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THE 


Evinburgh 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 


EXHIBITING 
A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY 
IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, BOTANY, 


ZOOLOGY, COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, PRACTICAL MECHANICS, GEOGRAPHY, 
NAVIGATION, STATISTICS, ANTIQUITIES, AND THE FINE AND USEFUL ARTS. 


CONDUCTED BY 


DAVID BREWSTER, LL.D. 


F.R.S. LOND. SEC. R.S. EDIN. F.S.S.A. 


HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SWEDISH 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES;. AND OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF SCIENCES OF DENMARK, &c. &C. 


- VO. Vv. 


APRIL—OCTOBER. 


4 ¢ l 
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7/ } 
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH: 


AND T. CADELL,. LONDON. 


M.DCCC.XXVI. 


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PRINTED BY JOHN STARK. 


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CONTENTS 


OF THE 


EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
No. IX. 


Page 
ArT. J. Biographical Memoir of Mark AUGUSTUS PicTET, Professor of 
Natural Philosophy at Geneva, Corresponding Member of the Institute of 
France, and Fel:ow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, &c. 1 
II. On the Polarisation of Sound, in a different manner from that describ- 
ed by Mr Wheatstone. By W. WEBER, - - 8 
ITI. On the History of the Experiments on the Magnetism exhibited by 
Tron in Rotation. By SamueL HunTER CuRrisTIE, Esq. M. A. of 
Trinity College, Cambridge ; Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical So- 
ciety ; of the Royal Military Academy. Ina Letter to the EnrTor, 11 
IV. Observations. on the size of the Teeth in Sharks, compared with the 
Fossil Teeth of an animal analogous to the present Shark, and described 
by Messrs Lacepede and Faujas St Fond, in the ‘* Annales de Museum.” 
By Rosert Knox, M.D. F.R.S.E.&c Communicated by the Au- 
thor, = - - : = - - 16 
V. Results of the Thermometrical Observations made at Leith Fort, every 
Hour of the Day and Night, during the whole of the Years 1824 and 
1825. By Davip BrEewsTER, LL. D. F.R.S. Lond. and Sec. R. S. Ed. 


Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, &c. 18 
VI. Remarks on M. le Colonel Bory de St-Vincent’s proposed Species of the 
Genus Homo. By a Correspondent, - - - * 33 


VII. Remarks on Dr Knox’s ‘* Observations on the Habits of Hyznas,”’ con- 
tained in the Fifth Number of the Edinburgh Journal of Science. By 
W. H. Wayne, Esq. Fellow of the Cam. Phil. Soc. Communicated 
by the Author, - - 43 
VIII. Observations on the Changes which take place on Mercurial Thermome- 
ters. By H. H. BLACKADDER, Esq. F. R.S. E. Communicated by the 


Author, . - = - - - 47 
1X. On the Influence exerted by different Media on the number of Vibrations 
of Solid Bodies. By M. FEtrx Savart, - - + 48 
X. Account of a Singular Phenomenon in Vision. By Mr Tomas 
SmiTH, Surgeon, Kingussie. Ina Letter to the EDITOR, - 52 


XI. Description of the Great Temple of Carnac, in Thebes. By Major-Ge- 
_heral STRATON, F.R.S, Edin. (With a Plate.) Communicated by the 
Author, - = = : - 54. 


ul CONTENTS. 


Page 
XII. Observations on the Position and Revolution of the Magnetic Poles of 
the Earth. By CurisTOPHER HANSTEEN, Professor of pegs ad 

in the University of Norway, - = 65 
XIII. On the Solar Eclipse which will happen on the 29th of November 1826 ; ; 
being the principal results of a calculation for Edinburgh. By Mr 


GEORGE INNES, Aberdeen, - = 7h 
XIV. Observations relative to the Sound which accompanies the Aurora Bo- ; 
Tealis, - - 2 44 
XV. Some Experiments on Coloured Flames. wt H. F. Tatnor, Esq. 
Communicated from the Author, - 17 
XV1. Notice regarding the a ( Motacilla + heen. Lin.) By a Cor- 
respondent, - - - 82 


XVII. Account of some of the Rarer Atmospherical Phenomena observed at 
Leith in 1825. By Mr Joun CoLpsTREAM. In a Letter to the Epi- 

TOR, = - - 83 
XVIII. Description of a new Register Thermometer, without any Index ; 
the principle being applicable to the most delicate Mercurial Thermome- 

ters: By H. H. BLackaDDER, Esq. F. R.S. E. - 92 
XIX. Abstract of the Register of the Thermometer, Barometer, and Rain- 
Gage, for the years 1824 and 1825, kept at Canaan Cottage. By ALEX- 
ANDER ADIE, Esq. F. R.S. Edinburgh. Communicated by the Au- 


thor, - 94 
XX. idemenetediind of Professor Leslie’s Formula for determining the De- 


crease of Heat depending on the Altitude, without ‘‘ a delicate and pa- 

tient research.” Communicated by a Correspondent, 4 96 
XX. Observations on Two Species of Pholas, found on the Sea-coast in the 

neighbourhood of Edinburgh. By JOHN STARK, Esq. M. W. S. Com- 


municated by the Author, - - 98 
XXII. Farther Account of the large Achromatic Refracting Telescope of Fraun- 

hofer in the Observatory of Dorpat. By PRoFrEssOR STRUVE, 105 
XXIII. Observations on some Sulphurets. By M. Gay-Lussac, 110 


XXIV. On the Effects of Time in Modifying Anomalous Cases of Vision, with 
regard to Colours. By GEORGE Harvey, Esq. F.R.S. Lond. and 
Edin., KF. G. S. &c. Ina Letter to the EDITOR, = 114 

XXV. On the Reciprocal Decomposition-of Bodies. By M. Gay-Lussac, 116 

X XVI. On an extremely Cheap and Delicate Hydrostatic Balance. By Wit- 
LIAM Rircui£, A.M., Rector of Tain Academy. Communicated by 
the Author, - - . 1lg 

XXVIII. Note concerning the Presence of Anhydrous Persulphate of Iron in 
the residue of the concentration of Sulphuric Acid. By MM. Bussy 
and LECANU, = - 120 

XXVIII. On the Refractive Power of the Two New Fluids in Minerals,with Ad- 
ditional Observations on the Nature and Properties of these Substances. 

By Davip BREWSTER, LL. D. F. R.S. Lond., Sec. R. S. Edin., and 


Corresponding Member of che Academy of Sciences of Paris. 122 
X XIX, On the Composition of the Native Phosphates and Arseniates of Lead, 

by F. WouLer. - - 136 
XXX. On anew Photometer, founded on the Principles of Bouguer. By - 

WILLIAM RITCHIE, A. M. Rector of Tain Academy, 4 139 


1] 


CONTENTS. - be ill 


P 
XXXI. CONTRIBUTIONS TO METEOROLOGY. Communicated by Mr a 
Focco, - - - 14] 
1, Temperature of Places in Ceylon, 2. Colombo. 3. Trincomalee. 
4, Temperature of Springs, supposed to be influenced by Thunder 
Storms, < > 141—145 
XXXII. Observations on the Volcanic Formations on the Left Bank of the 
Rhine. By G. PouLETT Scropre, Esq. Communicated by the Au- 
thor, - - - - = = 145 
XXXIILI. Analysis of two varieties of Lepidolitee By Epwarp TURNER, 
M. D. F. R. S. E. Lecturer on Chemistry, and Fellow of the Royal Col- 
lege of Physicians, Edinburgh. . Communicated by the Author, 162 
XXXIV. On Kakoxene, a new Mineral Species. By J. STEINMANN, Pro-~ 
fessor of Chemistry in the University of Prague. Communicated from 


the Author, - = 163 
XXXV. Notice of some Fossil Remains of a Paleotherium, found in Bavaria. 

By HERMANN von MEYER, of Frankfort on the Maine. - 165 
XXXVI. ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS, = - 166 


Observations on the Habits and general Structure of the Orang Ou- 
tang, or Wild Man of the Woods. By JoHN JEFFRIES, M.D. ib. 


XXXVII1. HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND PRO- 
CESSES IN THE USEFUL ARTS, - - 168 


1. On a Method of Working an Air-Pump by continued Motion. By 
Wirriam Rircure, A. M. Rector of Tain Academy. Commu- 


nicated by the Author, = - ib 
2. Account of Mr Brunel’s New Power obtained by Liquefied Carbo- 

nic Acid Gas, - = = ib 
3. Account of the Process of MM. Thenard and Darcet for Preserving 

Substances from Humidity, % < 169 


4. Description of new Axle-Trees for remedying the extra friction on 
Curves for Waggons, Carts, Cars, and Carriages, and on Rail-roads, 
Tram-ways, and other Public Roads. By Mr RoBERT STEPHEN- 
SON, - - = “ 170 

5. Description of Union or Compound Rods, in which Wood and Metal 
are combined so as to form Rails or Rods for Bedsteads, Cornices, 

&c. By Mr Samvet Pratt, New Bond Street. 


XXXVIII. ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND MEMOIRS, 171 
Observations on Mr Barlow’s Theory of the Strength of Materials, and 
his Conclusions respecting the situation of the Centres of Tension 
and Compression in a Bent Body. By Eaton HoDGKINSON, 


Esq. Communicated by the Author, = 2 ib 

XXXIX. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDIN- 
BURGH, - = 7 176 
XL. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, - 177 


I, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 
AstTRONOMY.—l. Mz Pond’s Observations on a New Appearance in the Ne- 
bula of Orion, 2. Local Attraction of the Piumb-Line. 3. Captain Ross 


iv . CONTENTS. 


Page 
on the Occultation of the Planet Herschel by the Moon. 4. Fifth Comet of . 
1825 in Eridanus. 5. Second Comet of 1825 in Taurus, 6. First Comet of 
1826, or the lost Comet of 1772. 7. Ellipticity of the Earth at Port Bowen. 
&. Double Star 61 Cygni, - - 177—180 

OpTics.—9. Effect of the Sun’s light in diminishing Combustion. 10. Sin- 
gular Phenomenon observed by M. Ramond on the Pic du Midi. 11. On 
the Powerful Effect of Burning-Glasses at great Heights, - 180—181 

MacGNeETIsM.—12. Diurnal variation of the Needle in the Arctic Regions, 181 

METEOROLOGY.—J3. Meteorological Observations on the 17th of July next, ib 

: Il. CHEMISTRY. 

14. Dr Henry’s Analysis of a Crystalline Compound of Hyponitrous and Sul. 
phuric Acids. 15. On the Air contained in River and Canal Waters. 16. 
Substances which accompany Caoutchouc when obtained from the Tree in 
the state of Sap. 17. On the Nature of Picrotoxine and Menispermic Acid. 

18. Prize Questions of the Parisian Society of Pharmacy for 1826, 181—185 

Ill. NATURAL HISTORY. 
MINERALOGY.—19. Selenium found in Bavaria. 20, Uran-bloom, a new mi- 


neral species. 21. New Localities of Rare Minerals. Leyvne. 22. Comp- 
tonite. 23. Brewsterite. 24. Selenium from Lukawitz in Bohemia. 25. 


Zircon found at Scalpay in Harris, - : 185—187 
ZooLocy.—26. Two-Headed Snakes. 27. Mercantile importance of Snails. 
Botany.—28. Botany of New South Wales. = 188 


IV. GENERAL SCIENCE. 
29. The waters of Salt Springs raised by Carburetted Hydrogen Gas, in the 


State of Ohio, - - - 189 
XLI.— Meteorological Observations made at Leith, By Messrs Cotp- 
STREAM and FoeeGo, Communicated by the Authors, = 190 
XLII. Celestial Phenomena, from July Ist, to October Ist 1826, adapted to 
the Meridian of Greenwich, Apparent Time, - 192 


XLII. Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain-Gage, kept at 
Canaan Cottage. By ALEX. ADIE, Esq. F. R. S. Edin. = 194 


CONTENTS 


OF THE 


EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


ArT. I. 


II. 


Ill. 


No. X. 


Account of a Voyage to Madeira, Brazil, Juan Fernandez, and the 
Gallapagos Islands, performed in 1824 and 1825, with a view of ex- 
amining their Natural History, &c. By Mr Scourer. Com- 
municated by the Author, - - - 

Illustration of some Facts connected with the Developement of Mag- 
netism by Rotation. By PETER Bartow, Ese. F.R.S. Mem. 
Imp. Ac. Petrop. &c. In a Letter to the Editor, - 

Observations on the Decrease of the Magnetic Intensity of the Earth. 
By CHRISTOPHER HANSTEEN, Professor of Astronomy in the Uni- 
versity of Norway. Communicated by the Author in a Letter to the 
Editor, = 


IV. Account of an Earthquake at Sea, felt in the Mediterranean, on the 


V. 


VI. 


Vil: 


VIIl. 


IX. 


29th November 1810, in his Majesty’s frigate Salsette. In a Letter 
from Captain BEaurormT, R.N. F.R.S. to Dr BREWSTER, 
Conjectures as to the Cause of the high degree of apparent acceleration 
in the Rates of the Chronometers observed by Mr Fisher, and Report- 
ed by him in the Phil. Trans. By PETER Bartow, Esq. F. R.S. 
Mem. Imp. Acad. Petrop. Communicated by the Author, 

Remarks on an Optical Phenomenon observed at sunrise from the 
Summit of Mount Mtna. By H. H. BLACKADDER, Esq. F.R.S. 
Edin. Communicated by the Author, - 

Abstract of Meteorological Observations made in the Isle of Man, from 
1822 to 1825, inclusive. By RopERtT STEWART, Esq. Receiver-Ge- 
neral of the Isle of Man. Communicated by Dr H1BBERT, 

An attempt to account for the fact that the Stars appear greater in 
number when viewed cursorily than when examined with attention. 
By a Correspondent, - - - 

On the Spawn of Salmon, observed in its progressive State, and Drawn 
from Nature. By L. ScHoNBERG, Esq. Communicated by the Au- 
thor. With a Plate, 7 

Notice of the severe Cold of last Winter, a of the late great Heats 
in June 1826, with original Observations. By a Correspondent, 


Page 


214 


218 


224 


231 


234 


238 


il 


XI. 


XIE. 
XIII. 


XIV. 


xvi, 


XVI. 


XXIII. 


XXIV. 
KXV. 


XXVI. 


XXVII1. 


1. 


2, 


3. 


4. 


PE 
a. 


CONTENTS. 


On the formation of the Cyanuret of Mercury, aud the Sulpho-cyanate re 
of Potash. By EDwarp Turner, M.D. F.R.S.E. Lecturer on 
Chemistry, and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 245 
Results of a Meteorological Journal kept at Seringapatam during the 


years 1614 and 1816. By Mr Joun Foceo Junior, - 249 
Farther Observations on the supposed Optical and Physiological Dis- 
coveries of Mr Charles Bell, = < - 259 


Mean results of Observations with the Thermometer and Barometer at 
Batavia. By M. KrreLt, M.D. Communicated by Professor MoLu 

of Utrecht, - - - - - 268 
Account of a Survey of the Valley of the Setlej River, in the Hima- 

laya Mountains. From the Journal of Captain ALEXANDER GE- 
RARD, Surveyor to the Board of Commissioners, _ 270 
On the relation of the Density of Solid and Fluid Bodies to the size 

of their Molecules, and their affinity for Caloric. By M. Le Cheva- 

lier AVOGADRO, - - - - 288 
On the Structure of the Eyes of Insects. By Mr W1LL1aAmM Ewine. 

In a Letter to the Editor, - - - 297 
On Metallic Iron and its Oxides. By F. STROMEYER, M.D. F.R.S.E. 

&c. &c. Professor of Chemistry in the University of Gottingen, 300 


. Account of the Burning Chasms of Ponohohoa in Hawaii, one of the 


Sandwich Islands. By the Reverend WiLLIaAM Exuis. With a 
Plate, - - - - 303 


. Remarks on the Electric effects of Contact produced by changes of 


Temperature. By M. BECQUEREL, - = 305 


- Ona method of measuring High Temperatures. By M. BECQUEREL, 316 


Description of an Apparatus for producing Intense Light, visible at 
great distances, invented by Lieutenant Twomas DRUMMOND of 
the Royal Engineers, - - j mise 319 
Account of the Discovery of a mine of Platinum in Columbia, and of 
Mines of Gold and of Platinum in the Uralian Mountains. By Baron 
ALEXANDER DE HUMBOLDT, - - 323 
Notice of the recent Researches of M. Arago on the Influence of Bo- 
dies reckoned not Magnetic, on the motions of the Magnetic Needle, 325 


Abstract of a Memoir on the Theory of Magnetism in Motion. By 
M. Poisson, - - . 328 
On the Fall of Leaves. By Professor VAUCHER of Geneva, 330 


HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AND PRO- 
CESSES IN THE USEFUL ARTS, e 2 339 

Account of a Cheap and effectual method of blasting Granite Rock. 

By William Dyce, M. D. F. R. 8S. Ed. Communicated by the Author, ib. 

Description of a Self-Generating Gas Lamp. Communicated by the . 


Inventor, - - - - 344 
On the Composition of the Mosaic Gold, or Or-Molu, discovered by 

Messrs Parker and Hamilton, - - -- ib. 
Account of a Patent Substitute for Leather. Invented by Mr | 
Thomas Hancock, - - - 345 


Account of an Improvement on Ropes. By Mr Thomas Hancock, 346 
11 


CONTENTS.» iii 


- Page 
6. Method of making Impressions on Steel Plates, - - 346 
7. Description of Improved Axletrees, By Mr WiLL1AM Mason, ib. 


8 Account of the Vitruvian Cement for building and other purposes. 
An invention communicated to Mr J. P. BEAVAN by a Foreigner, ib. 


9. Mr SamuEL Morery’s New Vapour Engine, = . 347 
10. Account of the performance of one of Mr PERKINS’s Steam-Engines, ib. 
11. On the method of preparing Catechu in Bundelkund in India, 349 
12. On a new method of manufacturing Glass. By M. LeGnay. ib 

13. Description of an improved Mortise Lock. Invented by Messrs 
Joun and Tuomas Smiru, Darnick, - - 350 
XXVIII. ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND MEMOIRS, ib. 

Deutschland’s Flora. By Franc. Cart. MERTENS, and W. H. J. 

Kocnu, - - - - ib: 
XXIX. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, - 364 


I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

AsTroNomMy.—l. Correct Elements of the first Comet of 1825. 2. Correct 
Elements of the Second Comet of 1825. 3. Elements of the Comet discovered 
by M. Pons. 4. Fourth Comet of 1825. 5. Dimensions of the Terrestrial 
Globe. 6. La Lande’s Astronomical Prize adjudged to Captain Sabine. 7. 
Rates of Mr French’s Chronometers at the Royal Observatory. 8. Probabi- 
lity of an Ethereal Medium in the Celestial Spaces. 9. Change upon the fi- 


gure of Saturn when emerging from the Moon’s dark limb, 364—366 
Acoustics.—10. Deafness arising from the Eustachian Tube. 11. Great dis- 

tance at which Sounds are heard, - ~ ib. 
Orrics.—12. Phosphorescence of the Glow-Worm, of the Fire-Fly, and the 

Lampyris Noctiluca. 13. Remarkable Phosphorescent Stone, 366—367 


Hypropynamics.—1l4. Prize of 1828, for the most important experiments 
on the Resistance of Fluids. 15. Dr Hare’s Litrameter for measuring Specific 
Gravities, - - - - 367—368 
MaGNneETISM.—16. Magnetic Declination at Bywell, in Northumberland, in 
1824. 17. Magnetic Declination near St Petersburg, in 1824, 368—369 
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.—18. On the Magnetising of Needles by Currents and 
Electric Sparks, = = = 2 369 
METEOROLOGY.—19. Meteorological Observations made on the 17th of J uly 
last. 20. Mr Foggo’s Elementary Treatise on Meteorology. 21. Mean Tem- 
perature of the Sandwich Islands. 22. Meteoric Stone ftom Castres, 369—371 


Il. CHEMISTRY. 


23. On the Chemical Composition of Felspar and Serpentine. —24. Analysis 
of a new Mineral, (the Gay-Lussite.) By M. Boussingault.—25. On Fecula 
and the different Amylaceous Substances of Commerce. By M. Caventou.— 
26. Muride, a New Substance, intermediate between Chlorine and Iodine, 371—375 


Ille NATURAL HISTORY. 


MINERALOGY.—-27. Crystals of Sulphur in Galena. —28, Native Alum found 
at Calingasto, in South America. a & 375 


iv CONTENTS. 


. . ‘ . Pa e 
GEOLOGY.—29. Notice of the Explosion of a Volcano in the Andes.—30. Sin- . 


gular Cascade of Lava, + - 375—376 
BoTany.—3l. New Botanical Publication.—82. Lemna minor and gibba.— 
33. Systema Orbis Vegetabilis, - ; 377—378 
GENERAL SCIENCE.—34. Notice respecting Mr Scouler’s and Mr Douglas’s 
recent Voyage to the North West Coast of America, - 378 
XXX. List of Patents granted in Scotland since February 16, 1826, 381 
XXXI. Celestial Phenomena, from October Ist, 1826, to January Ist, 1827, 
adapted to the Meridian of Greenwich, Apparent Time, 382 
XXXII. Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain-Gage, kept at 
Canaan Cottage. By ALEX. ADIE, Esq. F. R. S. Edin. 385 


DESCRIPTION OF PLATES IN VOL. V. 


PLATE I. Fig. 1—Represents the curve of Daily Temperature. 
Fig. 2, 3, 4, Show Mr Blackadder’s new Register Thermometer. 
Fig. 5, 6, Represent Mr Stephenson’s new Axletree. 
Fig. 7, Shows Mr Pratt’s Union or Compound Rods. 
Fig. 8, Represents Mr Ritchie’s Cheap and Simple Balance. 
Fig. 9, 10, 11, Are diagrams, illustrating Mr Hodgkinson’s Obser- 
vations on the strength of Materials. 
Fig. 12, Represents Mr Ritchie’s Improvement on the Air-Pump. 
Fig. 13, Is Mr Ritchie’s new Photometer. 
PLATE lI. Represents the Great Temple of Carnac, as drawn by Major-General 
Straton. 


PLATE III. Is intended to Illustrate Dr Brewster’s Paper on the new Fluids in 
Minerals. 


PLATEIV. Isa Sketch of the Volcanic District of the Eiffel. 
PLATE V. _ Represents the Spawn of Salmon in its different Stages. 
PLATE VI. Fig. 1—6, Illustrate Dr Dyce’s method of Blasting Granite Rocks. ' 
Fig. 7, 8, Represent the new Mortise Lock, Invented by Messrs 
John and Thomas Smith. 
PLATE VII. Fig. 1, Represents the Burning Chasms of Ponohohoa. 
Fig. 2, Isthe South-West end of the Volcano of Kirawea, in Hawaii, 
to be described in the next number. 
PLATE VIII. Fig. 1, 2, Represent Lieut. Drummond’s Apparatus for producing 
Intense Lights. 
Fig. 3, Represents a Self-Generating Gas Lamp. 


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THE 


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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


Arr. I1.—Biographical Memoir of Marx Aucustus PictTet, 
Professor of Natural Philosophy at Geneva, Corresponding 
Member of the Institute of France, and Fellow of the 
Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, &c. 


'Turre are few of the philosophers of the present age who 
have a greater claim to the admiration and gratitude of pos- 
terity, than that venerable individual whose life we are about 
to survey. Some there are, whose talents have placed them 
in greater affluence, and elevated them to higher dignities ; 
others there may be, whose discoveries have shone with a 
more brilliant lustre, and illuminated a wider range of science ; 
but there are none who possessed, in a more eminent degree, 
the genuine bearing of a philosopher—who laboured with 
more enthusiasm in exploring the mysteries of sclence—or who 
cherished a purer devotion in studying the laws, or in con- 
templating the wonders of the physical world. In a degene- 
rate age, when the fair empire of science is assailed on one 
side by the despotism of intellectual pride, and overrun from 
the other by hordes of charlatans, it is refreshing to trace the 
progress of a powerful mind, uniting to the aicaiunes of a phi- 
losopher the accomplishments of a aciblar and a gentleman, 
and directing its energies to the interests of his country, and 
to the amelioration of his species. 

The individual who possessed these qualities, was born at 
Geneva in 1752, and was descended from an ancient family, 
who had distinguished themselves in that interesting city. 

VOL. v. NO. 1. JULY 1826. A 


2 Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Pictet. 


After receiving a private education under his father’s roof, 
young Pictet went to the upper schools, and after pursuing, 
as was then the custom, the study of belles lettres and philo- 
sophy, he entered the faculty, and was received advocate. A 
passion for the physical sciences, however, which no profes- 
sional views could extinguish, had seized upon his mind ; and 
he seems to have devoted himself, without hesitation, to the 
pleasures and the moderate prospects of a scientific life. 

J. A. Mallet, who had gone to Paris to observe the tran- 
sit of Venus in 1769, was at that time professor of astronomy 
at Geneva, and De Lue, Bonnet, Trembly, and De Saussure, 
were pursuing with ardour the natural sciences. With such 
men to direct and encourage him, M. Pictet entered upon his 
career under the most auspicious circumstances. From being 
the pupil, he soon became the assistant of Mallet, and he had 
the good fortune to accompany and assist De Saussure in those 
scientific travels through the Alps, which have immortalized 
the name of that distinguished philosopher. While De Saus- 
sure explored the geology and natural history of that interest- 
ing portion of the globe, M. Pictet carried on, under his di- 
rection, the measurement of heights, and conducted the ex- 
periments in electricity and magnetism. On his return from 
these excursions, he pursued his astronomical studies with 
Mallet, and carried on original researches of his own, respect- 
ing the variations of temperature in the lower strata of the at- 
mosphere. These experiments were performed in the village 
of Cartigni, near that of Avulli, where professor Mallet had 
erected an observatory. 

About this time some of the enlightened inhabitants of Ge- 
neva, among whom was M. De Saussure, founded the Society 
of Arts of that city. M. Pictet, though then very young, 
took an active part in that new establishment. In the first 
volume of its transactions, he communicated a paper, entitled 
Considerations sur Meteorologie, et resultats @observations 

Suites a Geneve pendant Pannée 1778; and he also composed 
the preface to the second volume. 

In consequence of the ill health of M. De Saussure, M. 
Pictet had oecasionally supplied his place as professor of ~ 
natural philosophy ; but in 1786 this distinguished traveller, 


Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Pictet. 3 


worn out with labour, and threatened with a serious indispo- 
sition, resigned his chair in favour of our author. ‘This im- 
portant situation he held during the whole of his life; and 
from the clegance of his personal appearance, the agreeable- 
ness of his elocution, and his talent for perspicuous and ex- 
perimental illustration, he discharged its duties with the greatest 


success. 

‘This was the period of the renovation of Chemistry, whena 
few superior spirits, throwing off the trammels of ancient systems, 
gave a new impulse to physical inquiry. The gaseous sub- 
stances were discovered; water and air were decomposed ; 
minerals were reduced to their elements, and new fields of re- 
search were laid open to the ambition of the philosophic in- 
quirer. M. Pictet participated in the general ardour, and he 
published in 1791, his Hssai sur le Feu, a work which added 
greatly to his reputation, and became the ground-work of many 
celebrated inquiries. Here he demonstrated the reflection of 
radiant heat, and the apparent reflection of cold. He discovered 
many new facts respecting the passage of heat through 

bodies; and he determined the distribution of heat in the 
lower strata of the atmosphere, and at different times of 
the day andthe night. The lastof these experiments have led to 
the explanation of the phenomena of Dew; while the fornter con- 
ducted M. Prevost to his beautiful theory of the moveable 
equilibrium of heat, which, though assailed in this country * 
by shallow reasoning and vulgar abuse, is now adopted by 
every philosopher in Europe. 

When M. Pictet had thus laid the foundation of new and 
extensive researches, his career was interrupted by the poli- 
tical pestilence which had sprung up in Europe. The hor- 
rors of the French revolution were soon felt at Geneva, and 
this peaceful city was involved in all the calamities of faction 
and anarchy. ‘The position which M. Pictet took amid these 
disasters, was that of a patriot and a Christian. He strove 
to reconcile the contending parties. He exposed his own 
life in order to protect the magistracy from the fury of a 
.blmded populace; and he took up arms in defence of the 


* Supplement Encylopedia Britannica. Article Diw. 


4 Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Pictet. 


established government. When Geneva and all her sacred 
institutions became the prey of her sangumary assailants, M. 
Pictet did not abandon his fallen country. The spirit of the 
patriot rose in proportion as that of his country fell; and 
when his arm, and that of his fellow-citizens, was no longer 
able to smite or to save, he called forth all the gentleness of 
his nature to sooth the exasperated passions, and calm. the 
troubled spirits of his countrymen. Amid the violent arrests 
and the bloody scenes which marked the revolutionary crisis, 
the house of our author was respected as the asylum of science 
and of patriotism. 

During these convulsions, M. Pictet lost the whole of his 
fortune, and, by a series of distressing events, his income was 
reduced to the small honorarium of his professorship. This 
unexpected change of circumstances he sustained with the 
fortitude of a Christian. He introduced into his family the 
most severe economy, and attempted, as he then jocularly 
observed, to resolve the problem, of the least expence at which 
a man could live. 

When this political storm had begun to abate, Professor 
Pictet conceived, along with his brother Charles Pictet, and 
his friend F. G. Maurice, the plan of a periodical work, to be 
published in monthly numbers, under the title of Bibliotheque 
Britannique. The original object of this Journal, which com- 
menced in 1796, was to give an account of all the works, and 
of all the remarkable discoveries published in England, rela- 
tive to literature, science, medicine, and agriculture. This 
work soon attracted general attention ; and every exertion was 
made by the editors to sustain and extend the reputation it 
had acquired. By procuring, at a great expence, English 
journals, and works of all kinds; by giving spirited and faith- 
ful abstracts of them; and by liberal and candid accounts of 
all the new discoveries in science, this Journal has acquired a 
character, which we trust it will long retain. No jealousies 
mingled themselves with its criticisms ; no malevolent passions 
warped its opinions; no ignorant charlatan was allowed to 
administer in its pages. A sincere and a just spirit seemed to 
preside over its management ; and men of science of all coun- 
tries were delighted to find, that there existed at Geneva indivi- 


Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Piciet. oS) 


duals of high names, and profound knowledge, who appreciat- 
ed labours, which, in their own country, had been overlooked 
from ignorance, or persecuted from malignity. 

Such was the reputation of our author, that, on the 5th of 
May 1791, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of 
London ; * and he received the same honour from the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, on the 27th June 1796. 

When the republic of Geneva was united to France in 
1798, Professor Pictet was one of the fourteen citizens who 
were chosen to draw up the articles of this unequal contract ; 
and he succeeded in procuring for his countrymen full liberty 
of worship, the possession of their ancient patrimony, and the 
management of their own establishments. 

In the year 1801, Professor Pictet paid a visit to England, 
Scotland, and Ireland, where he spent three months examin- 
ing the state of the arts and sciences, which at that time was 
but little known to the rest of Europe. He gave a detailed 
account of this journey in a series of letters to his colleagues, 
which appeared in successive numbers of the Bibliotheque Bri- 
éannique, + and which were afterwards published in a separate 
volume. 

In the year 1802, Professor Pictet was appointed a tribune 
by the First Consul, and in 1803 he became one of the secre- 
taries to the Upper Body. Upon the suppression of the tri- 
bunate, he was nominated one of the five inspectors-in-chief 
of the Imperial University of France, a situation which was 
highly agreeable to him, and which he retained as long as 
Geneva was united to France. During his occasional resi- 
dence at Paris, which the duties of this office imposed upon 
him, he was named a member of the consistory of the reform- 
ed church. In this situation, he was enabled to promote the 
interests of the reformed church in Geneva, by bringing it in- 
to correspondence with that of France; and he afterwards 


* In the year 1791, Professor Pictet communicated to the Royal Society 
a paper, entitled, Considerations on the convenience of measuring an Arch 
of the Meridian, and of the Parallel of Longitudes, having the Observatory 
of Geneva for their common intersection, which was published in the Phi/. 
Trans. for 1791, vol. Ixxxi, p. 106. 

+ See Tom. xvii., xvili., xix., xx., and xxi. 


6 Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Pictet. 


added to this obligation, by his zeal and success in improving 
its psalmody and sacred music. 

In 1814, when the Imperial Government of France sunk 
under the efforts of the allied sovereigns, Professor Pictet was 
one of the first to hail the deliverance of his country. The 
writer of this notice had the happiness to see him a few months 
after this event in the midst of his family and his fellow citi- 
zens, and to witness the delight with which he looked forward 
to the renewal of his former relations with our happy island. 

The great changes which had now taken place in the rela- 
tive position of the European governments, induced our au- 
thor, in 1816, to give a new form to his Journal. He now 
adopted the title of Bibliotheque Universelle, under which he 
was enabled to give an account of the discoveries and produc- 
tions of every part of Europe. 

In the spring of 1818, Professor Pictet made a second tour 
to England and Scotland, with the view of placing his grand- 
son, M. C. Vernet, in Edinburgh. The writer of this notice 
was fortunate enough to meet him on this occasion in the 
scientific circles in London, and to accompany him, and the 
celebrated Baron Cuvier, to several of the public works and 
institutions of the metropolis. We accompanied him also in 
his journey to Edinburgh, and had numerous’ opportunities 
_ of witnessing the respect and affection with which he was every- 
where received. 

On his return to Geneva in 1818, he directed his attention 
to the various public institutions, of which he was always the 
leading and the most active member. He was the Genevese 
president of the Helvetic Society of the Natural Sciences, 
which was founded by M. Gosse, after the separation of Ge- 
neva from France; and, during two years, he was never ab- 
sent from any of its meetings. He was also the president 
of the Society of Arts at Geneva; and, im this situation, he. 
was brought into contact with the most eminent artists of that 
city, to whom he gave the most important assistance in per- 
fecting their inventions and improvements. 

Meteorology was one of the favourite studies of our author. 
He was the first who conceived the idea of instituting obser- 
vations on some of the highest mountains of Europe ; and, 


Biographical Memoir of Mark Augustus Pictet. 


several years ago, he established, at the convent of the Great 
St Bernard, a set of meteorological instruments, which have 
been used by the monks of that establishment, and the results 
of which are published every month in the Bibliotheque Uni- 
verselle. After visiting this convent, he was struck with the 
rigour of their lengthened winter, and the diseases to which 
it gave rise ; and, by setting on foot a subscription in different 
parts of Europe, he raised a sum, by which their convent was 
not only enlarged and repaired, but also warmed with stoves 
and pipes for conveying heated air. 

Some years afterwards, he formed the project of erecting a 
meteorological observatory upon Mount A’tna, as the most 
southern part of Europe. In order to have this scheme car- 
ried into effect, he set off for Sicily in 1820; but the political 
disturbances which then agitated Italy, rendered it prudent 
to spend the winter in Florence, where he waited in vain for 
a favourable opportunity to set out for Palermo. This dis- 
appointment, however, enabled him to visit the most eminent 
piilosophers in the north of Italy, with whom he made many 
interesting experiments, an account of which he has published 
in the Bibliotheque Universelle for 1821. * 

In the year 1822, in the 70th year of his age, Professor 

_Pictet assisted in the observations of the fire signals made 
upon Mont-Colombier above the Seyssel, and which, under 
the direction of M. Carlini, were employed to connect the 
observatory of Geneva with those of Milan and Paris. 

Towards the end of the year 1824, he began, for the first 
time, to feel the influence of age, His physical strength was no 
longer sufficient for the numerous duties which he had been 
in the habit of performing ; and, at this period, the death of 
his brother, to whom he was dearly attached, produced an 
effect upon his health from which he never recovered. He 
was seized with a violent disease, which baffled the skill of 
his physicians, and he died on the 19th April 1825, an the 
73d year of his age, and less than four months after the death 
of his brother. 

There perhaps never was a man who united, in such a 


* See Tom. xvi. p. 176, 286, and 296; and Tom, xvii. p. 25. 


8 Mr Weber on the Polarisation of Sound. 


remarkable degree, as Mr Pictet did, all the qualities which 
constitute perfection. Tall and handsome in his person, 
elegant in his manners, lively and gay in his conversation, he 
gained the affections of those who were unable to judge of his 
more solid acquirements. Those graces of his external na- 
ture, hdwever, served only as the ornaments of his intellectual 
and moral frame. He was acquainted with most of the living 
languages. He was a musician, an astronomer, a mineralo- 
gist, a natural philosopher, and ‘an elegant writer. Quick of 
apprehension, he did more in a day than others did in a week. 
He was at all times fit for labour, and, during fifty years of 
his life, he was the soul of all the improvements in the arts, in 
the schools, and in the philanthrophic establishments of his na- 
tive city. To these qualities he added those of the most un- 
affected piety, and of unbounded charity. He was a Christian 
in heart and in practice. The death of such a man must, in 
any country, be a public loss; but in a small community like 
Geneva it is irreparable ; and centuries may elapse before the 
high accomplishments and estimable qualities of M. Pictet 
are again united in the same individual. * 


Art. Il.—On the Polarisation of Sound, in @ different man- 
ner from that described by Mr Wheatstone. By W. 
Weser. + 


A pircHrire sourfds strongest when its broad side is turned 
to the ear, but the tone is nearly as strong when the pitchpipe 
is turned 90° round the axle of its handle, so that both the 
small sides of both branches become parallel to the shell of the 
ear, while it might be expected that the weakest undulations of 
sound would be conveyed to the ear by the vibration of these 
parallel-sided branches. These strong spreadings of the sound, 
in two directions, forming a right angle to each other, does not’ 
depend upon the form and position of the terminating planes 


* For the principal facts in this biographical sketch, we have been in- 
debted to the Eloge of M. Pictet, by M. Vaucher, in the Bib/. Univers. 
tom. XXix. p. 65. 

+ Translated from Schweigger’s Jahrbuch der Chemie und Physik, 
b. xvii. heft. I. 1826, p. 108. 


Mr Weber on the Polarisation of Sound. 9 


of the instrument. For, as in this case, the broad, as well 
as small sides of a common pitchpipe have smooth simple 
edges, as was the case with a triangular pitchpipe with which 
several experiments were made; the strength of the spreading 
of the tone shows itself by turning one of these edges to the 
ear in the same manner as when the side was turned into that 
position. 

On the contrary, the tone will be weaker, if the broad and 
small surfaces of the branches of an usual pitchpipe, having | 
carved edges, is directed to the ear; and, in a particular 
direction, (about the direction of the diagonal of a right angle 
which terminates the upper end of the branches,) the tone is 
extinguished altogether. This extinction of the tone, and the 
position in which it takes place, depends upon the relation be- 
tween the breadth and thickness of the branch, but it is inde- 
pendent of the form and position of the terminating sides of 
the branch, in the same manner as the appearance of the in- 
creased strength of the sound was independent of the two 
right-angled arrangements placed under each other. For 
when, in the place of the edge of the common pitchpipe, sides 
are presented similar to those in the triangular pitchpipe, the 
vanishing of the tone takes place when one of these sides is 
turned to the ear. 

In the same manner, the tone is heard when the two small 
right angles is turned to the ear, which terminate the end of 
the branch of the pitchpipe of the usual form. If we gradually 
turn the pitchpipe round one of these right-angled terminat- 
ing edges, as if round an axle, so that one lateral surface of the 
pitchpipe begins to turn to the ear, the tone becomes weaker, 
and, in a particular position, entirely vanishes—again reappears 
in continuing to turn, and reaches its greatest strength when the 
lateral surface is completely parallel with the shell of the ear. 
This appearance does not arise from the varying influence of 
the two turning branches ; since it takes place when one branch 


is entirely separated from the other branch, by being covered 
with a tube. 


10 ‘Mr Weber on the Polarisation of Sound. 


Table of the Changes of Position in which the Tone Vanishes, 
by changing the proportion of the breadth of the branch to 
its theckness. 


Angle of the Greatest 
Pitchpipe ’ : Position at Number Deviation 
which gives Breadth of | Thicknessof MDistanceof which the of Experi- of the Ex- 
thesound g- the Branches. the Branches. the Plates. Sound Va- ments. periments 
nishes. from the 
. *. . Mean. 
No. 1. 3.5 lines. 1.1 lines. 4.8 lines. 1444 8 Qi 
No. 2. 2.9 1.75 2.4 1393 8 4 
No. 3. 2.5 1.5 4.1 134 10 4 


With a pitchpipe whose branches were equilateral triangular 
prisms, the angle of the position in which the tone vanished, with 
the side of the pitchpipe parallel to its breadth, is 1243°, These 
facts will appear more distinct in following some experiments 
of the celebrated philosopher Dr Chladni. After this acecom- 
plished acoustician proved the truth of what has been already 
stated, he proceeds to call our attention to the propriety of de- 
nominating these experiments Polarisation of Sound, rather 
than Wheatstone’s Experiments; and devised this ingenious 
mode of satisfying with ease a whole assembly of these facts. 

As M. Savart first called our attention to the strengthening 
of sounds by the mere presence of any organ-pipes tuned to 
accord, and as, by means of Chladni’s instrument, in which iron 
rods gave the tone, much depended on the accurate tuning of. 
the rods, Chladni has likewise made use of this means of aug- 
menting the tone, by placing the vibrating rods over common 
small phials, which gave a tone by blowing on them. 

Instead of the organ-pipes, Chladni used common wide-bel- 
lied medicine glasses of one or two ounce capacity, and tunes. 
them, when, by blowmg on them, they gave a deeper tone 
than the pitchpipe, by pourimg water into them, (so as to 
lessen the air column in the glass exactly in the same manner 
as a closed organ-pipe is shortened,) so as to bring them into 
accord with the pitechpipe. As soon as this happens, the sound 
of the pitchpipe held over the glass becomes stronger. And 
if the pitchpipe, when struck, is now turned before the mouth 
of the small tuned ounce glass in a circle, (in the same manner 
as formerly before the ear,) the tone becomes four times 
stronger, and four times again vanishes, when it is, as formerly, 


placed in the diagonal position. 
L 


Mr Christie on the Magnetism of Iron in Rotation. 11 


‘This experiment may be equally well performed with closed 
glass rods, as, aecording to‘Chladni’s method, when tuned by 
water poured in; but the wide-bellied phials are most conve- 
nient. Moreover, it is easily seen, that, in this manner, the po- 
sition of the vanishing tone corresponds correctly enough with 
the established position of the pitchpipe, and the angle of po- 
larisation (if we may so express it) of the sound may be mea- 
sured with exactness. 

Perhaps the experiment corresponds with this, that a pitch- 
pipe quickly turned upon the axis of its handle ceases to give 
out its tone to the air, which again appears when the turning 


is suddenly stopped. 


Art. IIIl.—On the History of the Experiments on the Mag- 
netism exhibited by Iron in Rotation. By Samur, Hun- 
rER Curistir, Esq. M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; of the 
Royal Military Academy. In a Letter to the Epiror. 


Dear Sir, 


As the article in the last number of your valuable Journal, 
giving an account of some of Mr Barlow’s and my experiments 
* on the magnetism of iron as exhibited by rotation,” contains 
statements which tend to conyey very erroneous ideas respect- 
ing the discovery of the influence which the rotation of iron 
has on its magnetism, I feel that I cannot avoid making some 
remarks on that article, although it is with great repugnance 
that I notice circumstances connected with the subject. 

That there is a considerable inequality in the magnetism of 
different parts of a piece of sheet-iron, every one must have 
observed on bringing it near to a magnetised needle, and the me- 
thod adopted by Mr Barlow of combining two plates, so that 
the “‘ opposite qualities” should come in contact, 1s that which 
immediately suggests itself for counteracting this inequality of 
action; but I am at a loss to see any conneetion between Mr 
Barlow’s having so combined two plates, and the experiments 
in which I was engaged when I first discovered that the mag- 
netism of iron is affected by rotation. I am not aware of Mr 


12 Mr Christie on the Magnetism of Iron in Rotation. 


Barlow having made any experiments with an iron plate to 
which your correspondent could refer mine as a repetition or 
even extension; but as he very poitedly so refers them, I am 
under the necessity of giving an account of the only connection 
between any experiments of mine on the magnetism of soft 
iron, and those in which Mr Barlow had been engaged. In the 
spring of the year 1819,* Mr Barlow informed me that he had 
found there was_a plane passing through the centre of a sphere 
of iron, in which, if the centre of a el needle were 
any where placed, the iron would in no case cause deviation 
in the needle. He did not, however, at the time, state to me 
from what experiments he drew this conclusion, but wished to 
have my opinion on the cause of the existence of such a plane, 
and likewise that I should witness some of his experiments. 
Previously to my doing this, I pointed out the nature of the 
deviations of the needle that ought to take place in different 
positions of the iron sphere, according to a particular view 
which I had taken of the subject, and the result in all cases 
perfectly accorded with those which I had predicted. I was 
immediately afterwards induced to make an extensive series of 
experiments with an iron ball, in order to ascertain how far 
the peculiar views which I had taken were correct, but quite 
unconnected with Mr Barlow’s inquiry, which, at the time, 
was wholly practical. An account of these experiments is 
given in a paper in the first volume of the Transactions of the 
Cambridge Philosophical Society. In the first edition of his 
* Essay on Magnetic Attractions,” Mr Barlow has given a 
brief statement of my views of the subject at that time, and, 
by a reference to p. 113, you will see that, by adopting these 
views, Mr Barlow was then enabled to correct some of the laws 
which he had deduced. Your cerrespondent has thought pro- 
per to state, that I was adopting Mr Barlow’s views, by con- 
ceiving an ideal magnetic sphere to circumscribe the needle. 
By referring to p. 21 and p. 28, first edition, p. 23 and p.30, 


* It was at this time that Mr Barlow’s earliest experiments with an iron 
ball were made, and some time afterwards he proposed correcting the local 
attraction of a ship by means of an iron plate ; but the account of this me-. 
thod was not published until 1820, instead of 1818, as stated in your 


Journal, 


Mr Christie on the Magnetism of Tron in Rotation. 18 


second edition, ‘* Kssay on Magnetic Attractions,” you will 
find that Mr Barlow’s ideal sphere was in all cases described 
about the centre of the iron ball, and that it was only when he 
adopted the views which I had suggested respecting the de- 
viations of the dipping-needle being referred to the horizontal 
plane, and according to which views I required a magnetic 
sphere to be eountled about the needle, that he so ennaeiven 
it to be described. 

Shortly after making the experiments to which I have re- 
ferred, I had an instrument constructed, by means of which 
i avoided the preliminary laborious calculations for fixing the 
iron sphere and compass in required positions, but with this 
it became necessary to substitute a circular plate of iron’ for 
the heavy eighteen inch shell with which I had been previous- 
ly experimenting. With this instrument, I commenced a se- 
ries of experiments near the end of May 1821, and in endea- 
vouring so to adjust the iron plate that, when its centre was 
on the magnetic meridian, the needle should not deviate from 
that meridian, I almost immediately (1 think on the 4th June) 
discovered, that the simple rotation of iron had a considerable 
influence on its magnetic properties. I think your corre- 
spondent must allow nile this discovery, so made, was quite 
independent of any experiments by Mr Barlow. 

As I considered that the correction of the local Seerienign 
of a ship, by means of an iron plate, might be sensibly affected 
by the plate being turned in one direction or another, on apply- 
ing it to the compass, previously to the sailing of the Leven 
ind Baracouta in February 1822, these vessels being fur- 
nished with correcting plates, I communicated to Mr Barlow 
the discovery which I had made respecting the effects pro- 
duced on the needle by the rotation of an iron plate, and sug- 
gested that the pi on which the plate was to be applied to 
ae compass should be so formed that the plate could only be 
slid on. * At this time Mr Barlow witnessed several of my 


* The necessity of a precaution of this kind, under many circumstances, 
if not under all, has been fully proved during the late voyage of distovery. 
Lieutenant Foster very obligingly undertook to repeat my experiments on 
the effects of rotation, with the correcting plate of the Hecla, in the high 
magnetic latitudes which the expedition was likely to visit, and at Port Bow- 


14 Mr Christie on the Magnetism of Iron in Rotation. 


experiments, and I stated to him that, independently ‘of the 
deviation of the needle caused by the mass of iron, the devia- 
tions due to the rotation of the plate were very nearly the 
same in amount, as would arise from a polarizing of the iron 
m a direction perpendicular to the line of the dip. 

Although, before the end of the year 1822, I had written 
all but the theoretical part, at the conclusion of my paper, on 
this subject, which was read before the Royal Society last 
May, and printed in the T’ransactions, being engaged about 
that time with other experiments, and otherwise much occu- 
pied, I was obliged to defer finishing the paper for a consider- 
able time. In anote to a paper on the effects of temperature, 
on the intensity of magnetic forces, &c., read before the Royal 
Society in June 1824, and printed, I, however, stated, that 
I had discovered that a peculiar polarity was imparted to iron 
by simple rotation, and mentioned some of the effects produced 
by the rotation of aniron plate. It is, therefore, evident, that 
the publication of the discovery which I had made of the 
magnetical effects produced on iron by its rotation, took place 
at least nine months before we had any account of M. Arago’s 
experiments, and six months before Mr Barlow undertook his, 
on the effects produced by the rapid rotation of iron. No 
one, you may be assured, is more disposed than myself to give 
to Mr Barlow all the credit which is due for his observations ; 
but as he had, for nearly three years previous to making his 
experiments, been in possession of the facts which I had al- 
ready observed, and found that the effects he observed were 
explicable on the same principle of polarization, which I had 
then pointed out, I think that his experiments must be allow- 
ed to be simply a variation of my original ones, whatever im- 
portance may be attached to such a variation of the experi- 
ment, and that I may justly lay claim to the discovery, that 
rotation has a considerable influence on magnetism, at least 


en, where the dip is more than 88°, he found that, in one position of the 
plate, its rotation in opposite directions caused a difference of no less than 
108° in the directions of the needle in the two cases, the same point, after 
rotation, being brought to coincide with a fixed mark in both. This was 
all extreme case, but several of the deviations due to the rotation of the 
correcting plate amounted to 30° or 40°. 


Mr Christie on the Magnetism of Iron in Rotation. 15 


as far as iron is concerned. It is certainly very unpleasant to 
my feelings to make this statement; but as you have, very er- 
roneously I have no doubt, stated in your Journal that it was 
for his ‘* discoveries respeeting the effects of rotation on the 
magnetic forces,” * that the Copley medal was adjudged to 
Mr Barlow, you must allow that I am called upon to do so in 
justice towards myself. 

As it was considered that Mr Barlow’s experiments natu- 
rally arose out of those which I had so long before communi- _ 
cated to him, it was agreed between us, that his paper should 
not be presented to the Royal Society till after mine; and 
your correspondent is perfectly correct in stating, that the 
publication of Mr Barlow’s was, in consequence, delayed un- 
til May, although I must acknowledge I am at a loss to con- 
jecture whence he derived his information. Although this 
arrangement was rendered nugatory by Mr Barlow’s publish- 
ing an account of his experiments in the Edinburgh Philoso- 
phical Journal for July last, I feel fully convinced that it 
must have entirely proceeded from an oversight, that he al- 
lowed the publication to take place so long before the appear- 
ance of the paper in which these experiments are detailed 
in the Transactions of the Royal Society; and I likewise am 
persuaded, that he could have no intention of laying claim to 
the discovery of the influence which rotation has on the mag- 
netism of iron,—although this early publication of his experi- 
ments, without the most distant reference to mine, has cer- 
tainly such an appearance. 

You will easily imagine, that, to enter into the preceding 
detail, must have been extremely repugnant to my feelings ; 


’ ® The Editor must take to himself the whole blame of any error in 
this notice. As the Copley medal was always understood to be ad- 
judged for the best paper in the 7ansactions during the year, and as Mr 
Barlow’s paper on the magnetism of rotation, was the only one he publish- 
ed in the Transactions for 1825, we never doubted that the Copley medal 
was given for the discoveries contained in that paper. This idea was con- 
firmed by the adjudication of another medal to M. Arago, which led to 
the belief that these two gentlemen thus divided the honour which at- 
tached to the discovery of the influence of rotation on the magnetic forces. 
Mr Barlow’s discovery of the neutralizing plate, having been made long 
ago, we never supposed that the medal had any reference to it.—Ep. 


16 Dr Knox on the size of the Teeth in Sharks. 


but, at the same time, you will see that I could not avoid it, 
without a great sacrifice of proper feeling on such a subject. 
As you have, on all occasions, shown a laudable desire cor- 
rectly to adjust such questions, you will, I trust, excuse me 
for troubling you with so much on this subject, and for re- 
questing that you will occupy a portion of your valuable 
Journal, by giving the earliest insertion to these remarks, in. 
order that the effects of inaccuracies of statement may be as 
speedily as possible counteracted. I am, 


Dear Sir, yours very sincerely, 


Royayt Minirary AcapEemy, S. H. Cureistre. 
Vth February 1826. 


Art. 1V.—Observations on the size of the Teeth in Sharks, 
compared with the Fossil Teeth of an animal analogous to 
the present Shark, and described by Messrs Lacepede and 
Faujas St Fond, in the “ Annales de Museum.” By Ro- 
bert Knox, M.D. F.R.S. E., &c. Communicated by the 
Author. 


