ampyz, the first ever found in America,
which had been named A. Halli.

Interesting Fossils. — Dr. Burmeister, the curator of the National
Museum of Buenos Ayres, 5. A., has recently ina voyage to the Solado
River secured a most unrivalled collection of the fossil remains of the
animals peculiar to South America during the tertiary period. Among
them he mentions skeletons, in a fine state of preservation, of the Mega-
therium, native horse (now extinct), Mylodon, Mylodon Robustus, Glyp-
todon, Toxodon, and Seclidotherium.

On a minute vertebrate lower jaw.—In the Annual Sci. Dis., 1868,
p- 229, notice was given of a jaw-like object zt5 Of an inch in length,
dredged up by Dr. Wallich near St. Helena, which he considered as
“ evidence of the existence of a vertebrate animal measuring only 3;
inch in length!” This has excited much discussion, several papers
having since been written upon the subject, and although its vertebrate
character has been fully disproved, there is much diversity of opinion
in regard to the true character of the object. C. Spence Bate (Ann.
and Mag., Dec., 1862) thinks it to be the claw of an amphipod. It
has also been suggested that it may be part of the lingual ribbon of a
gasteropod ; or part of the manducatory apparatus of a Rotifer. Mr.
Busk, in an illustrated paper in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical
Science, for Jan., 1863, has given the most probable solution : — that
the jaw figured by Dr. Wallich is one of the valves or jaws of a pedi-
eellaria of an Echinoderm, allied to Amphidotus.

The Flying Lizards of the Mesozoic Period. — Mr. H. Woodward,
an English paleontologist of note, states that up to the present time,
thirty-seven species of pterodactyles have been identified and described
from the strata of the Mesozoic Period; how many individuals have
been discovered is not known. ‘There is every reason, however, to be-
lieve that they were very abundant; but we are not justified in sup-
posing that they altogether took the place of birds. The largest species
of pterodactyles,— P. Sedgwickii,— is supposed, from careful measure-
ment and fitting of its bones, to have been upborne on an expanse of
wings, not less than twenty-two feet from tip to tip.

The Solenhofen Fossil. — At a recent meeting of the Boston Society
of Natural History, Prof. Agassiz made a few remarks about the enig-
matic fossil which has been lately discovered at Solenhofen (see An-
nual of Scientific Discovery, 1863, p. 274) ; and, after passing in review
the opinions of Owen, of Meyer and of Wagner concerning the nature
of the animal, he inclined to the belief that this was but an additional
case of a synthetic type such as he had at first pointed out among fishes,
where there were fishes with reptilian characters. In this case it was
a synthetic type of a higher class —a reptile with bird characters.

The Remains of a Fossil Tortoise, of a new species, discovered by
M. Lennier, of Havre, were described by M. Valenciennes at a recent
meeting of the Academy of Sciences at Paris. A remarkable distinc-
tion in this tortoise is its possessing nine ribs, all those hitherto known
having but eight.

Fossil Egg. — A fossil egg has been found in the guano of the Isles of
Chinchas, at a depth of about forty feet. It was about the size of a
goose’s ego, and weighed 252 grammes. Its texture was crystalline ;
but the silky brilliancy of the fracture was lost on its exposure to the

GEOLOGY. 247

air. This egg was truly metamorphic, since it contained scarcely
anything of its original constituents. It contained in 100 parts — sul-
phate of potash, 70.59 ; sulphate of ammonia, 26.55; chloride of am-
monium, 1.25 ; chloride of sodium, 0.65 ; and organic matter, .06. It is
remarkable that it contained no lime or phosphoric acid, two substances
which never fail in the eggs of birds. ‘The shell had undergone great
modification ; yet there remained in 100 parts — phosphate of lime,
77.82 ; silica, 0.45 ; potash, 2.33 ; and organic matter, 2.07.

The Dinornis of New Zealand. — Mr. Haast, President of the
Philosophical Society of New Zealand, in a recent inaugural address
at Canterbury, N. Z., states that two species of the Dinornis, new to
science, have recently been described. And to quote his own descrip-
tion, “ another still larger Kiwi, provisionally named Apteryx maxima,
and called Roa by the natives, still exists in the western mountains of
the island. Living specimens of this bird, which is as large as a turkey,
have not yet been procured ; though,” adds Mr. Haast, “ I observed its
tracks in the fresh-fallen snow, and heard its call during the night.” A
still larger Kiwi, Palapteryx ingens, is believed from “auricular evi-
dence ” to be in existence in the great beech forests which cover for
many miles the slopes of the New Zealand Alps.

Source of the Pennsylvania Petroleum. — A recent number of the
Journal of the Franklin Institute contains a report on the oil district
of “ Oil Creek,” Penn., by Mr. T. S. Ridgeway, mining engineer and
geologist, who has carefully surveyed the whole oil region.

He states that at one place there is a mass of oil-bearing strata 1,200
feet in thickness. The oil-bearing strata is broken up in huge cakes
of sandstones and shales, having fissures between the strata extending
to a great depth, and these are generally filled with gravel and peb-
bles. These openings are numerous in Oil Creek, and are the cause
of much perplexity to drillers in search of oil. In one case, a pipe
was sunk 160 feet below the surface before the permanent rock was
reached, while at a few yards distant the rock was struck at a depth
of thirty feet. At a distance of about 530 feet from the surface there
appears to be a great oil pool below, and for a distance of seven miles
down to the mouth of Oil Creek the flowing wells rise from it. Stones
taken out of the oil-bearing rocks are employed in several places for
buildings, and the petroleum may still be noticed sometimes trickling
from their surfaces. Mr. Ridgeway, from his examinations, is con-
vinced that the petroleum is not produced from the coal-fields, because
in that case it would have had to flow up hill into the oil basin. He
says :— ‘“ Petroleum found in bituminous coal basins, no doubt, origi-
nates from beds of coal, but it is my opinion that the petroleum of the
Oil Creek valley is the result of the decomposition of marine plants.
The plants which produced the oil in the rock existed and flourished
at a long period of time before the vegetation which now forms coal-
beds ; they are unlike the vegetable impressions found in the accom-
panying shales and clays associated with beds of coal; and they grew
where the flag-stones and shales of Oil Creek were laid down by salt-
water currents. The climate was so hot, during this age of marine
vegetation, and the growth of plants so rapid and rank, caused by the
supposed large amount of carbonic acid and hydrogen then composing
the atmosphere, that these conditions on the face of the earth produced

248 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

plants containing more hydrogen and less carbon than the plants
which produced coal-beds, and hence their fermentation produced the
petroleum.”
The Petroleum Trade of the United States for 1863. — The export of
etroleum from the United States for the year 1863, is estimated at not
ess than 28,000,000 gallons. As an illustration of the unexampled rapid-
ity with which the trade in this article has developed, we give the total
export of petroleum for the years 1861 and 1862. They were as fol-
lows: 1861, 1,112,476 gallons; 1862, 10,887,000 gallons; the quan-
tity exported in 1863 amounted to 252,000 tons’ weight, and engaged
no less than 252 ships of 1,000 tons’ burden each, to carry it. ‘The
amount of money derived from its sale is estimated at $12,000,000.

NOTES ON METEORITES.

From numerous reports of eleyen large meteors which passed over
England in the two years 1861-63, collected from the British Associa-
tion, the heights of appearance were found to vary from thirty to 196
miles above the earth, and of disappearance from fifteen to sixty-five
miles above the earth. Their velocities were from twenty-three to
sixty miles in a second.

Referring to some recent experiments by Deville, of Paris, and
Pliicker of Bonn, in which, by great heat, oxygen has been dissocia-
ted from hydrogen in steam, and carbonic acid and other chemical
compounds had been decomposed, Herschel has conjectured that the
violent heat of a fire-ball is sufficient to destroy the chemical affinities
in the meteoric surface, and to cause the glowing sparks and phospho-
rescent streaks, which follow the flame, by the gradual recombustion, in
the rear, of the reduced metals and elements in the track of the me-
teor’s flight.

Meteoric Iron from Tucson, Arizona. — A mass of meteoric iron
from Tucson has been presented to the city of San Francisco by Gen-
eral Carleton. Ina recent letter, Prof. Whitney states that this iron
is four feet one inch long, and weighs 632 lbs. It was found at or
near Tucson, Arizona, by Gen. Carleton’s California column on their
march through that region, and has evidently been used for an anvil,
although it is not the one figured by Bartlett as having served that
purpose.

A specimen of this meteorite analyzed by Prof. Bush, of Yale Col-
lege, gave the following result: — Iron, 81.56; nickel, 9.173; cobalt,
0.44; copper, 0.08; phosphorus, 0.49; silica, 3.63; protoxide of iron
with a trace of alumina, 0.12; lime, 1.10; magnesia, 2.43; chlorine,
sulphur, chromium, minute traces. The composition of this meteorite
corresponds very closely with another meteoric iron from Tucson, dis-
~ covered by Mr. Bartlett, and described by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith,
in the Am. Journ. of Science, 2d ser., vol. xix. page 161.

Molecular Structure of Meteorites. — Mr. Sorby, the well-known
English geologist and microscopist, has recently turned his microscope
upon meteorites, or rather upon sections of these exotic minerals, with
a view to ascertain their origin by close examination of their micro-
scopical structure. The evidence thus far appears to be strong in fa-
vor of the conclusion that they are formed by the aggregation of small-
er fragments or minute particles, in which particular they are most

j

GEOLOGY. 249

nearly resembled, among terrestrial rocks, by consolidated volcanic
ashes. Is there anything in this fact of aggregation which touches the
nebular hypothesis ?

PRODUCTION OF CRYSTALLINE LIMESTONES.

In the Annual Sci. Dis. 1862, p. 289, an account is given of experi-
ments made by Rosé of Berlin, tending to show that chalk or compact
limestone cannot be converted into crystalline limestone (or calc spar
by exposure to high temperature in close vessels; and that the experi-
ments made some years since by Sir James Hall, tending to prove the
affirmative of the proposition, were eroneous. Recently, however,
Rosé has repeated his investigations on the subject, and has now ob-
tained results which differ entirely from those he formerly published,
and which fully confirms the correctness of Sir James Hall’s conclu-
sion, that marble can be produced by exposing massive carbonate of
lime to a high temperature under great pressure. The experiments
were made with aragonite from Bilin, in Bohemia, and with litho-
graphic limestone. In one case, the mineral was heated in a wrought-
iron cylinder, and in the other, in a porcelain bottle, special precau-
tions being taken to exclude the air, and make the vessels as near air-
tight as possible. These were exposed to a white heat for half an
hour, and, on cooling, both the aragonite and the lithographic lime-
stone were found to be converted into crystalline limestone, the former
very much resembling Carrara marble, and the latter a grayish-white
granular limestone. The change took place without any material
decomposition, the resulting marble containing a trifle less carbonic
acid than the lithographic limestone from which it was produced. —
Siliman’s Journal.

THE FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN PERIOD.

Prof. Dawson, of Montreal, communicates to the Journal of the Geo-
logical Society (London), the following general conclusion arrived at
by him, from a careful study of the “ Flora of the Devonian Period in
North Eastern America.” 1st. In its general character, the Devonian
Flora resembles that of the Carboniferous Period, in the prevalence of
Gymnosperms and Cryptogams; and, with few exceptions, the generic
types of the two periods are the same. Some genera are, however,
relatively much better represented in the Devonian than in the Car-
boniferous deposits, and several Carboniferous genera are wanting in
the Devonian.

2d. Some species, which appear early in the Devonian Period, con-
tinue to its close without entering the Carboniferous; and the great
majority of the species, even of the Upper Devonian, do not reappear
in the Carboniferous Period; but a few species extend from the Upper
Devonian into the Lower Carboniferous, and thus establish a real pas-
sage from the earlier to the later Flora. The connection thus estab-
lished between the Upper Devonian and the Lower Carboniferous is
much less intimate than that which subsists between the latter and the
true Coal-measures. Another way of stating this is, that there is a
constant gain in number of genera and species from the Lower to the
Upper Devonian, but that at the close of the Devonian many species
and some genera disappear. In the Lower Carboniferous, the Flora is ©

250 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

again poor, though retaining some of the Devonian species; and it
goes on increasing up to the period of the Middle Coal-measures; and
Le by the addition of species quite distinct from those of the Devonian

eriod.

3d. A large part of the difference between the Devonian and Car-
boniferous Floras is probably related to different geographical condi-
tions. The wide, swampy flats of the Coal Period do not seem to have
existed in the Devonian era. The land was probably less extensive
and more of an upland character. On the other hand, moreover, it is
to be observed that, when in the Middle Devonian we find beds simi-
lar to the underclays of the Coal-measures, they are filled, not with
Stigmaria, but with rhizomes of Psilophyton ; and it is only in the Up-
per Devonian that we find such stations occupied, as in the Coal-mea-
sures, by Sigillaria and Calamites.

4th. Though the area to which this paper relates is probably equal
to any other in the world in the richness of its Devonian Flora, still it
is apparent that the conditions were less favorable to the preservation
of plants than those of the Coal Period. The facts that so large a pro-
‘aie of the plants occur in marine beds, and that so many stipes of

erns occur in deposits that have afforded no perfect fronds, show that
our knowledge of the Devonian Flora is relatively far less complete
than our knowledge of that of the Coal-formation.

5th. The Devonian Flora was not of lower grade than that of the
Coal Period. On the contrary, in the little that we know of it, we
find more points of resemblance to the Floras of the Mesozoic Period,
and of modern tropical and austral islands, than in that of the true
Coal-formation. We may infer from this, in connection with the pre-
ceding general statement, that, in the progress of discovery, very large
and interesting additions will be made to our knowledge of this Flora,
and that we may possibly also learn something of a land Fauna con-
temporaneous with it.

6th. The facies of the Devonian Flora in America is very similar to
that of the same period in Europe, yet the number of identical species
does not seem to be so great as in the coal-fields of the two continents.
This may be connected with the different geographical conditions in
these two periods; but the facts are not yet sufficiently numerous to
prove this.

7th. The above general conclusions are not materially different from
those arrived at by Geppert, Unger, and Bronn, from a consideration
of the Devonian Flora of Europe.

PROGRESSIVE CHANGES IN THE CHARACTER OF THE PRAIRIES
OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.

Prof. Engelmann of the State Geological Survey of Tlinois commu-
nicates to the American Journal of Science, some interesting observa-
tions on the progressive changes which are taking place in the charac-
ter of the prairie country of Southern Illinois. He says : — In this dis-
trict, the prairie growth is undergoing a considerable spontaneous
change with the progressing settlement and cultivation of the country.
Since the prairie grass is no longer burnt off annually, as it used to be
by the Indians and early settlers, whereby all but the hardiest grasses
were destroyed, and those especially remained which propagate by

GEOLOGY. 251

throwing out suckers from the roots, and since the grass is continually
cropped close and tramped down by cattle, the former vegetation of
the prairies has gradually given way to softer and shorter grasses, the
rank prairie and barren grasses dying out. At many points also tim-
ber is encroaching spontaneously upon land formerly occupied by tall
grasses ; while, on the contrary, old forests yield to the axe and _ the
ploughshare. The effect of these changes upon the climate, especially
in decreasing the humidity of the country, must be powerful, and may
be compared to the change of sensation which we experience, on a
clear summer evening, in coming from a sheltered damp creek bottom
to the airy top of adry hill. The effect is similar to that produced in
other countries by the clearing of extensive forests. The growth of
dense tall grasses, of which untold generations have died and rotted
upon the same spot, not only protects the soil from the warming rays
of the sun and thus checks evaporation, but it actually increases the
precipitation of moisture, especially in the form of dew, by the low de-
gree of temperature consequent upon the humidity of the surface and
upon the powerful radiation of heat from the spears and leaves of the
grass waving in the night air, which, as can be easily proved by ex-
periment, grow much colder than the baresoil. The grasses also check
the surface drainage effectually. With their disappearance, the
above effects cease, the soil becomes more exposed to the direct rays
of the sun and to the drying breezes, while the succeeding growth
does not favor the precipitation of dew nearly as much as the grass.
The natural impediments to the speedy abduction of the falling rains
are also lessened to a considerable degree, and thus the soil is rendered
dryer. The artificial works of drainage, and even the cuts and ruts of
the roads do their share also. The breaking up of the sward and deep
cultivation of the soil facilitate the sinking of the water, and expose a
greater surface of soil to the desiccating influence of the sun and winds.
Every old settler can bear witness to the remarkable and rapid change
in the conditions of moisture of the prairies, which is also manifested
by the gradual failing of the wells at numerous points. It is a com-
mon observation, that they must be dug much deeper now than for-
merly in the same vicinity. The healthiness of the country has there-
by improved, and the farmer is enabled to plant much earlier, and at
points which were formerly too wet; his loss by the freezing out of the
winter crops is much reduced. The droughts in summer and fall are
perhaps also more severe at present, but an advantage can seldom be
gained without some sacrifice, and a remedy is accessible if only we
will apply it. This is “thorough cultivation and underdraining.”
Where these are practised, the roots are enabled to strike deeper, be-
yond the direct influence of the sun’s rays; a much larger quantity of
nourishment is presented to them; the humidity of the soil is equal-
ized; its absorbing power for moisture and gases is vastly increased ;
and the growth of the plants is consequently much invigorated and
placed beyond the reach of sudden changes of the weather.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARCTIC PLANTS.

Dr. Hooker, of the Kew Botanic Gardens, has published a memoir
on this subject in the Linnean Society’s Transactions, which will be
fully appreciated by geographical botanists. The Arctic flora forms a

-
?-

52 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

bo

circumpolar belt of ten to fourteen degrees. There is no abrupt break
or chain in the vegetation anywhere along this belt except in the
meridian of Baflin’s Bay, where the opposite shores present a sudden
change from an almost purely European flora on the east coast to one
with a large admixture of American plants on the west. The number
of flowering plants is estimated at 762; of cryptogamia at 925 ; total,
1687. Regarded asa whole, Dr. Hooker considers the Arctic flora to be
decidedly Scandinavian; for Lapland, though a very small tract, con-
tains by far the richest Arctic flora, amounting to three-fourths of the
whole. Of the five districts into which Dr. Hooker divides the Arctic
belt, Greenland is the most remarkable; since, although so favorably
situated for harboring an Arcto-American vegetation, it presents but lit-
tle trace thereof, and has an almost absolute identity with that of Europe.
This, he considers, cannot be accounted for except by admitting Mr.
Darwin’s hypothesis of the great geological antiquity of the Scandina-
vian flora; its subsequent migration southward in every latitude dur-
ing the glacial period, and even across the tropics into the south tem-
perate zone; and the ascent of the mountains of the warmer zone by
men y. species at the commencement of the warmth of the present
epoch.

HIGHEST MOUNTAINS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Professor J. D. Whitney, the Superintendent of the California
Geological Survey, in an article in the Proceedings of the California
Academy,” announces his conclusion, that Mount Shasta, 14,400 feet
high, probably overtops all other peaks within the limits of the United
States. Mount Hood, sometimes called the loftiest peak of the Cas-
cade Range, is probably not so high as Mounts Shasta, Rainier or Ad-
ams, and by no means entitled to the supremacy of the chain, although
one of the highest points in it. Trigonometrical measurements of
Mount Hood, in 1860, give its height as 11,934 feet.

Mount St. Elias, in the Russian Possessions, has generally been con-
sidered the highest mountain in North America, on the authority of
Malespina’s manuscripts, discovered by Humboldt in the archives of
Mexico, which assign to it an elevation of 17,854 feet. Mr. Whitney,
however, thinks this estimate erroneous, and the estimate given on the
British Hydrographical charts of Captain Denham, of 14,970, more
nearly correct. Mount Brown and Mount Hooker, in British Columbia,
have assigned to them a height of 16,000 and 16,750 feet respec-
tively. But the highest mountain on the North American conti-
nent is, beyond all doubt, the Mexican voleano of Popocatapetl, which
rises to the well-ascertained height of 17,783 feet.

ZOOLOGY.

CHANGES AND PROGRESS IN ZOOLOGY.

THE most satisfactory progress made in zoology of late years, has

been in the study and classification of the lower forms of life. The
aquarium and the microscope have given an impetus to the study of
the invertebrata, and such immense additions have been made to the
knowledge of this great section, that the mere weight of facts threat-
ens to separate it from the hitherto recognized connection with the
vertebrates, and so to constitute in zobdlozy two distinct sciences, the
future paths of which will be separate though parallel. It is in this
section that we have most striking evidence of the abundance of life in
every region of the globe. The recent researches on the subject of
deep sea life, have enlarged immensely the geographical limits and the
physical conditions known to be favorable to the production of animal
existence.
* In that still lower department of the Infusoria, the magnificent work
of Pritchard offers another example of the splitting up of old divisional
arrangements through the accumulation of facts indicative of distinct-
ive characteristics.

But if we ever feel astonished at the abundance of life on the globe,
it is also pretty certain that some of its forms are fast passing away
from us, and that, not very far in the future, the zoologist will pay as
much attention to mammals recently extinct, as we do to certain fossil
forms, because they fill up gaps in our classified system of transitions.
That the dodo is utterly extinct there can be no reasonable doubt, for
the region it inhabited has not only been thoroughly explored, but is
now densely populated. ‘The kiwi or apteryx is fast going in the same
direction, and as the interior of New Zealand becomes a home for the
white man, that and other fer must of necessity disappear. The last
dinornis has probably long since perished; yet it could not be long
since there were at least eight species of dinornis, varying in size, from
that of the bustard upwards; D. giganteus being vastly superior to the
ostrich in magnitude. The great quadrumana will probably be the
next to disappear, for civilization will not tolerate the existence of -
anthropoid apes, and the mere savagery of what is called “sport” will.
extinguish them. The gorilla evidenily occupies but a limited range
of country, and that near the coast, and the tendency of civilization is
to people the coasts everywhere with colonies of Anglo-Saxons, French,
and Portuguese, respecting whom it is not easy to. say which are the
most active in the destruction of indigenous fauna. The beaver still
holds a few secluded weirs in the North of Europe, but no one can say

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954 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

when it became extinct in Britain. The otter is so scarce in Great
Britain that the sport of hunting it is almost obsolete. Of the Falcon-
ide there are few living examples left in the British Islands, and the
eyrie of an eagle is as rare in England as the nest of a thrush in
France, where the most melodious of songsters is valued only for its
avor in a pasty by a people who make great pretensions to the cul-
ture of the sentimental. The noble blackcock and the ignoble black
rat appear to have vanished almost simultaneously from the British
fauna, and the fox 1s probably following the wolf in full conviction that
its mission is accomplished. Indeed the fiercest war maintained by
man against animal races, is waged against the carnivora and the rap-
torial birds. In the Biblical narrative, there are numerous evidences
of the abundance of beasts of prey in Palestine and Pheenicia, where
there is now scarce anything more rapacious than a fox to be found.
David’s adventure with the lion and bear could not now be repeated
by any brave shepherd within a hundred miles of Jerusalem, and the
traveller on the Euphrates and Tigris need entertain but little fear of
those hungry lions which figure so conspicuously on the hunting friez-
es of Nineveh. Man not only lays the whole animal kingdom under
tribute to furnish him with meat and labor and entertainment and
knowledge, but he busies himself to disturb the balances. The rela-
tions of Sir Emerson Tennent and Dr. Livingstone make it pretty evi-
dent that the “ halfreasoning elephant” is fast passing from the face of
the earth to be numbered among the extinct animals by the naturalists
of a century hence. When we read of the wanton slaughter of thou-
sands of elephants, with no object but the gratification of the passion for
destruction, we are tempted to lament that man possesses such com+
plete dominion to subjugate, and such unlimited power to destroy.
‘“‘ Had the motive,” says Sir Emerson Tennent, “that invites to the
destruction of the elephant in Africa and India prevailed in Ceylon,
that is, had the elephants there been provided with tusks, they would
long since have been annihilated for the sake of their ivory. But it is
@ curious fact that, whilst in Africa and India both sexes have tusks,
with some slight disproportion in the size of those of the females, not
one elephant in a hundred is found with tusks in Ceylon, and the few
that possess them are exclusively males.” In Africa the hunger for
meat and ivory causes the destruction of the elephant to an extent
which threatens soon to extinguish the large-eared species altogether,
but with neither of these incitements, it is perhaps being extinguished
with still greater speed in Ceylon and India. There is a saving clause
in the fact now established, that elephants will breed in captivity, but
against it must be set the fact that in captivity it does not pay for its
keep, and is scarcely worth the attention of those who employ it either
for burden or draught. The elephant has too much character, too
high a reasoning faculty, to be perfect asya servant; it has too many
whims, too many eccentricities of temper, and consumes far more food
than it earns in harness. Thus economically regarded, everything is
against its preservation, and when the wild herds disappear, there will
probably remain but few in a domesticated state, for unlike the horse,
ox, ass, and sheep, it is both unprofitable and unmanageable.
Zoology has been somewhat restricted in aim, spite of its own breadth
as a science and the liberality of its leading cultivators. It owes most

ZOOLOGY. 255

of its advance in recent times, in the absorption into its circle of the
facts of past biological history, to Prof. Owen, whose “ Paleontology”
is a sort of panorama of extinct forms, placed side by side with their
existing congeners and representatives. Australia and New Zealand
have not only furnished innumerable subjects of anomalous kinds for
the consideration of system-makers, but they have opened the way for
rays of light to fall on the present direct from the past, by their illus-
trations of geological eras. Nothing more strikingly exemplifies the
relationship that subsists between all departments of knowledge, than
the aid which zoology and geology respectively offer to each other. The
existing fauna of Ceylon, as analyzed by Sir Emerson Tennent, affords
very satisfactory indications that the island is, in no geological or zo6-
logical sense, an outlier of the vast Indian continent, but a site sui gen-
eris like Australia, detached not only in its geography from the neigh-
boring continent, but in its chronology also, and in all its organie pro-
ductions. On the other hand, geology does more than whisper of the
connection that once subsisted between England and the Continent of
Europe by way of the straits of Dover; for it furnishes all the evidence
requisite to establish the conclusion that the separation was effected
not very long antecedent to the commencement of the historic era.
Zoology does not touch the chronology of the question, but it affixes
the general conclusion; and we begin to discover that, however valu-
able are the floras and faunas of Britain, they tell but half their proper
story unless considered in connection with the floras and faunas of the
Continent. — Intellectual Observer.

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF ASIA
AND AUSTRALIA.

Mr. Wallace, the well-known Enolish naturalist, in a recent paper
before the British Geographical Society stated that while Asia and
Australia were more widely distinct in their animal and vegetable pro-
ductions than any two portions of the earth, it could be shown that
these peculiarities extended on each side into the adjacent islands, so
that when you came to the little islands of Baly and Lombock, sepa-
rated only by a strait 15 miles wide, you have the production of two
continents brought into close contact without intermingling; the birds,
for example, being almost totally different in the two islands, and not
the species merely, but even the genera and families of the one not
extending into the other.

NEW CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

At a recent meeting of the French Academy, M. Chevreul explained
a plan devised by him for a new classification of the animal kingdom.
His principle may be briefly stated as follows: Under the present
system, in which the physical organization of the animal is taken for a
guide, it often happens that its intellectual development is at variance
with its physiological state. Thus, the quadrumana precede the car-
nivora in the present system, the organization of the former being su-
perior to that of the latter. Now, if we take the ourang outang, chin?
panzee, and gorilla, as types of the quadrumana, both their organiza-
tion and intellectual faculties will induce us to place them immediately
after man. “Bui the makis, which are also quadrumanous, and there-

256 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

fore precede the carnivora, are far below some of them, such as the
dog and phoca, as regards their intellectual faculties. To obviate the
inconvenience resulting from this discrepancy between the physical
and intellectual qualities of animals, M. Chevreul proposes to classify
them by shelves instead of columns, as is now the case. Let us sup-
pose the centre of the upper shelf to be occupied by man; then de-
scribing a circle from that centre, that the ourang outang, chimpanzee
and gorilla be placed at equal distances on the circumference, and
ether inferior species of quadrumana further off from the centre, but
on the same shelf. Now let the lower shelf be devoted to the carniv-
ora, and let the centre be occupied by the best species, namely: the dog,
phoca, bear, and cat; then the inferior species will be arranged further
and further from the centre, according to the degree of their intellec-
tual faculties. The advantage of this arrangement will be that the
dog, being inferior to the most perfect kinds of quadrumana, will stand
below them on the second shelf; but being superior in sagacity to the
makis, this circumstance is denoted by his being at the centre, and the
makis at a distance from it, though on the upper shelf. In the same
way other shelves may be arranged for the orders immediately inferior
to the carnivora in point of sagacity, and from this succession of shelves +
new relations may be discovered between species belonging to different
genera and orders.

ON THE PHENOMENA CONNECTED WITH DEATH.

Mr. Savory, in a recent lecture before the Royal Institution, London,
on the above subject, drew a broad distinction between what he termed
general death, and special, or molecular death. The latter occurs some-
time after the last breath has been drawn, since several functions of
the body, such as digestion, muscular contraction, and the circulation
of the body, may go on for some time after the change, we term death,
has taken place. In this aspect, the more important functions of ani-
mal life are suspended much sooner than those relating to our organic
life. So also, cold-blooded animals, and those with very simple organ-
ization, such as polyps and worms, retain vitality of various degrees
under circumstances fatal to such complex organisms as ours. In com-
menting on the various modes of dying, and the causes, whether aris-
ing from the suspension of the action of either of the three great organs
termed the “ tripods of life,” the heart, the lungs, and the brain, — Mr.
Savory expressed his own conviction, that death was primarily occa-
sioned by either the sudden or gradual stoppage of the supply of blood
to the nervous centres. He also expressed his concurrence with the
statement of the late Sir Benjamin Brodie, that, in almost all cases,
the point of death is free from physical suffering. He duly described
and analyzed the signs of death, namely, loss of heat, the muscular con-
traction, termed “rigor mortis,” the coagulation of the blgod, and final-
ly, decomposition. The last, he said, is always going on in life, but is
then accompanied by renewal; this ceases after death. The body
then becomes subject to chemical and physical forces, and is resolved
fhto its component elements, to be taken up again for the constitution
of new organisms. Death, then, is a condition of life.

Essential Features of Life. — Mr. Savory in the same lecture also
defined the essential features of life, when reduced to its samplest terms,

ZOOLOGY. 257

as a state of dynamic equilibrium —a continual succession of waste
and repair; the former being the consequence of every act of mind or
body, the latter the result of the various processes of nutrition carried
on during repose. In a human body weighing 140 lbs. about a ton of
various matters, solid, liquid, and gaseous, are received and assimilated
during a year; yet the body appears exactly the same. Some organs,
however, such as the teeth and hair, have a limited existence. This
may be compared to the metamorphoses of insects, Life is maintained
ina normal state when demand and supply are perfectly adjusted,
consumption being ever proportional to the total energy exercised. A
seed of a plant is in a state of dormant vitality, which the hibernation
of certain animals closely resembles. The blood which we have in
three stages or conditions — that of to-day in its perfect state, that of
yesterday in its used state, and that of to-morrow in its preparatory
stage — is the important agent in the nutrition or repair of wasted tis-
sues. Its great organ, the heart, has also its due periods of work and
rest or repair. The same is the case with the organs of respiration.
In health an increased demand for power meets with increased supply.
Hence the large size of the muscles of the arm of a blacksmith, and
the greater development of the brain when. the mental power is raised
by education. The mutual sympathy existing between all the organs
ot the body is maintained by means of the blood and the nervous
system ; and by the action of the nerves on the blood-vessels, the varied
phenomena of the countenance (pallor, blushing, &c.) are produced.
In conclusion, Mr. Savory proposed to reduce the seven ages of man
to three :— Growth or development, when supply of nutrition to the
tissues exceeds the demand; maturity, when the two are balanced;
and decline, when supply falls short of thé demand, and decay ensues.

NATURE OF THE VITAL FORCE.

The following is an abstract of a discussion before the British As-
sociation, on the nature of the so-called “ vital force.”— Dr. Daubeny
was quite ready to allow that the term “vital force” was conditional.
At the same time, he felt that some of the phenomena of plant-life
could not be explained by physical causes. Such, he thought, was
the power plants had of selecting one kind of food rather than another,
and the power the leaves possessed of decomposing carbonic acid. —
Prof. Williamson expressed his conviction that the processes of life did
not depend on physical causes. There were always causes acting in the
life of plants and animals that no physical principles with which we
were acquainted could explain. He instanced the fact of a hydra
. taking one of its own tentacles into itsstomach with an animaleule. It
digested the animalcule, but its tentacle suffered no harm. Mineral
' bodies were subject to no decay as organic bodies were; and it was
this death that showed the existence of a departed vital force from the
dead plant or animal. Mr. Lubbock thought the danger of using the
term “vital” force or principle was, that persons who employed it
thought it explained the phenomena, which in no instance was the
case. He thought that the death of marine animals in fresh water,
and of fresh-water animals in salt water, was an instance of how physi-
eal circumstances influenced life. Dr. Lankester said, that the term
“vital foree ” had been used in various senses, and Dr. Daubeny only

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258 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

accepted it as a provisional term. What he wished to point out was,
that in the sense in which it was employed by Dr. Daubeny, it was
only equivalent, as Dr. Jepen had stated, to the “crystallizing force” of
minerals, which exercised the same selecting power in crystallizing as
the roots of plants did in growing. The only phenomena in plants
for which we had really no physical explanation were, the movements
of the protoplasm in the interior of the cells of plants, and the locomo-
tive power of unicellular plants and their cilia. These movements
were similar to the muscular contractility and nervous sensibility of the
highest animals. These movements were, however, dependent on phys-
ical causes, and the chemical decomposition of the sugar and protein
of our food was necessary for their development. As to death’s not oc-
curring in the mineral world, this was but another name in animals
and plants for change; and change occurred in crystals and in all
the physical phenomena of the universe, as much as in organic bodies.

PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION.

The student of nature wonders the more, and is astonished the less,
the more conversant he becomes with her operations; but-of ail the
perennial miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most worthy
of admiration is the development of a plant or an animal from its em-
bryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some animal, such as a sala-
mander or a newt. It isa minute spheroid in which the best micro-
scope will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing a_glairy
fluid, holding granules in suspension. But strange possibilities lie dor-
mant in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth
reach its watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so
steady and purpose-like in their succession, that one can only compare
them to those operated by a skilful modeller upon a formless lump of
clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided
into smaller and smaller portions until it is reduced to an aggrega-
tion of granules not too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the
nascent organism. And, thef, it is as if a delicate finger traced out
the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and moulded the contour
of the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other,
and fashioning flank and limb into due salamandrine proportions, in so
artistic a way that, after watching the process hour by hour, one 1s al-
most involuntarily possessed by the notion that some more subtle aid
to vision than an achromatic glass would show the hidden artist, with
his plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his
work.

As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the
terror of his insect contemporaries, not only are nutritious particles
supplied by its prey, by the addition of which to its frame growth takes
place, laid down, each in its proper spot, and m such due proportion
to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the color, and the size character-
istic of the parental stock ; but even the wonderful powers of repro-
ducing lost parts possessed by these animals are controlled by the same
governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws — separately
or all together — and, as Spallanzan showed long ago, these parts not
only grow again, but the redintegrated limb is formed on the same
type as those which were lost. The new jaw or leg isa newt’s, and

ZOOLOGY. : 259

never by any accident more like that of a frog. What is true of the*
newt is true of every animal and plant; the acorn tends to build itself
up again into a woodland giant such as that from whose twig it fell;
the spore of the humblest lichen reproduces the green or brown incrus-
tation which gave it birth; and at the other end of the scale of life, the
child that resembled neither the paternal nor the maternal side of the
house would be regarded as a kind of monster. So that the one end
to which, in all living beings, the formative impulse is tending — the
one scheme which the Archeeus of the old speculators strives to carry
out — seems to be to mould the offspring into the likeness of the parent.
It is the first great law of reproduction that the offspring tends to re-
semble its parent or parents more closely than anything else. — West-
minster Review.

INFLUENCE OF THE NURSE UPON THE NURSLING.

In general, people are wholly unaware of the fact that bones grow
and waste with great rapidity. Bone is composed chiefly of earthy
matters, and we should as soon expect a mile-stone to increase and de-
crease with the changing hours, as this inorganic-looking bone. Never-
theless, it is a fact, that bones are always in an active state of waste
and repair, and no tissue in the body is so rapidly and successfully re-
paired after injury, or after portions have been cut away, as the bony
tissue. Some years ago, M. Flourens hit upon the ingenious device of
tracing the growth of bone, by giving animals madder in their
food. ‘The madder colored all the new deposits, so that, after a time,
every bone in the body was of a deep red. If, of two animals thus
fed, one were deprived of madder at a certain period, the tale was told
by the layers of uncolored bone which covered those that were colored,
and in time, the whole of the colored bone would disappear. M.
Flourens has since made valuable and varied use of his discovery.
Tle has employed it to show the influence of the mother upon her
offspring. ‘Taking a sow with young, and freely administering madder
with her food, he found the little pigs all born with colored bones.
That the reader may fairly understand the surprising nature of this re-
sult, he should know that the communication between parent and off-
spring is of an extremely indirect kind. It is only through the blood; and
that blood does not simply flow from her arteries into the arteries of
the offspring, but circulates in a system of closed vessels, which lie
side by side with the closed vessels of the young one, and through the
walls of both these vessels, certain constituents of the blood ooze, and
among these constituents, apparently, the coloring matter.

Nor do the marvelsend here. M. Flourens has recently submitted to
the Academie des Sciences the result of his experiments on “ nursing
mothers.” These are so mportant in their suggestions to human moth-
ers, especially to those who suffer their children to be brought up by wet
nurses, or ‘by hand,” that we deem it right to give it not only publici-
ty, but all the emphasis we can command. Let the facts first be stat-
ed. The litter of a sow was kept carefully separated from her, ex-
cept during the moments of sucking. She was fed on food with which
madder had been mingled. In a fortnight or three weeks, all the
bones of the little pigs were reddened. KRemember that the milk of
such a sow is to the eye as white as that of any other sow; nothing

260 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

‘reveals the presence of the madder, save the remarkable effects on the
osseous tissues of mother and offspring. The doubt thus raised helps
to strengthen the idea that probably it was not through the milk, that
these little pigs received the coloring matter, but in some more direct
way: This doubt M. Flourens very wisely considered. He observed
that when the sow was admitted to her young ones, she had her snout
covered with the remains of the food in which she had plunged it,
and this the little ones began to lick greedily enough. He ther efore
chose other animals with whom he could.be certain of no such possible
source of error. He chose white rats and rabbits. The rats are born
blind and naked ; they never eat during the first few days after birth,
they only suck ; and they quit the nest ; when between two and three
weeks old. Rabbits also are born blind and naked, and quit the nest
on the twenty-fifth or thirtieth day, and only suck at first. Here were
all the conditions for an unexceptionable experiment. M. Flourens
began to feed a rat with madder directly after she had produced her
young, and examining the young on the eleventh day, every part of their
osseous tissue was red. It was the same with rabbits on the ninth day.
He carefully examined, in each case, the mouth, throat, stomach, and
intestines of these animals, without finding a trace of the madder.
The conclusion is inevitable. The milk of the mother affects the
organism of the child, and whatever the mother eats or drinks affects
her milk. It has long been known, that medicines administered to the
nurse affect the nursling, that if the nurse indulge in alcohol, the
nursling suffers for it. But it is now clear that influences less obvious
than these, influences which do not betray themselves by such easily
recoonized effects, must also affect the milk, and through the milk, the
nursling. Although the organism, by its marvellous chemistry, trans-
mutes the most various substances of food into the few organic com-
pounds, assimilating them, as we say, so that the herbage of the mea-
dow is converted into bone, muscle, membrane, and nerve, not distin-
guishable from those got out of beef-steak, there are, nevertheless,
very many substances which resist this transmutaiton, which cannot be
ee and which act, therefore, for good or evil, like strange
odies

MENTAL CONDITION OF BABIES.