Tnx fossil tooth of a Shark discovered at Dax, by Mr de 
Borda, was examined by the Count Lacepede, and found to. 
measure three inches and three lines in length from the base, 
and three inches in breadth. A comparison of this tooth, with 
others belonging to the common Squaluss Carchariu of Linné, 
led this distinguished naturalist to conclude, * that, in the 
former world, previous to the era of a deluge, there must 
have existed sharks seventy-nine feet in length. Faujas St 
Fond adopted these measurements of Lacepede in the deter- 
mination of the probable length of a shark, a tooth of which, 
in a fossil state, was brought to him from the quarries of 
Montrouge, in the environs of Paris, and he concluded, 
(Annal. de Mus. t. ii. p. 107,) that the animal to which the 


tooth belonged must have been about fifty feet in length, at 
the least. 


The memoir of Mr F. St Fond is accompanied with a - 


* Tom, 1. p. 205. 


Dr Knox on the size of the Teeth of Sharks. 17. 


drawing of the tooth, and its various measurements, which 
are as follows: a 


. Dimensions of the Fossil Tooth. | 


The greatest breadth of the part covered with ena- In. Lines. 
mel, measured towards the base, is, - - 2 6 
The length measured on the enamel of the concave 
part of the tooth, . - = . 2 3 
Length measured on the convex face, - : 2 3 


The jaws of a shark killed on the coast of Africa were 
presented to me by a friend ; he, at the same time, informed 
me, that the animal from which these were taken measured 
twenty-seven feet. Now, the dimensions of these teeth are 
as follows : 


In. Lines 
Greatest breadth as above, - - = = 1 64 
Length of the sides, ~ = = 2 s 2 4 
Length of the centre, - < = 1 Sy 


I have found it difficult to calculate exactly the difference 
in length and breadth of these teeth, nor do I deem any nice 
admeasurements of much moment, for I think it evident that 
we cannot determine, with any precision, the dimensions of a 
fossil animal, by instituting a comparison between its teeth 
and those of similar species now existing. But, considering the 
tooth described by M. Faujas St Fond, as being ¢ of an inch 
longer, which is the case only in certain of its dimensions, we 
should have, for the length of the animal to which it belong- 
ed, about thirty feet, instead of fifty. 

In this way the fifty feet shark of St Fond may probably 
be reduced to thirty, and the seventy-nine feet shark of La- 
cepede to forty-three ; dimensions sufficiently large, it is true, 
to affect us with astonishment. It would be rash, however, 
to conclude, that because sharks approaching antediluvian 
dimensions are but seldom found in the present day, it there- 
fore follows, that even they have partaken of the universal di- 
minution in the size and bulk of all postdiluvian animals,—for 
we know that sharks, in those days, had at least one ene- 
my less than at present, viz.. man, the common enemy to all 
that lives. ; 

VOL. V. NO. I. JULY 1826. B 


iS Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer kept 


Art. V.—Results of the Thermometrical Observations made 
at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day and Night, during 
the whole of the Years 1824 and 1825. By Davip BrewsrTER, 
LL. D. F. R. 8. Lond. & Sec. R. S$. Ed. Corresponding 
Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, &e. * 


Iw the year 1820, I had occasion to suggest to the Royal So- 
ciety the propriety of establishing registers of the thermo- 
meter in various parts of Scotland. 

In a country embracing so many varieties of soil, climate, 
and elevation, and extending over nearly six degrees of lati- 
tude, it was an object worthy of a public body to determine 
the law of the distribution of temperature, even if such a sub- 
ject had not possessed a separate interest in relation to the 
horticulture and agriculture of the country. The society did 
not hesitate in adopting this suggestion ; and many intelligent 
individuals were found, who undertook to observe the ther- 
mometer twice a-day, and to measure occasionally the tem- 
perature of springs and wells. During the first year, viz. 
1821, nearly sixty Meteorological Journals were regularly kept 
in different parts of Scotland. The number diminished con- 
siderably in subsequent years; but, notwithstanding this di- 
minution, there is now in our possession a rich series of obser- 
vations during jive complete years, the results of which are 
nearly ready to be submitted to the Society. 

In directing these observations, it became necessary to se- 
lect two hours of the day most convenient for marking the 
state of the thermometer, and the mean temperature of which 
approached nearest to the mean temperature of the day. 
The hours adopted were 10 o’clock a. m., and 10 Pp. m., 
which had been previously recommended by the Reverend 
Mr Gordon. ‘The observations were accordingly made at 
these hours, during three years; but it appeared to me, upon. 
a more attentive consideration of the subject, that the ther- 
mometer should be observed at the two times of the day at 

* The following paper is a brief abstract of the original memoir read to 
the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 23d January 1826, which is illus- 


trated with five Plates, and will appear in vol. x. Part ii. of the Edinburgh 
Transactions. 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825. 19 


which the mean temperature occurred ; for if one of the ob- 
servations was omitted, the other still possessed considerable 
value, as an approximation to the mean temperature. Un- 
fortunately, however, there were almost no observations in 
existence from which the times of the daily mean temperature 
could be deduced. Professor Dewey of New York had ob- 
served the thermometer once every hour, during five days at 
a time, in the months of March, April, July, and October, of 
the year 1816, and during eight days of January, and two of 
February, in the year 1817; * and Mr Coldstream of Leith 
registered the temperature of twenty-four successive hours 
once every month, from July 1822 to July 1823. From this 
last series of observations, the mean temperature appeared to 
occur at half-past seven o’clock in the morning, and _half-past 
eight in the evening ; and these hours were accordingly used 
in most of the registers for 1824 and 1825. It was very ob- 
vious, however, that these observations, though made with 
great care, were too limited to afford an accurate result ; and 
hence it became desirable to record the indications of the thers 
mometer for every hour of a complete year. 

As such a plan could only be carried on with effect at a 
military station, Leith Fort was considered the most eligible. 
Application was, therefore, made to Colonel Thackeray, com- 
manding the engineers, and to Colonel Younghusband and 
Mr Street, of the artillery ; and, as these gentlemen entered 
warmly into the scheme, preparations were made to begin the 
register on the Ist of January 1824. A large and accurate 
thermometer was constructed by Mr Adie for the purpose, 
and it was placed in a situation as free as possible from all 
disturbing causes. Its height above the level of the sea is 
twenty-five feet, and its distance from the sea 200 yards. 

The register commenced on the Ist day of January 1824, and 
has been regularly and zealously carried on by the non-com- 
missioned officers of the Fort for two complete years. 

In reducing these observations, Mr Foggo junior of Leith 
computed all the hourly, monthly, and annual means for the 
year 1824, and Mr C. Bell made the same calculations for 
1825. These mean results are given in the following Tables : 


* Mem. American Acad. of Arts and Sciences, vol. iv. Part ii. p. 392 


20 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer kept 


HOURLY REGISTER FOR 1824. 


The Mean Temperature of the Winter months, viz. Dec. Jan. Fahr. 

Feb. is - - - - - 40°.67 
The Mean Temperature of the Spring months, viz. March, 

April, May, - ~ - - ” 45 .38_ 
The Mean Temperature of the Summer months, viz. June, 

July, Aug. - - - - . 57 .24 
The Mean Temperature of the Autumn months, viz. Sept.. 

Oct. Nov. ¢ - = 


= = - - ~ AT OL 


The Mean Temperature of the Year 1824, from 8784 obser- 
vations, is - ~ - ° AT°.81 


TABLE !.—Containing the Daily and Monthly Mean Temperatures 
for 1824. 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
oy 


Means, } 41.599 |40.83/40.12]45.79|50.24155.65]59.46156.62|54.57 |47.23141.94| 39.57 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825. 21 


‘ HOURLY REGISTER FOR 1824. 


TABLE II.—Showing the Mean Temperature of each hour for each Month of 
; 1824, and for the whole Year. 


=r) 


Mean Temp. o 


il.|™ - ", o 2 i . |] each hour for 
Feb. | Mar.|April | May. |\June.|July. |Aug,| Sept. | Oct. | Nov-| Dec Lie praek 


r. | Jan. 


46.17/40.4 |38.69 45.62 
46-17/40.4 138.71 45.40 


M.J41.19/39,9 |38.3 |42.63)46.56|52.6|55.4 |53.3|52.3 
[40.8 |40.03/38-3 141.6 |46.03]52.3155.2 |53.2|52.1 


.-.|41.26/40.03)/38.8 |44.6 
./41.12/39.9 |38.: -l |47.8 |53.2|56.9 
.140.92)39.9 138.3 


---[40.8 |39.95/38-07]41.00/45.3 |52.1]55.1 |52.9/51.4 |46 07/40.5 139.0 45.18 
oo-/4.0.28/39.68]37.9 |40.08/44.7 ]51.8/54.9 152.5]51-1 |4G-2 |40.47/38.9 44.93 
--|40.07/39.62137-65/39.8 [44.9 }51.8]55.2 |52.7]51.2 |45.6 |40.45/38.8 44.82 
+»/40.! 139.44/37.45/39.9 45.7 152.7155.8 |53.3/51.6 |44.8 |40.50/38.9 45.00 
-.|40.23)39.27/37.77/42.2 |46.9 |53.1156.9 |54.5]52.1 |45 3 |40.7 [38.8 45.64 
--|40.3 |39.02/38.3 ]43.1 |48.3 |54.3/58.2 |[55:5/53.4 145.9 140.8 138.8 46.32 
-|40.64139.93/39.13/45.9 |49.8 [55.2159 7 156.8]55.0 [46.6 [41.3 |39.0 47.41 
-f41.15)40.74139.47)47.3 [51.1 |56.2/60.56)57.9|55.6 47.5 [42.1 139.3 48.24 
-» (41.54)41.35/41.13/48.2 152.3 [57.3/61.5 |58.7|56.5 |48.5 |43.1 [40.4 4.9.21 
[42.3 |42.22/42.23148.9 153.3 |57.8/63.2 159.5]57.5 [49.3 143-9 |41.0 50.09 
M./42.83/42.7 [42.7 149.3 |54.2 |58.0163.2 |59.8|58.5 |49.9 [44-2 ]41.2 50.45 
.-.J43.15]42.7 [42.8 |49.8 [54.7 |58.9163.2 |60.0/58.7 |49.9 |44-7 [40.9 50.79 
+-/43.18)42.67/42.9 150.1 [54.7 159.9163.5 |60.0]58 8 |49.6 |44-7 |40.33 50.89 
o02(43.00/42.03]42.6 ]49.9 [54.7 [59.1]63.6 |60.1]57.8 |49.07|43-4 139.9 50.43 
-/42.22)41.4 |41.9 [49.5 [54.1 [58.7/63.4 159.7157.8 |48.4 [42-8 [39.72 4.9.97 
--{41.98/40.9 [41.07)49.1 [53.2 157.7/62.6 |59.1157-0 |47.9 |42-4 139.52 49.38 
.|41.7 |40.53]/40.2 |47.8 152.4 [56.9/61.7 158.0]55.8 |47.2 [42-1 (39.19 48.64 
..|41.35/40.2 |39.6 |46.5 [50.9 |55.7/60,.3 |56.8]55-07/46-73/41-7 139.00 47.90 
».|41.3 |40.2 |39.2 |45.3 [49.4 ]54.5158.9 [55.9]54-3 [46.7 [41-3 [39.09] - 47.17 
55.0]8 
54.3 
53.8 


39.29 


52.7'56.03 


‘he Mean Temperature obtained from the last column in the above 
jle, is 47°588. It occurred at 9" 13’ a.m. and at 8" 26’ v. x. 


22 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer kept 


HOURLY REGISTER FOR 1825. 
The Mean Temperature of the Winter months, viz. Dec. Jan. Fahr. 


Feb. is - = - =- = 4.0°.312 
The Mean Temperature of the Spring months, viz. March, April, 

May, - - - - - 46 .121 
The Mean Temperature of the Summer months, viz. June, July, 

Aug. - = - - - 59 .306 
The Mean Temperature of the Autumn months, viz. Sept. Oct. 

Nov. - - - = - 49 .907 


The Mean Temperature of the year 1825, from 8789 observa- — 
tions, is - - - . - —48°.911 


TABLE Il].—Containing the Daily and Monthly Mean Tempera- 
tures for 1825. 


March.| April.| May. | June. | July. | Aug. | Sept. 


31 |39.78 |42.38 |44.71 156.88 155.50 |63.77 |60.40 
39.83 |41.81 [37.29 |45.89 |46.09 [58.41 [57.81 |63.56 [59,19 
36.13 |47-46 [49.14 153.61 |58.54 |63.27 |59.30 
37.35 |28.72 |36.20 |49.74 [52.73 [50.52 [59.56 [59.60 |57.07 
36.50 154-18 |48.69 |49.43 |58.66 [59.71 155.39 |: 
38.94 |47.26 152.59 152.35 159.24 158.21 [55.99 
39.55 |49.86 |53.19 |58.30 |58.09 |59.06 [58.79 
44.20 152.11 [54.63 157.46 157.05 ]59.88 [55.45 
52,46 |47.04 [54.27 [54.24 156.05 157.71 158.30 |: 
52.48 |48.55 |50.77 [59.59 155.25 |59.37 |60.26 
44.97 |50.13 |48.32 165.67 |56.26 |57.34 158.21 
44.18 141.03 |48.75 162.71 |61.09 |56:41 |60.55 |: 
43 41 140.79 |47.50 159.09 |65.45 |59.74 [56.27 
37.83 |48.62 |48.91 |60.14 |69.94 156.78 156.30 
36.40 |52.50 [49.74 [58.85 |65.51 157.91 156.79 
36.04 150.49 149.05 |63.52 166.77 |56.88 61.21 
36.75 |45.06 [51.95 |60.51 |69.63 |57-17 |62.40 
39.07 |40.54 153.55 158.45 166.63 |59.01 |62.59 
3.31 |42.30 |53.41 152.46 |62.23 159.07 160.95 
40.58 150.49 [50.41 152.70 |60.02 |65.40 159.87 
39.78 |53.04 |49.01 52.09 [59.07 164.35 |60.34 
12.55 |46.81 |52.14 |53.16 |59.83 |60.41 |54.95 
40.61 |42.76 |50-48 |57.68 [56.63 |65.44 [49.44 
38.12 |42.37 146.01 [57.59 157-10 |57.88 |63.49 
42.03 1492.80 |45.60 |57.14 |63.29 |58.04 |62.16 
12.81 |45.28 |48.55 152.44 161.01 157.23 156.29 
48.70 |45.88 |47.02 154.35 |64.94 |58.45 |56.59 
45.39 147.35 [45.18 154.70 |60.22 |59.21 |53.00 


99 6(|43.88 AT.A7 147.88 |47.96 155.95 |61.05 |61.92 [55.45 
39 «+|47.62 44.78 |48.51 |50.17 [55.05 |68.53 165.35 |54.66 
31 [42.93 42.29 52.74 68.20 |65.72 


ee 


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Mean 
seats} 40.583) 40.412}41.610]46.968/49.785]56.53 1/61.262|6U.125|58.055]51.223|40.443|39.: 
month 


a ——————————————————— 


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“nad aj0yM ay} Lof pun “ERY Uy YRUOHWT Yona Lof anozy yona fo aangvsadway, unayy ey) Fumoygy— AT VILV L 


24 Dr Brewster on the Register of the- Thermometer kept 


The following are the Mean Monthly Results for 1824 and 1825. 


January, 41°.091 August, 58°.372 
February, 40 .621 September, 56 .312 
March, 40 .865 October, 49 .226 
April, 46 .379 November, 41 .191 
‘May, 50 .012 December, 39 .775 
June, 56 .O91 

July, 60 .361 Mean of the year, 48 .360 


The following Table shows the Mean Temperature of each hour ef the day 
for 1824, 1825, each result being the mean of 730 observations. 


Hours. Mean Temp- Hours. Mean Temp. 
1 a. M. 46°.13 4 1 P.M, 51°.149 
2 45 .933 2 51 470 
3 45 .689 3 51 .532 
+ 45 449 4. 51 .239 
5 45 .394 5 50 .872 
6 45 .653 6 50 .294 
7 46 .283 ef 49 544 
8 47 .029 8 48 .624 
9 48 .055 Y 47 .829 

10 49 .012 10 AT .276 
11 49 .950 il 46 .803 
12 50.777 12 46 .398 


Having given, in the preceding tables, the principal nu- 
merical results of the hourly Register for 1824 and 1825, we 
shall now proceed to consider some of the most important 
conclusions which may be deduced from them. 


I. On the Form and Character of the Annual and Monthly 
Daily Curve, or the Daily Progression of Temperature. 


The daily curve for 1824 is projected in Plate V. Fig. 27. 
of last Volume, from the numbers in the last column of 
Table II., and forms the lowest curve. The point of the 
curve for each of the 24 hours is the mean of 365 observa- 
tions. The temperature is lowest between 4 and 5 o’clock 
in the morning; it then increases with great regularity till 
3 o'clock in the afternoon, when it descends till it reaches its 
minimum at 5 o’clock in the morning. The period during 
which it performs its ascending motion is 9" 40/, and the pe- 


1 
se 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825, 25 


riod of its descending motion is 14" 20’; the heat of the day, 
therefore, advances with more rapidity than the cold of the 
night. 

The daily curve of 1825 is projected in a similar manner 
in Plate V., Fig. 27, from the last column of Table IV., and 
forms the upper curve of the plate. Each point of it is the 
mean of 365 observations. Its resemblance and general pa- 
rallelism to that of 1824, cannot fail to strike the reader, and 
proves how nearly these observations have conducted us to . 
the form of the daily curve. 

The intermediate curve, which is laid down from the last 
column of Table VI., and is the mean of the two curves, is 
nearly free from the very slight imequalities in the afternoon 
branch of both curves, and may be considered as representing, 
with great accuracy, the mean annual daily curve for the la- 
titude of Leith, and at the level of the sea. 

In order to observe the variation in the form of the daily 
curve in different seasons, J have given, in several plates, their 
projections for every month in 1824 and 1825, and the mean 
of the monthly curves in 1824 and 1825; but we must refer 
for these plates to the original memoir. 

By taking the means of the six Summer months, from April 
to September inclusive, and of the six Winter months, from 
October to March inclusive, and projecting them-in the usual 
manner, we obtaim an accurate type of the daily progression 
of temperature in Summer and Winter, each point of each 
curve being the mean of about 180 observations. 

The summer curve descends regularly from midnight till 
4o’clock in the morning, when the coldest time of the da 
occurs, and it ascends with great regularity till 3 o'clock, 
when it. commences a very ad descent to its minimum, 
the total mean range being about 8°.61. 

The winter curve, on the contrary, has a gentle rise from 
la.m. till 2 a.m. It then descends till 6, when it com- 
mences its ascent, reaches its maximum at 2, and again de- 
scends, but more slowly than it rose, the greatest difference of 
temperature being about 3°86. 

The difference of character in the curves of April sa Oc- 
tober deserves to be noticed. Although these months are 


26 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer Kept 


considered as giving nearly the mean of the year, and there- 
fore as resembling each other in temperature, yet there is a 
singular difference in the mode of its distribution. In Octo- 
ber the mornings and evenings are comparatively warm, while 
in April these times of the day are remarkably cold. April, 
in short, unites the low temperature of a winter month with 
the great range of a summer month ; while October unites 
the temperature of a summer month with the low range of a 
winter one. 


II. On the Determination of the two times of the Day when 
the Mean Temperature occurs. 


T am not aware of any observations made in our climate, 
by which the hours, when the mean temperature of the day 
occurs, could be determined. It has generally been believed 
that it occurs at 8 o'clock in the morning; and Professor 
Playfair not only considers this as nearly the hour of mean 
temperature for Edinburgh, but he regards the maximum as 
occurring ‘ from 1 to half-past 2, or even 3 o’clock ;” and. 
upon these principles he has selected his three periods, viz. 
8 a. M., the time of maximum, and 10 o'clock pr. . 

It appears, however, from ables II. and IV., that the 
mean temperature of the 24. hours occurs at the following 


times : 
H. ’ ; ia 
1824, 9 3 ASM. 326 2: M- 
1825, 913 8 28 
Mean of two years, 9 13 8 27 


This very extraordinary agreement between the results of 
1824 and 1825, shows how nearly we have approximated to 
the true form of the daily curve, and how much confidence 
may be placed in the general result. The following may 
therefore be regarded as the leading points of the annual daily 
curve. 


H. 
Time of Minimum Temperature, a little before 5 0 A.M. 
Time of the Morning Mean Temperature, - 9 13 A.M. 
Time of Maximum Temperature, ~ - - 240 P.M. 
Time of Evening Mean Temperature, ats) ae - 8 27 Pp. M. 


Interval between Minimum and following Maximum, 9 40 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825. 27 


BY. 
Interval between Maximum and following Minimum, 14 20 
Interval between Morning and Evening Mean, - Il 14 
Interval between Minimum and Morning Mean, - 4 13 


Interval between Evening Mean and following Minimum, 8 33 


The determination of the exact times of mean temperature 
throughout the year, furnishes us with the two best times of the 
day for recording the indications of the thermometer. ‘These 
times are obviously 9" 13’ a. m. and 8" 27’ pv. m. ; for if any of 
the observations is accidentally omitted at one of the hours, 
the mean of the remainder will approach nearer to the mean 
temperature of the year, than if any other two hours had been 
taken, and similar omissions made. 

There is, however, another advantage of this determination, 
namely, that the mean temperature of the year may be ob- 
tained with great accuracy by a single observation made every 
day at one of the times of mean temperature. 

If we examine the annual curve, and also the monthly curve, 
it will be seen, that the ascending or morning branch is more 
regular in its progression than the descending or evening 
branch. On this account, we would prefer a single observation 
every day, made at the time of the morning mean, to a single 
observation made every day at the time of the evening mean. 

It must be carefully observed, that the hours of mean tem- 
perature which we have now been considering, are only mean 
results for the whole year. If we wished to deduce the mean 
monthly temperatures from an observation made once a-day, 
it would not answer to take 95 13’ a. m. and 8" Q7’ p. m. ; be- 
cause the times of mean monthly temperature occur at dif- 
ferent hours of the day throughout the year, as will appear 
from the following table: 


Mean of 1824 & 1825. Mean of 1824 & 1825. 
A. Me P. M. A. M. r. M. 
Hey Her! He 7 me? 
January, 10 34 6 57 July, 8 55 8 40 
February, 10 2 6 56 August, 9 0 8 19 
March, 10 lo 8 8 September, 8 52 8 18 
April, G4 8 26 October, 9 25 6 48 
May, 9 14 8 40 November, 9 39 7 Al 
June, 9.7 8 24 December, 9 56 6 15 


28 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer kept 


III. On the relation between the Mean Temperature of the 
24 hours, and that of any ip 8 hour, or any similar pair 


of hours, Sc. 


It was long the practice of meteorologists to observe the 
thermometer three times a-day, on the supposition that the 
mean of these three observations gave the mean temperature 
of the 24 hours. Observations of this kind are still continued 
in many parts of Europe. To the following short table of 
some of these, I have added the deviations from the mean tem- 
perature, as computed from the results of the preceding tables : 


Deviation from 
Morning. Afternoon. Night. Mean Temp. of day. 


Edinburgh, 8" Maximum. 10° +0°.346 Professor Playfair. 
Williamstown, 7 2 9 +0.510 Professor Dewey. 
8 1 6 +1 .225 Proposed by the Phil. 
Soc. of New: York. 
As three observations made every day, are not convenient 
for many meteorologists, who are engaged in professional pur- 
suits during the day, it became desirable to select those two 
hours, the mean of whose temperatures approached nearest to 
that of the whole day. The following times have been used 
in this country, and many of them give results that differ very 
considerably from the mean temperature of the 24 hours : 


Deviation from Mean 


Morning. Afternoon. Temp. of Day. 
Hawkhill, - 8 2 +0°.982 
Gordon Castle, - 8 2 +0 .982 
Kinfauns, - 3 10 —1 .114 
Ditto, - 10 10 —0 .122 
Leadhills, = 6 1 —0 .134 
Isle of Man, - 9 11 —0 .835 
Royal Society, London, 9 33 4+1 .453 
_————— Mw) 3 +1 .526 
) 23 tle lL 
os 8h 3 +1 .273 
SS SSS SS 83 2h +1 .258 
— 8 3 OLS 
———$—— 8 2 +0 .982 
a arena 7 3 +0 .641 
——S 7 2 +0 .610 
Royal Society, Edinburgh, 10 10 —0 .120 
— SS ves St —0 .805 


AG 


ee eee 93 


0 .000 


= 
i 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825. 29 


I have given these examples principally with the view of 
showing the application of the results of the hourly register, 
and not with the design of contrasting the hours employed by 
different observers ; for it yet remains to be determined how 
far the form and dimensions of the daily curve, as determined 
for Leith, are applicable to places in different latitudes, and 
situated at different heights above the sea. At Paris, for ex- 
ample, the mean temperature of the day occurs before 9 
o'clock in the morning; at ‘'weedsmuir in Scotland, 1300 
feet above the sea, it happens before 73" a. m., and at Salem 
Massachussets, before 8 o’clock a. M.; but it must be remark- 
ed, that the observations at 9 o'clock, and at 73" and 8", are 
compared with a calculated mean temperature, and not with 
the mean temperature of the whole 24 hours. 

It is curious to remark, that, with the exception of the 
hours of 10 a. m., and 10 Pp. m., no similar pair of hours has 
been used by meteorologists. The following table will show 
how nearly at Leith the mean of every similar pair of hours 
approaches to the mean temperature of the day. 


TABLE, showing the Difference between the Mean Temperature of 
every similar pair of hours, and that of the Day. 


Hours. 1824, 1825. Mean. 
5 A. M. 5 P.M. — 0.193 — 0.073 — 0.133 
6 6 — 0.398 — 0.187 — 0.293 
7 7 — 0.448 — 0.256 — 0.353 
8 8 — 0.478 — 0.401 — 0.440 
9 9 — 0-298 — 0.350 — 0.324 
10 10 — 0.148 — 0.096 — 0.122 
11 11 + 0.117 + 0.105 + 0.111 
12 12 + 0.352 + 0.286 + 0-319 
1 1 + 0.447 + 0.301 aOsoto 
Q 2 + 0.507 + 0.364 + 0.435 
3 3 + 0.447 + 0.242 + 0.344 
A. 4 + 0.092 + 0.065 + 0.078 


In some instances, meteorological registers have been kept, 
in which the thermometer has been observed only once a-day. 
‘These registers may now be rendered useful, by means of the 
following table, which shows the relation between the mean. 
temperature of each hour, and that of the whole day. 


~ 


30 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer kept 


Difference between the Mean Temperature of each Hour and that of 
the Day, for 1824 and 1825. 


tA. 'M, — 2.133 lP.M. + 2.882 
2 — 2.334 2 + 3.203 
g — 2.578 3 + 3.265 
4 — 2.818 4 + 2.972 
5 — 2.873 5 + 2.605 
6 — 2.613 6 + 2.027 
7 — 1.983 rf + 1.277 
8 — 1.238 8 + 0.357 
9 — 0.212 9 — 0.438 
10 + 0.745 10 — 0.990 
1l + 1.683 11 — 1.463 
12 + 2.510 12 — 1.868 


From this table, it appears, that the mean annual tempera- 
ture of any hour of the day never differs more than 3°} from 
the mean temperature of the day for the whole year. 

In order to obtain the mean temperature of the year from 
a register which contains observations made once every day, 
we have only to correct the mean temperature which the 
register gives, by applying, according to its sign, the correc- 
tion opposite to the given hour. In place of taking the mean 
of the two years, it might be preferable to take the results for 
1824, in cold years, and those for 1825, in warm years. 


IV. On the average Daily Range for each Month. 


In a climate so variable as that of Scotland, the daily range 
of the thermometer is often very great, both in winter and in 
summer; but the average daily range which we propose now 
to notice, is the measure of the daily change of temperature 
for each month, and will, of course, bear some relation to the 
sun’s declination, as appears from the following table. 


Mean of 1824 & 1825. Mean of 1824 & 1825. 
aoe Sar 7a S Tar) 
Hour of Hourof Daily Hour of Hourof Daily 
Min. Max. Range. Min. Max. Range. 
H. H. H H. 

January, 6 3 2°.662 August, 4 4. 7°.591 
February, 6 3 3.570 September, 5 g 8 .O41 
March, 6 3 6 .152 October, 6 2 4 .876 
April, 5 3 10.629 November, 2 3 4.154 
May, 4 4 8.577 December, 5 FB os U5) 

June, 4. 3 8 .263 Be ee 
July, 4 5 9 .673 Whole year, 5 3 6°.138 


+ 


at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day, in 1824 and 1825. 3) 


V. On the Parabolic form of the different branches of the Mean 
annual Daily Curve. 


Before concluding this Report, I was desirous of ascertain- 
ing if the different branches of the daily curve had a resem- 
blance to any known curve. Their similarity to the parabo- 
la is very obvious, from Fig. l. of Plate I., where they are 
distinctly projected ; and I therefore calculated the following 
table, upon the supposition that AB, BC, CD, and DE, 
were parabolic branches of the following dimensions : 


AH 


Branch AB, Ordinate, 
Abscissa, 


Branch BC, Ordinate, 
Abscissa, 


Branch CD, Ordinate, 
Abscissa, 


Branch DE, Ordinate, 
Abscissa, 


jection is equal to one hour. 


Hours. Difference. 
H. 
(SRY Mid ae. 0°.000 
9 ‘ +0 -075 
10 +0 .039 
lt +0 .003 
12 —0 .024 
1 A: M. —0 .113 


2 —0 .186 
3 —0 .138 
4 —0 .016 
5 0 .000 
6 
7 


BH 


CH 
BH 


CG 
DG 


Il Il 


EG = 
DG = 
The ordinates 513 + 253 +- 347 + 327 are = 1440’ = 24 
hours; and the abscissa BH = 2°.872, and DG = 3°.266, 
when reduced to the same scale as that of the ordinates, be- 
come 172’ and 196’, as one degree of temperature on the pro- 
The abscissze which represent 
the temperature were reconverted into degrees. 
TABLE, showing the Differences between the Mean Annual Hourly Tem- 


perature for 1824 and 1825, as observed, and calculated on the supposi- 
tion of these being the abscissa of Parabolas. 


Hours. 


H. 
9 13 


10 
il 
12 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 


8 


Fs 


Pe 


M. 


513 
172 or 2°.872 


253 
172 or 2°.872 


347 
196 or 3°.266 


327 
196 or 3°. 266 


Difference. 


0°.000 
+0 .079 
+0 .019 
—0 .124 
—0 .008 
—0 .036 

0 .000 
+0 .183 
+0 .219 
+0 .250 
+0 .229 
+0 .159 


32 Dr Brewster on the Register of the Thermometer, &c. 


Hours. Difference. Hours. Difference. 
H. H. 
s —0°.184 8 27 0°.000 
9 —0 .082 


These parabolic abscissa were calculated by the following 
formulee. By the property of the parabola, we have 
BH : Bm = AH? : mn’; and 
: Bu= BH x mn? 
AH? 
But since AE is the line of mean temperature, pn the de- 
pression of the temperature below the mean at the point of 
time p, and pn — Hm = HB — Bm, then, calling m the mi- 
nimum temperature, and y the ordinate mn, we have the re- 
quired temperature T at the time p, thus: 


HB x 9 
Ae sere oS 
— m+ AH 
For the semi-parabola BC, 
T=m HB x y? 
CH? 


For the semi-parabola CD, M being the maximum tempe- 
rature, 

oo = M — ee 

For the semi-parabola DE, 

i GD xy 

EG? 

Upon comparing the differences in the preceding tables, it 
appears, that the greatest is a quarter of a degree of Fakhren- 
heit, and that they are most perceptible in the afternoon 
branch of the curve, between 4 Pp. M. and 8 P. M. 

I have no hesitation, however, in saying, that the mean of 
a greater number of years will produce a close approximation 
to the parabola. In 1824, the afternoon branch is irregular. 
In 1825, which was a year of uniform character, the after- 
noon branch becomes more convex, and approaches closely to 
the parabolic branch ; so that the mean of 1824 and 1825, 
which we have contrasted with the parabolic abscisse, partakes 
of the irregularities of 1824, and thus occasions a flatness in 
the curve, and consequently the differences observed between 
4 p.m. and 8 p. M. 


Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent’s Species of Man. 33 


Arr. VI.—Remarks on M. le Colonel Bory de St-Vincent’s 
proposed species of the Genus Homo. By a Correspondent, 


“ What a piece of work is Maw ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in_ 
faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable ! in action how 
like an angel ! in apprehension how like a god !—the beauty of the world 


—the paragon of animals !” 
SHAKSPEARE, Hamlet. 


‘Tue men of science in France are the most indefatigable of 
human beings ; and, so far as regards some of the departments 
of Physical Science, have certainly outstripped, by their mi- 
nute industry, most of their contemporaries in the other coun- 
tries of Europe. In the different branches of Natural Histo- 
ry, in particular, which seems to have attracted a more than 
usual portion of attention, the liberality of their government 
in fitting out exploratory expeditions, and the zeal and abili- 
ty of their observers, has greatly increased the number of 
species ; and the teachers of those branches of science at home 
have powerfully exerted themselves in examining the struc- 
ture of these in every particular, and thrown light, in many 
cases, upon what was before not at all or but imperfectly 
known. While we award to the French naturalists, therefore, 
all the praise that is due to perseverance and acute observation, 
and give them the merit of a great many of the recent disco- 
veries in Botany and Zoology, we do so with the most sincere 
feelings of respect and gratitude. But we are not very cer- 
tain that their zeal and industry has always been accompanied 
by those higher qualities of mind, which enable their posses- 
sors to generalize isolated observations, and to form extended 
and philosophical views of those portions of nature which they 
are so successful in cultivating in detail. 

In point of fact, the great characteristic of Frenchmen is 
Nationality. They chanced to give birth to Tournefort, his 
successors the Jussieus, and Buffon—and, of course, in a coun- 
try which makes the most of every thing national, the simple 
and beautiful arrangement of the objects of nature proposed by 
the great Linnaeus, had comparatively few followers in France. 
a, hat this system was triumphant everywhere else, only whet- 

VOL. Vv. No. I. JULY 1826. € 


34 ~ Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent’s 


ted the eagerness of French patriots to support the fame of 
their own great men; and, accordingly, neglecting an arrange- 
ment which, though artificial, seems admirably calculated for 
the purpose in view, they have so far succeeded, as to plunge 
the study in a chaos of unintelligible systems and names—and 
to make it a greater difficulty to ascertain the identity of a 
single species through its thousand and one synonyms, than 
it would be to study a whole chapter of nature in the book of 
her ablest expositor. 

In speaking thus of the tendency of the French systems, 
and those of their imitators in the rest of Europe and in this 
country—dazzled by the lustre of a few great names—we are 
far from undervaluing what is termed the Natura SysTEM 
in the study of Botany, or in the other branches of Natural 
History. Linneus himself was aware of its importance in a 
general view, but found the impossibility of applying it to the 
practical purpose of identifying and arranging genera and 
species in the speediest and simplest manner; and its advo- 
cates have many, and almost insurmountable, obstacles to get 
over, before they can turn it to this use. 

Neither do we say that the discoveries in Natural Science 
since the time of Linnzus do not render some modifications 
of his system absolutely necessary. In many departments, the 
numerous and new objects that have been brought to light, 
rendered it necessary to adopt new genera and species to bring 
them under the Linnzan arrangement ; and certain of the Lin- 
neean classes, particularly Jnsecta and Vermes, and in Botany the 
class Cryptogamia, required to be re-modelled, as they have 
been in many instances, by able writers. But these modifi- 
cations should be as much as possible assimilated to the ter- 
minology of the great institutional writer who first reduced con- 
fusion into order in arranging and naming the objects of nature, 
and whose system and language are still the common medium 
of communication among the learned in all parts of the world. 
Every additional and unnecessary term introduced into science, 
is a useless load upon the memory, and every change of no- 
menclature, not imperiously called for, tends rather to retro- 
grade than advance its interests. From not attending to this, - 
many of the petty proposers of systems and arrangements 


proposed species of the Genus Homo. 35 


have already succeeded in making it extremely difficult, with- 
out immense labour, to ascertain the identity of species 
through their multiplied synonyms; and all distinctive cha- 
racteristics are lost in the search of mere words without mean- 
ing, in the works of these minute philosophers.* 

It is time for those who feel more interested in the know- 
ledge of things than terms, to raise a barrier against the 
contagion of these encumbering nomenclaturists, who, by 
everlastingly quoting one another, or their own inedited 
manuscripts, have contrived to push themselves into ephe- 
meral notice. Luckily in Britain, except among a very few, 
and those of no very overpowering genius or learning, this 
revolutionary frenzy has made but little progress. But 
every Frenchman who knows any thing of science must be 
an author, and not only so, but the author of a system in 
some particular department ; and his presumption, in nine 
cases out of ten, being in an inverse ratio to his qualifications 
and his judgment, his book comes forth studded with a ter- 
minology composed of Greek and Latin compounds of the 
most unreadable and unpronounceable nature, and these are 
indicated as the classical and future names by which the ob- 
jects of which he affects to treat are alone to be known. + 


* M. de Riviere, in the Annals of the Linnean Society of Paris, proposes 
a new language of Botany, in which each organ shall be expressed by a 
letter, and the number of organs by the place which the letter occupies 
in the word. This botanical notation he wishes the Society to promulgate, 
‘and thus to do for the scientific world what the French Academy has 
done for the literary !” 

t Ina book published at Frankfort in 1825, on the Natural History of Li- 
chens, M. Walroth, a German, has followed the French nomenclaturists even 
to unintelligibility. Not satisfied with the terms in use among former bo- 
tanical writers, or even with those attempted to be introduced by modern 
reformers, he has created aset of barbarous terms, which he uses in his des 
scriptions, and which even his French critics are not disposed to allow. 
For the use of philosophical recorders of aberrations of mind, we quote the 
following passage : 

“ Patellaria fusco-lutea (Lecidea, Achar. Syn. p. 42,) Blastemate acoly- 
to verrucoso chlorogonimicio stephropheno, facilé in massam chlorophe-~ 
nam fatiscente ; cymatis plano convexiusculis marginem excludentibus, 
ex speirematum ubertate varia nunc dilute fuscescentibus intusque albi- 
dis, lividis intusque melunophenis.”—Bull. des Sciences Nat., Nov. 1825, 
p- 586. 


36 Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent’s 


The men of science in other parts of Europe have not 
been able to resist this revolutionary contagion. | Never con- 
ceiving that to be able to view nature on the grand scale, and 
to form a simple and lucid mode of arranging its objects, re- 
quires a stretch of mind of which few men in an age are pos- 
sessed, they take for granted the talent that is asserted, and 
the presumption with which statements are offered for their 
proof. ‘lhe philosophical observer, not choosing to impugn 
doctrines or systems which might involve him in unprofitable 
controversies, remains silent; and the crowd, dazzled by ap- 
pearances of learning, and never doubting, but that he who 
attempts to demolish an edifice, is able to rear a better in its 
room, acquiesce in the asserted talents of the innovator. It 
has, of course, become fashionable, in many parts of Europe, 
to view nature through French spectacles, in place of looking 
and judging through the medium of the eyes. 

Having premised these observations, which we make in the 
utmost possible good humour, and with the highest feelings 
of respect for many of our French friends, we now proceed to 
give an instance of this disposition to fritter down science from 
the Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles of the Baron de Ferus- 
sac. In the number of that work for September last, and in 
an article extracted from a * Classical Dictionary of Natural 
History,” conducted by M. le Colonel Bory de St-Vincent, 
under the title of Man (Homo,) we have the human race, 
until now considered as one,* divided into no less than FIr- 
TEEN sPECIES! M. Bory has been led to make this division 
from studying the subject deeply, and from materials collected 
during twenty years for a Natural History of that seemingly 
hitherto little knownanimal, Man. ‘The originality of the plan 


* << There is but one species of the genus Man ; and all people of every 
time, and every climate, with which we are acquainted, may have originat- 
ed from one common stock. All natioual differences in the form and-co- 
lour of the human body are not more remarkable, nor more inconceivable, 
than those by which varieties of so many other organized bodies, and par- 
ticularly of domestic animals, arise, as it were, under our eyes. All these 
differences, too, run so insensibly, by so many shades and transitions one 
into the other, that it is impossible to separate them by any but very ar- 
bitrary limits.”—Blumenhach, Elem. Nat. Hist., trans. p. 35, 36. 


proposed species of the Genus Homo. 34 


and views of the author, and, above all, the perfect independence 
of its execution,” are, according to the narrator in the Bulle- 
tin, the chief features of this new production ; and the sum- 
mary sketch of it which has been published, is (to use the 
phraseology of the same writer) “a kind of trial balloon,” 
launched with the view of seeing how the wind sits for his 
“ oreat work.” Another French philosopher, M. Virey, had 
formerly separated the human race into two species ; * more 
lately still, M. Desmoulins, with, it is said, a praiseworthy 
disregard of antiquated notions, and a “ freedom from all pre- 
judices which had hitherto restrained naturalists,” raised the 
number of species to eleven; and now M. de Bory, determin- 
ed not to be outdone even by the very great men we have 
named, extends the number to FIFTEEN ! 

But before proceeding to enlighten our countrymen by the 
characters or names of these fifteen species, we would beg 
leave to ask M. Bory, if he has any clear idea of what is ge- 
nerally understood among naturalists by the term species ? If 


“ The most cogent reason for considering the African Negro as a dis- 
tinct species, different from all the other inhabitants of the globe, was 
furnished to M. Virey, by M. Latreille, the celebrated entomologist. It 
is—shall we say it?—that the Louse found on the heads of negrees is 
BLACK, While that found on the heads of civilized Europeans is wutre ! 
(See Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. vol. xv. p. 152.) But if the said Pedicularian 
tribes be found, on investigation, to accommodate their complexion to the 
colour of the skin on which they lodge, this argument will have little 
weight in dooming the children of Ham to perpetual servitude as an in- 
ferior species. It may be worth M. Virey’s trouble to examine if the Pe- 
diculus on heads in the south of France be not a brunette, compared with 
the fat and fair fraternity on the scalps in England. But if this pedicula- 
rian argument have any weight at all, we must go still farther; and as 
M. Bory seems to consider the Hottentots as the link in the chain which 
connects man with apes, we shall put it in his power to draw the connec- 
tion closer, by the communication of a fact from Blumenbach. That ex- 
cellent naturalist asserts, from his own knowledge, that the human pedicu- 
lus is also found on the Simia troglodytes, and on the Cercopithecus panis~ 
cus! How far M. Bory may be successful in tracing the descent of some 
of his varieties from the ancient and no doubt respectable family of the 
Simias, we have no curiosity in learning—protesting as we do, on the part 
of the people of England, that in this particular we dissent from -conclu- 
sions so disgusting to humanity, and so degrading to science. 


38 Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent's 


it can be shown, from his own characters, that what he. calls 
species are only what have been termed varieties by other na- 
turalists, M. le Colonel Bory de St-Vincent may please himself 
with having discovered, in the five thousand eight hundred and 
thirty-third year of the world, fourteen new species cf men, 
but will certainly not increase his fame among the philose- 
phers of Europe by the discovery. A species, as defined by 
the best writers on natural history, is an individual family, 
different from every other family—capable of continuing 
iM propagation or succession its determinate specific peculiari- 
ties, but incapable of continued reproduction or amalgama- 
tion with other individuals whose permanent characters are 
different. And though in systems collective species are, for the 
sake of arrangement, grouped into genera, and genera into or- 
ders, yet these last are merely conventional terms, the isolat- 
ed individuals which form the species, remaining alone and 
distinct in the arrangement of nature. 

The distinctions on which M. Bory relies for bis specific cha- 
racters are, in one or two cases, the facial angle—cclour— 
height—and lank or crisp hair. The first of these, though at 
first sight imposing, is not constant, for it fades entirely on a 
change of circumstances, in two or three generations: colour 
is not more constant, and alone affords no room for a specific 
distinction ; height or magnitude is no less deficient for this 
purpose; and dank or woolly hair, in the animal kingdom, is 
merely the continuation of a variety, perhaps at first acciden- 
tal, as is seen in many species of domestic animals. In point 
of fact, M. Bory has not given one characteristic to his species, 
that has not been applied by other naturalists merely to de- 
signate accidental varieties,—not one boundary-line that could 
for ever prevent the natives of central Africa or China, tran- 
sported to France, and intermarrying with the subjects, of the 
most Christian King, from becoming, inafew generations, asmuch 
Frenchmen as M. de Bory himself. How much of the variety 
in the appearance of the human species 1s to be attributed to cli- 
mate and food, geographical situation and mode of life, and how 
much even of man’s physical configuration may be owing to mo- 
ral causes, in fixing family or national distinctions, would require . 
tobe known, before a line could be drawn between the European 


proposed species of the Genus Homo. 39 


and the Negro, which should for ever rank them as separate 
species. The few hundred years that have elapsed since the 
Spaniards discovered South America, have so amalgamated 
the natives with their conquerors, that in some districts the 
Indian and European features and forms are completely lost 
as distinctive characters in the common mass; and of the mix- 
ture of races whose fading distinctions have been noticed by 
Humboldt, a few centuries more will obliterate every trace. 

M. Bory classes his fifteen species of men into two sub- 
genera, viz. I. Letorriaurs, or those with Jank hair; and 
II. Ovtorzrieuxs, or those with frizzled hair. Among the 
Leiotriques he distinguishes the following species : 

1. Homo Japeticus, the first species, occupies a geographi- 
cal space extending from the chains of mountains which unite 
near the parallel of 45° N.; and stretching from E. to W. 
from the west and southern shores of the Caspian to Cape 
Finisterre, projected into the Atlantic ocean. There are four 
varieties of the Homo Japeticus, viz. the Caucasian or Orien- 
tal race—the Pelagic or Southern—the Celtic or Western— 
and the German or Northern. 

2. Homo Arabicus, the second species, consists of two races 
(why not species?)—the Atlantic or Western—and the 
Adamic or Oriental. This last, M. Bory conceives as proper 
to Abyssinia, where he thinks the garden of Eden and Adam’s 
cradle are more likely to be found than in Mesopotamia. 

3. Homo Indicus.—This species is confined between the 
shores of the Indus or Sind and Ganges on the north, and the 
border of the Indian sea on the South. 

4. Homo Scythicus.—Confusedly known under the names 
of Turcomans, Kirguis, Cossacks, Kalmouks, Mongols and 
Mantchous ; and inhabiting Bucharest, Songria and Davuria— 
all the vast Asiatic surface which extends from the Caspian 
sea to the sea of Japan. 

5. Homo Sinicus.—Composed of the people called Coreans, 
Japanese, Chinese, Tonkinese, Cochinchinese, Siamese, and 
Birmans. These five species belong to the old continent. The 
three following are common to the new and old. 

6. Homo Hyperboreus——The Laplanders, Samviédes, the 
people of the most northern parts of Scandinavia and Russia ; 


40 Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent’s 


the Ostiacks, 'Tonguses, Jakous, Jukaghires, Thuschis, Ko- 
riacks, and some hordes of Kamtschadales in the old conti- 
nent, and the Esquimaux in the new. 

7. Homo Neptunianus.—This species occupies the eastern 
coast of Madagascar ; the western shores of the New World 
from California to Chili; all the southern islands, and some of 
the Polynesian. ‘They have no well-marked characters, but 
present varieties very distinct from one another. The races 
are, the Malays, the Sandwich Islanders, and the Papous. 

What an excellent and well-marked species that amphibious 
animal a British seaman would have made under this title ! 
We notice the circumstance, that M. Bory may have it in his 
view to incorporate this aquatic race, as a species more strong- 
ly marked than most of those he has mentioned, in his magnum 
opus. 

8. Homo Australasiaticus—Exclusively proper to New 
Holland. 

The following species belong to the American continent : 

9. Homo Colombicus.—Formed of the people inhabiting the 
territory of the United States, comprismg Canada and the 
Floridas; Mexico from the eastern chain of the Cordilleras ; 
all the islands of the Gulf of Mexico; the Terra Firma and 
the Guanas. This species, M. Bory adds, with a simplicity 
truly wonderful, and at once fatal to his distinctions, is almost 
entirely modified by the Europeans. 

10. Homo Americanus.—'This species occupies the interior 
basin of the Orinoco, the basin of the Amazons, Brazil, Para- 
guay, ard the eastern sides of the mountains of Chili. 

11. Homo Patachonicus.—Inhabiting Patagonia, but pos- 
sessing no characteristic distinction (according to M. Bory) 
but their reported size, which is long since known to have been 
much exaggerated. 

The fest four species form the subgenera OuLoTRIQUES, or 
with woolly hair, including the negro races. 

12. Homo Ai ‘hiopiens..-Anhabits central Africa, and the 
west coast of that continent from the river Senegal to St He- 
lena, and nearly a similar extent upon the opposite coast, viz. 
between the tropics. 


13. Homo Cafer.~-This species.is found to the south of the 
4 


proposed Species of the Genus Homo. 41 


Aithiopian race, or in the southern extremity of Africa, under 
the tropic, and upon the eastern side, and also some points of 
the island of Madagascar. 

14. Homo Melaninus—— This species belongs to Van Die- 
man’s Land and Terra del Fuego, which forms the extreme 
point of America; and is also found upon the projecting 
points of the coast or capes of the Island of Formosa, the 
Philippines, Cochinchma—ain the greater part of the islands of 
Malacca, Borneo, Celebes, Timor, New Guinea, &c. 

15. Homo Hottentotus—This is the most different from 
the Japetic species ; and the anatomical characters of these 
degraded beings, according to M. Bory, lead evidently to con- 
nect man with the apes. The Hottentot race is confined to 
the southern and western extremity of the African continent. 

Now, it appears to us that there is nothing very wonderful 
in this fanciful division of the human race into fifteen species— 
all of which, were the thing worth the trouble, might be shown 
to be merely varieties, and some of these not very strongly 
marked ones. His Homo Colombicus he himself states as a 
species risen up in North America without the intervention of 
a second Adam and a transatlantic paradise, by the intercourse 
of refugees from the different nations of Europe. The facial 
angle of Camper distinguishes two or three species—crisp hair 
marks the African negro—and height alone, the chief character 
rested on for the others, separates the Patagonian of five feet 
six inches or six feet, from the Esquimaux, whose stature only 
reaches, according to M. Bory, to four feet and a half. But 
all these varieties in the appearance of the human frame may, 
in our mind, be easily accounted for, without the necessity of 
referring them to separately created families or species as their 
source. M. Bory seems to have lost sight entirely of the ef- 
fects of climate, soil, and food, those three great agents in 
increasing the variety of domestic animals,—the moral effects 
of education and civilization im moulding even the organic 
parts of our frame,—and a thousand other circumstances, 
which, with the important adjunct of time, are, gradually and 
unseen, perpetually working changes in the animated parts of 
nature. Take, for instance, our domestic animals—the plants 
which have been naturalized in our climate—our own indi- 


42 Remarks on M. Bory de St-Vincent’s species of Man. 


genous plants, transported to a different. soil—and it will be 
seen that varieties, as apparently wide of the original stock 
as it is possible to conceive any of the human species to be 
from one another, are not only introduced, but perpetuated. 
Size, and colour, and crisp hair, upon which the chief of M. 
Bory’s distinctions are founded, have never been accounted 
as marks sufficiently discriminating to distinguish species. 
In the instance of the dog, how many varieties in the form of 
the head and the curl of the hair exist among domesticated indi- 
viduals; among plants, how many varieties are found with 
crisp leaves, originating from accidental circumstances, but 
still by cultivation to be continued ; and, even among the 
human race in our own country, what a marked difference in 
the relative proportion of the bones of the head and face, be- 
tween the inhabitants of the hills and the valleys,—between 
the inhabitants of the sea coast and the inland peasantry,— 
between the natives of crowded manufacturing towns and 
those of villages. 

But we go even fartlier than this, and appeal to any one capa- 
ble of making an observation, whether there be not a still more 
marked difference between the inhabitants of the various 
countries of Europe—between those of France and England, 
for example: and this difference does not consist merely in 
the points of language or dress—but im the physical configu- 
ration of the bones of the head and face, and general contour 
of the whole body ; and there seems to be as much reason for 
increasing the list of species by at least two more—the Homo 
Bifstickius, whose native country is happy England,—and 
the Homo Gallicus of the opposite shores—as there seems to be 
no good one for limiting the number to fifteen, when, by 
little exertion of thought or observation, the number might 
have been raised to fifty. In point of fact, the varieties of 
the human species are interminably mixed and endless ; 
and the more the different races, in different geographical 
positions, mix together, the more is the apparent barrier be- 
tween them broken down, so that it is impossible to draw any 
permanent line of distinction between the individuals of this 
widely-diversified species. 

As to M. Bory’s ideas of connection between the most de- 


Mr Wayne on Dr Knoa’s Observations, &c. 43 


graded race of human beings and the highest in the scale of 
irrational creatures, or those whose form approaches to that 
of man, we believe, with Blumenbach, that there exist differ- 
ences, both in anatomical structure, and in the more distin- 
guishing qualities of Reason and Speech, which mark an in- 
calculable distance between the Lord of Creation and every 
other class of organized beings. At the same time, as M. 
Bory has, we presume, satisfied himself by drawing the con- 
tinuous, and, in his mind, connected line, from the Homo 
Japeticus to the Hottentot and the ape, there seems no 
good reason for his not following out the chain still farther, 
tll he connects man with the races of reptiles, or ends the series 
in an infusory animalcule. We only object to our being includ- 
edin this fancied chain of connection ; for we feel, at this mo- 
ment, too proud to be ranked in the unique Order BIMA- 
NUS, the superlative genus Homo, the rational species Sa- 
piens, and the happy variety whose country is Great Bri- 
tain,—to listen with patience to details prompted by the vanity 
of system-making, even although their author be no less a na- 
turalist than M. Bory de St-Vincent. 


Art. VII.—Remarks on Dr Knoa’s “ Observations on the 
Habits of Hyanas,” contained in the Fifth Number of the 
Edinburgh Journal of Science. By W.H. Wayne, Esq. 
Fellow of the Cam. Phil. Soc. Communicated by the Au- 
thor. 


Ir had not been my good fortune to meet with the fifth Num- 
ber of the Edinburgh Journal of Science till within these few 
days; and I am ignorant whether Dr Buckland has, or has 
not, made any remarks on Dr Knox’s paper, in which he re- 
fers to a former one by himself, published in the “ T'ransac- 
tions of the Wernerian Society,” and to Dr Buckland’s “ com- 
ment” upon it. I have had no opportunity of seeing either of 
these, and may possibly repeat some things contained in one 
or other of them. If, however, these suggestions should ap- 
pear worthy the Edinburgh Journal of Science, I shall feel 
honoured by their insertion. 


44 Mr Wayne on Dr Knox's Observations 


To me it appears, that it was Dr Buckland’s intention 
simply to prove the fact of an universal deluge, not “ to fix 
its era;” and (having established this fact) to make it a 
standard whereby to estimate the relative antiquity of the nu- 
merous organic remains found in diluvial or alluvial forma- 
tions. 

With respect to Dr Knox’s second observation, ‘* That it is 
of little moment to a geological theory what are the habits 
of modern hyenas, since the antediluvian relics belong to a 
different species,” I may be allowed to say, that where the 
similarity of their organization is so striking, we may, with 
some degree of confidence, expect a corresponding resemblance 
in their habits; and if, by the assumption of this probable 
coincidence in habit, Dr Buckland be enabled to account for 
the curious phenomena of the Kirkdale cave, I conclude 
such solution of the difficulties there presented a sufficiently 
strong presumptive proof, that the said similarity of habits 
did exist. I observe, too, that Dr Hibbert, in pp. 21, 22, ad- 
duces a similar argument to account for the locality of the re- 
mains of the Cervus Euryceros. If, however, Dr Knox do 
not consider this a sufficiently strong presumptive proof of the 
similarity of habits, still he can hardly maintain, consistently 
with his own argument, that a difference in the habits of post- 
diluvian, from those which Dr Buckland has thought proper 
to attach to his antediluvian hyznas, can render the ‘ theory 
‘ of the latter’ absolutely untenable.” All the Doctor asks us to 
grant is, that the hyzenas, after having gorged themselves withthe 
flesh, might (as is the common custom with dogs) secrete the 
bones. The circumstance which Dr Knox relates of having 
killed several hyenas, while engaged in eating the flesh, does 
not prove that they would not afterwards have conveyed away 
the bones had there been any. 

But the quotations which Dr Buckland has: adduced from 
Busquebius and Brown, (pp. 22, 23,) appear sufficiently con- 
clusive with regard to the fact of their taking the bones to 
their dens. Busquebius, indeed, asserts, that it (speaking in 
the singular number) bears away the bodies, ‘‘ portatque ca- 
davera ad speluncam.” And Brown says, “ that, acting in 


on the Habits of Hywnas. 45 


concert, they sometimes drag even a dead camel to an enor- 
-mous distance.” 

“ 3dly, (says Dr Knox,) It is not improbable, that, in 
thickly inhabited countries, the habits of the hyazna may be 
much altered, as we find to be the case mm all other wild ani- 
mals. When much harassed, they become timid, and fly far 
from the abodes of men. I should be glad to offer this ex- 
planation in support of the supposed habits of the Kirkdale 
hyznas, but, unfortunately, the antediluvians had not discover- 
ed Britain.” . 

I really do not see why Dr K. might not have adduced 
this “in support of the Kirkdale hyzenas.” No doubt their 
habits are altered by their vicinity to the abodes of man ; 
but how altered ? Surely not so as to induce them to congre- 
gate in places whence there was no escape in case of attack ; 
but, on the contrary, they would probably become more vigi- 
lant, more wary, and would (as the Doctor intimates is the case 
in the neighbourhood of the Cape) have recourse to lurking- 
places sub dio. 

That, however, under certain circumstances, hyenas do 
frequent dens, is sufficiently clear from Busquebius and Brown, 
as quoted above. See also “ Bingley’s Animal Biography,” 
for some curious facts. ‘ 

I come now to the fourth observation. ‘* Hyzenas do not con- 
gregate, they are solitary. Consequently, all that Mr Buckland 
has said about a den of hyenas, is simply the work of the ima- 
gination heated by a false theory ;” and so it may be, for I can 
assure Dr Knox, that the ‘* den of hyenas” is a phantom raised 
purely by his own imagination. Professor Buckland nowhere 
mentions any such thing as a “* den of hyenas ; ’tis true, he 
mentions the Kirkdaie cave as one, which, “ during a long 
succession of years, was inhabited by hyenas :” but he speaks 
not of them in the aggregate. Upon what other hypothesis 
can Dr Knox account for such an accumulation of the bones 
of hyzenas ? What less objectionable theory can be found ? In 
fact, I see nothing at all improbable in Dr Buckland’s supposi- 
tion ; for if we suppose the Kirkdale cave to have been occupied 
only a thousand years during that period between the crea- 
tion and the flood; and again, which is possible, that one 


46 Mr Wayne on Dr Knox’s Observations, &c. 


only at a time lived in it, say a male and female alternately, 
each during the space of ten years, and then died in it; that 
the female brought forth two young ones annually for six 
years, and that one only out of four died in the cave, or 
was dragged into it; and we shall have hyenas enough to 
account for the accumulation of bones in the Kirkdale cave. 

Dr Knox asserts, too, that these bones ‘‘ have never been 
fractured by hyznas, they have been broken by great exter- 
nal violence, and not by the agency of the teeth of living ani- 
mals; and they do not differ in any respect from the bones 
found at Oreston and elsewhere, which bear no such marks of 
violence.” 

I confess I do not quite see the force of this remark. Is it 
meant that the bones at Oreston bear no marks of violence ? 
This would be nothing to the purpose ; or does it mean “ no 
such marks of violence?” That is, the bones at Oreston bear 
certain marks of violence, whilst those at Kirkdale exhibit — 
marks of violence proceeding from a different cause—from the 
agency, for instance, of the teeth of hyznas. But on this 
point, page 76 of the Relic. Diluv., appears to me conclusive. 

Dr Knox proceeds, ‘* But the truth is, that we have evi- 
dence in the nature of the relics themselves, subversive of Mr 
Buckland’s speculations on these subjects. Ist, The bones 

‘found in the cave at Kirkdale do not bear the marks of hay- 
ing been broken by hyzenas, but of having been dashed to 
pieces, and exposed to the action of water.”* Now this is mere- 
ly a matter of opinion to be determined by a careful examina- 
tion of the bones themselves; and this examination was a 
matter of too great importance for Dr Buckland to have over- 
looked; for it will be seen in page 7, that the docter says, ‘‘in 
the interior of the cave, I could not find a single rolled pebble, 
nor have I seen, im all the collections which have been taken 
from it, one bone, or fragment of bone, that bears the slightest 
mark of having been rolled by the action of water.” ‘ On 


* An ingenious friend, who examined some of the bones lately discover- 
ed, remarked, that one of them was so nearly worn through by the corro- 
sion which it had undergone, that the effect could not possibly have been 
produced by the teeth of an animal, without the bone being broken. This 
fact merits particular attention.—Ep.- 


Mr Blackadder on the changes which take place, &c. 47 


some of the bones, marks may be traced which, on applying 
one to the other, appear exactly to fit the form of the canine 
teeth of the hyzenas that occur in the cave.” 

I have seen bones from the cave at Kirkdale, in the posses- 
sion of Professor Sedgwick, and some also in the Institution 
at Bristol; and my conclusion was, that their fracture pro- 
ceeded from the causes which Dr Buckland has assigned. 

Another circumstance (and which Dr Knox has omitted to 
remark upon) tends greatly to confirm me in that conclusion ; 
and that is, the presence of so considerable a quantity of Al- | 
bum Grecum,—this circumstance deserves particular attention. 
Again, at page 120, Dr Buckland says, the state of the bones 
at. Bauman’s Hohle “is totally different from that of the 
splinters in the den at Kirkdale, which latter are as obviously 
the effects of fracture by the hyzenas teeth, as the former are 
of a violently crashing blow, imparted by a heavy mass of 
stone.” 


Arr. VIII.—Observations on the changes which take place on 
Mercurial Thermometers. By H. H. Biackapper, Esq. 
F.R.S.E. Communicated by the Author. 


Iv has been remarked, by various observers, that the most ac- 
curately constructed mercurial thermometers are liable, in the 
course of long use, to become inaccurate ; and, in such cases, 
it is a lowering of the original height of the mercury that has 
been observed to take place. This change, to which mercurial 
thermometers are subject, has been attributed to a permanent- 
ly increased capacity of the bulb, produced insensibly during 
the successive heatings and coolings to which it has been ex- 
posed. This explanation, however, appears unsatisfactory— 
for the change in question has been observed to take place in 
instruments, in the construction of which great care had been 
taken to extract the air from that part of the tube that is not 
filled with mercury. If the glass bulb were to suffer any per- 
manent change im such instruments, during the frequent but 
moderate alternations of temperature to which they are ex- 
posed, we would have reason to expect that its capacity would 


48 MM. Savart on the influence of different Media, &c: 


not be increased, but diminished, as the approach to a vacuum 
in the space above the mercury would tend not to expand, 
but to contract the bulb. It is generally admitted, that no 
perfect vacuwm has ever been produced. However this may 
be, we are certain that, in the most carefully constructed ther- 
mometers, some air is left in the interior of the mstrument ; for 
the means employed for introducing the mercury, and expel- 
ling the air, are not sufficient for wholly abstracting the lat- 
ter from the inner surface of the glass. Let it then be admit- 
ted, that some air, more or less, has been left in the bulb and 
stem of the instrument ; in the course of years, this air will be 
decomposed by the mercury, the oxygen, at least, will be ab- 
sorbed, and, in becoming solid, will have its bulk greatly di- 
minished. In this way, the lowering of the mercury from its 
original height may be accounted for ;—but even before the in- 
cluded air has been decomposed by the mercury, some of it 
that has adhered to the inner surface of the bulb, and that 
part of the stem that was not left empty, will escape to the 
upper part of the tube during the frequent expansions and 
contractions of the mercury, and thus occasion a slight differ- 
ence in the height of the fluid, from what it was when the in- 
strument was constructed. In every instance the observed 
change has been small; and if the above explanation be the 
true one, the diminished height will, in each instance, be in — 
exact proportion to the quantity of air that has been left be- 
tween the surfaces of the glass and the mercury. Hence the 
most obvious and certain preventative would be, to allow a 
considerable space of time to elapse between the construction 
of the glass part of the instrument, and the adaptation of its 
scale. 


Art. I1X.—On the Influence exerted by different Media on 
the number of Vibrations of Solid Bodies. By M. Fruix 


Savart. * 


Avremprts have frequently been made to determine the num- 
ber of vibrations of solid bodies, when made to sound succes- 


* Translated from the Ann. de Chimie, Se. Noy. 1825, p. 264-269. 


M. Savart on the Influence of different Media, &c. 49 


sively in media of different densities, but hitherto all these at- 
tempts have been fruitless. This has arisen not only from 
our wanting a suitable method of causing bodies to vibrate in 
_ media of different kinds, but also from our not having acquir- 
ed correct notions of the modes of vibrations of the bodies 
themselves ;—for the action of the same medium on the num- 
ber of vibrations of a body is different, according as the body 
is the seat of tangential longitudinal vibrations,—tangential 
transverse ones, or normal ones more or less oblique. 

This action is nothing for very long and very thin bodies, 
which execute vibrations in the direction of their length, at least 
it seems to be so, if we judge by the impression produced on 
the organ of hearing; for a rod very long, and of a small dia- 
meter, affected with this kind of motion, appears to emit ex- 
actly the same sound in media of yery different densities, such 
as air, water, acids, oil, and even mercury. 

On the contrary, in the same circumstances, bodies which 
execute normal vibrations emit sounds which may differ much 
from one another. It may happen, for example, that the 
sound of a thin plate, which resounds in air, may become 
more grave by a third, a fifth, an octave, two octaves, Xe. 
when it resounds in water, or in other liquids, either of greater 
or lesser density. We cannot determine any thing respecting 
this descent of the sound, because it depends on the relations 
‘between the dimensions of the plate. If its width and length 
become considerable at the same time that its thickness is 
smaller, the more will the number of its vibrations diminish by 
immersion in a denser fluid, such as water, for example. In 
order to verify this result, we must be able to impress upon 
a body normal vibrations, by a method which may be employ- 
ed indifferently in all media. This may be easily done by ex- 
citing the motion with a small glass tube, which is rubbed 
lightly in the direction of its length, and which is fixed per- 
pendicularly on one of the faces of a body which it is wished 
to make vibrate. 

When the bodies execute tangential transverse vibrations, 
a kind of motion which we may Bie: by the method which 
we have pointed out for normal vibrations, the alterations 
produced in the number of vibrations by media of greater 

VOL. V. NO. I. JULY 1826. D 


50 M. Savart on the Influence of different Media 


density are much less considerable than in the case of norma 
vibrations. If we operate on rods or plates of glass, the 
sounds produced in water, for example, differ the more from 
those produced in air, that the plates are more narrow, while 
their length and thickness are equal, so that we cannot deter- 
mine, @ priori, what will happen in each particular case. We 
can make the sound descend a half tone, a tone, &c. 

From this it follows, that different media do not exercise 
any appreciable influence upon the vibration of the faces of a 
body which is the seat of tangential vibrations, and that, on 
the contrary, they exert a very great influence on the vibra- 
tions of those faces which produce normal vibrations, more or 
less oblique. Those bodies, consequently, which, like vessels, 
are formed of sides more or less oblique to the direction 
of the vibrations, ought to present, when sounding in different 
media, results very variable, and which it would be impossible 
to predict in the present state of the science. Thus the sound 
of a common drinking-glass is nearly an octave more grave 
when sounding in water than in air, whilst in large glasses on 
a foot, in the form of a cup, it may happen that the sound in 
water is only one-twelfth more grave than in air. We may 
conceive, indeed, that the descent of the sound will be as much 
greater as the vessel presents more thin portions, having the 
normal motions, as its sides are thinner, and as its diameter is 
increased. But we may conceive, at the same time, the great 
difficulty which there would be to determine rigorously the 
laws of this kind of phenomenon, so as to predict what would 
happen to any body whatever, wnen we wished it to sound in 
any particular fluid. And what adds much to this difficulty 
is, that the different media which surround a body influence 
its number of vibrations, not only because they are more or 
less dense, but because they vibrate along with it as a system, 
a circumstance which alone ought to have a great influence. 

The modes of division of bodies which sound in different’ 
media are invariable when they are affected only by tangential 
longitudinal vibrations, but it is otherwise for normal vibra- 
tions. If, for example, we fix a small rod of glass at the cen- 
tre of a disc of the same substance, and perpendicular to it, 
and if we produce a slight longitudinal friction on the small 


* 


on the Vibrations of Solid Bodics. 51 


rod, the disc will execute normal vibrations, and it will pre- 
sent, when it sounds in the air, a circular nodal line, which 
will cut each of its radii nearly in the middle of its length; 
but in water this line will be transferred towards the edge of 
the disc, and it will approach it in proportion to the difference 
between the sounds of the body in air and in water. An ana- 
logous phenomenon occurs in rods: arod, for example, which 
presents four nodal lines perpendicular to its edges when it 
sounds in air, still presents the same number in water, but 
then such of the lines as were less distant from the extremities 
of the rod approach to it still more, so that all the vibrating 
parts are lengthened. We may establish the accuracy of these 
results by projecting sand through liquids on bodies immersed 
in them. The nodal lines will be traced as distinctly as in 
air. 

With regard to the different pressures exerted on the vi- 
brating bodies, if placed at different depths, we have observed 
that, when the depth is such that the surface of the fluid re- 
mains fluid during the vibrations, the sound will continue sen- 
sibly the same, even to the depth that we can hold it with one 
hand, while it is made to sound with the other. It ought to 
be remarked, however, that when the experiment is made ina 
vessel, we must take care not to allow the vibrating body to 
approach too near its bottom or sides, because the reaction 
exerted by these parts, which are then agitated as a system, 
may alter the number of vibrations, and render the sound 
more intense. 

I shall conclude this notice with an observation relative to 
preceding researches on the intensity of sounds propagated in 
different media. When a body executing normal vibrations 
sounds in water, for example, then, if we abstract all attendant 
circumstances, that is to say, if we attend only to the impres- 
sion made on the ear, we shall conclude that the water transmits 
the sound with less intensity than air; bat if we consider that 
the mode of vibration in water is no longer the same as in air, 
that the sound is become more grave, we are compelled to 
draw the conclusion, that circumstances being no longer the 
same in both cases, we can deduce no inference respecting the 
sensation we experience. Hence we cannot consider as exact 


52 Mr Smith on a Singular Phenomenon in Vision. 


the consequences which have been deduced from experiments 
hitherto made on the mtensity of sounds propagated in differ- 
ent media, because the change in the mode of vibration of the 
sounding bodies has not been taken into account. From what 
has been above stated, it is easy to conceive, that the only way 
to render experiments of this kind comparable, would be to 
make them with long and thin bodies, to which are communi- 
cated a tangential longitudinal motion, the only case in which 
the number of vibrations cannot be influenced by the action 
of different media. 


Art. X.—Account of a Singular Phenomenon in Vision. By 
Mr TxHomas Situ, Surgeon, Kingussie. * In a Letter to 
the Eprror. 


Sir, ~ 


Ow the 16th of February last, I was repeating with candle- 
light some experiments which I had made before with the 
light of day, to observe in what degree the sensation which a 
luminous object, seen by both eyes on corresponding points of 
the retina, differs from that which is produced, when it is seen 
by both eyes on points of the retina not corresponding. I 
held a slip of white paper perpendicular to the horizon, about 
a foot from my eyes, and directing them to an object at some 
distance behind it, saw, of course, two images of the white 
paper. I was surprised, however, to find that the colours of 
these two images were not the same, and neither of them white 
like the slip of paper; but that, on the contrary, they were 
complementary red and green, so that, when, by changing the 
direction of my eyes, I caused the two images to coalesce in 
the middle, the resulting colour was white like the paper 
viewed. For a moment I suspected that these appearances 
arose from a sudden morbid affection of my eyes, for, though 
I had often repeated the same experiment before, I had never 
observed that the colours of the two images were different. 
However, as in this experiment, the candle stood only a few 
inches from my right eye, so that it was strongly acted upon 
by the light, while the left eye was entirely shaded from it ; 


* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 3d April 1826. 


Mr Smith on a@ Singular Phenomenon in Vision. 53 


and as I was not ignorant that the action of strong light on 
one part of the retina appears to affect the sensibility of the 
surrounding parts, I thought of trying if that circumstance 
had any share in producing the phenomena. I therefore 
shifted the candle from the right to the left side, placing it so 
that it might be seen by the left eye, but not by the right. 
Instantly the colours of the two images were reversed, that 
which was green before being now red, and that which was 
red before appearing now green ; the paper always appearing 
green to the eye on which the direct light of the candle fell, 
and red to that which was in the shade. 

At my request, several other persons, both old and young, 
repeated the same experiment, and, without knowing the re- 
sult I had obtained, reported unanimously, that, of the two 
images of the white paper, that which was nearest to the can- 
dle appeared red, and the other green, or, as some termed it, 
blue, and that, when the images coalesced, the mixture of the 
two colours appeared white. 

I varied the experiment, by employing slips of paper of 
different colours. When light red was used, the image seen 
by the eye, acted on by the light of the candle, appeared 
nearly white, and the other deep red. When faint green paper 
was employed, the shaded eye saw it nearly white, and to the 
other it appeared a stronger green. 

As some persons may find a difficulty in attending to the 
two images while the eyes are directed to a distant object, 
that inconvenience may be remedied, and the same results ob- 
tained, by directing both eyes to the slip of paper itself, and 
pressing the side of one of the eye-balls. This, as is well 
known, produces two images of the object; and if the light is 
properly placed, one of these images will be seen red, and the 
other green. 

When two candles were used, and so placed on each side, 
that the light of the one acted only on one eye, and that of the 
other on the other eye, the images of a slip of white paper 
appeared white, if the two lights were equal, and at. equal 
distances from the eyes. But if the lights were unequal, or 
at unequal distances, the two images appeared of different 
colours; a fact which might perhaps furnish a method of 


54 Major-General Straton’s Description of the 


measuring light, little, if at all, inferior to that of shadows: 
When an opaque body was interposed between one of the 
candles and the eye, the images which appeared white before, 
changed immediately to green and red; and if both eyes were 
then shaded from the light by means of opaque bodies, the 
images resumed their white colour 

In making these last experiments, another new and inte- 
resting appearance presented itself to my observation. My 
two eyes being shaded from the direct light of the candles, 
when I removed both of the opaque bodies suddenly, and 
thus admitted the direct light of the candles into my eyes, I 
was surprised to find that the two images of the slip of white 
paper appeared immediately and distinctly more luminous. 
This phenomenon, in all the trials I have made, lasts only for 
a few seconds, the sensation being similar to that which would 
be produced by the paper being more illuminated by a sud- 
den flash of light. 

Satisfied with barely announcing to the Society these new 
and curious phenomena, I forbear to offer any attempt at an 
explanation of them. All I shall at present say, is, that they 
appear to me to be produced by an important function of the 
eye, which has entirely escaped the notice of the writers on 
Vision. I have the honour to be, Sir, 


Your most obedient Servant, 


Kincussiz, 28th March 1826. T. Smiry. 


io XI1.—Description of the Great Temple of Carnac, in 
Thebes. _ By Major-General Straton, F. R. S. Edin. 
With a Pirate. Communicated by the Author. 


Tue first impressions conveyed by the great Egyptian temples 
are those of sublimity and colossal solidity. The beholder, on 
coming nearer to them, is delighted with the symmetry and 
just proportions of the constituent parts. On a close ap- 
proach, while he is gratified with the accuracy and perfection - 
of the details, he is astonished at the degree of perfection 
which the arts of statuary, sculpture, and design, had attained 


Great Temple of Carnac in Thebes. 55 


at periods so remote; and his surprise increases, as he finds 
colours, some of them, from their nature, the least durable, 
retaining in many places, after a lapse of thirty centuries, their 
original freshness and brilliancy. 

The ancient Egyptians having borrowed nothing, their ar- 
chitecture is original ; the talus, or slope, was applied to all 
parts having a heavy superstructure ; and it is worthy of re- 
mark, that the modern houses, or cabins, usually formed of 
mud and straw, are generally built with their walls sloping in- 
wards, in the form of a truncated pyramid. The ancient Egyp- 
tians considered security as the first principle of architecture. 

The ornamental parts, such as ceilings, cornices, and the capi- 
tals of columns, being imitations of the productions of nature, 
are varied almost to infinity. The capitals very frequently 
represent the lotus flower,* either in its natural order, or re- 
versed ; full blown, or in its progressive stages ; or they repre- 
sent the branch of the date or palm tree, + and sometimes of 
the doum tree.{ Other capitals seem to be taken from the 
volutes of Papyrus, to which the Ionic order of the Greeks 
bears a strong resemblance. Some are not unlike the Tuscan 
and Doric, and all are more or less coloured, or decorated with 
branches of grapes, dates, &c. of good execution. 

In all the Egyptian edifices, even those which have suffered 
the most from time, sufficient remains to enable a person, how- 
ever little practised in the vestiges of antiquity, to fill up and 
form a correct whole. In the temple we are about to de- 
‘scribe, the spectator is gratified to observe the trifling degree 
of dilapidation produced by time, the shocks of successive in- 
vasions, the irruptions of barbarism, and the ceaseless efforts 
at destruction of the more modern inhabitants. 

There is little doubt that ancient Thebes occupied both 
banks of the river Nile. The gateways and propyla, parts 
ef the hundred gates celebrated by Homer, from each of 
which might be sent two hundred horsemen and two hun- 
dred cars, might be traced to the number of fifty or sixty at 


* Lotus, or water-lily—Nympheu albus, called in the Arabic of the 
country, Noufar. 

T Phenix dactylifera. 

~ Doum of the Saide—Borassus flubelliformis. 


5G Major-General Straton’s Description of the 


this day, including the temples on both banks. * The courts 
were probably the places of assembly. They are from 100 to 
400 feet long—the propyla from 70 to 100 feet high—and the 
gateways 30 to 80 feet in solidity. These masses are inva- 
riably built with a slope or talus. We shall give the temple 
of Carnac, situated on the eastern bank. This magnificent 
temple has many entrances, propyla, and gateways. In front 
of those gateways are statues of colossal dimensions: avenues 
of sphinxes conduct to them. One of these avenues is one mile 
and a quarter in length. Immense porticoes and colonnades, 
composing forests of columns, conduct to interior gateways. 
Many of these columns are 36 feet in circumference; and in 
front of some of the gateways are colossal statues of granite 
of the highest polish. The walls and columns are covered with 
sculpture and pamting. We arrive at obelisks of granite, so 
deeply cut with hieroglyphics, figures, &c. that the modern 
workman would in vain attempt to imitate them. + Further 
on are obelisks of a greater size, backed by rows of colossal 
figures, holding the crook and flagellum across the chest. 
Then follow more obelisks, of great beauty and variety of 
sculpture. ‘his suite of avenues, porticoes, gateways, and 
colonnades, and this combination of the arts in Colossi, obe- 
lisks, &c. served to adorn the entrance to a small sanctuary, 
composed entirely of Thebaic granite, where the God of Gene- 
ration and Abundance was worshipped. That nothing might 
be wanting, we find behind the sanctuary a court, most com- 
modiously Jaid out in small but elegant apartments, for the 
use of the priests. 

We commence the description in detail, by the west propy- 
lon, marked W on the plan, Plate IJ. Am avenue of sphinxes 
leads to the gateway. These sphinxes have the ram’s head, 
and lion’s body, (called the Kriosphinx,) { and hold be- 
tween their paws a small figure with the crook and flagellum: 


* The lines of Homer are well known. See First Iliad, 382. 

+ The ancient Egyptians must either have had a temper for their tools 
unknown to us, or a process by friction, requiring great time and extraor- 
dinary perseverance. ; 

+ The Kriosphinx is supposed, by some authors, to denote the conjunc- 
tion of the sun and moon in Aries. 


Great Temple of Carnac in Thebes. 57 


The fagade of the propylon is rustic, not unlike the rude ar- 
chitecture of the time of Justinian. It has four large open- 
ings pierced throughout the mass. From the top, which is 
easy of ascent, we have a splendid uninterrupted view of every 
part of the temple to the east and south. Behind us, to the 
west, is a luxuriant fertile plain in Dourra, (Holcus Dourra) 
rice, (Oryza sativa—Egypt. Arabic Rouss,) and interspersed 
with palm trees extending to the Nile. On the opposite bank, 
the eye takes in the long range of catacombs, (the ancient . 
Necropolis,) the Memnonion, temples of Medinet Aboo, &c. 
and thetwo remarkable colossal statues. The prospect ter- 
minates with the sterile rocks, forming the valley of Biban el 
Moluk, the sombre valley of death, the last and dreary abode 
of the kings of this country. It is worthy of remark, that the 
modern inhabitant of Egypt has the same predilection for 
the solitude of the desert, as the abode of death. To resume 
the description of the temple: The inside of the portal is 
smoothed, but bears no sculptures. ‘There is inscribed on it 
a list of latitudes and longitudes by the French savans who 
-accompanied the army of Napoleon into Egypt.* The por- 
tal P is 22 feet wide; the propylon extends for 171 feet on 
each side. The mass is 41 feet in thickness. Passing through 
the portal, follows a spacious court C, having two rows of co- 
lumns in the middle, each 28 feet in circumference, and on each 
side is a portico formed by a wall and columns, 8, 6, 20 feet in 
circumference. These columns are tapering in shape, and 
have for their capital the lotus flowers reversed, resembling a 
bell turned downwards. To the right hand, or south, is a 
suite of chambers d, having single or double porticoes. In 
the first, the square pillars forming the portico bear on their 
front large figures with the croek and flagellum across the 
shoulders. The walls bear sculptures of the hero, (always 
designated by his high cap, colossal size, and having a bird 


Long. Lat. Long. Lat. 
* Dendera, 30° 21’ 0” 26° 10’ 0”~ Edfou, 30 ak a 2s Oe 
_f Carnac, 30 20 4 25 44 15 Ombos, 30 38 39 24 28 O 
(Luxor, 30 19 16 25 42 25 Syene, 30.24.19 24 8 6 


1 


isSsnech, 30 14 12 25 19 39. IsleofPhiloe,30 33 46 24 3 45 


Republique Francoise, An. viii. Geog. des Monumens. Commission des Sciences 
ci des Arts. 


58 Major-General ‘Straton’s Description of the 


with expanded wings hovering over him, which we shall call 
his winged concomitant,) holding by the hair a group of 
crushed or subjugated enemies; we count five. A deity fa- 
cing the hero, to whom he appears to sacrifice them, holds out 
a large knife, as if offering fresh arms for further sacrifices of 
victims. Behind the deity, are prisoners with their elbows 
tied behind their backs. 

The architraves and ceilings bear sculptures of hieroglyphics, 
bulls, birds, &e. ‘The walls of these chambers to the south bear 
various presentations to Priapus. It is to be observed, that the 
god is inavariably represented with the left arm and leg only 
visible ; the left arm holding the crook and flagellum, or the 
flagellum only appears behind his back. Behind him is an al- 
tar with a palm tree on each side, and between the god and the 
figure offering the presentation is a large lotus. Isis is seulp- 
tured on the walls, suckling Horus. The length across the 
court C, is 231 feet. In front of the second portal are two 
colossal figures facing inwards; the dress below the middle 
slants off, so as to fall lower behind than before; from the 
knee-pan to the foot measures 8 feet 6 mches. 

On the facade are representations in bas relief of offerings 
to the god of Lampsacus. The hero is again sculptured, 
holding groupes of vanquished by the hair. This, as will be 
perceived by the plan, is a double gateway DG; the first or 
outer is 45 feet wide, and 41 feet 4 inches thick; the in- 
ner 17 feet wide, and 43 feet thick. This conducts to a 
court with 134 columns; those in the centre row are 36 
feet, the others 28 feet in circumference; the first have 
for their capital the lotus turned downwards; the others 
a Bulge and Tuscan capital ; they are painted blue, red, and 
yellow. The ultramarme and gold colours are here particular- 
ly brilliant. The capitals are connected by large blocks or 
slabs, so as to form a roof, except in the middle, which is op-: 
en to the sky; the connecting slabs are latticed with long nar- 
row apertures, so as to admit the light. Many of the blocks 
have fallen. Every column is covered from the pedestal up- 
wards with sculpture and paintings of presentations to the 
god, of palm-branches, vases, libations of lustral waters, Xc. 
Ke. 


Great Temple of Carnac in Thebes. 59 


The presenting figure is generally the hero, with his winged 
concomitant. ‘The blocks forming the roof are sculptured 
with birds, grashoppers, &c. On the walls are offerings to 
the hero by kneeling figures. Offerings occur also to Sothis, 
(the human figure with the head of the ibis.) This forest of 
columns measures 167 feet 6 inches across. Passing through 
the next portal e, we come to a court with two obelisks of red 
granite O. Upon the faces of these obelisks are very deeply cut 
serpents, birds, bulls, the ibis, scarabzei, hares, owls, libations of | 
lustral water, phallus often repeated, &c. The obelisks measure 
six feet two inches on two faces, and six feet eight inches on 
the other two. Passing through another portal f, we find a 
gateway flanked by an obelisk on each side F, measuring on 
the faces seven feet eight inches, and seven feet ten inches, and 
cut nearly as the two last described ; they are of the same sort 
of granite. Behind are rows of colossal figures C’C’, holding 
the crook and flagellum. We now pass through a gateway 
of granite g, and find two more obelisks of granite, perfect, 
except the pyramidion. On these are sculptured the monarch, 
embraced by Isis Lunata; she has sometimes the right arm 
thrown round his shoulder, he having the left arm on her 
shoulder. ‘There are other endearments; they look at each 
other, and the sculptor has thrown much tenderness of ex- 
pression into the countenance of the female. ‘There are also 
lotus flowers with green stalks, admirably executed. Next 
follows a granite portal eight feet wide, and seven feet ten 
inches thick, conducting to the sanctuary (S7z00,) and having 
three feet of width on each side of the door, and twenty-six 
feet in length. It is built entirely of granite, the roof being 
composed of three large granite slabs, ornamented with gilt 
stars on a blue or azure ground. Here the god was adored 
as the grand creative principle, as the being supplying the 
wants of mankind, and giving animation tonature. The por- 
tal, as well as the walls of the sanctuary, are sculptured with 
presentations of vases, &c. to the god—with libations, holding 
up hands in adoration. He is figured twice on each of the 
four pannels of each wall, or thirty-two times in all. These 
sculptures are painted green. Behind is another chamber of 
granite, with a ceiling of gilt stars on a blue ground. The 


60 Major-General Straton’s Description of the 


south wall has large figures of the god, with comparatively 
diminutive human figures at his feet, and adoring him. It is 
thus, throughout, by comparative size, that the Egyptians de- — 
signated their gods, their heroes, and the different ranks of 
mankind. On each side are passages of black granite, marked 
on the plan with a deep shade. Proceeding onwards, we have 
a large court, 191 feet long ; crossing it, there is a quadruple 
portico Q, 116 feet by 32; and to the right, or south, a range 
of apartments, perhaps for the priests, opening to the portico 
in front. The figures here are in relief, and represent offer- 
ings to the god, scenes of embracing, &c. In size, uniformity, 
and style of entrance, these chambers are really not unlike the 
cells of modern monks, though very differently decorated. 
The porticoes are all roofed with slabs, painted blue, and 
sculptured. Passing along the portico to the east end, we 
have another suite of smail similar chambers P P, with a colon- 
nade in front not entire, m. At the eastern entrance h, we 
trace the remains of a granite gateway; and at the dis- 
tance of twenty feet two colossal figures on each side aa, 
various fragments of colossi, a colonnade, and, at the distance 
of 321 feet from the eastern wall, a propylon and portal, with 
sculptured figures E. The northern entrance N has a propy- 
lon and portal, avenue of sphinxes, having the lion’s body, 
and human head*—the countenance is feminine. There are - 
two colossiin front. On the cornice of the propylon is an 
immense glebe, with expanded wings ; there are also serpents 
sculptured and painted. This propylon is at the distance of 
900 feet from the north wall of the temple, and in the inter- 
mediate space are various ruins, a gateway, Xc. To the 
north of the propylon is a rich plain in dourra and rice, 
interspersed with palm-trees. We proceed to examine the 
figures sculptured on the exterior walls, commencing at the 
north-east angle n. We find the usual offerings and presen- 


* This conjunction of the lion’s body with the female human head, has 
been supposed to denote Leo and Virgo, and to be typical of the most inte- 
resting of all events to an Egyptian, the inundation of the Nile, which 
usually takes place when the sun is in Leo and Virgo, viz. from the 23d 
July, when the river begins to rise, to the 22d September, when it is at its 
height, or begins to decrease. 


Great Temple of Carnac in Thebes. 61 


tations. Then follows a series of figures.—The Egyptian con- 
queror having his winged concomitant hovering above him, 
his standard and sacred tor is in his car, and in the act of 
drawing his bow on the enemy. His horses are scampering 
over, and treading on the foe. The fugitives are hurled 
down precipices pell-mell, or hastening to their strong-holds, 
while he drives furiously over the dead, the dying, and-the 
wounded. The enemy are pierced in all parts by his uner- 
ring darts. Some, who have already reached their fortress, 
and climbed or ascended the wall, draw up others with arrows 
sticking in their backs, or assist their wounded comrades to 
save the remains of life, nearly extinguished by the hero’s 
missiles; others are so grievously wounded, that, unable to 
make further efforts, they fall, pierced in every part, while 
endeavouring to scramble up. Those who have been fortu- 
nate enough to gain the inside of the fortress, are supplicating 
the mercy of the hero, and signify their surrender by extend- 
ed arms, uplifted hands, and bent posture. The arms of the 
hero are the bow and quiver—those of the enemy the lance and 
javelin. ‘The enemy wear a tight green dress, reaching to the 
middie, and below a red dress, reaching not quite to the 
knee. On the pannel above, is a groupe of prisoners—some 
are felling trees with axes—some assisting, others at a little 
distance, with ropes round the trees, to prevent their falling 
too suddenly. The hero returning from the chace, and hav- 
ing descended from his car, which is turned the other way, 
approaches them. ‘The chief of the enemy, indicated by his 
larger size, (but comparatively small to the hero) turns to re- 
ceive him. The enemy’s chief is represented in a submissive atti- 
tude, crouched, and supplicating for himself and his people. 
The hero having his reins in his left hand, holds out his right 
to the chief, as if in token of granting his prayer. The beards 
of the prisoners have been allowed to grow. In the scene 
described, the enemy are on foot. Following the wall to the 
westward, we see the hero of colossal size, with his people re- 
presented small in comparison, putting the enemy to flight ; 
they are drest as in the last scene, but are now in chariots. 
They are falling headlong in all directions. 


The sculptor next gives us proofs of the athletic strength 
il 


62 Major-General Straton’s Description of the 


of the hero. His left side is advanced,—he carries before him 
two prisoners, whom he holds round the waist ; he carries, in 
the same manner, two behind him, in his right arm ; the legs 
and arms of the four thus carried dangle in the air; the iron 
grasp of the hero is finely pourtrayed by the small and com- 
pressed waists of the four figures. Behind are two rows of 
prisoners, five in each row, with their wrists bound, and tied 
across the body, whom the hero drags along by a cord: in 
front of the hero is his car, and the reins are girt round his 
body ; he has a knife in one hand. The figures carried by 
the hero are much larger than those dragged by the cord, 
denoting the superior rank of the former. ‘This groupe is 
highly executed, particularly the muscular action of the right 
leg of the hero. We see more groupes of prisoners, some 
having the wrists, others the elbows, bound with ropes. The 
hero presents them to a seated deity—another deity and Isis 
Lunata are standing behind ;—the hero holds by the hair a 
number of the vanquished, who are on their knees: the hero 
makes offerings to the deity. The portrait of the hero is the 
same throughout, but his dress differs. In his car, and in 
the battle scenes, he wears a helmeted cap; when he holds 
the vanquished, or receives presentations, a very high cap ;— 
and when he is seen making offerings, and presentations of 
lotus flowers in gratitude to the deity, he wears the low close 
cap of humility and devotion. In all, he has hovering over him 
his tutelary genius. The wall is here a good deal broken; 
we discover horses dead, wounded, dying or pawing in pain, 
—chariots upset, or dashed to pieces. The figure of the 
horses of the hero is peculiarly elegant and spirited. He has 
on his car quivers and bows; I also reckoned three human 
heads on the car. Similar scenes, but a little varied, occur ; 
the hero holds a large figure whom he prepares to transfix, 
and crushes a smaller (inferior person) under his foot. The 
hero, in his car, with an uplifted long knife, prepares to make 
a blow at a person (of consequence from his size) who is by the 
side of his horses. 'The enemy are falling—the hero drives 
over them ;— one man looks behind, with a scared aspect, and 
endeavours to save his cattle. 


The south west propylon marked S. W. is imposing from 
1 


4 


Great Temple of Carnac in Thebes. 63 


its height ; and the elegance and perfection of its sculpture 
are remarkable. An avenue of sphinxes conducts to it, which 
runs in a direct line for 323 paces, where it meets an interest- 
ing avenue, leading in one direction to the avenue of the south- 
east propylon, and bending in the other direction towards the 
great temple of Luxor, at the distance of a mile and a quar- 
ter. The avenue of sphinxes may be traced by fragments for 
two-thirds of the way. The sphinxes first mentioned have the 
ram’s head, the others, the female human head. They hold 
between the paws a human figure, with the crook and flagel-— 
lum. The south-west propylon is 100 feet high ; over the 
portal is the winged globe and serpent, of admirable execution. 
This ornament is common to all the Egyptian temples. The 
jambs bear presentations to Isis Lunata, (with the disk or cres- 
cent) to Priapus; amongsi others, of four bulls driven by a 
man, and held by a cord—a presentation of two bulls with 
globes on their heads to Ammon—a sacrifice of kneeling and 
supplicating figures to Isis and Ammon. He wears a blue, 
red, and white dress—Isis wears a striped checked dress of 
the same colours. The propylon is 37 feet 6 inches thick ; the 
wall on each side of the portal extends only 10 feet 73 inches, 
width of the portal 18 feet. We now enter a court m, 118 feet 
long, with sphinxes on each side, conducting through a pylone, 
having a portal of 12 feet wide, in a mass of masonry, extending 
47 feet 2 inches on each side, and bearing offerings of lotus 
flowers, &c. There is a stair formed in the east end of the in- 
side of this pylone, by which the summit may be attained, 
and whence a magnificent view is had of the temple. We 
enter a court 7, with double rows of columns forming porti- 
coes, roofed with blocks. They are covered with sculptures. 
Passing through a doorway, 6 feet 7 inches thick, and 8 feet 
10 inches wide, there is a smaller court ¢, with a double por- 
tico on each side, which leads to a passage v, having rooms 
on either hand, and likewise underneath ; two of them have 
a pillar. The passage leads to a small chamber 2, 36 feet 
by 10 feet, almost buried in rubbish. To the west, is a 
small detached edifice w, the roof of which is supported 
by two columns, with the budding lotus for their capi- 
tal, ornamented with lotus flowers and palm-branches, and 


64 Major-General Straton’s Description of the 


surmounted by square blocks, bearing on each of their 
four sides the broad face of Isis in finely executed relief. 
The walls are sculptured with presentations, the ceiling with 
expanded wings. There are some adjoining chambers. At 
315 feet east from the south west propylon, we find the com- 
mencement of another mass, and at 151 feet farther the gate- 
way, or portal S E, constructed of granite highly polished, 
(marked with a deep shade on the plan,) bearing sculptures 
of offerings of jars, vases, &c. to the god, who wears here a 
very rich necklace or collar; there are other figures in mag- 
nificent costume, and artfully executed; the formation of 
the limbs, the feet, the dresses, drapery, and minor details, 
are exquisite. ‘This leads to a court B, with a covered porti- 
co to right and left. At 120 feet to the right is an edifice y, 
with a double portico and side chambers: it has a granite en- 
trance or gateway. 

At 135 feet, is another mass of masonry 2, which is, in a 
great measure, dilapidated. There are fragments of a granite 
gateway, and of two colossi, whereof there remains a hand 
and body. Passing through an open space of 240 feet, we come 
to a third mass 3, having two colossal seated statues on each 
side, measuring from the head to the navel (they are partly 
buried) twelve feet four inches, from the shoulder to the el- 
bow seven feet two inches, from the elbow to the fingers seven 
feet one inch. These statues have the serpent twisted on the 
forehead. The facade is sculptured with the hero holding the 
vanquished by the hair of the head; we reckon five pairs of 
hands. ‘Traversing a space of 133 feet, which includes the 
thickness of a fourth mass 4, we proceed for 181 feet, which 
brings us to an opening in the wall 5, a little to the eastward 
of the forest of columns. 

The sphinxes leading to the south east, or granite-gated pro- 
pylon, have the bull’shead; we reckon fifty-eight on oneside, and 
49 on the other; they stand on high pedestals, and are paint- 
ed. Proceeding south, we come to a gateway leading to an 
open space, with fragments of statues and ruins. A pond en- 
closes, on three sides, a small eminence L, where we have seat- 
ed rows of figures with the female form and lion’s head ; they. 
sit in chairs with backs. We reckon thirteen in one row, and 


Professor Hansteen on the Magnetic Poles. 65 


eleven in another—they are all of black granite—the hands 
rest on the thigh; one hand holds the sacred tor; they wear 
bracelets ; the breasts are exposed, the thighs, legs, and feet 
are closed. 

The chain of rock and mountain which bounds the plain, 
is here, at least, six or seven miles distant; the whole of the 
intervening flat receives the benefits of the inundation of the 
fertilizing Nile. 


The width of the avenue formed by the sphinxes, is gene- _ feet 


in. 

rally about - - - - - 41 0 
The distance between the sphinxes, - - 5 0 
From the shoulder to the insertion of the tailof the sphinx, 12 0 
Length of the tail, - - - - il 0 
Breadth across the chest, ~ - - - 4, rv) 
From the shoulder to the knee, - - . ~ 5 1 
From knee to knee in their recumbent position, - 3 6 
Breadth across the paw, - - - - ln, AE 
In some avenues, the interval between the sphinxes is, 11 0 


The length of the temple from the western portal p to the 
eastern propylon E, is upwards of 1500 feet. 


Art. XIJI.—Observations on the Position and Revolution of 
the Magnetic’ Poles of the Earth. By CuristopHer Han- 
STEEN, Professor of Astronomy in the University of Nor- 
way. 


As we had the satisfaction of first introducing the English 
reader to the important researches of Professor Hansteen, con- 
tained in his valuable work on the magnetism of the earth, * 
we are desirous to keep our readers in the current of his very 
interesting and important inquiries. 

In the work now quoted, Professor Hansteen computed, by 
means of the observations which he then possessed, the posi- 
tions of the four magnetic poles of the globe, and from these 
results he calculated the following table, which shows the po- 


sition of these poles during the first half of the present century. 
In this table, 


* Untersuchungen uber den Magnelismus der Erde. Christiania, 1819. 
VOL. V. No. I. JULY 1826. E 


66 Professor Hansteen on the Position and Revolution 


N is the strongest pole in the north hemisphere, and. its 
_ revolution round the north pole of the earth is performed in 
1740 years. 

S is the strongest pole in the south hemisphere, and its revo- 
lution round the south pole of the earth is performed in 4609 
years. 

n is the weakest pole in the north hemisphere, and its revo- 
lution is performed in 860 years. 

$ is the weakest pole in the south hemisphere, and its revo- 
lution is performed in 1304 years. 


PoLE N, 
Strongest Pole in | Strongest Pole in 
North Hemisphere.|South Hemisphere. 


POLE n, POLE s, 
Weakest Pole in | Weakest Pole in 
North Hemisphere.|/South Hemisphere. 


; Long. |... Long. |_. A 
Paaanee | waar [Pierce | ase [Disiauce| ase [Diane | wasn 
Ye North on South fram Mor pom) South on 
Pol Green- Green- ’P 1 Green- P i Green- 
tee wich vate wich. Ae wich 


4° 35)131° 43/1 12° 10/130° 28’ 
4 42]135 54) 11 57)133 14 
4 48)140 6] Ll 44/135 59 
4 54)144 17] LL 31137 45 
5 
5 


0|148 28] 11 19/140 31 


0 |t52 6 |143 


Since this table was computed, Professor Hansteen has ob- 
tained many new sets of magnetical observations, and particu- 
larly those which have been made during the British voyages 
of discovery to the Arctic Regions. These he has diligently 
compared, and thus obtained new determinations of the posi- 
tion and times of revolution of the magnetic poles of the earth. 
The results of these we shall now lay before our readers in a 
very abbreviated, but, we trust, intelligible and useful form. 


1. On the Position, &c. of N, the strongest Magnetic Pole im 
North America. 


By combining four observations on the declination of the 
needle, made on board his Majesty’s sloop Brazen in Hudson’s 
Bay, in 1813, and which Professor Hansteen inspected in the 
Marine Chart Office at the Admiralty in London, he obtained 
the following results : 


of the Magnetic Poles of the Earth. 67 


Distance of the Pole N from Long. West of 
- the Pole of the Earth. Greenwich. 
1813, Q1° 44 - 91° 35! 
23 40 a S 92 18 
22 9 - ~ 93. 22 
23 47 ~ - 92 21 
Mean, 22° 50’ - Mean, 92° 24/ 


By placing this result beside former determinations, we have, . 


Distance of N Long. West of 
trom Pole. Greenwich. 
1730, 19° 15’ - - 188° 6’ 
1769, 19 43 - - LOO 
1813, 22 50 Z < 92 24 


Hence we have, 


Motion of the Pole N Annual 
to the East. Motion. 
From 1730 to 1769, - - 12’.44 
From 1769 to 1813, - - 10 .41 
Mean motion, ~ - 11’.425 
Period of complete revolution, - 1890 years. 


These results have received a very remarkable confirma- 
tion from the observations both of the variations and dip made 
during the voyages of Captain Ross and Captain Parry. In 
August 1819, Captain Parry was north of the magnetic pole, 
and from his measure of the dip, viz. 88° 37’, on the 11th 
September 1819, the expedition must have been about 3° north 
of the magnetic pole; but they were then in 74° 27’, conse- 
quently the pole must have been in 71° 27’, or its distance from 
the pole of the globe must have been 18° 33’. We may 
therefore conclude, that the position of the strongest pole N in 
the northern hemisphere is well determined. 


2. On the Position of S', the strongest Magnetic Pole in the 
Southern Hemisphere, south of New Holiand. - 


By combining the observations made by Captain Cook in 
1773 and 1777, and those made by Fourneaux in 1773, Pro- 


68 Professor Hansteen on the Position and Revolution 


fessor Hansteen has obtained the following results, from which 
two of the most discordant are rejected : 


Distance of the Pole S from Long. East of 
the Pole of the Earth. Greenwich. 
20° 26’ = - - 138° 7 
20 58 - - - 135 12 
21 30 - - - 132 47 
19 47 - - - 136 31 
19 53 - - - 136 25 
20 27 - - - 138 29 
19 39 - - - 138 il 
21 48 - - ~ 134 21 
Mean, 20° 33.5 - Mean, 136° 15'.4 


But, in the year 1642, Professor Hansteen found these po- 
sitions, from the observations of Jansen Tasman, to be, 


Distance from Pole, - - 193755" 
Long. East of Greenwich, - - 146 59 


Hence, in 131 years, the pole S has moved westward 10°14, 
or 4.69 per annum. 
Its period of complete revolution will be 4605 years. 


8. On the Position of n, the weakest Magnetic Pole in the 
North Hemisphere in Siberia. 


By combining a number of observations made in 1805 at 
Tobolsk, Tara, and Udinsk in Siberia, Professor Hansteen ob- 
tained the following results: 


Distance of x from Long. East from 
the Pole of the Earth. Greenwich. 
4° 27’ 116° 27’ 
4 50 115 51 
Mean, 4°38’ 30” “Mean, 116° 19’ 


But, in 1770, Professor Hansteen found the positions of 
this pole to be, 


Distance from Pole in 1770, - * 4° 14’ 
Long. East of Greenwich, - - 91 29 30" 


of the Magnetic Poles of the Earth. 69 


Hence, in 35 years, the pole 2 has moved 14° 35’ 30”, or 


25.128 per annum. 
Hence it appears, that the magnetic pole n has a motion 
from west to east, and that its period of complete revolution 


is 860 years. 


4. On the Position of s, the weakest Magnetic Pole in the 
Southern Hemisphere south of Terra del Fuego. 
By combining the observations made by Captain Cook 
and Fourneaux in 1774, Professor Hansteen has obtained the 
following results: 


Distance of the Pole s from Long. West from 
the Pole of the Earth. Greenwich. 
12° 36’ 122° 52’ 
12 44 122 21 
13°15 120 42 
12 46 124 7 
12 47 123 48 
Mean, 12° 431’ Mean, 123°17' 


But, in 1676, from observations mentioned by Halley in the 
Phil. Trans., No. 148, Professor Hansteen found the position 
of this pole to be, 

Distance from the Pole in 1670, - - 15° 53’ 
Long. West from Greenwich, . - 94 33% 

Hence, in 104 years, the pole s has moved westward 28°43’, 
or 16.57 annually ; and we have its period of complete revo- 
lution, 1303 years. . 

From these determinations, it appears that the two magnetic 
poles in the northern hemisphere, N and n, move eastward, while 
the two S, s, in the southern hemisphere move westward. 

As the poles N and S are nearly about the same distance 
from the terrestrial poles, and, therefore, almost diametrically 
opposite, and as they are also much stronger than m and s, 
Professor Hansteen properly assumes, that N and S are the 
terminating points of one magnetic axis, and n and s those of 
the other axis. ‘Therefore, says he, these two magnetic axes 
cross without intersecting one another, or passing through the 
centre of the earth. The centre of both lie much nearer the 
surface in the South Sea than in our hemisphere. 


70 Professor Hansteen on the Magnetic Poles of the Earth. 


In answer to the question which naturally arises respecting 
the cause of these remarkable phenomena, Professor Hansteen 
makes the following observation: It is possible that the illu- 
mination and heating of the earth, during one revolution about 
its axis, may produce a magnetic tension, as well as it pro- 
duces the electrical phenomena, and that the change of posi- 
tion in the magnetic axis may be explained from a change of 
position in the earth’s axis to its orbit. 