A writer in the Cornhill Magazine, (May, 1863,) after discussing at
some length the interesting question, ‘‘ What is the mental condition
of very young infants?” considers that the following conclusions are
substantiated by recent scientific experiment and investigation. He

says, ‘We cannot escape the conclusion that, from the first, a baby
manifests the special sensibilities which are, as it were, the nabulum of
the mind, and through which it gains its kwowledge of the external
w orld. Not only are the senses “activ e, but desire, will, and expres-
sion, also manifest themselves, and all these are manifested in such vary-
ing degrees as to indicate marked individuality in several infants. Thus
far science leads us. If we wish to penetrate further, and learn the
condition of the “ higher faculties,” we are left without our experimen-
tal guide, and must rely on inference. Up to this point we have had
some means of testing our inferences. ‘The organs of sense, when
stimulated, respond in the baby very much as in the adult. The

ZOOLOGY. 261

emotions find their well-known expressions. This language we can
interpret. But how are we to interpret the language of the higher
faculties, supposing them to be in action? What can we know of the
baby’s imagination, abstraction, or comparison? We may warrantably
reject the old notion, of the mind’s being from the first well furnished
with truths of wide generality, — “ innate ideas,” as they were called ;
but the advance of psychology, founded on physiology, has made it
pretty certain that if not furnished with ready-made truths, if not en-
riched with innate ideas, the mind is from the first furnished with he-
reditary tendencies and aptitudes, even in directions purely intellectual.
Inasmuch as memory presupposes the experiences which are remem-
bered, abstraction presupposes the experiences which furnish the
materials, and ratiocination presupposes the experiences which furnish
the propositions, we are forced to conclude that these actions of the
soul emerge gradually ; but the various epochs of their emergence and
development are necessarily hidden from us. According to the
platonic theory, the intellectual condition of the baby is transcendent-
ally superior to that of the philosopher, for he has just quitted the
higher world of existences, and has descended amid the shadows,— the
phenomena. If he is conscious of the previous state of existence, what
a mist of vanishing and futile shadows must this world appear to him.

MARRIAGES OF CONSANGUINITY.

A recent writer in the Westminster Review, after discussing the
evidence pro and con, relative to the injurious effects of marriages be-
tween blood-relations, thus finally expresses himself as led to the fol-
lowing conclusions : —

On the whole evidence before us, we cannot conclude otherwise
than that the very general opinion, that there is some special law of
nature which close-breeding infringes, is founded rather on a kind of
superstition than on any really scientific considerations. If we look
upon the question as one of science, we find that the facts given as .
evidence in favor of this opinion, can for the most part without difliculty
be redueed under the ordinary laws of inheritance. On the other hand,
the known facts brought to light by investigation among the lower ani-
mals and plants, are such as positively to disprove this hypothesis, as
regards them; and it would require much more stringent proof than any
one has ever yet attempted to bring forward, in order to justify us in
believing that man is under the action of physiological laws differing
from those which obtain in the rest of the animal kingdom. The aspect
of the question before us from the practical point of view is, however,
somewhat different. Here further evidence is still required, and will,
no doubt, be collected. It is, of course, conceivable, whether probable
or not, that there may exist at the present time, in civilized communi-
ties, so few families really free from all taint of disease or imperfection,
as to render intermarriage of blood-relations unsafe by the action of
the ordinary laws of inheritance. We are ourselves strongly dis-
posed to disbelieve, in the absence of strict evidence, in any such de-
generate condition as the normal state of modern humanity ; but it is
this point, and nothing further, which observation and statistics are ca-
pable of deciding ; and in order even to do this, the observations must

262 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

be more careful, and the statistics far more extensive, than any which
have yet been recorded.

THE DEAF AND DUMB.

In a paper recently presented to the French Academy, Dr. Boudin
gives the following curious statistics: _ Marriages of blood-relations
form about two per cent. of all marriages in France; the deaf and
dumb offspring, by birth, of consanguineous marriages are in proportion
to the deaf and dumb born in ordinary wedlock ; at Lyons, at least
twenty-five per cent; at Paris, at least twenty-eight per cent; at Bor-
deaux, at least thirty per cent. 2. The proportions of the deaf and
dumb, by birth, increase with the degree of blood-relationship. If the
danger of having a deaf and dumb child in ordinary marriage, repre-
sented by figures, is one, there will be eighteen in marriages between
first cousins; thirty-seven in marriages between uncles and nieces;
seventy in marriages between nephews and aunts. 3. At Berlin we find
thirty-one deafand dumb on ten thousand Catholics, six deaf and dumb
on ten thousand Protestants, twenty-seven deaf and dumb_on ten thou-
sand Jews. In other words, the proportions of the deaf and dumb born
grow with the facility religion affords to consanguinity in marriage. 4.
In 1848, twenty-three deaf and dumb born of ten thousand whites were
counted in the territory of Iowa (U. S.), and two hundred and twelve
deaf and dumb among ten thousand slaves; a shocking proof how little
our social, moral and religious laws are considered valid for the slaves.
5. The misfortune of being born deaf and dumb falls not always direct-
ly from parents wedded in consanguinity; it appears sometimes indi-
rectly from marriages in which one of the parents issued from wedlock
between blood-relations. 6. The most healthy parents, but related in
blood, may have deaf and dumb children; while deaf and dumb par-
ents, but not blood-related, very rarely beget deaf and dumb chil-
dren. 7. The number of deaf and dumb born increases formidably in
places where natural obstacles stand in the way of cross-marriages.
_ Thus we have the proportion of the deaf and dumb, which in France
in general is six upon ten thousand inhabitants; in Corsica, fourteen
on ten thousand; in the High Alps, twenty-three on ten thousand; in
Iceland, eleven; in the Canton of Berne, twenty-eight. 8. The num-
ber of the deaf and dumb in Europe may be reckoned at about
250,000.

WHY THE STOMACH DOES NOT DIGEST ITSELF.

At a late meeting of the Royal Society, England, Dr. Pavy, in a com-
munication discussing the “ Immunity enjoyed by the stomach from
being digested by its own secretion during life,” after stating that the
“ living principle” suggested by John Hunter, as the protecting agency,
did not stand the test of experiment, for it had been shown that the
tissues of living animals might be dissolved by the stomach secretion,
said that the prevailing notion of the mucous liming of the organ
serving as its source of protection by its susceptibility of constant renew-
al during life was equally untenable; for he had found by experiment
that a patch of entire mucous membrane might be removed, and food
would afterwards be digested in the stomach without the stomach itself
presenting the slightest sign of attack. The view propounded by Dr.

ZOOLOGY. 263

Pavy was one dependent on chemical principles. The existence of
acidity was an absolutely essential condition for the accomplishment of
the act of digestion. Now, the walls of the stomach being permeated
so freely as they are during life by a current of alkaline blood, would
render it impossible that their digestive solution could occur. After
death, however, the blood being stagnant, there would not be the
resistance to the penetration of the digestive menstruum with the
retention of its acid properties that existed during the occurrence of
a circulation, and thus the stomach became attacked when death took
place during the digestive process, notwithstanding it had previously
been maintained in so perfect a state of security. Dr. Pavy, in ad-
vocating this view, brought forward experiments which showed that
digestion of the stomach might be made to take place during life.
Whenever the circumstances were such that an acid liquid in the stom-
ach could retain its acid properties whilst tending to permeate the
walls of the organ, gastric solution was observed. The question of
result resolved itself into degree of power between acidity within the
stomach and alkalinity around. It did not appear that the digestion
of living frogs’ legs and the extremity of a living rabbit’s ear intro-
duced through a fistulous opening into the stomach offered any valid
objection to his view. In the case of the frogs’ legs, it might be fairly
taken that the amount of blood possessed by the animal would be in-
adequate to furnish the required means of resistance. In the case of
the rabbit’s ear, the vascularity of it being so much less than that of
the walls of the stomach, there was nothing unreasonable in conceiving
that whilst the one received, the other might fail to receive protection
from the circulating current, on account of the disparity of power that
must belong to the two.

THE BEATING OF THE HEART.

About ten years ago, M. A. Bernard discovered a fact of very high
importance, — the influence of certain nerves on the local circulation.
In his first researches, this emiment physiologist demonstrated that the
great sympathetic nerve was connected with the contractility of the
arterial terminations; and further, the existence of nervous filaments
antagonistic to the preceding, which appeared to regulate the relaxa-
tion of the vessels. These experiments, repeated by all modern physi-
ologists, have been extended to other nerves, and show that the circu-
lation of the blood is accelerated or retarded by nervous influences in
a manner which was formerly only vaguely suspected. M. Marey has
recently studied the subject in relation to the beating of the heart,
and its connection with muscular exercise, fever, and the violent emo-
tions of anger, fear, joy, &c., all of which exercise a direct action on
the peripheric circulation. - He does not consider variation in the beat-
ing of the heart to be due to any change in the activity of the heart
alone. Without delivering himself to any hypothesis on the subject,
he says that it is certain that changes in the general circulation take
place under the influence of moral emotions, the face reddens, or pales,
ete. These changes must entail variations in the frequency of the
beatings of the heart, so that the power which moderates or accelerates
the contractions of the heart, he thinks, can be no other than the con-
tractility of the vessels of the whole body by nervous agency.

he

264 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

MECHANISM EMPLOYED IN THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

In a recent lecture on the above subject before the Royal Institution,
London, Professor Marshall attributed the heart’s rhythmical movements
to the alternate contraction and expansion of the auricles and ventri-
cles, — its slight rotary movement, its two peculiar sounds, one long and
soft, due to the closure of large valves; the other, sharp and abrupt,
due to the closing of the small, semilunar valves. The pujse was at-
tributed to the pulsations or waves of the mass of blood, caused by
the elongation and distension of the elastic walls of the arteries, and
said to be simultaneous with, but distinct from, the onward flow of the

lood. By means of an ingeniously-contrived apparatus, these pulsa-
tions have been measured in a number of“inimals. They are found to
increase as the size of the animal diminishes, — e. g., the average pulse
of a horse is fifty-five beats in a second; of a man, seventy-two; ofa
dog, ninety-six; of a rabbit, two hundred and twenty; of a squirrel,
three hundred. Yet it is found that, whatever be the size of the ani-
mal, the number of beats required to complete the circulation through
the whole body averages twenty-seven, and the proportion of the
weight of the blood to that of the whole averages one twelfth. While
in health ae are perfectly unconscious of the existence of the compli-
cated mechanism employed in the circulation of our blood; this -is
due to the position of the heart, and its relation to the nervous system.

INFLUENCE OF EFFORTS OF INSPIRATION ON THE HEART.

Dr. Brown-Séquard has communicated to the Royal Society his
“Experimental Researches on the Influence of Efforts of Inspiration
on the Movements of the Heart.”

A very interesting fact, of which many circumstances have been
carefully investigated by Professor Donders and Dr. S. W. Mitchell,
has received a wrong explanation from those physiologists. This fact
consists in a diminution of either the strength or the frequency of the
beatings of the heart when an energetic effort at breathing is made
and maintained for half a minute or a little more. Professor Donders
thinks that this influence of inspiration on the heart is due to a me-
chanical agency of the dilated lungs on this organ. Dr. Brown-Sé-
quard continues, —

It is admitted that the state of the lungs hasa great influence on the
heart, but the principal cause of the diminution in the movements of
this organ is very different from what has been supposed by Professor
Donders, by Professor J. Miiller, and others. It 1s known that when
the medulla oblongata or the par vagum is excited (either by galvan-
ism, as the Brothers Weber have discovered, or by other means, such
as a mere compression, or a sudden wound, as I have found), the
heart’s beatings diminish or cease entirely. Whether this stoppage be
due to the cause I have attributed it to or not is indifferent to my
present object. What is important is that in these cases an irritation
on the origin of the par vagum acts through it on the heart to diminish
or to destroy its action. I thought that it would be interesting to de-
cide, if, at the time that there is an effort at inspiration, there is not
also an influence of the medulla oblongata on the par vagwm, more or
less similar to that which exists when we galvanize or otherwise irritate

~‘

ZOOLOGY. 265

the medulla oblongata. To ascertain if it is so, I have made experi-
ments on newly-born animals, and on birds. As I have already pub-
lished some of the results of my researches on newly-born animals, and
as these results are not so completely decisive as those of my experi-
ments made on birds, I will merely give here a summary of what I
have seen in these last animals. I have found the same facts in ducks,
geese, and pigeons; but as I have repeated the experiments more fre-
quently on the last-mentioned animals, I will speak of them only.
When their abdomen has been widely opened and their heart exposed
to sight, pigeons may live, as it is well known, for a long while. I wait
until they are almost dying, having only one, two, or three inspirations
in a minute, and then, if the weather is cold, and if the animal has
lost many degrees of its temperature, I find that, at each effort it
makes to inspire, the heart either almost suddenly stops, or beats much
less quickly.

I have frequently seen the heart completely arrested for five or ten
seconds, and twice for twenty or twenty-five seconds, in cases where
there was only one respiration in two minutes. This stoppage of the
heart’s movements was the more remarkable, as they were at the rate
of more than two hundred in a minute when the effort at inspiration
took place. To decide that it wasin consequence of an influence of the
par vagum that this occurred, I divided this nerve in the neck, and
then found that there was no more influence of the inspiration on the
heart, or if there was, it consisted in an augmentation of the frequency
of the movement of thisorgan; an augmentation due to the shaking
of the heart when the chest dilated.

Sometimes, when the heart was very irritable, and when the efforts
at inspiration were still frequent and not energetic (the par vagum be-
ing undivided), thesé efforts were accompanied, or rather immediately
followed, by an increase in the strength of the heart’s movements,
probably caused by the shaking. But always when the inspiratory
efforts were energetic and rare, “they coexisted with a diminution or a
momentary cessation of the heart’s contractions ; and always in these
eases the section of the par vagum has destroyed the diminishing influ-
ence of the respiratory efforts on the heart. It would be easy to show
that the influence of the inspiratory effort on the central organ of cir-
culation is comparable to the change taking place in the pupil when
the globe of the eye is drawn inward ; it is an associated action.

From the facts I have found in the case of newly-born animals and
birds, and from the facts observed in man by Professors J. Miiller,
Donders, and others, it results that, during efforts at inspiration, a ner-
vous influence passes along the par vagum from the medulla oblongata
to the heart, diminishing the movements of this organ. And, as by an
action of our will we may inspire with energy, it follows that we can
by an influence of our will diminish the action of our heart, just as we
can contract our pupil by drawing our eyes inwards.

CIRCULATION OF POISONS IN THE SYSTEM.

A London physiologist, Mr. Blake, has lately developed some inter-
esting results, by experiments in regard to the rapidity with which the
various poisons disseminate themselves through the system, and prove
fatal. We must not be understood, however, to suppose that these

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266 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

processes are always synonymous, many poisons proving fatal without
any dissemination at all.

Mr. Blake observed the following method: Having provided a deli-
cate measure of the condition of the circulating system, by inserting
into the femoral artery of the animal to be experimented on Poiseulle’s
hemadynamometeft (an instrument for measuring the rapidity of the
circulation), he proceeded to ascertain the time required for the pas-
sage of the poisons from one part of the system to the other. This he
effected chiefly by introducing various substances, previously known
to paralyze the heart, directly into the vessels, and, by means of the
instrument, noting the instant of time at which the first effects of the
“oye manifested themselves, and at which the heart ceased to beat.

yithout entering into a minute account of the experiments them-
selves, it may sufiice to state that, in the dog, the time required for a
poison to pass from the jugular vein to the lungs was four seconds, or
from four to six seconds; from the jugular vein to the coronary arte-
ries of the heart, seven seconds; from the jugular vein to the carotid
artery, five to seven seconds, and from the aorta to the capillaries, four
seconds. A poison introduced into the jugular vein was distributed
through the whole body in nine seconds. In the horse, the time re-
quired for the completion of the circulation was from twelve to twenty
seconds, or somewhat less than the time (twenty-five seconds) deduced
by Hering, of Stuttgardt, from his experiment. These experiments
are in harmony with the more recent case of M. Claude Bernard. A
saturated soiution of sulphuretted hydrogen, introduced into the jugu-
lar vein of a dog, began to be eliminated from the lungs in three sec-
onds; and when injected into the femoral vein of the same dog, in six
seconds.

ARE THE NERVES EXCITORS OR CONTROLLERS?

Owing to the excessive complexity of the vital mechanism, our in-
genuity is severely taxed in every attempt to arrive at the precise
function of each organ in its relation to others. The observation
which to-day seems conclusive, may become dubious to-morrow, and
rejected the day after, when more accurate experiments reveal the
source of fallacy. This being so, we hear with little surprise that the
most brilliant physiologist of the day, Claude Bernard, has been led to
doubt the truth of what has been considered indubitable ever since
the nervous system. has been systematically investigated, namely,
that nerves are excitors, their functions being to excite the activity of
the muscles and glands to which they are distributed. His words
are these: “May it not be, that we have formed false ideas relative
to the influence of nerves in provoking the activity of organs? In-
stead of being excitors, nerves are only bridles; the organs, whose
functional power is in some sort idio-organic, can only manifest that
power at the moment when the nervous influence is suspended.” It is
certain that a perfectly quiescent muscle is thrown into activity by a
stimulus applied to its nerve. M. Bernard, perhaps, means his re-
marks to refer only to glands, since he makes no mention of the activ-
ity of muscles.

ZOOLOGY. 267

ABSORBING POWER OF THE HUMAN SKIN.

Dr. Murray Thompson observes:: “For the last sixty years physi-
ological and other authors have been maintaining two very opposite
views in regard to the absorption by the skin of substances dissolved in
the water of baths. Some authors holding that such salts as iodide of
potassium readily reach the blood through the skin, when applied in
the form of a bath containing that salt; while others hold that absorp-
tion, under such circumstances, never takes place.

‘‘ My experiments were all made on my own person at various inter-
vals during the last two years. Six of them were made on as many
successive nights, so as to try if frequency of bathing rendered the skin
more permeable. The general method of making the trials was this:
Into an ordinary bath a measured quantity of warm water was let,
the temperature of which was recorded. Means were taken to keep
the heat constant during the experiment. The temperatures ranged
usually from 90° to 98°. The salt to be tried was then dissolved and
mixed with the water. The time in the bath was noted; it varied
from half an hour to one hour and a quarter. The whole body was
immersed, excepting the head and neck. All the urine voided in
twenty-four hours after each bath was coliected and concentrated, then
tested for the substances experimented on. Six baths were taken, in
which iodide of potassium was dissolved. The quantity of the salt va-
ried from 200 to 1300 grains. Five baths, in which quantities of fer-
ro-cyanide of potassium, varying from 1400 to 5000 grains, were dis-
solved. Four baths were taken, the water of which was rendered
strongly alkaline by soda. The result of these fifteen experiments
was, that I could not find that any of the substances in the baths passed
through the skin into the blood, so as to be found in the urine; the
soda baths did not render it alkaline, nor could I detect the other salts
in it; and it is to be noted that the tests for them were extremely deli-
cate.

“The general conclusion which my experiments lead me to are, —
1. That though not denying that absorption by the skin of aqueous
solution does take place, yet it seems to be the exception and not the
rule. 2. That medicated warm baths, whether natural or artificial, do
not appear to owe any virtue they may have to the substances dis-
solved in them reaching the blood through the skin. At the same
time, as there are other ways by which one can conceive such baths to
operate on the system, it is not to be concluded that, because absorp-
tion may not take place, such baths are useless as therapeutic agents.”
—Proc. Royal Soc. Edinburgh.

ACTION OF DIFFERENT MEDICINES ON THE MENTAL FACULTIES.

“ All stimulant and exciting medicines increase the quantity of blood
that is sent to the brain. If this quantity exceeds a certain amount,
then most of the faculties of the mind become over-excited. Never-
theless, the degree of this action is observed to vary a good deal in
different cerebral organizations; and it is also found that certain stim-
ulants exercise a peculiar and characteristic influence upon special or
individual faculties. Thus ammonia and its preparations, as well as
musk, castor, wine, and ether, unquestionably enliven the imaginative

268 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

owers, and thus serve to render the mind more fertile and creative.

he empyreumatic oils are apt to induce a tendency to melancholy
and mental hallucinations. Phosphorus acts on the instinct of propa-
gation, and increases sexual desire; hence it has often been recom-
mended in cases of impotence. Jodine seems to have a somewhat
analogous influence; but then it often diminishes, at the same time,
the energy of the intellectual powers. | Cantharides, it is well known,
are a direct stimulant of the sexual organs; while camphor tends to
moderate and lull the irritability of these parts.

“ Of the metals, arsenic has a tendency to induce lowness and depres-
sion of the spirits; while the preparations of gold serve to elevate and
excite them. Mercury is exceeding apt to bring on a morbid sensibili-
ty, and an inaptitude for all active occupation.

“Of narcotics, opium is found to augment the erotic propensities, as
well as the general powers of the intellect, but more especially the im-
agination. In smaller doses it enlivens the ideas and induces various
hallucinations, so that it may be truly said that, during the stupor which
it induces, the mind continues to be awake while the body is asleep.
In some persons opium excites inordinate loquacity. Dr. Gregory
says that this effect is observed more especially after the use of the
muriate of morphia. He noticed this effect in numerous patients; and
he then tried the experiment on himself with a similar result. He felt,
he tells us, while under the operation, an invincible desire to speak,
and possessed, moreover, an unusual fluency of language. Hence he
recommends its use to those who may be called upon to address any
public assembly, and who have not suflicient confidence in their own
unassisted powers.

“Other narcotics are observed to act very differently on the brain
and its faculties from opium. Belladonna usually impairs the intellec-
tual energies; hyoscyamus renders the person violent, impetuous, and
ill-mannered. Conium dulls and deadens the intellect, and digitalis is
decidedly anti-aphrodisiac. Hemp will often induce an inextinguish-
able gayety of spirits. Tobacco acts in a very similar manner with
opium, even in those persons who are accustomed to its use; almost all
smokers assert that it stimulates the powers of the imagination.

“Tf the psychological action of medicines were better known, medical
men might be able to vary their exhibition, according to the characters
and mental peculiarities of their patients. The treatment of different
kinds of monomaniacal derangement also might be much improved ;
and it is not improbable but that even a favorable change might be
wrought on certain vicious and perverse dispositions, which unfortu-
nately resist all attempts at reformation, whether in the way of admoni-
tion, reproof, or even of correction.” — Prof. Otto, Medico-Chirurgical
fieview.

IS FRESH AIR NECESSARY DURING SLEEP?

Most readers will be surprised that such a question should be asked ;
to ask it, they would say, is to answer it. An eminent French phys-
iologist, M. Delbruck, however, has recently doubted the aflirmative
of the above proposition, in a paper of some merit, presented to the
French Academy, in which he propounds a difficulty, arising out of
the consideration of some very familiar facts. He thinks that the cal-

ZOOLOGY. + 269

culations of physiologists are erroneously exaggerated, and that very
much less air (or, what comes to the same thing, air of less purity) is
needed during sleep. He first appeals to animals. The hon, bear, or
tiger retires into his lair to sleep, quitting the open air, and excluding
it as much as possible. The dog seeks his kennel or corner, curls him-
self up, and buries his head beneath his paws or body. Even birds,
those aérial creatures, who perish so rapidly when confined under a
bell-class, and therefore seem peculiarly dependent upon fresh air,
when sleep approaches, hide their heads under their wings, the beak
covered with the soft down. Hibernating animals, as is well known,
never pass into their long sleep but when sheltered from the air. All
this is very true, but what about man? Acting upon instinct, man
imitates the animals; upon science, he does the very reverse. The
schoolboy, if he is cold, or if he cannot sleep, hides his head under the
bedclothes much as the bird hides its head under a wing. The unen-
lightened man or woman carefully draws the curtains round the bed.
The enlightened physician or nurse tears those curtains down. Sol-
diers and travellers “‘ camping out” are obliged to cover their heads if
they wish to sleep; and railway travellers at night, although six or
eight may be in one carriage, always finish by closing the windows.

These, and other facts of similar significance, require to be well con-
sidered. Thre suggestion of M. Delbruck does not, we confess, present
a very acceptable aspect to us. He supposes that since plants, during
the night, absorb the oxygen which they exhale during the day, “ an-
alogy would lead to the conclusion that animals at night absorb some
of the carbonic acid which they exhale during the day.” Analogy is a
treacherous guide ; and in the present case, a more comprehensive ac-
quaintance with the physiological facts would .have recognized the im-
perfection of the analogy. It is true, that plants absorb oxygen during
the night ; but it is only the woody parts, and these absorb it also during
the day, although the quantities are so small as to be almost inappreci-
able. It is the green parts which absorb carbonic acid during the day,
and these requiring the stimulus of sunlight, are inactive at night.—
Nothing of the kind takes place in the animal organism. The bleod
refuses to absorb carbonic acid from the atmosphere, at all times, and
under all conditions.

What, then, is our explanation of the paradox? Why, if the fresh
air is so indispensable to the waking organism, is it less so to the sleep-
ing organism ? In other words, why can we sleep with a very moder-
ate supply of oxygen ? Physiology furnishes an answer. Sleep is a
condition during which the vital functions are all depressed. It, there-
fore, is incompatible with any excitement of the functions; as we see
in the sleeplessness which succeeds over-fatigue or over-excitement,
(and which, by the way, suggests that the proverb, “ After supper
walk a mile,” must not be stretched to, “After supper walk five miles.”)
Hence, the stimulating effect of oxygen too freely administered, is in-
stinctively avoided by man and beast, in order that sleep may be pla-
cid and undisturbed. Sleep requires diminished activity of the circu-
dation, and external warmth to compensate for this diminished activity.
Hence an atmosphere that is at once highly oxygenated and cold pre-
vents sleep.

No rational reader will push these suggestions to absurd extremes ;

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270 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

because there may have been an oversight in the popular opinion, re-
specting the beneficial effect of well-ventilated dormitories, we are not
to conclude that ventilation even in dormitories is useless. Far from
it. The question is a question of degree. That amount of fresh air
which permits prolonged sleep is the standard we must aim at, but bet-
ter to have impure air than cold.”— Cornhill Magazine.

WHY ANIMALS TO BE EATEN MUST BE KILLED.

It is universally understood that animals which die from disease are
not fitted for our markets. It is also understood, that when cattle have
been over-driven, their meat is notably inferior to that of healthy ani-
mals, unless they are permitted to recover their exhausted energies
before being slaughtered. Why is this? The first and most natural
supposition respecting those which die from disease is that their flesh
is tainted; but it has been found that prolonged agony or exhaustion
is quite as injurious, though in these cases there is no taint of disease.
M. Claude Bernard propounds the following explanation: In all
healthy animals, no matter to what class they belong, or on what food
they subsist, he finds a peculiar substance, analogous to vegetable starch,
existing in their tissues, and especially in their liver. This substance
he calls glycogene, 7. e. the sugar-former. It is abundant in proportion
to the vigor and youth of the animal, and disappears entirely under
the prolonged suffering of pain or disease. This disappearance is sin-
gularly rapid in fish; and is always observed in the spontaneous death
of animals. But when the death is sudden none of it disappears. He
finds that a rabbit, for example, which is killed after suffering pain for five
or six hours, exhibits no trace whatever of this sugar-forming substance ;
and its flesh has a marked difference in flavor. The same remark ap-
plies to exhausted over-driven animals; their muscles are nearly de-
ficient in glycogéne, and yield in water a far larger proportion of solu-
ble principles than the same muscles in a normal condition. M. Ber-
nard finds, moreover, that animals which are suffocated lose more of
the sugar-forming substance than similar animals killed in the
slaughter-house. To this let us add the fact, that the blood of over-
driven animals will not coagulate, or coagulates very slowly and im-
perfectly ; and we shall see good reason for exercising some circum-
spection over the practices of our meat markets.

CHANGES IN THE HABITS OF FISH.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Capt.
Atwood, of Provincetown, Mass., gave an account of the changes the
fisheries of the New England coast had undergone ; and of the varia-
ble habits of many species of fish. Early accounts state, that up to
1764, blue-fish (Tennodon saltator Cuv.) were very common north of
Cape Cod; after which date they disappeared. Having had an ex-
perience of forty years in connection with the fisheries, he could say
that none had been seen north of Cape Cod, until twenty-five years
ago, when he saw his first blue-fish. ‘Those found at that time were
invariably small, the largest weighing about two pounds. In 1839, they
were caught off Nantucket, weighing eight to ten pounds; in two or
three years more those coming north of Cape Cod were larger, and
drove away the mackerel and smaller fishes, and completely filled

ZOOLOGY. 271
Provincetown Harbor. They are found now in great abundance.
They make their appearance in June, coming into the harbors all at
once, and driving away the mackerel entirely. Qn one occasion they
came on the 22d of June; the day previous 8,000 mackerel were -
caught in the harbor; on the 22d, not one was to be found. They
leave the coast with the appearance of the first cold northeast storm,
about the last of September, though two or three individuals were
taken in Provincetown, December, 1862. They have only recently
come into the market, for several years ago scarcely any were sold;
but during the past season, he alone had brought to the market 45,000
pounds weight.

Since their great increase, the lobsters (Homarus americanus Dekay)
had multiplied four-fold, for the natural enemies of their young had
been driven away by the blue-fish. Formerly these fish appeared in
large shoals near the surface, constantly “ flouncing out” of the water,
and they were caught in sweep seines and by the hook; now, though
they come in large quantities, they seem to prefer the deeper waters.

Mackerel (Scomber vernalis Mitch.) also had changed their habits
much. ‘The former method used in catching them was by dragging
hooks on lines twenty fathoms long, and constantly raising and lower-
ing them; now they are caught at the surface with bait, large quanti-
ties of it being strewn alongside to attract them. The bait used is
generally the poorer mackerel, greund up. ‘The former method of ob-
taining them has now entirely failed.

The Cod (Morrhua americana) upon the Banks of Newfoundland
seem also to have changed their habits. Formerly, all the fish were
caught on board of the vessels while lying at anchor. The vessels
take a crew of eight men, each using two lines; when the fish were
abundant, all the men would fish, but usually not more than half the
crew; at times, when no fish could be taken, all the lines but one
would be drawn in, and then they would begin to be taken abundant-
ly ; but let two or more men begin to drop their lines, and not an in-
dividual would be taken; while, should all the lines but one be again
taken in, the captures would once more be frequent. This suggested
the idea of carrying small boats with them, so that each man could fish
apart from the others, and in this they met with perfect success; and,
generally, when all the fishermen in the boats would catch them plen-
tifully, few or none could be taken from on board the vessel. Capt.
Atwood thought that the cause was the different motion of the small
boats from the vessel, as there is constantly an agitation of the waves
upon the Banks.

THE HEARING OF FISHES.

Fishes can do no more than be sensible of a noise. They cannot
distinguish modulations or differences of tone.

One is reluctant to destroy a pet idea, however poetical and pretty,
yet the searcher into scientific truths is often compelled to do so. It is
so in this instance, for truth compels the assertion of the impossibility
of the supposed fact that fishes delight in musical sounds, or come to be
fed by the attraction of a whistle. The true explanation is, that the
vibration of the footstep, not of the whistle, is the source of attraction.
This may be proved by a walk along the margin of any canal or pond.

272 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Every one must have noticed that a footstep will instantly startle any
of the finny tribe that may be lurking under the grassy margin. On
the other hand, if the observer be standing still, he may talk or whistle
‘almost as loud as he likes, without the fishes’ taking the slightest notice,
provided he keeps himself and his shadow out of sight. — W. W. Stod-
dard On the Auditory Organs of the Lower Animals. — London Intel-
leciual Observer.

How Whales Hear. — Had aquatic animals the ears of aerial ones,
they would, owing to the superior conduction of sound by water than
by air, be stunned by what we should call a slight noise. The whale,
then, being a true warm-blood mammal, and at the same time living
the life of a fish, how can it hear? The truth, is, that the cetacean
ear is a very wonderful combination of the ichthyic and mammalian
organ. It hears, as it were, backwards; for the Eustachian tube opens
into the blowhole, while the external orifice is nearly closed. The
petrotympanic bone acts asa true otolith, while the mammalian ossicula
and tympanic membrane are also present. When, therefore, the ceta-
cean comes to the surface for air, 1t hears aérial vibrations through the
Eustachian tube, while at the same time the otolthic ear is immersed,
and cognizant of aquatic sounds. — [bid.

THE EYE OF THE SPERM WHALE.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr.
Jeffries Wyman gave the following account of a dissection of an eye
of the sperm whale and the parts surrounding it :—

On examining the region of the eye, an enormous development of
the muscles was immediately observed. The sclerotic coat of the eye
was very thick, and likewise formed a very thick sheath around the op-
tic nerve, imbedding the bloodvessels, and almost as hard as bone. It
was found, however, to contain no ossific matter, and to be simply very
dense, fibrous tissue. Behind the globe of the eye, and occupying a
large space, was a large venous plexus. The eyelids were thick, and
the conjunctiva folded back in such a manner as to permit the eye to
recede in the socket. The globe of the eye, together with the optic
nerve, weighed three and a half ounces. The powerful retractor
muscle, analogous to that of ruminants, weighed five and a half ounces.
The other muscles seemed only indirectly connected with the globe,
and their use seemed rather to be to open the lid than to move the
globe. The muscles which were attached to the lids were of great
size, and together weighed one and ahalf pounds. The object of such
muscular power he could not divine. The vascular plexus distended
would tend somewhat to force forward the eye, and a sphincter muscle
behind the eye would have a similar effect ; but these do not seem to
demand such extensive muscular power.

ANIMAL EPIDEMICS.

Don Ramon Paez, in his recent work “ Life in the Llanos, Venezu-
ela,” South America, states, that at certain seasons, nature appears to
interfere most actively for the prevention of a superabundance of ani-
mal life on the banks and in the waters of the great rivers, which flow
through the dense forests and over the Llanos, or luxuriant plains of
Venezuela ;— a circumstance which has a bearing on the extinction

ZOOLOGY. o's

of species, which is known to have occurred in geological periods.
This is effected through the prevalence of an epidemic disease, which
apparently has its origin in the decomposition of vegetable detritus, at
or near the river’s head waters. Its ravages are “thus described as
witnessed on the river Apwre,in Venezuela: —

“The first symptoms of the epidemic appeared among the crocodiles,
whose hideous carcasses might then be seen floating down the stream
in such prodigious numbers, that both the waters and air of that fine
region were tainted with their effluvium. It was observed that they
were first seized with a violent fit of coughing, followed by a black
vomit which compelled them to quit their watery home, and finally find
a grave amongst the thickets on the river banks. The disease next
attacked the fish and other inhabitants of the water, with equal vio-
lence, until it was feared the streams would be depopulated. The fear-
ful mortality among them can be better estimated from the fact that,
for more than a month, the rippling waves of that noble river, the
Apure, were constantly -washing down masses of putrefaction, its placid
surface being by them actually” hidden from view for several weeks.
The next victims were the pachidermata of the swamps; and it was a
pitiable sight to see the sluggish chigiiires (capyvaras), and the grizzly
wild-boars. dragging their paralyzed hind-quarters after them; hence
the name of derreng igadera applied to this disease. Not even monkeys
in their aérial retreats escaped the contagion, and their melancholy
cries resounded day and night through the “woods like wailings of the
eternally lost. It is a singular fact, that while the scourge did not
spare any of the countless ‘droves of horses roaming the savannas of
the Apure and adjacent plains, donkeys, and horned cattle were seldom,
if ever attacked, so that, by their aid, the owners of cattle-farms were
enabled to prevent the entire dispersion of their herds.”

Some of the Venezuelian rivers are infested with a peculiarly fero-
cious and blood-thirsty fish known as the caribe, which, though not lar-
ger than a perch, is one of the most formidable creatures that man or
beast can have the misfortune to encounter. Their sharp, triangular
teeth, arranged in the same manner as those of the shark, are so
strong, that neither copper, steel, nor twine can withstand them, and
hence the angler stands no chance of sport where the caribe is found.
“ ‘The sight of any red substance,” says Don Ramon, “blood especial-
ly, seems to rouse their sanguinary appetite; and as they usually go
in swarms, it is extremely dangerous for man or beast to enter the
water with even a scratch upon their bodies. Horses wounded with
the spur are particularly exposed to their attacks, and so rapid is the
work of destruction, that unless immediate assistance is rendered, the
fish soon penetrate the abdomen of the animal, and speedily reduce it
to a skeleton.” This cannibal fish is as beautiful in aspect as it is fierce
im nature. ‘ Large spots of a brilliant orange hue cover a great por-
tion of its body, especially the belly, fins, and tail. Toward the back,
it is of a bluish-ash color, with a slight tint of olive-green, the inter-
mediate spaces being of a pearly white, while the oill-covers are tinged
with red.” ‘This fish, however, suffers from a special and constantly
recurring visitation ; being subject to a yearly mortality during the heat
of summer when the water is deprived of a portion of the air it holds
in solution. ‘“ Their carcasses,” says Don Raymon, “may then be

Q74 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

seen floating on the water by thousands, while the beach is strewn with
their bones, especially their bristling jaws, which render walking bare-
foot on the borders of lagoons extremely dangerous.”

MARINE LIFE AT GREAT DEPTHS.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Mr.
Marcou observed, in regard to deep sea-soundings, that a Norwegian
naturalist had recently obtained, — by means of the same instruments
used by Capt. McClintock and Dr. Wallich,— between Cape North and
Spitzbergen, living animals from a depth of 8400 feet (more than a mile
and a half;) at this depth, where the temperature was only three-tenths of
a degree centigrade (nearly the freezing point), were found living pol-
yps, mussels, tunicata, annelides, and bright-colored crustaceans. ‘The
same naturalist had found ammonites (probably Jurassic), and leaves
resembling those of the palmetto (probably miocene), at Spitzbergen.

Mr. M. also referred to some animals which had been drawn up by
the broken telegraphic cable between Africa and Marseilles. The
Mediterranean is very deep along some portions of this line, even three
or four miles; living acephala, very rare on the coasts, echinoderms of
a very beautiful red color, had been drawn up from a depth of two
miles, where, probably, no light penetrates. From this and similar
instances, previously alluded to, he was led to the opinion that we
know very little about the downward extension of submarine animal
life.

Dr. Gould observed that the deep livmg animals are red or bright
colored, while those most exposed to the light, like the clam, are white.
He did not think it proved that this cable had ever reached the bottom
or the depth indicated ; and we know comparatively little that is cer-
tain in regard to the penetration of light to great depths; still, facts
are constantly coming to notice, showing that the range of animals in
the marine depths is much greater than was till recently admitted.

Prof. Agassiz alluded to the beautiful variety of color in the liver of
fishes, the color being even characteristic of genera, though he was un-
able to state upon what structure or secretion the color depended ; the
color of the bile has a remarkable uniformity in the class. He stated
that, according to Oersted, different rays of light penetrate to different
depths in water, — green the least and red the deepest.