Professor Hansteen next proceeds to show how the changes 
in the variation and dip of the needle may be explained by the 
motion of the magnetic poles; and he begins with the obser- 
vations made at Paris, where the variation was as follows : 


Weise: Declination of Ven Declination of 
the Needle. the Needle. 

1541 7730 HAST: 1667 0° 15’ WeEsr. 

1550 8 0 1670 130 

1580 11 30 Maximum. 1680 2 40 

1603 8 45 1683 3 50 > 

1630 4 30 ; 1700 7 40 

1640 ey 1800 Wg 

1659 eal Y 1807 22 3A 

1664. 0 40 1814 22 54 Maximum. 

1666 0 O No Variation. 1824 22 231 


Now it appears that, in 1580, the Siberian pole.» was about 
40° east of Greenwich, or north of the White Sea, while the 
North American pole N was about 136° west of Greenwich, or 
about 30° east of Behring’s Straits. The pole m, therefore, 
lay nearer Europe than now, and the pole N was more remote. 
Hence the former exercised a predominant action, and the 
needle turned towards the east. In the mean time, the pole 
n withdrew itself towards the Siberian Ocean, and as N ap- 
proached Europe, its action increased, aud the needle turned 
westward till 1814, when it reached its greatest declination, 
and since that time it is evidently returning eastward. On 
the very same principles we see the reason why the eastern 
declination was less before 1580. 

The variations of the needle in the Southern hemisphere are 
explicable in the same way. At the Cape of Good Hope, and 
in the different bays of the adjoining sea, the variation was 
easterly in 1605. The following are the variations since the. 
time of Vasco de Gama: 


Mr Innes on the Solar Eclipse, §c. 71 


Years. a ee ue Years. pes tc ¥ 

1605 0° 30’ East. 1724 16° 27’ West. 
1609 0 12 West. 1752 19 9 

1614 1 30 1768 19 30 

1667 t I5 1775 21 14 

1675 8 30 1791 25 40 Maximum. 
1702 IZ 50 1804 25 4 


Now, in 1605, the South American pole s was 764° west of 
Greenwich, nearly south of Terra del Fuego, and the New 
Holland pole S was about 150° east of Greenwich ; the pole s 
was, consequently, much nearer the Cape than it is now, while 
the other pole S was more remote from it. The effect of s, 
therefore, was greater, and of S less than at present, so that the 
south pole of the needle moved more towards the west, and its 
north pole more towards the east. But as s went farther off, 
and S approached the Cape, the south pole of the needle turn- 
ed more and more towards 8, so that the declination became 
westerly. 

To obtain an example from the dip, Professor Hansteen 
gives the following observations at Paris: 


Years. Dip. Years. Dip. 
1671 7120 NESS. > 69° 26’ 
1754 12 15 1806 69 12 
1780 7148 1814 68 30 


Though the dip thus diminished at Paris, yet it increased 
in Eastern Siberia and Kamtschatka. Both these changes are 
the results of the motion of the Siberian pole n towards the 
east, in which it is removed from Europe, and approaches to 
Kamtschatka. In all South America the dip decreases in 
consequence of the motion of the Terra del Fuego pole s to- 
wards the west. 


Art. XIII.—On the Solar Eclipse which will happen on the 
29th of November 1826 ; being the principal results of a cal- 
culation for Edinburgh. By Mr Georcr Innes, Aber- 
deen. 


Sir, 
I senp you for insertion in the Journal of Science, the results 
of a calculation for Edinburgh of the solar eclipse which will 


72 Mr Innes on the Solar Eclipse 


happen on the 29th of November 1826. The elements have 
been found from the solar tables of M. Delambre, and the lu- 
nar tables of M. Burckhardt. 

Although the moon’s apparent semi-diameter exceeds that 
of the sun, yet, owing to the moon’s great south latitude, the 
eclipse will not be total any place of the globe, as the central 
path of the penumbra will pass beyond the north pole. For 
the same reason, at those places where the eclipse will be visi- 
ble, the parallaxes in latitude will not be very different; and, 
therefore, also, the digits eclipsed will be nearly the same at 
all places in Great Britain; but the times will be affected by 
the parallaxes in longitude, which will vary with the situation 
of the place. 


The elements are as follows :-— 


me: |) (Bicpeaelncrere 
Ecliptic conjunction, mean time at Edin. Nov. 29 tl 12 47, 11 a.m. 
Equation of mean to apparent time, - -+ I1 31, 26 
Hence the apparent time is ~ - 29 11 24 18, 37 a.m. 
Longitude of the sun and moon from true equinox, 246° 46 21, 83 
Sun’s right ascension, + - - 244 55 41, 04 
declination south, - - - 21 27 34, 47 
—— horary motion in longitude, —- - 2 32, 09 
ono - right ascension, - 2 41, 06 
— ——-—___—. ——.- declination, - - + 25, 65 
semi-diameter, - - * - 16 15, 15 
— horizontal parallax, - - - 8, 93 
latitude, - - - - 0, 00 
Obliquity of the ecliptic, - - - 23 27 36, 86 
Horary decrease of the equation of time, - 0,895 
Moon’s latitude north increasing, - - 1 12 27, 81 
—— equatorial horizontal paraliax, - 1 1 23, 66 
horizontal semi-diameter, - - 16 43, 80 
—— horary motion in longitude at conjunction, 38 5, 80 


peecenmm st 


for the hour preceding, 38 5,865 
—— for the hour following, 38 5,735 
——— horary motion in latitude at conjunction, + 3 25,833 
for the hour preceding, + 3 26,054 
for the hour following, + 3 25,613 
Angle of relative orbit of the moon with the ecliptic, 5 30 36, 4 
Horary motion of the moon from the sun in the relative 

orbit, : z 3 = 35 43, 62 


——— 


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74 On the sound which accompanies the Aurora Borealis. 


The final results in view are as follows: 


Apparent Time. 
De, Wiehe 


Begins at Edinburgh, - - Nov. 29 9 45 18,21 a.m. 
Greatest obscuration, - - - 10 49 15,91 
Apparent conjunction, - - = 10 50 23,79 
End of the eclipse, - - - 11 54 56,46 

: D. 
Digits eclipsed at greatest obscuration, - 6 57 52,56 on 


the north part of the sun’s dise. 
The moon will make the first impression on the sun’s hmb 
39° 54’ 30” from his zenith to the right hand. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
Geo. INNEs. 


Art. XIV.—Observations relative to the Sound which accom- 
panties the Aurora Borealis. 


Tuat the phenomena of the Aurora Borealis were accompanied 
with a whizzing sound, resembling the discharge of electricity 
from a pointed conductor, was, for a long time, considered 
as an undeniable fact in science. During the late expeditions, 
however, to the Arctic Regions, and during Mr Scoresby’s nu- 
merous voyages to Greenland, the Northern Lights were not 
heard to emit any sound; and since that time it has been 
very generally supposed, that preceding observers must have 
been mistaken. 

We do not mean to array, in opposition to this opinion, the 
body of evidence which has been recorded in favour of the op- 
posite one. It may be sufficient to state, that Gmelin speaks 
of the hissing noise of the Aurora Borealis in the most pointed 
terms, and represents it as not only frequent but very loud 
in the north-eastern parts of Siberia, and that M. Cavallo . 
- distinctly heard more than once a sort of crackling noise ac- 
companying the coruscations of the Aurora when they were 
strong. 

Atalater period, and during the brilliant Aurora which ap- 
peared at Edinburgh on the 5th December 1801, the same 
noise was distinctly heard by Dr Brewster, who, at that time, 
published the following description of it - 


On the sound whieh accompanies the Aurora Borealis. 75 


“The whole northern part of the horizon was covered with 
a thin transparent luminous cloud, which emitted almost as 
much light as the moon when three days old. This lumi- 
nous cloud sometimes appeared settled, and totally free from 
all manner of motion or agitation. At other times the agita- 
tion was extremely great, and the coruscations or streams of 
light which were perpendicular to the horizon, flew with the 
utmost rapidity from east to west, and from west to east. One 
of these coruscations, which appeared in the north-west, was 
about 13 degrees long, and } a degree broad. Its western 
edge was dused with fel and vilets? and its brilliancy was al- 
most equal to that of the moon in her first quarter, when the 
sun is a few degrees below the horizon. *** During this 
evening a whizzing noise was heard in the air, exactly similar 
to the sound which accompanies the passage of the electric 
spark from the glass cylinder to the conductor; and I was 
informed by a friend, that during the time that the corusca- 
tions were most vivid, the top of St Giles’ steeple seemed to 
emit rays of light in every respect similar to a Leyden jar 
when surcharged with the electric fluid.” * 

Since these facts were published, Professor Hansteen has 
added the following very important information on the subject. 

The first is an extract of a letter from M. Ramm, Royal 
Inspector of Forests at Torset, to Professor Hansteen : 

“On reading Scoreby’s voyage for the re-discovery of the 
east coast of Greenland, I was surprised to observe, that nei- 
ther he nor any body else had noticed the noise attend- 
ing the motions of the Northern Lights. I believe, however, 
that I have heard it repeatedly during a space of several 
hours, when a boy of ten or eleven years old; (it was in the 
year 1766, 1767, or 1768.) I was then crossing, in winter, a 
meadow, near which there was no forest, and iB saw, for the 
first time, the sky over me glowing with the most brilliant 
light, playing in beautiful colours, in a manner I have never 
seen since. The colours showed themselves very distinctly on 
the plain, which was covered with snow or hoar frost, and J 


* We are informed by the Rev. Mr Grant of Cross and Burness, Ork- 
ney, that he has repeatedly heard the whizzing noise during the corusca- 
tions of the Aurora Borealis.—Eb. 


76 On the sound which accompanies the Aurora Borealis. 


heard several times a quick whispering sound simultaneously 
with the motion of the rays over my head.” 

Professor Hansteen then adds the following observations : 

«‘ The polar regions being in reality the native country of the 
polar light, we ought to be peculiarly interested in obtaining 
any additional information on the natural history of this re- 
markable phenomenon ; and we have so many certain accounts 
of the noise attending it, that the negative experience of south- 
ern nations cannot be brought in opposition to our positive 
knowledge. Unfortunately, we live, since the beginning of 
this century, in one of the great pauses of this phenomenon, 
so that the present generation knows but little of it from per- 
sonal observation. It would, therefore, be very agreeable to 
receive, from older people, observations of this kind, made in 
their youth, when the Aurora Borealis showed itself in its full 
splendour. It can be proved mathematically, that the rays of 
the Northern Lights ascend from the surface of the earth in a 
direction inclining towards the south, (an inclination which, 
with us, forms an angle of about 73°.) If, then, this light 
occupies the whole northern sky, rising more than 17° above 
the zenith, the rays must proceed from under the feet of the 
observer, although they do not receive their reflecting power 
till they have reached a considerable elevation, perhaps beyond 
our atmosphere. — It is, therefore, conceivable, why we should 
frequently hear a noise attending the Northern Lights, when the 
inhabitants of southern countries, who see these phenomena 
at a distance of several hundred miles, hear no report what- 
ever. Wargentin, in the 15th volume of the T'’ransactions of 
the Swedish Academy, says, that Dr Gisler and Mr Hellant, 
who had resided for some time in the north of Sweden, made, 
at the request of the academy, a report of their observations 
on the Awrora Borealis.” 

The following is an extract from Dr Gisler’s account :— - 
«‘ The most remarkable circumstance attending the Northern 
Lights is, that, although they seem to be very high in the air, 
perhaps higher than our common clouds, there are yet con- 
vincing proofs that they are connected with the atmosphere, 
and often descend so low in it, that at times they seem to touch 
the earth itself; and on the highest mountains they produce 


Mr Talbot’s Experiments on Coloured Flames. 77 


an effect like a wind round the face of the traveller.” He also 
says, that he himself, as well as other credible persons, ‘* had 
often heard the rushing of them just as if a strong wind had been 
blowing, (although there was a perfect calm at the time) or 
hike the whizzing heard in the decomposition of certain bodies 
during a chemical process.” It also seemed to him that he 
noticed ‘a smell of smoke or burnt salt.” ‘* I must yet add,” 
says Gisler, ‘ that people who had travelled in Norway, in- 
formed me they had sometimes been overtaken on the top of 
mountains by a thin fog, very similar to the Northern Lights, 
and which set the air in motion; ‘they called it sédebleket, 
(Hiring’s lightning) and said that it was attended by a pier- 
cing cold, and impeded respiration.” Dr Gisler also asserts, 
that he often heard “ ofa whitish gray cold fog of a greenish 
tinge, which, though it did not prevent the mountains from 
being seen, yet somewhat obscured the sky, rising from the 
earth, and changing itself at last into an Aurora; at least, such 
a fog was frequently the forerunner of this phenomenon.” 

To these observations, Professor Hansteen adds, that Cap- 
tain Abrahamson, in the Transactions of the Scandinavian Li- 
terary Society, has given an account of several observations of 
noises that were heard along with the Northern Lights ; and the 
learned Professor concludes with the observation, that he him- 
self knows several persons that have heard the same sounds. 


Art. XV.—Some Experiments on Coloured Flames. By H. 
F. Tarzot, Esq. Communicated from the Author. 


Grear progress has recently been made in investigating the 
properties of light, and yet many of them are still unexamin- 
ed, or imperfectly explained. Among these are the colours 
of flames which not only appear very various to common ob- 
servation, but are shown, by the assistance of a prism, to be 
entirely different in nature one from another; some being 
homogeneous, or only containing one kind of light; others 
consisting of an infinite variety of all possible shades of co- 
lour. 

1. It was discovered by Dr st that the flame of al- 


78 Mr Talbot’s Experiments on Coloured Flames. 


cohol, diluted with water, consists chiefly of homogeneous yel- 
low rays. On this principle, he proposed the construction of 
a monochromatic lamp, and pointed out its advantages for ob- 
servations with the microscope. ‘This must be considered a 
very valuable discovery. The light of such a lamp, however, © 
is weak, unless the alcohol flame is very large. I have, there- 
fore, made several attempts to obtain a brighter light, and I 
think the following is the most convenient method. A cot- 
ton wick is soaked in a solution of salt, and when dried, 
placed in a spirit lamp. It gives an abundance of yellow 
light for a long time. A lamp with ten of these wicks gave 
a light little inferior to a wax candle; its effect upon all sur- 
rounding objects was very remarkable, especially wpon such as 
were red, which became of different shades of brown and dull 
yellow. <A scarlet poppy was changed to yellow, and the 
beautiful red flower of the Lobelia fulgens appeared entirely 
black. The wicks were arranged in a line, in order to unite 
their effect for a microscope. A common blue glass has the 
property of absorbing the yellow light of this lamp, however 
brilliant, while it transmits the feeble violet rays. If these 
are also stopped by a pale yellow glass, the lamp becomes 
absolutely invisible, though.a candle is seen distinctly through 
the same glasses. But the most remarkable quality of this 
light is its homogeneity, which is perfect as far as I have 
been able to ascertain. I speak of the yellow rays, which 
form the mass of the light, and quite overpower the feeble 
effect of the blue and green. The origin of this homogeneous 
light appears to me difficult to explain. I have found that 
the same effect takes place whether the wick of the lamp is 
steeped in the muriate, sulphate, or carbonate of soda, while 
the nitrate, chlorate, sulphate, and carbonate of potash, agree 
in giving a blueish white tinge to the flame. Hence, the 
yellow rays may indicate the presence of soda, but they, never- . 
theless, frequently appear where no soda can be supposed to 
be present. 

2. Mr Herschel discovered that sulphur, when burning in- 
tensely, gives a homogeneous yellow light. ‘To. examine it, I 
inflame a mixture of sulphur and nitre behind a screen, hav- 
ing a narrow vettical slit through which the flame could be 
seen. This opening, examined with a prism, gave a spectrum 


Mr Talbot's Experiments on Coloured Flames. 719 


in which there was a very bright yellow line, indicating the 
combustion of the sulphur. I thought it a point of consider- 
able interest to determine, whether this yellow ray was iden- 
tical with that afforded by the flame of alcohol containing 
salt, and, with that view, I placed such a flame behind the 
other, their light passing through the same opening ; so that, 
if the rays were of a different nature, two yellow lines should 
be seen in the spectrum ; but if identical, then only one. I 
found, upon trial, that the rays coincided ; and I obtained a. 
further confirmation of this, by inflaming the nitre and sul- 
phur, mixed up with a quantity of salt; the effect of which 
was, not to produce a second yellow line in the spectrum, but 
to increase greatly the brilliancey of the original one. The re- 
sult of this experiment points out a very singular optical ana- 
logy between soda and sulphur, bodies hitherto supposed by 
chemists to have nothing in common. 

3. There are other means of procuring the same light 
which I shall briefly mention If a clean piece of platina foil 
is held in the blue or lower part of a gas flame, it produces 
no change in the flame, but if the platina has been touched by 
the hand, it gives off a yellow light which lasts a minute or 
more. If it has been slightly rubbed with soap, the light is 
much more abundant, while wax, on the contrary, produces 
none. Salt sprinkled on the platina, gives yellow light while 
it decrepitates, and the effect may be renewed at pleasure by 
wetting it. This circumstance led me to suppose that the 
yellow light was owing to the water of crystallization, rather 
than to the soda, but then it is not easy to explain why the 
salts of potash, &c. should not produce it likewise. Wood, 
ivory, paper, &c. when placed in the gas flame, give off (be- 
sides their bright flame) more or less of this yellow light which 
I have always found the same in its characters. The only 
principle which these various bodies have in common with the 
salts of soda, is water; yet I think that the formation or 
"presence of water cannot be the origin of this yellow light, be- 
cause ignited sulphur produces the very same, a substance 
with which water is supposed to have no analogy. * It is al- 


* It may be worth remark, though probably accidental, that the speci- 
fic gravity of sulphur is 1.99, or almost exactly twice that of water. 


80 Mr Talbot's Ewperiments on Coloured Flames. 


so remarkable that alcohol burnt in an open vessel, or in 6 
lamp with a metallic wick, gives but little of the yellow light ; 
while, if the wick be of cotton, it gives a considerable quanti- 
ty, and that for an unlimited time. (I have found other in- 
stances of a change of colour in flames, owing to the mere pre- 
sence of a substance which suffers no diminution in conse- 
quence. ‘hus, a particle of muriate of lime on the wick of a 
spirit lamp will produce a quantity of red and green rays for 
a whole evening, without being itself sensibly diminished.) 
The bright flame of a candle is surrounded by the same ho- 
mogeneous yellow light, which becomes visible when the flame 
itself is screened. The following experiment shows its na- 
ture more evidently: If some oil is dropped on the wick of a 
spirit lamp, the flame assumes the brilliancy of a candle sur- 
rounded by an exterior yellow flame, This appearance only 
lasts until the oil is consumed. 

4. The flame of sulphur and nitre contains a red ray, which 
appears to me of a remarkable nature. While examining the 
yellow line in the spectrum of this flame, I perceived another 
line situated beyond the red end of the spectrum, from the 
termination of which it is separated by a wide interval of dark- 
ness. In colour it nevertheless differs but little from the rays 
which usually terminate the spectrum. It arises, I believe, 
from the combustion of the nitre, as the yellow ray does from 
that of the sulphur, for I have since observed it mm the flame 
of a spirit lamp, whose wick had been soaked in nitre or chlo- 
rate of potash. It appeared to me that this ray was so dis- 
tant from the rest, that it might be less refrangible than any 
in solar light; and I have been since informed by Mr Her- 
schel, that he had already observed it in a similar experiment, 
and was impressed with the same idea. 

With the hope of establishing this, I admitted candle light, 
and that of the nitre lamp which I have just mentioned, 
through the same aperture, and noticed how far this isolated 
red ray appeared beyond the spectrum of the candle. J then 
compared, in the same way, the light of the candle with that 
of the sun, and I found that the great intensity of the solar 
light lengthened the red end of the spectrum about as far, so 


that I was obliged to leaye the question undecided, as the 
11 


Mr Talbot's Experiments on Coloured Flames. 81 


faintness of the lamp prevented my comparing it directly with 
the sun. This red ray appears to possess a definite refrangi- 
bility, and to be characteristic of the salts of potash, as the 
yellow ray is of the salts of soda, although, from its feeble 
illuminating power, it is only to be detected with a prism. 
If this should be admitted, I would further suggest, that when- 
ever the prism shows a homogeneous ray of any colour to 
exist in a flame, this ray indicates the formation or the pre- 
sence of a definite chemical compound. An excellent prism 
is, however, requisite to determine the perfect homogeneity of | 
a ray. 

5. Phosphorus inflamed with mitre gives a very brilliant 
spectrum, in which no colour appears to be predominant or 
deficient. It therefore resembles the spectra of ignited lime, 
platina, and other solid bodies, and differs totally from the 
solar spectrum in which there are now known to be innume- 
rable interruptions of light. And it is worthy of remark, that 
no light has been hitherto discovered at all resembling that of 
the sun, (when analyzed with a prism) except the light of the 
other celestial bodies. 

6. The red fire of the theatres examined in the same way, 
gave a most beautiful spectrum with many light lines or maxi- 
ma of light. In the red, these lines were numerous and crowd- 
ed, with dark spaces between, besides an exterior ray greatly 
separated from the rest, and, probably, the effect of the nitre 
in the composition. In the orange was one bright line, one in 
the yellow, three in the green, a very bright one in the blue, 
and several that were fainter. The bright line in the yellow is 
caused, without doubt, by the combustion of the sulphur, and 
the others may be attributed to the antimony, strontia, &e. 
which enter into this composition. For instance, the orange 
ray may be the effect of the strontia, since Mr Herschel found 
in the flame of muriate of strontia a ray of that colour. * If 
this opinion should be correct and applicable to the other de- 
finite rays, a glance at the prismatic spectrum of a flame may 
show it to contain substances, which it would otherwise re- 
quire a laborious chemical analysis to detect. ; 


Lonvon, March 1826. 


* Edinburgh Transactions, vol. ix. p. 456. 
VOL. Vv. No. 1. JuLy 1826. F 


82 Notice regarding the Red-breast. 


Art. XVI.—Notice regarding the Red-breast (Motacilla 
rubecula, Lin.) By a Correspondent. 


Or the small song-birds, the red-breast seems most strongly 
attached to man and his dwellings; and there are associations 
connected with its history which prevent the robbing of its 
nest, even by those whose feelings of humanity for the other 
families of the feathered race are by no means similar. In 
this country, much of that feeling which protects the red- 
breast’s nest is undoubtedly owing to the pathetic tale of the 
<¢ Babes of the Wood ;” but, on the Continent, where it is not 
regarded with the same associations, the red-breast is taken in 
numbers, at the close of autumn, for the use of the table. On 
this account also, it is, perhaps, that the red-breast is so sel- 
dom seen in the confinement of a cage. The following notice 
of one, however, which was taken by a gentleman in Orkney, 
and kept for nine years as a song-bird, may be interesting, as 
detailing the kind of food which supported him during his 
long captivity, and the change of plumage which took place 
towards the close of his life : 


“ Dear Sir,—At your request, I state to you some par- 
ticulars respecting a robin red-breast which I had kept in a 
cage for nine years. As far as my information extends, this 
and another in Wales are the only instances in Britain of 
preserving that melodious bird in a domesticated state. Dur- 
ing a fall of snow, he got into my barn, and was caught by a 
net, without receiving any injury. The difficulty was how to 
‘tame and feed him. I put crumbs of soft bread and potatoes 
into the cage; and, in order to prevent the violent struggles 
which he made for freedom from killing him, I removed him 
to a solitary room. In the course of two days he became 
quite tame. I perceived the food which I had given him he 
did not relish. I tried the common earth-worm, cut into small 
pieces, which he devoured greedily. He recovered his health 
and fine appearance, and, in a few days, began to delight us 
with his sweet-varied song. As the season approached for 
obtaining the common flesh-fly and butterflies, they were pro- 


Notice regarding the Red-breast. 83 


cured for him; and I have seen him use above a hundred of 
the flesh-flies daily. After I had him seven years, the colour 
of his feathers had considerably changed ; his wings, back, 
and tail turned white, but his breast retained its red colour ; 
and thus he continued till the ninth year, when he died. The 
north of Scotland does not furnish a more delightful bird for 
a cage than Robin. Could he be procured young, and treated 
as I have stated, there can be no doubt of preserving him. 
It is extremely difficult to obtain a young one. The female 
is scarcely known. I have never met with any book describ- 
ing the female robin. I never saw but two of them; and I 
shall state the grounds of my opinion that they were female 
robins:—The male robin is a daring warlike bird; he does 
not associate even with the male of his own species, nor with 
any bird whatever but the female of his own kind. Of this 
I am certain; and I remarked his familiarity and attention 
to the only two females I have seen. “I shall describe to 
you the female :—She is precisely of the same form with the 
male—of a dusky colour—has not the red breast—chirps as 
the male—and bows the head at every chirp, but is devoid of 
song.” 


Our correspondent is wrong in supposing that the domes- 
tication of red-breasts is of rare occurrence. The feeling 
which prevents their being taken and educated as song-birds, 
has, we have little doubt, taken its rise from the association 
we have alluded to, and is by no means to be attributed to 
their inability to support the confinement of a cage. The 
Hon. Daines Barrington (Phil. T'rans. vol. lxiii.) mentions his 
having trained young red-breasts, among other birds, under a 
nightingale, for the purpose of acertaining whether the notes 
of birds were instinctive, or how much arose from imitation. 
In one case, three parts in four were the song of the nightin- 
gale; in another, educated under a woodlark-linnet for a 
month, and afterwards removed near a skylark-linnet, the 
robin learnt the notes of this last. Willughby says, * red- 
breasts may be taken “ at ten days old; if you Jet them lie 
too long, they will be sullen.” And Vieillot + remarks, that, 


* Willughby, p. 219. + Vieillot in Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. vol. xi. 


84 Notice regarding the Red-breast. 


even when taken full grown, at the beginning of winter, the 
red-breast supports captivity, and sings soon after being de- 
prived of liberty. 

Though insects, larvee and worms, be the chief food of the 
red-breast, yet, at the close of the season, it feeds on berries 
and seeds; and when the approach of winter brings it to 
the dwellings of men, crumbs of bread, &c. are eaten readily. 
One severe winter, some years ago, we picked up a poor robin 
battered down by sleet, and almost exhausted, and fed it se- 
veral weeks im a green-house on crumbs of bread ; and for 
several years a pensioner has come annually to our window, 
to feed upon the crumbs which are daily laid out by the 
children for his use. Whether this be always the same indi- 
vidual we are not aware; but his acquaintance with the loca- 
lity, and his confidence in letting it be known when he is pre- 
sent, renders this probable. His pugnacious disposition and 
his boldness enable’ him to put to flight the crowds of spar- 
rows which the crumbs attract to the same place. 

Our correspondent’s remarks upon the female red-breast 
we are afraid are not correct. The difference between the 
sexes is so little striking, as not likely to be noticed by an un- 
practised eye. ‘‘ The cock may be known by his breast being 
of a deeper red, and the red going further upon the head,” 
says Willughby ; and Vieillot remarks that the female differs 
little from the male,—the orange-red in the former only inclin- — 
ing a little more to the yellow, and descending less on the 
breast. What our correspondent has taken for the female red- 
breast, is more likely to have been a young bird of the year, 
under the guidance of its parent—for the young do not take 
their proper colour till after moulting. Before this their 
plumage is generally brown, spotted with dull red. ‘The red- 
breast, it may be remarked, is the first bird heard im the morn- 
ing, and the last that is seen after the setting of the sun. 


Mr Coldstream on the Rarer Atmospherical Phenomena, &c. 89 


Arr. XVII.—<Account of some of the Rarer Atmospherical 
Phenomena observed at Leith in 1825. By Mr JoHN 
CotpstreaM. Ina Letter to the Epiror. 


My Dear Sir, 

In compliance with your request, I now send you a short ac- 
count of the principal atmospherical phenomena observed here 
during 1825. You are already in possession of a most accu- 
rate history of the progression of temperature during the year 
at this place, in the results of the Leith Fort hourly register ; 
and any observations which I could communicate on the pres- 
sure or humidity would probably be uninteresting ; I shall 
therefore confine myself to descriptions of the rarer meteors 
seen within our horizon in the course of the twelvemonth. 

On the 7th of February two colourless rainbows were ob- 
served ; one at 9 a. M. and the other about noon. Much rain 
had fallen during the preceding night, and the morning had 
been cloudy ; but at the time of their appearance there were 
no clouds visible, except towards the western horizon. In the 
zenith the colour of the sky did not equal the 10th degree of 
Saussure’s cyanometer. ‘The primaries only were seen ; they 
were vivid and distinct throughout their whole extent, and had 
the ordinary breadth of the common rainbow. While I was 
observing the one which appeared at noon, I saw its northern 
limb fall upon a portion of a mémbus in motion, and immedi- 
ately assume the proper colours ; but whenever the cloud had 
passed, the bow regained its colourless state. ‘This phenome- 
non is probably rare. I am not aware of its having been ob- 
served by any of the older meteorologists ; but in Mr How- 
ard’s Climate of London, and in Mr Forster’s Researches, 
mention is,made of similar appearances. Mr Howard says, 
** About 10 a.m., 23d January 1808, a faint, but nearly per- 
fect rainbow appeared under unusual circumstances. At the 
time a few light clouds had begun to show themselves in dif- 
ferent quarters, but none over the place of the bow, nor was 
the falling mist that afforded it of sufficient density to obscure 
the sky ; the colours were not visible, so that the rainbow had 
the appearance of being white.” * 


* Dr Thomas Young, in his paper On the Measurement of Minute 


86 Mr Coldstream on the rarer Atmospherical Phenomena 


On the morning of the 17th February, the sky presented, at 
sunrise, an uncommonly splendid appearance, being covered 
with long cwmuli and cirrostrati, coloured with the richest tints 
of the spectrum, the green not excepted. "The morning after- 
wards was dull and louring, and in the course of the day 
heavy nimbi passed in rapid succession from 8.W., discharging a 
few showers of rain. At 4 Pp. m., while the sky was covered with 
a thin sheet of cirrostratus and floating scud-clouds, and when a 
large nimbus, advancing from the west, was obscuring the sun, 
then, near the horizon, a halo of an interesting aspect was seen. 
It consisted of two faintly coloured arcs, one of which had a 
diameter of about 45°, and the sun for its centre ; the other had 
a diameter somewhat less, and a point a few degrees above the 
sun for its centre. ‘The upper arc, therefore, cut the lower in 
two points, but was not visible within its circumference. The 
colours of the exterior arc were much fainter than those of the 
interior. 

The month of March was particularly characterized by the 
long period of dry weather which then occurred. Only 0.200 
of an inch of rain fell, and the pressure was very steady and 
high. | 

On the 19th, we were. gratified by an unusually fine dis- 
play of Awroru Borealis, which, as it far surpassed in brillian- 
cy all similar phenomena seen here for many years past, I 


Particles, has given the following ingenious explanation of the phenomena 
of white rainbows. 

“ In my Theory of Supernumerary Rainbows, (Wat. Phil. ii. 643,) I 
have observed that the breadth of each bow must be the greater, as the drops 
which afford it are smaller ; and by considering the coloured figure in which 
their production is analyzed, it will be obvious, that, if we suppose the co- 
loured stripes extremely broad, they will coincide in such a manner in one 
point, as to form a white bow, the red, which projects beyond the rest, be- 
ing always broadest, so that if all the stripes be supposed to expand, while 
they preserve their comparative magnitude, the middle of the red may: 
coincide with the middle of the blue; and it will appear, on calculation, 


that a white bow will be formed a few degrees within the usual place of 


7, 1 : ded +s 
the coloured bow, when the drops are about =>, OF z5,5 of an inch in dia- 


meter. It is remarkable that, in such cases, the original rainbow is altoge- 
ther awanting, and probably, for a similar reason, we scarcely ever see a 
rainbow in a cloud which does not consist of drops so large as to be actu- 
ally falling.” Introduction to Medical Literature, p. 586. 


observed at Leith in 1825. 87 


may be allowed to describe in detail. About 8 o’clock rv. m., 
after a pleasant day, there was seen in the north the diffuse 
light which generally precedes the Aurora Borealis, and which 
has been compared, with perfect justice, to the twilight. The 
sky was clear; the stars were sparkling vividly ; the air was 
calm and serene. The light in the north continued to increase 
in intensity, till about half-past 9; when, suddenly, extreme- 
ly brilliant coruscations began to play along the horizon, and 
dart towards the zenith in great numbers. The colour of 
these was generally white, or yellowish white, but blue and 
green were at times discernible. ‘* Immediately below the 
constellation of Cassiopeia, the illumination was most vivid, 
and resembled a cylinder of light, white and glowing below, 
and gradually becoming bluish as it ascended towards the 
pole.” The horizontal extent of the illumination did not ex- 
ceed 90°, and none of the beams rose higher than 60° or 65°. 
This very fine display continued about 15 or 16 minutes ; 
after which the intensity of the illumination diminished gra- 
dually, and the beams became less numerous and less vivid. 
But before 10 o’clock another phenomenon of equal interest 
appeared. ‘This was a luminous arch, which passed through 
the zenith of this place, and descended towards either hori- 
zon, in the direction of about N.E. and §.W. It was of a 
white colour, vivid, and well defined. Its breadth in the 
zemith was about 7°, whence it tapered almost to a point to 
about 5° or 6° from either horizon, beyond which it was not 
visible ; its lustre was more intense at the extremities than in 
the zenith, and throughout its whole extent it was perfectly 
continuous. Stars of the first and second magnitude only 
could be seen through it. This state of things continued till 
about 20 minutes from 11, when the centre of the arch seem- 
ed suddenly to grow very vivid, and a narrow stripe of light, 
about 30° in length, was seen to extend across the arch, not 
passing beyond its edges, which were still well defined. This 
stripe of light soon began to have a distinct motion, and re- 
taining the same general direction and position with regard to 
the arch, it traversed, with a moderately rapid motion, its 
whole western limb, and disappeared below the horizon; soon 
after, the arch broke into fragments and disappeared. Dur- 


88 Mr Coldstream on the Rare Atmospherical Phenomena 


ing the whole time of the existence of the arch, the aurora 
sent forth no coruscations, although the diffused light in the 
north was very intense. But about 20 minutes from 12, 
beams again arose, and continued to play with considerable 
brilliancy for more than an hour, The mean temperature of 
the next day was 41°25. Pressure 30.62. Wind S.W., 
gentle. 

At Paris, “on the 19th of March, at half-past one P. m., 
the horizontal magnetic needle went suddenly, and, after 
many oscillations from its usual position, nearly 5’. These 
irregular movements led the observer” (M. Arago, we pre- 
sume) ‘* to suppose, that, in the evening, there would be an 
Aurora Borealis, but no trace of such a phenomenon was dis- 
covered, although the sky was perfectly serene. At six and 
eight o’clock the needle did not oscillate ; it did not pass its 
ordinary limits; but at half-past eleven, the declination sud- 
denly diminished more than 8’, and the needle oscillated in 
great arcs.” * 

On the 7th of June, several large and dense nizmbi passed 
from §. W., discharging at intervals heavy showers of rain. 
At 5 Pp. M., a primary rainbow was seen, within the interior 
circumference of which were two perfect supernumeraries of 
great brilliancy. They were of unequal breadth: the second 
was narrower than the first; and both taken together, scarce- 
ly equalled in breadth the primary. In each, all the spectral 
tints were distinguishable. Now and then, as the cloud mov- 
ed on, a third set of colours was perceived, in detached por- 
tions; but a third bow was never completed. At the same 
time, a very distinct convergence of the solar rays was observ- 
ed. The beams filled the whole space included by the rain- 
bow, and passed beyond its circumference to a considerable dis- 


* “ Au reste, les zones, les arcs, les jets lumineux dont les aurores 
boreales se composent, alors meme quiils ne sont pas visibles dans un lieu 
donné, y exercent une influence manifeste sur la position de l’aiguille ai- 
mantée. Cette singuliere connexion merite certainement d’etre étudiée 
sous toutes ses faces; mais il faudra peut-etre des recherches assidues, 
continues pendant un grand nombre d’années, avant qu’on puisse en saisir 
tous les details: —( Annales de Chimie, T. xxx. p. 423.) 


observed at Leith in 1825. 89 


tance. The effect of the whole was exceedingly rich.—(See 
this Journal, vol. iii. p. 55.) 

The morning of the 8th of July was clear, and the sun 
shone very brightly. About noon, a thin sheet of cirrostra- 
tus formed in the zenith, which did not sensibly diminish the 
effect of the solar beams, neither could it be easily perceived ; 
but its existence was rendered evident by the appearance of 
a coloured halo, which remained till about $ o’clock. It 
consisted of a circle, which subtended an angle of about 45°, 
and of an ellipse, tangential to this circle at the two extremi- 
ties of its vertical diameter, the horizontal axis of which was 
about 56°. At the two points north and south of the sun, where 
the bands coincided, they were very vivid, and at one time as- 
sumed quite the appearance of parhelia. 'The intensity of the 
colours diminished in both towards the east and west; and in 
these quarters it was that the halo first began to fade. ‘Ther. 
59°.0, sol. rad. 45°, Bar. 30.08, fallmg. Wind east, moderate. 

17th August.—After a very wet day, during which 
the temperature remained steadily at 59°, and the barome- 
ter at 29.75, a display of the Awrora Borealis was seen at 
10 p.m. It was neither vivid nor long continued, and pre- 
sented only the usual appearanees of that meteor. In allusion 
to the notice of this observation, inserted by Mr Foggo and 
myself in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, the same 
writer in the Annales de Chimie, whose words I before quoted, 
says,—‘ I suspect that this was the termination of an Aurora 
Borealis of the day ; I find, in fact, that, on the morning of 
the 17th, at half-past eight o’clock, the declination was cer- 
tainly about 5’ greater than the mean of the month at the 
same hour ; whilst, in the evening, the needle had returned to 
its ordinary position ;” and he adds,—“ In this same month 
of August, on the night of the 21st, the morning of the 22d, 
the night of the 26th, and, particularly, on the night of the 
29th, great anomalies were observed in the extent of the ascil- 
lations of the needle. On all these occasions, the sky was, I 
believe, clouded at Leith. If not, and the observers there did 
not see the aurora, for instance, on the night of the 29th of 
August, we will be obliged to admit, that there exist other 
causes, of which we are still ignorant, which exert a considera- 


4 


90 Mr Coldstream on the Rarer Atmospherical Phenomena 


ble influence over the magnetic needle.” In reply to this re- 
mark, I may observe, that the notes in our Journal, of the 
state of the sky on the night of the 21st and morning of the 
22d, are not satisfactory ; that the night of the 26th was pars 
ticularly clear, with bright moonshine ; and that much cloud 
prevailed on the 29th, so that, had an aurora existed, we could 
not have seen it. 

Between four and six o’clock p. m., of the 11th September, 
we had athunder storm. The némbi came from S, S. E., and 
were of a deep blueish grey colour. The lightning was pale, 
but vivid. The discharges were accompanied by very violent 
gusts of wind and heavy rain. Bar. 29.44, rising, temp. 57.5. 
The rain ceased about seven o’clock. The night was calm and 
serene. At 10 pv. m., an Aurora Borealis was observed play- 
ing with considerable brilliancy. The storm extended over the 
greatest part of Scotland, but was felt most severely in Perth- 
shire. 

For a week about this period, convergences of the solar rays 
were seen every evening at sunset, in great beauty. The sky, 
at the time, was generally filled with polarized cirri, and afew 
elongated cumult. 

27th September.—After a day of the brightest sunshine, the 
sky was overcast towards evening, by small cirrocwmult, ar- 
ranged in parallel bars, whose direction was nearly N. and S. 
These caused a general dulness till the sun got very near the 
horizon, when suddenly, the rays shooting through a small 
opening in the clouds, and illuminating their lower surfaces, 
produced, over the whole western sky, quite up to the zenith, 
the richest golden and crimson tints it is possible to imagine. 
These, varying in intensity and depth every second, gradually 
faded as the sun sunk below the horizon, but had not entirely 
vanished 15 minutes after he had set. It is worthy of re- 
mark, that, whenever the sun’s disc disappeared, the mountains, 
and, indeed, the whole surface of the earth, assumed a deep pur- 
ple colour, which remained for a considerable time. This 
splendid sunset was observed throughout all Scotland ; indeed 
it is probable that it was seen in most parts of the island, as 
we have learned from different accounts that it bore the same 
characters in Caithness that it did in Cumberland. 


observed at Leith in 1825. 91 


The morning of the 3d of November was very stormy. 
WindN., strong. Heavy rain. Bar. 28.67, temp. 43°. Mean 
pressure of the day, 28.942. In the evening it cleared ; the 
stars shone brightly ; and, at eleven o’clock, an Awrora Borealis 
was observed. At Paris, at the same hour, ‘ the north point 
of the needle deviated from its mean position, 9’ to the East.” 
(Ann. de Chimie.) 4th November, pressure increasing rapid- 
ly. Mean temp. 39°. Wind N.W. Pleasant day. Another 
aurora, of great beauty, was observed in the evening ; the rays — 
were very numerous and very bright ; but they remained visi- 
ble only fora few minutes. ‘The phenomenon was neither pre- 
ceded, nor followed, by the diffuse illumination of the northern 
sky which generally accompanies this meteor. 

“The horizontal needle of the Observatory of Paris, was 
observed on the 4th November to be much agitated from nine 
o'clock a. M., till 2 p. m.; but, in the evening, ‘it had regained 
its usual quiescent state. The rays, therefore,” M. Arago re- 
marks, “seen by the Scottish observers, were, most likely, the 
remains of an aurora of the day.” 

On the nights of the 14th, 21st, and 22d of November, fire- 
balls were seen. 'That of the 14th passed from east to west, 
through a space in the heavens equal to 25°, exploding like a 
rocket, nearly in our zenith; it left a very bright luminous 
tail in its course, which remained visible for a considerable 
time after the meteor itself had disappeared. The apparent 
size of those seen on the 21st and 22d was double that of stars 
of the first magnitude. On the 22d, also, there was a very 
beautiful display of Aurora Borealis ; its lustre was much im- 
paired by the light of the moon, but still it appeared more ex- 
tensive, and played with more celerity, than any that were seen 
in the course of the year. ‘The beams rose to the zenith, and 
seemed to influence much some polarized cirri in the south.* 
Temp. 37°, Bar. 30.07. 

25th November.—A lunar halo was seen this night, and a 


* <A Paris, Vaiguille des variations diurnes commenga a sortir de ses 
limites habituelles le 22 Novembre a 11 heures du soir. Le lendemain 
23, a 8 heures du matin, son extremité nord se trouvait a l’occident de sa 
position moyenne de plus de 3’. Le reste de la journée sa marche fut tres 
irregulier.”—Annales de Chimie, as formerly quoted. 


92 Mr Blackadder on a new , 


faint appearance of a lunar rainbow. Wind W.; Bar. 30.02. 
26th. Very stormy; Bar. 29.17; wind S.W., boisterous; very 
heavy rains. 

About 5 p. mu. of the 14th December, a thunder storm was 
experienced in many districts in Scotland, especially in Fife- 
shire, where the lightning killed several cattle, and set fire to 
some stacks of hay. 

In England, the same storm seems to have extended its ra- 
vages very widely ; it was, perhaps, most severely felt about 
Northampton, Leicester, and Doncaster. 

Here the pressure on that day was very low. At 9 a. M. 
the barometer stood at 29.05, whence it descended to 28.75 in 
the afternoon, and rose again a few tenths in the evening. 
Winds variable, but chiefly east and west, very strong; mean 
temperature 41°. I have the honour to be, Dear Sir, 

Very faithfully yours, 

Leita, 24th April 1826. JouN CoLpsTREAM. 


Art. XVIII.—Description of a new Register Thermometer, 
without any Index; the principle being applicable to the 
most delicate Mercurial Thermometers. By H. H. Brack- 
ADDER, Esq. F. R. S, E. * 


[y the sixth Number of this Journal, we have laid before our 
readers an account of Mr Blackadder’s ingenious contrivance 
for registering the indications of meteorological instruments 
in the absence of the observer. In this contrivance, a sliding 
index within the tube was indispensable, but, as this method 
is liable to objections, particularly when great accuracy is re- 
quisite, Mr Blackadder set himself to contrive the very inge- 
nious method of registration which we are now to describe. 
This register thermometer consists of two mercurial thermo-- 
meters, the tubes of which are attached to the same slip of 
ivory, but having each a separate scale. 

One of the tubes a, Plate I, Fig. 2, is hermetically sealed 
as usual, and the scale also is divided and numbered in the 


* This notice is an abstract of Mr Blackadder’s paper, read before the 
Royal Society on the 17th April last. 
I 


Register Thermometer, without any Index. 93 


usual manner. The other tube 6, is not hermetically sealed, 
but left open at its upper extremity c, which must be made 
flat and smooth. This, in general, is easily effected, by mak- 
ing a seratch with a sharp-edged file, previous to breaking off 
a small portion of the tube. The open extremity ¢ of the 
tube, is inserted into a portion of a larger thin glass-tube, 
which exactly fits it, and which terminates in a hollow bulb, 
containing a small quantity of mercury, c, Figs. 2, and 3. 
The inner tube is carried forward until its extremity is about 
opposite to that part of the outer tube where it begins to swell — 
into a bulb; and the two tubes are then made to adhere per- 
manently, by introducing a minute quantity of colourless var- 
nish between them. 

The scale of this tube commences from its upper open ex- 
tremity c, and is numbered downwards 2, 3, 4, &c. but mark- 
ed as in Fig. 1, 10, 20, 30, &e. 

When an instrument thus formed is held upright, the glo- 
bule of mercury in the bulb e, Fig. 2, falls on the open extre- 
mity c, of the tube 6, as represented in Fig. 3; and if the 
bulb 2 be now heated by the hand, the mercury will rise in 
the tube, and unite with the globule c, with which it will re- 
main connected as long as the instrument is kept in the up- 
right position. If the instrument be now exposed in its up- 
right position to the air, which has, let it be supposed, the 
temperature of 60°, the upper extremity of the mercury in the 
tube a, will be opposite that degree of the scale; but the mer- 
cury in the tube @ will still remain at the beginning of its 
scale, and continuous with the globule c. Let the instrument 
now be placed in a horizontal position, and the entire globule 
of mercury will instantly quit the open extremity c, of the 
tube 6, leaving the tube exactly filled with that fluid, and the 
globule will then take the position c, Fig. 3, when the instru- 
ment rests on the edge of its scale. If, from the instant the 
globule is thus made to quit the open extremity of the tube 
d, both of the bulbs n and p be kept moist with a rapidly eva- 
porating fluid, such as ether, alcohol, &c. the mercury in both 
tubes will descend equally, and will remain permanently below 
the elevation due to the temperature of the air, as long as the 
evaporating fluid is kept applied to their bulbs. |The atmo- 


94 Mr Adie on the Register of the T'hermometer, 


spheric temperature was supposed to be 60° ; let it now be sup- 
posed that the loss of heat caused by evaporation is equal to 
10°. The mercury in the tube a will then point to 50, and 
that in the tube 8 to 10 on their respective scales; and then 
10 + 50 = 60°, which was the temperature of the air at the 
instant the globule quitted the open extremity of the tube 6, 
when the instrument received its horizontal position. 

The way in which the instrument may be placed in a hori- 
zontal position, at any given instant during absence, was for- 
merly described, (see vol. 11. p. 251)—a pocket time-piece, 
and a small additional but simple piece of mechanism, being 
all that is requisite. A vessel for contaiming the evaporating 
fluid, fitted with a valve, and a capillary tube terminating in 
one or more small and soft hair brushes, completes the ap- 
paratus, and which can obviously be made of such small di- 
mensions as to be easily portable. 

If the bulb e, at the upper extremity of the tube 6, Fig. 2, 
be made of the bent form represented in Fig. 4, the instru- 
ment does not require to be moved from a horizontal position. 
In this case, the globule of mercury is made to quit the open 
extremity of the tube d, and fall to the bottom of the bent 
bulb 2, Fig. 4, in consequence of the tube d, on a separate 
piece of ivory, being made to turn half-way round on itself, 
the centre of motion being a line drawn through the centre of 
the tube, and the extremity of the bent portion being thus 
made to describe the half of a circle. 


Art. XIX.—Abstract of the Register of the Thermometer, 
Barometer, and Rain-Gage, for the years 1824 and 1825, 
kept at Canaan Cottage. By ALEXANDER ADIE, Esq. 
F.R.S. Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author. 


Ass the individual observations, of which we propose at pre- 
sent to give an abstract, are regularly recorded in every num- 
ber of this Journal, and the circumstances under which they 
are made distinctly described at the head of each quarterly 
table, it is unnecessary to enter into any farther details upon 


these subjects. 
11 


Barometer, and Rain-Gage, for 1824 and 1825. 
Abstract of Register for 1824. 


Thermometer. | Regist. Ther. Barometer. 
Months. 

Sum. | Mean.| Sum. | Mean.} Sum. Mean. 

3 : vas) bY Inch. Inch. 
January, - 1261.5]40.70 |1236.5/39.89 920.355) 29.689 
February, - 1154.5]39.81 |L132 |39.03 856.145/29.522 
March, - 1205.5}38.89 |1229 |39.64 912.815)29.445 
April, - 1350.5]45.02 |1356.5]/45.22 888.06 |29.601 
May, - 1517.5|48.95 |1552.5|50.08 919.61 |29.664 
June, - 1631.5]}54.38 |1699.5)/56.65 892.915|29.761 
July, - 1812 [58.45 |1856.5|59.89 922.40 |29.755 
August, - 1736 |56 1774 {57.13 921.355/29.721 
September, - 1620 j54 1637 |54.57 889.45 {29.648 
October, * - 1432.5]46.21 |1418.5]45.76 911.39 |29.400 
November, - 1212 |40.4 |1222 |40.73 876.945/29.231 
December, - 1200 {38.71 [1191 {38.42 910.265|29.363 

Annual sum, 17133.5 17305 10821.705 

Annual mean, 46.793 47.251 29.567 
Greatest degree of Heat, September 2, - 85° 

——__—_—_———- Cold, December 5, - + 16 

Greatest range of Thermometer, - - 69 

Highest Barometer, May 28, . - 30.38 

Lowest ditto, November 23, - - 28.26 

Greatest range of ditto, - - 2.12 


Months. 


January, 
February, 
March, 
April, 
May, 
June, 


July, 
August, 
September, 
October, 
November, 
December, 


Annual sum, 


Annual mean, 


Thermometer. 


Sum. | Mean. 


—__... 


° ° 


1229 |39.64 
1099.5|/39.27 
1250.5}40.34 
1400 |46.67 
1500.5/48.40 
1659.5|55.32 
1865.5|60.18 
1844.5}59.48 
1716.5}57.22 
1566.5|50.53 
1164 |38.80 
1187 |38.29 
17483 
47.845 


Regist. Ther. 


Sum. | Mean. 


° ° 


1212 |39.10 
1091 |38.96 
1277 41.19 
1397.5|/46.58 
1572.5}50.73 
1701 |56.7 
1903.5|61.4 
1862 |60.06 
1707.5]55, 25 
1554.5|50.14 
1155.5|38.52 
1177. (38.97 
L761) 
48.133 


Greatest degree of Heat, July 30 and 31, 
- Cold, February 5, 


Greatest range of Thermometer, - 


Greatest Height of Barometer, January $, 
Lowest ditto, November 3, 


Greatest Range, 


Abstract of Register for 1825. 


- 30.67 


95 


Rain. 


Inch. 


» 


96 On Professor Leslie's Formula for determining 


Arr. XX.—Demonstration of Professor Leslie’s Formula for 
determining the Decrease of Heat depending on the Altitude, 
without “ a delicate and patient research.” * Communi- 
cated by a Correspondent. 


Ir is shown in our ordinary treatises on the barometric formu- 
la, that the height or k= log. B—log. = log. B being the 
barometric altitude at the lower place of observation, and 
that at the higher. Now, for ordinary heights, = tao 
fer much from iy: Let it be equal to 14m then log. 


(l+n)=M (n— sae ae Ke. ) If from 1+ 7 there be sub- 


tracted its reciprocal =1—n+n?—n'+, &c. there will re- 


1 
1+-2 
P 1 ae 
= 2n—n?-+n°—, &C. =2 (—ot a> &c.) 


an ] 

main 1 +%—; res 

Now, if both sides of the avis be multiplied by = , then 
pti) = M (n— ae &c.) 


It is obvious from what has been said,- that the first side, 
when expanded, agrees with the first and second terms exact- 
ly, and in the third nearly with the common series for the lo- 
garithm of 1+. Hence, when 7 is a small fraction, the log. 


M 1 
(1+7) =F @! > ee =) nearly. 
But h = log. > or log. (1+); by substituting > for l+n, 
_MB B 
there will result h=z Oe — ED 4 : : (A). 
But an elevation of 81 fathoms, by experiment, (Playfair’s 


Outhnes, vol. i. p. 295, art. 401,) gives a depression of 1° 
centigrade, 


h 
Whence if AT denote the variation of temperature = = AT 
os ee 
2X ee 


Banc Se Now M for our ordinary atmosphere is - 


* See his Elements of Geometry, p. 459, 4th edition. 


the Decrease of Heat. 97 


4243, So ig Outlines, art. 344,) therefore, 
B 
AT — 26 G B =>) : ‘ (B) 


which is the Professor’s theorem. 

It is evident this theorem cannot be very correct, as it is 
well known that theorem (A) does not accurately give the al- 
titude, because no allowance is made for the expansion of the 
air depending on the temperatures at the two places of observa- 
tion, and other minor circumstances, which are indispensable 
in the more accurate barometric formula. 

We are quite at a loss to discover how such a simple investi- 
gation could have cost the Professor so much labour and re- 
search as he seems to insinuate. 

From theorem (A) a simple rule may be derived for deter- 
mining moderate heights without the aid of logarithmic tables, 
thus: 


ne Bilas (B+8) (B—8) 
we aNetis (J TTC) 
Example. Required the height of Arthur’s Seat above the 


Pier of Leith, from the following observations : 


Bar. At. Ther. Det. Ther. 
Leith Pier, 29.567 - 55.25 ~ 54.0 
Arthur Seat, 28.704 - 51.75 - 50.5 
3.50 104.5 
Jee 
28-704 X 3.5 __ 0.01 32.00 
10000 20.25 


And 28.704 + 0.01 = 28.714 = 8 

Whence B + § = 29.567 +- 28.714 = 58.281 

And B — 6 = 29.567 — 28.714 = 0.853 
58.281 X 0.853 


Therefore 21 SSS ESR 
erefore 2171.5 X 20.567 X% 28.714 = = 127.156 
But 0.00244 x 201 x 127.16 =: 6.293 
Height in fathoms, - - 133.449 = 801 feet 


nearly, differing about two feet from the result by levelling. 
If the proper correction for aqueous vapour in the atmo- 
sphere were made, it would almost agree with that determined 
by levelling. ; 
Cor. h = 13000 x ere) in feet nearly, 
which, in small heights, may be sufficiently correct. 
VOL. Vv. NO. I. JoLy 1826. G 


98 Mr Stark on T'wo Species of Pholas 


Art. XXI.—Observations on Two Species of Pholas, found 
on the Sea-coast in theneighbourhood of Edinburgh. * By 
Joun Starx, Esq. M. W.S. Communicated by the Au- 
thor. | 


‘Tue Natural History of the Pholades, so far as regards their 
mode of burrowing in wood and stone, seems’ yet to be’ but 
imperfectly understood, though the Pholas was known to the 
ancients, and Pliny notices its phosphorescent quality. Ron- 
deletius, Johnston, and) Rumphius have figured several spe- 
cies; Lister, among others, gives representations of three 
British species, the Pholas dactylus, candida, and crispata ; 
and Sir Robert Sibbald, in his Prodromus, has three rude 
figures of the dactylus or crispata, as Scottish shells. None 
of these authors, however, attempted to explain how the Pho- © 
lades excavated their habitations in the rock, or perforated 
the submerged wood in which they seek protection. Bonanni;, 
so far as I know, was the first who turned his attention parti- 
cularly to this inquiry. In his work, entitled “ Recreatio 
Mentis et Ocult,” the first edition of which, in the Italian lan- 
guage, was published at Rome in 1681, he has given figures 
of the Pholas dactylus, and of pieces of the rock in which it 
was contained, showing, with considerable accuracy, the na- 
ture of the perforations, and distinctly marking the circular 
lines at the base of the cells. These perforations are formed, 
in his opinion, by the action of the file-like valves on the stone, 
the animal fixing itself, for this purpose, by its callous foot, to 
procure the necessary motion of its shell. + 

The celebrated M. de Reaumur next took up the subject, 
without, however, seeming to have been aware of the prior 
investigations of Bonanni, whose book is neither quoted nor 
alluded to by the French naturalist. In the “ Mémoires de 
l Academie Royale des Sciences” for 1710, this intelligent ob-. 
server has a paper on the progressive movement of some spe- 
cies of Bivalves; and im the volume for 1712 he gives the se- 


* This paper is an abstract of the original one, which will appear in 
vol. x. part ii. of the Edinburgh Transactions. 
{ Bonanni, Recreat. p. 36. 


c Jound on the Sea-coast near Edinburgh. 99 


quel of his observations on this curious subject. In this se- 
cond memoir, after detailing the manner in which the Solenes 
burrow in the sand, he is led to consider the means by which 
the Pholas perforates the softer rocks; and this, he endea- 
vours to prove, is done merely by the action‘of its muscular foot. 
The hardness of the substance perforated, however, induces 
M. de Reaumur to form a theory to account for an instru- 
ment, so apparently unsuitable, being able to perform what 
he ascribes to its action. The clay rock from the coast of 
Poitou and Aunis, on which his observations seem to have 
been made, was too hard on the surface to admit, in his mind, 
the supposition of its being bored by such an implement; and 
he therefore concludes, that the Pholades must have entered 
the clay when it was in a soft state, and that it had been subse- 
quently hardened or petrified by some viscous quality of the 
waters of the sea. This theory, it may be remarked, leaves 
no room for the multiplication of the species; for, on the 
supposition that the clay has been hardened on the surface by 
some petrifying quality of the water, after the Pholades had 
made their lodgement, the same cause would operate to pre- 
vent the future races from commencing their cells. * 
D’Argenville, with the knowledge, it appears, of what Bo- 
nanni and Reaumur had written upon the subject before him, 
next professes to give an account of the manner in which the 
Pholades perforate their dwellings ; but, from the contrariety 
of his statements, and his completely misunderstanding one 
of the authors quoted by himself, little reliance is to be placed 
upon his authority as an observer. In one passage of his 
Zoomorphose, when describing the shell of the Pholas dacty- 
lus, he says it resembles a file, with elevated striae and aspe- 
rities, dentated and crowded from the top of the shell to its 
base, in such a manner that the strongest points are towards 
the head. ‘‘ It appears,” says he, “‘ that with these arms it 
pierces the stones, and enlarges its tomb as it increases in 
size.” But, in a passage a little afterwards, he adds, with a 
strange forgetfulness of what he had previously written, ‘* In 
proportion as this animal grows, it digs its hole with. a round 
and fleshy part like a tongue; and it is not with its two 


* Mém. del’ Acad. Roy. des Sciences, 1712, p. 127. 


100 Mr Stark on T'wo Species of Pholas 


valves, nor with its teeth, that it performs this operation.” 
Further on he remarks upon another species, that it ‘is arm- 
ed at its extremity with two strong and cutting points, in form 
of an auger, of which the dentated contour gives it the means 
of turning upon itself, and of piercing the stone downwards. 
The strize and the teeth do the rest.” * 

Among the more modern writers, Pennant mentions having 
frequently taken the Pholades “ out of the cells they had 
formed in hard clay, below high water-mark, on many of our 
shores. ‘They also perforate the hardest oak-plank that is 
lodged in the water. The bottoms of the cells,” adds this 
acute observer, “ are round, and appear as if nicely turned 
with some instrument.” + Montagu, speaking of the Mya 
Pholadia, says, ‘* It is probable this, as well as similar animals 
whose habits are to perforate stone, are provided with an acid, 
or some other solvent menstruum capable of performing that 
office.” _ And, in another passage, he observes, “* The Pho- 
lades are performing similar works assigned by nature on soft- 
er substances, such as chalk, indurated clay, and wood, which, 
in like manner, are perforated by some solvent power :—not 
by the thin fragile shells that cover such animals, as some 
have erroneously asserted and is too generally credited.” + 

A late writer, Mr Wood, supports something like the same 
theory ; at least he seems to think that the attrition of the 
shell is insufficient for the effect produced ; ‘ since,” says he, 
‘‘ there are some species, and particularly the P. ortentals, 
which are nearly smooth at the anterior end, and, consequent- 
ly, unfit for such a purpose ;” § while Mr Gray, in the Zoo- 
logical Journal, gives it as his opinion, that the Pholades 
“* appear to bore by means of rasping.” || 

Such are the discordant opinions that have been held re- 
garding the mode by which the Pholades perforate calcareous 
stones and wood: one class of naturalists asserting that they 


* L/ Hist. Nat. éclaircie dans une de ses parties principales.—Zoomor- 
phose, p» 69, 70. Paris, 1757. 

+ British Zoology, vol. iv. p. 158. 

}~ Testacea Britannica, p. 560, 561. 

§ General Conchology, vol. i. p. 74. 

\| Zoological Journal, No. 3. p. 406. 


found on the Sea-Coast near Edinburgh. 101 


do so by the rotatory motion of their valves, or by means 
merely mechanical ; while others suppose, from the apparent 
fragility of the shell, that they must have the power of secret- 
ing some solvent fluid, capable of decomposing the substances 
in which they burrow. That the first of these hypotheses is 
the one most conformable to appearances, no one who has seen 
the living animals can doubt, and accordingly, it has been 
adopted by most recent observers ; while that supported by. 
Montagu and others opposes obstacles to its reception not easily 
to be got over. Any acid or solvent fluid that would act with 
effect on the calcareous stones in which the Pholades lodge, 
would, it is evident, act equally on the shell of the animal it- 
self; and a solvent which possessed the power of dissolving 
stone, would be little likely to have the same effect on the 
fibres of submerged wood. 

Some years ago, while residing at Portobello, I discovered, 
on the coast at Joppa Salt-pans, where the rocks are uncover- 
ed at low water, numerous perforations in the shale or clay- 
rock, which I ascertained to be the work of Pholades. On 
breaking the stone m different places two species of Pholas, 
P. crispata and candida, were procured alive, in great num- 
bers, and of all ages. When the tide recedes, they withdraw 
their tube within the perforations, but when covered by the 
water, its rounded mouth is visible above the upper surface 
of the rock. On striking the rock with a hammer, near any 
of the holes, a spirt of water is ejected, similar to what occurs 
when the Myz and Solenes are disturbed in their haunts. 
The Pholades are found at various depths in the stone, cor- 
responding to the age of the animal; the largest, and of 
course oldest, specimens being found at from four to six 
inches, or even more, under the surface; others at all inter- 
mediate distances, the youngest being merely covered by a 
thin layer of the clay. The Pholas candida, not a common 
species on some coasts, occurs most plentifully ; but both spe- 
cies are frequently found together. 

The perforations in the rock at the surface are not much 
larger in diameter than a quill; many are much smaller, but 
they widen as they recede downwards, corresponding to the 
animal’s growth. The Pholas itself is found in an inverted 


102 Mr Stark on T'wo Species of Pholas 


pear-shaped cavity at the bottom, the largest diameter of the 
shell being undermost. Where the Pholades are crowded to- 
gether, which is generally the case, the divisions between the 
different cells are often extremely thin, and in some this par- 
tition is completely removed. The direction of the bore is 
not always vertical, though nearly so; but in some instances, 
where the rock had been broken down to an angle, or round- 
ed, the Pholades were found at various inclinations, corre- 
sponding to the surfaces of the stone. 

From repeated examination of the recent animals and their 
perforations, I have no hesitation in asserting, that these two 
species, at least, form their holes by the rotatory motion or 
rasping of the stone with their valves. Indeed, I am sur- 
prised how any one who has seen these animals in their na- 
tive rocks could for a moment think otherwise; for in fhe 
Joppa specimens, circular lines are distinctly visible in the 
eell of the animal, corresponding to the elevated striae on the 
shell, and presenting the appearance as of having been bored 
by an auger. Pennant remarks the same appearance in the 
cells of the Pholades found by him on the English coast, as 
Bonanni had formerly done in the Italian specimens. ‘These 
marks, indeed, disappear in the upper part of the perforation, 
from the friction occasioned by the expansion and contraction 
of the rugous tube; but in the cavity where the Pholas lodges 
it is always distinctly, and often, especially when the animal is 
large, prominently marked. 

It has been held as a presumption against the Pholades 
perforating rocks by a mechanical operation, that some of the 
species have shells nearly smooth, and unfitted for such a pur- 
pose; and the Mya Pholadia and Mytilus lithophagus are 
produced as instances where it is next to impossible that, 
without the aid of a solvent fluid, such animals could form 
protecting cells m hard substances. From not having seen 
the animals alluded to alive, and in their native habitations, 
it would be presumption in me to give a decided opinion on 
the subject. But, reasoning from analogy in the structure of 
the animals, and the habits of such as have been observed, it 
infers no impossibility to conceive that they penetrate rocks in 


a similar manner. Little asperity m the instrument is re- 
4 


found on the Sea-coast near Edinburgh. 108 


quired where the operation is constant. In judging of the 
unseen or unobserved operations of nature, many are guided 
im their opinion by what appears possible to be effected by the 
limited powers which a preconceived theory prescribes to the 
instrument employed. But little is known regarding the time 
which these instinctive miners take to form their deepening 
cells. A drop of water falling constantly on the same spot 
soon leaves evidences of what time, with the smallest force, 
can effect; and the keys of musical instruments are, in no 
long period, hollowed by the softest touch of the softest fin- 
gers. There seems no impossibility, therefore, in conceiving 
that the Pholades may perforate a substance less hard than 
their own shell by mere attrition, or even a harder substance, 
by the constant action of their muscular foot. 

Linnzus and Lamarck regard the Pholas asa Bivalve shell, 
with accessory pieces ; while others, from the presence of these 
auxiliary plates, have classed it among the Multivalves. The 
animal is hermaphrodite and viviparous, hatching its young 
in the little sacs of its branchiz. It has a membranous mantle, 
of a tubular form, open at both extremities, like that of the 
Solen or Mya. From the superior opening of this tubular 
mantle two united syphons arise, of which the anterior is the 
largest. They are slightly dentated on the margin, and. serve, 
the one for the entrance of food, and the other for discharge. 
When covered by the tide, or in 2 basin, these tubes may be 
seen constantly sucking in and ejecting the water. The foot 
is short and conical, and, from its capacity of being projected 
and drawn in within its circular covering, probably affixes it- 
self by suction to the bottom of the hole, and serves as a ful- 
crum for the rotatory motion of the valves, or even may itself 
assist in deepening the cell of the animal. Mr Gray, in the 
third number of the Zoological Journal, has given some ana- 
tomical details regarding the structure of the Pholades, parti- 
cularly with regard to the singular falciform projections in 
the interior of the shell, which he shows are nowise connected 
with the arrangement of the hinge; and Poli, in his “‘ superb 
work” on the Testacea of the ‘T'wo Sicilies, has given the ana- 
tomy of the Pholas in detail. The opinion of Poli, it may be 
added, entirely coincides with the observations I have hazard- 


104 Mr Stark on T'wo Species of Pholas. 


ed regarding the mode by which the Pholades make their per- 
forations. 

The Pholades being incapable of moving from their place, 
the young are dropped from the tube of the parent on the 
surface of their native rock. How they are enabled to pene- 
trate the rock, so as to secure themselves protection ; or how, 
previously to having formed a cell, they adhere to the surface, 
has not hitherto been explained. Rondeletius, like others of 
the older naturalists, who believed in spontaneous generation, 
supposed that the sea-water lodging in the pores of the rocks 
might become, in process of time, Pholades ; *—a supposition 
not more distant from truth than that which long afterwards 
prevailed as to the Lepas anatifera being the young of a 
species of goose! Perhaps some glutinous matter, such as 
fixes the byssus of the Mytili, may keep the fry of the Pho- 
lades in their place till they have excavated a hole sufficient 
to conceal themselves: but future observation, by those who 
have the opportunity, will, there is little doubt, discover the 
arrangement by which these animals are enabled to commence 
their cells. 

The Pholades, it may be remarked, seem admirably con- 
structed for the purposes of their existence, so far as these are 
known. Possessing but a comparatively fragile shell, which 
the least force would break, and, having no weapons of de- 
fence against their aquatic enemies, Nature has furnished 
them with the means of amply providing for this apparent de- 
ficiency, by giving them an asylum in the solidrock. Having 
formed their destined habitations, which they can never leave, 
the rock is honeycombed by successive races till it falls in 
pieces, and a new surface is exposed for new generations. 
The tribes of Pholades on the different coasts are thus active 
and powerful instruments in the disintegration of rocks. The 
shale in which they occur at Joppa runs in parallel and alter- - 
nating strata with a coarse sandstone; and while the uncon- 
nected ridges of the sandstone still appear, rounded by the 
weather, or hollowed into basins by the action of the waves, 
the alternating beds of shale have nearly disappeared, through 
the instrumentality of these powerful, though unseen agents. 


* Rondelet. De Testacets, lib. i. p. 49. Lugd. 1555. 


Prof. Struve on the large Refracting Telescope, &c. 105 


The Pholades are regularly used as an article of food on 
the coasts of France and Italy, where they abound. In the 
neighbourhood of Dieppe, bands of women and children, each 
armed with a pick-axe, break the rocks inhabited by them, 
for the purpose of sending them to market, or as bait for fish. 
They are found in every sea where the rocks are suitable for 
their burrowing, and are met with fossil in many countries of 
Europe.* 


Art. XXII.—Farther Account of the large Achromatic Re- 
Sracting Telescope of Fraunhofer in the Observatory of 
Dorpat. By Proressor Srrvuve. 


In the Fourth Number of this Journal we have already 
given an engraving, and a brief description, of this fine in- 
strument; but as a detailed account of it has just been pub- 
lished by Professor Struve himself, + we shall now present our 
readers with a more minute description. 

As soon as Professor Struve had put up the instrument, 
he directed it to the moon and some double stars. ‘ I stood 
astonished,” says he, ‘‘ before this beautiful instrument, unde- 
termined whether to admire most, the beauty and elegance of 
the workmanship in its most minute parts, the propriety of 
its construction, the ingenious mechanism for moving it, or 
the incomparable optical power of the telescope, and the 
precision with which objects are defined. 

When in a perpendicular position, the height of the object 
glass is 16 feet 4 inches (Paris measure) from the floor, 13 
feet 7 inches of which belong to the telescope itself, so that 
the eye-glass stands 2 feet 9 inches from the floor. The 
weight of the whole instrument is about 3000 Russian pounds, 
of which 1000 belong to the frame-work, &c. which supports 


* Bosc in Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. vol. xxv. p. 593. M. G. P. Des- 
hayes has recently described and figured four species of fossil Pholades, 
found by him, among other perforating bivalves, at the village of Valmon- 
dois, in France.-—Mém. de la Soc. d’ Hist. Nat. tom. i. p. 245. 

t In the Memoirs of the Astronomical Society of London, vol. ii. part i. 
p- 93. 


106 Prof. Struve on the large Refractine Telescope 


about 2000 pounds. The whole is constructed so as ‘to be 
used as an equatorial. 

The lower part of the frame of the instrument is formed 
by two cross beams 9 feet 8 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 7} 
inches high, which are strengthened by four smaller bars, form- 
ing asquare. (See Plate VII. No. IV. of this Journal.) They 
are fastened down by eight screws, penetrating them perpendi- 
cularly, four at the extremities, and four more towards the 
centre, and by these screws the mstrument is firmly secured. 
In the centre of this support is fixed an upright post, 6 feet 
1 inch high, and 7 inches square. ‘Three posts of an elliptical 
form support this upright to the north east and west: a beam 
of equal length inclining towards the horizon under an angle 
equal to the height of the pole rests on the sloping top of the 
upright post, and on that part of the lower frame-work which 
faces the south. . This is all the wood about the frame-work, 
the whole of which is made of oak, and elegantly inlaid with 
mahogany. ‘The posts are connected by means of 29 screws, 
which keep it free from every vibration or shaking. 

The upper part of the instrument consists of the tube, with 
its axis of motion, two graduated circles, and a variety of le- 
vers and counterweights, producing the most perfect equili- 
brium in every direction, and preventing any sort of friction. 
The posts of the principal axis are fastened to the beam of 
the pedestal, which inclines towards the pole of the earth by 
means of eight screws passing through the whole thickness 
of the wood. This axis (parallel to the axis of the wood) is 
made of steel, 29 inches long, and of proportionate strength. 
It turns in two cylindrical collars, and lies with its lower end, 
which is convex and highly polished, on a steel plane, so that 
it is only in contact in one point. On this axis, towards the 
lower part, is fixed the hour circle of 13 inches, on which half 
a second of time may be easily read off. 

The brass box or frame of the second axis is fastened to 
the upper part of the axis by means of twelve strong steel 
screws. Through this passes the second axis at right angles 
to the first, with which it is almost equal in dimensions. It 
therefore always lies parallel to the equator. At one end of 
it is the declination circle of nineteen inches, divided into 


in the Observatory of Dorpat. 107 


every 10’; but which, by a vernier, may be read off to 5”. 
At the other end, the box or frame in which the tube lies, is 
fixed by means of twelve screws. 

The tube itself is 13 feet long, constructed of deal, in 
the strongest and safest manner, and overlaid with maho- 
gany, so worked, that it appears like a tube of highly-burnish- 
ed copper. The object-glass and eye-pieces are set in metal 
frames, and provided with adjusting screws for the purpose 
of bringing the axes of the glasses into one straight line. 

The diameter of the object-glass is nine Parisinches. The 
Finder attached to the tube, is an achromatic telescope of 30 
inches focus, and 29 lines diameter, set in metal. 

Two counterpoises, fixed to levers, prevent the object-end 
of the telescope from overbalancing the other end, and at the 
same time secures it from bending, since they are fixed on the 
same principle as the counterpoises, which, in Reichenbach’s 
meridian circles, counteract the effect of the weight on the 
tube, with this difference, that, in our instrument, tlie levers 
turn round double axes on account of the changes in the po- 
sition of the tube. 

Two other counterpoises, (une of which is fixed to a strong 
iron axis turning by means of a double ring round the frame 
of the axis which lies parallel to the equator, and the other 
on the end of this axis itself,) serves to remove the weight 
resting on the polar axis, and at the same time to diminish 
the friction of the second im its frame. Another counter- 
poise supports the polar axis just in the centre of gravity of 
all the moveable parts of the instrument, by means of two 
friction-rollers, by which the turning of the whole round the 
polar axis is effected with the greatest facility. 

The instrument, after being thus set up, and the counter- 
poise properly adjusted, is perfectly balanced in every situa- 
tion. It may be turned in declination with the finger, and 
round the polar axis with still less force, a weight of three 
pounds being fixed at some distance from the eye-end, by 
which the friction is overcome. ‘Thus, this enormous tele- 
scope may be turned in every direction towards the heavens, 
with more ease and certainty than any other hitherto in use. 


108 Prof. Struve on the large Refracting Telescope 


But, it is equally well constructed for the more delicate mo- 
tions. The declination circle is stopped by a spring, and se- 
cured, by means of a micrometer-screw, against a strong iron 
arm fixed to the frame. 

This screw is moved by a long Hooke’s joint, which the 
observer holds in his hand, while his eye is applied to the 
glass. In this manner the telescope is pointed in declina- 
tion with as much certainty as in the best meridian instru- 
ments. 

For the purpose of producing the finer motions round the 
polar axis, an endless screw is adapted to move in the hour 
circle. A spring presses on this screw uniformly, and a lever 
is employed to raise it out of the circle; another Hooke’s 
joint is placed on the head of this screw, by which the mo- 
tions are produced. 

But the most perfect motion round the polar axis is pro- 
duced by means of clock-work, which is the principal feature 
of this instrument, and the greatest triumph for the artist ; 
the mechanism being as simple as it is ingenious. A weight 
attached to a projection connected with the endless screw 
overcomes the friction of the machine. The clock vibrating 
in a circular arc, regulates the motion by moving an endless 
screw connected with a second wheel in the above projection. 
The weight of the cleck, as well as that of the friction, may 
be wound up without the motion being interrupted. When 
the telescope is thus kept in motion, the star will remain 
quietly in the centre, even when magnified seven hundred 
times. At the same time, there is not the least shake or 
wavering of the tube, and it seems as if we were observing an 
immoveable sky. 

But the artist has done still more; he has introduced a 
hand on a graduated dial of the clock, by which the motion 
of the latter can be instantly altered; so that a star may be 
brought into the middle of the field, or to any other point of 
it to which it may suit the observer to carry it, by rendering 
the motion of the instrument, for a time, faster or slower than 
that of the heavens, as the case may require; and when once 
placed, it may be kept in that position by returning the hand 


an the Observatory of Dorpat. 109 


to its original situation. The same mechanism is also used to 
make the motion of the instrument coincide with that of the 
sun and moon. 

This instrument has four eye-glasses, the least of which 
magnifies 1'75 times, and the largest 700 times. 

It would be very difficult to find a point of comparison for 
the optical powers of this splendid masterpiece of art. One 
fact, however, is certain, that Schroeter’s twenty-five feet re- 
flector, after a decided trial of observations on minute objects, 
stands far behind ours. For, according to the observations 
made by Schroeter with his reflector, after its construction in 
1794, on ¢ Orionis, and which he published, together with a map 
of the stars composing it, * he saw this star ¢welve, perhaps 
thirteen fold; yet, although Orion is nearer the horizon with 
us than at Lilienthal, I saw not only all the thirteen stars 
seen by Schroeter, (including the one which is yet doubtful 
with him,) but even three more ; so that, while his imstrument 
only showed him this star decidedly twelve fold, ours showed 
it clearly sixteen fold.+ If we compare the powers of some of the 
smaller achromatics of Fraunhofer with those of reflecting 
telescopes of thirteen and fifteen feet length, we may, perhaps, 
rank this enormous instrument with the most celebrated of 
all reflecting telescopes, namely Herschel’s, whilst it sur- 
passes it in its convenience for use, and the variety of its ap- 
plications. Thus, I am inclined to consider eur achromatic 
refractor, as the most perfect optical instrument yet in exist- 
ence. { 

This masterpiece was sold to us by Privy Counsellor Von 
Utzschneider, the chief of the optical establishment at Mu- 
nich, for 10,500 Florins, (L.950 Sterling.) a price which 
only covers the expences which the establishment incurred in 
making it. This generosity, this sacrifice to science, deserves 
every praise, especially as the professor and academician, 
Chevalier Fraunhofer, has offered to contribute in future to- 
wards perfecting this splendid masterpiece of art. 

The description now given of this magnificent mstrument, 


* See Bode’s Jahrbuch for 1797. 
+ See Astronomical Intelligence in this Number. 
~ See our Last Number, p. 309. 


110 M. Gay-Lussac’s Observations on some Sulphurets. 


was drawn up at the beginning of 1825, when it had only a 
temporary position in the western apartment of the observa- 
tory ; but, in the course of last year, it has been placed in its 
proper position in the tower of the observatory, under a 
rotatory cupola, where it may be used for observations in 
every part of the heavens. 

So recently as December 1, 1825, ‘Erofesacs Struve has 
announced to Baron Zach, that he had that day completed 
the erection of the telescope. Previously, however, to do- 
ing this, he had discovered with it, in a zone of 19 hours, 
of right ascension, and of from —15° to +10 of declination, 
145 new double stars of the first class, and 305 of the fourth 
class. The places of most of these stars he had determined 
by the meridian circle, as well as the respective positions of 
the surrounding stars, by means of the excellent wire micro- 
meter with which the telescope is furnished. 

Such is the description of Fraunhofer’s telescope given by 
Professor Struve ; and we think that no Englishman can read 
it without feelings of the most poignant regret, that England 
has now lost her supremacy in the manufacture of achromatic 
telescopes, and the government one of the sources of its reve- 
nue. In a few years she will also lose her superiority in the 
manufacture of the great divided instruments for fixed obser- 
vatories. When these sources of occupation for scientific ta- 
lent decline, the scientific character of the country must fall 
along with them, and the British government will deplore, 
when it is too late, her total inattention to the scientific esta- 
blishments of the empire. When a great nation ceases to tri- 
umph in her arts, it is no unreasonable apprehension, that she 
may cease also to triumph by her arms. 


ArT. XXIII.—Obscrvations on some Suiphurets. By M. 
Gay-Lussac.* 


I wave no other object in this note than to explain a very 
small number of facts which appear to facilitate the compre- 


* Translated from the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, vol. xxx. 


M. Gay-Lussac’s Observations on some Sulphurets. 114 


hension of some combmations of sulphur, concerning which 
M. Berzelius has made important researches. 

The existence of sulphurets formed by the alkaline metals 
has. been long known. In my memoir on Iodine, Annales de 
Chimie,.vol. xci. p. 59, I have already shown that baryta is 
reduced by hydrosulphuric acid, and that a sulphuret of ba- 
rium is produced. Since that first observation, the researches 
of M. Vauquelin and myself, An. de Chim. et de Phys. vol. 
yi. p. 5 and 321, have placed the existence of the alkaline sul- 
phurets beyond a doubt; and the more recent investigations 
of M. Berzelius and M. Berthier, vol. xx. p. 34, and vol. xxii. 
p- 225, have given a further confirmation of it. 

The sulphurets formed with the alkaline metals may con- 
tain seyeral atoms of sulphur, and it is very easy to discover 
when they have more than one atom. In fact, a protosulphu- 
ret, decomposed by an acid, yields hydrosulphuric acid, without 
precipitation of sulphur ; and for one atom of the sulphuret, 
one atom of water will be decomposed, the hydrogen of which 
combines with the sulphur, and the oxygen with the metal. 

When, on the contrary, the sulphuret contains more than 
one atom of sulphur, and it is decomposed by an acid, sul- 
phur is precipitated, because for one atom of metal only one 
atom of water will be decomposed, and only one atom of hy- 
drosulphuric acid procured. 

Now, M. Berthier, im his interesting inquiry on the decom- 
position of the sulphates by charcoal at a high temperature, 
has proved that they are converted into protosulphurets ; for 
their weight, after their decomposition, was exactly equal to 
the united weights of the metal and sulphur which they con- 
tained: acids disengaged hydrosulphuric acid from them, 
without precipitation of sulphur, and they reproduced, when 
oxidized, perfectly neutral sulphates. 

On the other hand, however, every chemist knows, that when 
a sulphate is decomposed by charcoal at a red heat, a sulphu- 
ret is obtained with.a more or less coloured solution, and from 
which acids precipitate a large quantity of sulphur, though 
the sulphuret contains but one atom of sulphur for one of the 
metal. 

This last result, compared with that of M. Berthier, neces- 


112 M. Gay-Lussac’s Observations on some Sulphurets. 


sarily obliges us to admit, that the sulphurets formed on de- 
composing sulphates by charcoal at a red heat, are not pure 
protosulphurets ; that they must contain a portion of sulphu- 
ret which has more than one atom of sulphur, and that, con- 
sequently, it ought to contain a portion of metal combined 
with oxygen. It is quite clear, in fact, that if the metal was 
not in part oxidized previous to the action of acids on the sul- 
phuret, no sulphur would be precipitated. One may even in- 
fer the quantity of oxygen combined with the metal by the 
quantity of sulphur precipitated. The proportions of alkali, 
protosulphuret, and persulphuret, vary with the temperature. 
I have found, on decomposing the sulphate of soda by char- 
coal at a red heat approaching to whiteness, that the quantity 
of sulphur contained in the hydrosulphuric acid, which was 
disengaged when the sulphuret was treated by an acid, was 
5.7 times more than what was precipitated. In another 
experiment with the sulphate of potash, at a lower tem- 
perature, I obtained about 4.5 instead of 5.7. This relation 
ought also to be variable according to the affinity of the metal 
for oxygen. 

I have shown in my memoir on prussic acid, (Ann. de Chi- 
mie, vol. xcv. p. 164,) that when an atom of potassium is heat- 
ed in hydrcsulphuric acid, one atom of it is decomposed, its 
sulphur being appropriated by the metal, which then com- 
bines with another atom of hydrosulphuric acid. I regarded 
that combination as a hydrosulphate of the sulphuret of po- 
tassium, and as long as it remains in a dry state, I think no 
other view can be taken of it. It dissolves in water without 
colouring it sensibly, and heated by our acid, it yields two 
atoms of hydrosulphuric acid without a precipitation of sul- 
phur, which is a consequence of its composition. 

In dissolving this hydrosulphate in water, it may happen 
that it does not decompose it or that it does. In the last case, 
we shall have a bi-hydrosulphate of potash ; for the atom. of 
metal will decompose an atom of water, so as to form another 
atom of hydrosulphuric acid. By evaporating it to dryness, 
the compound will return to its former nature. 

This combinaticn is precisely what forms when an alkali is 
saturated by hydrosulphurie acid, and to which I gave the — 

1 


M. Gay-Lussac’s Observations on some Sulphurets. 118 


name of bi-hydrosulphate, because I found that it contained 
two atoms of acid. (Ann. de Ch. et de Ph. vol. xiv. p. 263.) In 
giving to the alkaline solution, to that of potash, for example, 
only half as much ‘acid as it can saturate, it is possible either 
that a simple hydrosulphate or sulphuret will be produced, 
or that one half of the alkali forms a hydrosulphate of the sul- 
phuret of potassium, while the other half of it remains free. 
It would be very difficult to determine precisely what hap- 
pens ; but, happily, that is quite immaterial in practice. 

In paying attention to the analogy which exists between the 
carbonic and hydrosulphuric acids, and to their property of 
separating one another from their combinations, one would 
expect heat to expel one half of the acid of the bi-hydrosul- 
phates, since it produces that effect on the bi-carbonates. But 
this is not the case: the bi-hydrosulphates sustain a very high 
temperature without losing their acid. This result seems to 
confirm the opinion that the hydrosulphate of the sulphuret 
of potassium dissolves in water without decomposing it, and 
that it acts with this liquid like the chlorurets and iodurets ; 
but one may admit that it is decomposed without inconveni- 
ence. 

On heating the carbonate of potash in an excess of hydro- 
sulphuric acid, M. Berzelius has obtamed a compound formed 
of an atom of sulphuret of potassium, and an atom of hydro- 
sulphuric acid. This result might have been easily foreseen, 
by remembering that hydrosulphuric acid in excess expels 
carbonic acid, and converts potash into sulphuret of potassium. 
The circumstances are then the same as where potassium is 
heated in hydrosulphuric acid. 

M. Thenard has observed, that on heating a solution of the 
hydrosulphate of potash with sulphur, (Ann. de Chim. vol. 
Ixxxvill. p. 132,) there is a disengagement of much hydrosul- 
phuric acid ; and M. Berzelius has proved, that when we take 
the hydrosulphate of the sulphuret of potassium, or, what 
amounts to the same thing, the bi-hydrosulphate of potash, 
the sulphur separates one atom of hydrosulphuric acid, and 
four atoms of sulphur are dissolved. Hence the compound 
is a sulphuret, with five atoms of sulphur, exactly similar to 
that which is obtained when potash is heated with an excess 

VOL. Vv. NO. I. JULY 1826. H 


114 Mr Harvey on the Lffects of Time 


of sulphur, or is formed of an atom of potash and one atom 
of hydrogen combined with five atoms of sulphur. 

In concluding this note, I may remark, that M. Berzelius 
admits, page 116 of his Memoir, that the hyposulphurous acid 
can unite with a base in three different proportions, and that 
it may contain the same quantity of oxygen as the base, or 
twice or three times as much, But we must only regard 
those compounds as definite, which can, with certainty, be ob- 
tained in a separate state ; and as this has not been done with 
respect to those described by Berzelius, the distinction which 
he has drawn does not appear admissible. The last of these 
combinations, in which the acid contains three times more oxy- 


gen than the base, would obviously be acid, and hitherto it 
has not been obtained. 


Art. XXIV.—On the Effects of Time in Modifying Anoma- 
lous Cases of Vision with regard to Colours. By GrorcE 
Harvey, F.R.S. Lond. and Edin., F.G.S. &ce. Ina 
Letter to the Eprror. 


My Dear Sir, 


Ty the Seventh Number of your valuable Journal, you have 
given an interesting abstract of several anomalous cases of 
vision, with respect to colours; and it has occurred to me, 
from reflecting on the case which I laid before the Royal So- 
ciety of Edinburgh, and which is shortly to be published in 
the Transactions of that learned Body, that time may possi- 
bly produce some modifications in those peculiar conditions of 
the retina, by which some individuals are prevented from at- 
taining correct perceptions of colour. 

With respect to that general decay of vision, which déme 
commonly produces in eyes, in every respect perfectly or- 
ganized, it may be remarked, that those perceptions of colour, 
which are active and perfect in youth, are commonly preserv- 
ed through life, with no other change than that general dimi- 
nution of their vividness and intensity which the natural de- _ 
cay of the energies of the retina may be supposed to produce. 


in modifying Anomalous cases of Vision. 115 


But we are by no means certain, that time produces in eyes, 
imperfectly constituted in those interesting relations, analo- 
gous changes ; whether age, in depriving them of the enjoy- 
ment of the minuter impressions of light, contributes to alter 
or modify their perceptions of colour, in any other way than 
a general diminution of its brilliance and power. This, it 
may be said, can only be determined by correct observations, 
made at different periods of life; and perhaps Mr Dalton is 
the only philosopher capable of affording any experimental 
information on the subject; since, in early life, he examined 
particularly into the peculiarities attendant on his own re- 
markable perceptions of colour, and, no doubt, has continued 
to observe, with that cool and discriminating attention for 
which he is so remarkable, whatever changes may have taken 
place in his vision, during his useful and brilliant career. 

In the case recorded in the T'ransactions of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, the subject of it is not aware of his 
present perceptions of colour differing in any material de- 
gree from those which characterized his yearly youth ; but 
this may possibly have arisen from his being unaccustomed to 
habits of philosophical observation, and that refined and deli- 
cate tact by which so many beautiful and interesting truths 
are discovered. It may not be impossible, however, in the 
instance of the young man alluded to by the writer of the ar- 
ticle in question, to discover, by analogous observations and 
experiments performed at distant intervals of years, whether 
his perceptions of colour undergo any peculiar change. Time 
is an element too often neglected in our philosophical investi- 
gations; and we are apt sometimes to abandon an inquiry 
when the materials for its prosecution are only to be obtained 
by observations made at distant intervals of life. 


I remain, my Dear Sir, 
Yours very faithfully, 


PiymoutH, May 1st 1826. Grorce Harvey. 


116 M. Gay-Lussac on the Reciprocal Decomposition of Bodies. 


Arr. XXV.—On the Reciprocal Decomposition of Bodies. 
By M. Gay-Lussac.* 


WéE are indebted to Berthollet for the important law, that 
substances whose properties are analogous eventually displace 
one another from their combinations, and that the principal 
causes which limit the separation are volatility and insolubi- 
lity. Berthollet did not perhaps develope the consequences 
of this law sufficiently ; but it is easy to foresee them im each 
particular case. 

When two acids act on the same base, and the whole re- 
mains in solution, the base is divided between them, not ac- 
cording to their ponderable quantity, but to the number of 
their atoms, and it does not appear that its affinity for each 
acid has much influence over the phenomenon. It is suffi- 
cient, in order that the base should be divided between them, 
that the acids, whatever may be the difference in their volati- 
lity or solubility, should remain in solution; for, in that case, 
they ought to act as if they possessed those properties in the 
same degree. 

Conceive, for example, that an excess of nitric acid is ad- 
ded to the chloruret of sodium; there will be both hydro- 
chloric acid and chlorine in the mixture, and, on the applica- 
tion of heat, the chloruret will be soon changed into nitrate 
of soda. On reversing the experiment, that is, in treating ni- 
trate of soda by an excess of muriatic acid, it will be convert- 
ed into chloride of sodium. These reciprocal decompositions 
are very easy, and, by converting two nitrates into chlorurets, 
we may determine the proportion in which they were mixed : 
all that is necessary 1s to know the weight of the two nitrates, 
and the two chlorurets, and the atomic weight of each salt. 
All chlorurets are not decomposed by nitric acid with the 
same facility; that of silver, which is completely insoluble in 
water and acids, is not attacked by it, and that of calcium is 
acted on with more difficulty than those of potassium or sodium. 
But it must also be remarked, that we compare at present 


* Translated from the Annalcs de Chimie et de Physique, vol. Xxx. 


M. Gay-Lussac on the Reciprocal Decomposition of Bodies. 11% 


compounds (chlorurets and nitrates) which are not analo- 
gous, and the law, to which we have alluded, cannot apply 
to them, except by regarding them without distinction, 
while in solution, either as chlorurets or hydrochlorates, which 
is not always the case. 

Sulphuric acid, at the common temperature, separates in 
part the boracic and arsenic acids from their combinations ; 
but, at a high temperature, on the contrary, it is separated by 
those acids. 

The nitric and hydrochloric acids decompose the fluorurets ; 
and, in its turn, the hydrofluoric acid decomposes the nitrates 
and the chlorurets. 

The acetic acid decomposes several chlorurets, and recipro- 
cally the hydrochloric acid decomposes the acetates. Many 
other vegetable acids, and particularly the lactic acid, give rise 
to analogous phenomena. 

Gases that dissolve in water, and which escape from it in a 
vacuum, are all separated from that liquid by another gas, 
when passed through it in excess. 

A number of similar facts might be adduced, but it will 

suffice to mention the decomposition of the hydro-sulphates by 
carbonic acid, and that of the carbonates by the hydro- 
sulphuric acid, on which M. Henry junior has made a very 
long investigation, to determine facts which might have been 
easily foreseen by reasoning upon the laws established by Ber- 
thollet. 
‘ The bicarbonate of potash, for example, exposed in solu- 
tion to the air, loses a portion of its acid, and acquires the 
property of precipitating the sulphate of magnesia. If a 
stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas be passed through it, 
whose acid properties are known to be nearly the same as 
those of carbonic acid, a portion of carbonic acid will ne- 
cessarily become free; and as it will be removed at the 
same time by the stream of hydrosulphuric gas, the bicar- 
bonate will be always exposed to the same causes of decompo- 
sition, and will by degrees be completely decomposed.. 

In like manner, on passing a stream of carbonic acid into a 
bi-hydrosulphate, partial decomposition of that salt will en- 
sue, and the hydrosulphuric acid gas, so separated, being car- 


118 Mr Ritchie on an extremely Cheap and 


ried off by the carbonic acid, the decomposition of the hydro- 
sulphate will at last be complete. 

It is necessary to observe that these decompositions re- 
quire a much greater quantity of acid than is sufficient to sa- 
turate the base; for the acid, separated from the base, can 
only be removed from the solution by means of a great ex- 
cess of the acid which takes its place, according to the theory 
of vapours. 

It should also be remarked that, if the carbonate and 
hydrosulphate were not in the state of bi-salts, they would not 
begin to part with their acid till after having been brought to 
that state. M. Henry has observed that the insoluble car- 
bonates experience only a very partial decomposition by the 
action of hydrosulphuric acid, and it is easy to conceive it ; 
but it is not easy to conceive that the carbonates, according 
to the same observer, should be decomposed with greater dif- 
ficulty by the hydrosulphuric acid, than the hydrosulphates 
by the carbonic acid. 


Art. XXVI.—On an extremely Cheap and Delicate Hydro- 
static Balance. By Wii11am Rircuir, A. M., Rector of 
Tain Academy. Communicated by the Author. 


Heavine been engaged in determining the ratio between the 
weights and measures used in the counties of Ross and 
Sutherland, and the new imperial standard, and not having - 
in my possession a balance of sufficient strength and delicacy, 
I fell upon the following simple contrivance, which answered 
as well as the finest hydrostatic balance. A. balance of ex- 
treme delicacy and accuracy, adapted to philosophical experi- 
ments, generally costs fifteen, twenty, or even thirty guineas. 
The expence attending the prosecution of physical science is, 
thus beyond the abilities of those who are best fitted for such 
inquiries. The person who, by simple contrivances, will di- 
minish the expence of such essential parts of philosophical ap- 
paratus, will therefore confer an important benefit on the 
young inquirer. With this view, I shall, through the me- 
dium of this Journal, present the public with the description 


Delicate Hydrostatic Balance. 119 


of a balance, which may be made for a few shillings, and 
which will answer all the purposes of philosophical investiga- 
tion, as well as the finest hydrostatic balance in existence. 

Let a slender beam of wood be procured, about eighteeit 
‘inches or two feet long, and tapering a little from the middle 
to each end. Let a fulerum of tempered steel, resembling 
the blade of a pen-knife, be made to pass through the middle 
of the beam a little above the centre of gravity. Similar 
steel blades are also made to pass through the ends of the 
beam for suspending the scales. ‘The fulcrum rests on two 
small portions of thermometer tube, fixed horizontally on the 
upright support EF’, Plate I, Fig. 8. he support has a 
slit passing along the middle, to allow the needle EF to play 
freely between the sides. A small scale made of card, and 
divided into any number of equal parts, is placed at F, for 
the purpose of ascertaining the point at which the needle re- 
mains stationary. This balance possesses extreme delicacy. 
It may even be made more sensible than that belonging to 
the Royal Society of London. 

I have said nothing of the perfect equality of the two ends, 
as this condition is not at all necessary to the accuracy of the 
balance, according to the method of double weighing. 

To ascertain the weight of any body W, place it in one of 
the scales, and bring the needle to any point, by means of 
small shot placed in the other scale. Observe the point op- 
posite to which the needle rests, or the middle between its ex- 
treme points of oscillation; remove the weight W, and put 
into the scale as many known weights as will bring the needle 
to the same division as before: these weights will evidently be 
equal to the weight of the body W, whether the arms of the 
balance be equal or not. 

For this simple and accurate method, we are indebted to 
the sagacity of Borda. It is generally employed by the con- 
tinental philosophers, and, though somewhat more tedious, is 
obviously more accurate than the common method. This 
method is so simple and obvious, that we are surprised it was 
not discovered as soon as the balance itself was known; yet, 
as the celebrated Biot justly remarks, philosophers knew the 
motions of the heavenly bodies, and had actually ascertained 


120 MM. Bussy and Lecanu on the 


the dimensions of the earth, before they knew the method of 
accurately determining the weight of a body. The whole 
passage is very interesting : “ Lorsqu’on enterprit, en France, 
la determination des grandes unités de poids et des mesures, 
on connaissait parfaitement le cours du ciel et les mouvemens 
des astres; on savait tres-bien mesurer les dimensions de la 
terre; mais on ne savait pas determiner exactement le poids 
dun corps, et il fallut que Borda inventat la méthode des 
doubles pesées pour y suppléer.” 


Art. XXVII.—WNote concerning the Presence of Anhydrous 
Persulphate of Iron in the residue of the concentration of 
Sulphuric Acid. By MM. Bussy and Lecanv. * 


Ix concentrating the sulphuric acid of commerce, prepared 
in the usual way by the combustion of sulphur and nitrate of 
potash, a white powder is gradually deposited, which the acid, 
in its more diluted state, had held in solution. The deposit 
has been hitherto regarded as a sulphate of lead; but, on ex- 
amining it chemically, MM. Bussy and Lecanu discovered that 
it was a sulphate of the peroxide of iron, mixed inboyp 
with a small quantity of silver. 

This observation led them to examine the action of strong 
sulphuric acid upon the salts of iron. When the crystalliz- 
ed protosulphate of iron (green vitriol) is put into the acid, 
it quickly loses its green colour and becomes white, in con- 
sequence of being deprived of its water of crystallization by 
the concentrated acid. A part of the anhydrous salt sub- 
sides as a white powder to the bottom; but one portion of it 
is at the same time dissolved by the strong acid, forming a 
beautiful rose-coloured solution, which passes into purple as 
more of the salt is dissolved. The green protosulphate of. 
iron, previously deprived of its water of crystallization, acts 
in the same manner. 

The colour of the solution may be destroyed in two ways. 
The first is by adding water to a certain extent, when the 


* Abstract from the Annales de Chimie, vol. xxx. 
11 


Presence of Anhydrous Persulphate of Iron. 121 


rose-colour gradually weakens, and at last disappears entirely, 
the liquid having all the properties of a diluted solution of 
the protosulphate of iron. The second method is by oxidiz- 
ing the iron to a maximum. ‘This is most conveniently done 
by a little peroxide of manganese, or of lead, or, still more ra- 
pidly, by nitric acid. A high temperature answers the same 
purpose; for then the protoxide of iron decomposes a portion 
of sulphuric acid, and is converted into the peroxide. 

These facts account very satisfactorily for the deposition. 
of the sulphate of the peroxide of iron in the concentrated sul- 
phuric acid. The sulphur employed in the manufactory of 
the acid commonly contams some sulphuret of iron, which is 
converted into a sulphate during the combustion of the sul- 
phur, and mechanically carried off by the rapid ascent of the 
gaseous products. The sulphate of iron is held in solution 
so long as the acid is weak; but when the acid is concentrat- 
ed by boiling, the iron, if at first in the form of protoxide, is 
oxidized to a maximum, and subsides as a sulphate of the 
peroxide. This deposition is quite free from the sulphate of 
lead as would be expected; for the same condition which 
causes the persulphate of iron to subside, tends to preserve 
the sulphate of lead, which is always present in the common 
acid, in a state of solution. This salt is thrown down when 
the acid is diluted. 

M.M. Bussy and Lecanu obtained the persulphate of iron 
in a pure state by decanting off the supernatant liquid, and 
washing away the adhering sulphuric acid by means of al- 
cohol. It is composed according to their analysis of 

Peroxide of iron - : 40 

Sulphuric acid - - 60 
which is therefore the common persulphate of iron,—-the per- 
sesquisulphate of Thomson, which contains one equivalent of 
the oxide to one and a half of the acid. It is remarkable 
that this salt acquires such a great degree of cohesion by long 
contact with boiling sulphuric acid as to be dissolved with 
difficulty by water or alcohol, though, when prepared in the 
usual way, it is very soluble in both these liquids. 


122 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


Art. XXVIII.—On the Refractive Power of the Two New 
Fluids in Minerals, with Additional Observations on the 
Nature and Properties of these Substances.* By Davin 
Brewster, LL.D. F.R.S. Lond., Sec. R.S. Edin., and 
Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of 
Paris. 7 


Ly a former paper, on the T'wo New Fluids in minerals, I 
have given the index of refraction for the most expansible of 
the two, as it exists in the cavities of Amethyst; but as I had 
not then ascertained the refractive power of the second fluid, 
and as the principal phenomena of the two. fluids were ob- 
served in topaz, it became desirable to have an approximate 
measure of the refractive power of both of them, as they ex- 
ist in that mineral. As the fluid in Amethyst had never been 
examined out of the cavity, its identity with that im topaz was 
inferred solely from the equality of their expansion by heat, 
so that the determination of the refractive power of the latter 
was necessary to establish either a difference between these 
two substances, or their perfect identity. 

In the repetition of the experiments described in. that 
paper, I succeeded in finding a cavity, whose shape and. si- 
tuation in the crystal enabled me to obtain an accurate mea- 
sure of the refractive power of the two fluids. 

This cavity consisted of a vacuity, of a large portion of the 
highly expansible fluid, and of a considerable quantity of the 
second fluid, which suffered almost no change by heat. The 
situation of this cavity in the specimen is shown in Plate III. 
Fig. 1, where C is a section of the cavity perpendicular to its 
length, and inclined to the parallel cleavage planes EF, GH 
of the topaz. 

In a room where the temperature was about 60° of Fahren- 
heit, I fixed this specimen upon a goniometer, and I mea- 
sured the angle of incidence at the surface EF, when the 
light of a candle RD, incident on the vacuity, began to suffer 


* This paper is an abstract of the original one, which will appear in 
vol. x. part 2; of the Edinburgh Transactions. 


4 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 123 


total reflection. This angle was 38° 42’. From the index of 
the ordinary refraction of topaz, which is 1.620, I computed 
the angle of refraction CDB to be 22° 42', and the angle of 
total reflection DCP to be 37° 38' 35”. Hence the angle 
ADC was 67° 18’; the angle ACD 52° 21, and DAC, the 
inclination of the face of the cavity to the refracting surface 
EF, was therefore 60° 21°. 

Calling & the inclination of AB to EF, or DAC and ¢ the 
angle of refraction CDB, we shall have a — — total reflection 
+9. For, in the similar triangles ADB, CPB right-angled 
at D and C, we have CAD=CPB. But CPB= DPQ = 
CDB+ DCP, that is, = — Total Reflection + ¢. 

The goniometer remaining steady in its place, the divided 
circle and the crystal were turned round, till the same ray 
RD began to suffer total reflection from the refracting surface 
of the expansible fluid and the topaz; and the new angle of 
incidence KDR’, at which this took place, was found to be 
26° 39’. The goniometer being turned still farther, the same 
ray suffered total reflection, from the separating surface of the 
second fluid MM and the topaz, when the angle of incidence 
KD was 11° 52. 

Now, if m is the index of refraction of any substance, the 
sine of the angle at which light incident on its second surface 


. : ] SEeetS 
suffers total reflection, will be =t and if any fluid is in con- 
tact with that surface, the sine of the angle of total reflection 

/ 
will be —, the index of refraction of the fluid being m’. 
m 


Hence, 
m' =m xX Sin. Angle of Total Reflection. 

Calling ¢ the angle of incidence, ¢, g’ the angles of refrac- 
tion, m m’, m” the indices of refraction for topaz, the expan- 
, ; ‘ : sin é 
sive fluid and the second fluid; then we have sm 9 — a3 


g'—-« = Augle of Total Reflection, and 
m =m X Sin (? — 2) 
m' =m x Sin (?” — x) 


124 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


Hence we have the Indices of refraction as follows: 
m = 1.620 Topaz. 
m” = 1.2946 second fluid. 
m’ = 1.1311 expansible fluid. 

The following Table will show the relations of the indices 
of refraction of these two new substances to those of other 
bodies which I have found to possess a refractive power lower 
than water : , 


TABLE of Refractive Powers lower than Water. 