Mr. Marcou said that the fact of the more extended distribution in
depth of marine animals would have important geological bearings, as
changing the views of paleontologists in regard to the necessity of a
shore line for many fossil species.

Dr. Pickering remarked that the clearness of the water made a great
difference in the depth to which light will penetrate, though it will
certainly penetrate to a considerable depth even in turbid water.
Fishes were obtained by Risso from great depths in the basin of Nice,
even from 3000 feet, which had the eyes very large.

BREEDING OF OYSTERS.

The sowing and breeding of oysters has recently been undertaken
by the French Government, upon an extensive scale. The place cho-
sen for experimenting is a part of the Bay of St. Brieuc, at a locality
where the bottom is a shelly sand, slightly mixed with clay or mud.

ZOOLOGY. 215

The tide, which there runs from N. W. to S. W., and from S. W. to
N. W., at the rate of about three miles an hour, keeps the water con-
stantly renewed, and carries off all unhealthy deposits, and contracts,
by breaking against the rocks on the shore, the necessary vivifying
properties. The immersion of the breeding oysters was commenced in
March, and concluded about the end of April, during which time about
3,060,000 of oysters, taken some from the sea, were distributed in ten
longitudinal beds in different parts of the bay, forming together a su-
perficies of 1000 hectares. The position for these banks had been,
traced out beforehand on a chart, and floating flags were placed to di-
rect the movement of the vessels engaged in the operation. In order
that the immersion of the oysters should be made with perfect regular-
ity, and that the female oysters should not be injured by lying too
thickly one over the other, two steamers, towing boats laden with oys-
ters, proceeded from one end of the bank marked out to the other,
letting down the oysters as they went, and then, when reaching the
other end, turning round and retracing their way, thus distributing the
fish with as much regularity as a plough could turn up a furrow in a
field. After having laid down the oysters in conditions most favorable
for their multiplication, it was necessary to organize around and over
them prompt means for collecting the spawn, and constraining it to fix
itself on the spot. One of the plans adopted to accomplish this object
was to cover the bottom of the new bed with old oyster shells, so that
not a single embryo could fall without finding a solid body to fix itself
to. The second plan, as already stated in a former report, was to
place long lines of boughs of trees, arranged like fascines, from one
extremity of each bed to the other. These fascines were ballasted by
a weight placed at the bottom, and the tops of them when fixed in their
position, stood about eighteen or twenty inches above the bed of oys-
ters, and thus prevented any of the spawn from being carried away by
the current. These fascines were placed by men with diving dresses.
As the cords with which the fascines were at first fastened would soon
wear out, the report states that they may hereafter be replaced by
small chains of galvanized iron, manufactured for the purpose in the
arsenals of the State. The most exact indications have been made on
the chart of the bay, so that the fascines nray be taken up as regularly,
in order that the oysters attached to them may be collected, as a far-
mer could pick the fruit from his trees. The report then goes on to
say that, although six months have scarcely elapsed since the operations
were performed, the result has exceeded the most sanguine expecta-
tions. The fascines have on their branches such clumps of oysters
that they resemble trees in an orchard, the boughs of which are
in the spring hidden by the exuberance of the blossoms.

INSECT VISION.

The following article is communicated to the Intellectual Observer,
by Hon. Richard Hill, of Jamaica: In setting up a collection of
crickets, locusts, and grasshoppers, we see that there is a prevailing
color, as marked and as intense in the eyes asin the body; thus, lo-
custs are red; grasshoppers green ; and crickets black ; and their eyes
are of similar decided hues. Are we to infer that objects to them
have the same tint as these hues of the choroid? Are they colored as

276 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

we see landscapes to be when we look through a window of painted
glass? Through the red, are objects beheld as if they were blazing in
a fiery furnace ; or do they appear as frigid as a snow scene in blue
eyes — as through the blue glass? Some purpose is served by the rela-
tion.

In the solar spectrum, there are rays independent of those of light,
which impart a sensation of heat. These calorific rays are most abun-
dant a little beyond the red verge of the spectrum, and diminish grad-
ually toward the violet. When it was observed, in the Conservatory
at Kew, that plants suffered from the scorching influence of the calor-
ific rays through the glass covering, a series of experiments were pur-
sued to ascertain the possibility of cutting off the heat-imparting rays
by means of tinted glass. A glass tinted of a pale yellow-green pre-
vented the permeation of the heat rays to the maximum of the calorific
action. The pinky hue of the light was modified, and the scorching
influence subdued. What they sought to accomplish was effected.
They obtained a properly moderated heat.

White is the simultaneous sensation of all the prismatic colors. By
suppressing red, we obtain a bluish-green hue; by suppressing the blue
and the green, we obtain an excess of yellow and red. The purest
air, or clearest water, gradually extinguishes, by absorption, the rays
passing through it. The natural stimulus of the retina is the action
of the luminous rays. Medifications are essential where the activity of
perception may be allied to the conditions of diseased sight. “ Many
are the waves and coruscations, the fiery clouds and flaming spectra
which haunt the amaurotic when certain morbid complications exist,”
and when the optic nerve is peculiarly influenced, a compensatory
modification of the peculiarity in regard to tint is made by the adoption
of colored glasses for the sight. We may presume that what is in ex-
cess in the locust is modified by the red pigment of the eye, and what
is saperabundant in the grasshopper by the yellow and the blue.

The eyes of insects are what are called facetted eyes. They are cut
in hexagonal compartments, and have the appearance and the power
of multiplying glasses. The outer coat is composed of a thin plate,
resembling horn. It is stiff but flexible, and compact but transparent.
Immediately beneath each corneule or hexagonal compartment, that
is, beneath the facets of the outer covering of the eye, is a layer of: col-
or. It covers the whole of the inner surface of the corneules, except-
ing only in the centre of each where a minute aperture is seen, admit-
ting light by the iris. Between the iris and the end of the cornea is a
space, flattened and convex, filled with an aqueous humor. Each con-
vex lens corresponds with each facet. The rays of light passing through
them fall upon a transparent space occupied by a vitreous humor. The
choroid in the eyes of insects, like the choroid in the vertebrata, 1s the
proper vascular structure of the organ of vision. The pigment of the
choroid is subject to much variety of color in different insects. In
some itis nearly black, in others dark blue, violet, green, purple,
brown, and yellow, and in some, two or three layers of pigment are of
different colors. The usual arrangement of these variegated pigmenis
is, first, a dark-colored portion near the bulb of the optic nerve, then a
lighter color, and lastly, again, a darker near the cornea.

Puget adjusted the eye of a flea (Pulex irritans) in such a way as to

ZOOLOGY. 277

see objects through it. On applying the microscope to the multitude
of mirrors, nothing could exceed the singularity of what was seen. “ A
soldier appeared like an army of pigmies; for what it multiplied it
diminished ; the arch of a bridge exhibited a spectacle more magnifi-
cent than any edifice erected by human skill; and the flame of a candle
seemed the illumination of a thousand lamps.” The minute regularity
of the objects in each of the facets, so disposed as to converge to a cen-
tral ganglion, make but a single picture in perception. The great op-
tic nerve uniting into a focal point the coincidence of what Dr. Wells
designates “ the visual direction,” impress an image intensely concen-
trated. The perception of each impression being confined to that of
the object immediately in a line with the axis of vision, the impacted
lights and shadows of a thousand representations of one and the same
form — the visual product of a thousand facets — give a stereoscopic
representation under a thousand adjustments, and render the small
organ of the small animal, in power and concentration, a microscope.

The successive zones in the insect eye modify the rays that pene-
trate the sight, passing by each facet, and by the centre of each con-
verging cylinder radiating to the optic ganglion. The layer of pig-
ment does nothing but diminish the quantity of light, and adjust it. It
is found in most if not all diurnal insects, and the iris being perforated
with as many holes as there are facets in the cornea, it is subjected to
multiplied modifications. As might be expected, this pigment is not
met with in any of the nocturnal insects.

Insects that fly require an ample field of vision. The combined cor-
neules become one large pupil. The multiplied facets render super-
fluous eyelids and muscles to move the eye. In consequence of the
vision being directed to the whole circumference, it comprehends, by
relative adjustment, all objects around. A simpler eye occurs in the
grovelling insects that see only what is near with distinctness. In in-
sects which fly by night, like the moths, there is, in place of the black
or colored pigment, a substance of a resplendent green, or silvery color,
serving not to absorb, but to reflect the rays of light, and enabling them
to see by a more obscure illumination than that of daylight. The eyes
of moths look always luminous, and appear as if they were phosphores-
cent, from this reflecting power. This organization gives a solution to
the reason why moths fly to the candle. They lose all discernment in
the blaze of radiance that overwhelms them by reflection; and they
perish in the flame into which they rush.

I requested a friend to verify for me Puget’s examination of the fa-
cetted eye of an insect, by an inspection of the organ under a large
microscope. He complied with my request, and sent me the following
letter: —

“My Dear Srr, — Ihave taken adragon-fly (Libellula) as the study
of the eye of an insect.

“The eye was first simply removed from the head of the dragon-fly
and examined under a good lens; seen thus, it seemed as if it were
covered with intensely small drops of water, something like dew. The
eye was next immersed im solvents, and cleaned with a fine camel’s-
hair brush, leaving nothing behind but the cornea. This to the naked
eye had the appearance of a white, transparent, horny substance, hay-

278 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ing the form of a shallow cup. It was now placed under a microscope
with a power of 250 diameters, or magnifying 62,500 times.

“Under this power the bead-like appearance, noticed with the sim-
ple lens, resolved itself into a definite form, resembling precisely the
cells of the honeycomb as they appear on the broad plane. Like these
cells, each division was hexagonal. The substance of each division
was convex exteriorly. We are reminded that this is the form which
economizes space the most, and that it is also the form always taken
by the equal sized round bodies when equally pressed together. This
law we see exemplified in the cellular tissue of plants, and we account
for the elongated form of the cells of the fibrous tissue, by unequal pres-
sure. We see this law in the formation of the cells of the honeycomb,
as equally sized globular cells equally pressed /aterally, and forming
hexagonal cells. We see it again, though imperfectly, it is true, in
soap-bubbles. Might we not, therefore, infer that this peculiar form is
the natural effect of a known law, and that it could not assume any
other form? But to remove all doubt, we must prove our premises,
that is, if the facets of an insect’s eye, composed originally of an im-
mense number of spheres of equal size, equally pressed, laterally, pass
into the hexagonal form, or suffer any other modification. That they
are of equal size is manifest from simple inspection.

“We will now see if experiments prove they are, or have been,
spheres; but I must first speak of some further examination of the
cornea. I counted the number of facets, or faces, by the microme-
ter, and found in each eye 12,500, but I think they are somewhat more
numerous. Around each facet I found a fringe of fine hairs which
seem to fulfil the purpose of eyelashes.

“I now placed the cornea in such a manner, that, in looking through
the microscope, and through the cornea, I could see the flame of a can-
dle. «I then saw, not one flame, but an immense number of flames; in
fact, an illumination of candles on a large scale, which arrangement
quite corresponded with the hexagonal form of the facets; thus there
was a row of flames, and above this another row, not one flame above
another, but intermediate flames in intermediate rows, and so on one
row with another. Each facet is then a distinct eye, producing a
distinct image in each facet.

“An ordinary observer might infer that the insect saw not one ob-
ject, but a multitude of objects; not one flower, but thousands, pro-
ducing a complete ‘ embarras de richesses, most confusing to the poor
fly. It is natural that we should be led to such a conclusion. But, on
the other hand, we are taught by analogy that ‘ Order is Nature’s first
law.’ To help us to the clue of this second point, or of this apparent
confusion, we will continue our experiments. Taking for granted that
spheres were upon the disk, I severed them with a needle and found
one end of the several pieces circular, and the other pointed ; in fact,
each separate ocellus, or eye, had the form of a cone, the basis forming
the facet, and the apex converging to acentre. Each was imbedded
in a mass of pigment, — in plain terms, black paint; with each apex
receiving a filament of the optic nerve. Each separate ocellus, there-
fore, has a separate power of vision. Each facet, cone, and filament
being separated from all other facets, cones, and filaments by a layer
of pigment, forms a separate ocellus, so circumstanced that no ray of

ZOOLOGY. 279

light received by one passes into another, and all the filaments being
severed from each other by the pigment, they in no way interfere with
one another.

“We now see, by experiment, that as each ocellus takes up a dis-
tinct picture, each picture is, necessarily, slightly altered in perspective.
The images, by the direction of the facetted mirrors severally, are each
slightly varied; but being united on the central ganglion, they form
one perception of one object, or one scene. This is only a multiplica-
tion of the incidents of our own vision with two eyes. If weclose one eye,
we see an object in a certain perspective ; if we close that eye that was
open, and open that which was shut, we see the same object in another
perspective ; yet if we open both eyes we do not see two images of the
same object in different perspectives, but only one object in proper
visual union by coincident perception.

“The movable eyes in ourselves, and the immovable eyes in the
insect, do not affect this analogy. The multitude of facets accommo-
date the immovable eyes to a whole panorama. The stereoscope will
illustrate all the facts in both circumstances of vision. In the stereo-
scope we have exhibited to us two representations of the same object
in different perspectives:— the difference corresponds with the dis-
tance between the two lenses through which we are looking; they are
both immovable, but visually combined, they are but one perception
of one and the same object. In the same way insects, with their mul-
tiplied incidents of vision, see by coincidence but one representation
from a multitude of eyes.”

THE SLEEP OF INSECTS—BY RICHARD HILL.

The ocelli, or secondary eyes of insects, which Linneeus regarded as
a kind of coronet, and called stemmata, and which Reaumur conceived
were designed for that near vision, which the primary eygs, by their
immovable structure, could not accomplish with proper distinctness,
have, I have but little doubt, by the experiments which have been
made on vision, and on the excitement of sleep, a very important influ-
ence in determining somnolency in insects. The vast field of objects
commanded in vision, without the concentration of attention, is one of
variety, but not of accuracy. In insects there is no dilation or con-
traction of a pupil to accommodate the sight to the circumstances of
light and darkness. By attention we are conscious of perception. If
the attention be limited to one point of a landscape, it sees only the
objects there, and though there be visual impressions, there are no vis-
ual perceptions, where the mind is not attentively absorbed on what it
is looking at. It is without the consciousness of seeing.

How do insects, with their great orbicular eyes always exposed to
external stimulants, sleep ? Sleep, like the inclination for food, is peri-
odical. The habit in the lower animals is the alternation of light and
darkness, in the degree in which one indicates day and the other night;
for in a total eclipse birds retire to roost, and the diurnal insects resort
to repose, and the nocturnal awake.’ The influence that tends to

1 Lyon Playfair, in his lectures on the application of physiology to the rearing of
cattle, gives a very remarkable illustration of the influence of rapid alternations of
light and darkness, without reference to the diurnal revolutions of the earth, in in-
ducing sleep and inclination for food, in the Italian mode of rapidly fattening orto-

280 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

wakefulness or to slumber is the condition of the nervous system. If
its functional activity be protracted, the vision gives way under the
exhaustion of the nervous powers. If the action of the mind be purely
intellectual, if the feelings be not excited under that action, the waste
sensorially suffered is to be repaired by sleep, and the sensation of
slumber becomes uncontrollable. The demand for sleep is the desire
to have it; and whether the absence of sensorial impressions results
from the settling of the mind to rest, or whether it be that darkness
cuts off all stimulation from light, or silence conduces to repose, sleep is
induced by the cessation of all visual or emotional excitement. If the
mind be withdrawn from the consciousness of its own operations, or if
it be acted upon by a monotony that either wearies attention, or, dis-
tracting it, leaves the sensorial image without perceptive impression,
the result is slumber, or the nervous relaxation of sleep.

When the mind divides itself between the thoughts and the emotions,
mental activity being unsuspended, and the feelings unappeased, the
restlessness of anxiety becomes the inquietude of wakefulness; and,
though there be weariness of both heart and soul, tired nature remains
ungratified by the restoration of sleep.

Having thus indicated the circumstances under which beings slum-
ber that combine an intelligent nature with a sensational one, let us
examine how insects sleep. When the senses are blunted to external
impressions, under the lessened excitability of the mind, and our ideas,
more confused than vivid, are carried beyond ourselves in time and
place, we instinctively lie down to repose. All the creatures organized
with eyelids close the eyes against the influence of light. The temper-
ature of the body sinks, owing to diminished nervous energy, and we
seek with soft things to rest upon, warm things to cherish us with heat,
and then we go to sleep. The lower animals instinctively do what we
do, though each accommodates itself differently. The horse will
sleep standing in the warm shelter of the stable, though it lies down in
the pasture ; the bird reposes perching, but with its head buried in the
feathers of the wing; the serpent coils itself in a circle, or folds itself
into the smallest possible space ; the fish screens itself in the weeds, or
buries itself in the sand or in the mud of the stream; the insect with-
draws from the scenes of its ordinary activity, and is in a state of som-
nolent rest, when it remains motionless. As the insect has no eyelids,
no external closure of the eye gives evidence of sleep.

As all the physiological facts of sleep in the vertebrate animal coin-
cide with effects exhibited by the heart and brain, and as insects have
neither of these organic centres, then sleep cannot be induced by any

lans. Ata certain hour in the morning, the keeper of the birds places a lantern in
the orifice of the wall, made for the special purpose of darkening and illumining
the room. The dim light thrown by the lantern on the floor of the apartment in-
duces the ortolans to believe that the sun is about to rise, and they wake and greed-
ily consume the foodupon the floor. Thelantern is withdrawn, and the succeeding
darkness acting as an actual night, the ortolans fall asleep. During sleep, little of
the food being expended in the production of force, most of it goes to the forma-
tion of flesh and fat. After the birds have been allowed to repose for one or two
hours, to carry on digestion and assimilation, the keeper again exhibits the lantern
through the aperture. The mimic daylight awakes the birds again; again they
rise and feed; again darkness ensues, and again they sleep. The representative
sunshine is made to shed its rays four or five times every day, and as many nights
follow its transitory beams. The ortolans thus treated become like balls of fatin
a few days,

ZOOLOGY. 281

peculiar change, either in lessening or quickening the flow of blood
from one extremity to the other, but must result solely from the quie-
tude of the senses, and from electrical incidents externally. Cabanis, in
his Rapports du Physique et Moral, has observed in man that some of the
members and senses go to sleep sooner than others. He assigns the
soporific influence sensationally to fatigue. The part first feels drowsy
in which the flow of the blood is affected. Among the senses, the eye is
the first that goes to sleep; after it the smell, taste, hearing, and touch
become successively drowsy. ‘The touch is never entirely insensitive.
The sight is more difficult to awaken than the hearing; a slight noise
will rouse a sleep-walker who had suffered light upon his unshut eyes
without any apparent influence; but insects, if affected at all internally,
are very little affected in this way.

The insect world are acutely acted upon by atmospheric circumstan-
ces. Rain or cloudy weather operates upon them like a continuance
or recurrence of night. It is not the warmth or the dryness of the air,
its humid state or its coldness; it is the electrical condition that affects
them. The constant alternations of sleep and waking, in whatever
way they may be induced by repose, or affected by functional activity,
are regulated as periodical recurrences by the electrical laws of the
seasons, by the reiteration of day and night, by the daily variations of
the barometer, and by the conditions that move the magnetic needle
from east to west at stated hours every day. Extreme weariness will
prevent sleepif fatigue is unaccompanied by powerless attention, and un-
settled sensation. Let us see how these known facts may serve to ex-
plain the sleep of insects.

We shall comprehend some of the physiological incidents of slumber
by attending to the processes of mesmeric sleep, as developed by Mr.
Braid in his work on Neurypnology, or the rationale of nervous sleep,
in relation with animal magnetism. I would be brief with my extract,
and yet I can scarcely venture to abridge his language. He says he
induced cataleptic sleep, which he designates hypnotism, by keeping
the eyes fixed on an object, and the mind riveted on the idea of that
one object. He so regulated the distance of it from the sight as to
produce the greatest possible strain upon the eyes and eyelids. “ It
will be observed,” he says, ‘‘ that, owing to the consensual adjustment
of the eyes, the pupils will be,at first contracted ; they will shortly be-
gin to dilate ; and after they have done so to a considerable extent,
and have assumed a wavy motion, the eyes will close involuntarily, with
perceptible vibrations. ‘Ten or fifteen minutes elapse, and the arms
and legs are found disposed to be retained in the position in which
they are placed. If the patient has not been so intensely affected as
this unplies, then, if he be spoken to in a soft tone of voice, and desired
to retain the limbs in that, or in an extended position, the pulse will
speedily become greatly accelerated, and the limbsinvoluntarily fixed. It
will now be found that all the organs of special sense, excepting sight, in-
cluding heat and cold, and muscujar motion and resistance, and certain
mental faculties, are at first prodigiously exalted. It is such an exalta-
tion as happens with regard to the primary effects of opium, wine, and
spirits. After a certain point, however, this exaltation of function is
followed by a state of depression far greater than the torpor of natural
sleep. From the state of the most profound torpor of the organs of

24%

282 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

special sense, and tonic rigidity of the muscles, they may at this stage
be instantly restored to the opposite condition of extreme mobility and
exalted sensibility, by directing a current of air against the organ or
organs we wish to render limber, and which had been in the catalepti-
form state. By mere repose, the senses will speedily merge into the origi-
nal condition again.” Now, none of these processes, in inducing sleep,
would be applicable to insects whose eyes are immovable, if the provis-
ion for seeing was confined to the two large globular eyes on each side
of the head; but being provided with ocelli, or auxiliary eyes, placed
on the vertex of the head, these facts illustrate the drowsy insect. The
structure of these auxiliary organs is just that of one of the lenses of
the compound eye; but being so placed that they can be set close to
what they examine, and can concentrate the attention to the exclusion
of the objects that occupy the globular facetted eyes, it is possible that
such visual concentration, when the insect retires to repose, induces
just that perceptive vibration described in cataleptic sleep by which
slumber can be brought on.

An insect composes itself to sleep with its antenne folded. Some
of the beetles adjust them to their breast; the butterfly seeks some
particular aspect of a tree, aud folds vertically its wings, throws back
the antenne, and remains motionless and insensible to all external cir-
cumstances. When caterpillars, which are insatiable feeders, are ob-
served resting immovable with their heads bent down, they are asleep.
The geometers may be remarked stretched out for hours projected
from a twig resembling the angular stem of those trees they are feeding
upon, and the processionary caterpillars, whose night marches, in mar-
shalled communities, are regulated with such remarkable exactness
that they resemble battalions platooning over a field, in “ strict love of
fellowship combined” in passing the day in inaction, spend it in re-

ose.

; Whatever may be the controlling cause that renders some insects
diurnal feeders and flyers, and some noctuznal and crepuscular movers,
frolicking or feasting in the twilight, the solution must be sought in the
adaptive differences that regulate the “ sleep of plants.” Some plants
repose by night; others expand in the darkened hours, and slumber
under the stimulation of light. Whether the closing of the flower be
at nightfall, or its opening be as soon as daylight fades, or whether it
be the reversal of this order, the differences are precisely the same as
in those animals that sleep through the day and awake at night, or
that awaken in light and slumber in darkness. The regular intervals
that lead to sleeping or waking are the recurrences of those electrical
incidents that attend the interchanges of day and night in the atmos-
phere.

THE EYES OF BEES.

Men never knew what the eyes of bees really were, until the greatly-
improved microscopes of the present day, in effect, gave us another eye
to gaze upon those of bees. They have simple eyes, three in number,
and disposed in a triangle between the two compound eyes. ‘The lat-
ter are wonderful objects under a microscope. ‘The compound eye of
a bee, particularly of a drone, is one of the most exquisitely constructed
instruments of nature’s handiwork. One of the leaves of chaff that

ZOOLOGY. 283

surround a grain of wheat may represent its appearance ; but the piece
of chaff shows only a uniform glazed surface, whilst in the eye of the
bee, which is much darker in color, though alike externally glazed, the
brightness arises from the presence of about 3,500 small but perfectly
hexagonal lenses, fitting closely together, and disposed in regular rows
over the whole circumference. This structure, then, may be likened
to a bundle of 3,500 telescopes, so grouped that the large terminal len-
ses present an extensive convex surface, whilst, in consequence of the
decreasing diameter of the instruments, their narrow ends meet, and
form asmaller concentric curve. Could we look through all these tele-
scopes at one glance, and obtain a stereoscopic effect, we might be able
to form some conception of the operation of vision in this insect.

Even one of these 3,500 lenses would occupy us long in a complete
examination of it. Each of the eyelets, which, when aggregated, con-
stitute the compound eye of the bee, is itself a perfect instrument of
vision, consisting of two remarkably formed lenses — an outer corneal
and an inner conical lens. The corneal lens is a six-sided prism, and
the assemblage of these prisms forms the cornea of the compound eye.
If the whole or a portion of this cornea be peeled off, and placed under
a microscope, the beautiful grouping of the lenses becomes distinctly
visible. Ona close and careful examination, the corneal lens of the
eyelet is perceived to be not a simple but a compound lens, composed
of two plano-convex lenses of different densities or refracting powers.
The plane surface of these lenses being adherent, it follows that the
prismatic corneal lens is a.compound double convex lens, as was dis-
covered by Dr. Hicks. The effect of this arrangement is, that if there
should be any aberration or divergence of the rays of light during their
passage through ene portion of the lens, it is rectified in its transit
through the other. It is nothing very new to find lenses of different
densities in an animal’s eye, but where is there another instance in
which one compound lens consists of two adherent lenses of this de-
scription ?

Yet the wonder does not end here. Man has been unconsciously
groping his way in the formation of his most perfect microscopic lens to
an imitation of the bee’s eye. His aim has been to correct the aberra-
tion of light, which caused his lenses to color and distort the objects
under investigation, and he attained this end by employing compound
lenses of varying densities. When, after long study, he obtained an
achromatic lens, he had but equalled the little beé; and how striking
the thought, that, by the use of his own achromatic lens, man first dis-
tinctly perceived that of the bee! The little insect had used it for
thousands of years perhaps, before man trod the earth. By its wonder-
ful lenses and numerous facets, it gafns light in the dim cups of flowers.
Into those floral hollows it carries, as it were, thousands of light collec-
tors and reflectors, capable of forming a single picture by the means of
a great number of smaller images. Into the dark hive it bears the
same optical apparatus, and thereby economizes every particle of strag-
gling or slanting light. If bees, as one alleges, always work in the
dark, has not each one of them three or four thousand illuminators ?
And if we reflect upon the many thousands of these, all in optical op-
eration throughout the hive, how can it be said that these creatures
work in the dark ?— The Honey Bee; its Natural History, Anatomy,
etc., by James Samuelson, and Dr. J. B. Hicks, London.

284 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

THE AYE-AYE (Chiromys Madagascariensis).

This curious animal, which has recently been brought anew to the
attention of naturalists, by a monograph by Prof. Owen, of England,
was first noticed in Madagascar by Souverat, in 1780, and owes its
name to an exclamation of astonishment uttered by the natives of the
east coast, to whom, it is said, he exhibited it for the first time. Sou-
verat brought home with him a stuffed skin and a cranium, which have
since remained in the museum of.the Garden of Plants, the only rep-
resentatives of the species in European cabinets. Zoologists have been
puzzled as to the true affinities of the Aye-Aye, some placing it among
the Rodents, and others among the Quadrumana. A specimen pre-
served in spirits, recently- forwarded by Dr. Sandwith to Prof. Owen,
has, however, enabled him to determine definitely its position among
the Lemuride. But remarkable as the mingling of Rodent and Quad-
rumanous characters may be in the Aye-Aye, they are surpassed in the
correlations of physical structure and strange habits. _“‘ The wide open-
ings of the eyelids, the large cornea and expansile iris, the subglobular
lens and tapetum, are arrangements for admittting to the retina and
absorbing the utmost amount of light which may pervade the forest, at
sunset, dawn, or moonlight. Thus the Aye-Aye is able to guide itself
among the branches in quest of its hidden food. To detect this, how-
ever, another sense had need to be developed to great perfection. The
large ears are to eatch and concentrate, and the large acoustic nerve
and its: ministering ‘ flocculus’ seem designed to appreciate any feeble
vibration that might reach the tympanum from the recess in the hard
timber, through which the wood-boring larva may -be tunnelling its
way by repeated scoopings and scrapings of its hardgmandibles.” The
food of this nocturnal animal, to whose strange physiognomy the eyes
and ears add so much, consists mostly of wood-boring grubs. To ex-
tract these, there are, united with the common Lemurine characters,
chisel-shaped incisors, resembling those of Rodents, and a most remark-
able modification of the middle finger, which is not only used for elicit-
ing by percussion the hollow sound from the bored limb, but as a hook
for extracting the grub. All the fingers are of somewhat unusual
length, but the middle one “ has been ordained to grow in length, but
not in thickness with the other digits; it remains slender as a probe,
and is provided at the end with a small pad and a hook-like claw.” ‘The
use made of this part will be best learned from the very interesting
letter to Prof. Owen by Dr. Sandwith, in which his own observations
on the habits of the Aye-Aye are recorded.

“In a cage where a fine male healthy adult Aye-Aye was confined,
were placed a large number of branches, bored in all directions, by a
large and destructive grub, called the Montouk. Just at sunset, the
Aye-Aye crept from under his blanket, yawned, stretched, and betook
himself to his tree, where his movements are lively and graceful, though
by no means so quick as those of a squirrel. Presently he came to one
of the worm-eaten branches, which he began to examine most atten-
tively; and bending forward his ears and applying his nose close to
the bark, he rapidly tapped the surface with the curious second digit,
as a woodpecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time to
time inserting the end of the slender finger into the worm-holes, as a

ZOOLOGY. 285

surgeon would a probe. At length he came to a part of a branch
which evidently gave out an interesting sound, for he began to tear it
with his strong teeth, rapidly stripped off “the bark, cut into the wood,
and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily picked out of its bed
with the slender tapping finger, and conveyed the luscious morsel to
his mouth. I watched these proceedings with intense interest, and was
much struck with the marvellous adaptation of the creature to its hab-
its, shown by his acute hearing, which enables him aptly to distinguish
the different tones emitted from the wood by his gentle tapping ; his
evidently acute sense of smell, aiding him in his search; his secure
footsteps on the slender branches, to which he firmly clung with his
quadrumanous members ; his strong, rodent teeth, enabling him to tear
through the wood; and lastly, by the curious slender finger, unlike
that of any other animal, and which he used alternately as a plexime-
ter, a probe, and a scoop. But I was yet to learn another peculiarity.
I gave him water to drink in a saucer, on which he stretched out a
hand, dipped a finger into it, and drew it obliquely through his open
mouth ; this he repeated so rapidly that the water seemed to flow into
his mouth. After a while, he lapped like a cat; but his first mode of
drinking appeared to me to be his way of reaching water in the
deep clefts of the trees.”

ON THE ORIGIN. OF SPECIES.

At the conclusion of a monograph, recently published by Prof. Owen,
of England, on the “Aye-Aye,” this eminent naturalist takes occasion
to express his views in regard to that most interesting question of the
day, namely, “ The Origin of Species,” and the following notice and
critique of the opinions thus and there put forth, is derived from the
pages of Silliman’s journal.

Those who have joined in the issue involved in this question — the
origin of species— may be arranged in one of two classes; 1st, com-
prising those who maintain that the present condition of the animal
and vegetable kingdom was reached by a series of “ progressive crea-
tions ;” each species being created and suddenly introduced upon the
surface of the earth, and the first-formed individuals having the same
specific characters as all the successors; 2d, those who deny the pre-
ceding view, and assert that all animals and plants are the result of
“progressive development,” “ deviation,” or “ transmutation” of species,
the first created forms being of the simplest kind, or at all events of a
simpler kind than those of the present day, and in the course of time
transformed into them. How the changes from simple to complex
forms were effected, or how specific characters were modified, has been
very differently explained. Lamarck says by a “ besoin,’ Darwin by
“ natural selection” and “the struggle for existence,” and Owen “ by
the ordained potentiality of second causes,” and by transmutation ‘“ un-
der law.”

We do not propose to enter into a discussion of these different theo-
ries, but, before citing Prof. Owen’s views, we will merely remark that,
if the progressive-creation hypothesis is adopted, we should be glad to
see a better answer than has yet been made to the question, How, and
in what condition did the first forms make their appearance ? When
a mammal was created, did the oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon

286 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of the air, and the lime, soda, phosphorus, potash, water, etc., from the
earth, come together, and on the instant combine into a completely
formed horse, lion, elephant, or other animal? If this question is an-
swered in the affirmative, it will be easily seen that the answer is en-
tirely opposed by the observed analogies of nature. In the practical
study of the history of the earth and the changes which it has under-
gone, of the development of individual animals and plants, the “ order
of nature ” points in one direction, namely, to the process of different-
iation. The one-celled plant and the tree, the polyp and man, and all
organic forms intermediate between these extremes, pass from the
homogeneous to the heterogeneous, from the nucleated cell, or even
from what is more simple still, from plasma to the adult individual con-
sisting of organs more or less complex, according to the position in the
series. We nowhere see plants or animals reach maturity in any other
way than by development or growth.

At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that what is
true of the successive stages of individual organisms may not necessa-
rily prove true with regard to the history of the races; that while, from
the earliest embryonic condition of each individual to the last there is
a connected series of observed changes or differentiations, and no break
in the organic continuity, there are no observations whatever to prove
a like organic continuity in the races. In the absence of such direct
proof, we have no other alternative than to look to the analogies of
nature and the geological record. The direction in which the former

oint is obvious ; the testimony of the latter is thus far negative, but is
it complete enough to be a safe guide ?

In view of the difficulties met with, in explaining the first introduc-
tion of living forms, Agassiz has put forth the hypothesis of the creation
of egos. “I then would ask, is it probable that the circumstances un-
der which animals and plants originated for the first time can be much
simpler, or even as simple as the conditions necessary for their repro-
duction only, after they have been once created? Preliminary then
to their first appearance, conditions necessary for their growth must
have been provided for ; for, if, as I believe, they were created as eggs,
the conditions must have been conformable to those in which the living
representatives first introduced now reproduce themselves. If it were
observed that they originated in a more advanced stage of life, the dif-
ficulty would be still greater, as a moment’s consideration cannot fail
to show, especially if it is remembered how complicated the structure
of some of the animals was, who are known to have been among the
first inhabitants of our globe.”— Contrib. Nat. Hist. of U. States,1. 12.

This hypothesis would answer very well for spawning fishes and rep-
tiles, whose egos may be trusted to the effects of physical agents. But
does it help us with regard to viviparous reptiles and mammals? To
take the case of the mammals, what “conditions conformable to those
in which the living representatives first introduced now reproduce
themselves” would answer the purpose for the development of the
young, except a uterus, or something analogous to a uterus, and for
its nourishment after birth, except a mammary gland, or something
analogous to one ? And how could there be a uterus or a mammary
gland without organs of nourishment, locomotion, ete. ; in other woris,

before creating the egg, it would be necessary to create some kind of

ZOOLOGY. 287

an organism for the egg to live in. If such organism offered the sine
conditions with those of the individuals now living, why create the eg
at all? Rather than this, it would seem to be a simpler matter to cre-
ate the whole animal capable of producing eggs to begin with. If it
be asserted that the conditions were not the same, this | assertion would
seem to be equivalent to the admission of variation, inasmuch as the
first ege would be capable of being developed under different circum-
stances from the later-ones.

How Prof. Owen meets this difficulty with regard to the first intro-
duction of species may be inferred from the following quoted passages :

“ But the conception of the origin of species by a ‘continuously oper-

ative secondary cause or law is one thing ; the knowledge of the nature
and mode of operation of that law is another thing: One physiologist
may accept, another refute or reject, a transmutational or natural-selec-
tive hypothesis, and both may equally hold the idea of the successive
coming-in of species by law.”

“What I have termed the ‘derivative hypothesis’ of organisms, for
example, holds that there are coming into being, by aggregation of
organic atoms, at all times and in all places, under the simplest unicel-
lular condition, with differences of character as many as are the various
circumstances, ‘conditions, and combinations of the causes educing them,
—one form appearing in mud at the bottom of the ocean, another in
the pond or the heath, a third in the sawdust of the cellar, a fourth on
the surface of the mountain rock, etc., but all by the combination and
arrangement of organic atoms through forces and conditions acting
according to pr edetermined law. The disposition to vary in form and
structure, according to the variation of surrounding conditions, is great-
est in these first formed beings; and from them, or such as them, are
and have been derived all other and higher forms of organisms on this
planet. And thus it is that we now find, energizing in fair Pe
every grade of organization from man to the monad.” :

*“* Now the forecoing hypothesis is at present based on so narrow and,
as regards the origin of life, so uncertain a foundation of ascertained
facts, that it can be regarded only as a kind of vantage-ground, arti-
ficially raised to expand the view of the outlooker for the road to truth,
and perhaps as supporting sign-posts directing where that road may
most likely be fallen in with.” sis

« And herein is one main distinction between it (origin of species by
natural selection) and the ‘ derivative hypothesis’ which maintains that
single-celled organisms, so diversified as to be relegated to distinct or-
ders and classes of Pr otozoa, are now, as heretofore, i in course of crea-
tion or formation, by the ordained potentiality of second causes; with
innate capacities of variation and development, giving rise in a long
course of eeterations to such differentiated beings as may be distin-
guished by the term ‘plant’ and ‘animal’; from ‘which all higher ani-
mals and plants have, through like Teoma ascended and are being
ascensively derived. ‘This, as the naturalist knows, is mere hy pothesis,
at present destitute of proof. But it is more consistent with the phe-
nomena of life about us, with the ever-recurring appearance of mould
and monads, and with the coexistence, at the pr esent time, of all grades
of life rising therefrom up to man, than is the notion of the origin of
life which is propounded in Mr. Darwin’s book, ‘ On the Origin of Spe-

299

cies by Natural Selection”” .....

288 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

“ That organic species are the result of still operating powers and
influences is probable from the great paleontological fact of the succes-
sion of such so-called species from their first appearance in the oldest
fossiliferous strata; it is more probable from the kind and degree of
sinilitude between the species that succeeds and the species that disap-
pears never to return as such; the similitude being in the main of a
nature expressed by the terms of ‘ progressive departure from a gener-
al to a special type.’ Creation by law is suggested by the many in-
stances of retention of structures in Paleozoic species, which are em-
bryonal and transitory in later species of the same order or class; and
the suggestion acquires force by considering the analogies which the
transitory embryonal stages in the higher species bear to the mature
forms of the lower species. Jivery new instance of structures which
does not obviously and without straining, receive a teleological expla-
nation, especially the great series of anatomical facts expressed by the
‘law of vegetative or irrelative repetition,— all congenital varieties,
deformities, monstrosities — opposes itself to the hypothesis of the origin
of species by a primary or immediate and never repeated act of adapt-
ive construction.”

If we correctly understand Prof. Owen’s views, as expressed in the
above paragraphs, he inclines to, in fact adopts, though cautiously, the
hypothesis of the origin of species by “ transmutation” or “ deviation ;”
these transmutations being in no accordance with a pre-arranged plan,
but carried out under the influence of second causes. The first organ-
isms were unicellular, brought into existence by spontaneous genera-
tion “ under law,” and, by a slow and orderly transmutation, ascensive-
ly differentiated into the highest vegetable and animal organisms. For
the precise mode of bringing about the individual changes, he offers no
conjecture, whatever.