Water - ~ - - 1.3358 
Cyanogen rendered fluid by pressure, - 1.316 
Ice, 2 - e : =, As8085 


_ Second new fluid in topaz, in a cavity which 
is filled by the other new fluid, at the tem- 


perature of 83°, = ~ - 1.2946 
New fluid in amethyst, which fills the cavity 

at a temperature of 833° of Fahrenheit, 1.2106 
Tabasheer, whitish, from Nagpore, - 1.1825 
Tabasheer, transparent, from Nagpore, - 1.1503 
Do. do. another specimen, - - 1.1454 


New expansible fluid in topaz, in the same ca- 
vity as the second fluid, whose index of re- 


fraction is given above, - - 1.1311 
Transparent tabasheer from Vellore, of a yel- 

lowish tint, - - - 1.1111 
Ether expanded into nearly thrice its original 

bulk, - - - it 1.057 


Additional Observations on the New Fluids in Minerals. 


Several distinguished foreigners, and others who have taken 
an interest in this subject, have experienced great difficulty in 
obtaining specimens of minerals containing the fluid cavities. 
This difficulty has no doubt arisen from their examining the 
well crystallized specimens which are generally found in the 
‘ cabinets of mineralogists. If they had broken up with the 
hammer only a few of the rounded or imperfectly crystallized 
white topazes from Brazil or New Holland, they could scarce- 
ly have failed to discover, with the compound microscope, in- 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 125 


numerable cavities fitted for the purposes of observation, 
After a little practice in splitting and preparing the speci- 
mens, the patient observer will experience no difficulty in de- 
tecting cavities of every variety of form, and in discovering 
the fluid as it flows from the opened cavities over the planes 
of cleavage. Mr Sanderson, lapidary in Edinburgh, has ob- 
tained some of the finest specimens of these new fluids ; and 
by cutting and polishing the topazes which contain them, he 
has been enabled to show most of the phenomena to those who _ 
are interested in such pursuits. 


1. On the Number and Arrangement of the Fluid Cavities. 


In a former paper, I had occasion to mention, that, in a 
specimen of cymophane about one-seventh of an inch square, 
I counted 30,000 cavities. Although this statement occasion- 
ed great surprise, yet it was too feeble to convey any idea of 
their number. So minute are these cavities, that the highest 
magnifying powers are often necessary to render them visible ; 
and we might as well attempt to number the grains of sand 
on the sea-shore, as to count these fluid cavities when they 
appear in this minute state. 

The strata in which these cavities are arranged, are not so 
closely related to the primary and secondary planes of the 
crystals, as I formerly supposed. I have found them in al- 
most every possible. direction, and intersecting one another at 
angles, which cannot be referred to any of the crystalline 
forms of the mineral. In a specimen of quartz observed by 
Mr Somerville, and now in the possession of Mr Sivright, 
they are arranged in hollow groupes, somewhat like the cells 
of a honeycomb; and, when they are viewed by reflected light, 
the corresponding faces of the cavities are seen to be parallel, 
though the cavities have every possible variety of position 
with respect to each other. In other specimens, they form 
planes of variable curvature, and sometimes curved surfaces 
of contrary flexure; and in one specimen, belonging to Mr 
Sivright, the longitudinal cavities are grouped and inflected, 
so as to resemble a curled lock of the finest hair. In a speci- 
men of blue topaz from Brazil, belonging to Mr Spaden, la- 


126 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


pidary in Edinburgh, there are no fewer than four strata of 
cavities nearly parallel to each other, and in the thickness of 
one-eighth of an inch. 

In the distribution of most of these groupes, accident seems 
to have had the principal share ; but there are certain modes 
of distribution that appear to be the result of some general prin- 
ciple. In a specimen, for example, belonging to Mr Sander- 
son, an immense number of cavities are arranged in rectilineal 
groupes, radiating from a centre. Each rectilineal group con- 
sists of two, or in some places three, rows of cavities, and se- 
veral of the radiations are bent from their original direction. 
The spaces between each pair of rows are filled with curiously 
branching cavities, some of which are half an inch long; but 
the remarkable fact is, that these cavities are connected with 
numerous slender branches, many of which communicate with 
a single cavity in the nearest rectilineal row of the radiations 
between which the long cavities are placed. 

In all the cavities of this remarkable specimen capable of 
being examined, there are found both the new fluids, with the 
exception of a long branching cavity, from which they had 
escaped, in consequence of the end being cut by the lapidary. 
The dense fluid always occupies the filamentous branches. 

The plane in which these cavities lie is perfectly flat, and is 
nearly perpendicular to the axis of the prism. 


2. On the Form of the Cavities containing the New Fluids. 


In a specimen of topaz belonging to Mr Sanderson, and 
which is one of the most valuable that I have seen, each cavi- 
ty consists of a variety of cavities of different lengths and 
sizes, bounded by parallel lines, and communicating by nar- 
row channels, which almost escape the cognizance of the mi- 
croscope. In these cavities, the two new fluids are arranged 
in the most remarkable manner, the dense fluid occupying all 
the necks, and angles, and narrow channels, while the expan- 
sible one is left in the open and less capillary spaces. When 
the heat of the hand is applied to the specimen, the fluids in 
the cavities are all set in motion. The dense fluid quits its 
corners, and assumes new localities ; and the different portions 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 127 


of the expansible fluid either unite into one, or are subdivided 
by the interposition of some portion of the dense fluid, which 
has been expelled from its primitive situation, and drawn into 
its new position by capillary action. When the specimen 
cools, the two fluids quit their new position ; and, as if they 
were endowed with vitality, they invariably resume the same 
positions which they occupied at the commencement of the ex- 
periment. 

Another form of the cavities, still more remarkable, occurs _ 
in a very fine specimen belonging to Mr Sivright. These 
cavities resemble a number of parallel cylinders, as shown at 
AB in Fig. 2; but, owing to some cause which it is difficult 
to conjecture, a number of them have been afterwards turned 
aside towards C, so as to be open at one of their extremities. 
From these extremities, which terminate in the surface ACB, 
the fluids have made their escape, and have left the interior of 
the cavities lined with a black and transparent powdery residue, 
which always remains after their evaporation. When the ca- 
vities thus inflected and deprived of their fluids are submitted 
to the microscope, they exhibit the most extraordinary shapes, 
some of which are represented in Figs. 3, 4, 5. ‘They have 
the appearance of having been formed by a turning lathe ; 
and such is the symmetry and beauty of their outline, that it 
1s not easy to conceive that they are the result of any mecha- 
nical cause. One of these cavities, which is unconnected with 
the rest, resembles a finely ornamented sceptre, as shown in 
Fig. 3; but what is more remarkable, the different parts of 
this figure lie in different planes, so that, when it is seen in a di- 
rection at right angles to that of symmetry, it appears merely 
a number of disjointed lines, as in Fig. 6. 

The inflection of the cavities AB into the directions 6C, 
&c. Fig. 2, and the discharge of their fluid contents at the 
surface ACB, could only have taken place when the whole 
mass ACB, though crystallized, had not attained its perma- 
nent induration, This opinion derives great support from 
the fact, that the lines 6C are perpendicular to the axes of 
thie prism, and consequently lie in the planes of most eminent 
cleavage. The direction, therefore, in which the fluids were 


128 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


discharged, was that of least resistance,—a result which might 
have been expected. 

In the specimen now under consideration, there is a stra- 

tum of fluid cavities, composed of a great number of parallel 
rows of cavities, and remarkable for their symmetry. One of 
these rows is somewhat like AB, Fig. 7. If we now suppose 
that when this specimen had not acquired its permanent 
state of induration, the fluids in its cavities were expanded by 
a considerable heat, the fluid in one cavity would force itself 
into the adjacent ones, so that the row of cavities AB would 
form one cavity, somewhat like that m Fig. 5. If the cavi- 
ties lay in different planes, as shown in Fig. 6, then the ex- 
panded fluid would descend to the one immediately below it, 
and connect the whole together as in Fig. 3. We do not 
mean to say, that the cavities 6C in Fig. 7, were actually 
formed in this manner, because this is rendered improbable 
by their connection with the rectilineal ones AB, but merely 
to explain how cavities having the forms shown in Figs. 3, 4, 
5, may have their origin from the union of a great number of 
cavities arranged as in Fig. 7. 
' When the cavities are regularly crystallized, the homolo- 
gous sides of the hollow crystals are parallel to one another, 
and also to those of the primitive or secondary form which 
they resemble. In some very curious but amorphous speci- 
mens of quartz from Brazil, belonging to Mr Spaden, the 
hollow crystals terminate in six-sided pyramids, with flat sum- 
mits, and the axes of these pyramids is parallel to the axis of 
the system of polarised rings, and consequently to the axis of 
the crystal. 


3. On the Condition of the Fluids within the Cavities. 


The phenomena of the expansible fluid have been so ful- 
ly described in my former paper, that I have only a few ob- 
servations to add upon this part of the subject. In some spe- 
cimens of quartz, the expansible fluid seems to exert a very 
considerable elastic force, even at the ordinary temperature of 
the atmosphere, and when a slight degree of heat is applied, it 
sometimes has sufficient force to burst the specimen. A very 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 129 


remarkable case of this kind happened to a son of Mr Sander- 
son, who put one of the Quebec crystals of quartz into his 
mouth. Even with this small accession of heat the specimen 
burst with great force, and cut his mouth. The fluid which 
was discharged had a very disagreeable taste. 

In the various cavities described in my former paper, the 
whole of the expansible fluid, when exposed to heat, was ei- 
ther driven into vapour,* or retained its fluidity after it had 
filled the vacuity. Since that paper was published, however, 
I have discovered cavities in which, after the application of 
heat, there may be said to be three different substances, viz. 
1. The expansible fluid in a state of fluidity; 2. The dense 
fluid; and, 3. The vapour of the expansible fluid. This cu- 
rious fact will be understood from Fig. 8, which represents a 
cavity in a specimen belonging to Mr Spaden. The cavity is 
one-twelfth of an inch long. 'The expansible fluid is lodged 
at N N and N’ N’, where there are large vacuities V, V’, and 
there is a globular portion of it at m, without a vacuity. 
When heat is applied, the fluid at N N and N/ N’ quickly 
goes off into vapour; the portion at x expands into an ellipti- 
cal globule, but its force is not sufficient to displace the mass 
of the second fluid between 2 and N, and m and N’; and be- 
ing kept in equilibrio by the opposite and nearly equal expan- 
sive forces of the vapour in N N, and N’ N’, it consequently 
remains fluid at n.. In a plate of topaz shown to me by Mr 
Sivright, where the expansible fluid consists of two portions 
floating in a large quantity of the dense fluid, one of the por- 
tions is a spherical drop which expands with heat, and con- 
tracts with cold, exhibiting by transmitted light an effect simi- 
lar to the opening and shutting of the pupil. 

In re-examining the phenomena of the second or denser 
fluid, several very curious facts have come under my notice. 

I had previously shown, that, when several cavities com- 
municated with each other, the narrow necks, or lines which 
joined them, were filled with the dense fluid, which shifted its 


* One of the largest vapour cavities that I have seen is one-twelfth of 
an inch every way. It is less than half full of fluid, and hence it is 
driven into vapour by heat. During the precipitation of the vapour it 
becomes perfectly opaque. 

VOL. v. No. I. suLY 1826. I 


{ 


130 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


position when the equilibrium of the adjacent portions was 
destroyed by heat. The particles of the dense fluid have a 
very powerful attraction for themselves, like those of water, 
and they are also powerfully attracted by the mineral which 
contains it. The particles of the expansible fluid have, on 
the contrary, a very slight attraction for one another, and al- 
so for the mineral which incloses them. Hence it follows, 
that, as the two fluids never in the slightest degree mix 
with one another, the dense fluid is either attracted to the 
angles of angular cavities, or occupies the bottom of round 
ones, or fills the narrow necks or channels by which two or 
more cavities communicate with one another. The expan- 
sible fluid, on the other hand, occupies all the wide parts of 
the cavities, and in those which are deep and round it lies 
above the dense fluid. 

If we now apply heat to a single deep cavity containing 
both fluids, the elastic force exerted by the expansible one, 
after its vacuity is filled up, will modify the form of the dense 
fluid, pressing it out of some corners and into others, till the 
elastic force of the one is in equilibrium with the capillary at- 
traction of the other. 

But if there are two cavities, A, B, communicating with 
each other, as in Fig. 9, where the dotted part represents the 
expansible fuid, then the dense fluid will be found in the 
neck at m,n, and at the angles o, p, r,s. Let us now sup- 
pose that there is a vacuity V only in the smaller cavity B, 
and that heat is applied to the specimen. It is obvious that 
the greater expansion of the expansible fluid in A, which has no 
vacuity to fill, will force the dense fluid m m towards V, where 
it will take up a new position about 6 mc when the expan- 
sive forces are in e@quilibrio. But if the cavity A is very 
large compared with B, the fluid m m will be driven out of 
the neck 6 m, and will find its way to some of the corners 0, 
or p, from which, upon cooling, it wil! again return to its po- 
sition m n. 

Let us now suppose that the cavity A communicates with 
other cavities which expand slowly into it, while it is expand- 
ing into B; then, at every expansion of A, the dense fluid - 
mn will be driven to a side, but it will immediately return, 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 131 


opening and shutting like a valve. 'This effect is finely exhi- 
bited in a cavity of a specimen belonging to Mr Sanderson, 
represented in Fig. 10 by AB CDE. In ordinary tempe- 
ratures, about 45°, there is a vacuity of the size V, in the ex- 
pansible or dotted fluid, and the dense, or shaded fluid, occu- 
pies the necks b c, d e, DE, and also the extremity F. By ap- 
plying the heat of the hand to the specimen, the expanding fluid 
in the branches V C, V D, finds space for itself, by filling up 
the vacuity, but as there are no vacuities in the portions of ex-. 
panding fluid at A B, B, and E F, they must necessarily force 
out the dense fluid which confines them. The dense fluid in 
the neck E D, is thus made to appear at D, and the whole of 
the dense fluid at 0 c is driven off to de, till, accumulating 
there, it is drawn by attraction to the nearest neck, m n 0 p. 
Here it first lines the circumference of the hollow neck, from 
its powerful attraction for topaz; and, as the lining becomes 
thicker, it appears as a slight elevation between o and p, and 
between m and n. ‘These elevations increase till they leap to- 
gether by their mutual attraction, and form a column of the 
dense fluid mn po. The column 0 c of dense fluid has now 
disappeared entirely, and the space A B C D is filled with 
the expanding fluid. The heat of the hand being continued, 
the expanding fluid A B forces itself through the little cylin- 
der of dense fluid d e, which resumes its place the moment 
that a portion of the former has passed. But as the same 
heat has been expanding the fluid between » p and C, which 
pushes out part of the dense fluid at m0 p, this dense fluid, 
and the surplus of what was displaced from 6 c, moves along 
the sides of the cavity till it occupies the portion g 7, of the 
branch V D. Sometimes the dense fluid is entirely driven 
from m no p, and part of it sent to the extremity C; though, 
in general, a very small portion remains at the very neck m o. 

As the specimen cools, the dense fluid quits m o and qr, 
and is gradually transferred through the neck d e¢ to the neck 
bc; every portion of it invariably resuming its primitive po- 
sition. 

A curious modification of these actions is seen in a cavity 
of the specimen shown in Fig. 11. The branch 6 V has al- 
ways a vacuity V, while the cavity A, connected with it by the 
filamentous channel o 4, has no vacuity. At the ordinary 


132 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other * 


temperature, the dense fluid appears at a and c, and slightly at 
oand 4, filling the narrow channel o 6. By applying heat, the 
expanding fluid in 6 V fills the vacuity V ; and, as the cavity 
A aochas no vacuity, a portion of its fluid is driven through 
the neck a 6 into b V in small globules; but, owing to the 
narrowness of the neck at 6, the phenomena are not easily ob+ 
served. Upon cooling, however, the retransference of the fluid 
that had passed from A to 6 VY, is finely seen. The contrac- 
tion of the expanding fluid in A causes the dense fluid to ap- 
pear as at m no, im Fig. 11, and, in a short time, the curved 
surface m n becomes more flat; and, at last, a straight line, 
as at m' n’, Fig. 12. This indicates a pressure along the ca- 
nal 0’ o’, in the direction &/ o’, and a bubble of the expansible 
fluid instantly issues from o/, as in Fig. 12, and, passing 
through the dense fluid, joins the expansible fluid in A’. Af- 
ter three or four of these have passed, the equilibrium is re- 
stored. In this case, the capillary force exerted by the chan- 
nel o/ 6’ upon the dense fluid which it contains is too strong 
to permit the little globule of the expansible fluid in 8’ V/ to 
displace it, as in Fig. 10, so that it passes very slowly in se- 
parate globules. 

The fluid valves, as they may with propriety be cael, 
which thus separate the different branches of cavities, afford 
ground cf curious speculation in reference to the functions of. 
animal and vegetable bodies. In the larger organizations of 
ordinary animals, where gravity must in general overpower, 
or at least modify, the influence of capillary attraction, such 
a mechanism is neither necessary nor appropriate ; but, in the 
lesser functions of the same animals, and in almost all the mi- 
croscopic structures of the lower world, where the force of 
gravity is entirely subjected to the more powerful energy of 
capillary forces, it is extremely probable that the mechanism 
of immiscible fluids, and fluid valves, is generally adopted. 
We must leave it, however, to the physiologist to determine 
the truth of this supposition. 


4. On the Condition of the Fluids when taken out of the 
Cavities. 
I have already described so fully in a former paper the 
singular movements into which the expansible fluid is thrown 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 133 


when it first flows out of its cavity upon the surface of the 
plate of topaz which contains it, that I have nothing to add 
upon this subject.* It did not then occur to me that these 
movements might be owing to electricity, till I read an ac- 
count of the following experiment made both by Professor 
Erman and Mr Herschel. When a globule of water, drop- 
ped on the surface of a flat dish of mercury, is brought into 
connection with the positive pole of a galvanic battery, while 
the mercury is connected with the negative pole, it instantly — 
flattens and spreads to twice its diameter, regaining its former 
sphericity when the circuit is broken. his extension and 
subsequent re-aggregation of the globule of water, is precise- 
ly the same effect as that exhibited by the drop of expansible 
fluid; and it is therefore very likely that the latter is owing 
to an electrical cause. In separating the particles of bodies, 
electricity is always produced ; and in the cleavage of topaz 
and mica, even electric light is developed. | But experiments 
are still wanting to determine, whether, in the present case, 
the electricity is derived from the separation of the cleavage 
planes, or from the change of condition which the new fluid is 
undergoing during its rapid evaporation, and its partial con- 
version into a powdery residue. 


5. Oi some Miscellaneous Phenomena connected with the For- 
mation of Fluid Cavities. 


In my former paper, I have described the phenomena of a 
single fluid in the cavities of various minerals and artificial 
crystals. Since that paper was written, I have seen many 
specimens of this kind ; but as the fluid has always, when ex- 
amined, been found to be water, such specimens possess no 
peculiar interest, unless their cavities are opened, in the man- 
ner first adopted by Sir Humphry Davy. One of these spe- 
cimens, however, which was kindly sent to me for exami- 
nation by W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. is so peculiar as to deserve 
notice. In the drawing of it, in Fig. 13, which is of the 


* Some of the fluids in quartz seem to be entirely gaseous, while in 
sulphate of barytes, it appears to the mineral itself in a fiuid state-—See 
p- 134, note, and note on p. 135. 


134 Dr Brewster on the Refractive Powers, and other 


real size, AB is a cavity in quartz, which is filled with a fluid, 
excepting the vacuity a6, which may be made to move to dif- 
ferent parts of the cavity. The fluid does not expand per- 
ceptibly by heat, and is in all probability water. When the 
specimen is shaken, the fluid becomes turbid, and of a whitish 
colour, arising from a fine white sediment, which settles in the 
lower part of the cavity. 

In a specimen of quartz from Brazil, belonging to Mr Spa- 
den, there is a cavity with an air-bubble, about the tenth of an 
inch long. It is nearly one-third full of a white powder, con- 
sisting of crystalline particles, which, upon inverting the spe- 
cimen, flow over the surface of the air-bubble like sand in a 
sand-glass. In the specimens of quartz already mentioned in 
page 128, as containing cavities with pyramidal summits, 
there is only one fluid, in which there is generally an air-bub- 
ble. These cavities often contain opaque spherical balls about 
the ,},th of an inch in diameter, which are distinctly move- 
able ; and in one cavity I have counted ten of these balls, seven 
of which roll about the cavity when the specimen is turned 
round.* Ina second specimen, spherical balls of the same 
kind are copiously disseminated in the quartz, and also in the 
cavities. In a third specimen, the balls occur near the sum- 
mits of the pyramidal cavities, some of them being within, and 
some of them without the cavity. e 


In the crystallizations of ice, several phenomena occur, 
which are intimately connected with the preceding inquiry. 
When water is frozen in a glass vessel, the ice is often inter- 
sected with strata of cavities, which have the same general 
form and aspect as those in minerals. I have sometimes ob- 
served frozen drops of dew, containing a portion of water, 
which remained unfrozen even at low temperatures ; and I 
have recently had occasion to examine some crystallizations of 
ice, which presented the same fact, under more curious cir- 
cumstances. 


* T have since opened several of these cavities by the blow of a ham- 
mer. Ina second or two the fluid was entirely gone, without leaving a 
trace of its existence behind. The spherical balls remained in the cavities : 
They were not acted upon either by the muriatic or the sulphuric acids. 

4 


Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. 135 


A very sharp frost occurred in Roxburghshire on the 
morning of the 8th October 1825. The gravel-walks in the 
garden were raised up about an inch above their natural level 
by the sudden congelation of the water in the earth mixed 
with gravel. All the elevated portions consisted of vertical 
prismatic crystals of ice of six-sided prisms, with summits 
which seemed to be triedral. The leaves of plants, &c. were 
covered with granular crystals, which were in general six-sided 
tables. 

Upon examining, with a microscope, the prismatic crystals, 
aggregated in parallel directions, they presented some curious 
phenomena. They had numerous cavities of the most minute 
kind, arranged in rows parallel to the axis of the crystals, and 
at such equal distances as to resemble a series of mathemati- 
cally equidistant points. Some of the cavities were very long 
and flat, and sometimes they were amorphous ; but, in general, 
they contained water and air. 

Upon submitting one of these cavities to a powerful micro- 
scope, it appeared, as shown in Fig. 14, where A B C is the 
piece of ice, having in it a long cavity m 0, containing water 
and air. The ice gradually dissolved ; and when the end no 
of the cavity mm was near the edge of the ice C B, the air, in 
a portion of it x 0, detached itself, and went off at p, through 
the solid ice, the cavity closing up again at m. This phe- 
nomenon is analogous to the passage of the expansible fluid 
through topaz and quartz, which has been already described ; 
the air in the one case, and the fluid in the other, finding its 
way in the direction of easiest cleavage, and the fissure closing 
up again in the manner already mentioned in a preceding part 
of this paper. The singular fact, however, is, that the por- 
tion no of the cavity quitted by the globule of air, was imme- 
diately filled up with ice, and the cavity reduced to the di- 
mensions mn. 

As the formation of ice from water is in every respect analo- 
gous to the formation of crystals, from a substance rendered 
fluid by heat, the examination of its cavities is likely to throw 
some light upon their formation in mineral bodies.* 


* Since this paper was written, Mr William Nicol, Lecturer on Natu- 
ral Philosophy, has shown me a very remarkable specimen of Sulphate of 


136 M. Wohler on the Composition of the 


In concluding these observations, I could have wished to 
enter into some details respecting their geological relations ; 
but as these would lead us too far into the regions of specula- 
tion, I shall not enter upon them on the present occasion. It 
may be proper, however, to state, that the opinion which I 
hazarded in a former paper, that the discovery of the two 
new fluids in minerals attached a new difficulty to the aque- 
ous hypothesis, has been rendered more probable by every 
subsequent inquiry ; and that I can see no way of aceount- 
ing for the phenomena, but by supposing that the cavities 
were formed by highly elastic substances, when the mineral 
itself had been either in a state of fusion, or rendered soft 


by heat. 


Art. XXIX.—On the Composition of the Native Phosphates 
and Arsenates of Lead. By F. W6utER.* 


Kuarrorn has given the analysis of four specimens of lead- 
spar, in the third volume of his Contributions, the composi- 
tion of which is as follows : 


Barytes, with fluid cavities of the same general character with those 
which I described in my former paper, but much larger than any 
which I had seen. Upon grinding down, on a dry stone, one of the 
faces of this specimen, the largest cavity burst, and discharged its fluid 
contents through the fissure upon the ground surface of the specimen. 
The fluid lay in drops of different sizes along the line of the fissure, and, 
in this condition, Mr Nicol put it into his cabinet. Upon looking at the 
specimen about twenty-four hours afterwards, each drop of fluid had be- 
come a crystal of sulphate of barytes. These crystals had the primitive 
form of the mineral. 

This very curious fact is analogous to the uncrystallized water in the 
ice-cavities mentioned above, the crystallization in both cases being pre- 
vented by pressure. When that pressure was removed, a portion of the 
water and the fluid sulphate of barytes were immediately crystallized. 
Mr Nicol distinctly remarked, that the crystals occupied nearly as much 
space as the drops of the fluid ; so that the crystals of sulphate of barytes 
were not deposited from an aqueous solution, but bore the same relation to 
the fluid from which they were formed, as Ice does to Water. 

* Abstract from Poggendort’s Annalen der Physik und Chemie, vol. iy. 


native Phosphates and Arseniates of Lead. 137 


Green Lead- Brown Lead- Green Lead- Yellow Lead- 


Spar from _— Spar from Spar from Spar from 
Zschopau. Huelgoet. Hoffsgrund. Wanilock-Head. 
Oxide of lead, —=—- 78.40 78.58 77.10 80.00 
Phosphoric acid, 18.37 19.73 19.00 18.00 
Muriatic acid, - 1.70 1.65 1.54 1.62 
Oxide of iron, - 010 0.00 0.10 0.00 
98.57 99.96 97.74 99.62 


It is commonly supposed that the phosphoric acid and oxide 
of lead exist in these minerals as a neutral phosphate ; but, on 
calculating their composition on this idea, they will be found 
to contain too much oxide of lead for converting the phospho- 
ric acid into a neutral compound, and too little for forming 
any known sub-salt with it. This circumstance led M. Woh- 
ler to suspect some inaccuracy in these analyses, and it is ob- 
vious, on reading Klaproth’s account of them, that the results 
cannot be altogether exact. Klaproth determined his oxide 
of lead, by precipitating it from a dilute solution of the mine- 
ral in nitric acid by sulphuric acid ;—a method which is inex- 
act, because a considerable portion of the sulphate of lead re- 
mains in solution. Having collected the sulphate of lead on 
a filtre, and removed the excess of sulphuric acid, the phos- 
phoric acid was thrown down by the acetate of lead, the solu- 
tion having been previously neutralized as far as possible by 
ammonia. Now the phosphate of lead, so formed, is not uni- 
form in composition, unless certain precautions are taken which 
Klaproth did not employ ; and the effect of this error was to 
cause the quantity of phosphoric acid to appear greater than 
it ought to have been. Another circumstance which attract- 
ed the attention of M. Wohler, was the constant occurrence of 
muriatic acid in all the varieties which were analyzed by Klap- 
roth ; a coincidence which could hardly be accidental, since 
the proportion of that acid to the other constituents of the mi- 
neral is so nearly the same in all of them. 

The first variety examined by M. Wohler, was the green 
lead-spar from Zschopau, being one of those which Klaproth 
had analyzed. ‘The muriatic acid was determined by adding 
nitrate of silver to the solution of the mineral im nitric acid. 
‘Yo ascertain the quantity of lead, a fresh portion was dissol- 


188 M. Wohler on the Composition of the Phosphates, &c. 


ved in nitric acid, was precipitated by ammonia, and an excess 
of the hydrosulphuret of ammonia was then added. The sul- 
phuret of lead, after being collected on a filtre and dried, was 
decomposed by concentrated muriatic acid; the chloride of 
lead was then heated to redness, and weighed. The quantity 
of the phosphoric acid was inferred from the loss. The com- 
position of the mineral, according to this analysis, is, 

Oxide of lead, - 82.287 


Muriatic acid, - - 1.986 
Phosphoric acid, (and a trace of iron,) 15.727 


100.000 
Or, 
Chloride of lead, - 10.054 1 atom 
Sub-phosphate of the oxide of lead, 89.946 3 atoms 


The other specimens were analyzed by a similar method, 
and the composition is shown by the following table : 


White Lead- Arseniate of Lead Lead-Spar 
Spar from from Johann- from Lead 
Zschopau. Georgenstadt. Hills. 
Oxide of lead, 80.55 (with a trace of iron,) 75.59 82.46 
Muriatic acid, 1.99 1.89 1.95 
a AZ I and of iron, 
Arsenic acid, 2.30 21.20 { -a, trace, 
Phosphoric acid, 14.13 1.32 15.50 
98.47 100.00 98.91 
Or, 
Chloride of lead, 10.09 9.60 9.91 
Sub-phosphate of i 
the oxide of lead, oe Fis ay 
Sub-arseniate of 
oxide of lead, i 9.01 82.74 00.00 
99.47 98.91 


The presence of muriatic acid was also detected in several 
minerals of the same species ; namely, in the green lead-spar 
from Freyburg in Breisgau, from Beresofsk in Siberia, and 
from Clausthal in the Harz; in the brown lead-spar from - 
Poullouen in Brittany, and from Rheinbreitenbach. The 
muriatic acid is very easily detected in these minerals by Ber- 


Mr Ritchie on a new Photometer. 139 


zelius’s test of copper before the blowpipe; or by melting 
a portion of them in the phosphate of soda and ammonia, 
when the muriatic acid gas escapes with effervescence, and 
may be detected by its odour. 

The chief result of these researches is, that all the mimerals 
included under the Plomb phosphaté of Haiiy, and which form 
the green and brown lead-spar of Werner, are combinations 
of one atom of the chloride of lead, and three atoms of the 
sub-phosphate or sub-arseniate of the oxide of lead ; and that 
the phosphoric and arsenic acids may be substituted for one 
another in these compounds, or may be present in them to- 
gether, in variable proportions, without the crystalline form 
being thereby affected. This peculiarity arises from the iso- 
morphous nature of the two acids. In all these varieties, the 
lead which is combined with the chlorine, is to the lead in 
the sub-arseniate or phosphate in the proportion of 1 to 9. 

The process by which M. Wobhler separated the arsenic and 
phosphoric acids, depends on the conversion of the former 
into orpiment by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen. Toa 
solution of the mineral in nitric acid, an excess of ammonia 
is added, with which the hydrosulphuret of ammonia is after- 
wards mixed and digested. The sulphuret of lead is collect- 
ed ona filtre. The clear solution contains phosphoric acid, 
together with orpiment held in solution by ammonia, and the 
sulphuret is obtained by neutralizing the alkali, and expelling 
any free sulphuretted hydrogen by heat. 


Art. XX X.—On a new Photometer, founded on the Prin- 
ciples of Bouguer.* By Wivtiam Rircutg, A. M. Rector 
of Tain Academy. 


‘Tis instrument consists of a rectangular box A B C D, 
Plate I. Fig 13, about an inch and a half or two inches 
square, open at both ends, and blackened within for the pur- 
pose of absorbing the stray-light. Within the box are placed 
two rectangular pieces of plane mirror C F, F D, forming a 


“ Abridged from the original paper in the Edinburgh Transactions, 
vol. x. part ii. 


140 Mr Ritchie on a new Photometer. 


right angle with each other, and cutting the sides of the box 
at an angle of forty-five degrees. In the upper side, or lid of 
the box, there is cut a rectangular opening E G, about an 
inch long, and one-eighth of an inch broad. This opening is 
covered with a slip of fine tissue or oiled paper. The two 
mirrors should be cut from the same plate, in order that their 
reflective powers should be exactly equal ; and the rectangular 
slit should have a small division of blackened card at F, to 
prevent the possibility of the lights mingling with each other, 
and thus affecting the accuracy of the result. 

In using this instrument, place it in the same straight line 
between two antagonist flames, at the distance of six or eight 
feet from each other ; move it nearer the one or the other, till 
the disc of paper appear equally illuminated on each side of 
the middle division, and the illuminating powers of the flames 
will be directly as the squares of the distances from the mid- 
dle of the photometer. In moving the instrument rapidly be- 
tween the two lights, we very soon discover a boundary, on 
each side of which the difference between the iluminating disc 
becomes quite apparent. By making the instrument move 
from one side of this line to the other, and gradually diminish- 
ing the lengths of the oscillations, we at last place it almost 
exactly in its proper position. It is very convenient to have 
a board of the same breadth with the instrument, divided into 
equal parts, for the purpose of supporting the photometer, and 
reading off the distances of the flames from the middle of the 
instrument. 

In viewing the illuminated disc of paper, I use a box, about 
eight inches long, in the form of a prismoid, and blackened 
within, in order to prevent any light entering the eye, except 
what passes directly through the disc of paper. 

Instead of the two mirrors, I sometimes use the same in- 
strument, with a piece of white paper pasted on the faces of 
the mirror, or on a piece of smooth wood, forming, as before, 
a right angle. In this case, the illuminated dises are viewed 
directly through the rectangular opening in the lid, without 
the intervention of the tissue or oiled paper. 

This instrument is still simpler than the preceding, and in 
some experiments has decided advantages. But whatever 


Temperature of Places in Ceylon. 141 


form of the instrument be employed, the following precautions 
should be employed, in order to insure a very close approxi- 
mation to the truth. Take any number of observations, turn- 
ing the instrument round at each time, and the mean of these 
will give a result, perhaps as accurate as the nature of the case 
admits; at least, it will be sufficiently accurate for all the or- 
dinary purposes of life. 

When the colours of the flames are different, it is very dif- 
ficult to ascertain the place of equal illumination. We can, 
however, as before, find the space over which the instrument 
moves, before we discover an obvious difference between the 
illuminated halves of the oiled or white paper. We must then 
take the middle of this space, which will, even in that difficult 
case, give us a very good approximation to the truth. But 
still this method is of very difficult application, when one of 
the lights is of a fine white, and the other of a dusky red or 
blue colour. 


Arr. XXXI.—CONTRIBUTIONS TO METEOROLOGY. 


Communicated by Mr Foceo. 
1. Temperature of Places im Ceylon. * 


1. Point de Galle.—T un register for this place was kept from 
the beginning of March til! the end of November 1812, and 
the thermometer observed three times a-day, viz. 6 a. M. noon, 
and 6 p.m. The mean temperature, however, is obtained 
more nearly by taking the average of the two former. The 
morning observations give for their mean temperature 79.9%, 
and those at noon 83.93, the mean of the two being 81.9. The 
highest temperature observed was 87°, the lowest 75°; ex- 
treme range of temperature 12°. The mean temperature at 
sunset is 81.16, differing from the mean temperature of the 
day about 4 of the mean daily range. 

2. Colombo.—Observations were made at 6 a. M.,.3 Pp. M., 
and 9 pv. M. during the year 1812, excepting the month of 
December. The mean temperature of 6 a. mM. is 79.61, of 


* The registers from which these temperatures are deduced, were kind- 
ly communicated to the Editor by Henry Harvey, Esq. 


142 Temperature of Places in Ceylon. 


3 p. M. 82°75, and the mean of these 81°.18. As these hours 
give precisely the minimum and maximum temperatures of 
the twenty-four hours, the mean daily range of the thermome- 
ter at this place is only 3.14. The mean temperature at 9 in 
the evening is 81. The mean of the warmest month (May) 
is 83.1, of the coldest month (January) 79. Max. temp. 87, 
minimum 75, extreme range 12°. 

In January, the mean temperature is 79, m. temp. at sun- — 
rise 76, at 3 ep. m. 82. Mean range 6°. Weather dry and 
clear, with regular land breezes during the day, succeeded by 
sea-breezes at night; rain fell on four nights. Mean temp. 
of February 80, at sunrise 78, afternoon 82; weather much 
the same as last month; rain on four nights. In March, 
mean temp. 81.8, sunrise 79, afternoon 84; land and. sea- 
breezes regular, rain fell on 12 nights, thunder and lightning 
twice. April has a mean temp. of 83, at sunrise 81.5, 3 Pp. m. 
84.5, mean range 3°; fourteen rainy nights; on the 26th, 
a strong sea-breeze prevailed all day, and was followed by vi- 
vid lightning at night; on the 28th, the sea-breeze blew in 
strong squalls, attended with heavy rain, and thunder; next 
day the wind blew from all points of the compass. In May, 
the extreme range of temperature was 7°, mean temp. 8.31, at 
sunrise 82.2, at 3 p. m. 84. Sea-breeze during the day, in 
general strong, with heavy showers; 17 rainy days. June, 
mean temp. 81.7, at sunrise 81, afternoon 82.5; mean range 
of thermometer 1.5, extreme range 5°; constant sea-breeze 
during the day, almost always attended with rain. July, 
same in every respect, even to the thermometric extremes 
August, mean temp. 80.7; at sunrise 79.8, afternoon 82, ex- 
treme range 4°. Sea-breeze during the day, with rain, suc- 
ceeded by a land-wind at night ; towards the end of the month 
the weather became squaliy. September, mean temp. 81.37, 
at sunrise 80.5; afternoon $2.5; extreme range 4°, max. 
84, min. 80. Sea and land breezes regularly, in general with 
rain during the day ; weather throughout the month squally. 
October had the same characters. Mean temp. 79.6, at sun- 
rise 78, afternoon 81.25, max. 84, min. 76, extreme range 8°. | 
November, mean temp. 80.7, at sunrise 78.5, afternoon 83. 
In this month, the land-breezes at night had increased in 


Temperature of Places in Ceylon. 143 


force, and the sea-breezes during the day were accompanied 
by continual rains, with frequent thunder and lightning. 

8. Trincomalee.—The register was kept during the years 
1809-10-12, and the thermometer was recorded three times 
daily, as at Colombo. The average temperature at sunrise, 
for three years, is 78.71, at 3 vp. m. 84.57, and the mean of 
these 81.64. The average temperature of 9 p. M. is 80.74, 
or }th of the mean range below the average daily tempera- 
ture. Mean temp. of the warmest month (June) 84.54, of 
the coldest month (January) 77.79. Max. temp. observed 
72, minimum 22.5. Extreme range of the thermometer for 
three years, 20.5. ‘The observations on the state of the wea- 
ther are too brief to afford any other information respecting the 
climate of the place. The climate of Ceylon is that of islands in 
general, characterized by uniformity of temperature, and great 
humidity. The sea-breeze which prevails at Point de Galle, 
and Colombo, after the middle of April, and which is in fact 
the S. W. monsoon. of the Indian ocean, has become a land 
wind before it arrives at Trincomalee. ‘The effects of its 
passage over even that narrow country may be traced in the 
greater dryness of the air, indicated by an increased range of 
the thermometer, and the higher temperatures which occur 
during the season in which this wind prevails. The average of 
January for three years is 77.79, at sunrise 76.56, afternoon 
79.03, max. temp. 83, min. 73. February, mean temp. 78.6, 
sunrise 76.6, afternoon 80.6, max. 84, min. 72. March, 81.3, 
sunrise 78.9, afternoon 83.8, max. 86, min. 74.5. April, 
$3.91, sunrise 81.08, afternoon 86.75, max. 90, min. 76. 
May, mean temp. 83.99, sunrise 80.41, afternoon 87.58, 
max. 72.5, min. 75. June, mean temp. $1.54, sunrise 80.58, 
afternoon 88.5, max. 92, min. 75. July, mean. temp. 84.45, 
sunrise 80.5, afternoon 88.4, max. 91, min. 75. August, 
mean temp. 83.08, suurise 79.3, afternoon 86.66, max. 91, 
min. 76. September, mean temp. 82.28, sunrise 80, after- 
noon 86, max. 70.5, min. 76. October, mean temp. 80.85, 
sunrise 77.74, afternoon 83.96, max. 90, min. 73. | Novem- 
ber, 79.81, sunrise 76.7, afternoon 82.92, max. 89, min. 73. 
December, mean temp. 78.37, sunrise 76, afternoon 80.75, 
max. 89, min. 93. 


144 Temperature of Springs in Thunder Storms. 


4. Temperature of Springs, supposed to be influenced by 
Thunder Storms.* 

I have made many observations on the temperature of three 
springs in my neighbourhood. One of these, which has been 
long used as a well, and is within 40 yards of a pump-well, 
appears to be fed by springs from the higher ground, and, 
for many years (at least) has become dry in summer. 

The temperature of this well has varied greatly at different 
times, and is evidently affected by the temperature of the at- 
mospheric air. My observations on the other two nearly coin- 
cided. 

One of these is a spring issuing from the bottom of a hill, 
about 10 feet above the level of Gala Water, between the 
village and the inn. The other is a pump-well, which I sunk 
a few years ago, immediately contiguous to the marse. Hay- 
ing been disappointed in springs, which I expected near the 
surface, I bored to the depth of 35 feet, and thus got an 
abundant supply. It would seem that neither ¢his, nor the 
hill-side spring, are supplied by superficial springs. With re- 
spect to their temperature, it may be stated at 45°.5. I have 
tried the pump-well and the spring im all states of external 
temperature, from 31° te 77°, and have found both to coin- 
cide. The lowest indication I ever had being 44°, and the 
highest 46°, which would form a mean of 45°; but these ex- 
tremes I consider to have been occasioned by the sensitive- 
ness of the thermometer to the extremes of heat and cold in 
passing from the water to the external air. 

There occurred just one exception to the extremes above 
noted, in 1822, when the temperature of the pump rose to 
47°.5. The suspended thermometer was then only 60°, but it 
may not be unimportant to remark, that, during the day, 
there was thunder; this was on the 18th July 1822, when 
the temperature of the first well was 56°.5. On the 4th June 
1822, when the suspended thermometer in shade was 77.5, 
the pump was 46°. 

Would not this remarkable fact, as compared with what is 

* From the Reverend Mr Cormack’s Meteorological Journal, kept at the - 
Manse of Stow, Midlothian, and communicated to the Royal Society of 


Edinburgh. 
l 


~ 


Mr Poulett Scrope on Volcanic Formations. 145 


stated above, indicate that the temperature of springs is af- 
fected by the electric fluid. 

On the evening of the same 4th June, the hill-side spring 
was 47°, but the aspect is westerly, and the sun had been, for 
some hours, beating on the bank whence it issues. 

Note.—Stow is about 20 miles south from Edinburgh, and 


is 500 feet above the level of the sea. 


Art. XX XIT.—Observations on the Volcanic Formations on 
the Left Bunk of the Rhine. By G. Pouterr Scropr, Esq. 
Communicated by the Author. 


Tur volcanic products which occur in the Prussian provin- 
ces on the left bank of the Rhine, are scattered over a dis- 
trict of no great extent, which may be described as bounded 
on the south and east by the Moselle and Rhine, on the north 
and west by a line passing from Bonn through Gemund, 
Priim, and Bitburg, to Bemcastel on the Moselle. 

With the exception of the volcanic rocks, the surface of 
this district is chiefly composed of transition slate, a part of 
the great Rhine schist formation. In a few places this is par- 
tially covered by some of the floetz strata, both sandstones and 
limestones, to which I can scarcely venture to give a pame. 
The volcanic eruptions have forced their way with apparent 
indifference, both on the points where the slate is covered by 
these strata, and where it is exposed. The volcanic energy 
has not confined itself to this district ; analogous formations 
(though appearing in general to belong to an earlier epoch,) 
occurring, as is well known, eastward of the Rhine, in the 
Siebengebirge, the high Westerwald, the Vogelsgebirge, the 
Rhongebirge, the Meisner, and the Habichtswald, which 
form altogether a remarkable voleanized band, stretching from 
west to east in a line parallel to the primitive axis of the Alps, 
and removed about four degrees to the northward of it. The 
voleanic country which I have at present to describe has been 
generally separated by writers into two districts, from the vol- 
canic produets being more thickly grouped together at its 
western and eastern extremities. These divisions are, 1. The 

VOL. Vv. No. I. JULY 1826. K 


146 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


group of Andernach, Mayen, and the Upper Eiffel. 2. That 
of the Lower Eiffel. As I visited them during two different 
excursions, the first from Andernach, and the second from 
Spa, I may as well retain this division in their description. 


1. District of Andernach, Mayen, and the Upper Eiffel. 


Upon reaching the summit of the steep and richly cultivat- 
ed slope which, near Andernach, forms the left bank of the 
Rhine, you suddenly find yourself in a rude and barren coun- 
try, presenting a strong contrast to the soft and luxuriant 
scenery you have left behind, and consisting of an elevated 
mountain plateau of greywacke slate, across which the deep 
valley of the Rhine appears but as a narrow trough-shaped 
channel which the eye overlooks entirely, the plateau being 
continued at the same level immediately on the eastern side 
of that river. On the westward the general level rises gradu- 
ally to the rugged heights of the Upper Eiffel, and it is also 
partially broken by the narrow and sinuous gorges through 
which a few tributary streamlets find their way into the Rhine, 
and still more so by a number of isolated hills of volcanic 
formation, mostly of a sub-conical form, with which the sur- 
face of the plateau is irregularly studded. Some of these 
hills are very complete volcanic cones, with or without a cen- 
tral funnel or crater, as the Hirschenberg, near Burg-bruhl, 
the Bousenberg between that village and Olburg, the Poter, 
Pellenberg, and lastly, the Camillen-berg, perhaps the high- 
est and largest of these hills, which appears to rise above 
1000 feet above the level of the surrounding slate plateau. 
Others are less regular, seeming to owe their want of sym- 
metry to their being thrown up on an uneven surface, as the 
steep side of a valley, &c. Others form elongated ridges, 
composed of the mingled products of three or four neighbour- 
ing volcanic orifices. Such are the hills above Nieder-nich. 

Many have regularly funnel-shaped craters ; others are 
breached on one side by the subsequent emission of a lava 
stream, and some are still more irregular, and appear to have 
suffered more or less destruction from the mechanical action 
of some denudating force since their production, All these _ 
cones of every kind are composed wholly of loose conglome- 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 147 


rate, or lapillo, containing numerous pumice stones, fragments 
of a phonolitic lava of clay slate, partly calcined, &c. 

Thin beds of these fragmentary matters also occasionally 
cover the flat parts of the slate plateau in the vicinity of the 
cones, or occupy a few bosoming hollows in the slopes of its 
valleys. 

Many of these vallies are also filled to a considerable height, 
often to more than half their total depth, with indurated 
tufa, called in the dialect of the country Dukstein or 'Trass, 
of which an immense quantity is quarried on numerous points, 
and carried down the Rhine into Holland, where it is in great 
request for buildings. The lower pat of the mass is univer- 
sally the most solid and compact, and hence is preferred by 
the quarrymen. It passes gradually into loose arenaceous tu- 
fa towards the upper part of the deposit. This tufa re- 
sembles extremely that of Naples (particularly of Capo di 
Monte and Posilipo). When freshly quarried, it is thorough- 
ly saturated with water, which is driven out by every blow of 
a hammer upon it. In this state it is of a dull bluish black 
colour, but, on drying, it assumes a shade of light grey. It 
appears to be almost wholly composed of fragmentary pumice, 
and is evidently a conglomerate. It contains also fragments of 
a slaty or phonolitic, and of amorphous basalt, of burnt clay- 
slate, and a great quantity of carbonized wood, not in frag- 
ments or beds, but consisting of whole trunks or branches, 
which penetrate the rock in all directions. ‘The condition of 
this wood is very nearly that of common charcoal, but it pul- 
verizes more readily, and often of its own accord, on exposure. 
In the valley of Burg-bruhl the trass rests sometimes im- 
mediately on the clay-slate, but, on other points, a bed of 
cale-tuff intervenes, the deposit of some mineral spring prior 
to the deposition of the tufa. A similar incrustation occa- 
sionally overlies the trass, and has enveloped fragments of 
pumice, forming a species of calcareous tufa. The indurat- 
ed tufa is sometimes divided into massive beds by interven- 
ing layers of loose pumice or lapillo, and fragmentary clay- 
slate. 

On ascending the valley of the Bruhl, I found this trass 
deposit occupying it to a great depth the whole way from its 


148 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


embouchure in the valley of the Rhine, up to the foot of the 
Feitsberg, one of the hills which form the circumference of 
the lake of Laach; from whence this, as well as many other 
streams, (if they may be called so) of tufa, are derived. 

The basin of the lake of Laach is nearly circular and cra- 
teriform, encircled by a ridge of gently sloping hills of no 
great elevation. They are composed of irregular beds of loose 
tufa, containing numerous fragments, and some very large 
blocks of a variety of lava-rocks. Those which are most 
abundant are of a basalt with very large and regular crystals 
of black augite, and of olivine. Fragments also occur of tra- 
chyte, sometimes of a whitish yeHdow colour and conchoidal 
fracture; at others, of a coarse grain, consisting solely of crys- 
tals of glassy felspar and hornblende. Some fragments are al- 
so found similar to those which are common in the conglome- 
rates of Somma, composed of an agglomeration of crystals of 
mica, nepheline, meionite, Vesuvian, and other rare minerals. 
No lava-rock appears in place within the interior of the basin, 
and on its exterior, the only rock of this nature which shows 
itself on the surface in the form of a regular current of lava, 
is that in which the millstone quarries of Nieder-mennig are 
worked. This stream certainly flowed from the crater of Laach, 
the ridge of which suffers a depression on that side. The 
eruption which produced it was probably the last, not only of 
this particular vent, but perhaps of the whole district, as its 
surface has an air of great freshness, and is not yet entirely 
clothed with vegetation.* The rock of which it consists is ba- 
saltic, with very few visible crystals of augite, and extremely 
cellular, the cavities being very small and irregular. It is di- 
vided into rude columns at the lower part of the current, 
which is much more compact than the upper, but still cellu- 
Jar. Itis here so hard as to be in great request for millstones, 
which are exported to Holland in great numbers, and from 
thence find their way to England. It envelopes numerous © 
fragments of quartz (always more or less vitrified and crack- 
ed,) of granite, and other problematical rocks like those de- 


“ This may have been the eruption recorded by Tacitus (xiii. lib. An- 
nal.) as having ravaged the country of the Jutiones, near Cologne, in the 
reign of Nero. 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 149 


scribed above, as occurring in the conglomerate, crystals of 
lazulite, &c. 

The volcano of Laach appears, like so many in other coun- 
tries, to have produced at first trachytic, and afterwards ba- 
saltic lavas. The trass and the pumice conglomerates, which 
chiefly compose its surrounding eminences, belong decidedly 
to the former class of products; and, though trachyte, as a 
rock, does not, I believe, show itself in situ, it probably ex- 
ists, concealed by the fragmentary strata of the hills, or the 
thick woods which cover their slopes, and render it difficult to 
examine their composition. \The origin of the trass has been 
variously accounted for, and sometimes ascribed to deluges 
and other similar hypothetical events. It appears to me to de- 
rive simply from an ordinary modification of the volcanic phe- 
nomena. ‘Che pulverulent matter, of which it was principally 
composed, mixes into a retentive paste or clay with water, so 
indeed, as to be used for making pottery, where it is found 
in a loose state. In this state it was ejected by the volcano, 
and thrown up as usual into a circular or elliptical ridge 
around the orifice. The rain, which falls generally in great 
abundance after the termination of an eruption, mixed with 
these trachytic ashes, must often have formed an impermeable 
crust at the bottom, and upon the sides of this cavity. Hence 
the water that drains down these slopes would accumulate in- 
to a lake continually increasing in depth, until either the 
pressure of its waters breaks down the banks on some one 
side, or a fresh eruption from below displaces it. In either 
case, a breach being made in the circumference of the crater, 
the contents fof the lake must rush out in a violent debacle, 
carrying off great quantities of the fragmentary matter of the 
hills through which the water bursts, and filling with these allu- 
vial deposits the vallies by which it escapes on the plains at 
the foot of the volcano. 

This process may be many times repeated from the same 
volcanic orifice, and, I think, is without doubt the real histo- 
ry of the tufas of the left bank of the Rhine, as well as of 
those of the Mont-Dor, Cantal, and of some parts of Italy. 
Whether the mass hardened afterwards, or remained incoherent, 
appears to have depended chiefly on the quality of the ashes, 


150 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


_and their intimate commixture with the water. This indura- 
tion is evidently a chemical process, analogous to the setting 
of cements and mortars. The mud eruptions (¢epetate) of 
Quito, and the tufas of Iceland, are produced by the same 
train of circumstances in the present day. As the filling up 
of the crater must usually be a slow process, a sufficient in- 
terval will often occur before the lake bursts through its sides, 
either by its own weight, or the occurrence of an eruption, 
for the slopes to be covered by vegetation, and even by whole 
forests of trees, which, when the banks give way, will be 
hurried along, and buried within the torrent of mud, (or hi- 
quid tufa,) where they are afterwards carbonized, probably 
by long exposure to the moisture which penetrates the whole 
rock.* 

With regard to the trass of Laach and its vicinity, this ex- 
planation is peculiarly applicable ; and the lake would, even 
at this day, be subject to rise until it burst its bank, but for 
an artificial channel, or emissary, cut for its drainage by the 
monks of the abbey of Laach, a picturesque ruin which stands 
on its western side. Currents of tufa appear to have been 
discharged in this manner from many points of the cireum- 
ference of the lake. ‘Those that issued on the eastern side 
occupied the vallies of the Brohl, and other streams which 
empty themselves into the Rhine; the remainder inundated 
the slate plateau in the direction of Niedermennig, Bell, Ol- 
burgh, and Kruft, and covered it more or less with beds of com- 
pact tufa, which alternate with others of similar composition, 
-but loose and incoherent, probably deriving from the frag- 
mentary ejections of the neighbouring vents. 