We leave it for the advocates of progressive creation to answer these
views, and will conclude with expressing the belief, that there is no
just ground for taking, and that we arrive at no reasonable theory
which takes, a position intermediate between the two extremes. We
must either assume, on the one hand, that living organisms commenced
their existence fully formed, and by processes not in accordance with
the usual order of nature, as it is revealed to human minds, or, on the
other hand, that each species become such by progressive development
or transmutation ; that, as in the individual so in the aggregate of races,
the simple forms were not only the precursors, but the progenitors of
the complex ones, and that thus the order of Nature, as commonly man-
ifest in her works, was maintained.

AGASSfz ON THE TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES.

Prof. Agassiz, in the preface to his recently published work, “ Meth-
ods of Study in Natural History,” takes occasion thus to define his
views in regard to the hypothesis of the origin of species by transmuta-
tion. “I wish to enter my earnest protest against the transmutation
theory, revived of late with so much ability, and so generally received.
It is my belief that naturalists are chasing a phantom, in their search
after some material gradation among created beings, by which the
whole Animal Kingdom may have been derived by successive develop-
ment from a single germ, or from a few germs. It would seem, from

ZOOLOGY. 289

the frequency with which this notion is revived,— ever returning upon
us with hydra-headed tenacity of life, and presenting itself under a new
form as soon as the preceding one has been exploded and set aside, —
that it has a certain fascination for the human mind. ‘This arises, per-
haps, from the desire to explain the secret of our own existence,— to
have some simple and easy solution of the fact that we live.

“T confess that there seems to me to be a repulsive poverty in this ma-
terial explanation that is contradicted by the intellectual grandeur of
the universe ; the resources of the Deity cannot be so meagre that, in
order to create a human. being endowed with reason, he must change a
monkey intoa man. This is, however, merely a personal opinion, and
has no weight as an argument; nor am I so uncandid as to assume
that another may not hold an opinion diametrically opposed to mine in
a spirit quite as reverential as my own. But I nevertheless insist, that
this theory is opposed to the processes of Nature, as far as we have been
able to apprehend them; that it is contradicted by the facts of Embry-
ology and Paleontology, the former showing us forms of development
as distinct and persistent for each group as are the fossil types of each
period revealed to us by the latter; and that the experiments upon
domesticated animals and cultivated plants, on which its adherents base
their views, are entirely foreign to the matter in hand, since the varie-
ties thus brought about by the fostering care of man are of an entirely
different character from those observed among wild species. And
while their positive evidence is inapplicable, their negative evidence is
equally unsatisfactory, since, however long and frequent the breaks in
the geological series may be in which they would fain bury their tran-
sition types, there are many points in the succession where the connec-
tion is perfectly distinct and unbroken, and it is just at these points
that new organic groups are introduced without any intermediate forms
to link them with the preceding ones.”

PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TYPICAL RACES OF MEN.

In a paper on the above subject, recently read to the British Ethno-
logical Society, Mr. Robert Dunn maintained that the genus homo
was distinctly defined, on the ground that in man’s moral and religious
attributes the inferior animals do not participate, and it was this that
constituted the difference between him and them. The barrier was
thus, he considered, impassable between man and the*chimpanzee and
gorilla; and that wherever man, with his erect attitade and with his
articulate voice, is found, his claims to our common humanity must be
immediately acknowledged, however debased the type may be. His
conviction was that there was proof of a general unity exhibited in all
the races of the great family of man, inasmuch that they were all en-
dowed with the same intellectual faculties and mental activities, how-
ever much they may vary in degree. It had, he thought, been fairly
argued that all the races of the human family form but one species,
from the physiological fact that they are all capable of fruitful union.
Believing the brain to be the material organ of the mind, the author
considered the study of the cerebral organization and development in
the various typical races as one of the most effectual means of better
understanding and elucidating the psychological differences which
characterize them. This subject, however, was one that yet required

25

290 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

to be worked out; and ethnic psychology was still a desideratum. The
author then reviewed what had been done by anatomists and ethnolo-
gists, and pointed out that the lower savage races, such as the Sandwich
islanders, made progress in the early part of their education, and were
so far as apt and quick as the children of civilized Europeans ; but at
this point they stopped, and seemed incapable of acquiring the higher
branches of knowledge. The Sandwich islanders have excellent mem-
ories, and learn by rote with wonderful rapidity, but will not exercise
the thinking faculties ; they receive simple ideas, but not complex. ones.
In like manner, it was found practically that negro children could not
be educated with white children. In all these cases, as well as in the
minor ones continually occurring amongst ourselves, of inability to un-
derstand subjects and reasonings of a certain order, the true explana-
tion is that the cognate faculties have not reached a complexity equal
to the complexity of the relations to be perceived; as moreover it is
not only so with purely intellectual cognitions, but it is the same with
moral cognitions. In the Australian language there are no words an-
swering to justice, sin, guilt. Amongst many of the lower races of
man, acts of generosity or mercy are utterly incomprehensible ; that is
to say, the most complex relations of human action in its social bear-
ings are not cognizable. This the author thought was in accordance
with what @ priort might have been expected to have resulted from
organic differences in the instruments of the higher psychical activities
—or, in other words, in the nervous apparatus of perceptive and intel-
lectual consciousness. The leading characters of the various races of
mankind were simply representatives of particular stages in the devel-
opment of the highest Caucasian type. ‘The negro exhibits permanent-
ly the imperfect brow, projecting lower jaw, and slender bent limbs of
a Caucasian child some considerable time before the period of its birth.
The aboriginal American represents the same child nearer birth; the
Mongolian the same child newly born.

ZOOLOGICAL SUMMARY.

Brains of Man and Animals. — Facts developed in a paper on the
anatomy of the chimpanzee, read before the British Association, 1863,
by Dr. Emberton, strongly corroborated the position heretofore taken
by Prof. Huxley and other comparative anatomists, that the brain of
the chimpanzee differs only in degree — that is, in the smaller size
and extent of its parts — from that of man; and that, with this differ-
ence, essentially the same structures, without any exception, exist in
both brains. F

Dr. Crawford maintained in a subsequent paper that the considera-
tion of the material structure of the brain was of far less value than a
consideration of its working or living action, and that probably there
exist subtle differences between the brain of man and those of the
lower animals that anatomy has not, and probably never will, detect.

Thus the brain of the wolf is anatomically the same as that of the
dog, one being an untamable glutton, the other the friend and com-
panion of man. The Australian savages tame the young of the wild
dogs, and use them in the chase, whereas the young of the wolf are
not capable of complete or useful domestication. Again, the hog, with

Oo)

its low organized brain, is equal in intelligence to the most anthro-

ZOOLOGY. 291

poid monkey. The sheep and the goat have brains identical in struc-
ture, the one being a stupid, the other an intelligent, animal.

Smallest Human Brain on Record. — Dr. Gore has furnished the An-
thropological Society an account of the smallest,adult human brain on
record. The brain of the adult male averages forty-nine ounces; in
females, the average is forty-three and a half ounces. The female
whose brain was described was forty-two years of age, and without
any symptom of disease. She was five feet high, and her intellect
was infantile. -The brain without the membranes weighed ten ounces
five grains, being the smallest mature brain on record.

Brain of Man and Apes. — At a recent meeting of the London
Anthropological Society, Prof. Owen, in commenting upon a paper
presented “ On the Brain of a Female Idiot,” observed, that as the
brain of man is more complex in its organization than the brain of
inferior animals, it is more subject to injury, and more lable to ex-
perience the want of perfect development. Instances of idiocy occur
among all races of mankind. Extreme smallness of the skull indicated
in all cases want of intellect approaching to idiocy. Alluding to the
attempts that have been made to find a link of connection between
man and apes, he remarked that it was possible that an idiot with an
imperfectly developed brain might wander into some cave, and there
die, and in two or three hundred years his bones might be cov-
ered with mud, or be imbedded in stalagmite, and when discovered,
such a skull might be adduced as affording the looked-for link con-
necting man with tke inferior animals; but the brain of such an idiot,
as the female whose skull was exhibited, is distinctly different from
that of the anthropoid apes; and he expressed an opinion that the
difference is too wide to be bridged over by the skull of any creature
yet discovered.

Wounds of the Brain. — M. Flourens has presented to the Academy
of Sciences a note of a series of €xperiments performed by him for
the purpose of showing the curability of wounds of the brain, and,
what is more, the facility with which they are cured. He trepanned
the skulls of dogs and rabbits, made a small opening through the dura
mater and into the substance of the brain, and then put bullets into
the wound. These bullets gradually penetrated through the. cere-
bral matter by their own weight. When the ball was small, he found
that the whole thickness of the lobe of the brain or of the cerebellum
might be traversed by it without occasioning any symptom of acci-
dent or disturbance of functions. The fissure made by the passage
of the ball remains for some time as a canal; it then closes up and
cicatrizes. In one case of a rabbit, a ball was placed on the posterior

art of the cerebellum, immediately above the vital point (Flourens’s
neud vital). When the ball had reached that part and had exercised
a certain degree of pressure; the animal died.

On the Physical Characteristics of the Andaman Islanders. — At a
recent meting of the British Geographical Society, Prof. Owen made
some observations on the skeleton of a native of the Andaman Isl-
ands; the only one yet received in Europe, (See Ann. Sci. Dis.
1862, p. 14). He stated that he had found it to be that of an adult
male in the prime of life, showing evidence, in the texture of the
bones and the development of their parts, of having belonged to an

292, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. |

individual who, though small of stature, must yet have been of accu-
rate proportion. He had been most interested in the examination of
the cranium, which he had expected to find allied to the Papuan or to
the negro variety. He had found, however, that the skull exhibited
none of the characteristic peculiarities of the Papuan, and still less of
those of the negro; that it had no affinity with the Malay or the
Mongolian type of cranium; in fact, that, with the exception of the
prognathous jaw-bones, in its classic, oval, and in its general propor-
tions, it was most nearly allied to the skull of a Caucasian. In the
course of his*investigations, some suggestions had presented themselves
to him. Why is it necessary that, 1m determining the race to which
the inhabitants of detached groups of islands belong, we should ex-
pect to find invariably that they are connected with the inhabitants
of conterminous continents? In the case of many of these islands,
particularly of Ceylon, it had been shown that the geological age of
the island was much earlier than that of the adjacent mainland.
Why, then, might not the inhabitants of such groups of islands be the
descendants of races who had peopled contents which no longer
exist, put of which these islands are the remains, and in comparison
with which the present continents in the eons of geologic history are
of very recent date ?

Novelty in Cattle-Breeding. Production of Sexes at Will. — The
Archives des Sciences for Sept. 1863, contains a communication from a
Swiss agriculturist, stating that in February, 1861, he received from
Professor Thury, of Geneva, a letter containing confidential instruc-
tions, which he was to carry out for the purpose of experimentally
verifying an assumed law regulating the production of the sexes among
animals. The result was that in twenty-two successive cases, females
were obtained, according to desire. The animals bred from were
Swiss cows and a Durham bull. M. Cornaz then purchased a Durham
cow, and desired to procure, by breeding, a Durham bull, in which he
succeeded. He also desired to breed six bulls, crossed between Dur-
ham and Schwitz, and by selecting cows of the color and height he
wanted, he was again successful, and regards Prof Thury’s method as
of the highest importance to breeders of cattle.

The law enunciated by Prof. Thury, and confirmed by M. Cornaz,
is that sex depends on the degree of maturation of the ege at the
moment of fecundation. In uniparous animals, fecundation at the
commencement of the rutting period gives females, at its termination,
males. In multiparous creatures, the first eggs that descend from the*
ovary generally give females, the last, males; but M. Thury says,
that in a second generative period that succeeds the first, cireumstan-
ces are considerably changed, and the last eggs give females. Many
of our rural readers, engaged in agriculture, will be able to verify
these curious statements, which may have an important influence on
the profits of farming. :

Inoculation for Pleuro-Pneumonia, or Cattle-Disease. —_M. Lengleri
describes to the French Academy the success of inoculation as a pre-
servative against the above disease. In the first place, he obtained the
virus from the lung of an ox that was affected; but subsequently he ob-
tained the matter in a milder form from the tails of the inoculated ani-
mals, portions of which became diseased and were cut off by the

a

Ld

ZOOLOGY. 293

operator. At the time of writing his paper, he was employing virus
which had passed through twenty-five individuals.

Instinct in Infusoria. — Mr. H. J. Carlter mentions in the Annals of
Natural History (British) the following curious observation. He
watched an actinophorus rhizopod extracting starch grains from a
ruptured cell, looking like a spore; the creature then retired some
distance off, and then returned, and although no more starch grains
were protruding, he contrived to extract some from the interior,
“ This,” he says, “ was repeated several times, showing that the actino-
phys instinctively knew that these were nutritious grains, and that
they were contained in this cell, and that although each time, after in-
cepting a grain, it went away to some distance, it knew how to find
its way back.” He likewise mentions the cunning of an ameba,
which crawled up the stem of an acineta, and placed itself round the
ovarian aperture, so as to receive an infant as soon as it was born.
He observes, “ that these facts evince an amount of instinct and de-
termination of purpose which could hardly have been anticipated in
a being so low in the scale of organic development.”

Material of Humming-Birds’ Nests. — It has long been a matter of
doubt as to what is the material of which the nest ismade. It is soft,
white, cottony, homogeneous, and shingled on the outside with lichens ;
though evidently of vegetable origin, the precise material was not
known. In the Massachusetts nest, it proves to be the down which
protects the buds of the oak-tree in spring, and in this instance of the
red oak ; in the Georgia nest it was of a coarser character, but proba-
bly obtained from a similar Southern oak.— Dr. Brewer, Boston Nat.
History Societys Proceedings.

Mechanism of Locomotion. ~ Prof. Marshall, in a recent lecture on
the above subject, before the Royal Institution, London, gave the fol-
lowing as the possible rates of animal locomotion per hour: shark
and salmon, sixteen and seventeen miles; flies, four to six miles;
eider-duck, ninety miles; hawk, one hundred and fifty miles; worms,
thirty feet ; race-horse, forty to sixty miles; man walking, four to five
miles, running, twelve to fifteen miles. Especial attention was also
directed to the advantage of the atmospheric pressure on the joints,
amounting in the knee, where so much flexibility is required, to sixty
pounds, and in the hip-joint, to twenty-six pounds.

Curious Observation respecting Yellow Fever.—The late Major E.
B. Hunt, U. S. A., communicated to Silliman’s Journal the following
curious observation respecting yellow fever, made at Key West :—

“Qn two separate occasions, when there were cases of yellow fever
in the U. S. Marine Hospital, which building I passed daily and saw
almost habitually, I have seen a flock of buzzards, circling over and
near the roof of the hospital by the hour together, and continuing this
day after day. I have never seen them do this except when there
were yellow fever cases in progress under the roof. So marked is this
fact as to have produced a common belief in town, that they only
hover over the hospital when there is yellow fever there. I am quite
persuaded that such is the fact, and*can only interpret what I have
myself seen as indicating that an odor is then thrown out on the air
which the keen scent of the scavenger bird detects from afar. The

material particles, whose diffusion is thus testified to, seem likely to
25% :

»

294 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

afford the means of transporting the disease on the air, in a manner
quite agreeing with the facts of its propagation. The hint, thus af-
forded by the keen-scented buzzards, may have value in assisting to
comprehend the mode of conveying and diffusing this fatal malady,
and the particles scented may indeed be the actual fomites so much
talked of and so little understood, in discussing the controverted ques-
tions of contagion and communication.”

A proposed Plan for prolonging Life.—M. Robin, an eminent
French chemist, in a memoir recently presented to the French Academy,
expresses a belief that the period of human life may be greatly pro-
longed, and enters into an argument to show that his opinion is based
upon sound reasoning. He also gives the result of his personal obser-
vations on this subject, and proposes to demonstrate the truthfulness of
his position by actual experiments upon animals whose lives are of
short duration. His argument is, that the mineral matter which con-
stitutes an ingredient in most of our food, after the combustion, is left
in our systems to incrust and stiffen the different parts of the body, and
to render imperfect many of the vital processes. He compares human
beings to furnaces which are always kindled ; life exists only in com-
bustion, but the combustion which occurs in our bodies, like that which
takes place in our chimneys, leaves’a detritus or residue which is fatal
to life. To remove this, he would administer lactic acid with ordinary
food. ‘This acid is known to possess the power of removing or dissoly-
ing the incrustations which form on the arteries, cartilages and valves
of the heart. As buttermilk abounds in this acid, and is, moreover,
an agreeable kind of food, its habitual use, it is urged, will free the
system from these causes, which inevitably cause death between the
seventy-fifth and one hundredth year. :

Abnormal Lactation. — Dr. J. Adamson stated, at the British As-
sociation, 1859, that a female greyhound which had never had offspring
suckled a kitten until it had grown to a considerable size. If the kit-
ten was removed, the greyhound was as disconsolate as the kitten’s own
parent would have been, under similar circumstances, and her equa-
nimity was only restored when the kitten was given back to her.

Dr. Ogilvie said the occurrence is not uncommon in the human fe-
male, and that lactation has often been carried on successfully by the
human male. He remarked also, that it is common in Western Africa
for young females who have never had children to be regularly em-
ployed in nursing the children of others,— a secretion of milk being ex-
cited by stimulating the breast to secrete milk by the application of
the juice of one of the Euphorbiacez.

Peculiarities of Ants. — At a recent meeting of the British Entomo-
logical Society, Mr. Saunders called attention to a statement, in
Froebel’s Travels in Central America, that certain species of ants in
New Mexico construct their nests exclusively of small stones, of the
same material, chosen by the insects from the various components of the
sand of the steppes and deserts; in one part of the Colorado Desert,
their heaps were formed of small fragments of crystallized feldspar, and
in another, imperfect crystals of red, transparent garnets were the ma-
terials of which the ant-hills were built, and any quantity of them might
there be obtained.

Vivisections. — A committee was some time since appointed by the

ZOOLOGY. 295

Fren :h Government to investigate and report on the expediency of
“« Vivisections,” or the dissection of animals alive,— a plan of late years
much followed by French physiologists. The report of this commission
was read to the Academy of Sciences on the 4th of August. It arrives
at the following conclusions : —

“4, Vivisection is indispensable to the study of physiology, and of
operative veterinary surgery.

“2. It ought, nevertheless, to be employed sparingly,'and all appear-
ances of cruelty should be avoided.

“3. The experimenter should always have the real progress of sci-
ence in view.

“4. Students should not be permitted to perform vivisection except
in public, and in the presence of experienced professors.

“5. All means for alleviating pain compatible with the object in
view should be employed.”

Leaden Bullets injured by Insects. —In 1857, the French Minister
of War sent to the Academy of Sciences several cartouches which had
been attacked in the wooden boxes in which they had been packed
by the larvee of insects of the order Hymenoptera. A similar fact has
recently occurred at Grenoble, where several of these insects have been
found with the deteriorated bullets in the cartouches. Specimens of
these also have been forwarded to the Academy by Marshal Valliant,
who is now united with the eminent naturalists, Milne Edwards and
Quatrefages in a commission to inquire into the nature and labors of
these remarkable insects.

Vocal Fishes. — Dr. Dufosse has communicated to the French Acade-
my an account of certain researches into the vocal powers of certain
fish, most of his observations being made upon species of Trigla and
Zeus (gurnards and dories). He states the sounds to be produced by

the vibration of the muscles belonging to the air-bladder, and that large
“ gurnards may be heard at a distance of six or seven yards. Out of
five or six hundred individuals, of the species mentioned, their voices
were comprised between si, and re, inclusive. The sounds were in-
stantaneous, or prolonged for several minutes, sometimes as long as
seven or eight minutes. The pitch often varies during a single “ sono-
rous emission.” The finest vocal performers appear to belong to the
speciés Morrude, who surpass all their congeners in producing a great
number of completely distinct sounds. “ They sustain the simple sounds
better, and modulate better the compound sounds; they render more
distinctly long successions of sounds different in tone and pitch ; in fine,
there is less dissonance in the sonorous vibrations they produce. Other
species, however, beat them in intensity.

The Rattle of the Rattlesnake. — At a recent meeting of the Boston
Society of Natural History, Prof. Wyman made a communication on
the mode of formation of the rattle of the rattlesnake.

In a feetal specimen examined, the scales cease toward the end of
the tail, and the unsealed portion is covered by thickened cuticle, the
rudiment of a rattle, which must fall off; as the animal grows, the last
three vertebree are covered with hardened cuticle arranged in ridges;
as growth continues, this covering is displaced, a new layer forming un-
derneath it, and the old slipped backward over one ridge in a manner
not well determined ; this is in turn displaced by a new layer beneath,

296 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

pushed backward over a single ridge, and soon indefinitely. An interest-
Ing point yet to be settled is whether the cuticular caudal rings are
set free at the time of moulting. That there is no definite relation be-
tween the age of the animal and the number of rattles, he said, was
shown by specimens over six feet long having only two rattles, and
others of eighteen inches with six or seven.

Cause of Death by Drowning. — Death in cases of drowning has been
attributed to various causes, — the introduction of air into the stomach,
into the bronchial tubes, closure of the epiglottis, syncope, and asphyxia.
M. Beau, of France, believes that the cause of death is asphyxia from
want of respirable air; but that the small quantity of water which en- -
ters the bronchial tubes requires to be explained. Is it that, in drown-
ing, there is an arrest of the respiratory movements? To the solution
of this question, M. Beau has applied himself, and has endeavored to
show by experiments, that death takes place in drowning from an irre-
sistible horror of the water inducing an arrest of the movements of res-
piwation and closure of the respiratory orifices; and that this takes
place irrespectively of the actual introduction of a small quantity of
water into the air-tubes at the moment of submersion. ‘There is, then,
in the words of M. Beau, a hydrophobia of inspiration in the drowning
analogous to the hydrophobia of deglutition in persons bitten by rabid
‘animals. The last class of experiments show that death in these
cases is comparable to that which arises from strangulation.

M. Flourens on Respiration.— In a warm-blooded vertebrate ani-
mal, respiratory movements are instantly arrested if the medulla ob-
longata is divided “in tie centre of the V of the gray matter,’ and the
creature dies immediately. In a frog, pulmonary respiration ceases on
making a similar division, but the animal continues to live through its
cutaneous respiration. The respiration of a fish ceases if the medulla
oblongata is divided by a section which passes just behind the cerebel-
lum, and the animal dies more or less quickly, according to the species.
M. Flourens observes, “The lobes, or cerebral hemispheres, minister
to intelligence, and that only ; the cerebellum is devoted to the coordi-
nation of the movements of locomotion, and there is a point in the
medulla oblongata which presides over the movements of respiration.”

PLASTICITY OF BLOOD CORPUSCLES.

Dr. Sharpy says, “ The plasticity of the blood corpuscle is unrivalled
by any other physical body. . It will assume all sorts of protean shapes
under the slightest influences. Elongating to a mere thread, it will
pass through a narrow chink ; it will wrap itself round an acute, pro-
jecting angle, or protrude feelers and tails under the influence of cur-
rents. In its natural state, it possesses sufficient elasticity to resume
its original shape on the cessation of the modifying influences ; but when
gum or gelatine has been added, or when the plasma has been per-
mitted to thicken spontaneously, the corpuscle retains any form it may
have assumed till again altered by fresh influence.” — Proceedings of
the Royal Society, No. 52.

FERTILITY OF FISH.

Mr. Frank Buckland, of England, who has given much attention to
the artificial culture of fish, has recently ascertained the amount of

ZOOLOGY. 297

ova in several species of fish, by counting the number in a given
weight, say ten or twenty grains, and then weighing the entire roe.
The following are the results : —

Salmon, to each pound the fish weighs, about ° ° e 1,000 ova.
Trout of one pound weight . ° ° ° ° e ° ,008
Herring of half-pound weight. ° ° ° ° ° oa 1058207
Perch of half-pound weight . . ° . ° ° Se OO nce
Mackerel of one pound weight . ° ° ° ° o21, O0;e20), 15S
Turbot of eight pounds’ weight = ete a, He - 885,200 ‘
Roach of three-quarters of a pound weight ° ° ° . 480,000 *
Cod of fifteen pounds’ weight . a = = ° . « 4,872,000 ‘

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ELEPHANT.

A curious statement appears in the London Veterinarian, on the rela-
tive weight of the body and of the viscera of the elephant, by Dr. E.
Crisp. The stuffed specimen in the Crystal Palace was originally in
Wombwell’s Menagerie ; it was 22 years of age and 10 feet in height.
The weight of the body was stated to be 3 tons; the relative proportion
of the viscera is as follows (omitting fractions): Brain, 12lb.; lungs,
47]b. 80z. ; heart, 17lb. 9oz.; liver, 33]b. 120z. ; spleen, 6lb. 90z. ; right
kidney, 7lb. 2oz. ; left kidney, 5lb. 100z. ; the length of the alimentary
canal 106 feet. A female which died last year at the Zoological Gar-
dens from fright produced by a thunder-storm was about 30 years of
age, and had been there 18 years. The weight of the various parts of
the body was as follows: The skin, 683lb.; flesh and bones, 3642Ib. ;
supposed loss, 200lb.; viscera, 700]b., making a total of 5225lb., or 2
tons 5ewt. 73lb. The proportions were as follows (again omitting
fractions) : Heart, 25lb.; lungs, much congested, 107Ib.; liver, 50]b. ;
spleen, 9lb. ; kidney, 8b. ; alimentary canal, 123 feet; the large intes-
tines, about 35 feet in length, would probably hold about 150 gallons
of water. A curious circumstance is the absence of fat generally in the
elephant. In the male there was none, in the female, about 50lb. was
found, not deposited in large masses, but dispersed over the body in
thin layers, and evidently containing a large quantity of stearine.

THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM.

Many of our readers may be aware that there has recently been in-
troduced to France a new species of silkworm, which promises to rival,
if not supersede, that which has been so long the sole producer of all
the silk of commerce. Unlike the old species, which is known to be of
delicate and tender constitution, and has of late been subject to a dis-
ease which has produced great mortality in the silk-producing districts,
the ailanthus worm, (so called from the circumstance that it feéds on
the leaves of the ailanthus tree), is said to be much more hardy, and
more easy of cultivation. It was first brought from China to Turin,
Italy, in 1857, and was introduced into France, in 1858.

From a statement recently made to the French Academy, by M.
Guérin-Meneville, it appears that the cocoons, which at first had to be
carded, have been successfully unwound, but by what process he does
not mention. ‘This last discovery adds most materially to the value of
_this silk; and the ease with which the ailanthus can be cultivated
upon the poorest soils, together with the comparatively small amount
of labor required in raising the worms, which, when a few days old,
are placed upon the hedges in the open air, and require scarcely any

298 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

further attention, renders this culture particularly worthy of attention.
This worm has also recently been introduced into this country by Dr.
Stewardsonyof Philadelphia, who, in a recent communication to the
Philadelphia Academy, states, that his experiments satisfy him, that
our climate is well adapted to raising it, and that in the latitude of the
Middle States, two crops of silk can be obtained in a season. Worms
placed upon ailanthus trees, in a private garden in Philadelphia, ex-
posed without care to all the mutations of the season, came to maturity
during the summer and spun their cocoons most perfectly.

THE SENSES OF SMELL AND TASTE.

The following is an abstract of an essay on the above subject by
Norton Folsom, Esq., for which a prize was awarded by the Boylston
(Mass.) Medical Society.

These senses are so mingled in action that their separate offices are
at first difficult to determine ; and even the exact locality of the per-
ceptions which constitute the two senses can hardly be pointed out
without careful observation. We instinctively know that we smell
odoriferous substances when they are presented to the nose, and that
we taste sapid substances in the mouth, but more than this we can
only derive from experiment.

When a substance to be tasted is placed in the mouth, we press it
with the upper surface of the tongue against the palate, and thus force
its particles in every direction, the saliva, poured in by its glands re-
sponsive to the stimulus, aids in dissolving and disseminating the par-
ticles over the mouth. When the substance reaches the fauces, and as
it is swallowed, a current of air escapes from the glottis, and carries
any volatile portion to the posterior nares, where it is liable to affect
the sense of smell. Plainly, therefore, in order to separate the two
sensations, we must either shut off the cavity of the nose during the
tasting, which can be done by most persons voluntarily, by breathing
through the mouth and applying the soft palate to the back of the
pharynx, or we must interrupt the current of air through the nares,
which can be done by holding the nose with the fingers.

We recognize two classes of impressions made by articles of food, —
one of savors, of which salt affords an example; the other of flavors,
as that of vanilla. Most substances have both properties ; thus a straw-
berry has an acid and a sweet taste, besides its own delicious flavor.

The distinction between these two classes has not, indeed, been fully
made by physiologists until of late ; and still less has the fact been rec-
ognized, that all flavors are perceived by the organ of smell only, re-
ducing the number of impressions which the organ of taste is capable
of receiving to four only, namely, sweet, sour, salt, and bitter. This
can, however, be easily and certainly demonstrated. Let the nose be
closed by the fingers, or let the posterior nares be shut off by the soft
palate, and a solution of vanilla be taken into the mouth and swallowed.
It cannot be distinguished from water. Soup, nutmeg, cheese, pine-
apple, and assafcetida are alike entirely flavorless under similar condi-
tions, though the ordinary sensibility of the mucous membrane, and
the perception of the four savors above mentioned, may enable us to
apprehend certain other qualities which distinguish these substances.
The common practice of holding a child’s nose while it swallows disa-

ZOOLOGY. 299
. =
greeable medicine has its origin in this peculiar relation of these two
senses.

We have now to consider the exact locality of the sensations pro-
duced by these four classes of stimuli. Experiments have been tried
by various physiologists with entirely different results, which may be
attributed to want of care and to not recognizing the fact that all fla-
vors should be excluded from the investigation. All agree, however,
in this —that, to be tasted, a substance must be brought to the sen-
sitive part in solution, inasmuch as insoluble substances have no taste.
In the experiments performed by the writer, solutions of white sugar,
tartaric acid, common salt, and sulphate of quinine, were carefuily ap-
plied to various parts of the mouth and fauces by means of a camel’s-
hair pencil, pains being taken that no excess of fluid should be used,
which might diffuse itself over other parts than that directly under ob-
servation. The following results were uniformly obtained on six differ-
ent individuals, they all being unaware of the substances used in each
experiment. .

i. The upper surface, tip, and edges of the tongue, as far back as
to include the circumvallate papillae, are the only parts concerned in
the sense of taste; the hard and soft palate, tonsils, pharynx, lips,
gums, and under surface of the tongue, being entirely destitute of this
sense.

2. The circumvallate papilla are far the most sensitive portion of
the organ. ‘They perceive, at once, very minute quantities of any one
of the four substances used, and are particularly sensitive to bitter. Ir-
ritation of these papiliz by pressure, or placing a drop of cold water
on them, excites decided sensations of bitterness.

3. The central portion of the dcrsum of the tongue, to within half
an inch of the edge, is the least sensitive portion. Substances are dis-
tinguished with difficulty, or not at all, when applied to it.

4. The edges and tip of the tongue are quite sensitive, the edges be-
coming less so as we come forward. They recognize all the four classes
of substances. ‘The tip detects bitter with great difficulty, but is par-
ticularly sensitive to sweet. A sweet sensation, sometimes mingled
with sour or salu, is produced by gently tapping it with any insipid soft
substance. .

The tongue possesses ordinary sensibility to a marked degree, espe-
cially at its tip, and in this way detects the size, shape, and texture of
substances. It isin the same way that the qualities of pungency and
astringency are perceived, which fact is proved by their being nearly
as perceptible to the conjunctiva, or any other mucous membrane pos-
sessing ordinary sensibility, as to the mouth. A solution of tannin,
applied to the circumvallate papille, gives the sensation of extreme
bitterness, while at the tip it produces a slight sweetish taste, espe-
,cially after it has been washed off by the saliva. These sensations are
entirely distinct from the puckering, which, as just said, is perceived
by other mucous membranes. The application of a solution of potassa
gives nearly the same result, proving that there is no such thing as a
distinct alkaline taste. .

Certain substances have been observed to produce sensations, pain-
ful or otherwise, when applied to perfectly sound teeth. As it has
been ascertained that fluids are readily and rapidly absorbed by the

300 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tubules of the dental structure, and conveyed to the pulp cavity, it is
highly probable that the sensation is excited at the latter organ.

The sense of smell is entirely performed by ‘the olfactory nerve.
This is proved by the corresponding increase of the relative size of the
nerve in those animals which are known to possess a particularly acute
power of scent, and also by the fact that in paralysis of the trifacial
the sense remains unimpaired. The branches of the trifacial, which
are distributed to the mucous membrane of the lower and anterior
parts of the nasal cavity, endow it with a high degree of common sen-
sibility, so as to guard the more delicate part of the organ from injury,
by giving warning if we attempt to inhale any irritating vapor. This
common sensibility appreciates the pungency of substances in the
same way as in the case of any other mucous membrane. Many sub-
stances possess pungency beside odor, as ammonia and mustard, for ex-
ample. These affect the conjunctiva almost as readily as the nose.

The organ of smell is affected by substances only when they are in
the form of vapor; hence non-volatile substances have no smell. Va-
pors reach the organ in two ways. In the first place, a current of air
may be drawn, by a forcible inspiration, so as to be directed by the,
external nose to the upper part of its cavity, and impinge upon the
filaments of the olfactory nerve. If this air contains particles of any
volatile substance, it gives rise to the sensation which we call odor.
In the second place, it any volatile substance is taken into the mouth,
and carried to the fauces, or swallowed, and a puff of air is allowed to
escape from the larynx, it will be directed by the walls of the pharynx,
so as to carry the particles of the substance directly to the upper part
of the nares, where it produces what we describe as flavor. We un-
consciously emit this current of air, immediately after swallowing, and
when we are trying to taste anything. Thus we see that “ scent and
flavor are the same impression on the same nerve at the same part.”

Flavors are connected, in a great majority of instances, with food.
This is the reason that the smell of roast meat so strongly excites the
appetite of a hungry man. ‘The exercise of the sense of taste is simul-
taneous with that of smell in the act of eating, which accounts for the
difficulty of distinguishing between them. zi

We can only classify these perceptions so far as to say that they are
agreeable or disagreeable. Even this distinction cannot always be
made ; thus the faint smell of putrid urine closely resembles that of
sandal-wood. What is offensive to one ‘person may be pleasant to
another. The desire for certain flavors is entirely acquired, and the
_ Infant will reject with loathing what may become its favorite food in
after-life. An agreeable flavor or odor sometimes becomes disagreea-
ble by long continuance. The odors of substances which are similar in
other respects are generally alike, so that we may attempt to classify
them according to the sources from which they are derived. The,
smells of plants are nearly, if not quite, all derived from essential oils.
The various ethers have kindred odors. x

Substances differ as to the intensity of their odor without reference
to their volatility. Thus the smell of musk is more intense than that
of ether.

In man, this sense only serves the purpose of giving him pleasure,
and guides him to a slight extent in the choice of food; but with the

ZOOLOGY. 301

lower animals, it not only becomes necessary in the detection and se-
lection of food, but warns of the approach of friends or enemies, and
performs numerous other duties, sometimes attaining a delicacy which
renders it nearly equal in rank to sight and hearing. The hunting-
dog and the antelope are well-known examples of this. The sexual
appetite is frequently excited through this sense. But in man, this
sense is not commonly developed to its fullest possible extent. It is
well known that the senses possess a certain sort of compensating
power ; that is, if one is lost, the others become more acute. The ca-
pabilities of this sense in the human being are well exemplified by
the case of James Mitchell, who was blind, deaf, and dumb from birth,
and distinguished between persons principally by smell. It enabled
him to detect the entrance of a stranger at once. It is recorded of the
wine-tasters of Spain, that they can distinguish between five hundred
different kinds of wine ; and instances are familiar to every one, of the
faculty of telling several kinds of wine, or several varieties of the same
kind, many times in succession, with the eyes covered. The tea-tasters,
to be found in great commercial cities, acquire very nice discriminating
powers, frequently determining the investment of large sums of money
by merely tasting a specimen of tea.

Persons accustomed to the use of tobacco can at once distinguish the
variety brought from Havana, and even in some instances, the particu-
lar plantation from which it comes.

The French cultivate the olfactory sense to a much greater extent
than most other nations, not only in the art of perfumery, but in cook-
ery, which becomes almost a fine art with them; and there seems to
be no reason why the imagination should not be reached through this
organ as well as through the eye and the ear. The scent of the fresh-
ly-opened rose, or the flavor of the strawberry, has as valid a claim to
the notice of the poet as the song of the lark, or the beauty of sunset.
At all events, much pleasure and practical advantage might be gained
by its systematic cultivation, even if we should never rival the powers
of “the Monk of Prague, mentioned in the Journal of the Learned of
the year 1684.”

‘“« He not only knew different persons by the smell, but, what is much
more singular, could, we are told, distinguish a chaste woman, mar-
ried or unmarried, from one that was not so. ‘This Religious had
begun to write a new treatise on odors, when he died, very much
lamented by the gentlemen who record this story of him. For my
part, I do not know whether a man of such talents would not have
been dangerous to society.”

THE PHYSIQUE OF FEDERAL SOLDIERS.

At a recent meeting of the Geographical and Statistical Society, N.
Y. City, Dr. W. H. Thompson, State Examining Surgeon of New
York, read a paper upon the “ Physique of different Nationalities as
indicated by the inspection of recruits for the Federal armies.” Dr.
Thompson stated that he had examined nearly 9,000 men, about half
of whom were natives, and had, therefore, an excellent opportunity to
make comparisons. Some of the most important results arrived at
through these comparisons are detailed as follows : —

« The first subject which naturally presented itself was the bodily

26

302 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

stratum and general physical appearance of the various recruits. In
stature, the American born ranked the highest, the English next, the
Trish next, the Germans next, and the French last. I found it at
first somewhat difficult to lay down many different rules of classifica-
tion, and I therefore adopted a very general division into four classes,
which were oe termed, prime, good, indifferent, and bad. Un-
der the head ‘ prime’ I included, first, those who had a well-proportioned
osseous system (the groundwork of the personal figure), as shown by
the shape of the skull, the bones of the thorax and fibres, and the lines
of the extremities. The shape of the joints, the shape of feet and
hands, and the condition of the ligaments was especially noted.. Sec-
ondly came a good development of the muscular system, especially
those of the lower extremities, as the most reliable indication of the
vigor of spinal nutrition. Under the term ‘ good’ were classed those
who were then apparently healthy and strong, with more especially a
good muscular development, but who did not equal the prime in the
development of the osseous system, from lack of lateral symmetry, bow
legs, large joints, flat feet, ete. Under the head of ‘ indifferent’ might
be found good forms and tolerable muscular development, but who
had tendencies to constitutional diseases, as well as a good many who
may have had good constitution$ originally, but had become deterio-
rated from various causes. Under the head ‘ bad’ were such as had
never been good, nor ever would be so, from an originally vicious con-
formation.

‘Of American-born recruits 47.5 per-eent. had a prime physique ;
the Irish 35 per cent., and the Germans 40.75 per cent. The percent-
age of good physique was, Americans 36, Irish 38, Germans 38.5. The
percentage of indifferent was, Americans 13. 5, Trish 19.5 , Germans 19.
The percentage of bad, Americans 3, Irish 7.5, Germans 3. From this
it will be perceived that the Americans show the highest rate of prime
physique, the Germans next, and the Irish last. Of good, the Irish
and Germans are nearly equal, and four per cent. more than the
Americans, but this is owing to the excess of the latter in prime. Of
indifferent, the Irish are one-half higher than the Germans, which
Jast are five and one-half per cent. higher than the Americans. Of
the bad, the Irish are more than double the Americans and Germans,
who in this respect stand alike. So far, therefore, these figures seem
favorable to the American born; but there are several considerations
to be taken into account, which will, to a certain extent, modify the
inferences to be drawn from them. In the first place, the Americans
were largely from classes of society who from youth have been able to
command better facilities in food, clothing and shelter, than the classes
from whom the immigrant population is derived. What an influence
this must exert on phy sical development is sadly illustrated by the mor-

tality returns of New York City, which show that though the American
population is not exceeded by the foreign, yet that seven children of
foreign-born parents die in a year to one American child. Besides,
more than half the Americans were born and reared in country dis-
tricts, and the difference which this fact causes may be shown by com-
paring among them the city and country recruits. Thus the propor-
tion of prime among city Americans was forty-two per cent., country
fifty-eight per cent.; of good, a forty per cent., country twenty -nine

ZOOLOGY. 303

per cent.; of indifferent, city fourteen per cent., country twelve per
cent.; of bad, city four per cent., country one per cent. Another
reason why the Irish are double the Americans in. bad physique,
seemed to be that they were often recruited, for several Irish regiments,
almost exclusively from the sixth ward, one of the most active recruit-
ing stations being the Tombs prison itself.

“« Still these considerations do not affect the actual standing of the
American recruits, for whatever the causes may be that. have aided
them, I feel safe in voting their physical development as of the highest
order, and I have seen specimens of the armies of nearly all European,
as well as.eastern nations. With the exception of a general loss of
fat, I do not believe that there is another race that can show a larger
proportion in the average population of excellent osseous and muscu-
lar development. This I would ascribe almost wholly to the widely dif
fused blessings of meat and drink, and to comforts of life possessed by
nearly all. Least of all would I set it down to the score of race, for
it is doubtful if there is such a thing as an unmixed race in. America.
No sooner does one nationality reach this shore, where all the political,
social, and religious distinctions of the Old World fail to survive the sea
voyage, than it rapidly merges into another, and all the rare elements
of Europe soon become utterly dissolved in a well-stirred mixture of
Anglo-Saxons, Hollanders, Celts, Germans, and Norwegians.”

BOTAA YX

THE EXISTENCE OF MUSCLES IN PLANTS.

A recent discovery, by M. Cohn, a German naturalist, of a contract-
ile tissue in plants, identical in properties with the muscular tissue
of animals, adds one more striking fact to the accumulated evidence
of identity between the vegetable and animal organizations. Well-
informed biologists, have for some time past been agreed on the impos-
sibility of drawing any absolute lines of demarcation between the two.
Instead of the marked opposition, which may still be read in popular
hand-books, thrown into the form of tabulated contrasts, we have
learned that the physical, chemical, and physiological characters, by
which the plant and animal were supposed to be separated, are une-
quivocally characteristic of both. It is impossible to deny that plants
have mobility, and some of them even locomotion. If we deny them
sensibility, it is on grounds which will equally exclude many classes
of animals; and these grounds are anatomical. It is because we fail
to detect the mechanism of sensibility, that we endeavor to interpret
the phenomena as physical. It is because we associate sensibility and
contractility with peculiar nervous and muscular structures, that we
deny that certain phenomena observed in plants are what we should
consider them to be, if we could discover nerves and muscles. Take
_the case of the sensitive plant Dionwa Muscipula, or fly-trap. The

edges of its leaf are fringed with hairs, like an eyelid. On the in-
side of the leaf, six delicate hairs are arranged in such an order that it
would be difficult for an insect to traverse the leaf without touching
one of these hairs. No sooner is a hair touched, than the two sides of
the leaf suddenly close ; just as the two eyelids close when an insect,
or bit of dust, touches the sensitive surface. ‘The leaf entraps the in-
sect — the fringe of hairs on the edges interlacing like fingers of oppo-
site hands. If the insect be not speedily liberated, it is soon digested ;
as it would be in the stomach of an animal. It should be borne in
mind, that this “ sensitiveness” is not the property of the whole leaf,
but is localized in the delicate hairs of the centre, precisely as sensi-
tiveness is localized in the nervous mechanism of animals. Now, com-
paring the phenomena observed in the plant with phenomena observed
in animals, it seems impossible to discern any marked distinction; if
the eyelid’s closing on an insect proves sensibility, —if the arms of a
polyp closing on an insect proves sensibility ,— then the closing of the
Dionea proves it. But, the mechanism in the three cases is different.
In the eyelid, we find nerves and muscles; in the polyp, we find mus-
cles, and no nerves; in the plant, neither nerves nor muscles. This.
difficulty may be turned by considering all three cases as cases of con-
tractility only; and the first, as contr actility stimulated by sensibility.

304

BOTANY. 300

If this view were adopted, we should have to cut: off many classes
of animals from the possession of sensibility, and by so doing, bring
them into still closer connection with plants. But then arises the
question, Whence the contractility of plants? It is here that Cohn’s
admirable memoir’ throws a flood of light. He has discovered, that
in at least one portion of a plant,—the stamen of the Centaurea, —
there exists a tissue which presides over the phenomena of contractility ;
- and he naturally infers that in all other supposed cases of plant-con-
tractility a similar tissue will be present.

We cannot pretend here to condense the numerous observations
and rigorously-conducted experiments by which he establishes his re-
sults. Curious readers must consult the original. We give the results.
The stamen of the Centaurea is excited by the mechanical, chemical,
and electrical stimuli which excite muscles; when excited, it contracts
in the same way as a muscle, describing the same curve, when, after
reaching its maximum, it begins to relax again. Like the muscle, it
becomes tired by contraction, and recovers its exhausted force only by
repose. Like a muscle, it is excited by a weak galvanic current, and
rendered tetanic by a strong current. Like a muscle, it exhibits three
properties, — first, that of being excited by stimuli; secondly, that of
changing its form on being excited ; thirdly, that of transmitting every
stimulus — under its correlate as motor-force —to neighboring parts.

Tie importance of this discovery will not be overlooked. If, as one
can only infer, the phenomena observed in other plants should be
found equally reducible to a similar tissue of contractile cells, we shall
nie a beautiful explanation of many biological phenomena now very
obscure. ‘The reader will remark that we have, throughout, for cer-
tain purposes of our own, spoken of the “ muscular tissue” where Cohn
uses the term “contractile tissue.” .It is true, to remove any miscon-
ception, which might arise from this use of the term, by muscular tis-
sue must not be understood the special organs named “ muscles” in
animals, which are formed of muscular tissue, and several other tissues.
Nor, even, must it be understood as indicating a tissue of muscular
fibres, such as we find in the higher animals; but simply a tissue of
contractile cells. It will prevent any misconception, if we remember
that what are called muscles, or muscular tissue in the.simpler animals,
are nothing but contractile cells; and a diagram of the muscles in a
fresh-water polyp would differ very little from a diagram of a cellular
tissue in plants.

THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS INSECTS BY MEANS OF THE PY-
RETHRUM (PERSIAN INSECT POWDER).

M. Willemot, of France, has recently published, in the Technologist,
an interesting paper, on the cultivation and use of the Pyrethrum (P.
carneum), of which the celebrated Persian powder for the destruction
of insects is prepared. This powder was first introduced into France
in 1850, and came exclusively from districts of Persia and the Caucasus.
Within a few years, however, the plant itself has been introduced into
France, and at the present date is cultivated successfully and in large
quantities. It is described as a small perennial shrub, from twelve to

1F, Cohn; Contractile Gewebe in Pflanzenreiche, Breslau, 1862.
26*

306 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

fifteen inches in height, bearing flowers an inch and a half in diameter,
and resembling those of the ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthe-
mum). Its cultivation is easy, and its appearance quite ornamental.
It flowers from June to September, and may he propagated by layers
as well as by seed.

The parts of the plants from which the powder is made are the dried
flower-heads, gathered when ripe, on fine days, and dried by exposure
to the sun. In the process of desiccation they lose-about 90 per cent. -
When perfectly dried, they are reduced to powder.

A quantity of these plants grown upon eighteen square rods is esti-
mated to furnish one hundred pounds of powder, which is best pre-
served in sealed vessels of glass. ‘The application is made either as a
powder or as an infusion, though in the latter form it is more beneficial,
especially when intended for the destruction of insects on plants. The
powder may be employed directly to the insects themselves, or in the
places which they frequent. They are attracted by its smell, become
stupefied, and immediately die. This substance may be employed
without injury to the large? animals, or to man. It is intimated that’
the amount of this powder consumed annually in Russia alone is about
500 tons.

The principal insects to which the powder of the Pyrethrum is de-
structive, may be arranged under four classes, — first, insects injurious
to agriculture and horticulture ; second, insects obnoxious to man and
his habitation ; third, insects destructive to certain substances, as wool,
furs, feathers ; and, fourth, insects injurious to museums of animal and
vegetable products, and collections of natural history. We do not pre-
tend to enumerate all the insects to which the powder is destructive ;
it will suffice to mention a few instances, which will sufficiently show
what applications may be made of it. Our domestic animals, — dogs,
cats, fowls, pigeons, etc.,— are subject to annoyance from insects,
which cannot withstand the effects of this powder. Of the numerous
insects injurious to agriculture and horticulture we may mention the
following which have been destroyed by it: the weevil, bark-beetle,
wheat-fly, maggots, cocci, aphides, earwigs, spiders, ants, etc. It is
evident that not only the perfectly developed insects are destroyed, but
also the larvee, which in some cases do greater injury than the insects
themselves. Large depots where military stores or navy supplies are
kept, and especially extensive bakeries, may use the powder with great
advantage forthe destruction of weevils, midges, crickets, cockroaches,
etc., the great plague of those establishments. The powder is equally
efficacious in destroying insects which are a constant source of annoy-
ance to the inhabitants of cities and the country. Gnats and mosqui-
toes aré banished ; bugs, fleas, and flies disappear from houses under its
influence.

The powder of the Pyrethrum applied to furs, feathers, woolens, ob-
jects of natural history and botanical herbariums, acts also as a complete
protection against insect ravages, while as regards the human subject
it is perfectly innocuous. In using the powder, says M. Willemot, it
must be applied carefully and in sufficient quantity, otherwise the re-
sult will be unsatisfactory, especially if used against some of the hardy
or very resisting species of insects. Occasionally the powder, by being
exposed to the air or moisture, will have lost its destructive properties,

BOTANY. 307

so as to render the result doubtful and wholly inefficient ; at others the
result has been unsatisfactory, because the most favorable moment for
the operation has been overlooked. A rainy or wet day, for instance,
always lessens the destructive eflicacy, because the powder, containing
a very volatile essential oil, renders the conservation of this principle
extremely difficult.

Of all the methods for applying the powder to plants attacked by in-
sects, including the vine, the bellows will best accomplish the object.
As there is only a small quantity of powder thrown at once, the loss
will be very small, whilst in any other way a good deal of it will fall
upon the ground. The powder should be directly applied to the parts
operated on, and with care and precaution it may be made to penetrate
into the most inaccessible parts of a plant. If, for instance, a plant has
been attacked by plant lice, which are often hidden or masked by
thick foliage, it will become necessary to turn aside this foliage, so as
to have the insects exposed, and the powder directly brought into con-
tact with them. In all cases these operations should take place on a
warm day, the morning being always preferable. A slight moisture
arising from the morning dew will make the powder more easily adhere
to the spots where it is applied, and maintain its properties long enough
to cause the death of the insects. The insufflation should be renewed
several times according to the nature and number of insects to be de-
stroyed. The first operation generally stupefies them, while at the
second or third application they lose their strength, fall to the ground,
and die sooner or later.

M. Willemot also states, that by mixing the Pyrethrum powder with
wheat, in the proportion of two ounces to two or three bushels previous
to sowing the grain, the ravages of the wheat-midge may be entirely
prevented.

IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT.

Mr. Hallett, an English agriculturist, has recently published the re-
sult of some interesting experiments on the improvement of the wheat
plant, whereby he has obtained a superior wheat, both in productive-
ness and weight. He commenced experimenting with what is known
in England as “nursery wheat,” and details the course pursued as
follows : —

“A grain produces a stool, consisting of many ears. I plant the
grains from these ears in such a manner that each ear occupies a row
by itself, each of its grains occupying a hole in this row; the holes being
twelve inches apart every way. At harvest, after the most careful
study and comparison of the stool from all these grains, I select the
finest one, which I accept as a proof that its parent grain was the best
of ail, under the peculiar circumstances of the season.

“This process is repeated annually, starting every year with the
proved best grain, although the verification of this superiority is not
obtained until the following harvest.” The following table gives the
result at the end of the fifth year from the original sowing : —

Year. Length in No. Grains. Number of
ote Inches. ears on Stool.
1857, Originalear . - Std S=8y we Fe
1858, Finest ear . ° ° . 6 1-4 ° zi ° 10

tee DktG oe ee le ee gk es
1860, Ears imperfect from wet season ° ° : - 39
1861, Finest ear : - = - 83-4 AG BRE ; é 52

808 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. .

Mr. Hallett also states, that the improvement in the sixth generation
was even greater than in any of the others. ‘ Thus,” he continues,
“‘ by means of repeated selection alone, the length of the ears has been
doubled, their contents nearly trebled, and the tillermg power of the
seed increased five-fold.” By “tillering,” we should perhaps mention,
is meant the horizontal growth of the wheat-plant, which takes place
before the vertical stems are thrown up, and upon the extent of which, -
therefore, depends in a great degree the number of ears which the sin-
gle plant produces. ‘

“ During my investigations,” says Mr. H., “no single circumstance
has struck me as more forcibly illustrating the necessity for repeated
selection than the fact that of the grains in the same year one is found
greatly to excel all others in vital power. Thus, the original two ears
contained together eighty-seven grains; these were all planted singly.
One of these produced ten ears, containing 688 grains; and not only
could the produce of no other single grain compare with them, but the
finest ten ears that could be collected from the produce of*the whole of
the other 86 grains contained only 598 grains. Yet, supposing that
this superior grain grew in the smaller of the two original ears, and
that this contained but 40 grains, there must still have been 39 of these
86 grains which grew in the same ear.

“‘ Let us now consider whether pedigree in wheat, combined with a
natural mode of cultivating it (as above), can produce a number of
ears equal to that usually grown per acre under the present system.
In order to ascertain this we ought to know the number of ears ordi-
narily grown from seven or eight pecks of seed; but there are really
no data upon this point. It has, however, been considered as about
equal to,the number of grains in a bushel, or under eight hundred
thousand, which is about one ear for every two grains sown. I will
then compare the numbers grown in 1861 upon two pieces of land,
only separated by a hedge, where the two systems were fairly tried,
the same ‘ pedigree wheat’ being employed as seed in both cases. In
the one instance, six pecks of seed per acre were drilled November 20th,
1860, and the crop, resulting in fifty-four bushels per acre, consisted, at
its thickest part, of 934,120 ears per acre. In the other instance, 4h
pints per acre were planted in September, in single grains, one foot
apart every way, and the number of ears produced per acre was 1,001,-
880, or 67,760 ears in excess of those produced on the other side of the
hedge, from more than twenty-one tinies the seed here employed.
Now, as an area of a square foot is more than amply sufficient for the
development of a single grain, it is clear that thin seeding is not ne-
cessarily attended by a thin crop.”

It would appear from this, that thin seeding and early sowing are
both beneficial ; and that an immense saving may be made in the quan-
tity of wheat used annually for seed. It is reported further, that the
wheat, when thinly sown or planted, grows so strong in the straw, that
while his neighbors’ wheat was laid down by a heavy storm of wind
and rain, Mr. Hallett’s stood up as strong as before the storm. ,

TRANSMUTATION OF “SPECIES” IN THE VEGETABLE WORLD.

It has been repeatedly asserted that oats have been converted into
rye, barley, and even wheat; but the “ fact” has been always scoffed

BOTANY. 309

out of countenance, because it was inconsistent with preconceived the-
ories. Now, however, there would appear to be no doubt about it.
The Mark-lane Express vouches for the respectability of a gentleman
who states that he carefully planted some picked oat grains in his gar-
den in June; and as the tillers sprang up to about a foot in height, he
cut them down to within an inch of the root. This process was three
times repeated that year, and some of the roots died; but others sur-
vived ; and next year they yielded, — not oats, but perfect barley, ra-
ther thin, but by no means of a bad type. This barley, in the follow-
ing spring, yielded a good return of better barley, approved by the
maltster ; and of the produce of subsequent years the editor says he has
seen a sample. It is remarkable that the grower did not look for bar-
ley, but rye, which he had been told had thus been obtained. The
editor is of opinion that oats are a “ spurt ” or sport from other grain, —
not vice versa; as wheat and barley have been known for 4000 years,
but not oats.

It is said that the transmutation of oats into barley is by no means
infrequent in Norway and Sweden, which, by the way, geologists have
found to be a notable centre of plant distribution.

A letter from Mr. William Cowper, of Wappenham, near Towcester,
appears in the Berkshire Chronicle, stating that he has for ten years
grown both wheat and barley from Dutch oats. Black oats, he adds,’
will produce rye in the same way.

If any one imagines, however, that when such facts can no longer be
denied, we will be any nearer to an admission that one species of plant
can be transmuted into another species, he will probably be mistaken ;
for when the fact can be no longer resisted, it will only be seized hold
of as proof positive that oats, rye, barley, and wheat are nof distinct
species at all ; so that the transmutations of species will be as far off as
ever, and thus may well be deemed impossible. — London Builder.

ARTIFICIAL FECUNDATION OF PLANTS.

The following process devised by M. Hooibrenck for creasing the
fertility of cereal and other plants, has excited considerable attention
in France. When the grain is in flower, he passes over it an apparatus
consisting of a string set with tufts of wool, close together, and having
small lead weights between them. He repeats this brushing of the
flowers three times, at intervals of two days. Espalier fruit trees he
deals with in another fashion. First, he touches the stigmata with a
finger carrying a little honey, and then brushes the flowers lightly with
a powder-puff. By this means, pollen is brought into eontact with the
_ honey, and adheres. Larger trees he reaches with a sort of brush,
composed of tufts of wool. A commission appointed by the Minister of
Agriculture reports very favorably upon these processes, as increasing
the yield of corn, and they observe, that the fruit trees operated on
produced an abundant crop, but they could not so easily satisfy them-
selves as to what cause it was due.

MUMMY WHEAT.

The Presse Scientifique des Deux Mondes contains a description of a
series of experiments made in Egypt by Figari-Bey on the wheat found
in the ancient sepulchres of that country. A long dispute occurred a

310 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

few years ago, as to what truth there might be in the popular belief,
according to which this ancient wheat will not only germinate after the
lapse of three thousand years, but produce ears of extraordinary size
and beauty. The question was left undecided ; but Figari-Bey’s paper,
addressed to the Egyptian Institute at Alexandria, contains some facts
which appear much in favor of a negative solution. One kind of wheat
which Figari-Bey employed for his experiments had been found in Up-
per Egypt, at the bottom of a tomb at Medinet-Aboo. There were
two varieties of it, both pertaining to those still cultivated in Egypt.
The form of the grains had not changed ; but their color, both within
and without, had become reddish, as if they had been exposed to smoke.
On being sown in moist ground, under the usual pressure of the atmos-
phere, and at a temperature of 25 degrees (Reaumur), the grains be-
came soft, and swelled a little during the first four days ; on the seventh
day their tumefaction became more, apparent with an appearance of
maceration and decomposition ; and on the ninth day this decomposition
was complete. No trace of germination could be discovered during all
this time. Figari-Bey obtained similar negative results from grains of
wheat found in other sepulchres, and also on barley proceeding from
the same source ; so that there is every reason to believe that the ears
hitherto ostensibly obtained from mummy wheat proceeded from grain
accidentally contained in the mould into which the former was sown.

THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES.

If we look at the stem and branches of a tree in winter, when de-
prived of its summer leaves, we shall see at once that it is constructed
on the principle of a cone ; for the main stem of the tree is broadest at
the base, and gradually decreases in thickness toward the extremities
of its branches. Any branch in the place where a side-branch origi-
nates, is thicker than the side-branch ; so also this side-branch is thick-
er than’the branchlet which it produces, and in this manner the thick-
ness of the main stem steps, as it were, away by degrees from branch
to branch, until at length it loses itself in the fine branches of the
youngest generation of shoots, or the most recent growths. It is well
known that the cone is the stablest structure in nature, and the tree
may be very properly regarded as an arborescent cone.

If a transverse section of a young beech-tree is examined, it will be
found to consist of a number of concentrical and almost circular beds
or layers of wood, ensheathing one another about a common centre,
which is occupied by a canal of pith, the whole being covered by the
bark formed on the outside of the stem. The longitudinal section, on
the contrary, shows that the stem is composed of a series of superposed
and hollow elongated cones, the old conical growth, or woody layers of
the last and previous seasons, forming a firm foundation for the new
conical layers of the next and succeeding years.

The conical growth of the tree is the result of the conical formation
of the first year’s shoot, which is the foundation of the subsequent an-
nual additions of weod and bark ; for as these are deposited in strata
which lie parallel with the wood and bark of the first year’s shoot, the
conical form of the superposed layers is necessarily retained.

Growth in length and growth in thickness must therefore be regard-
ed as the result of one and the same vegetative cause, namely, the

BOTANY. 311

formation each year of a new conical layer or enveloping mantle of
wood and bark, which extends from the top to the bottom of the tree.
The following law will express the relation subsisting between the two
dimensions of length and breadth: the branches are more cylindrical
the longer they are, and more conical in proportion as they are shorter.

As examples of well-marked conical growths, we may mention those
extremely abbreviated shoots called thorns, of which the blackthorn
and the American cockspur thorn furnish us with good examples.
‘That thorns are only abortive shoots or branches, is proved by the wild
plum-tree ; this tree when planted in a good soil changes its thorns in-
to branches.

In the case of the Weeping Willow, on the contrary we have an
instance of branches which tend more to a cylindrical than to a coni-
cal form. In consequence of this peculiarity, the branches of this tree
are long and pendulous, their waterfall-lke curvature is extremely
graceful, and as they wave backward and forward in the wind, the
tree presents one of the most beautiful and picturesque of objects.

But the conical growth of trees is sometimes strikingly apparent in
their landscape character, or general outline when viewed from a dis-
tance. This is the case in the great natural order Conifere, or the
cone-bearing family. The trees belonging to this order, such as the
Juniper, the Red Cedar, the Norway Spruce Fir, and the celebrated
Norfolk Island Pine, when seen from a distance, are clearly conical in
their outline ; and this is the case with all the other members of this
family. The leaves of these trees are excessively narrow and small,
the blade being reduced to an abortive condition. They have been
called by the German botanists with some propriety needle-leaved
trees. ‘These leaves are quite as capable of forming wood as those
which possess a true lamina or blade, for they make up by their im-
mense number and their persistent nature for their want of surface.
The branches of the fir and yew have always on them the foliage of
five or six summers, their leaves remaining usually that length of time

attached to them.

' The conical form is, in fact, more or less the original form of all
trees during the earlier portion of their life; for “ at first, growth takes
place in the direction of the main stem,” and the growth of the branch-
es is consequently greatly restricted; but after a certain number of
years, the stem obtains its greatest height, and growth is “ diverted to
its leading branches,” which lose their conical figure or outline consid-
ered collectively, and, spreading out on all sides, form a dome-shaped
or hemispherical top or crown. This is particularly grand in the horse-
chestnut, the lime-tree, and the elm, which make for this reason a fine
appearance on a lawn or in a park, in addition to the recommendation
of the perfect shade which they afford. At this second stage in the
life of the tree, the main stem is no longer distinguishable from the
other branches, because they have made with it an equally powerful
growth. In the Coniferze, however, development is not carried so far,
for the tree stops at the first stage, and therefore retains permanently
its cone-like appearance. For this reason, as well as on account of
the simplicity of their leaves and flowers, and their high geological
antiquity, coniferous trees may be regarded as of a low type of organi-
zation.

312 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

This discussion of the conical growth of trees leads us necessarily to
the investigation of the source from whence they derive their elabo-
rated formative material. This is undoubtedly the leaf. Now, this
law is plainly apparent in the single shoot, the figure of which depends
on the manner in which the leaves are disposed about its surface ; for
as the wood is formed by the leaves, when these are placed in regular
order over every part of the circumference of the shoot, as in the beech
and lime, the shoot is always necessarily cylindrical, for the woody
matter proceeding from the leaves is then distributed equally on all its
sides. On the contrary, when the leaves on the single shoot are oppo-
site, or in pairs, placed at right angles to each other, as in the spindle-
tree and maple, the descent of nourishing matter from them is neces-
sarily limited to that portion of the stem immediately below them, and
consequently the young shoots and branches of these trees are square.

But not only the form of the single shoot, but also the extent to
which it is conical, depends on the leaves. If the vital activity of the ©
leaves is too enfeebled to form wood, if they remain crowded together
into clusters at the top of the shoot without separating, the shoot may
increase in length, but there is no increase in breadth. Two shoots of
the horse-chestnut are now lying before me, placed side by side for
comparison, and the contrast between their figure is not only very
perceptible, but also highly instructive. The shoot in the one ease is .
conical; in the other, cylindrical. The conical shoot is the growth of
a single year; the cylindrical shoot is the growth of ten years; yet
both are nearly the same size. As the elaborated woody matter form-
ing the substance of these shoots was derived from the leaves with
which they were clothed, and as, in the case of the ten years’ shoot,
very little was supplied, that shoot is cylindrical, not conical, like the
one year’s shoot.

It follows, too, that the breadth of the wood-rings ‘formed annually,
and which are visible on the transverse section of the stem, must also
correspond with the amount of active leaf-surface which is put forth
into the atmosphere during the vegetative season. In order to verify
this truth, it is only necessary to select branches, the leaves of whose
side-shoots are annually put forth as leaf-clusters, and which therefore
take a minimum of development, and consequently exercise the small-
est possible amount of physiological influence on the branch, and where
powerful growths are suddenly succeeded by growths greatly retarded.
One such branch now lies before me, seven years old, whose main
stem is eighteen inches long, and whose side-shoots are abortive in
their growth. It grew the first three years five inches annually, or
altogether fifteen inches; but in the last four years the growth stag-
nated, or averaged only nine lines (a line is the twelfth part of an
inch) annually.; and the cross section of the branch actually shows the
three inner rings or woody layers, formed by the leaves of the first
three years, to be much broader than the four outer rings, the leaf-de-
posits of the last four years.

These investigations and others lead irresistibly to the conclusion,
that the breadth of the wood-rings is determined not only by the activ-
ity of the leaves of the terminal shoot of the main stem, but that the
leaves of the side-shoots or of the whole system of shoots codperate ;
and therefore that the leafage of each season forms a common source,
whence is derived not only the nutriment forming the new layer or

BOTANY. 313

covering of each individual branch or system of shoots, but of the main
stem or support of the whole of them. The leaves are therefore the
sources of the elaborated formative material which proceeds from them
to the shoots, from the shoots to the branchlets, and from the branch-
lets to the branches, whose union forms the main stem of the tree, just
as a thousand little streamlets pour together their tributary waters,
which, united, form the broad river that rolls on to the ocean.

CHINESE ART OF DWARFING TREES.

“The art of dwarfing trees, as commonly practised both in “China
and Japan, is in reality very simple and easily understood. It is based
upon one of the commonest principles of vegetable physiology. Any-
thing which has a tendency to check or retard the flow of the sap in
trees, also prevents, to a certain extent, the formation of wood and
leaves. This may be done by graging, by confining the roots in a
small space, by withholding water, by bending the branches, and in a
hundred other ways, which all proceed upon the same principle. This
principle is perfectly understood by the Japanese, and they take ad-
vantage of it to make nature subservient to this particular whim of
theirs. They are said to select the smallest seeds from the smallest
plants, which I think is not at all unlikely. I have frequently seen
Chinese gardeners selecting suckers for this purpose from the plants of
their gardens. Stunted varieties were generally chosen, particularly
if they had the branches opposite or regular, for much depends upon
this; a one-sided dwarf-tree is of no value in the eyes of the Chinese
or Japanese. The main stem was then, in most cases, twisted in a
zigzag form, which process checked the flow of the sap, and at the
same time encouraged the production of side-branches at those parts
of the stem where they were most desired. The pots in which they
were planted were narrow and shallow, so that they held but a small
quantity of soil compared with the wants of the plants, and no more
water was given than was actually necessary to keep them alive.
When new branches were in the act of formation, they were tied down
and twisted in vartous ways; the points of the leaders and strong-
growing ones were generally nipped out, and every means was taken
to discourage the production of young shoots possessing any degree of
vigor. Nature generally struggles against this treatment for a while,
until her powers seem to be in a great measure exhausted, when she
quietly yields to the power of Art. The artist, however, must be ever

-on the watch; for should the roots of his plants get through the pots

into the ground, or happen to receive a liberal supply of moisture, or
should the young shoots be allowed to grow in their natural position
for a time, the vigor of the plant, which has so long been lost, will be
restored, and the fairest specimens of Oriental dwarfing destroyed.
It is a curious fact that when plants, from any cause, become stunted
or unhealthy, they almost invariably produce flowers and fruit, and
thus endeavor to propagate and perpetuate their kind. This principle
is of great value in dwarfing trees. Flowering trees — such, for ex-
ample, as peaches and plums — produce their blossoms most profusely
under the treatment I have described; and as they expend their ener-
gies in this way, they have little inclination to make vigorous growth.”
— Fortune’s China and Japan.
27

a

814 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

THE ORDEAL BEAN OF CALABAR.

At a recent scientific meeting in London, Prof. Harley exhibited
specimens of the bean employed by the King of Calabar as a poisonous
ordeal to determine the guilt or innocence of accused persons. The
plant yielding this bean is kept secret from the natives generally, and
the seeds are consequently to be obtained only with great difficulty.
The name that has been given to the plant is Physostigma venenosum,
or Calabar ordeal bean. It belongs to the leguminous tribe, having
distinct papilionaceous flowers succeeded by pods six inches in length,
each containing four or five seeds, having white cotyledons, resembling

in taste the seeds of the common haricot, Phaseolus vulgaris. Taken |

internally, the beans, unless rejected by vomiting, produce fatal paral-
ysis. In some experiments made in this country it has been found
that twelve grains have produced, partial paralysis, threatening to be
serious in its results. In the course of investigation into its properties,
it has been ascertained that the extract of the bean possesses a most
extraordinary power over the iris, a few minims of its solution dropped
into the eye causing contraction of the pupil to such an extent that the
aperture becomes entirely obliterated, and the eye possesses the ap-
pearance of having an imperforate iris. In order to demonstrate this
action more fully, and to contrast it with the opposite effect of a solu-
tion of belladonna, a cat was exhibited, to one eye of which belladonna
had been applied several days previously, causing dilatatiow of the pu-
pil to such an extent that the iris was scarcely visible; to the other
eye a solution of the ordeal bean had been applied, which caused ob-
literation of the pupil. The contrast between the two eyes of the ani-
mal was of the most marked character, and imparted a strange weird
expression to the face. In the course of the evening the pupil dilated
somewhat —the effect of the Physostigma passing away gradually in
the course of about twenty-four hours, whereas that of the belladonna
oS for many days. Specimens of the plant have been raised in
ngland from the imported seeds.

OZONE EXHALED BY PLANTS.

Tn an elaborate memoir presented to the Academy of Sciences, at
Paris, M. Kosmann gives an account of a series of experiments in re-
gard to this subject, carried on at his own house in the middle of Stras-
burg, in the Botanic Garden of that city, and in a spacious garden
above thirty miles from it: these three places seeming to offer the dif-
ferences which should characterize vegetation in the midst of towns
and that of the country in various degrees., He made use of Schon-
bein’s ozonometrie scale and ozonoscopic bands, fixed on the plants.
For details we must refer to the Comptes Rendus. He gives the fol-
lowing as the results of his observations from July 29 to Sept. 14 last.
(He proposes to resume his studies in the spring.) — “1. Plants give off
ozonized oxygen from the midst of their leaves and green parts. 2.
Their leaves give off during the day ozonized oxygen in ponderable
quantity, much greater than that which exists in the surrounding air.
3. During the night this difference disappears where vegetables are
sown sparingly; but where there is an accumulation of plants, and
they grow vigorously, even in the night the ozone observed in the

BOTANY. 315

plants is greater than in the air, which is, doubtless, explained by sup-
posing that the ozone disengaged during the day continues to surround
the plants during the night when the weather is calm: 4. Plants in
the country give off more ozone than those in the town during the
day, — probably due to vegetative life being more active, — the former
also reducing more carbonic acid. 5. Hence we may infer that the
air of the country and that of habitations surrounded by vast gardens,
forests, etc., is more vivifying than that of towns. 6. In the midst of
towns and a concentrated population, the ozone of the air at night is
more considerable than the ozone of the air by day. If we go away a
little from this concentration of men, and enter into that of plants, the
excess of the ozone of the night above that of the day diminishes; and
if we advance further into the country, where plants are more numer-
ous than men, the ozone of the day becomes more considgrable than
that of the night. 7. The interior of the corollas gives off no ozonized
oxygen. 8. In dwelling-rooms oxygen does not generally exist in the
ozonized state.”

PHOSPHORUS IN VEGETATION.

M. Benjamin Corenwinder has lately contributed a voluminous paper
to the French Academy describing experiments which shed much light
on the manner in which phosphorus exerts such a beneficial effect on
vegetation. The results that he arrives at are. —1. That plants when
young always yield ashes rich in phosphoric acid, but that after the
plant has produced its seed or fruit, the stem or leaves contain very
little of that principle. 2. That phosphoric acid exists in plants in
close combination with nitrogenous matter. 3. That the organs of
plants, not containing any nitrogen, and ill-adapted for food, contain
no phosphates. 4. That the exudations of plants, such as manna and
gum-arabic, do not generally contain phosphoric acid. 5. That if the
skeleton of a young plant be separated from the pulpy matter, all the
phosphoric acid remains in the latter; so that, unlike the skeletons of
animals, those of plants do not owe their solidity to any phosphates.
6. That marine plants, growing on rocks, contain a large quantity of
phosphates, as also the pollen of flowers, and the spores of cryptoga-
mous plants.

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY.

NEW PLANETS AND COMETS.

The discovery of three new asteroidal planets has been announced
during the past year, making the whole number now recognized seven-
ty-nine. ‘The seventy-seventh asteroid was discovered November 12,
1862, by Dr. C. OH. F. Peters, at the Hamilton College Observatory
i gt be

The seventy-eighth asteroid was discovered March 15th, ‘1868, by
Dr. Luther of Bilk, Germany. It has received the name Diana, and
is of the tenth magnitude. 5

The seventy-ninth asteroid was discovered September 14th, by Prof.
James C. Watson, of the observatory of Ann-Arbor, Michigan; and
has received the name Hurynome.

New Comets. — Six comets, which are believed to have not before
been recognized, have been discovered during the past year. None of
them, however, exhibited features of special interest. On the 21st of
November, 1863, a comet was discovered with the naked eye by D.
M. Covey, of Southville, N. Y., whose elements so closely correspond
with the comet of 1810 that there can be but very little doubt of the
identity of the two. Whether this is the first return to the perihelion
since 1810, or whether it has returned several times unperceived,
must be decided by subsequent observations.

Intra-Mercurial Planet.—In the Monthly Notices of the Royal As-
tronomical Society, Mr. Carrington has printed a letter from Dr. Von
Littrow, of which we give a portion. The latter says that in the
Vienna Times of April 27, 1820, he finds the statement, probably com-
municated by his father, that ‘“ M. Steinheibel, who, for the last four
years has daily observed the sun, and recorded his spots and facule
with care in a diary, on February 12, 1820, at 10h. 45m. in the morn-
ing, observed a spot which was distinguished from all the rest by its
well-defined circular form, by its equally circular atmosphere, by its
orange-red color, and especially by its unusual motion, completing the
diameter of the sun in nearly five hours.” This note is very interest-
ing as confirmatory of M. Lescarbault’s discovery of Vulcan in 1859,
which, however, has never been seen again.

MORE COMPANIONS OF SIRIUS:—PLANETARY SYSTEMS AMONG
THE STARS.

The assertion so frequently made and so generally accepted that
our sun is one of the fixed stars, is of course incapable of demonstration.
Its probability seems to rest chiefly upon two arguments, — that the
light of the stars is evidently of the same intrinsic and self-developed

316

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 317

character with that of the sun, and thatthe sun, if viewed at a distance
equal to that of the stars, would undoubtedly appear no otherwise than
as one of them; and since no more direct proof can be obtained, we
are willing to receive these as sufficient. But this point once ad-
mitted, itis evidently consistent with all analogy to proceed a step
_ further, and to suppose that these other suns, or at least the msulated

ones, may be, as our own, the centres of light and heat and gravity,
and electrical and chemical influences to groups of surrounding worlds.
The idea is a magnificent one, and in full accordance with every other
declaration of the glory of God in the heavens, and it would be no
matter of surprise at any time if observation were to give us direct
evidence of its truth. Nor would it necessarily follow that the highest
class of instruments would be required for the detection of these plane-
tary systems, though so wonderfully remote in the depths of space.
Analogy may point the way in many cases where it ought not to in-
terpose a check, and the diminutive size of our planets 1n comparison
with their ruler affords no adequate inference that in other systems a
very different arrangement may not obtain. And _ thus, although
planets no larger than our own might ever remain invisible at the
distance of the fixed stars, it is not merely possible, but may be even
probable, that bodies of a similar nature may be connected with other
suns, of suflicient magnitude to be visible with our instruments, es-
pecially in their modern state of improvement. The idea was thrown
out by Sir J. Herschel, many years ago, that certain very minute
points, closely associated with larger stars, may be visible by reflected
or planetary light ; and he specified among others, ¢ Urs Majoris, y
Hydre, « Geminorum, and the comites of @ Cancri and @ Capricor-
ni; but it does not appear that these suspicions have been verified, or
that the matter has been subsequently investigated, notwithstanding
its obvious interest and importance.

The subject, however, has been brought afresh before us by M.
Goldschmidt’s recent assertion that with an object-glass of little more
than four inches aperture, he has not merely perceived Alvan Clark’s
companion of Sirius, which has hitherto been supposed to be reserved
for the largest and most perfect instruments, but has detected five ad-
ditional companions of the same character, at somewhat greater dis-
tances, varying from 15’ to 1’; and, in announcing this discovery, he
suggests an inquiry as to whether the object discovered by A. Clark
may shine by native or reflected light, which may of course be ex-
tended to the rest. It seems remarkable that the colossal telescopes
of Clark, Bond, Lassell, and Chacornac, in which the nearest of these
allesed attendants has been perceived, should have given no indication,
as far as has hitherto been stated, of the other five; but M. Gold-
schmidt is so distinguished as an observer, that not a shadow of a sus-
picion can be attached either to his eye or his judgment. It is, how-
ever, possible that some source of deception may exist in his instru-
ment, such as appears to have given rise to the supposed satellite of
Venus in the last century. We shall soon, at any rate, know more
about it. Should the existence of these minute points be established,
the most natural supposition, of course, will be, that Sirius is acciden-
tally projected on a background of small stars at an incaleulably
greater distance ; and this idea would not be negatived by any appar-

27*

318 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ent general displacement, which would be referred to the proper mo-
tion of the large star. Should, however, any mutual change of posi-
tion be detected among the comites, a wide field would be opened for
research among the fortunate possessors of competent telescopes. The
question of native or reflected light would, of course, be a difficult one
to deal with, —its solution would, in fact, be impossible in the case of
orbits highly inclined to our line of vision; but if bodies exist whose
revolutions carry them from side to side, or nearly so, with respect to
the central luminary, any periodical variation of light connected with
their positions in their orbits would, as indicating the existence of pha-
ses resulting from reflection, give sufficient evidence of their plane-
tary nature.