A cavern within the basin of the lake of Laach gives out a 
considerable volume of carbonic acid gas, presenting all the 
phenomena of the Grotta del Cane. ‘There are also many mi- 
neral springs in the vicinity, as at ‘Tonigstein, and near the 


* Since we hear that. numerous trees are found ix a carbonized state, 
amongst the substances blown into the air by some of the paroxysmal ex- 
plosions of the Javanese and Polynesian volcanos, it remains doubtful 
whether this character is always owing, as in this case, to torrefaction by 
volcanic heat, or occasionally to long maceration in water. Are these trees 
only charred on their surfaces, or ¢hroughout, like the surturbrand ? 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 151 


Brohl, strongly impregnated with the same gas, which is usu- 
ally the latest product of an otherwise extinct volcano. 

At some distance from Laach, towards the south-west, and 
between the villages of Bell and Mayen, rises another group 
of cones, containing two or three irregular crateriform basins, 
from which different mud streams appear to have flowed, co- 
vering the slate plateau im their neighbourhood with their de- 
posits. These volcanic vents differ, however, from that of 
Laach, in having produced leucitic lavas, and, consequently, 
their conglomerates are of a different character, resembling 
exactly the peperino of Monte Albano. Such is the rock quar- 
ried near Bell, and called bak-ofen-stein. It is in request for 
lining ovens, from its capacity of resistance to fire, which it 
owes to its being almost wholly composed of leucite in a frag- 
mentary state. It encloses many small white farinaceous leu- 
cites, fragments and blocks of leucitic lava, of burnt clay-slate, 
and large broken plates of mica. 

The leucitic phonolite spoken of by Keferstein, as existing in 
massive beds near Reiden and Meyr, I presume to derive from 
this system of vents. 

Further to the south, and near the village of Kruft, rise 
three other smaller cones, covered with vegetation, and with 
faint traces only of craters. Other cones, and some of a large 
size, are visible to the westward of Olburg, but my time did 
not permit me to examine them in detail. On the whole, the 
voleanic products of Andernach, and the Upper Eiffel, seem- 
ed to me to bear the greatest analogy to those of Italy, par- 
ticularly of the Campagna di Roma. The points on which they 
differ, are the result of the former volcanos having broke forth 
on a high and dry slate plateau, the latter from a submarine 
alluvial shore. . In both these districts, as well as in the Cam- 
pi Phlegrei, it is remarkable that the same, or at least very 
neighbouring vents, have produced trachytic, leucitic, and ba- 
saltic lavas. ° 

2. District of the Lower Evffel. 

The groupe of volcanic vents which occupies this district, 
is in immediate contact with that of Laach and the Upper Eiffel, 
though the points on which eruptions have taken place are 
rather more thickly sown ae the western limit, particu- 


152 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


larly along the course of the river Kyll, than at its eastern 
extremity. The epoch of their activity appears also to be 
equally recent, dating at least since the formation of all the 
vallies of the country, into which their lava-streams have in- 
variably flowed, usurping the beds of the rivulets, which 
but in very few instances seem to have had force or time 
enough to execute a new channel to any depth below the level 
of their former one. Indeed, such is the freshness of aspect 
which many of the volcanic rocks of this district exhibit, that 
it requires the silence of all historical records on the subject, 
to persuade us they have not been produced within the last 
2000 years. Nor is such evidence, indeed, at all conclusive. 
It is probable that accounts of phenomena of this kind would 
rarely reach the meridian of Rome from distant and barbarous 
districts, unless when they were of a most destructive and ter- 
rific character, such, perhaps, as that spoken of by Tacitus, 
and mentioned in a former page; and if any such occurred 
during the middle ages, all traditionary account of them may 
well be supposed to have perished with so much of other and 
more valuabie information. 

The volcanic eruptions of the Lower Eiffel have burst 
through the exposed surface of the transition slate formation 
on many points, and on others through masses of fleetz strata, 
which overlie the slate, throughout a considerable part of this 
district ; these later formations are red sandstone, shell lime- 
stone, and quader-sandstone. Some of the vents have emitted 
currents of augitic lava (basalt ;) others have confined them- 
selves to the discharge of fragmentary matters. ‘The latter 
principally, and in some instances almost entirely, consist of 
broken grey wacke, slate, and sandstone, more or less affected 
by heat, and pulverized. It is probably owing to the clayey 
nature of these fragments, when reduced to great fineness, 
that the craters of this country have nearly, without excepe - 
tion, become reservoirs of water, or Maare, ss they are called 
by the natives. Most of them still have small lakes or peat- 
marshes at their bottom. Some have been drained for the 
sake of cultivation; a few appear to have undergone the 
same process by natural means, either from the lake rising till 
its weight burst through the banks encircling the crater, or 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 153 


from the slow erosion of the stream by which it discharged it- 
self. In the last case, the sides of the basin are cut through 
by this natural emissary, as is seen in the Meerfelder and the 
Drieser maare, as well as in those near Strohn and Walsdorf. 
In the other case, the regularity of the basm has been more 
or less destroyed by the bursting of its banks, and considera- 
ble deposits of trass, or rather of peperino, have been formed, 
evidently aggregated by means of water. Examples of this 
are met with in the remains of craters near Steffler, Schalken- 
meyrener, and Rockeskill. On those points where lava has 
been emitted in a liquid form, a regular crater is rarely to be 
seen ; at least at the source of the lava-current. There exists, 
however, always one or more such craters in the vicinity of this 
source, which appear to have produced violent aeriform ex- 
plosions, and ejected scoriz and ashes, while the lava was 
flowing from the neighbouring orifice. The force and rapi- 
dity of these explosive discharges of confined vapours, is at- 
tested by the great size of the cavities they have hollowed out 
of the solid greywacke strata. That of Meerfeld, for instance, one 
of the largest, measures above 500 feet from the surface of the 
lake, (which is itself 150 feet in depth,) to the average height 
of the ridge which encircles it, and its diameter can fall very lit- 
tle shori of a mile. ‘The quantity of fragmentary ejections heap- 
ed round these basins is not at all proportionate to their ex- 
tent. The greater part consists of slate and sandstone, in 
pieces of every size, and appearing half-burnt, probably from 
having fallen repeatedly upon the surface of lava within the 
vent whence the explosions of vapour were discharged. 

The accompanying sketch of a map of part of this district (see 
Plate LV.) will convey an idea of the relative disposition, and pe- 
culiar characters of these slies of volcanic activity. The most 
westerly point on which any traces of volcanic eruption are met 
with, is Ormont, where, upon the wild and elevated transi- 
tion plateau of alternating slate and quartz-rock, two small 
cones are seen to rest. They are in contact at their bases, and 
have neither craters nor visible Java-currents. The scoriz and 
fragments of which they are composed are basaliic, with much 
augite and large plates of brown mica. Isolated crystals and 
pieces of augite also eccur, some nearly as large as the fist. 


154 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


At no great distance to the east of Ormont, the transition 
rocks are concealed by strata of red sandstone, inclined at a 
high angle, with an easterly dip. At the village of Steffler, 
these are in turn covered by other sandstone strata, which ap- 
pear to belong to the quader-sandstone : resting upon these, to 
the S. of the village, rises a volcanic cone, composed of sco- 
fiz and puzzolana, partly incoherent, partly compacted into 
a peperino. Steffler is built on strata of this latter kind, 
which, however, by their inclination, are proved to have been 
deposited by an eluvial torrent descending from another hill 
N. E. of the village, which still exhibits a large circular cra- 
ter on its summit. 

To the S. E. of Steffler, lies a small maar, or crater-lake, 
which has been once drained, and since filled again by a dam 
thrown across the channel of discharge, on which a mill is si- 
tuated. 

The village of Roth ts built on a current of basait deriv- 
ing from the cone which rises above it, and which has also 
emitted a considerable mass of lava towards the north and 
west. A small cavern, the mouth of a deep fissure in one of 
these lava-currents, half-way up the side of the cone, is noted 
for exhibiting a phenomenon, which I have met with else- 
where, in many instances, amongst volcanic formations. The 
floor of this grotto was paved with a thick crust of ice, when 
I visited it at noon on a very hot day at the latter end of Au- 
gust. During the summer, the peasants of the neighbour- 
hood say it is always found there, while in the winter there is 
none; but, on the contrary, that the shepherds creep into the 
cavern for warmth. The following appears to me the most 
plausible mode of accounting for this curious fact: ‘The cave 
is probably the mouth of one of those arched galleries which 
are so frequently met with under currents of lava in Iceland, 
Bourbon, and elsewhere. If the other extremity of the gal- 
lery communicates with the open air at a much lower level, 
for instance at the foot of the cone, or where the lava stream 
terminates in the plain below, a current of air must be con- 
tinually driven through this passage from the lower to the 
upper extremity. In its passage, it would be thoroughly 
dried from the absorbent nature of the rock, (which is perhaps 

1 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. ~— 155 


partly owing to the sulphuric or muriatic acids it contains,) 
and the evaporating effect of this current on the wet floor of 
the grotto from which it issues, which is moistened by some 
superficial rill, will be sufficient to coat it with ice in summer, 
since the more rarified by heat the external air, the more ra- 
pid will be the current of cool dry air, and, consequently, 
the evaporation. In winter, a similar draught of air, though 
less rapid, will be produced ; and taking the temperature of 
the rocks through which it passes, which, from the depth of 
the gallery, will be about the mean annual temperature of that 
climate, must appear warm compared with the external air, to 
the shepherds who seek a shelter at the mouth of the fissure. 

‘The cone of Roth conneets itself with a smaller ridgy hill 
prolonged towards the Kyll, which has given rise to three or 
four small distinct streams of basaltic lava. 

On approaching the Kyll towards Gerolstein, the traveller 
is struck by the appearance of an elevated plateau formed of 
Jura limestone in horizontal strata, resting on the quader- 
sandstone, and bounded by a range of picturesque and craggy 
cliffs, with a talus of massive debris at their base. From the 
surface of the plateau rise four large volcanic cones, besides 
small eminences of a similar nature. One has given rise to a 
current of basalt, which descends the steep cliffs of limestone 
in a sort of cascade, on the western side, occupies a small bot- 
tom, and, winding round the base of the range of rocks, 
reaches the channel of the Kyll at Sarsdorf. * 

The two largest cones of this plateau, lic N. W. of Cassel- 
burg, a romantic ruin of great picturesque beauty about two 
miles N. of Gerolstein. 

Round Rockeskill, there are traces of another aqueous for- 
mation of peperino similar to that of Steffler, and appearing to 
have originated in the hill immediately behind that village. 
Further north, the Waldsdorfer Kopf is a very regular cone, 
and at its foot les a ecrater-basin, once a lake, but now re- 
duced to a peat-moss. The cone has emitted one of the 
largest currents of lava of this district. It has flowed towards 
the west, and reaches nearly to Hillesheim. 

Avrnsberg is a large and complete cone, which has also pro- 


* A sketch of this interesting fact is giving at the bottom of Plate IV. 


156 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Voicanic ‘ 


duced much Java. Eastward of Waldsdorf lies the Drieser 
Maar, a wide crater, which has been artificially drained. 
Masses of olivin, often of three or four pounds weight, and as 
large as a man’s head, are found in the fragmentary strata 
which form the sides of this basin. Part of this encircling 
ridge rises into a high cone on the south-west, and this is again 
connected with a third hill above Dockweiler, which exhibits 
a well-characterized crater at its summit, and has sent forth 
powerful streams of basaltic lava. The road from hence to 
Daun, leaves on the right three or four considerable cones 
near Nerod and Steinborn. ‘They consist in a great part of 
lava which has burst from their summits or flanks, and flood- 
ed the lowest levels of the surrounding plain. 

On the east of Daun, a massive and elevated bed of basalt, 
bordered by abrupt cliff-sections, in which a rudely columnar 
configuration is visible, descends towards the town from a 
higher eminence at its eastern extremity, which is composed of 
scoriz, and exhibits vestiges of a crater. This bears the ap- 
pearance of being the least recent of all the volcanic forma- 
tions of the neighbourhood. 

South of Daun rises a group of hills which appear, as they 
are mounted, to be solely composed of greywacke slate, and 
in which, consequently, no volcanic appearance could be anti- 
cipated, when, on reaching the summit, the traveller sudden- 
ly finds himself on the edge of a deep circular lake-basin, evi- 
dently drilled through the greywacke by repeated and power- 
ful discharges of subterranean vapour. ‘There are three of 
these maar strung together on a line, in a N. S. direction, 
and in immediate contact, the same ridge forming the barrier 
of two neighbouring craters. The fragments of which the sur- 
rounding slopes are formed, consist chiefly of slate partially 
calcined, the remainder of augitic scoriz. A large rock of grey- 
wacke slate, evidently in sitw, projects from the bottom of one 
of these basins. The water in the three lakes appears to stand 
at the same level, and they probably communicate by means 
of some fissures in the intervening rocks. One only, the 
Schalkenonchrener maar, has any visible outlet, and there are. 
traces of trass-streams in that direction. 

A few miles farther to the south, the Polvermaar of Gil- 
lenfeld, is met with ; a magnificent oval basin, presenting ex- 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 157 


actly the same general characters as those just described, but 
remarkable for its large dimensions and extreme regularity. 
The ridge of fragmentary matters, which girds it in, is with- 
out a break, and nearly every where preserves a uniform level 
at about 150 feet above the water surface. The depth of 
the lake is above 300 feet; the sides slope in the interior 
at an angle of about 45°, on the exterior of 35°. Tmmediate- 
ly at the foot of the cone of the Polvermaar, on the south 
side, rises a hill containing a much smaller crater, with a peat- 
bog at its bottom. 

Still farther south, between the villages of Strohn and 
Trittschied, is a double cone of Jarge dimensions. It has two 
considerable craters, both broken down towards the N. W. 
The southernmost is large and circular, and bottomed by a 
morass. The other has produced a current of basaltic lava, 
which, after forming some considerable hummocks in a N. W. 
direction, turns its course along the bed of the neighbouring 
rivulet to the S. W., and occupies its channel to a distance of 
two miles or more, crossing the great Coblentz road. 

But unquestionably the group of volcanic vents, which pre- 
sents the greatest interest of all in the Eiffel district, is the 
Moseberg near Bettenfeld, with the neighbouring Meerfelder 
Maar. The Moseberg is one of the highest hills of the whole 
country. Its base up to a considerable elevation above the 
level of the plain around, consists of greywacke slate and red 
sandstcne. Its summit is formed by a triple volcanic cone, 
the accumulated ejections of three smal] craters, which remain 
very distinct. ‘Phe two most northerly ones are entire, and 
reduced to the state of peat-marshes. The third has been 
broken down on its south-east side by a current of lava, of 
very recent aspect, which, issumg from the breach, descends 
the slope of the mountain in a stony flood, until it reaches the 
bed of a small river below. 

The lava and scoriz of these cones, have enveloped a great 
quantity of half-fused fragments of sandstone and slate. The 
circular crater, called the Meerfelder Maar, is remarkable for 
its vast size and depth. It has been hollowed out of both the 
transition-slate and red sandstone, forming the north base of 
Moseberg ; and the steep walls which encircle it, exhibit, on 


158 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


many points, the abrupt sections of these rocks, which are 
only partially covered by a sprinkling of ashes, puzzolana, 
pulverized slate, and other fragmentary matter. The bottom 
of this cavity is occupied by water to about a third of its su- 
perficial extent ; the remainder is a plain, on which the village 
of Meerfeld is seated. 

The most southerly point of this district, on which volcanic 
products have been met with, is the vicinity of the baths of 
Bertrich, a village seated at the bottom of the deep and nar- 
row mountain gorge of the river Isbach, which flows at the 
distance of a few miles into the Moselle. 

Here a lava, which has congealed into an exceedingly hard, 
tough, and compact basalt, full of crystals.of olivin and augite, 
appears to have been emitted from clefts in the greywacke, on 
three or four neighbouring points, upon the very brink of 
the steep slope, or rather precipice, which forms the northern 
flank of the valley. Very few aeriform explosions seem to 
have taken place, since scarcely any scorize were ejected, and 
the few that occur lie in beds wpon the surface of the lava, 
around its three principal sources, and were therefore thrown 
up after its emission. At each of these points is a very small 
cone. ‘The most easterly, called the Fackerkohl, has an evi- 
dent crater encircled by rocks of basalt covered by scoriz. 
From hence a stream of basalt may be traced uninterruptedly 
into the bottom of the valley, (which is here about 600 feet in 
depth,) falling in a sort of indurated cascade over the almost 
perpendicular cliffs of transition slate. 

The next cone, called Falkenlay, consists of a mass of ba- 
salt covered by a deep bed of scoriz, and also gives rise to a 
copious current of basalt, which descends into, and has usurp- 
ed the channel of the Isbach to some distance, both up and 
down the stream. The third point of eruption presents two 
very low and small cones, formed entirely of scoriform basalt, 
and appears to have produced a current of no great magnitude, 
which may be traced at least part of the way down the nearest 
ravine into the main valley below. 

The exceeding crispness of the scoriz of this locality, parti- 
cularly of the Falkenlay, is remarkable. Fragments of grey- 
wacke, greywacke slate, and quartz, partly fused, and gradu- 


Formations on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 159 


ating on these parts into the basalt, are inclosed in great 
abundance by this scoriform lava rock. 

At the bottom of the valley it becomes evident that the 
mountain torrent called the Isbach has cut through and e¢ar- 
ried off the greater part of the basalt streams which once filled 
its channel to a considerable height, throughout an extent of 
more than a mile above, and rather less than this below the 
village of Bertrich. Patches only of basalt are left now on ei- 
ther side of the present bed of the river, and most usually in 
the concave elbows of the valley, but of these some present 
cliffs fifty feet in height. The lower part of these masses of 
basalt is regularly columnar, the columns being divided by 
frequent joints, from two feet to six inches apart. Where they 
_ have been long exposed to erosion from the torrent, the angles 
of these short prisms yielding sooner than the nucleus, the co- 
lumns appear formed of rude and flattened spheroids piled 
upon one another. This is, m short, an example of the co- 
lumnar divisionary structure passing into the globular, by the 
increase of the number of joints. An arched passage, which 
goes by the borrowed name of Fingal’s Cave, nearly a mile 
above Bertrich, exhibits this structure in the most perfect 
manner. It has evidently once formed the channel of the lit- 
tle torrent which now runs on one side of it, and which has 
thus partly worn away the columns, till they are reduced to 
mere piles of balls. 

The eruptions of these three or four contiguous vents were 
probably simultaneous, or very nearly so. The lava streams 
produced by them can be, with difficulty, distinguished from 
each other, all uniting in the valley below, and the basalt of 
all is identical in mineral character. It seems probable that 
the thermal springs of Bertrich-bad owe their warmth to hav- 
ing percolated through some mass of lava not yet quite cooled 
in the interior of the schist rocks, occupying perhaps the pro- 
longation of the fissures through which the lava streams were 
expelled. It may be presumed, indeed, that the temperature 
of these springs is diminishing in consequence of the gradual 
cooling of this mass. It is at present below blood heat, but 
appears, by its ancient celebrity, to have been formerly much 
higher. Since the year 1773 it has not, I believe, been ana- 


160 Mr Poulett Scrope’s observations on the Volcanic 


lyzed. If the taste is to be trusted to, it has now few or no 
mineral ingredients. The savour is, as nearly as possible, that 
of pure fountain water. 

I cannot quit this spot without mentioning that the beauty 
of the scenery on the banks of the Moselle, south of Bertrich, 
and indeed along its whole course through the transition slate 
formation between reves and Coblentz, is scarcely to be pa- 
ralleled by the far more known and vaunted beauties of the 
Rhine, even on its most picturesque parts. The want of a 
post-road along its banks, and the numerous windings of its 
course, which renders its navigation tedious, has alone pre- 
vented the charms of the Moselle from sharing the celebri- 
ty of its more travelled neighbour. In a geological view 
this river is not devoid of interest. Its valley 1s worn across 
the whole transition slate district in a direction transverse 
to that of the stratification. The sinuosities which have 
been occasioned by this circumstance are so extreme, that in 
some instances, as near Zell, the river returns to within a few 
hundred yards of a point it left sixteen miles behind, accord- 
ing to the course of its current. Such windings are not un- 
common among rivers meandering slowly through flat alluvial 
plains; but in a rocky mountain district, where the banks rise 
steeply to a height of 12 or 1500 feet above the river, they 
are more remarkable. In either case they are wholly incom- 
patible with the notion of a rapid and powerful excavating 
force, such as a debacle or deluge, and can only be referred to 
the slow and gradual erosion of the river itself, which is yet 
continuing to deepen its bed, and to hollow out still further 
the concave elbows of its valley, by the double action of its 
vertical and lateral abrasive force. If the valley of the Mo- 
selle is thus incontestably shown to have been excavated by 
the slow agency of causes similar to those still in operation, 
why should we look for another and hypothetical agent to ac- 
count for that of the neighbouring Rhine, the dimensions of 
which are greater only in proportion to the greater mass of its 
waters, and the different solidity of the rocks through which 
it kas worn its channel. I need not carry on the argument 
from the Rhine to other rivers. All this is in fact a digres- - 

4 


Formation on the Left Bank of the Rhine. 161 


sion, and out of place, for which I am bound duly to apolo- 
gize. 

Having now given a brief sketch of the principal volcanic 
products of the Eiffel, I need not prolong this paper, already, 
I fear, swelled beyond its proper limits. There occur a few 
other vents in the vicinity of Ulmen, Kellberg, Adenau, and 
Boos, which form the connecting links between this district 
and that of Andernach. Some of these I did not visit, but 
from those which I saw, as well as from Steinenger’s account » 
of the others, they appear to be mere repetitions of the least 
interesting of the cones and maare already mentioned. 

Upon the whole, though the vestiges of volcanic phenome- 
na to be observed in the Prussian provinces on this side of the 
Rhine, offer, without doubt, a highly interesting field of study 
to the geologist, yet they cannot be recommended as types of 
volcanic formations to those who, without visiting other more 
distant vents of subterranean energy, either active or extinct, 
might seek, in the short tour between Spa and Coblentz, to 
_ acquire a general knowledge of the effects of this class of natu- 
ral agents. In this view, as in every other, they are far less 
instructive than the analogous formations of Auvergne, the 
Velay, and Vivarais, where almost every possible modification of 
the volcanic phenomena is to be clearly traced, and on a much 
larger scale. In the Rhine districts, there is a comparative little- 
ness, and an appearaiice as if the volcanic energy had been damp- 
ed and impeded by the mass of transition and secondary stra- 
ta which it had to pierce, and still more so perhaps by the fra- 
gile nature of the greywacke slate, which, shattered and pul- 
verized by the first few aeriform explosions of every eruption, 
would accumulate in prodigious volumes above and within 
the vent, and speedily stifle its further activity. The same 
circumstance will account both for the general paucity of lava 
produced by these volcanos, and for the numerous deep and 
wide craters, the formation of which, by the rapid and explo- 
sive discharge of subterranean vapour, will, it is evident, have 


been facilitated in proportion to the fragility and incoherence 
of the superficial rock. 


VoL. Vv. No. 1. JuLy 1826. L 


162 Dr Turner’s Analysis of Lepidolite- 


Art. XXXITI.—Analysis of Two Varieties of Lepidolite. 
By Epwarp Turner, M.D.F.R.S.E. Lecturer on Che- 
mistry, and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 
Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author. 


Wune engaged a few months ago in analyzing several spe- 
cies of lithion-mica, my attention was attracted by a pretty 
rose-coloured mineral, said to be a mica from the Uralian moun- 
tains, in the possession of my friend Dr Anderson of Leith, 
which gave distinct indications of the presence of lithia. 
It occurs in groups of crystals like the Zinnwald mica, and 
its laminee are about the same size, some of them being half 
an inch in diameter. Its specific gravity, after the air had 
been expelled from it by boiling water, was 2.855. It fuses 
readily before the blowpipe, tinging the flame of a red colour, 
and forms an opaque and beautiful white pearl on cooling. 
It suffers no appreciable loss in weight when heated to redness. 

To show that this mineral is rather a lepidolite than a mica, 
I have compared its composition with that of a very pure va- 
riety of the common Swedish lepidolite. The specimen em- 
ployed for the purpose has the same character before the 
blowpipe as the preceding, and its specific gravity, after be- 
ing boiled for a short time in water, was 2.8469. It loses on- 
iy 1-1000th of its weight by being heated to redness. 

These analyses, in which I was assisted by Mr Gregory, 
were performed by the method which was minutely described 
in a former paper,* and, therefore, it will be superfluous to 
give more than the results of them at present. 


Results of Analysis. 
Uralian Lepidolite. Common Lepidolite. 
Silica - - 50.35 . - 50.91 
Alumina - - 28.30 - - 28.17 
Oxide of Manganese - 1.23 - - 1.08 
Fluoric acid - =). 5.20 - - 4.11 
Potash . - - 9.04 - - 9.50 
Lithia - - - 5.49 - - 5.67 
99.61 99.44 


A trace of lime was also detected in the first variety. 


* See this Journal, vol. iii. p. 261. 


Prof. Steinmann on Kakoxene, a New Mineral Species. 163 


Art. XXXIV.—On Kakoxene, a new Mineral Species. 
By J. Srerymany, Professor of Chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Prague.* Communicated from the Author. 


In the iron mine of Hrbeck, belonging to the territory of 
Zbirow in Bohemia, a kind of clayey brown iron-ore is found, 
containing a foreign substance deposited in narrow fissures 
traversing it, which has hitherto escaped the notice of minera- 
logists. It might be readily taken for Karpholite, which occurs 
in the same kind of stellular disposition in fissures traversing 
sandstone, but for its deeper tinge, which is an ochre-yellow, 
often passing into a bright lemon-yellow. Sometimes small 
filamentous crystals are grouped together in tufts ; sometimes 
also the mineral is in the shape of a nearly-yellowish powder, 
and then it much resembles the common ochrey-brown iron 
ore. 

The specimens hitherto found have been so few, and the 
substance itself so sparingly distributed through them, that an 
exact statement of all its mineralogical characters yet remains 
a desideratum. For the same reason, I cannot warrant the 
exactness of the proportions among the ingredients, as stated 
below. Some precursory experiments showed the existence 
in the mineral of a considerable quantity of water, containing 
a little acid, which turned out to be fluoric acid. From 100 
parts of the mineral, I obtained, 


Silica, - . - 8.90 
Phosphoric acid, - - - 17.86 
Alumina, - - - 10.01 
Oxide of Iron, - i ee - 36.32 
Lime, - - - - 0.15 
Loss by ignition, being water and fluoric acid, - 25.09 

Total, 99.19 


The quantity of phosphoric acid is greater than would be 
required for combining with the alumina in the same propor- 
tion as in wavellite, part of itis therefore evidently united to the 
oxide of iron. Also the silica appears to be an essential ingre- 


* Abstract of a Paper read before the Bohemian Ebilopophice! Socie- 
ty, May 14, 1825. 


164 Prof. Stemmann on Makoxene, a New Mineral Species. 


dient of the mineral, which, therefore, is a combination of 
phosphates, fluates, and silicates, the proportion of which, 
however, it would be premature now to determine. 

Wavellite is the only native combination of phosphoric acid 
and alumina; it consists, according to Berzelius, of phosploric 
acid 23.40, fluoric acid 2.06, alumina, 35.35, lime 0.50, oxide 
of iron 1.25, water 26.8. There are three combinations of 
phosphoric acid with iron ; a the earthy blue iron analyzed by 
Klaproth, 6 the Viviamite by Vogel, and c the bog-iron ores 
analyzed by Klaproth, ad Avbilissen and Pfaff, containing 


a b c 
Protoxide of iron, AT.5 41.0 Peroxide, 61—79 
Phosphoric acid, 32.0 26.4 2.5— 8 
Vater, - 20.0 31.0 0.1—22 


Sometimes silica or alumina are found in the last of these ; 
but they appear not to be essential, and Professor Hausmann 
is therefore perfectly right in considering them as being com- 
binations of hydrous oxide of iron with phosphate of iron, in 
variable proportions. 

The crystalline appearance of kakoxene shows, on the con- 
trary, that it is the result of the power of crystallization ; and 
as it is similar in some respects to the appearance of wavellite, 
I am disposed to consider it as a combination of the same 
kind, in which only part of the alumina is replaced by oxide 
of iron. It is remarkable that the wavellite from Amberg, in 
the Upper Palatinate, described by Fuchs under the name of 
Lasionite, which likewise occurs in brown iron ore, neverthe- 
less is perfectly white, and does not contain any iron, and is 
therefore, even im respect to chemical composition, perfectly 
different from kakoxene, although agreeing with it in the way 
it occurs. 

The sandstones in which the Bohemian wavellite is found, 
belong to the same formation of greywacke which contains 
the beds of red and brown iron ore in the circles of Beraun 
and Pilsen. From the circumstance, that sometimes white 
short iron is produced from the ore of that formation, I sus- 
pected the presence of phosphoric acid in it, which, in fact, 
was found to be the case by Mr Zippe. The phosphoric acid 


is, however, not solely confined to the iron ores, but it is like- 
4 


M. Meyer’s Notice of some Fossil Remains, Ge. 165 


wise distributed through the rest of the rocks belonging to the 
same formation. Both the kakoxene and the wavellite seem 
to have been produced by some secondary process of secretion 
within the mass of the rocks. 

I have given the new mineral the name of kakoxene, from 
xands bad, and £éws a guest, in allusion to the bad influence of 
the phosphoric acid, and consequently also of the mineral in 
question, on the quality of the iron extracted from the ore with 
which it occurs. 


Arr. XX XV.—WNotice of some Fossil Remains of a Paleothe- 
rium, found in Bavaria.* By Hermann von MeyeEx, of 
Frankfort, on the Maine. 


Amone a number of organic remains from Friedrichsgemiind, 
in the neighbourhood of Roth in Bavaria, I possess two frag- 
ments of the lower jaw of that rare species of Paleotherium, 
which has been hitherto found only in a few fragments in the 
vicinity of Orleans ; each of them including an intermediate 
molar tooth. The form of these teeth agrees exactly with 
Fig. 13 of Cuvier’s Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles, 
Nouv. Ed. t. i. pl. Ixvu., which had been communicated to 
him by Bigot de Morogues of Orleans. Another fragment of 
a lower jaw, partly included in limestone, contains two inter- 
mediate molar teeth, similar to the preceding ones; and a 
fourth, the hindmost molar tooth, which is again similar to 
the right hand Fig. 14 of the same plate. I possess four up- 
per molar teeth, three of them detached from the jaw. The 
11th figure of Cuvier’s shows the remarkable construction of 
these upper molar teeth. 

The genus Paleotherium is intermediate between those of 
Rhinoceros and Tapir. About twelve species have been dis- 
tinguished, which are chiefly found in the gypsum of Paris. 
The species, in most respects, deviating from the common 
type, is that found at Montabusard, near Orleans, in fresh- 
water limestone, but it agrees, on the contrary, with that of 
Issel. All its peculiar characters are found in the teeth from 


* Translated from Kastner’s Archiv fur die Naturichre, B. vii. St. 2. 


166 Zoological Collections. 


Friedrichsgemiind, and leave not the slightest doubt that 
they really belong to the same species. In regard to size, this 
Paleotherium is intermediate between P. crassum and P. me- 
diwm, but it has not received a specific denomination. 

‘These remains have been discovered in a helicitic limestone, 
covered with loam. I have found this limestone to consist of 
carbonic acid, phosphoric acid, lime, iron, and a considerable 
quantity of manganese. Along with the Paleotherium are 
found also the remains of other animals. I possess a molar 
tooth of a hippopotamus, one of a rhinoceros, and two others, 
which I have not yet succeeded in determining. Bones of the 
hippopotamus and rhinoceros, sometimes of considerable 
size, vertebree of an ichthyosaurus, and other saurians, and, 
among these, two flattened vertebrae of two inches diameter, 
belonging to an unknown animal, have been discovered, and 
sometimes occur also in the loam, which, besides, contains im- 
pressions of vegetables. 


Art. XXXVI.—ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 


Observations on the Habits and general Structure of the Orang Outang,, or 
Wild Man of the Woods. By Joun Jerrrizs, M.D. 


Having, in our last Number, laid before our readers an account of the 
Gigantic Orang Outang of Sumatra, through the kindness of Dr Abel, we 
propose at present to direct their attention to a very interesting account of 
the Simia satyrus which was dissected by Dr Jeffries of Boston, and of 
which he has published a particular description in Webster and Tread- 
well’s Boston Journal of Natural Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 570. We shall 
confine ourselves to the account which he has given of the habits and ge- 
neral structure of the animal: 

This animal is a native of Batavia. He was carried from Borneo to 
Batavia, and came into the possession of Mr Forrestier of that place, where 
he remained for some time. By him he was next consigned to Mr Charles 
Thatcher, merchant in Boston, in the Octavia, Captain Blanchard. He 
died on the night of the 2d June, the first after his arrival, disappoint- 
ing the expectations of his owners, of great pecuniary remuneration from 
his exhibition in public. 

In his external appearance, he resembled an African, with the neck 
somewhat shorter, and the neck projecting more forward. He was three 
feet and a half in height. He was covered with hair, except his face, the 
palm of the hands and feet, which were all of the colour of the negro. 
The hair was of a dim colour, inclining to black. It resembled the hair 


On the Habits of the Orang Outang. 167 


of the human body more than that of brutes, in consisting all of one kind, 
and not, as in quadrupeds, of two forms of plice. On the hand the course 
of the hair was forward and upward ; before the ears it was downward. 
There was very little on the anterior part of the head, leaving him an ex- 
tensive forehead. On the arm its course was down ; on the fore-arm up : 
It was longest on the back of the arms and thighs, measuring from six to 
seven inches. His ears were thin, small, and handsome, lying close upon 
the head. 

His eyes were hazel-coloured, bright, and somewhat deep in the sockets. 
His brow was prominent, to defend the eyes from injury in the woods. | 
He had very little hair on the brow. His nose was flat. His lips were 
very large and thick, more so than those of any negro I ever saw. His 
chin was broad, and projecting, as was likewise the upper jaw. His chest 
was round, full, and prominent. His shoulders were set well back. His 
scapule were flat and close behind. His waist was small. His hips were 
flat and narrow. His arms were very long, the fingers reaching to the 
ancles. 

The account which I have received from Captain Blanchard illustrates 
his manners and habits. 

He was put on board the Octavia under the care of this gentleman, and 
hada house fitted up for him, and was provided with poultry and rice suffi- 
cient for the voyage. Captain Blanchard first saw him at Mr Forrestier’s 
house in Batavia. 

While sitting at breakfast, he heard some one enter a door behind, and 
found a hand placed familiarly on his shoulder ; on turning round, he was 
not a little surprised to find a hairy negro making such unceremonious ac- 
quaintance with him. 

George, by which name he passed, seated himself at table by direction 
of Mr Forrestier, and, after partaking of coffee, &c. was dismissed. He 
kept his house on ship-board clean, and, at all times, in good order; he 
cleared it out daily of remnants of food, &c. and frequently washed it, 
being provided with water and a cloth for the purpose. He was very 
cleanly in his person and habits, washing his hands and face regularly, 
and in the same manner asa man. He was docile and obedient, fond of 
play and amusement ; but would sometimes become so rough, although 
in good temper, as to require correction from Captain Blanchard, on which 
occasions, he would lie down, crying very much with the voice of a child, 
as if he had been sorry for having given offence. His food was rice paddy 
in general, but he would and did eat almost any thing provided for him. 

The paddy he sometimes ate with molasses, and sometimes without. 
Tea, coffee, fruit, &c. he was fond of, and he was in the habit of coming 
to the table at dinner to partake of wine ; this was in general claret. 

His mode of sitting was on an elevated seat, and not on the floor. He 
was free from some of the peculiar propensities of monkeys. His bowels 
were in general regular. The directions given by Mr Forrestier were, in 
case of sickness, to give him castor oil. It was administered to him once 
on the beginning of the passage, and produced full vomiting and free ca 
tharsis, with effectual relief. He sickened a second time on the latter 


168 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


part of the voyage, and resisted the attempts of the captain and several 
strong men to get the oil into the stomach. He continued to fail gradu- 
ally, losing his appetite, and strength, until he died, much emaciated, soon 
after the ship anchored. 

Captain Blanchard used to feel his pulse at the radial artery, and de- 
scribes it to be like the human. It was probably quicker. His mode of 
walking was always erect, unless when tired ; he would then move or rest 
on all-fours. ; 


Art. XXXVII.—HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS 
AND PROCESSES IN THE USEFUL ARTS. 


1. On a Method of Working an Air-Pump by continued Motion. By Wit- 
Liam Rircure, A.M. Rector of Tain Academy. Communicated by the 
Author. 


Tse method of working an air-pump by reciprocating motion is extreme- 
ly inconvenient, and apt to injure the instrument by the sudden jerks to 
which it is liable. ‘The following method, by continued motion, is free 
from these objections. Let there be two small wheels A, B, Plate I. Fig. 
12, having teeth completely round the semi-circumferences of one-half of 
the thickness, whilst the semi-circumference of the other half has none. 
The wheel A is turned by a handle in the usual way, and by the teeth, in 
its entire circumference, gives motion to the wheel B in the opposite di- 
rection. When the wheel A is turned, its teeth lay hold of those in the 
piston rod CD, and raise it to its proper height. At the moment the teeth 
in A lose their hold of the piston rod, those in B, moving in the opposite 
direction, seize those in the rod, and bring it down to its former position. 
The same will obviously hold true with regard to the piston rod EF. We 
have thus a reciprocating motion in the two pistons produced by the con- 
tinued motion of the two wheels. ‘The same contrivance may obviously 
be applied to the working of 2 mangle, and may, perhaps, answer better 
than the common method. 


2. Account of Mr Brunel’s New Power obtained hy Liquéfied Carbonic 
Acid Gas. 


Among the extraordinary contrivances of the present day must be rank- 
ed the carbonic acid machine proposed by our celebrated engineer Mr Bru- 
nel, who has secured his invention by an English patent, and also by a 
French patent, in concert with MM. Ternaux and Delessert. Our read- 
ers aré already acquainted with the beautiful experiments of Mr Faraday 
on the liquefication of several of the gases, among which was carbonic acid 
gas. These experiments led several persons to conceive the idea of apply- 
ing the liquified gases as the first movers of machinery, and Mr Brunel has 
attempted to realize these views. 

In the apparatus which he has contrived, the first mover is liquified car- 
bonic acid gas at the temperature of 50°, and under the pressure of 30 at< 


Processes in the Useful Arts. 169 


mospheres. This liquid gas is contained in two cylinders placed at the two 
extremities of the apparatus, and put in communication. In order to de- 
stroy the equilibrium, it is sufficient to vary the temperature of the liquid 
contained in one of the condensers. But the influence of the heat upon 
the liquid gas is such, that for an elevation of 180° we obtain a pressure of 
90 atmospheres, an enormous power, which, having no resistance but that 
of the gas in the other condenser, tends to displace a piston with a force of 
90 — 30 = 60 atmospheres. 

Mr Brunel has already constructed a working model of this engine, and 
he is now occupied with a machine having the power of eight horses. 

The enormous heat necessary in the high pressure engines of Mr Per- 
kins are not requisite in the present machine. It is indeed the peculiar 
advantage of it, that it is not necessary to raise the temperature of the con- 
denser above that of boiling water, in order to produce a pressure of 60 at- 
mospheres. M. Thenard is of opinion that the great difficulty will con- 
sist in obtaining a pressure of 30 atmospheres to condense the gas. When 
this pressure is once obtained, nothing can be simpler than the play of the 
machine, in which there will not be lost a drop of the liquid carbonic 
acid. * 


3. Account of the Process of MM. Thenard and Darcet for Preserving 
Substances from Humidity. 

On the 27th February 1824, there was read at the Academy of Sciences 
of Paris, a Memoir by MM. Thenard and Darcet, on the employment of 
fatty bodies for making coverings and unalterable plasters, and for making 
moist places salubrious. This process, the effects of which have been esta- 
blished by several years experience, consists in causing a mixture of one 
part of oil and two parts of resin to penetrate, by means of an intense heat, 
either porous stones or plaster. ‘The bodies penetrated with this mixture 
acquire afterwards a singular degree of solidity, and become absolutely im- 
permeable to moisture. 

This process may be employed for rendering low and damp places salu- 
brious. It was tried at the Sorbonne, and the expence of it was only 16 
sous per square metre, or a square whose side is 39 English inches. The 
other objects to which it is proposed to apply it are houses, statues placed 
in the open air, bas reliefs and sculptures in plaster, the ceilings and walls 
of rooms intended for Fresco paintings, basins for holding water, and re- 
servoirs for holding grain. 

M. Thenard exhibited to the Academy several objects of art executed in 
plaster by his process. In order to show its efficacy, he exposed to the 
open air for several years a bas relief, half of which was formed of ordina- 
ry plaster, whilst the other half was prepared. This last half was perfect- 
ly preserved, while the other displayed visible traces of disintegration. 
This process does not resemble those which consist in covering bodies with 
a sort of skin which keeps off humidity. The body is actually penetrated 
with the mixture to the depth sometimes of several inches. 


* See an interesting notice of this invention in Le Globe, Tom. iii. No. 29, 
28th Feb. 1826. 


170 History of Mechanical Inventions, &c. 
4 
4. Description of new Aale-Trees for remedying the extra friction on Curves 
jor Waggons, Carts, Cars, and Carriages, and on Rail-roads, Tram- 
ways, and other Public Roads. By Mr Ropert STEPHENSON. 


It has been long felt as a serious inconvenience and loss, that the curved 
parts of rail-roads are speedily worn down by the enormous friction of 
waggon wheels of the common form, and require to be replaced long before 
the straight portions are injured. 

The object of Mr Stephenson’s invention (which is secured by patent) 
is to remedy this evil ; and he has succeeded so completely, that his wheels 
will roll round the sharpest curve without any additional friction from the 
sliding of the wheels. These wheels, each of which revolves upon an axle 
of its own, are shown in Fig. 5, Plate I. which is a horizontal view of 
the carriage of a railway waggon, where b, b, &c. are the wheels, and 
a, a, a, a, their axles. The end of the axle which is nearest the wheel 
turns in a long slot or recess seen below d in Fig. 6, while the other end 
c of the axle has affixed to it a ball or spherical knob, which turns in a 
socket in the opposite bearing. By this construction the wheels revolve 
independently of one another, and a difference in the paths which their 
rims describe will not cause them to rub or slide upon the rail. As rail- 
roads are never perfectly level, the long slot allows the axle and its wheel 
to fall, as at A, Fig. 6, the ball and socket joint at the reverse end giv- 
ing it play. Mr Stephenson does not mean to confine himself to the ball 
and socket strictly, as several other modes of constructing a loose joint may 
answer the purpose ; but he claims as his invention “‘ the double axles, 
and the mode of giving them play, by the loose joint at one end of its bear- 
ing, and the slot at the other.”—See Newton’s Journal of the Arts, vol. Xi. 
p- 169 and p. 200. 


5. Description of Union or Compound Rods in which Wood and Metal are 
combined so as to form Rails or Rods for Bedsteads, Cornices, Sc. By 
Mr Samvev Pratt, New Bond Street. 


This invention promises to be of very great utility for producing strong 
but light rods for the slender parts of furniture. The rods, &c. are first to 
be made of wood to the desired shape, and the wood is then split or sepa- 
rated lengthwise into three pieces, and after some parts of the interior of 
the wood are removed, a bar of iron with three leaves is introduced, and 
the three pieces of wood united again by glue or otherwise, with the three- 
leaved bar inclosed. A section of these bars is shown at A, B, C, Plate I. 
Fig. 7, where A is a section of a rod ready to be operated upon. It is then 
divided and finished as at B, the iron rod having the form shown at C. 
The patentee proposes to coat the iron rods without wood, with cylinders 
of thin brass drawn over the outside of the rod, so as to give them the ap~ 
pearance of solid rods of metal, as shown at D.—See Newton's Journal of 
the Arts, vol. xi. p. 183. 

1 


Mr Hodgkinson on the Strength of Materials. 171 


Arr. XXXVIIL—ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND 
MEMOIRS. 


Observations on Mr Barlow’s Theory of the Strength of Materials, and 
his Conclusions respecting the situation of the Centres of Tension and 
Compression in a Bent Body. By Eaton Hopexinson, Esq. Com- 
municated by the Author. 


Tz common theories of the lateral strength of materials haye, as is well 
known, been formed on the supposition that bodies are incompressible, 
and, consequently, the deflection of a bent beam is assumed to arise whol- 
ly from the extension of its fibres, the fulcrum being on the edge of the 
beam. 

But theories derived from this supposition are much at variance with 
experience ; and this circumstance has induced philosophers to seek for 
others. Coulomb assumed, that a body, when bent, was contracted on 
one side, and lengthened on the other ; and, consequently, that there was 
some line, between both, where contraction ended, and extension began. 
With this supposition, and that of the equality of the forces (pressures) 
on each side of this line, which has since been denominated the “ neutral 
line,’ Coulomb attempted to sketch out a theory of the strength of bodies, 
but which, though elegant, was so abstracted and concise, that it seems to 
have escaped the notice of writers, till Dr Robison, in his excellent Essay 
on the Strength of Materials, alluded to it, and, adopting the above sup- 
positions of Coulomb, varied the mode of considering the subject a little, 
but made no attempt toward its practical application, and left it, not un- 
mixed with errors, in other respects, nearly as he found it. 

The next writer who, after a long lapse of time, seems to have paid at- 
tention to the embryo suggestions of Coulomb and Robison, is Mr Barlow. 
His object, however, was not to supply their defects, and furnish, from his 
experiments; the requisites for adapting them to practice, but in part 
unfortunately to reject them ; proposing in their stead a new theory, dif- 
fering from Coulomb’s only in this,—that the sums of the forces on each 
side the neutral line, taken collectively, instead of being equal one to the 
other, are inversely as their distances from it. And this supposition, as 
will be shown hereafter, is the source of the errors mentioned above. 

The paragraph in which they occur is as follows. ‘“‘ The mechanical ope- 
ration of fracture may be considered under the form shown in” the annex- 
ed figure, Plate I. Fig. 9, “ where n is the neutral axis, ¢ the centre of ten- 
sion, and ¢ the centre of compression ; w a weight equal to the tension of 
all the fibres in An, and w’ a weight equal to all the resistances to com- 
pression in nC, which weights and distances, or levers nt, nc, must be such, 
that w X nt =w' X nc; for it is this equality which determines the po- 
sition of the point x. ‘ And the sum of these, when the weight W is just 
sufficient to produce the fracture, is equal to X ‘W 2»N 3 that is, when the 
three forces are in equilibrio, we must have w X né + w’ KX nc =W X nN 
= 20 x ni.* 


* See Mr Barlow’s Essay on the Strength and Stress of Timber, Art. 120. 


172 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


Now, assuming the above reasoning, respecting the forces on each side 
the neutral line, as true, we will examine the consequences ; and since 
wxXnt=w'Xnc, and wXnt+w’ Xnc=W X aN, n must, from the last 
equation, evidently act as a fulcrum or joint, on which the double lever 
Nut, Nuc, would turn. Suppose, then, instead of the double lever, we had 
two levers Nnt and N’xc unconnected, except at the firm joint n, on 
which they both turned, and at the ends N and N’ of their equal arms, 
we applied } W;; it is evident, since w X nt = w’ X ac, that each lever 
would be in equilibrio with its load, and one have no tendency to deflec- 
tion more than the other. If now we supposed the two arms cement- 
ed together, the two levers must evidently have the same effect upon the 
joint n as the compound lever Nnz, Nac, with W suspended at N. And 
since W can only act in the direction of gravity, and consequently has no 
effect on the levers (of which the beam is assumed to be composed) in 
drawing them from, or pressing them toward the wall, we shall have in 
the lever Nné, the pressure on n, (in the direction Nn) equal the tension 
in ¢, equal w ; and, in the lever N’nc, the joint n will have to resist an ef- 
fort in the opposite direction nN’, equal to the pressure in c, equal w’. 
The imaginary joint x, which is in the neutral line, will then be affected 
by a force equal to the difference of the weights w and w’, viz. of the 
forces of tension and compression, and have its fibres stretched or com- 
pressed by the force ; which, when the above forces are unequal, is con- 
trary to the definition of the neutral line. The assumption wx 2 = 
w’ X nc, as a general equation, is therefore erroneous. 

It will further appear, that the foregoing deductions, while they tend 
to refute the supposition of Mr Barlow, serve equally to establish that of 
Coulomb, the deficiencies of whose effort I have endeavoured .to supply in 
the above mentioned Memoir. 

The next conclusion of Mr Barlow in the above paragraph is, w X nt+ 
w’ Xnc—W X naN=2w X at, andthelast equation,viz.W X nN—=2w X at, 
is that which he has used for estimating the strength of materials; but 
this, like the former, must be incorrect, since w X nt is not generally equal 
to w’ X nc, their sum, therefore, cannot then be equal to 2 w X nt. 

The errors in the preceding theorems extend their influence through 
a great number of the pages following the paragraph quoted above, entire- 
ly destroying the ingenious deductions in the first 20 of them, and the 
conclusions so unsatisfactory of the coincidence of the centres of tension 
and compression with those of gravity: those conclusions having been 
drawn from experiments conjoined with the theory we have just been ex- 
amining. L 

Mr Barlow will likewise have to correct (besides some errors of secon- 
dary importance) the last column of the tables presented to the Honour- 

’ able the Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy. 

As the mechanism of the transverse strain seems by no means to be 
well understood, I possibly shall be excused for giving the following me- 
chanical illustration of the matter. 

I took a board ABCD, Plate I. Fig. 10, 3 feet 6 inches long, and 1 
foot broad; and at about half the distance between its two ends, and near 


Mr Hodgkinson on the Strength of Materials. 173 


to the side AB, there were small moveable pullies affixed, as G, H, I, and 
similar pullies near the corner C, as represented on the figure ; and in the 
intermediate space between these, as at F’, there was a rectangular hole cut 
through the board, and where the dotted line is seen there projected the ends 
of a number of equal equidistant straight springs of iron or steel wire, which 
were firmly inserted at their other ends into a wooden frame abc d, 
Fig, 11, and this frame was then fast nailed at its ends a and d to the back 
of the board, so that the springs between a and d might project about an 
inch through the hole F, and be perpendicular to the plain of the board. 

I then got a very light piece of wood in the form of an isosceles triangle 

ELM, whose altitude was about 3 feet 6 inches, (the length of the 
board) and its base LM-10 inches. Along the side of LM there was 
nailed a piece of tin, perforated with a row of holes, so as rather loosely to 
fit the ends of the springs projecting through F, and this tin was slid up- 
on them. The board ABCD was then raised perpendicularly to the hori- 
zon, its edge CD being uppermost, and having the triangular piece ELM 
sliding along its side, and attached to the board only by the springs: the 
end AD of the board serving to render the triangle steady, and, (by 
means of a pointed instrument passing through the latter) to hold it, if 
necessary, in any position. 
- I then hung a small weight at the end E, and there being nothing to 
support it, and the weight of the triangle, but the springs, the point was, 
as might be inferred, carried some distance down, the upper springs being 
drawn after the base of the triangle, nearly in the direction CD, and the 
lower ones made to recede in the opposite direction ; the whole turning 
as it were on the central spring, which was not bent, and consequently 
supported nothing. 

I next attached a weight w to a point of the triangle near to L, 62 in- 
ches from the central spring, by a string passing over the pully I, and an 
equal weight w’ to another point, 4 an inch on the other side of that 
spring, and increasing the weight at E, so as to bring the base LM per- 
pendicular to the horizon, (which was done in all the experiments,) [ 
found that the whole turned round the central spring as before, though 
the distances of the equal weight from the central spring were as 13 
tol. 

I afterwards put weights to other points, passing over all the pullies, 
G, H, I, at once, putting sometimes a large one over G, and a small one 
over I, and sometimes the reverse ; and, doing in like manner by the 
pullies near the corner C, I found that the apparatus always turned 
round the central spring, without its being bent, when the sums of the 
weights on each side were equal. But, if the sums of the opposing weights 
were unequal, the triangle no longer turned round the central spring, but 
round some other point, at which there was an equality between the ne- 
gative and affirmative forces. 

It is evident that we might have substituted for the Peietian in the 
above experinients springs, which would have been unbent, when those 
which are in the instrument were so, and which (when bent so that the 
triangle might assume the position it was in during the experiments,) 


174 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


would exert equal forces to the weights w, w’, &c. themselves; and, 
therefore, LM may be considered as the line of the fracture of a beam, 
whereof ELM is a vertical section, the central spring on which the tri- 
angle turned being its neutral line, and the springs and weights on each 
side of it representing the forces of tension and compression; which, 
from the experiments above, have no particular relation to their distances 
from the neutral line, as assumed by Mr Barlow, but must, under all 
the circumstances, be equal. 