Since the announcement of M. Goldschmidt, referred to above, M.
Secchi, of Rome, states that he has succeeded in seeing the satellite of
Sirius, with several contiguous luminous points; but in reference to
these last, he asks, ‘“ Are they realities or illusions?” One he no-
ticed at 5’ distance, and about 180° angle of position. He says he
mentions these observations to show the goodness of the telescope ; but
M. Goldschmidt’s observations show that a much smaller instrument
will suffice when the air is favorable.

On the Observed Motions of the Companion of Sirius. — Mr. T. H.
Safford, of the Cambridge Observatory, has recently published the re-
sults of an inquiry into the observed motions of the companion of Sirius,
with a view of ascertaining whether it is in reality the disturbing body
which theory requires should exist. ‘That the companion of Sirius,”
says Mr. Safford, “ may produce the disturbances recognized, the faint
object barely visible in the largest class of telescopes must have a mass
nearly two-thirds that of Sirius itself. It is difficult to believe this ;
but as the evidence of this year (1863) shows, we may be compelled
to do so.”

“There are three hypotheses logically possible with respect to the
new star. It may be either unconnected with the system of Sirius, or,
secondly, a satellite, but not the disturbing body, or, thirdly, the dis- ”
turbing body itself” Opposed to the first hypothesis is the improba-
ble supposition, “that the small star can partake in the great proper
motion of Sirius without being physically connected with it ;” and if we
adopt the second hypothesis, the disturbing body, judging from the
feeble light of the companion recognized, must have less light, or be
absolutely invisible. ‘ Jt is, therefore,” concludes Mr. Safford, “ highly
probable that the disturbing body has been actually found; and that what
was predicted by theory has been confirmed by sight. The importance
of continued observations on Sirius cannot be too highly felt. The
companion must be measured the coming year, and for several years;
while Sirius itself should be reobserved with meridian instruments.”

VARIABILITY OF NEBULZ,

In the Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1863, pp. 817-18, an account
was given of the discovery of the disappearance of a nebula in the con-
stellation Taurus, toward the close of October, 1861. During the past
year the announcement is made that the nebula in question has reap-
peared, without change of place, but materially fainter than when first
observed. In addition to this interesting statement, another still more
remarkable has also been recently brought out.

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 319

Mr. Eyre B. Payell, an astronomer, resident at Madras, to whom
we owe many valuable observations of double stars, and computations
of their orbits, states that while engaged in making a series of micro-
scopical measures of the stars, in the great nebula surrounding the re-
markably variable star 7 Argus (the largest and finest nebula in the
southern hemisphere), he was led to notice a most extraordinary
change in its configuration. Close adjoining to the bright star Eta (7)
is a very singular oval vacuity, quite devoid of nebula, of a shape
somewhat resembling the figure 8, only with its two compartments
communicating ; and having its longer axis nearly in a meridian.
According to the elaborate delineation made by Sir John Herschel,
during his residence at the Cape of Good Hope, of which an engray-
ing is published in the “ Results” of his Cape observations, both ends
of this oval were then (1835-1838) completely closed, the southern
especially, being bounded by a strongly-marked and definite outline, as
if cut out of paper. At present, this oval, we are informed by Mr.
Powell, is decidedly open at the south end. The phenomenon, thus
stated, is perhaps the most startling thing which has yet occurred in
sidereal astronomy, and coupled with the capricious variability of Ar-
gus itself, is calculated to open a field for the wildest speculation.

PARALLAX OF MINUTE STARS.

It was long and naturally supposed that the most conspicuous fixed
stars were also the nearest, and that their brightness was, at least in a
general sense, dependent upon their situation with respect to our-
selves. It is now capable of demonstration that this is a fallacy.
As far back as the year 1826, Sir John Herschel stated that there
were “ plausible grounds for a belief that, in situations remote from the
Milky Way, minuteness, on the average, is not the effect of distance;”
and this belief may now be said to have ripened into confidence. It
may still be doubtful whether such an assertion may be applicable to
the average of stars in any portion of the heavens; but it is no longer
a question whether, in many instances, it may not be capable of direct
proof. A fair presumption would arise from the admitted fact, that
the proper motions by which many of the stars are steadily changing
their positions are by no means always the largest in the brightest in-
dividuals; still, this presumption would not amount to actual demon-
stration. This could only be attained in one of two ways: — either by
showing that great differences of magnitude exist between the compo-
nents of binary systems, or by the most direct mode of all— that of
the detection of an annual parallax; in other words, an apparent
change in the star’s place resulting from an actual change in the posi-
tion of the observer’s eye, as our annual orbit carries us round the sun.
It has been for some time known that the parallaxes of several of the
brightest stars are, if not absolutely insensible, as Peters found with
regard to « Cygni, and as Airy has suspected in the case of a Lyre,
yet much smaller than that of 61 Cygni, a star of only the 6th maeni-
tude, which, according to Sir W. Herschel’s estimate, wouid have been
about twelve times more distant ; but it has been reserved to the pres-
ent day to carry onward this demonstration to a much greater extent
by applying it to stars of a far inferior order. This interesting result
has Las obtained by means of the excellent heliometer at Bonn, in

320 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the hands of M. Kriiger. A star of the 8.9 mag.,No. 21,258 of La-
lande’s Catalogue, and another of the 9. mag., No. 17,415-6 in the Cata-
logue of Oeltzen, had been pointed out by Argelander as remarkable
from their large amount of proper motion, in the latter case amounting
to 1.2 annually. Thirty-six comparisons of the former with two other
suitably placed stars yielded an amount of parallax = 0.260, with a
probable error of 0.020. The latter star, from a mean of forty-five
similar comparisons, showed a parallax = 0.247, with a probable error
of 0.021. This, if confirmed by future measures, would bring these
inconspicuous objects actually nearer to us than Polaris, Arcturus, or
even the magnificent Sirius himself, and must suggest very remarkable
speculations as to the probable structure of the Universe. — London
Intellectual Observer.

VISIBILITY OF STARS IN THE PLEIADES.

In a late number of the Notices of the Royal Astronomical. Society
the Astronomer Royal, Mr. G. Airy writes as follows:—To the
greater number of star-gazers, with what are commonly called good
eyes, I believe that Ovid’s remark as to the visible number of Pleiades
still applies : —‘ Que septem dici, sex tamen esse solent’ (which are
wont to be called seven, yet are but six.) I find, however, that one
of my family habitually sees seven, and on rarer occasions twelve.” On
the clear evening of Feb. 15th, 1863, a map of the visible stars was
drawn from ocular view, and, on comparing it with a map drawn from
Bessel’s measures, Mr. Airy had no difficulty in identifying the stars
with six numbered by Bessel.

THE PHENOMENA OF COMETS.

The great difficulty which confronts us in every attempt to investi-
gate the nature of comets is the absence of all satisfactory analogy.
No one can have watched an opposition of Mars without being con-
vinced of a general similarity between the constitution of that globe
and our own; and even in Jupiter and Saturn, though belonging to
another planetary type, the evident and complete control of gravity,
the provision for day and night, and the existence of an atmosphere of
varying transparency and constant mobility, form points of contact, so
to speak, of considerable significance. But in the case of comets, with
the sole exception of the influence of gravity over the denser portions
of the mss, analogy breaks down altogether, and direct observation
has hitherto, for the most part, brought out nothing more than a series
of marvellous and unaccountable facts, maintaining obstinately the se-
cret of the law, which no doubt unites them into a harmonious and
beautiful whole. We have not as yet any adequate information as to
the composition of the nucleus; whether, even in the most brilliant
comets, it ever attains a state of actual solidity, or whether all may not
be as unsubstantial as one of our own clouds, which, at an equal dis-
tance and under suitable illumination, would no doubt reflect a very
vivid light ; in fact, as to the real nature of the material of comets, be-
yond that extraordinary attenuation of mass which makes their attrac-
tion imperceptible, even in their closest known appulses to other bod-
les, we have not a single idea. That they are ponderable is certain,
or they would not obey the attraction of the sun; but when we would

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. $21

trace their effect upon the balance of our system, we entirely fail. It
appears from the experiments of Secchi upon the late comet with the
polariscope, that the light of the nucleus and the brighter part of the
‘“aiorettes” or jets, was never polarized, excepting very feebly on the
last day of possible observation, while that of the surrounding nebulos-
ity was strongly so, and the extremities of the jets exhibited an inter-
mediate condition. But even this very interesting result, confirmed
to a great extent by that of the great comet of 1861, in which the same
observer found the polarization of the light of the tail and the rays
near the nucleus very powerful, but no trace of it in the nucleus till
July 3 and the following days, when it was strongly indicated, gives
no distinct intimation as to the nature of the light. Secchi thinks that
the condition of the nucleus may have resembled that of terrestrial
clouds, which have no polarizing effect, while the coma and tail may
have been in a gaseous state ; but it is obvious on how slight a founda-
tion such a conjecture as to a totally unknown material is raised ; and
though this great and justly celebrated observer says that if we con-
tinue to make as much progress with future comets as we have done
with the last three conspicuous ones, our knowledge of their nature
will be speedily complete, one cannot help thinking that “the wish was
father to the thought.” In fact, there would be no greater difficulty
in maintaining the converse proposition, that we shall never obtain
any satisfactory idea as to their composition, unless we should get actu-
ally involved in their extent. There was, indeed, reason to suppose
that the edge of the tail swept over us in 1861, but from the imper-
ceptible passage of those very attenuated streams it would be hazar-
dous to infer the results of immediate contact with a glowing nucleus.
Up to the present time, the simple question cannot be considered to
be decided, whether comets shine by native or reflected light, or by a
combination of both; even forms which have been considered to be of
constant occurrence, such as the curvature of the tail backwards from
the direction of its motion, and the superior density and distinctness of
its convex edge, have been shown by the recent comet to be less uni-
versal than had been supposed. Few, indeed, are the points which we
can consider adequately established. From the fixity, or limited
movement of the jets issuing from it, it may be considered certain that
the nucleus does not revolve; a rotatory motion of the whole tail
round its axis has indeed been suspected, from the reciprocating form
of its branches in 1769, 1811, and 1825, and thought not impossible by
Secchi in 1860; but even should this be admitted in some instances, in
others it would be quite incompatible with observation.

It is evident that the whole mass is vehemently acted upon by some
influence emanating from the sun, the continuation and accumulation
of which, after the perihelion passage, seems to point to a calorific
rather than a more instantaneous electric or magnetic action; and it
would appear as though the nucleus — even if translucent to light, and
reflecting it alike, as Sir J. Herschel suggests, from its interior part and
from its surface, and therefore having no shadow or dark side — were
not equally permeable by that solar influence, whatever it may be;
since the formation of fans and envelopes takes place only on the side
exposed to the sun, while the opposite side is comparatively undisturbed,
and as it were in a sheltered state. An intermittent or discontinuous

$22, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

a of development is frequently conspicuous, even when no regu-
ar period can be established; this was made very evident in the succes-
sion of envelopes raised from the nucleus of Donati’s comet, as de-
scribed by several observers, and more especially by Bond; it was
again manifest in the marvellous alternations of brightness exhibited by
Comet III. 1860; and reappeared strikingly in the aspect of the brill-
iant comet of the fall of 1862. As remote as most of these phenom-
ena are from all our terrestrial analogies, a still wider deviation is to
be found in the tendency of cometary matter to repulsion, expansion,
and ultimate dispersion. In the formation of the jets and envelopes,
in the emission of the tail, in its irreclaimable projection to uncontrolled
distances, and in the actual disruption of the main mass, — to which
there seemed a slight tendency in “the Donati,” more in III. 1860,
still more in I. 1860, and of which Biela’s comet, in 1846, appeared to.
ofier a perfect example, — we see indications of a process very foreign
to our own experience, but remarkably characteristic of cometary mat-
ter. This brief and imperfect enumeration of some of the points, which
we may look upon as “ vantage ground” in such inquiries, may be use-
ful in assisting amateurs to prepare for the next opportunity of further
research, which, though it may be expected to confirm some of these
deductions, may probably at the same time surprise us with unforeseen
anomalies ; for it is an interesting fact that as there is a broad family
likeness, so to speak, among the whole class, so each individual (of any
considerable magnitude) is apt to be distinguished by such peculiarities
as imply most curious variations in composition ; even in the same indi- |
vidual, diversities of color, or want of symmetry in form, give rise to
the idea of a combination of various materials, all, to us, equally un-
known. What can more strongly impress upon our minds the extent
of our own ignorance, or the vastness and complexity of the work of
the great Creator ! — Intellectual Inquirer.

PROGRESS IN OBSERVING SOLAR PHENOMENA.

At the recent meeting of the British Association, Prof Phillips de-
scribed a most ingenious invention of the English optician, Cooke, by
which he has succeeded in separating the heat of the solar rays from
the luminous portion before their arrival at the focus. The eye-piece
constructed by him has a prisny of 45° and a right angle, with one of
its faces presented to receive the light after leaving the object-glass;
the luminous rays are then received on the back of the prism at a
larger angle than that of total reflection, so that fully ninety-five per
cent. of them are reflected and pass on to the eye-piece ; but the heat-
ing rays, from their having a smaller refractive index, are for the most
part permitted to pass out at the back of the prism and are not reflect-
ed to the eye-piece, so that at least ninety-five per cent. of them are
thus got rid of. By this simple contrivance the utmost comfort is se-
cured to the observer engaged in examining the sun.

Dr. Lee, in remarking upon the increased facility which the above
and other inventions have. afforded to astronomers for investigating
solar phenomena and their effects, said, “ That théir origin as yet re-
mains unfathomable, like the question, Whence ,come the perpetual
beams of light and heat of the orb itself? Yet these particulars, the
theme of endless plausible cogitations and ingenious suggestions with-

. ‘ ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 323

out proof, though still among the unrevealed mysteries of nature, may
finally submit to unremitting researches. For instance, the solar spots
can now be safely pronounced to be no longer an object of idle curiosity,
like the casual clouds of our atmosphere. The few land-marks hitherto
recorded begin to indicate a regular progress of position in them, with
periodical maxima and minima in their amount. Thus, in the years *
1845-46, the groups of solar spots extended to about 40° north of the
equator, and to 30° south of it, leaving a central blank band from 8°
north to 5° south. This state of arrangement is now recurring, with
the exception that the preponderance is at present on the south side of
the equator. In 1853 and 1854, the spots were distributed from 20°
north to about 20° south, decreasing in number till early in the year
1856, when there was a decided minimum, and the equatorial region
remained clear; but spots appeared in both hemispheres from 20° to
40°. Their parallels are already again contracting. So much for their
position, and now for their motion. Their daily drift in longitude re-
veals a general equatorial current 30° in breadth, in the direction of
the rotation, and a reverse current of nearly the same breadth is per-
ceptible beyond it, in each hemisphere. The observations of Gen.
Sabine have also established a correspondence between solar and ter-
restrial magnetic disturbances extending through a decennial period,
and also another connected with the earth’s orbit. M. Dawes has also
noticed the rotation of a remarkable spot on the sun’s disc, to an extent
of an are of 100° in six days.
Distribution of Heat on the Sun’s surface, and the Currents in his at-
mosphere. — Secchi, of Rome, has ascertained that the sun’s equator
is sensibly hotter than its poles. That this should be the case, follows
from the meteoric theory of solar heat. The asteroids which revolve
round the sun and are supposed to fall into its atmosphere as meteors,
srobably occupy, like the entire solar system, a lenticular space having
its greatest diameter nearly coincident with the sun’s equator, and if
so, a greater number of meteors must fall on the equatorial than on the
polar regions of the sun, making the former the hottest. The meteoric
theory will also account for the currents in the sun’s atmosphere ob-
served by Mr. Carrington. He finds that the spots in the lowest lati-
tudes drift most rapidly from W. to E. Were the sun’s atmosphere,
like the earth’s, acted on by no other motive power than the one equal
heating of different latitudes, the relative direction of the currents
would be the reverse of this, in virtue of the well-known principles of
the trade-winds and “ counter-trades,”’ and this would be true at all
depths in the sun’s atmosphere. But if meteors are constantly falling
into the sun’s atmosphere, moving from west to east with a velocity
scarcely less than that of a planet at the sun’s surface, and in greatest
number in its equatorial regions, there is a motive power which is ade-
quate to drive its atmosphere round it from west to east, and with
greatest velocity at the equator. The intensely bright meteor-like
bodies which Mr. Carrington and another observer simultaneously saw
traverse the sun’s disc, moved from west to east, and they were almost
certainly asteroids falling into the sun.
Daily Photographs of the Sun’s Disk.— At the Kew Observatory,
England, two photographs of the sun’s disk are taken daily (atmospheric
conditions permitting), one to the east and the other to the west of the

324 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. ~ id

meridian. Four positive copies are made regularly from each nega-
tive, one of which it is proposed to retain at Kew, and it is in contem-
plation to distribute the others.

Resumé of recent investigations respecting the Sun. — Sir W. Arm-
strong, in his address as President of the British Association for 1863,
‘ thus reviews some of the most interesting of recent discoveries and
speculations respecting the sun : —

“ The spectrum researches of Bunsen and Kirchoff have enabled us
not only to test the materials of which the sun is made, and to prove
their identity, in part at least, with those of our planet, but they have
corroborated previous conjectures as to the luminous envelope of the
sun. I would here also advert to Mr. Nasmyth’s remarkable discovery,
that the bright surface of the sun is composed of an aggregation of ap-
parently solid forms, shaped like willow-leaves or some well-known
forms of Diatomacez, and interlacing one another in every direction.
The forms are so regular in size and shape, as to have led to a sugges-
tion from one of our profoundest philosophers of their being organisms,
possibly even partaking of the nature of life, but at all events closely
connected with the heating and vivifying influences of the sun. These
mysterious objects, which, since Mr. Nasmyth discovered them, have
been seen by other observers as well, are computed to be each not less
than 1000 miles in length and about 100 miles in breadth. The enor-
mous chasms in the sun’s photosphere, to which we apply the diminu-
tive term “spots,” exhibit the extremities of these leaf-like bodies
pointing inwards, and fringing the sides of the cavern far down into the
abyss. Sometimes they form a sort of rope or bridge across the chasm,
and appear to adhere to one another by lateral attraction. I can im-
agine nothing more deserving of the scrutiny of observers than these
extraordinary forms. The sympathy, also, which appears to exist be-
tween forces operating in the sun and magnetic forces belonging to
the earth, merits a continuance of that close attention which it has al-
ready received from the British Association. JI may here notice that
most remarkable phenomenon which was seen by independent observers
at two different places on the 1st of September, 1859. A sudden out-
burst of light, far exceeding the brightness of the sun’s surface, was
seen to take place, and sweep like a drifting cloud over a portion of
the solar face. This was attended with magnetic disturbances of
unusual intensity and with exhibitions of aurora of extraordinary brill-
iancy. ‘The identical instant at which the effusion of light was ob-
served was recorded by an abrupt and strongly-marked deflection in
the self-registering instruments at Kew. The phenomenon as seen
was probably only part of what actually took place, for the magnetic
storm in the midst of which it occurred commenced before and con-
tinued after the event. If conjecture be allowablé in such a case, we
may suppose that this remarkable event had some connection with the
means by which the sun’s heat is renovated: It is a reasonable sup-
position that the sun was at that time in the act of receiving a more
than usual accession of new energy ; and the theory which assigns the
maintenance of its power to cosmical matter plunging into it with that
prodigious velocity which gravitation would impress upon it as it ap-
proached to actual contact with the solar orb, would afford an expla-
nation of this sudden exhibition of intensified light in harmony with the

. ‘

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 825

knowledge we have now attained that arrested motion is represented
by equivalent heat. Telescopic observations will probably add new
facts to guide our judgment on this subject, and, taken in connection
with observations on terrestrial magnetism, may enlarge and correct
our views respecting the nature of heat, light and electricity. Much
as we have yet to learn respecting these agencies, we know sufficient
to infer that they cannot be transmitted from the sun to the earth ex-
cept by communication from particle to particle of intervening matter.
Not that I speak of particles in the sense of the atomist. Whatever -
our views may be of the nature of particles, we must conceive them as
centres invested with surrounding forces. We have no evidence,
either from our senses or otherwise, of these centres being occupied by
solid cores of indivisible incompressible matter essentially distinct from
force. Dr. Young has shown that even in so dense a body as water,
these nuclei, if they exist at all, must be so small in relation to the in-
tervening spaces, that a hundred men distributed at equal distances
over the whole surface of England would represent their relative mag-
nitude and distance. What then must be these relative dimensions in
highly rarefied matter? But why encumber our conceptions of ma-
terial forces by this unnecessary imagining of a central molecule? If
we retain the forces and reject the molecule, we shall still have every
property we can recognize in matter by the use of our senses or by the
aid of our reason. Viewed in this light, matter is not merely a thing
subject to force, but is itself composed and constituted of force.”
Connection between Sun-spots and Planetary Configurations. — At
the British Association, 1863, Mr. B. Stewart stated, that in the course
of some recent investigations, as to whether there was any determinable
connection between sun-spots and planetary configurations, he was led
to observe the changes with regard to size which take place in sun-
spots, from a remark by Mr. Beckley, of Kew Observatory, that, dur-
ing a certain period, he did not observe any spots break out on the
visible disk of our luminary. Besides about six months’ records of these
phenomena, made by means of the Kew photoheliograph at the Kew
Observatory, the author has had the opportunity of investigating a
year’s records made by the same instrument at Mr. De La Rue’s private
Observatory at Cranford. All of these are collodion negatives, and,
besides embracing a few months in the end of 1859, they give an al-
most continuous record of the state of the sun’s disk between February,
1862, and the present date. There is little difficulty in finding from
these, by means of a comparison of two or three consecutive pictures,
approximately, at what portion of the sun’s disk any spot ceases to in-
crease and begins to wane, or, on the other hand, breaks out into a
visible appearance. Now it appears to be a law nearly universal, that
if we divide the disk of the sun roughly into longitude by vertical di-
ameters, and if there be a number of spots on the surface of the sun,
these will all behave in the same manner as they cross the same longi-
tude ; that is to say, if one spot decreases, another will decrease also,
and soon. ‘This law can, of course, be only approximately ascertained
by means of a preliminary examination of this nature ; but the impres-
sion produced upon the author is very strong, that if one spot decreases
before coming to the central line, another does the same; if, on the
other hand, one spot breaks out on the right half and increases up to
28

826 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the border, another will do the same. The author thinks, moreover,
that he has noticed a connection between this behavior of sun-spots
and the configuration of the nearer planets, Mercury and Venus, and
it would seem to be of this nature: Remembering that all motions are
from left to right, let us suppose that Mercury and Venus are both in
a line considerably to the left of the Earth; then spots will decrease as
they come round from the left-hand side, and before they reach the
centre of the disk. On the other hand, if these two planets are con-
siderably to the right of the Earth, there will be a tendency for spots
to form on the right half of the disk, and to increase up to the border.
The author would, however, guard himself against the supposition that
fs attributes all the phenomena of spots to the agency of these two
planets.

RESEARCHES ON THE PLANET MARS.

Mars, though not absolutely the nearest of our planetary neighbors,
is certainly —of course, excluding the Moon, which is in many re-
spects a world far more different in physical condition from the Earth
than the proper planets— more within our range of observation than
any other attendant of the sun. Venus, the next of the planets to the
Earth going sunwards, is often nearer to the Earth than Mars, whose
orbit envelops our own, can ever be; but the difliculty of observing
a planet which is so bright that all the imperfections of our instruments
are exaggerated, and which, when at its nearest point to us, must usually
be observed at a low altitude, are so great, that we know less about
Venus than about almost any other of the planets except Mercury.
Mars, which can be observed, and has quite recently been closely ob-
served by Mr. Lockyer, of England, within the very moderate distance
of about fifty millions of miles, is at present the only planet into the
secrets of whose physical, as distinguished from purely mechanical,
structure we can at present hope to peep. We know all about it that
we know of any other planet, and a good deal more as well. We
know that the day and night of all the four planets, Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars, are nearly of equal length, and considerably more
than double the days and nights of the more distant and more elabo-
rately moonlit (or ringlit) planets. We know that they are, all four,
much heavier, bulk for bulk, than the bigger planets, the little Mer-
cury being much the heaviest in material of the four; we know that
they all have atmospheres of greater or less density; and we know
very, little more about any of them except Mars. But of Mars the ob-
servations of Messrs. Beer and Madler, in 1830, 1837, and 1841, had
already given us a good deal of fresh knowledge, which Mr. Lockyer’s
drawings, from observations made during the autumn of 1862, have
partly confirmed and partly supplemented. A recent astronomer has
asserted that “ water would not remain fluid even at the Martial equa-
tor, and alcohol would freeze at the temperate zones.” Probably no
assertion was ever less well grounded. The calculation is made on the
principle that Mars is so much farther from the sun that the intensity
of his rays is there only four-ninths of their intensity here. That is
true. But then so much more depends on the collecting effect of a
thick atmosphere than on the mere intensity of the sun’s rays, that
water will freeze on Mont Blanc, where the mere rays are certainly

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. Say

much intenser, while it is summer heat in the valleys below. Accord-
ingly, if the Martial atmosphere be only slightly denser than our own,
the diminution in intensity would be in great measure compensated.
So much for @ priori reasoning. Now what is the fact? The polar
snows of Mars can be distinctly seen. A white spot of excessive brill-
iancy at the pole, which diminishes as the summer draws on, and en-
larges again with winter, has been observed by many astronomers in
Mars. How is this compatible with water’s freezing at its equator and
alcohol at its temperate zone? Mr. Lockyer watched the south pole
of Mars throughout last autumn. Early in August, the southern hem-
isphere of Mars would be entering on the season which corresponds
with us to our May. In about a month’s time, between August and
September, he saw the white spot at the southern pole of Mars dwindle
from about twenty degrees to ten degrees. In other words, the snow
melted — for that this phenomenon is caused by the melting of the
snow is scarcely doubted —from about eighty degrees south latitude
up to ninety degrees south latitude, as the summer heat came on. The
white spot was stationary, if not beginning to extend again before the
observations ceased, nearly three months after the polar snow had be-
gun to dwindle. This is a very remarkable confirmation and even ex-
tension of Beer and Madler’s observations. ‘They noted the decrease,
but no decrease so rapid as that observed by Mr. Lockyer.

Mr. Lockyer’s observations are also very interesting on the forms of
what we may fairly call the oceans and inland seas of the southern
hemisphere and equatorial regions of Mars. The observations are so
clearly defined, and agree so well in general outline with all that have
been made for the last thirty years that it is at least quite certain
that they are permanent features of the planet, and not merely bands
of clouds. Itis assumed that the permanent dark surfaces — many
of which, of exceedingly remarkable shapes, have now been verified
again and again by successive observers—represent either seas, or
permanent rifts and chasms in the planet,—seas, of course, being
much the more likely,— while the brighter regions indicate the more
perfect reflection of light from the surface of continents or land, —
the permanently dazzling spots being confined to the polar snows. If
this be so, we can assert that several very remarkable seas— including
inland seas, some of them connected and some not connected by straits
with still larger seas — are now defined in the southern hemisphere, in
which (as is the case also with the Earth) water seems to be much
more widely spread than in the northern hemisphere. There is, for
example, a southern sea exceedingly like our Baltic in shape. And
there is another and still more remarkable sea, now defined by the ob-
servations of many successive observers, near the equator,— a long strag-
gling arm, twisting almost in the shape of an S laid on its back from
east to west, which is at least a thousand miles in length and a hun-
dred in breadth, as if a channel as wide as that between England and
Treland existed in equatorial Africa, and ran inland for a thousand
miles or more. The masses of land in Mars appear to be less unbroken
in the northern hemisphere; but it is long since we have had any
good opportunity of observing the northern hemisphere of Mars, as its
year is so nearly equivalent to two earthly years that it continually
returns into proximity with the Earth, with the same southern pole

328 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

toward us. The improved instruments of the last generation have
therefore been employed as yet successfully only on the southern
hemisphere.

There is every reason, then, to think that human life on Mars might
be very much like human life on the Earth. The light cannot be so
bright, but the organs of sight may be so much more susceptible as to
make the vision quite as good. The heat is probably less, as the polar
snows certainly extend further ;- but by no means less in proportion to
the lessened power of the solar rays. The density of the rocks and
geological strata is very nearly the same, and the peculiar red color of
the planet has sometimes been ascribed to a preponderance of red
sandstone.

Additional Observations on Mars.— An account of some recent
carefully conducted observations on Mars have also been laid before
the Royal Society, by Professor J. Phillips, of Oxford. He states that
the position of the planet in the autumn of 1862 was so favorable
“that the entire circle of snow around the South Pole could be dis-
tinctly seen, and with such a well-defined edge as to have led to the
conclusion that it terminates in a cliff. The equatorial region is occu-
pied by a broad greenish belt fringed with deep bays and inlets, which
may perhaps be water. In one place it is relieved by an island which
exhibits the same ruddy color as the hemispheres on each side of the
central belt.

During the past year, Mr. Nasmyth, of England, has also announced
that his observations on Mars tend to confirm the existence of an
island in the supposed sea of that planet.

RESEARCHES ON THE MOON.

During the last few years the surface of the Moon has been mapped
and measured by several observers, and its features laid down with as
much exactness as if the subject of delineation was some mountainous
region of our own planet. The moon’s surface presents a wondrous
scene of lofty isolated heights, craters of enormous volcanoes, ramparts,
and broad plains that look like the beds of former seas, and present a
remarkable contrast to the rugged character of the rest of the surface.
That what we look upon are really mountains and mountainous ranges
is sufficiently evident from the fact that the shadows they cast have
the exact proportion as to length which they ought to have from the
inclination of the sun’s rays to their position on the moon’s surface.

The convex outline of the moon, as turned toward the sun, is always
circular, and nearly smooth ; but the opposite border of the enlightened
part, instead of being an exact and sharply defined ellipse, is always
observed to be extremely rugged, and indented with deep recesses
and prominent points. The mcuntains near the border cast long black
shadows, as they should evidently do, inasmuch as the sun is rising or
setting to those parts of the moon. But as the enlightened edge grad-
ually advances beyond them, or, in other words, as the sun to them
gains altitude, their shadows shorten; and at the full moon, when all
the light falls in our line of sight, no shadows are seen. By micromet-
rical measurement of the length of the shadows, the heights of the
more conspicuous mountains can be calculated. Before the year 1850,
the heights of no fewer than one thousand and ninety-five lunar moun-

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 329

tains had been computed, and amongst them occur all degrees of alti-
tude up to nearly twenty-three thousand feet—a height exceeding,
by more than a thousand feet, that of Chimborazo in the Andes. It
is a remarkable circumstance that the range of lunar Apennines, as
they have been called, presents a long slope on one side, and precipices
on the other, as in the Himalaya Mountains. During the increase of
the moon, its mountains appear as small points or islands of light be-
yond the extreme edge of the enlightened part, those points being the
summits illuminated by the sunbeams before the intermediate plain ;
but gradually, as the light advances, they connect themselves with it,
_ and appear as prominences detached from the dark border.

The moon, unlike the earth, has many isolated mountains, that is to
say, mountains not connected with a group or chain, — the mountain
named Tycho, which has the appearance of a sugar-loaf, is an example
of this. The uniformity of aspect which the lunar mountains, for the
most part, present is a singular and striking feature. ‘They are won-
derfully numerous, especially toward the southern portion of the disk,
occupying quite the larger part of the moon’s surface, and are, as Sir
John Herschel remarks, almost universally of an exactly circular or
cup-shaped form, foreshortened, however, into ellipses towards the
limb. ‘The larger of these elevations have, for the most part, flat plains
within, from which a small steep conical hill rises centrally. They
offer, indeed, the very type of the true volcanic character, as it may
be seen in the crater of Vesuvius, and in a map of the volcanic dis-
tricts of the Campi Phlegrei or the Puy de Dome, but with the re-
markable peculiarity, that the bottom of the crater is in many instan-
ces very deeply depressed below the general surface of the moon, the
internal depth being often twice or three times the external height. It
has been computed that profound cavities, regarded as craters, occupy
two-fifths of the surface of the moon. One of the most remarkable of
these formations is fifty-five miles in diameter; and, to give some idea
of its magnitude, the late Professor Nichol used to say that, could a
visitor approach it, he would see rising before him a wall of rock twelve
hundred feet high; and on mounting this height, would look down a
declivity or slope of thirteen thousand feet, to a ledge or terrace, and
below this would see a lower deep of four thousand feet more ; a cav-
ity exceeding, therefore, the height of Mont Blanc, and large enough
to hold that mountain besides Chimborazo and Teneriffe. Again, the
lunar crater, called Saussure, is ten thousand feet in depth. These
astounding calculations are founded on the observation of the sun’s
licht falling on the edge, and illuminating the side of these gigantic
depths. The Dead Sea, the greatest known depression on the earth,
is thirteen hundred and forty feet below the level of the Mediterra-
nean.

Striz or lines of light, which appear like ridges, radiate from many
of these enormous craters, and might be taken for lava-currents, stream-
ing outwards as they do in all directions, like rays. The ridges that
stream from the mountain called Tycho seem to be formed of matter
that has greater power of reflecting light than the rock around it ; the
crater named Copernicus is equally distinguished by these rays. The
ridges, in some instances, cross like a wall both valleys and elevations,
and traverse the plains as well as the rocky slopes of the lunar moun-

28%

330 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tains; from which fact, and from the great distances they extend, it
would seem that they are not such lava-streams as have flowed, for ex-
ample, from Etna. It has been supposed that a force acting, as it were,
centrifugally or explosively, and therefore differently from the force to
which we attribute the upheaval of mountain-chains upon the earth,
has formed the lunar craters, and overspread the adjacent surface with
the ridges or rays in question.

In Professor Phillips’ recent contributions to a Report of the Physical
Aspect of the Moon, he notices another class of phenomena, — certain
remarkable rills in the mountains mapped as Aristarchus, Archimedes,
and Plato. The last exhibits a large crater; and a bold rock which
juts into the interior has been seen during the morning illumination
to glow in the sunshine like molten silver, casting a well-defined shadow
eastward. The object known as the Stag’s-horn Rill, east of the
mountain Thebit, appears to be what geologists call a fault or dyke,
one side being elevated above the other. Professor Phillips mentions
a group of parallel rills about Campanus and Hippalus, and he traces
a rill across and through the old crater of the latter mountain. All
the rills appear to be rifts or deep fissures resembling crevasses of a
glacier; they cast strong shadows from oblique light, and even acquire
brightness on one edge of the cavity. Their breadth appears to be
only a few hundred feet or yards. ‘The mountain Gassendi is remark-
able for rough terraces and ridges within the rings which form the
crater. In the interior area there are central elevations of rocky char-
acter, which are brought into view by the gradual change in the di-
rection of the incident solar rays as the lunar day advances. In Lord
Rosse’s magnificent reflecting telescope, the flat bottom of the crater,
called Albategnius, is seen to be strewed with blocks not visible in in-
ferior telescopes; while the exterior of another volcanic mountain
(Aristillus) is scored all over with deep gullies radiating towards its
centre.

The reader need not be reminded that our knowledge is limited to
one hemisphere or face of the moon, in consequence of the period of
its rotation upon its axis corresponding with the period of its revolu-
tion round the earth.

Depressions in the Moon’s Disk. — These have long been recognized.
Mr. Key, in a paper recently presented to the Royal Astronomical
Society (G. B.), records his observations of certain large depressions
in the western limit of our satellite, not of comparatively | gullies
- lying between elevated ranges, but of vast tracts, the general level of
which lies very considerably beneath the mean level of the moon’s sur-
face. On the 20th of September last, while observing with a twelve-
inch glass speculum the moon, then a few hours past her first quarter,
he was astounded at observing that the limb of the moon was entirely
out of shape; that it was in fact irregularly polygonal, as if several
large segments had been cut off the spherical limb. Since then other
astronomers had verified this observation. Rev. Mr. Webb, of the
Hardwick Observatory, had also measured these depressions with a
micrometer, and proved that they were actually flat.

Lunar Mountains. — At the last meeting of the British Association,
Professor Phillips gave a detailed account of his examination of the
moon’s surface through an equatorial with an object-glass of six inches.

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 331

He desired, he said, to call attention particularly to the variations in
the central masses of the lunar mountains, and their physical bearings.
Many smaller mountains are simply like cups set in saucers, while
others contain only one central or several dispersed cups. But in the
centre of many of the larger mountains, as Copernicus, Gassendi, and
Theophilus, is a large mass of broken rocky country, 5,000 or 6,000
feet high with buttresses passing off into collateral ridges, or an un-
dulated surface of low ridges and hollows. The most remarkable ob-
ject of this kind which the author has yet observed with attention is
in Theophilus, in which the central mass, seen under powers of from
200 to 300, appears as a large conical mass of rocks about fifteen miles
in diameter, and divided by deep chasms radiating from the centre.
The rock-masses between these deep clefts are bright and shining, the
clefts widen toward the centre, the eastern side is more diversified
than the western, and like the southern side has long excurrent but-
tresses. As the light grows on thgmountain, point after point of the
mass on the eastern side comes out of the shade, and the whole figure
resembles an uplifted mass which broke with radiating cracks in the
act of elevation. Excepting in steepness, this resembles the theoreti-
cal Mount d’Or of De Beaumont ; and as there is no mark of cups or
craters in this mass of broken ground, the author is disposed to regard
its origin as really due to the displacement of a solidified part of the
moon’s crust. On the whole, the author is confirmed in the opinion
he has elsewhere expressed, that on the moon’s face are features more
strongly marked than on our own globe, which, rightly studied, may
lead to a knowledge of volcanic action under grander and simpler con-
ditions than have*prevailed on the earth during the period of subaerial
voleanoes. Professor Hennessy inquired whether Professor Phillips
had met with any instances during his researches regarding the surface
of the moon where the fissures, instead of being narrow at the lower
part and growing wider toward the top, were on the contrary narrow
above and grew wider toward the lower part. Fissures of this latter
description were met with in Java, and indicated a formation arising
from external causes, as those described by Professor Phillips were man-
ifestly caused by internal disruptive forces. Professor Phillips replied,
that he had not met with any instances of fissures of the class spoken
of by Professor Hennessy. Any member of the Section who went to
see the process of extracting the silver from lead ore would have an
opportunity of witnessing, on a small scale, causes in operation pro-
ducing exactly similar effects to those observed on the surface of the
moon. After the process was completed, and the litharge all blown off
from the pure silver, the observer would be very apt to go away, hav-
ing seen all he could; but if he waited for a short time, as the mass
of pure silver cooled, be would soon see its surface torn up by explo-
sions from within, caused, as he (Professor Phillips) believed, by the
extrication of oxygen gas, producing elevations and fissures exactly re-
sembling those on the surface of the moon.

NEW BAROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Lately, a large barometer has been erected in the National Astro-
nomical Observatory of Santiago de Chili. By this instrument has
been observed a singular phenomenon, new to science. We know,

Soe ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

particularly through the observation of Humboldt, that the barometer
rises and falls during the day in a peculiar manner ; being at its max-
imym height at 10 a. M. and at 10 Pp. M., whilst the lowest readings
are between 4 p. mM. and 44a. M. The regularity of this periodical
movement within the tropics is such, during the year, that Humboldt
could tell the time within fifteen minutes. This movement has been
observed with much regularity in Santiago de Chili during the win-
ter and summer months ; but in the month of February the movement
entirely ceases, showing then only the extraordinary maximum and
minimum heights in the twenty-four hours.

Senor Mesta has tried to explain this occurrence, and has demon-
strated mathemetically that the oscillatory movement of the barometer
is produced by the sun’s power, analogous to that of gravitation, and
that the said movement ought to disappear in the month of February,
in consequence of the great variation of temperature during the course
of the day. Thus the interesting regult has been arrived at, that, by
virtue of the sun’s power, a movement is manifested in the atmosphere
analogous to the action of the tides; and it is this that causes the rise
and fall of the barometrical column in Santiago, about “ 1.3 of a mil-
limetre.” — Comercio de Lima, 8 January, 1863.

FORMATION OF HAIL.

M. Sanna-Solaro contests the idea that hail-stones are formed by
successive concretions. On the contrary, he affirms the congelation to
begin from without, and the so-called nucleus to be the result of pres-
sure. He says that when the external surface begins to freeze, the
air bubbles are driven toward the centre, and give fise to a pressure
under which the crust yields, “The shock determines the congelation
of a fresh layer, which is formed of two distinct parts, one deprived of
air and transparent, the other opaque, in consequence of its included
air-bubbles.” This phenomenon is reproduced at each successive con-
gelation, and if the hail-stones reach the ground before the congelation
is complete, their central portion may contain bubbles of air, water,
and crystals of ice. Pyramidal stones he ascribes to the action of vio-
lent congelation, which causes the contained fluid to split the crust.
He states that he has imitated hail-stones by freezing water in trans-
parent envelopes of caoutchouc. He likewise adduces reasons, to show
that hail-stones are formed instantaneously. Further details will be

found in Comptes Rendus, 27th April, 18638.

LIFE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

The following is an abstract of a paper on the above subject, present-
ed to the British Association, 1863, by Mr. J. Samuelson. No subject
in natural history except the allied one, the origin of species, had of
late excited greater interest in the scientific world than the origin of
the lowest types of living beings on the globe ; and although the prob-
Jem was far from being solved, yet, the investigations that had accom-
panied the discussion had already served the useful purpose of throw-
ing new light on the anatomy and life history of the mysterious little
forms of which it treated. It was rather with the latter object, than
in the expectation of being able to assist in the solution of the general
question, that he ventured to lay before’ the Association the results of

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 333
investigations recently made. He had, for example, taken rags im-
ported from various countries, and shaken the dust from them into dis-
tilled water, which he then exposed to the atmosphere ; and after de-
scribing generally the character of the living forms he had discovered
in this pure water, he stated in detail the forms of life found in each
kind of dust, and among these were some new species of Rhizopoda
and Infusoria, and an interesting ciliated, worm-shaped form, which he
believed to be a collection of the larvee of some other Infusoria. The
general result of the microscopical examination of these fluids was as
follows: Inthe dust of Egypt, Japan, Melbourne, and Trieste, life
was the most abundant, and the development of the different forms
was rapid. In conclusion, he observed that if he was correct in sup-
posing the germs of the living forms that he had described to be pres-
ent in the dust conveyed by the atmosphere, and in distilled water, it
was worthy of notice that these germs retain vitality for a leng period,
of which he could not pretend to define the limit. In his experiments
they outlived the heat of a tropical sun, and the dryness of a warm
room during the whole winter; but in Dr. Pouchet’s case they re-
tained their life 2,000 years, for he obtained his from the interior of the
pyramids of Egypt, and they survived an ordeal of 400° of heat.- A
main purpose which Mr. Samuelson had in view, was to disprove the
theory of spontaneous generation; and he suggested whether the
great rapidity with which these germs are multiplied, might not account
for the spread of epidemic diseases. He did not profess to have any
acquaintance with such diseases ; but might it hot be desirable to sub-
ject the atmosphere of hospitals to the microscopic test ?

Dust in the Atmosphere.— Professor J. Wyman, of Cambridge,
has recently published an account of some observations made by him,
on the different kinds of bodies found in the dust deposited from or
floating in the atmosphere. The dust was obtained either from the
floor of an unoccupied attic, or from plates of glass covered with glyce-
rine and exposed to currents of air. The organic matter detected by
the aid of the microscope consisted of various minute fragments of veg-
etable tissues, such as woody-tissue, spiral-ducts, hairs, pollen, ete. A
few starch granules, resembling those of wheat, and. giving the usual
reaction with iodine, were occasionally found. In the dust from an
attic over a frequently occupied college recitation-room, human cuti-
cle and epithelium scales from the mouth were detected. The lecture-
room and attic communicated freely ty a ventilator. There were
also found, less frequently, however, various spherical bodies ; some of
them spores of eryptogamous plants, and others resembling the eggs of
some of the smaller invertebrate animals. Professor Wyman was
unable to identify the bodies in question, except that in one instance
-he detected the spores of a confervoid plant. As these were found
before the conferva were beginning to be developed, it is probable
that they came from plants of the preceding year, and had been car-
ried about by the winds after the drying up of the stagnant pools, in
the latter part of summer or autumn. Some of the egg-like bodies ap-
peared to contain an embryo, which could not be referred’to any par-
ticular species. One of the spores detected was especially interesting
from its resemblance to pus and mucous corpuscules; so close was the
resemblance that one might be readily mistaken for the other. The

334 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

fact is important, when considered in connection with the recent at-
tempts made in Germany to establish the presence of pus in the at-
mosphere, and in this manner explain the transmission of certain forms
of disease. ‘The existence in the atmosphere of a large number of the
spores of eryptogamia, gives a probable explanation of the transmission
of certain of the alge and fungi, which infest the bodies of men and
animals.

In dust collected after a winter’s snow-storm on plates of glass covered
with glycerine, Professor Wyman detected, in addition to particles of
mineral dust, probably that of coal ashes and of soot, spores of crypto-
gams, starch granules, and pollen. Fragments of coniferous and other
woods were also found. The objects most unexpected at this season
of the year were the grains of pollen. It was suggested whether these
might have been derived from the trees, where they may have been
lodged in the crevices of the bark, or other irregularities of the surface,
and from time to time detached by the wind.

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES.

DISCOVERY OF THE SOURCE OF THE NILE,

The great geographical event of the year, and we may add with
propriety, of the century, has been the solution of that long-discussed
problem, the source of the Nile. The details of this discovery, in brief,
are substantially as follows. As early as 1852, Sir Roderick Murchison
suggested that, instead of the interior of Africa being a barren desert,
as men had been wont to consider it, it was probably an elevated basin
and well-watered; an hypothesis fully confirmed a few years later by
the researches of Livingstone and Burton. In 1858, Captains Burton
and Speke, while engaged in African exploration, discovered the head
of a great fresh-water lake, about 3° south of the equator and at an el-
evation of about 4000 feet above the sea-level. The name given by
the natives to this lake, was Nyanza, and its position and extent im-
pressed Captain Speke with the idea that it constituted the long-sought
for source of the river Nile. Prevented for the time, from verifying
his supposition, he returned to England, and under the patronage of
the London Geographical Society, organized, with a Captain Grant,
a new expedition, which had for its chief object the determination of
this specific question. This expedition reached Zanz-ibor in the fali of
1860, and left the east coast of Africa itself, on the 1st of October, at
a point about 7° south of the equator.

For twelve months they did not advance far, owing to the fierce in-
tertribal wars of the natives. On the lst of January, 1862, however,
they reached the capital of a kingdom called Karagwe, on the south-
west shore of the great Lake of Nyanza, discovered in 1858. The
king of this country assisted them much. Thence they proceeded through
the next kingdom of Uganda, which comprises the west and north
shores of the same lake. Here toil was forgotten in triumph ; for here
they achieved the main object of their journey and conclusively de-
termined that the principal source of the Nile was, as had been antici-
pated, the Lake Nyanza.

It appears that the part of Africa in which the Nile rises is a table-
land, gradually rising from the sea — to use Captain Speke’s illustration ©
—like an inverted dish (though of a very different shape), to a height
of near 4,000 feet above the sea-level. One hill reaches 5,148 feet,
and another 4,090, but the level, which is apparently of enormous ex-
tent, is between 3,000 and 4,000. The equator passes right through
this tract of country, and for five degrees of latitude on each side the
soil is extremely fertile, gradually decreasing in fertility as the distance
from the equator increases. The climate is healthy, and.the heat by
nomeans excessive. Captain Speke says — “ The general temperature
of the atmosphere is very pleasant, as I found from experience ; for I

335

336 _ ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

walked every inch of the journey dressed in thick woollen clothes, and
slept every night between blankets.” | About 1,000 miles west of the
Indian Ocean, and fifty miles south of the equator, and in thirty degrees
east longitude, lies a range of mountains, some of the peaks of which are
said to be 10,000 feet high. Their form is semicircular; and from
these mountains and the other high grounds the water drains east and
north — and, indeed, west and north from the other side of the table-
land — into three great lakes. One of these — around piece of water
about fifty miles by thirty — is said to lie in the semicircle formed by the
Mountains of the Moon. Some distance south of this hes a much
larger one, between three and four hundred miles long, and varying in
width from thirty to sixty miles. It is pear-shaped, the larger end be-
ing at the south, and the direction nearly due north and south. The
twentieth parallel of longitude runs along it for a considerable distance.
The third and most important of the three lakes is the Nyanza. Its
level is 3,740 feet above the sea, and its shape is very nearly that of
an equilateral triangle of which each side is about two hundred miles
in length. The lines are, of course, a little irregular; but if the north
side were represented by a straight line, that straight line would be
furnished by the equator. The best possible notion of the lake will be
obtained by taking two hundred miles of the equator, and describing
upon it an equilateral triangle with the point to the south. At the
east corner of that trianele there is another long and somewhat irreg-
ular body of water imperfectly known. The Nile flows out of the
north side of the lake in three separate channels. Two of them appear
to be rather swamps or (as Captain Speke calls them) rush drains than
rivers, but the third is a noble stream, and flows out of an arm of the
Nyanza, and over a fail about twelve feet high and four or five hundred
feet wide. The Nile is thus one of the very few rivers to which a defi-
nite beginning can be assigned, fcr from this point it pursues an inde-
pendent course of upwards of 2,000 miles to the sea, having on its way
only three or four tributaries, none of which can be compared to it in
importance. No cther river in the world has such a splendid individu-
al career. The American rivers are the outlet of a thousand streams,
and the:same may be said of the great rivers of India and China; but
the Nile is the Nile from its source to the Mediterranean. | Capt. Speke
describes the stream as six or seven hundred yards wide, some way fur-
ther down, and the banks as fertile and beautifully wooded, popu-
lous, and abounding in animal life.

Besides the Nyanza, which he actually saw, and toa great extent ex-
plored, Captain Speke obtained information of two other remarkable
Jaixes. One of these is a very large one, called Lake Uniamesi, and
said to he east and somewhat to the south of the Nyanza; the other is
a singular lake, called the Luta Nzige, said to be about two hundred
miles long, and fifty broad, running from S. to N. E., which communi-
cates with the Nile at its northeastern extremity. It is supposed by
Captain Speke to be a mere backwater which the Nile fills by its over-
flow when the Nyanza receives an extra supply of water from the
mountains. He supposes (as we understand him) that, when this res-
ervoir is filled, and the Nile begins to fall, the water runs back into the
Nile, and produces the floods down to Egypt.

The discoverers traced the course of the river to the second degree

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 337

of north latitude, where it turns to the west and forms a bend. They
crossed the channel of this bend for seventy miles, and when they again
fell in with the river it had sunk in level almost a thousand feet. Here
they met with some Turkish ivory traders, and bore them company to
' Gondokoro, on the White Nile 5° N. L., at which place they found a
fellow-countryman, advancing to meet them with supplies.

As regards the population of the countries traversed, Captain Grant,
in his address before the Geographical Society, London, says, ‘* Look-
ing back on the many tribes we had passed through, one apparently
identical race of negro overspreads the entire land from the coast to
Gondokoro, and onwards down the Nile, — that is to say, if you leave
out their tribal marks, their dress and their dialect, it would, I believe,
be impossible to distinguish the natives of one part from those of another.
As regards the general populousness of the countries we have passed
through, I may state that throughout the whole journey there were
but three or four places where we had to carry our provisions for more
than six days; we almost invariably got provisions from day to day.
The country was too populous to admit of any large amount of game.
Those mixtures of species and herds, as seen by Dr. Livingstone and
other South African travellers, were sectdom or never seen, and in many
forests we might range from morn till noon and only see two or three
antelopes.”

‘Much of the country passed through was exceedingly pleasant.
Each head of an ordinary negro family cultivates sweet potato, pulse,
Indian corn, and other tropical products for his own family’s consump-
tion only. No plough or beast of burden is in the country. Every-
thing is done, after the rains have softened the soil, by means of a long
or short handled hoe. Women are oftener seen at this work than
men, whose duty it isin the Land of the Moon, to thresh the corn with
Jong rackets. Most of the tribes are purely pastoral, subsisting chiefly
on milk, covering themselves with butter, dressing in cows’ skins, sel-
dom touching any grain; but they drink and get noisy on the banana
wine, while meat some amongst them will merely suck, never swallow-
ing it. They smoke tobacco universally. Crime, such as theft, is rarer
than in England. Never had we a lock on one of our boxes*or goods.

‘“‘ Many of the chieftains have bands and musical instruments in many
varieties, more remarkable for noise than harmony. As shooters with
bows and arrows, they can put an arrow into a leaf at thirty or forty
yards, and they can send an arrow to a distance of one hundred and
fifty yards. Iron is smelted in small quantities all over the country,
and the natives are also familiar with copper.

‘“‘ Weaving is very backward; one loom in every eighth village was
all that was observed in the lower provinces. The clothes made are of
the coarsest and heaviest material, all of cotton. Bark-cloths and deer-
skins, sewn beautifully together, are prized very much more. The
needles used are of iron, but differently made from ours. Silver and
gold, coal and limestone, are unknown in the countries traversed.
Pottery is made by the hand, the potter’s wheel being unknown. Some
races can glaze the ware. Wicker, grass, or bamboo baskets, trays,
drinking-cups, ete., are made everywhere over the country, the pat-
terns varying.”

One of the most curious things in Captain Speke’s published report

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338 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

is a small map of the Nyanza district printed in blue and red. The
blue represents the actual state of things. The red represents the
same country as depicted in certain ancient Hindoo documents, first
published in Europe in 1801. It is impossible to look at them with-
out seeing that the Hindoos had excellent information upon the geog-
raphy of the country. ‘The same “ Mountains of the Moon” is taken
from the Hindoo Map, and the situation of the mountains so-called is
laid down not incorrectly, while the lake-system of the country is rep-
resented, not by three lakes, but by one large one, which is called the
Lake of the Gods, and which might naturally be supposed to exist by
any one acquainted with the Nyanza. Captain Speke supposes that
in very ancient times there was a considerable trade between Hindo-*
stan and the interior of Africa, and that this was the source from
which the authors of the map in question derived their information.
That they had such information somehow, no one who looks at the
two maps can possibly doubt.

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.

The following is an abstract of a paper on the above topic, read be-
fore the British Association, 1863, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, well known
from his travels and natural history investigations in Southern Asia:

It first becomes necessary to define accurately the limits of the Arch-
ipelago, pointing out exactly what islands we include within it; for,
though “all the islands between southeastern Asia and Australia”
seem pretty definite, yet to the eastward this region blends insensibly
into the vast extent of the Pacific Islands. According to my views,
the Malay — or, as I should prefer to name it, the Indo-Australian —
Archipelago extends from the Nicobar Islands on the northwest to St.
Christoval, one of the Solomon Islands, on the southeast, and from Lu-
zon on the north to Rotte, near Timor, on the south. The eastern
boundary is drawn at this particular point for reasons which will be
explained further on. Though not geographically correct to include
any part of a continent in an archipelago, it is necessary for our pur-
pose to consider the Malay peninsula as not only almost but quite an
island, since it cannot be physically separated from the region of which
we are now treating. Thus limited, the archipelago is of a somewhat
triangular form, with an extreme length of about 5,000, and breadth.
of rather more than 2,000 English miles. The mere statement of
these dimensions, however, will give but an imperfect idea of the ex-
tent and geographical importance of this region, which, owing to its
peculiar position, is worse represented on maps than any other on the
globe. In many atlases of great pretension there is no map of the
whole archipelago. A small portion of it generally comes in with
Asia, and another piece with the Pacific Islands; but in order to ascer-
tain its form and extent as a whole, we are almost always obliged to
turn to the map of the Eastern Hemisphere. It thus happens that,
seldom seeing this region, except on a diminutive scale, its real form
and dimensions, and the size, situations, and names of its component
islands, are, perhaps, less familiar to educated persons than those of an
other countries of equal importance. They can hardly bring them-
selves to imagine that this sea of islands is really in many respects com-
parable with the great continents of the earth. The traveller, how-

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 339

ever, soon acquires different ideas. He finds himself sailing for days
or even for weeks along the shores of one of these great islands, often
so great that the inhabitants believe it to be a boundless continent.
He finds that voyages among these islands are commonly reckoned by
weeks and months, and that the inhabitants of the eastern and west-
ern portions of the archipelago are as mutually unknown to each
other as are the native races of North and South America. On visit-
ing the coasts of one of the larger islands, he hears of the distinct king-
doms which lie along its shores, of the remote north or east or south,
of which he can obtain little definite information, and of the wild and
inaccessible interior, inhabited by cannibals and demons, the haunt
of the charmed deer which bears a precious jewel in its forehead,
and of the primeval men who have not yet lost their tails. The trav-
eller, therefore, soon looks upon this region as one altogether apart.
He finds it possesses its own races of men and its own aspects of na-
ture. It is an island-world, with insular ideas and feelings, customs,
and modes of speech; altogether cut off from the great continents into
which we are accustomed to divide the globe, and quite incapable of
being classed with any of them. Its dimensions, too, are continental.
You may travel as many thousand miles across it, in various directions,
occupying as many weeks and months as would be necessary to explore ~
any of the so-called quarters of the globe. It contains as much variety
in its climate, in its physical phenomena, its animate and inanimate
life, and its races of mankind, as some of those regions exhibit. If,
therefore, the claim of Australia to be a fifth division of the globe be
admitted, I would ask for this great archipelago (at least on the pres-
ent occasion) to be considered a sixth. Looking at a map on which
the volcanic regions of the archipelago are marked out —those which
are subject to earthqnakes, which are of volcanic origin, and which
abound more or less in extinct as well as active volcanoes — we see at
a glance that the great islands of Borneo and Celebes form the central
mass around which the volcanic islands are distributed, so as rudely to
follow their outline and embrace them on every side but one in a vast
fiery girdle. Along this great volcanic band (about 5,000 miles in
length) at least fifty mountains are continually active, visibly emitting
smoke or vapor; a much larger number are known to have been in
eruption during the last three hundred years; while the number which
are so decidedly of volcanic origin that they may at any moment burst
forth again, must be reckoned by hundreds. It is not now my object
to describe the many fearful eruptions that have taken place in this
region. In the amount of injury to life and property, and in the mag-
nitude of their effects, they have not been surpassed by any upon rec-
ord. Forty villages were destroyed by the eruption of Papandayang
in Java, where the whole mountain was blown up by repeated explo-
sions, and a large lake left in its place. By the great eruption of Tom-
boro, in Sumbawa, 12,000 people were destroyed, and the ashes dark-
ened the air, and fell thick upon the earth and sea for three hundred
miles around. Even quite recently, since I quitted the country, a
mountain which has been quiescent for more than two hundred years
suddenly burst into activity. The island of Makian, one of the Mo-
luceas, was rent open in 1646 by a violent eruption which left a huge
chasm on one side, extending into the heart of the mountain. It was,

340 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

when I last visited it, clothed with vegetation to the summit, and con-
tained twelve populous Malay villages. On the 29th of December,
1862, after 215 years of perfect inaction, it again suddenly burst forth,
blowing up and completely altering the appearance of the mountain,
destroying the greater part of the inhabitants, and sending forth such
volumes of ashes as to darken the air at Ternate, forty miles off, and
almost entirely to destroy the growing crops on that and the surround-
ing islands. The island of Java contains more volcanoes, active and
extinct, than any other known district of equal extent. They are
about forty-five in number, and many of them exhibit most beautiful
examples of the volcanic cone on a large scale, single or double, with
entire or truncated summits, and averaging 10,000 feet high. It is now
well ascertained that almost all volcanoes have been slowly built up by
the accumulation of the matter-— mud, ashes, and lava — ejected by
themselves. The openings or craters, however, frequently shift their
position ; so that a country may be covered with a more or less irregu-
lar series of hills in chains and masses, only here and there rising into
lofty cones, and yet the whole may be produced by true volcanic ac-
tion. In this manner the greater part of Java has been formed. The
great island of Sumatra exhibits, in proportion to its extent, a much
smaller number of volcanoes; and a considerable portion of it has had,
probably, a non-voleanic origin. Going northward, Amboyna, a part
of Bouru, and the west end of Ceram, the north part of Gilolo, and all
the small islands around it, the norfhern extremity of Celebes, and the
islands of Siau and Sauguir are wholly voleanic. The Philippine
Archipelago contains many active and extinct volcanoes. In striking
contrast with this region of subterranean fires, the island of Celebes in
all its southern peninsulas, the great mass of Borneo, and the Malay
peninsula, are not known to contain a single volcano, active or extinct.
To the east of the volcanic band is another quiescent area of 1,000
miles wide, the great island of New Guinea being free from volcanoes
and earthquakes. Toward its eastern extremity, however, these reap-
pear in some small islands off its coast, and in New Britain, New Ire-
land, and the Solomon Islands, which contain active volcanoes. The
contrasts of vegetation and of climate in the archipelago may be best
considered together, the one being to some extent dependent on the
other. Placed immediately upon the equator, and surrounded by ex-
tensive oceans, it is not surprising that the various islands of the arch-
ipelago should be almost always clothed with a forest vegetation, from
the level of the sea to the summits of the loftiest mountains. This is
the general rule. Sumatra, New Guinea, Borneo, the Philippines, and
the Moluccas, and the uncultivated parts of Java and Celebes, are all
forest countries, except a few small and unimportant tracts, due, per-
haps, in some cases, to ancient cultivation or accidental fires. To this,
however, there is one important exception in the island of Timor, and
all the smaller islands opposite, in which there is absolutely no forest
such as exists in the other islands, and this character extends in a lesser
degree to Flores, Sumbawa, Lombock, and Bali. The changes of the
monsoons, and of the wet and dry seasons in some parts of the archi-
pelago are very puzzling; and an accurate series of observations in
numerous localities is required to elucidate them. Speaking generally,
the whole southwestern part of the Archipelago, including the whole

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 844

range of islands from Sumatra to Timor, with the larger half of Borneo
and the southern peninsula of Celebes, have a dry season from April
to November, with the southeast monsoon. ‘This same wind, however,
bends round Borneo, becoming the southwest monsoon in the China
Sea, and bringing the rainy season to Northern Borneo and the Philip-
pines. In the Moluccas and New Guinea, the seasons are most uncer-
tain. In the southeast monsoon, from April to November, it is often
stormy at sea, while on the islands it is very fine weather. There is
generally not more than two or three months’ dry, hot weather about
August and September. This is the case in the northern extremity of
Ceicbes and in Bouru, whereas in Amboyna, July and August are the
worst months in the year. In Ternate, where I resided at intervals
for three years, I never could find out which was the wet and which
the dry season. The same is the case at Banda, and a similar uncer-
tainty prevails in Menado, showing probably that the proximity of ac-
tive volcanoes has a great disturbing meteorological influence. In New
Guinea, a great amount of rain falls more or less all the year round.
On the whole, the only general statement we can make seems to be
that the @ountries within about three degrees on each side of the equa-
tor have much rain and not very strongly contrasted seasons ; while
those with more south or north latitude have daily rains during about
four months in the year, while for five or six months there is almost al-
ways a cloudless sky and a continual drought.” The author next con-
sidered the Malayan Archipelago in its geological and zoological rela-
tions to Asia and to Australia, mentioning the well-established fact that
one portion of it is almost as much Asiatic in its organic productions
as the British isles are European, while the remainder bears the same
relation to Australia that the West India Islands do to America.

THE ORIGIN OF THE GIPSIES.

The following paper on the above subject was read to the British
Association, 1863, by Mr. Crawford, the well known ethnologist.

“ The origin, as our old English has it, of the ‘ outlandish persons
calling themselves Egyptians or Gipsies,’ and constituting ‘a strange’
kind of commonwealth among themselves of wandering impostors and
jugglers,’ is, at least, a subject of great curiosity, not to say of etymo-
logical import. Although their first appearance in Europe be coeval
with the century which witnessed the discovery of the New World and
the new passage to the Indies, no one thought of ascribing to them a
Hindi origin, and this hypothesis, the truth of which I now propose to
examine, is but of very recent date. Their Hindu origin was not for
a long time even suspected; it has of late years, however, received
general credence, and I think, justly. The arguments for it consist in
the physical form of the people, in their language, and in the history
of their migration. The evidence yielded by physical form will cer-
tainly not prove the gipsies to be of Hindt origm. The Hindus are
all more or less black; and assuredly no nation or tribe of Hindus now
exists, or is even known to have ever existed, as fair as the gipsies of
Europe. It is on language chiefly that we must rely for evidence of
the Hindu origin of the gipsies, and even this is neither very full nor
satisfactory. The dialects spoken by the different tribes of this people,
although agreeing in several words, differ very materially from each

29%

8142 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

other. Besides the genuine Indian words to be found in the language
of the gipsies, they all contain a large intermixture of foreign tongues,
consisting of words of the languages of the people they dwell or have
dwelt amongst, — of Persian, of Arabic, of Turkish, of Greek, of Hun-
garian, and of various Sclavonian tongues; these being, in some cases,
— as, for example, in the Persian, — more numerous than the Hindu
words. This is what was to be looked for from four hundred years’
residence in Europe, and their sojourn among Oriental nations in their
necessarily slow journey westward. The Indian words which exist in
the language of the gipsies are by no means so numerous as the Latin
ones which are found in the Welsh and Armorican, or in the Irish and
Gaelic, and there will be found wanting in the gipsy language classes
of words which are indispensable toward proving it of Indian parent-
age. Of the migration of the gipsies from India, there is assuredly no
record in Indian history, neither have we of their arrival in any Asiat-
ic country before they reached, Europe. In both France and Italy
their first appearance was in an inland city, in both of which they be-
gan at once to tell fortunes ; a fact which supposes, of course, some ac-
quaintance with the language of the people whose fortunes*they pre-
tended to predict. From these two facts, it may be inferred that the
gipsies were in France and Italy for some time before their appearance
in Paris and Bologna. Most probably they came to Italy from Wal-
lachia, through Servia, Bosnia, and Dalmatia, crossing the Adriatic ;
but what internal commotion led to their adventure is unknown.
From Italy, where they were seen five years before they reached
France, they probably found their way into the latter country. If the
gipsies were originally an Indian people (and there is no other evi-
dence of their having been so than a few words of an Indian language),
they were most probably captives, carried off by some western invader
with the hope of peopling his own desert lands. I must come to the
conclusion that the gipsies, when above four centuries ago they first”
appeared in Western Europe, were already composed of a mixture of
many different races, and that the present gipsies are still more mon-
grel. In the Asiatic portion of their lineage, there is probably a small
infusion of Hindti blood; but this, I think, is the utmost that can be
predicated of their Indian pedigree. Strictly speaking, they are not
more Hindus in lineage than they are Persians, ‘Turks, Wallachians, or
Europeans; for they are a mixture of all these, and that in propor-
tions impossible to be ascertained.”

OBITUARY
OF MEN EMINENT IN SCIENCE, 1863.

Alger, Francis, of Boston, a distinguished American mineralogist.

Beli, Luther Y., an American physician, distinguished for his researches on
insanity. 2

Beurmann, Moritz Von, an African explorer, murdered by the Sultan of Waddi.

Blyth, Prof. M. N., an eminent Norwegian botanist.

Bravais, August, a French physicist.

Borgnis, Signor De, an eminent Italian engineer.

Cartwright, Dr. Samuel, a naturalist of New Orleans.

Chilton, James R., an American chemist.

Clapp, Dr. Asahel, of Indiana, an American botanist.

Darlington, Dr. William, a distinguished American botanist.

Despretz, Cesar Mansuéte, the eminent French chemist.

Emmons, Dr. Ebenezer, one of the most eminent of American geologists; au-
thor of the ‘‘ Taconic System.”’

Fitz, Henry, a distinguished American optician.

Green, Benjamin D., of Boston, an American botanist.

Grimm, Jacob, the well-known German philologist.

Hall, Samuel, a distinguished English engineer and inventor.

Hildreth, Dr. Samuel P., of Ohio, eminent as a geologist and naturalist.

Hubbard, Prof. J. S., an American astronomer.

Hunt, E. B., Maj. U. S. A., a distinguished American physicist, killed while
experimenting upon ordnance.

KKieser, Dr. Von, late president of the German Society of naturalists.

Kinahan, Dr. John R., Prof. Zodlogy, Goy. School of Mines, G. B.

Leavenworth, Dr. Melines C., U.S. A., an eminent American botanist.

Lehmann, Prof., the eminent German physiological chemist.

Lewis, Sir G. Cornwall, author of the ‘‘ Astronomy of the Ancients,” &c.

Masterman, Stillman, an American astronomer.

Mitscherlich, Eilhard, Prof. of Berlin; —one of the first chemists of the age.

Moquin-tandon M., Prof. of Botany to the Faculty of Medicine, Paris.

Pike, Benjamin, an’eminent American optician and mechanician.

Short, Dr. Charles Wilkyns, an eminent American botanist.

Stansbury, Maj. Howard, U.S. A.; the explorer of the Great Salt Lake of
Utah.

Studner, Dr. Henry, an explorer of Central Africa; died in service.

Thornton, Richard, geologist to Livingstone’s expedition to Central Africa.

Weale, John, an eminent publisher of English scientific works; ‘‘ Weale’s
Series,”? &e. ‘

Weisse, Maximilian Von, director of Obsevatory at Cracow, Poland.

Whipple, A. W., Gen. U.S. A.; distinguished for his exploration in connection
with the Pacific Railroad; killed in battle. Fe

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Almanac, American Nautical for 1864 and 1865. Bureau of Navigation, Washing-
ton, D.C.

Almanac, National, for 1863. pp. 698. Philadelphia, G. W. Childs.

American Annual Encyclopedia. Events of the Year 1862, D. Appleton & Co.,
Tha Conaie

Annals Observatory, Harvard College. Vol. IV. Part 1. Catalogue of Polar and
Clock Stars. Cambridge. 1863.

Bache, A. D. Standard Mean Right-Ascensions, and Circumpolar and Time Stars,
prepared for the use of the U. S. Coast Survey. Washington.

Binney, W. G. Bibliography of N. American Conchology, previous to 1860, Smith-
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Brace, C. L. The Races of the Old World; a manual of Ethnology. C. Scribner,
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Brand and Taylor’s Chemistry. American reprint. Blanchard & Lea, Philadel-
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Dussauce, H. Treatise on the Coloring Matters derived from Coal-tar, and their
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AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 345

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846 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

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Wetherill, C. M. Report on the Chemical Analysis of Grapes, submitted to the
Department of Agriculture. Washington, D. C.

Whittlesey, Chas. Ancient mining of the shores of Lake Superior. Smithsonian
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The Penokie Mineral Range, Wisconsin. Pamphlet. Boston.

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Michigan. 8yo. pamph.

Youmans, E.L. A Class-Book of Chemistry, with 300 illust. N. Y., D. Appleton
& Co.

INDEX.

PAGE

Agriculture, steam applied to. ...
Ailanthus, SUK=WOP) © (coe one es Ue
Air, fresh, necessity of during sleep ? 268
wt propagation of sound in... . 147
Pvitelited My DS nid wae ey or igk Ge ohohaeha ces

Albumen, artificial, conversion into
MDLING Merc maMatteraert ohana lor
new substitute for. . .+ .193
Alcohol, manufacture from coal-gas . 181
Alps, conformation of . Sott St SELES
Alpine Peaks, forms and waste of. . 214 |
Aluminum BronzGas 2 isons, sie: oe
Sn from cryolite. .

té

ee)

American iron-clad fleet. ..... 70
Andaman Islanders. ...,,... «291
AMM AMEDIGECMICS <a) sans = one 1s 2 V2
ce kingdom, new classification . 255
Animals, Grameore foe scl 290)
gigantic in Siberian ice. . 219

ee origin of, from eggs. . . 286

ae why killed to be eaten?. . 294
Ants, peculiarities of. ..... . 294
Apes and men, brains of. .... . 291
Archipelago, Malagan .... .:. .336
Architecture, novelty in. .....'9
Arctic plants, geographical distribu-

GLOMEO one meeoiian st reniomel on at ialce Od
APMOYr fOr swar-ships!. «<< = se... DD

‘* inclined for vessels, experi-

CHECM Wille cack ohio ie Veils | eites ciielie, NAG

«plates corrugated... . ... 56
Arms, rifled, small, experiments with 66
Armstrong gun, value of. ..... 62
Art and photography. ...... .1i1
Artillery, extraordinary range of. . 67

xe heavy, new views respect-
sie Pe st aiiey = OS
& new vent-holes fortes 65

Asia and Australia, animal and vege-
table characteristies of. . . . . . 255
Asteroids, new, for 1863. ..... .316
Astronomical investigations, accu-
EACVLOL INOUE se, ites of eenie te lee
Astronomical memoranda. ..... 7
Atmosphere, actinic qualities at high
EMRinghGlasin G ac mo ovo Ol,
earth’s radiation through . 137
HETSTUM Neg Guoln ol Gees
“t pressure of the. . ... . 155
. vapor in at great heights . 150
Atmospheric pressure, new utiliza-
tion of ,
Atoms, new views respecting. .. . 168
Attraction and adhesion. .....
Auroras and sun-spots. ... . . 92,324/
Australia, acclimatization of animals

15 1S SRN Fendi rte oF Ee ae CIE & Ce 1

PMCOMIGLY SIS Mette onistten sls) sale cathe
Aye-Aye, the. Sie O. Oe a eee ae 6 we

PAGE
- 260

Babies, mental condition of. ... 4
Rolie

Balloon aseensions, scientific. . .
Barometrical observations, new. . . 331
Bean, ordeal of Calabar. .... .- .308
Bees, cells of, new facts concerning. 158
<x CVS“ Of 5) 1s! vate sae om apaien eine cee
Bee-hive mathematics of the... . . 158

Bessemer’s process for producing
steel
Birds, curious fact in relationto. .
gigantic of New Zealand. .
Blood, cause of coagulation. ...
ae corpuscules, plasticity of. . 296

6c, eletinicitiys ols.) <n sacar sae enoura

‘«¢ mechanism of the circulation
OTA sevice) eke fasten oemeemrepetEe

Blue-fish, observations on... . . 27

Boilers, explosions of. .... .21, 85
Bones, growth and waste of. ... . 259
Book-iliustration, photographic. . . 121

Boots and shoes, manufacture of by

eo! cat eh at fon Ke! ie. oe: Wer} es eptey a ener

IMACHINGELY, feo cus on ogee wi aioe tana
Brain, wounds of the ...... , 29)
Brains of men and animals... . .290

SC ES 2tG ag SY ADCS im lob iene oy oueinenoae:
Brewsterian light figures. . . .. . 102
Bromine, new medical USe Ofiewe) eakat

cs in the Dead Sea water. .19%
Bronze, aluminum: 5! <) <)/.) gener eee
Brick and mortar elevator. ..... 31

British Association for 1868. .... 3
«Islands, submergence during

the drift epoch. . ... .-242

Butter-milk, physiological action of . 294

Calabar, ordeal beanof. ..... .314
Camphor, motions of on water... 87
Canned, India-rubber breech pieces
Ot aa tasehweie, Gls
Casks, new method of constructing . 30
Cat- -gut, manufactire Of~ 22. . % = 32
Cattle- breeding, noveliies in’. 2:6) 292
iS CISCASE Ty oitat ats eit cit ole) oe om neeaS

|\“Gement of casein... 11ers dese

Charcoal, absorption of gases by. . 203
Charleston, naval action off. .... 76
Chemical memoranda.-...... - 191
6 science, recent progress of 9
ae terms, remarkable Bsc ules
Chemistry, organic, recent progress

Chloroform, new application of. . .193
Chromatoscope, the .17.).he1-) ema
Cinchona bark, from india...... 8
Circle, squaring Of CHE Piey c: ota terest
Clouds, how to ascertain the height of 153
Coal-mining, curiosities of. . .. «227
Coal-mines of Great Britain, ex-
WAUStION! Of! So) ap eeu ave eren eeee

347

348

INDEX.

Coal-tar colors, new applications of . 192| Eyes of bees. . . « « « « « « « « « 282

Coffee ground. vs. coffee crushed. . 195

ce “ce

insects ©. waive) ter tavet eter ete

ae mepkered method of roasting 45 | Explosions, steam boiler. ..... 21

Stel

Coloring, harmonious law of .
- - 316

COMEEORASIORE. i ewe =

Comets, new, for 1863... . ss...
oe phenomena Deo oo o one)

Cooling, effects of irregular, on met- 144

Miele eile ie le 0 2 iw 6) @ s,s

WORE AMG. 6 6 eset ae

Coral islands, formation of... . . 243
CISTI GEANS! Gaim ol NomcueynGunCHNCn Chr: e::
Cyclones, observationson. .... . 1d4
Dams, vibrations of. ..... » 147

Deaf and dumb, statistics of « .
Death by drowning, cause of.

Dead-Sea water,brominein....
‘* phenomena connected with.

Desiderata in science and art... . 420
Devonian period, flora of. . . 4. . 249
Dictator, iron- -clad SHA vopisikettomletmen omens ol
Digestion, chemistry of. .... 206
Dinornis of New Zealand. .... . 247

Desease caused by fermentation .
‘¢ epidemic spread of. ....
Dialysis, interesting application of . 195
Disinfectant agency of ozone. . . . 203
Distances and speed, estimation of. 87
MrAgoOa tly CVC Ofteiisi- eke 6) oe\.e i 278
Drift, human remains in. ie Oe
Drift-period, submergence of the
British islands during. .... . 242
Drop; TOrMVOL Assis «des, oie: a0 199
Drowning, cause of death by. . . . 296
WSL; AiMOSPHETIC!.: ce-semericke «te ood
Dutch prizes for scientific investiga-
PIONG co sprcmcntetteds lelte ic le, oe iis. 163

Ear-bones of fishes, fossil. . ... . 239
Bar, functions of the... .. .. «147
Earth, climate of in paleozoic times 209
Bere ANE AT GENS) Offa levies oikeiisy@ 4OO
ce) ‘secular (cooling, Of «, <<), ./<2.210

“6 see changes in the climate
92

oeeee eee ef ee ee & TK

ftibaaiaon.: WSO Os: me Vetteipenteuese

eee e

Earthquakes, interesting observa-
Girid), th ga seal Pasleids Sexe BOe
HATAGUAKE) /WAVES te N6 <)e ce oe, Fe, of BCE

Egg, fossil. . 2 6. ss 2 eo we 2 246
Eggs, origin of all animals from. . . 286
Electricity OfSGMUSClE ks Wau cates |.o1us
KNEE BLOOM vouchers) ole
Electricities, origin of the different .
Electrical phenomena, GUEIOUS 3:7.
Electrical summary for 1863... ..
PecCinIey GxpPLessix (ei sureiieneh si rs1uets
Electric illumination, interesting
CPELUMEHES OM siroi aif orvenio «piers ve
Electro-physiology, researches in. .
Eiephants, approaching extinction

SE ARON D tokouee. & fe: urs lid

sé structure of the. . « ... 297
Elevator, brick and mortar. .... 31
Engraving, new process for. +. . .159
* photographic ..... . 121
wood, substitute for. . . 158
Eye of the sperm whale . sisted Asia iether
- 101

sf reflective POWETIOL5j5 0 \echosistcs
4 ‘¢ influence of in
color

oe « 0 107 |

Fabrics, uninflammable....... 195
Fermentation, a cause of disease. . 185

ee ie asteur’s researches on 182
Files made by machinery. ...+ . 24
Fire accidents, prevention of. . . . 26

Fish, changes in the habits ke oe « 270
ES TertulibyOF «vs Ns) cey oracle searenlo ete oO
Fishes, fossil ear-bones of. .+ .. Fie
ce “hearing of . eikehte! siteitatrelcle Mencia
Ke vocal .... eee

Flame, protection of fabries against . 195
Plint-nodulesin chalk. ...... . 241
HOLCe,. NatuRe Ole ois.) es Us cote eee
Fossils, interesting in Buenos Ayres 246
ot primoidal of} shasiop rete ion siieyor eo
Food, Liebig’s theoryof. ..... .207
“¢ use of sugarfor. ... .. « .205
Freezing, concentration of mineral
WiC Ng oh oe Hence Sho sonod elise)
Furnace, Siemans regenerative . 45, 230

Gas, coal, manufacture of alcohol
ROARS Cia Gson5) quid. odEL
‘¢ improvements in the manufac-

HOKU eS Se oncwawn ceo oa lies)

oY gé “¢ purifying. . . 190
Gases, absorption of by cheney « » 203
RIG Awa Gels NC - - 148

‘¢ molecular mobility Gee ee 167
Ghosts, artificial production of. . . 109

Giffard’s injector, explanation of. . 86
Glaciers of the Himalayas. ... . . 219
cf overrated action of. . . . . 213
Glacial mummies ,>, «os 1s, « wicly
cold and Silurian rocks, association
é : Bee tle ve uel is elas eum
Gold. fields of the Pacific... . . . . 221
Golden parallels . sien a con
Grahaim’s researches on the molecu-
lar constitution of gases. ....
Granites, origin ofthe... ..... . 240
Great Britain, mineral statistics of. . 243
Gun, Armstrong, the <. <9. 2s. « 62
Guns, armor and projectiles, new ex-
periments in relation to. . 55
oC" St@eGl Tie 2) ores te, ter ote ern es
«¢ ~— Whitworth’s and Armstrong’s
nea eA Bevel a Gee its)
Gunnery and. heat...> <<. 2. « «142
Gun-cotton, recent improvements in 47
Gun-powder, new method of pre-
paring. . Lhe SS:
Gypsies, origin ofthe. ...... .341
Gyration of \ winds, laws of .... . 153

Hail formationiof. «sss. «= soos

Heart, beating Of the... 3... <. 262

‘¢ influence of inspiration of the 264

Heat and gunnery... ....... 14
distribution of on the surface

Of CHE'SUIM es so tee renee sy

‘¢ dynamical theory of. 7... . 141
«influence of on the galvanic bat-
tery . <),jels, ouverts

“ internal of theearth.. .. . .210

‘¢ jntense, effect of on liquids. . . 142

pa bi ndall’s researches on. . 138, 139

Heliochromy, new researches on. . 120

e. ®, e. @¢ .

INDEX.

349

Himalayas, glaciers of... .. . . - 219) Mammoth remains in Siberian ice. . 219

Hindoo astronomy, ancient.....
Hogs-hair, targets. - - «se +++ + 63)
Human remains in the drift... . ieee |
Humming-bird’s nests, material of. . 29

Ice, action of on Alpine peaks. .

“artificial manufacture of.
Tilinois, change in the prairies of
Illumination, PIGERI Ce atna aucieant ee &
India, pestilence Mteg s por Aa eA A yl 6 deels)
India-rubber, breech-pieceforcannon 66
Indium, a new metal. ©. 174
Infants, mental condition of... . . 260

Infusoria, instinct in... ..... .293{

EIMjeCtOriOLSOlMGS.” « «6, 2,26 6 « OO
Insecis, leaden bullets injured by. . 295
ec noxious, destruction of .. . 305

se SICCDeOtaten svan ok aiteniates’ ale ono
RISE CL-VASIOW 6) oh silat akan silencio ne 274
Instinct in infusorial animals. . . #293
Iron and steel, Bessemer’s . ... 178
protection fronicust.s«. s, of «25
Pee USSIRSNECIy. 4p eliss re: lene) see sel ee
Tron-clad ships and batteries... ... 70
« * in action, recent experience
with. Se head ier”
Tron-clads, sheathing for. ..... 74
Islands, coral, formation of. ... .243
Ivory, STA Ca EE OED |
Jamaica, tertiary shells of..... . 242
Lactation, abnormal... ...... - 294
Hoathing, Ware < 2s... + « js 2 «6 » 20
Lead-pipes, tinned, action of ... . 194

Level, “slope,” new instrument.
Liebig’s theory of food. ....

Life, essential features of. . . .. . 356
‘¢ marine, at great depths... . . 274
‘¢ plan for prolonging ..... .294

Light, comparative of the sun and
stars . 97
composition of white... . .105
_curious refraction of... . .130

«speculations on the
nature Of... . - . 106
figures So pigh a Ballz
invisibility of direct . Bie cee
new “ air” 28
new method of propagating . si
velocity of
Lightning-conductors, efficacy of... ol

SEER PREE, crystalline, production

73
“

oe © ©
S16. Oo (O Or we 6) | @

oe 0 OL
Tiduias, efiects of intense heat on . . 142
Lizards, flying of the mesozoic period 246

Locomotion, mechanism of .... . 293)
| Nile, discovery o of the source of. . . 336

London, sewage of . 16
Looking-glasses, repairing the silver-

RHO OE waive! slots): 5 (ebionsiuea aA. 1s)1, obo

Madder, curious experiments with.
Magnesium, new facts respecting. . 177
Macnetic, disturbances, nature of
forces producing... .. - +.
Magnetism and terrestrial temper-
atures ....
vegetation...
Maine, tin-ore in. .
Malay archipelago, geography of.

30

“ec “ce ‘
ee

eal he nd ey ieee tg

.

- 250 |
90 |

7 | Man, antiquity of.

« » » « 249} Nails, maleable iron’. 2°. < 2 2. «

| Nitro-benzole, poisonous

232, 233
on the Andaman Islands... . 291

oe

Mars, island in aseaon. .... . «328

3 STOCSCATCHES Ol) s,s 'se et 6 ea wae

‘¢ snow on the surface of . .. .3826

- . 214) Marriages of consanguinity... . .261°
. 193 | Matter, igneous condition of . . . . 145

ee speculative ideas respecting 172

Medicines, action of on the mental
FACUITICH Ise yeas et o oeeOr
taste of, how to disguise . 193
Medical science, relations of scien-
tific: researches {0}. sicse « +) o ba
Wen, typical races Of 2) 20. 2 1a) «) «e200
Mercuric methyle, a new liquid. . . 191

iz

Metals, toe by irregular cooling . 144

ew Che . . . . . . . . . s , 174

Meteorites, notes On .. 2. ss « = 248

structure of, molecular . 248

Meteoric iron from Arizona... .. 248
Meteorological phenomena, explana-

tion of certain . .141

ee science, recent

Mica-schist, origin and alterations of 240
Microscope, use of magenta dye for

heh ito, io at Fables aad G2
Mind, action of different medicines

267

on * . * . .
Miner al statistics of Great Britain for
1862)" =" 5 ere SL See. oe CIE
Miniature, new kind of ..... . . 124
Monitor vessels, iron-clad...-+.. 72
pee curious geodetic they er
Cnbnsttewerre Para ele
othe. why fly into the flame of a
candle. SP oe Pe
Mountains, formation of ..... .211
“ highest in the United
States. 2s 1s ee ot eros
on the moons. << Grererace
Moon and thunder-storms...... 92
ot recent researches onthe .. .328
ee ce on the figure
Off = 21565457

“

Moon’s disc, depressions inthe . . . 330
Mummies of the Swiss Glaciers. . . 2i7
Mummy-wheat ....... - - 309
Muscle, electric-conductivity of... 98
Muscles He ie Neal Wolo G sod tre sacs:

Musical instruments, manufacture -

Strines! Tor). meee eet 32
Musket barrels, how straightened . otel od
24

Nebula, variability of... .... .317

Nerves, new views on the functions
Ota ers

New Zealand, gigantic birds of. . . 244

Pa ee 7 ee . . . . . . . Bs

Nitrogen, absorption of by vegeta-
tion 201

allotropic states of . . , .136

action of . i192

S 6 *e- at's Bet te ver ee

ce

Nurse and nurseling ....... «209

Nyanza; Dake’. 650s 6) ae ot otters
. |

Obituary for 1863". (sae eke « ate
- 92! Ocean life at great depths. .... . 274

92 ') pressure’Of 22% le eho even lae

- 242 | Odors of precious stones . . . « « «245 |
. 338 | Opticalillusion, curious. ..... .109

350

Organ, great Boston ........ 42
Organic life, progressive develop-
ARCDD thie) settee lveNie yee) = SL

eS substances, artificial pro-

CUCHIOM) Olt, is jeune, co piso OZ
Oxygen, sources of in the animal or-
gamism.... Vase Soe yeh

Oxy- hydrogen licht, new form of. . 28
Oysters, artificial breeding Of jeer atioiese
Ozone as a disinfectant . ..... .203
“ composition of. ....
‘¢ exhaled by plants...
«¢ mew researcheson...

oe @ @
e

Bi BE OPDED ia! 00:9 08.2 gc ue 92
Paleozoic climate... ... 24.
rs formations, breaks in.
Paris, sewage of . 15
Pasteur’s researches on fermentation 182
Pestilence in India. ....... . 188
Petroleum, effects of on health. . . 193
L Pennsylvania, source of . 247
ee trade of the United States 248
Poison, new .
Poisons in the circulation. ... . . 265
Porcelain, ornamented of by photo-
graphy . . 5 shove 4
Port-hole closer for iron-clads

Biot tel ao patois uke. ov faigies us ele

Prairies of Illinois, changein. . . .250
Precious stones, cavities i FTN be -sclatstine ste eee

x OMOTS2Ofs.: ve c26 1000240
Pressure, GEEP-SEaetenell se kel ie) + ioe 1 AOL

effects of on chemical ac-
fii ONG Gate cues oliehie ite: Wolsey cout
Primoidal fossils, localities of. . . . 245
Provisions, new mode of preserving. 45
Pulse of different animals. . ... . 264
Putrefaction,Pasteur’s researches on 182
Pyrethrum, destruction of insects by 305

Phosphorus in vegetation. .... .315
Philosophy of to-day ........ 79
Photo-lithography.. ... +... .121
Photographic engraving... -.-.-. 121
FENSES Towels Asti ieyistsel/ oul oL

we miniature, new eiieiie ta deo

pictures, transference

to glass, etc. . . . .123
portraiture ..... .112
Photographs, pie Sage loo ome Maat)
new agent for fixing .12i

J permanence of... .121

ee at high altitudes. . . 118
Photography for book-illustration . . 121
in connection art. . . 111

ec novelties in. . ... 2121

ce who discovered? . . . 114
Physiology of reproduction. . . . «208
Pigments from coal-tar. .... . .192
Pipes, tinned-leads <2 2. 6 \.) vic es 0 ADE
Planet, gutta-mercurial. ..... .316
Planets, new, for 1863. . . . « « - - 316

Plumb- line, curious deviations of the . 83
<t ’ influence of sun and

moon on. pion:

Planetary systems among the stars . 316

Plants, artificial fecundation of . . . 309
ee distribution of Arctic. . . . 251
“ existence of muscles in. . . 304
KC SOTERA OTNOLes eyucuws\ docile uoae COL
“ ozone exhaled from. ... .314
Platinum, porosity of. ...... 197

Pleiades, visibility of stars in the. . 320

INDEX.

Pleuro-Pneumonia, inoculation for . 292
Pneumatic despatch... ice i fel le lee pe ee

Races; extinction Of oy. 20. hes eas
Radiation, Tyudall’s, new discover-
1es| CONCErNINE.-.. °. - 13

Railways, potes on the history ofs. 3
Railway INCLINE WSLCED 6 sie le ee et cee
rs founels, Se

Rams, iron-clad, American ..... 72
Range, extraordinary for artillery .
Rattlesnake, rattle of. ...... » 295
Red-Sea, coloring matterof. . . . .201
| Refraction, curious phenomena of . 101
| Relations, marriages between. . . . 261

, Reproduction, physiology of . . . .258

Resin, use for soaps, substitute for . 199
Respiration, Flouren’ s, observations
DOee Sid ao & Soe oS cos 2UE
Rivers, course influenced by rotation
if; Ge) CALEB toes) yelda) fol onsen etree Oe
Rocks, stratified, formsof. .... .211
“” strnetural OLISINY Of (sis nes he SLO
Rubidium and Cesium. ......174
ee properties of... - - 17D
Ruskin, John, on the forms of strati-
fied rocks" 2. 0 oe eo
Rust, protection of iron from... . 23
RUSSIA, SLECI-INON). i eles, ee iste yee

Safes, construction of. .. 2... . 35

‘« experiments on the fire-resist-
ing qualities of different . 37, 38

Salt rock, remarkable deposit in
LOUISIANA erie ais) ot lola Nel eens aero
Scene painting, new device for. . . 29
Schist, mica, origin of 372. <5... en
Science and art, desiderata ....

‘¢ notes on the progress of... 3
Sea, deep, pressure of. .... +. .231
Sea-weed, new material from .... 31
Secretions, animal, effects of temper-

ALUTEIOM sao tales jai e) te ome remem
Senses of smell and taste. .... «298
Sewage, deodorization of. . ... .2Q5
Sewers of London 2 cose cler sue elo

Le COP ALIS ct Revie oe ke aoe fous ae renee
Sexes, production of at will. . 2. 2292
Shasta, Mt., California, height of . . 243
Ships, unsinkable timber. ..... 19

Shoes and boots, manufacture by ma-
CDIMETY iss cise le sa. ae mekacirat teller ve. apeeess
Siberia, mammoth remains from. . 219
Sieman’s regenerative gas furnace . 45
Silicon, new compound abe ue ei - 179
Silk, solvent for... . se es
‘¢ woolen and cotton, to detect
MMUX-GUNC NOL) es peniel eo) ler, eis weetee
trade of Furope . . «3s = « « 189
worm, ailanthus ..... . .297
Silver, new method of collecting
fTOM! SOMMUORS <1 > yelvel > mele een
Sirius, companions of . . .. .316, 317
Skin, absorbing DOWEDRIOLds el as 267
«< effects of suppressed action of 266
Sleep and fresh air. .:.°. 5 » %. = sees
66" WORIMSeCtS (.0e he) oh ate elles ee aoe
Smell and taste, senses of. . . . . . 298
Soap, use of soluble glass in manu-
TACENTINE: © sisi Vo.) tee ie ioeaiae eno
Soda, carbonate, natural formation
0

ce
“c

2 OE), VOOM AO! OO NO) 2 O) ee ae

INDEX.

Soils, capabilities of ....... «202
Solar parallax, determination of . . 128
“« phenomena, recent observa-
tions on
Soldiers, Federal, physique of. . . . 301
Solenhofen, fossil from. . . - . « . 245
Smoke-rings, formation of .. .. .145
Sound, extraordinary transmission of 147
‘¢ phenomena of, Prof. Tyndall
on if A GEE ae EES,
«propagation of inair. . .. . 147
Species, origin of, Owen’s views on . 285
transmutation of. y,Agassiz on 288
Se transmutation of vegetable . 308
Spectrum analysis and the stars. . 133
new observations
Citvin oak weccucenr
most recent facts
concerning .. . 131
practical applica-
TOM Ofer cals certs SO
Speed and distance, estimation of. . 87
Stars, nearest eS la CM TaN
eon parallax of minute) 22... 319
«¢ planetary systems among.. .316
«¢ spectrum analysis applied to . 133
Sere DID EL ALUIEC Ob scl ae) s) s.6) 1) Lok
Steam- boiler explosions Age Ono ciel
new investi-
gations on 85
Steam, cultivation by. ...... «
Steel, chemistry of .........128
‘¢ produced by Bessemer’s pro-
cess . sialie 1a ees ehiet Gd4e
Steel-working, improvements in .. 24
Stomach, why does not digest itself . 262
Stones, precious, cavitiesin. . . . . 245
ee ss odorsof. . . .'s . 245
Storms, observations on ..... . 154
Strata, succession of, thoughts on. . 242
Stratification, new veins respecting . 242
Strings, musical, manufacture of . . 32
Submarine batteries ........ 54
Sugar, as food - 205
Sulphur, allotcopic condition of .
Sun, daily photographs of disc . . . 328
determinations of the distance
Ofertas tee elo) ot ore

a +e a) She eS) we 8 VAL

ec it)

COP gi ia)

- 136 | Waves, power of

851
Thermometer, new sensitive... .144
Thunder-storms and the moon... 92
Mdessntiizanon Of so. ss. «cc Bil

PIMROvEL Ia NAIM) s <i wureter oh «| (an 6 or 24S
To-day, the philosophy of. ..... 79
Torpedoes, submarine ....... 54
MOTLGISG; TOSS suler st Sh che eile) 5 240
Trees, Chinese art of dwarfing . ee sols

‘* comical growth of. ... . .310
Tunnels, railway, in Great Britain. 20
Type-setting, improvements in. . . 29

United States, a mountains in
the etiasi'e™ ey 6p ie) 1 a e216, SS (e 8 252
Universe, is it light or Garktig < « = 107

Vapor, aqueous, properties of in the
ALMOSPHETeri1 ast, lolha tested eltemen ic
Vegetable species, transmutation of 308
Vegetation and magnetism . soteemoe
f phosphorus in .... .315
Vertebrate minute. <) <) s1e) o eae 26

Vesuvius, observations on the crater

(8) . . . . . . . . J . . . . s ° e235
Vision ‘of imsects-) os Ss eee) a a7:
Vital-force, nature of... « « + 6 «257
Mivisectiony |... <isgiey ssc 35 sions ee
Volcano, new submarine . o eeee

Voleanoes of the Malay archipelago . 336
Volcanic action in the moon. . 329,330
Voltaic battery, influence of heaton. 91

26
Ae
- 69

108
- 196

Walks, water-proof. ........
War, improvements in the science of
** materials of a great. < . .+.
Water, color of . BAC OMO ID Geo yh Ie
disassociation of......
‘¢ for domestic purposes. . . . 204
Sy. BUSCO UN crs sto (hei zone alee epee
‘¢ mineral, concentration of . . 19S
‘¢ none chemically pure. . . . 143

“¢ relation of quality to arts and
MEGICINC Ss <i chiaclees | ot at Oe
Waterfalls, vibrating -...... . 147
. . . . > . . . . . 87

Weights and measures, uniformity

OR cre deletes -o0 ata te eet ot ceree calle

. 125-129) Whale, sperm, eye of ....... .272

‘recent investigations respecting 324 | Whales, how they Wear arora) ston omens =

<- SOM p Stan oe skids} ald les ance BOD
se SCMPCraluUreOlcs- +6 on joys + Lot

“ and stars, comparative light of 97

Sun-spots and auroras ....... 92
Targets, hogs-hair....+ 2... 63
wire rope .‘....... . 64

“Is and guns, English experi-

MHLENES WLiMet cc) on et eore
Telegraphs, submarine, cause of fail-

RCW Mon hick jen a Te sell el) «tele. tenes) 6 OD
Telegraphic communication, exten-

PA OMO teeta ok aivreticila lente’ st
Telescope, Foucault’s great . .
Tenebroscope, the ......
Tertiary system, division of. .
Thallium, new facts respecting . 175-177

Wheat from mummies...... .309
<< improvementin. .... . .307
ce increased yield in Great Brit-

ALIN /-Wonewaltos steel hh em eOS
Wand: digection Of oo 26 «6 «1 e515
Winds, observationson. ..... . 155
Wire, use of for lathing walls... 26
Wire ropetargets. ......... &

Writing, necessity for a new system

OL Ste ela 6 6 we We eel erie) tos) Homa

Yellow-fever, curious observations
TESPCCHNE ai ous) as of) co) cp alse etl alae ase

Zodlogy, recent changes and prog-
ress in . . . . . . . . . . . . . °
Zodlogical summary ....... .290

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ness, with numerous Illustrations. With a Memoir of the Author, by Louis Agassiz.
12mo, cloth, $1.00.

Dr. BUCKLAND said he would give his left hand to possess such power of description as this man.

TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS; or, Geology in its Bearings on the two
Theologies, Natural and Revealed. ‘‘Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the
field.” — Job. With numerous elegant Illustrations. One volume, royal 12mo, cloth,
$1.25.

This is the largest and most comprehensive Geological Work that the distinguished author hag
yet published. It exhibits the profound learning, the felicitous style, and the scientific perception,
which characterize his former works, while it embraces the latest results of geological discovery.
But the great charm of the book lies in those passages of glowing eloquence, in which, having
spread out his facts, the author proceeds to make deductions from them of the most striking and
exciting character. The work is profusely illustrated by engravings executed at Paris, in the highest
style of French art.

THE CRUISE OF THE BETSEY; or, a Summer Ramble among the Fossil-
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Miles over the Fossiliferous Deposits of Scotland. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

Nothing need he said of it save that it possesses the same fascination for the reader that charac-
terizes the author’s other works.

MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS; or, the Story of my Educas
tion. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. With a full-length Portrait of the Author. 12mo, cloth,
$1.25.

This is a personal narrative, of a deeply interesting and instructive character, concerning one of

the most remarkable men of the age.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND ITS PEOPLE.
With a fine Engraving of the author. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.

mq~ A very instructive book of travels, presenting the most perfectly life-like views of England
and its people to be found in any language.

wa The above six volumes are furnished in sets, printed and bound in uniform style: viz.,

HUGH MILLER’S WORKS, Seven Votumes. Elegant embossed cloth, $8.25 ;
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MACAULAY ON SCOTLAND. A Critique, from the “ Witness.” 16mo,
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IMPORTANT WORKS.

A TREATISE ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF THE
ANIMAL KINGDOM. By Profs. C. TH. Von Srmepotp and H. Srannivs.
Translated from the German, with Notes, Additions, &c. By Watpo I. Burnett, M. D.,
Boston. One elegant octavo volume, cloth, $3.00.

This is believed to be incomparably the best and most complete work on the subject extant ¢

and its appearance in an English dress, with the additions of the American Translator, is every
where welcomed by men of science in this country.

.
UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION;; during the years
1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, under CuanLes WiLKes, U.S. N. Vol. xi.
MoLLusca AND SHELLS. By AvucusTus A. GouLpD,M.D. Elegant quarto volume, cloth,
$10.00

THE LANDING AT CAPE ANNE; or, Tae Caarter of THE First Perma.
NENT COLONY ON THE TERRITORY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY. Now discovered,
and first published from the ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, with an inquiry into its authority,
and a History oF THE CoLony, 1624—1628, Roger Conant, Governor. By J. WIN-
GATE THORNTON. 8vo, cloth, $1.50.

wg “‘ A rare contributien to the early history of New England.” — Mercantile Journal.

LAKE SUPERIOR; Its Physical Character, Vegetation, and Animals. By L,
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THE HALLIG; or, rue SHeerrotp in tHe Waters. A Tale of Humble Life on
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As a revelation of an entire new phase in human society, this work strongly reminds the reader
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THE CRUISE OF THE NORTH STAR; A Narrative of the Excursion
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PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT; embracing a Diary of Explorations on the Nile,
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POR DlLCA TL WOR S-

COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM COWPER;
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POETICAL WORKS OF SIR WALTER SOOTT. Life and Illustra
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ug The above Poetical Works, by standard authors, are all of uniform size and style, printed
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IMPORTANT NEW WORKS.

CYCLOPAIDIA OF ANECDOTES OF LITERATURE AND
THE FINE ARTS. Containing a copious and choice Selection of Anecdotes
of the various forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engravings, Music,
Poetry, Painting, and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary Characters and
Artists of different Countries and Ages, &c. By Kazuirr ArvINgE, A. M., author of
*¢ Cyclopzedia of Moral and Religious Anecdotes.” With numerous Illustrations. 725 pp.
octavo. Cloth, $3.00 ; sheep, $3.50; cloth, gilt, $4.00; half calf, $4.00.

This is unquestionably the choicest collection of Anecdotes ever published. It contains three
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to artists, mechanics, and others, asa DICTIONARY for reference, in relation to facts on the num-
berless subjects and characters introduced. There are also more than one hundred and fifty fine
dllustrations.

THE LIFE OF JOHN MILTON, Narrated in Connection with the PotiticaL,
ECCLESIASTICAL, and LireraRy History OF HIS Time. By Davip Masson, M.A., Professor
of English Literature, University College, London. Vol. 1., embracing the period from
1608 to 1639. With Portraits, and specimens of his handwriting at different periods.
Royal octavo, cloth, $2.75.

This important work will embrace three royal octavo volumes. By special arrangement with
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THE GREYSON LETTERS. Selections from the Correspondence of R. E. H.
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$1.25.

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First SERIES :— Thomas De Quincy.— Tennyson and his Teachers. —Mrs. Barrett Brown-
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SECOND SERIES :— Charles Kingsley.--S. T. Coleridge.— T. B. Macaulay. —- Alison. .— Wel-~
lington. — Napoleon. — Plato. — Characteristics of Christian Civilization. — The Modern University.
~ The Pulpit and the Press. — Testimony of the Rocks : a Defence.

VISITS TO BUROPEAN CELEBRITIES. By the Rev. Wituum B.
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A series of graphic and life-like Personal Sketches of many of the most distinguished men and
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CHAMBERS’ WORKS.

CHAMBERS’ CYCLOPAIDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. A
Selection of the choicest productions of English Authors, from the earliest to the present
time. Connected by a Critical and Biographical History. Forming two large imperial
octavo volumes cf 700 pages each, double column letter press; with upwards of 300
elegant Illustrations. Edited by Ropert CuamBers. Cloth, $5.00; sheep, $6.00; full

gilt, $7.50 ; half calf, $7.50; full calf, $10.00.

This work embraces about one thousand Authors, chronologically arranged, and classed as
poets, historians, dramatists, philosophers, metaphysicians, divines, etc., with choice selections
from their writings, connected by a Biographical, Historical, and Critical Narrative ; thus present-
ing a complete view of English Literature from the earliest to the present time. Let the reader
open where he will, he cannot fail to find matter for profit and delight. The selections are gems —
infinite riches in a little room ; in the language of another, “‘ A WHOLE ENGLISH LIBRARY FUSED
DOWN INT@ ONE CHEAP BooxK !”

wg~ THe AMERICAN edition of this valuable work is enriched by the addition of fine steel and
mezzotint engravings of the heads of SHAKSPEARE, ADDISON, BYRON ; a full-length portrait of
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_W. H. Prescott, THE HISTORIAN, says, “ Readers cannot fail to profit largely by the labors
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LAND.

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CHAMBERS’ MISCELLANY OF USEFUL AND ENTERTAIN-
ING KNOWLEDGE. Edited by Wittism CHAamBers. With elegant Illustra-
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** Tt would be difficult to find any miscellany superior or even equal to it. It richly deserves the

epithets ‘useful and entertaining,’ and I would recommend it very strongly, as extremely well

adapted to form parts of a library for the young, or of a social or circulating library in town or
country.” — GEO. B. Emerson, Esq. — Chairman Boston School Book Committee.

CHAMBERS’ HOME BOOK;; or, Pocket Miscellany, containing a Choice
Selection of Interesting and Instructive Reading, for the Old and Young. Six volumes.
16mo, cloth, $3.00 ; library sheep, $4.00; half calf, $6.00.

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the School or Family Library, furnishing ample variety for every class of readers.

“* The Chambers are confessedly the best caterers for popular and useful reading in the world.”
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“ A very entertaining, instructive, and popular work.”— NW. Y. Commercial.

“We do not know how it is possible to publish so much good reading matter at such a low
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people will introduce it into all their families, in order to drive away the miserable flashy-trashy
stuff so often found in the hands of our young people of both sexes.” — Scientific American.

“ Both an entertaining and instructive work, as it is certainly a very cheap one.” — Puritan Re-

" eorder.

“If any person wishes to read for amusement or profit, to kill time or improve it, get ‘Cham-

bers’ Home Book.’” — Chicago Times. x

CHAMBERS’ REPCSITORY OF INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUS.
ING PAPERS. With Illustrations. A New Series, conéaining Original Articles.
Two volumes. 16mo, cloth, $1.75. :

HE Same WorK, two volumes in one, cloth, gilt back, $1.50. (29)

GUYOTS WORKS. VALUABLE MAPS.

THE EARTH AND MAN;; Lectures on Comparative PaysicaL GECGRAPHY,
in its relation to the History of Mankind. By ARNOLD Guyot. With Illustrations.
12mo, cloth, $1.25.

Prof. Louis AGASsIz, of Harvard University, says: ‘‘It will not only render the study of
geography morc attractive, but actually show it in its true light.”

Hon. GeorGeE S. HILLARD says: ‘‘ The work is marked by learning, ability, and taste. His
bold and comprehensive generalizations rest upon a careful foundation of facts.”

“ Those who have been accustomed to regard Geography as a merely descriptive branch of learn-
ing, drier than the remainder biscuit after a voyage, will be delighted to find this hitherto unat-
tractive pursuit converted into a science, the principles of which are definite and the results con-
clusive.” — North American Review.

** The grand idea of the work is happily expressed by the author, where he calls it the geographi-
eal march of history. Sometimes we feel as if we were studying a treatise on the exact sciences ; at
others, it strikes the ear like an epic poem. Nowit reads like history, and now it sounds like
prophecy. It will find readers in whatever language it may be published.” — Christian Examiner.

‘* The work is one of high merit, exhibiting a wide range of knowledge, great research, and a
philosophical spirit of investigation.” — Silliman’s Journal.

COMPARATIVE PHYSICAL AND HISTORICAL GHOGRA-
PHY ; or, the Study of the Earth and Inhabitants. A Series of Graduated Courses,
for the use of Schools. By ARNOLD Guyot. In preparation.

GUYOT’S MURAL MAPS. A series of elegant Colored Maps, projected on a
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By Professor ARNOLD Guyot, viz.,

Map OF THE WoRLD, mounted, $10.00.

Map or NortH AMERICA, mounted, $9.00.

Map or Souta America, mounted, $9.00.

‘Map oF GEOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS, mounted, $9.00.

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GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND BRIT-
ISH PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA. With an Explanatory
Text, Geological Sections, and Plates of the Fossils which characterize the Formations.
By Jutes Marcovu. Two volumes. Octavo, cloth, $3.00.

wq The Map is elegantly colored, and done up with linen cloth back, and folded in octavo form,
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“ The most complete Geological Map of the United States which has yet appeared. It is a work
which all who take an interest in the geology of the United States would wish to possess; and we
recommend it as extremely valuable, not only in a geological point of view, but as representing
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embellished with a number of beautiful plates of the fossils which characterize the formations, thus
making, with the map, a very complete, clear, and distinct outline of the geology of our country.” —
Minmg Magazine, N. Y.

HALL’S GHOLOGICAL CHART;; Giving an Ideal Section of the Successive
Geological Formations, with an Actual Section from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.
By Prof. James Hat, of Albany. Mounted, $9.00.

A KEY “O GEOLOGICAL CHART. By Prof. James Hatt, 18mo, 25 cts.
, (31)

VALUABLE TEXT~BOOKS.

THE LECTURES OF SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON, BART.,, late
Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, University of Edinburgh; embracing the METAPHYsi-
cAL and LoeicaL Coursss ; with Notes, from Original Materials, and an Appendix, con.
taining the Author’s Latest Development of his New Logical Theory. Edited by Rey.
Henry LoNGuEVILLE MANSEL, B. D., Prof. of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy in
Magdalen College, Oxford, and JoHN VEITCH, M. A., of Edinburgh. In two royal octavo
volumes, vViz., ,

I. MerapHysicaL LECTURES (now ready). Royal octavo, cloth. $3.00

II. Logican Lectures. $3.00.

pe~ G. & L., by a special arrangement with the family of the late Sir William Hamilton, are
the Authorized American Publishers of this distinguished author’s matchless LECTURES ON MET
APHYSICS AND LOGIC, and they are permitted to print the same from advance sheets furnished
them by the English publishers.

MENTAL PHILOSOPHY; Including the Intellect, the Sensibilities, and the
Will. By JoserpH Haven, Prof. of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Amherst College. |
Royal 12mo, cloth, embossed, $1.50.

It is believed this work will be found pre-eminently distinguished.

1. The COMPLETENESS with which it presents the whole subject. Text-books generally treat
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ENTIFIC. 3. It presents a careful analysis of the mind, asa whole. 4. The history and literature
of each topic. 5. The latest resultsof the science. 6. The chaste, yet attractive style. 7. The
remarkable condensation of thought.

Prof. PARK, of Andover, says: ‘‘It is DISTINGUISHED for its clearness of style, perspicuity of
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The work, though so recently published, has met with most remarkable success ; having been
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country, and bids fair to take the place of every other work on the subject now before the publie.

THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES, »0 classi-
fied and arranged as to facilitate the expression of ideas, and assist in literary composi-
tion. New and Improved Edition. By PretrerR Mark Rocet, late Secretary of the Roval
Society, London, &c. Revised and edited, with a List of Foreign Words defined in Eng~
lish, and other additions, by BArnas Sears, D. D., President of Brown University. A
New AMERICAN Edition, with AppiTI0Ns ETc. Royal 12mo, cloth, $1.50.

This edition is based on the London edition, recently issued. The first American Edition hav-
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termed “ vulgar,” incorporated in the original work, were omitted. These expurgated portions have,
in the present edition, been restored, but by such an arrangement of the matter as not to inter-
fere with the educational purposes of the American editor. Besides this, it contains important
additions of words and phrases not in the English edition, making it in all respects more full and
perfect than the author's edition. The work has already become one of standard authority, both
In this country and in Great Britain.

PALEY’S NATURAL THEOLOGY. [Illustrated by forty Plates, with

Selections from the Notes of Dr. Paxton, and Additional Notes, Original and Selected,
_ with a Vocabulary of Scientific Terms. Edited by Jonn Warr, M.D. Improved edition,
with elegant newly engraved plates. 12mo, cloth, embossed, $1.25.

This work is very generally introduced into our best Schools and Colleges througheut the coun-
try. An entirely new and beautiful set of Illustrations has recently been procured, which, with
other improvements, render it the best and most complete work of the kind extant.

(32)

VALUABLE TEXT-BOOKS.

PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY; Touching the Structure, Development, Dis
tribution, and Natural Arrangement, of the Races oF ANIMALS, living and extinct,
with numerous Illustrations. For the use of Schools and Colleges. Part I. Com.
PARATIVE PuysioLocy. By Louis AGassiz and AuGustus A. GouLD. Revised edi-
tion, 12mo, cloth, $1.00.

“It is not a mere book, but a work —a real work in the form ofa book. Zodlogy is an interesting
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** The best book of the kind in our language.”— Christian Examiner.

PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY, PART IL. Systematic Zoilogy. In

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THE ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY ; adapted to Schools and Colleges. With
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12mo, cloth, 75 cts.

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ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE. By Francis Wartanp, D. D., late
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MORAL SCIENCE ABRIDGED, and adapted to the use of Schools and
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The same, CoEaP ScHOoL EpiTIon, boards, 25 cts.

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has been adopted.

ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. By Francis War.anp,
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POLITICAL ECONOMY ABRIDGED, and adapted to the use of Schools
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**It deserves to be introduced into every private family, and to be studied by every man who
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eclass book, and be faithfully studied in our academies, and that it will find its way into every
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All the above Works by Dr. Wayland are used as text-books in most of the colleges and higher
schools throughout the Union, and are highly approved.

> G. & L. keep, in addition to works published by themselves, an extensive assort-
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at publishers’ prices. They invite the attention of Booksellers, Travelling Agents,
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HALF the price of the same. (cy Orders from any part of the country promptly
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COULD AND GINGOLN,

59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON,

Would call particular attention to the following valuable works described.
in their Catalogue of Publications, viz. :

Hugh Miller’s Works.
Bayne’s Works. Walker’s Works. Miall’s Works. Bungener’s Work,
Annnal of Scientific Discovery. Knight’s Knowledge is Power. .
Krummacher’s Suffering Saviour,

Banvard’s American Histories. The Aimwell Stories.
dewceomb’s Works. Tweedie’s Works. Chambers’s Works. Harris’ Works}
Kitto’s Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature.

Mrs. Knight’s Life of Montgomery. Kitto’s History of Palestinee
Whewell’s Work. Wayland’s Works. Agassiz’s Works.

Q~ fii SS
SS, i Ee

—

a

Testimony of Rock,
SCOV.,

ZB

Earth and Man,
N\\ principles of 7, colo
i ’
\ Comparative Anatom : \
\\ Mollusca and Shel},
ACY Thesaur. of Eng, Words
a Knowledge is Power, ’
AN\\\ Cyclop. of Eng. Literat.,\
RAW \\ Cyclop. of Bible Lit.,
\\ Concord. of the Bible,
\ Analyt. Cone. of Biblo,
\ Moral Science,
\\\ The Great weve
\"The Coristi#®

\ David A, Wells,
\ Amold Guyot,
Louis Agassiz,

Tk

arles mone

bert Chambers,

itto. — Cruden,
ie. — Williams,

Francis Wayland,

Jobn Harris,

Ch

Lal SIS FALSE

Williams’? Works. Guyot’s Works.

Thompson’s Better Land. Kimball’s Heaven. Valuable Works on Missions,
Haven’s Mental Philosophy. Buchanan’s Modern Atheism.
Cruden’s Condensed Concordance. Eadie’s Analytical Concordance.
The Psalmist: a Collection of Hymns.

Valuable School Books. Works for Sabbath Schools.

Memoir of Amos Lawrence.

Poetical Works of Milton, Cowper, Scott. Elegant Miniature Volumea.
Arvine’s Cyclopzdia of Anecdotes.

Ripley’s Notes on Gospels, Acts, and Romans.

Sprague’s European Celebrities. Marsh’s Camel and the Hallig.
Roget's Thesaurus of English Words.

Hackett’s Notes on Acts. M’Whorter’s Yahveh Christ.

Siebold and Stannius’s Comparative Anatomy. Marcou’s Geological Map, U.S,
Religious and Miscellaneous Works.

Works in the various Departments of Literature, Science and Art,

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