I have now considered, at perhaps too great a length, the principal 
question in the review; and as the result has been, in my opinion, une- 
quivocally to show the erroneousness of the theory in dispute, it may be 
the less necessary to dwell upon the other remarks of the writer. I shall, 
however, briefly notice each of them. 

The first thing that particularly arrested my attention, (and it indeed 
created some surprise) was, to find the writer representing this subject, 
viz. the research for a correct theory of the lateral strength of materials, 
“as one rather of curious philosophical inquiry than of actual import- 
ance,” and the reason assigned is, that we can compare the strengths of 
similar beams without it. In the same manner, we might assert that if 
we had a globe, or a barrel, of which, by filling or otherwise, we had ob- 
tained the content, it would be easy to find the content of another globe 
or barrel, similar to the former, though larger or smaller. But if we knew 
the content of a cube, or a globe, and wanted that of a barrel, it is evi- 
dent that it would be indispensably necessary to have some more general 
rule by which the contents of dissimilar bodies could be compared toge- 
ther: The same observation must apply to the strength of materials. In 
timber, indeed, the want of such a rule may be little felt, its beams being 
generally rectangular ; but iron may be cast into various forms, and it 
would be considered both expensive and inconvenient if it were always 
necessary to cast two beams, in order to break one of them, before we 
could be able to judge of the strength of the other. The opinion of the 
reviewer, too, in this matter, seems (judging from the labour that philo- 
sophers have bestowed upon it,) to be at variance with that of almost 
every writer on the subject, from Galileo to Mr Barlow. I shall, there- 
fore, leave this, and proceed to his other remarks. I had shown, in the 
above mentioned Memoir, that, in incompressible bodies, Mr Barlow’s 
theory gave the strength of a beam double what it ought to do ; this, the 
writer of the Review admits, but makes a charge of an opposite nature 
against the theory I advocate. It shall be given in his own words—“ It 
is singular Mr Hodgkinson did not perceive, that precisely the same want 
of generality applies also to his theory, by taking the opposite imaginary 
case, viz. of the material being infinitely inextensible ; for, in this case, 
the area of tension being zero, the breaking weight would be zero, or 
taking any small area of tension, then the strength would be infinite, 
both inconsistent results.” In reply to this, I would ask that ingenious 
writer, whether I might not, with greater propriety, express my surprise 
at his not having seen that a body might be inextensible, comparatively 
with its compressibility, without being infinitely strong, and consequent- 


Mr Hodgkinson on the Strength of Materials. 175 


ly, that his remarks do not apply to the theory in question. The iron, 
in my experiments on compression, may be taken as an example of this 
extreme case. 

In regard to the suggestions of the writer, in the same page of the Re- 
view, respecting the possibility of a change in the law of mechanical ac- 
tion, in consequence of an alteration in the situation of the neutral line, I 
would refer him to the last experiment with the instrument above, from 
which it appears, that if the forces, on each side of that which before was 
the neutral spring, were made unequal, that spring was no longer the neu- 
tral spring, but some other, on each side of which there was an equality 
in the forces. 

The last observation of the reviewer which will require to be noticed 
here, is that in which he objects to my conclusion, “ that the mean index 
(.97) of my experiments on extension approaches so nearly to unity, the 
index of perfect elasticity, that it seems unnecessary to assume any other 
law ;” and the reason assigned, which is certainly not a very strong one, 
is, that the result of one of the most anomalous of my experiments differs 
widely from that law :—In answer to this, and to his remarks immediately 
following, I would beg to refer him to my note, page 265, in the memoir 
above, and to page 280, example third, from which last it appears, that, 
in the fracture of a joist, the error from the assumption of perfect elas- 
ticity, was not ;3. part of the breaking weight. If we had taken the 
elasticities at 4 or 3 of the breaking weight, which is as far as it is prudent 
to strain materials in architecture, the deviation from perfect elasticity 
must have caused a much less error. 

Mr Barlow arrived at his conclusions respecting the situation of the 
centres of tension and compression, from the application of his theory to 
experiments. It may not then be uninteresting to take one of the experi- 
ments he used, and, applying the theory I advocate to it, see what the 
result will be :—As the easiest, we will take his first experiment (page 156) 
from which it appears that a beam, 24 inches long, and two inches square, 
fixed at one end in a wall, required a weight of 558 lbs. to produce the 
fracture ; the neutral line being at about 2 of the depth of the beam, and 
the force of direct cohesion on a square inch of the wood equal to 13000 
Ibs. The formula for the strength of a beam, (see my Essay, pages 244 
and 245, Memoir above,) give 

s 


SRE inten, : : par, According to the suppo- 
Weight = L.c X section tension X (g+ez’), Lachey oft Galileo: 


af hs eae : : , According to the suppo- 
Weight = a1.c * section tension X (p+ p’'), tae im of Laci iniea. 


When s, from the above experiment, is equal 13000 lbs., section of ten- 
sion = 3 inch, ¢+g'=1 inch, p+p' = $ inch, a = 2 inch, g = 2 inch, 
L = 24 inches, W = 558 Ibs., and calling C = 1; and supposing W to 
be unknown, all the rest being given, we have :— 
In the first formula, 
w — 13000X3X1 


—— 1 . 
EX I 8121 lbs 


176 =©Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinourgh. 


In the second formula, 

w — 13000X#X 2X3 — 5412 Ibs, 
$X24X1 

But the value of w from experiment is 558 Ibs. from which the 
strength by the last formula, in which the elasticities are supposed to be 
perfect, differs only 16} lbs.; while the other formula, in which the 
centres of tension and compression are as deduced by Mr Barlow, gives 
the strength 2544 Ibs. more than it ought to do, or nearly one-half the 
breaking weight. 

The application of the same formule to Mr Barlow’s other experiments, 
which were on triangular beams, would be much more laborious, and pos- 
sibly might give results showing the elasticities to be somewhat less per- 
fect than as above: However, I think there has been enough done te con- 
vince the reader that Mr Barlow’s deductions in this respect would form a 
very defective substitute for the more natural assumption of perfect elas- 
ticities. 


Art. XXXIX.—PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF 
EDINBURGH. 

December 19.—Dr Epwarp Turner read a paper on a Method of 
detecting Boracic Acid by means of the Blowpipe. 

Sir W1i1.1am Hamitton read a Paper on the Practical Conclusions 
from Gall’s Theory regarding the Functions of the Brain. 

January 9, 1826.—Professor DunBar read an examination of Dr Parr’s 
Observations on the etymology of the word Sublimis. 

At this meeting H. H. Brackapper, Esq. was elected an ordinary mem- 
ber. 

Jan. 23.—There was read a Description of a New Air Thermometer free 
from the pressure of the Atmosphere, by Mr James Kine. 

There was read also a Report on the Register of the Thermometer kept 
at Leith Fort, for every hour of the day and night during the years 1824 
and 1825, by Dr Brewster. 

An abstract of this paper is printed in this Number, p. 18. 

February 6.—There was read a Notice respecting the late severe cold in 
Inverness-shire and Aberdeen, as communicated to Dr Brewster in two 
Letters from J. P. Grant, Esq. M. P., and Georcr Farruowme, Esq. 

At the same meeting, Sir William Hamilton concluded his Observations 
on Gall’s Theory. 

The following gentlemen were elected Ordinary Members :— 

Alexander Wood, Esq. Advocate. 
The Rev. Dionysius Lardner, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. 

February 20th.—Mr Bap read a Notice on the Fine Sand near Alloa 
for making Flint-Glass.—See our last Number, p. 333. 

There was read a Letter from Professor Mott. of Utrecht to Dr Brew- ~ 
sTER, on a New Island in the Pacific. This letter is printed in our last 
Number, p. 278. 


Scientific Intelligence— Astronomy. 177 


March 6.—A paper by Dr Brewster was read, on the Refractive 
Power and other Properties of the Two New Fluids in Minerals. See this 
Number, p. 123. 

The following gentlemen were elected Ordinary Members :— 

George Macpherson Grant, Esq. M. P. 
William Renny, Esq. W. S. 
Elias Cathcart, Esq. Advocate. 

March 20.—A Paper by Mr Srarx was read, on ‘T'wo Species of 
Pholas found on the Coast in the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh. See this 
Number, p. 98. i 

Dr Knox read a paper on the Size of the Teeth of the Shark. See this 
Number, p. 16. 

April 3.—There was read a paper on a Singular Phenomenon in Vision. 
By Mr Tuomas Situ, Surgeon, Kingussie. See this Number, p. 52. 

A Notice by Dr Brewster was read on the Advantages of making 
Simultaneous Meteorological Observations in different parts of the King- 
dom, on one or more days of every year. Seep. 181. 

Dr Epwarp Turner exhibited to the Society a Thermo-Magnetic Ap< 
paratus of Professor Barlow’s. 

At this meeting, ANDREW CLEPHANE, Esq. Advocate, was elected an 
Ordinary Member. 

April 17.—There was read a Description of a new Register Thermome- 
ter, without any Index, by H. H. BLackapper, Esq. See this Number, 
p- 92. 

May \.—Mr H. H. Brackapper read a paper, entitled Observations on 
Flame. 

Dr Brewster exhibited to the Society a new Monochromatic Lamp. 

A new Safety Gas-Burner, invented by Mr W. Wanvey, was exhibited 
to the Society. 

The following Gentlemen were elected Members :-— 

Foreign. Ordinary. 
May 9.—Prof. G. Moll, Utrecht. Rey. George Coventry. 
Prof. Stromeyer, Gottingen. Sir D. Hunter Blair, Bart. 
Prof. Hausman, Gottingen. 
The Society adjourned till December 3, 1826. 


Art. XL.—SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 
I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 


ASTRONOMY. 

1. Mr Pond’s Observations on a New Appearance in the {Nebula of 
Orion.—This appearance, which was described to the Royal Society on 
the 10th of March last, was discovered by means of Mr Ramage of Aber- 
deen’s 25 feet reflector, which is now erected at the Royal Observatory of 
Greenwich. Among the stars about the nebula in Orion are five very 
bright ones, which form a trapezium, and at a little distance three others,. 
which are almost in the same straight line. These three stars are neither 

V2 L.v. NO. I. JuLY 1826. M 


178 Scientific Intelligence. 


situated on the edge of the nebula, nor are they parallel to the edge, but 
they appear to be entirely free from the nebulous matter, which seems to 
retire from them in a semicircular form, as if they had either absorbed or 
repelled the light from their discs. Mr Pond remarked the same curious 
appearance round the five stars of the trapezium, from which the nebulous 
matter seems also to have receded. He therefore supposes that the stars 
have been in both cases the immediate cause of the disappearance of the 
nebulous matter, and therefore he is anxious that other astronomers 
should attend to the subject. 

Mr Pond has noticed a similar appearance of a still more decided cha~ 
racter, at some minutes distance from the trapezium. 


2. Local Attraction of the Plumbe Line.—The difference between the results 
of the geodetical and the astronomical observations lately made in Italy, 
amount in one case to nearly 27”, and in another to17”. The matter 
near the surface at Milan, appears to attract the plumb-line considerably 
to the north of the vertical, and that near Rimini considerably to the 
south.—Dublin Phil. Journal, No. ii. p. 449. ae 

3. Captain Ross on the Occultation of the Planet Herschel by the Moon.— 
In observing the immersion of Herschel behind the dark limb of the moon 
on the 6th August 1824, with Mr Ramage’s 25 feet reflector, Captain Ross 
noticed that the light of it began to diminish before it touched the disc, 
and it appeared to have extended one-third of its diameter on the dark part 
of the moon, at the same time separated by a fine line of light before it 
disappeared. At itsemersion, on the contrary, it appeared one-fourth of its 
diameter distant from the moon’s western limb.—Mem. Astron. Soc. vol. 


li. part i. p. 91. 


4. Fifth Comet of 1825 in Eridanus—In our 7th No. p. 176, § 5, 
we have mentioned the-discovery of this comet, and in No. viii. p. 377, 
$ 5, we have given the parabolic elements of it by Capocci. These, 
however, aud others that have been computed, deviate greatly from obser= 
vation, and hence M. Ciausen of Altona was induced to try an elliptical © 
orbit, of which the following are the elements : 


Mean Time. 
Passage of Perihelion at Altona, 1826, April 22. 18525 
Longitude of Node, - - - 198° 22/27” 
Longitude of Perihelion, ~ - 11S eG. 9 
Inclination of Orbit, - : 40 40 12 
Eccentricity, - 0.9498700 
Log. Perihelion distance, - - 0.3156652 
Revolution, - - - 265 Years. 
Motion, Direct. 


These elements differ very widely from the parabolic ones. 


5. Second Comet of 1825 in Taurus.—In our two preceding numbers, we 
have given a full account of this comet, including the parabolic and ellip« 


Astronomy. 179 


tical elements that have been calculated for it. M. Hansen has computed 
a second elliptic orbit for it, which is as follows: 


Mean Time. 
Passage of Perihelion at Secberg, 1825, Dec. 11, 29767 
Longitude of Node, Mean Equinox, 215° 39 17”.9 
Log. of Node,—Long. Perihelion, { 1st September, } 257 24 3.2 
Inclination of Orbit, - - - 33. 359.56’ 
Eccentricity, - - - 0.9817028 

0.0923926 

Revolution, - - 556 Years. 
Motion, Retrograde. 


On the 3d of June, at 8" 54’ mean time at Seeberg, this comet will be 


in 201° 41’ right ascension, and 15° 08’ south declination, and its distance 
from the earth will be 1.713. 


6. First Comet of 1826, or the lost Comet of 1772.—This comet, discovers 
ed by M. Biela on the 27th February, and by M. Gambard on the 9th 
March, has been found by M. Clausen to be the comet of 1805, and also 
that of 1772, which has been so long lost sight of. He has found its ellip- 
tical elements to be as follows : 


Mean Time. 
Passage of Perihelion at Altona, 1826, March 18, 49297 


Longitude of Cee { Mean Pa enced 109° 53’ 29”.7 
Longitude of Node, Jan. 0.1826, J 201 27 - 19.9 
Log. Perihelion Tistatice, - - 0,5496086 
Eccentricity, - - = Sun, (48° 12’ 28”.75) 
Inclination of Orbit, - = - 1 Sh 52 
Revolution, - - - 2438 Days. 
Motion, Direct. 


It is necessary only to suppose a-revolution of 2470 days tov establish 
the identity of this comet with that of 1772. We should then have five re- 
volutions between 1772 and 1805, and three revolutions between 1805 and 
1826. ° 

M. Gauss has proved that the comet of 1772 cannot be identical with 
that of 1805; at least, that between its two oppositions, it has not passed 
near so large a planet, that it could have experienced from it such perturba- 
tions as would explain the difference between its elements at the two op- 
positions. But this is precisely the difficulty that the elements of M. 
Clausen satisfactorily explains, after a remark of Dr Olbers. By supposing 
the comet of 1772 to have a revolution of 2438 days, it ought to have been 
exposed in 1782, and still more in 1794, during a considerable time, to the 
powerful influence of Jupiter. In order to estimate this influence, M. 
Clausen is at present examining anew the ancient observations, and com- 


puting the perturbations.—Letter from Professor Shumacher, March 30, 
1826. 


7. Ellipticity of the Earth at Port Bowen.—It appears from observa 
tions made with an invariable pendulum at Greenwich and at Port Bowen 
in the Arctic regions, that the ellipticity of the earth is — 


180 _ Scientific Intelligence. 


8 The Double Star 61 Cygni.—It appears that M. Arago has lately at- 
tempted, in vain, to discover a sensible parallax in this remarkable double 
star. Dr Brinkley, long ago, (see his Klementary Treatise of Astronomy,) 
observed this star for the same purpose, but found no parallax in declina- 
tion. Professor Bessel obtained a negative parallax, seeming to show that 
it was more distant than the stars with which he compared it. The ra- 
pid motion of this pair of stars, would certainly induce us to believe them 
nearer than other stars; but the notion, when examined, appears to be 
no better supported than the commonly received one, that the brightest 
stars are nearest to us.—Dublin Phil. Journal, No. ii. p. 450.4 


OPTICS. 

9. Effect of the Sun's light in diminishing Combustion. It has always 

been considered a vulgar error, that the sun’s light extinguishes a fire, but 

the following experiments by Dr M‘Keever put the matter beyond a doubt. 

See Ann. of Phil. x. 344. 

1. A green wax taper in sunshine lost 84 grains in five minutes. 

A white wax taper in a darkened room lost 44 —— 

2. In bright sunshine a piece of wax taper 7 inches long required to 


consume it - - - t IOEA 1 

In day light it required - - 4 652 

In a dark room - - - 4 30 

3. In the spectrum one inch of taper was burnt in the following 

times : 

At the end of the violet ray - 4’ 36” 

In the centre of the violet ray - 4 26 

In the centre of the green ray - 4 20 

In the centre of the red ray - 4 16- 


10. Singular Phenomenon observed hy M. Ramond on the Pic du Midi. 
—When M. Ramond was on the Pic du Midi, he observed his own sha- 
dow, and those of his two companions, projected on a cloud situated a little 
distance above them, with a distinctness and an accuracy of outline quite 
surprising ; but what was more astonishing, ¢hese shadows were encircled 
with glories, shining with the most brilliant colours. ** Those who witnessed 
this magnificent spectacle,” says M. Ramond, ‘‘ might have supposed that 
they were assisting at their apotheosis.” Several naturalists, among others, 
Bouguer, and the sons of Saussure, have seen this phenomenon ; but none 
of them observed this distinctness of form, which can only be explained 
by the smoothness of the surface of the cloud upon which the shadow was 
projected. With respect to the glory, Bouguer supposed that it might 
arise from the decomposition of the light produced by the particles of ice 
suspended in the cloud. Thus he would say, that the rays of the sun 
being intercepted at the place occupied by the shadow, there is produced 
at the place a coldness, and the icy particles becoming more numerous 
there, and on the margin of the shadow, produce the decomposition of the 
light. M. Ramond, however, objects to this explanation, and considers 
it as certain, that the cloud on which his shadow was projected could not, 
from the temperature of the Pic, have then held any icy particles in sus- 


pension. 


Magnetism—Meteorology—Chemistry. 181 


11. On the Powerful Effect of Burning-Glasses at great Heights.—The 
extreme transparency of the air on high mountains, which hinders the ca- 
lorific rays which traverse it from heating it directly, gives rise to several 
effects different from those we observe on the surface of the earth. The 
heat of the ground, for example, which absorbs the solar rays on those sum- 
mits, is often, as M. Ramond observes, out of all proportion to that of the 
atmosphere. When these rays, therefore, are collected in the focus of a 
lens, they have much greater power than when they traverse a thick and 
less transparent atmosphere. He found that a lens of a very small diame- 
ter was sufficient to set fire to bodies, which a lens of double the diameter 
would scarcely heat in lower regions. M. Ramond supposes that the tem- 
perature of the different colours of the spectrum might be well ascertained 
on lofty summits. 

The Memoir of M. Ramond, which contains these two notices, is entit- 
led, on the Meteorology of the Pic du Midi, and was read at the Academy 
of Sciences, on the 13th March 1826.—Le Glebe, March 16, 1826. 


MAGNETISM. 

12. Diurnal Variation of the Needle in the Arctic Regions.—From a pa- 
per by Captain Parry and Lieutenant Forster, read before the Royal So- 
ciety on the 13th April last, it appears that the diurnal variation of the 
needle at Port Bowen sometimes amounts to 7° or 8°, and is never less than 
1°. These able observers are said to have discovered a decided connection 
between the diurnal variation, and the positions of the sun and moon. 


METEOROLOGY. 

13. Meteorological Observations on the 17th of July next.—Printed sche- 
dules have been circulated by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, with a re- 
quest that observations on the thermometer, barometer, rain-gage, &c. and 
general state of the weather, should be made in various perts of the king- 
dom on the 17th of July next, and at every hour of that day, from one 
o'clock in the morning to twelve o'clock at night. It is much to be wish- 
ed that corresponding observations should be made in England and Ire- 
land, and on the Continent of Europe on the same day, as very important 
results may be deduced from such a series of simultaneous observations. 
Schedules and directions for making the observations, may be obtained, by 
applying to Messrs ‘Taits, booksellers, Prince’s Street, Edinburgh. 


Il. CHEMISTRY. 


14. Dr Henry’s Analysis of a Crystalline Compound of Hyponitrous and 
Sulphuric Acids——This substance was formed in the process for making 
sulphuric acid in leaden chambers, and its production appears to have been 
determined by intense cold. The product of sulphuric acid having unace 
countably fallen off, it was suspected that the ventilating pipe was closed 
with sublimed sulphur ; but, when examined internally, it was found to 
have been completely stopped by a crystalline solid, not unlike borax in 
appearance. When kept for a day or two in a warm room, it assumed a 
‘soft pasty form ; and, by standing still longer, a liquid of rather thick con« 


182 Scientific Intelligence. 


sistence, and of the specific gravity 1.831, floated over the more solid 
part. : 

The crystalline portion of the mass, from which the liquid had been 
drained, but which still continued a soft solid, was intensely acid to the 
taste, and when handled, stained the fingers like strong nitrous acid. When 
added to water, a rise of temperature of more than 60° F. was produced, 
and a violent effervescence took place, accompanied with red fumes, re- 
sembling those of nitrous gas when escaping into the atmosphere. A si- 

‘milar extrieation of gas was observed, on pouring the deliquiated portion 
of the mass into water. By collecting the gas in a pneumatic trough, it 
was found to be nitrous gas of remarkable purity. 

Lhe crystalline substance sustained a heat of 220° F. for more than an 
hour, without parting with any gas; but at 280°, nitrous gas was evolved. 
A temperature, however, of 400° did not entirely decompose it ; for the 
liquid which remained, when poured into water, gave abundance of nitrous 
gas. The proportion of that gas which could be expelled by heating the 
solid salt, exceeded what was evolved from the same quantity by solution 
in water. Besides the permanent gas, a vapour was also separated by heat, 
which was evidently nitrous acid, since it tinged a few drops of water con- 
tained in a small receiver, first green and blue, and then orange. 

Having ascertained that the crystalline solid contained no fixed base, 
and that it yielded nothing but sulphuric acid, nitrous acid, and nitrous 
gas, Dr Henry proceeded to ascertain the proportion of its constituents. 
The nitrous gas was determined by collecting the gas disengaged by the 
action of water on the solid compound, heat being applied to expel the 
whole of it. To the residual liquid, sufficiently diluted with warm water, 
a solution of pure barytes was added, till both the acids were complete- 
ly neutralized. The amount of sulphate of barytes gave the exact 
quantity of sulphuric acid. To the filtered liquid, a solution of sul- 
phate of soda was added, and a second product of sulphate of barytes 
subsided, from which was inferred the quantity of nitrous acid. Ab- 
stracting the weight of these substances from the quantity subjected to 
analysis, the remainder gave the quantity of combined water. One hun- 
dred grains of the crystalline substance afforded 


Grains. 

Real sulphuric acid, - - - 68.000 

Nitrous gas, - - 5.273 Bi 

zs ifm 13.073 
Nitrous acid, - - - 7.800 

Water, - - - - - 18.927 

100.000 


In this case, however, the results of analysis do not give direct informa- 
tion of the nature of the original solid, because the elements of the nitrous 
compounds are doubtless evolved in a state of arrangement very different 
- from that in which they had previously existed in the solid itself. After 
considering the subject under various aspects, Dr Henry conceives it most 
probable that they are thus arranged : 


ii 


Chemistry. 188 


Sulphuric acid, 5 atoms, (40 X 5) = Z 200 
Hyponitrous acid, 1 atom, “ . zi 38 
Water, 5 atoms, (9 XK 5) 2 & a AS 
Weight of its atom, - - - a “283 
Or, in 100 parts, } 

Sulphuric acid, - - - - 70.67 
Hyponitrous acid, - - - - 13.42 
Water, - - - - - - 15.91 
100.00 


The excess of water obtained by experiment oyer the theoretical pro- 
portion, is ascribed to the solid having imbibed water in addition to that 
which is essential to it in a crystallized form. 

The changes which the solid undergoes, when brought into contact with 
water, are supposed, by Dr Henry, to be the following :—An atom of hy- 
ponitrous acid (regarded for the sake of convenience as constituted of an 
atom of nitrous gas united with an atom of oxygen) is decomposed ; the 
atom of nitrous gas escapes ; and the atom of oxygen, uniting with a con- 
tiguous atom of hyponitrous acid, composes an atom of nitrous acid. 

‘* The crystalline solid which has been above described, is probably 
identical with that obtained many years ago by MM. Clement and De-~ 
sormes, (An. de Chimie, xlix. 334,) by mingling in a glass balloon, sulphu- 
rous acid, nitrous gas, atmospheric air, and aqueous vapour ; and also with 
a similar compound, afterwards formed by M. Gay-Lussac, by adding to 
sulphuric acid the product of the distillation of nitrate of lead, which he 
considers as chiefly hyponitrous acid, (An. de Chimie et de Phy. i. 407.) 
It furnishes another example, in addition to those before known, of a weak 
acid serving as a base toa more powerful one. The combinations of fluoric 
acid with silica and boracic acid are familiar instances ; and M. Berzelius 
has lately discovered others in the compounds of fluoric acid, with the 
columbic, titanic, tungstic, and molybdic acids. These, however, differ 
from the compound of hyponitrous and sulphuric acids, in possessing greate 
er permanency, so as to form with bases distinct genera of salts, entitled 
to the names of fluo-titanates, fluo-columbates, &c. ; whereas the coms 
pound of sulphuric and hyponitrous acids is instantly decomposed by con- 
tact with a base, and the salts obtained are identical with those which 
would have been formed, if those acids had been separately united with 
the same base.”—Annals of Philosophy for May 1826. 


15. On the Air contained in River and Canal Waters.—Dr Ure has de- 
termined the proportion of air contained in these waters by boiling them. 
Grain Measures. 
18000 grain measures of canal water (in winter) yielded 480 or = 
Filtered river water, drawn in the city of Glasgow from 


the pipes of the Cranston Hill Company - 454 Su 
Filtered river water from the pipes of the Glasgow Water- 

Company =i ~ - - 450 i 
Water taken directly from the river Clyde, somewhat swol- 


len by winter rains ~ - - 505° 55.64 


184 Scientific Intelligence. 


The gaseous matter obtained from the first three waters, consisted of 
1-10th carbonic acid gas, and 9-10ths atmospheric air. That from the 
open river contained only 1-20th of carbonic acid. The above waters, 
when submitted to examination, had a temperature of 55° Far.—Brande’s 
Journal. 

16. Substances which accompany Caoutchouc when obtained from the Tree 
in the state of Sap.—A specimen of the pure sap, from the southern part 
of Mexico, yields, according to Mr Faraday, 


Caoutchouc, - = 317.0 
Albuminous precipitate, - - 19.0 
Peculiar bitter colouring matter, a highly azotated substance, 

er e } ms 

m = = 
Substance soluble in water, not in alcohol, - 29.0 
Water, acid, &c. : Pn: - 563.7 
1000 


Brande’s Journal. 


17. On the Nature of Picrotoxine and Menispermic Acid.—In an analy- 
sis to which M. Boullay subjected the berries of the Menispermum coccu- 
lus, that chemist succeeded in separating a peculiar crystallizable princi- 
ple which, from its bitter poisonous qualities, he called picrotoxine, and 
regarded it as a vegetable alkali similar to morphia and kina. He at the 
same time detected the presence of what he conceived to be a new acid, to 
which he gave the name of menispermic acid. As some doubt remained 
as to the accuracy of this analysis, M. Casaseca has made an examination 
of the berries, and arrived at these conclusions : 

1. That the menispermic acid does not exist. 

2. That the properties attributed to the menispermic acid, and which in- 
duced M. Boullay to regard it as a new vegetable acid, are owing to a mix- 
ture of sulphuric acid with organic matter. 

3. That the picrotoxine does net possess alkaline properties, and there- 
fore ought not to be regarded as a vegetable alkali, but as a peculiar bitter 
principle. , 

M. Boullay, in reply, confesses, on the authority of Vauquelin, that his 
menispermic acid is a mixture of sulphuric and malic acids, coloured by 
vegetable matter. He also admits that picrotoxine has no alkaline reac- 
tion, and cannot neutralize an acid. M. Casaseca is therefore quite justi- 
fied.. The picrotoxine can, however, combine with acids, and forms crys- 
tallizable compounds with the acetic and nitric acids.—Journal de Phar- 
macie, for Feb. 1826. 


18. Prize Questwns of the Parisian Society of Pharmacy for 1826. 
Ist, To determine the essential phenomena which accompany the trans- 
formation of organic substances into acetic acid during the act of fermen- 
tation. 
2d, Is the formation of acetic acid always preceded by the production of 
alcohol, in the same manner as the production of sugar precedes that of 
alcohol in the vinous fermentation ? 


Mineralogy. 185 


3d, What are the substances which may serve as a ferment for the ace- 
tous fermentation, and what are the essential characters of these kinds of 
ferments ? 

4th, What influence does the air exert over the acetous fermentation ? 
Is its presence essential ? In which case how does it act? Is its office the - 
same asin the alcoholic fermentation, or, if absorbed, does it become a con- 
stituent part of the acid, or give rise to foreign products ? 

5th, Finally, To establish a theory of the acetous fermentation in har- 
mony with all the facts observed. 

The Society will give a medal worth 1000 francs to the author who shall 
solve all the proposed questions completely. Or, if not entirely solved, the 
Society will grant a medal worth 500 francs to the person who treats the 
greatest number of questions in a satisfactory manner. 

The memoirs to be written in French or Latin, and to be delivered to 
M. Henry, Secretary of the Society, before the 1st of April 1827. A 
motto is to be attached to the paper, corresponding to that on a sealed 
packet, containing the name of the author. Foreigners are invited to con- 
tend for the prize.—Journal de Pharmacie, Feb. 1826. 


III. NATURAL HISTORY. 


MINERALOGY. 

19. Selenium found in Bavaria.—Mr Hermann von Meyer, of Frankfort, 
has found this substance in the sulphuric acid made at Bodenmais in 
Bavaria. He has not re-examined ‘the one from which it is produced, 
and, therefore, he has not discovered whether it occurs in some particular 
combination, or is merely contained in the iron pyrites from which the 
acid is obtained, by first converting it into dry sulphate of iron, and then 
distilling the acid from it. 


20. Uran-bloom, a new mineral species.—Professor Zippe, of Prague, has 
given the following account of this mineral, which was sent to him as 
something new, by Mr Peschka, of Joachimsthal. It is of a very pure 
and bright yellow colour, between the lemon-yellow and sulphur-yellow 
tints. It occurs in crystalline fiakes, too small to allow of being deter- 
mined in respect to their regular form, and possessing but little lustre. 
It is very soft and opaque. When slightly heated before the blowpipe, 
the colour is changed into orange-yellow. The mineral is soluble with 
effervescence in acids, producing a yellow solution, which affords a brown 
precipitate by prussiate of potash. It appears, therefore, to be a carbo- 
bonafe of uranium. The uran-bloom has been found in a silver-vein, 
called the Elias, at Joachimsthal, in Bohemia, disposed on uranium-ore, 
along with the yellow oxide, and sometimes accompanied with pharmaco- 
lite. Itis distinguished from uran-ochre, chiefly by its stronger lustre 
and paler colour, and from sulphate of uranium, described by Professor 
John, by its insolubility in water. It appears to have been produced by 
the decomposition of the uranium-ore, on which it forms a coating. 
—Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft des Béhmischen Museums, vol. ii. 1824. 


186 Scientific Intelligence. 


21. New Localities of Rare Minerals. Levyne.—Professor Zippe, of 
Prague, has discovered this mineral in the cavities of an amygdaloidal rock, 
forming part of a collection of minerals from Greenland, sent to the Museum 
at Prague by Sir Charles Giesecké. The locality atached’ to the specimen 
- is Kognersoak, near Godhavn, in the island of Disco. It isin every re- 
spect similar to the variety from Dalsnypen in Faroe, established as a new 
species by Dr Brewster.* As at Dalsnypen, it is accompanied by Heulandite. 
Another variety was discovered by Mr Haidinger in the cavities of a rock of 
the same description, said to be from the Vicentine. Here it also occurs 
in twin crystals similar to those represented in Mohs’ Yreatise, (vol. ii. 
Fig. 194;) but it is associated chiefly with chabasite. It would be intee 
resting to inquire into the chemical difference of two species which are so 
very like each other in the whole disposition and physical quality of their 
faces of crystallization, while they differ in their angles, which are. 
==94° 46’ in chabasie, and 79° 29’ in Levyne. The mineral analyzed by 
Berzelius, under the name of Levyne, and mentioned in his last Account 
of the Progress of Chemistry, &c. t is, in fact, chabasie, with the other vas 
rieties of which it agrees also in its chemical composition. The form of 
Levyne has been likewise met with among the products of Hartfield-moss, 
near Glasgow. A twin crystal of considerable size, having this form, is 
preserved in the cabinet of Mr Allan. The plane perpendicular to the 
axis is, however, much smaller in comparison to the other faces, than in 
any of the other varieties. It is of a reddish colour, compact in its frac- 
ture, and opaque. This peculiar appearance, very different from the fresh- 
ness of the rest, is owing, perhaps, to some particular decomposition, or to 
the pseudomorphous formation of another mineral in the shape of Levyne. 
It is to be hoped that we shall soon become acquainted with the specific gra~ 
vity and other important characters, as well as the chemical composition of 
Levyne, which appears not to be such an exceedingly rare substance as 
was first supposed. 


22. Comptonite.—The neighbourhood of Aussig, in Bohemia, is very rich 
in varieties of this mineral, established as a new species by Dr Brewster, 
and which was hitherto believed to be confined to mount Vesuvius. At 
Aussig, it is generally found as a thin coating on the surface of reniform 
masses of a kind of mesotype. More rarely it is met with in small but very 
distinct single crystals, disposed within the cavities of the grey rock, well 
known as the matrix of the chabasites. Mr Haidinger found the same spe- 
cies in nearly transparent crystals, exactly similar to those from Vesuvius, 
and approaching to them also in size, in the cavities of a perfectly compact 
basalt from the Pflasterkaute, near Marksuhl, in Thuringia, a classical spot 
in the early history of the disputes concerning the igneous or aqueous origin 
of basalt. The Compontite is accompanied with small crystals of harmotome, 
and nearly opaque white crystals, having the shape of obtuse isosceles four= 
sided pyramids, of a mineral not yet sufficiently examined. 


23. Brewsterite-——Mr Bergemann of Berlin found a variety of this 


* See this Journal, yol. ii-.p. 332, ~ + See our last Number, p. 316, 


Zoology. 187 


species at the lead mines of St Turpet, in the Munster valley, near Frei- 
burg, in Brisgaw. It occurs in yellowish-white small and short prisms, 
and agrees, therefore, not only in its external appearance, but also in the 
kind of its natural repository, with the Brewsterite from Strontian. 


24. Selenium from Lukawitz in Bohemia.—There is a considerable 
manufactory of sulphuric acid, belonging to Prince Auersperg, at Luka- 
witz, in the circle of Chrudim in Bohemia. The selenium, as at Grips- 
holm in Sweden, is contained in the brownish mud deposited in the lead 
chambers. According to the experiments of Frofessor Steinmann of Prague, - 
this mud contains about four per cent. of selenium. The ore employed 
for extracting the sulphur is common iron pyrites, imbedded in mica- 
slate. Professor Steinmann, who already possesses upwards of six ounces 
of pure selenium, has contrived a method of concentration, by exposing a 
mixture of this sediment, or of the sulphur containing selenium, extracted 
from it by melting, and sulphuric acid, to a previous distillation. The 
greatest portion of the sulphur is oxidized and driven off in the shupe of 
sulphurous acid, leaving a residue in which the content of selenium is pre- 
dominant, to be treated afterwards, as usual, with nitro-muriatic acid. 
Sulphur, containing about twenty per cent. of selenium, of a more or less 
deep orange yellow, is sold at Prague, at the price of twelve shillings a 
pound. ‘Trials have been made, though hitherto unsuccessful ones, to 
mould the selenium in basso-relievos, representing the portrait of Berzelius. 


25. Zircon found at Scalpay in Harris.—Mr William Nicol, Lecturer on 
Natural Philosophy, has discovered fine crystals of Zircon in the primitive 
rocks in the island of Scalpay, Harris. 


ZooLoey. 

26. Two-Headed Snakes. —Dr Mitchill of New York has recorded the cu- 
rious fact of three double-headed serpents being found among a brood of 
young ones amounting to one hundred and twenty. The occurrence of si- 
milar monstrosities had led some naturalists to form the idea of these ano= 
malous animals forming a separate and well marked species ; but two-head- 
ed snakes being occasionally found in the West Indian and Polynesian 
Isles, in Great Britain, in Italy, and in the State of New York, renders it 
probable that these singular productions are not only of different species, 
but of different genera; and that, in fact, the whole of the instances which _ 
have been noticed, may be classed as deviations from the usual course of 
nature. 

** During the year 1823 (says Dr Mitchill) a female snake was killed 
about six miles west of the Genesee river, together with her whole brood of 
young ones, amounting to one hundred and twenty. Of these, three were 
monsters ; one with two distinct heads ; one with a double head; and only 
three eyes; and one with a double skull furnished with three eyes and 
single lower jaw ;—this last had two bodies. The figures, correctly drawn 
from the originals in my collection, represent the shape and size of the seve- 


188 Scientific Intelligence. 


ral individuals. (See Silliman’s Journ. vol. x. p. 48.) My friend, Dr Voight 
of Rochester, having heard of the occurrence, travelled to the place and in- 
quired into the facts. He procured the three which were deformed, and 
very obligingly placed them at my disposal. The dam, or mother, was of 
the sort called the Black Snake, or Runner, one of the most frequent and 
prolific of the New York serpents. The species is very well known, and 
is apparently the Coluber constrictor of Linneus, and Le Lien of La Ce- 
pede.” The monstrous individuals figured, are between four and five 
inches long. The full grown animal frequently attains the length of 
six feet. Dr Mitchill, a few years ago, had received from the Fejee 
Islands a two-headed serpent, four inches and three quarters in length ; 
and intelligence had reached him, when he was writing the previous notice, 
of a snake which had been taken near Lake Ontario with three heads, and 
which was to be sent to him.—Silliman’s Journal, vol. x. No. i. p. 48—53.- 


27. Mercantile importance of Snails.—M. de Martens states, that the 
annual export of snails (Helix pomatia) from Ulm, by the Danube, for 
the purpose of being used as food in the season of Lent by the convents of 
Austria, amounted formerly to ten millions of these animals. They were 
fattened in the gardens in the neighbourhood. This species of snail is not 
the only one which has been used as food ; for, before the revolution in 
France, they exported large quantities of the Helix aspersa from the 
coasts of Aunis and Saintonge in barrels for the Antilles. This species of 
commerce is now much diminished, though they are still sometimes sent 
to the Antilles and Senegal. 

The consumption of snails is still very considerable in the departments 
of Charente Inferieure and Gironde. The consumption in the Isle de 
Rhé alone is estimated in value at 25,000. franks ; and at Marseilles the | 
commerce in these animals is considerable. The species eaten are Helix 
rhodustoma, H. aspersa,and H. vermiculata. In Spain, in Italy, in Turkey 
and the Levant, the use of snails as food is common. It is only in Britain 
that the Roman conquerors have failed to leave a taste for a luxury which 
was so much used by the higher classes in ancient Rome ; though it 
would be very desirable, for the sake of the produce of our gardens, that 
some of the leaders of fashion in eating would, by introducing them at 
table, take the most effectual method of keeping our native species within 
due bounds.—Bull. des Sciences Nat. 1825, No. 10, p. 247. 


BOTANY. 


28. Botany of New South Wales.—In the “‘ Geographical Memoirs of 
New South Wales,’ lately published by Mr Baron Field, there is a valu- 
able memoir by Mr Allan Cunningham, Botanical Collector for his Majes- 
ty’s gardens at Kew, upon the “‘ botany of the mountainous country, be- 
tween the colony round Port Jackson and the settlement of Bathurst ; be- 
ing a portion of the result of observations made in Oct. Noy. and Dec. 
1822, and disposed according to the natural orders. Several new specimens 


are described, and the whole is rendered particularly valuable by the ob- 
4 


Botany—Generai Science. 189 


servations on the geographical distribution of vegetables. Supplementary 
to this memoir, is given an account of a new genus of plants of the natural 
order Bignoniacee, named Fieldia, in honour of Mr Baron Field, which 
was discovered by Mr Cunningham in 1823, on the Blue Mountains, grow= 
ing in shady forests which abound in the tree-ferns, * ( Dicksonia Antarc= 
tica, Labill. Cibotium, Kaulfuss.) 

Upon entering the dark shades of these forests, the traveller is forcibly 
struck with the change of appearance of the timbers, from the Eucalypti 
of the open country, to species of other genera not to be found in situa- 
tions of dry exposure.” 


IV. GENERAL SCIENCE. 


29. The waters of Salt Springs raised by Carburetted Hydrogen Gas, in 
the State of Ohio.—In the western parts of the State of Ohio, a discharge of 
carburetted hydrogen invariably accompanies all the salt water that has been 
discovered. The gas is highly inflammable, and where there is a free dis- 
charge of it, it will take fire on the surface of the water on the application 
of a lighted stick, or the flash of a gun, and continue burning for days, 
unless put out by a heavy shower or high wind. It is this discharge of gas 
that brings the salt water from such vast depths in the bowels of the earth 
to the surface ; and where salt water has been discovered, and the supply 
of gas has failed, the water has immediately sunk in the well, and could 
not, by any means used, be brought again to the top of the well. On the 
little Muskingun, they have sunk two wells which are now more than 
400 feet. One of them affords a strong and pure salt water, but not in 
great quantity. The other discharges such vast quantities of petroleum, 
and is subject to such tremendous explosions of gas, as to force out all the 
water, and afford nothing but gas for several days, that they make but 
little or no salt. The petroleum affords considerable profit, and is in 
demand for lamps in work-shops-—Professor Silliman’s American Journal, 
vol. x. p. 5. 


* The following note by Mr Cunningham upon this plant, will give some idea of 
the curious vegetation of these regions. ‘‘ This beautiful tree-fern, he says, whick 
was originally discovered at the southern extremity of Van Diemen’s Island, where 
alone it had hitherto been observed, I found it also very general, in the dark forests 
on the mountain named by the Aborigines Tomah, which is distant from the Hawkes- 
bury Ford, at Richmond, about 20 miles. Some of the caudices or trunks of these 
trees are thirty-five feet in height, and measure from 12 to 16 inches in diameter 
at the base. The stupendous size and extraordinary windings of the climbers with- 
in these shades, particular of a Cistus with quinate leaves, whose supple stems mea- 
sured from 20 to 24 inches in the circumference, the weight of the parasitical Orchi- 
dee, Filices, &c. borne by them, as they swing to the violent winds of these elevat- 
ed lands, adding to the grandeur and magnificent appearance of the tree-ferns, 
failed not to picture to me, and impress me with that exuberance of tropical scene- 
ry, which, in New South Wales, is occasionally to be observed in the higher lati- 
tudes, (particularly at the Five Islands.) 


190 Meteorological Observations made at Leith. 


Art. XLI.—Meteorological Observations made at Leith, by Messrs 
CotpstrEAM and Foceo. Communicated by the Authors. 


Leith, January 5, 1826.—T we afternoon of this day was stormy ; much 
rain fell, and the wind blew strongly from the east and south-east. Mean 
temperature of the day 36°.25. Dew point at noon 33°.5. At 7 P.M., 
through narrow openings in the nimbi, with which the whole sky was fill- 
ed, we perceived beams of an Aurora Borealis, of a silvery colour and 
lustre ; they appeared at intervals between the dark clouds for about an 
hour. At the same time, portions of a broad arch of light were observed 
about 25° south of the zenith, 

January 6.—Much rain fell to-day. Wind east. Very boisterous. 

January 16.—Since the 7th, the daily minima of temperature have al- 
ways been below 30°. The average of the daily mean temperatures during 
the interval is 26°.3. The frost was most intense this morning, when, at 
7 o'clock, the thermometer stood here at 15°.* Except on the loth, when 
a fog prevailed, and a little snow fell, the sky was unclouded during the 
whole period of the continuance of the frost ; and sometimes the sun’s rays 
had considerable power. The minimum temperature on the 10th was 
22°.5; but, after the fog and snow, the temperature rose to 34°.5, and 
the dew point from 23° to 29°. The minimum of the 11th was 25°.5 ; 
dew point still 29° ; but, on the 12th, the dew point fell to 20°, and, on 
the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th, we had minimum temperatures always un- 
der 19°. This morning the deposition of the icy crystals of hoar-frost 
was very abundant on all surfaces freely exposed to the atmosphere, parti- 
cularly, as is often the case, on the windward sides of objects. A gentle 
breeze had blown from the south-west during the preceding night, and 
between one and two o'clock a.m. an Aurora was seen. From sunrise till 
2 o clock p.m. the fog was very dense ; at that time it became less so, and 
some snow fell; about 7 Pp. m. more snow fell, and the temperature rose to 
33°. 

January 17.—The temperature remained during the whole night a 
little above the freezing point ; and this morning, at 9 o'clock, the ther 
mometer stood at 40°. It is perhaps worthy of notice, that although the 
temperature of the external air was thus high, that of the interior of houses 
remained very low, so that ice of considerable thickness was formed in 
rooms, where, during the preceding severe frosts, little had appeared ; and 
this occurred in houses having walls of moderate thickness, and whose ex- 
posure is very free. The deposition of moisture on all buildings, &c. was 
of course very profuse. 

February 4.—To-day, at noon, the thermometer in the. shade beings at 
45°, the force of the solar rays was found to be 30°, which is certainly vey. 
great for this period of the year. 


* At Canaan Cottage, three miles more inland, and 240 feet more elevated than 
our place of observation, Mr Adie’s register thermometers indicated a minimum 
temperature at the same time of 10°.—An account of the Great Cold in Inverness- 
shire and Aberdeenshire will be given in next Number. 


Meteorological Observations made at Leith. 191 


February 11.—An Aurora of considerable brilliancy was seen in the 
evening. The day had been clear, with bright sunshine. Mean tempera- 
ture 42°, Wind west. 

February 27.—Since the 18th, the weather has been very stormy. 
Winds S. W. Temperature ranging between 31° and 52°. Pressure very 
variable. 

March 10.—A very high temperature for the season occurred to-day ; 
the maximum haying been 71° in the shade. The sky was clear and 
cloudless. Wind variable, but chiefly east and west. Dew point 47°. 

March 14.—Since the 10th, the weather has been particularly clear and. 
pleasant. Wind S.E, Pressure always above 30 inches. The minimum 
temperature of the preceding night was 31° ; so that within eighty hours 
we have had a range of temperature of 40°. 

In the evening much rain fell, and the wind veered to W. 

"March 29.—Immediately after the fading of the evening twilight, at 
8" 15’ ve. m., a bright luminous ray was seen to rise from the eastern hori- 
zon, gradually to extend itself towards the zenith, and thence towards the 
western horizon, presenting, when completed, the appearance of an arch of 
silvery light, similar to that seen here on the 19th March 1825. 

When first formed, it was a few degrees to the north of the zenith of 
this place ; the light in the centre was rather diffuse ; its edges were irre- 
_ gular ; and the western limb had, as it were, a plumose appearance. It 
soon evinced a decided motion towards the south, and in a few minutes 
reached our zenith. Its edges were now sharply defined ; and throughout 
its whole course it was nearly uniform in appearance and breadth: the in- 
tensity of its light in the zenith had increased ; while, in the same quarter; 
the breadth had considerably diminished. 

The direction it now had was very nearly at right angles with the mag- 
netic meridian. 

At half-past eight, faint beams of the Aurora began to rise from the 
northern horizon, and at one time promised to form a splendid display ; 
but the coruscations never became very vivid ; they were not rapid in their 
motions, and did not flit along the horizon, 

The arch still continued its motion towards the south, and in 15 mi- 
nutes passed through a space of about 20°. Its southern edge reached a 
point about 24° or 25° south of the zenith, beyond which it did not go. 
The light now became gradually fainter, and at length disappeared. 

Meanwhile the Aurora in the north continued to play, but with no in- 
crease of vividness. For some minutes, soon after 9 o’clock, we observed 
broad bands of light, having their longer axes (which generally subtended 
angles of about 18° or 20°) parallel with the horizon, darting with great 
velocity across the illuminated space from E. to W., and from W. to E. 
These formed, ran their course, and vanished in a moment: they had no 
vertical motion, but they appeared at various degrees of elevation, never 
higher, however, than 30°. Soon after this interesting (and, perhaps, un- 
usual) display, the beams disappeared, and nothing was left but a diffuse 

luminousness along the horizon. 

March 30.—Minimum temperature of the preceding night, 31°. Wind 
N. and N. W, Weather fine. 


192 Celestial Phenomena, JulyeOctober 1826. 


Art. XLII—CELESTIAL PHENOMENA, 
From July 1st to October 1st 1826. Adapted to the Meridian of Green- 
wich, Apparent Time. 


N. B.—The day begins at noon, and the conjunctions of the Moon and 
* Stars are given in Right Ascension. 


JULY. Dai! MoS 

D 4H. M Sz 10 14 16 47 ¢)¢ 

L 9 200 11¢)AB ‘}10 19 41 50¢)e= 
119 2 50¢;)2% 8 ll 0 15 2g)ax 

2 12 30 30¢)7% ll 56 5 9G)IZM 
3 4 19. 3946) 2% Il 5 6 84g )242T™ 
3 14 41 40¢) 12 10 59 53 ¢ )p Oph. 

4 19 36 18 @ New Moon 13 8 0 Wg )left 
5 22 50 24¢)9 13. 8 35 554 )2e fF 
6 23 35 50¢ )laae 14 10 5 50¢)af 

7 0 47 3146 )2eq5 14 18 41 400¢)H 
Tar is 104 ye 1 13 13 13¢)BV 

BE G9 GAS-4 7 3) ee HY 16 14 15 —Q neare I 
9 5 51 40¢)% 17. 5 14 13Q) Full Moon. 
9 9 24 26Em. I. Sat. 2/ 23 6 1 58 (©) enters NY 
12 1 24 27 ) First Quarter. 23 23 22 5g )cP 
12-6 4.44 ¢) 2 25 3 9 11 ( Last Quarter. 
1312 52 583¢)¢ 9% 4 27 2d)7B 

14 13 54 42 ¢)e=% 26 20 29 54d) EB 

15 17 S OH 27 18 37 106) 

14 18 22 38g )ax 27 20 6 64)" 
14 2 6 12¢)1eM 30 2 20 —ink d6@Y 
14 23 7 Beret 30 15 36 34¢)1laao 
16 4 16 204 ) > Oph. 30.16 46 38¢)2aa5 
16 19 do Pa §L 31 21 15 ng 203 
17-09 48017 6) 1a ft 

Ia AZ 586) 2 «FT SEPTEMBER. 

1g 2 10 62d)a ft Ly 105 4ir 30582) 3 

18 12 21 2d)H 1 17 42 10 @ New, Moon 
18 19 12 3Q) Full Moon. 2 14 38 43¢)7 

19 4°46 390) 41% 4 17 ge 39-4 TE 
22 23 34 55 (©) enters §2, 4 17 39 5446): 
24 19 40 —dgoaeNQ 5 0 10 5004¢)29 
26 9 3 27 ( Last Quarter. del 9 29°45 

2f 15-28-1646) oP 47) 45. AY 23,6 ix 
29 2 40 49g )2x%B 7 10 30 I1¢)14M 
29 20 12 28¢)7B 7 10 31 2gdjy2em 
30712" "4-32-40 ) oo 8 CERI IN Se PEI) erry 

Shy 6) 1) 2236 PH 8 0 2 30¢ 

31 11 25 34¢)+7 0 8 11 44 35 ) First Quarter 
31 20 48 15 9 near Y/ 8 16 29 16 )e Oph. 

9 13 438 31d )le ft 
AUGUST. 9 14 19 400¢)2u ye 

1 © Greatest Elong 10 & Greatest Elong. 
3. 7 21 14 @ New Moon. 10 16 15 544 )a 

4 ty" 44-227 2 os 10 23 40 40¢)H 

4 12 39 Bd)r Kh 12 19 55 57d )4PK 

5 10 40 —d)o 15 17 56 52©) Full Moon 
bi. Sap 093 y AF o 2A enl+ IE 

& 6 17.54) 9 20 20 20 — & A Oph. 
8 10 37 176 )aty 22 12 28 334 )2% 

8 ll 16 4346): Tp 23° 2 39 34 ©) enters= 

9 5 0 —@Q near # TY 23 .4 438 204¢)€8 

19 6 14 8-) First Quarter. 23 21 32 10 ( Last Quarter 


‘Celestial Phenomena, July=-October 1826. 193 


Digeo ee. S- D He M Ss 
24 4 42 4 ¢)70 28 7 2 IT g pen 
ae 6.4 4046 DH 30 7 54 5446) % 
27 7 25 45 Mere) 30 10 26 51g )Y 
27 2 36 4746 )2a95 30 11 10 56¢)9% 
Times of the Planets passing the Meridian. 
JULY. 
Mercury. Venus. Mars. Ceres. Jupiter. Saturn. Georgian. 
Dh ATR Rie h , hea! BC h ion 4S se 
1 0 36 2 5 7 36 ll 54 4 SG gle G . iar oF 
5 0 54 2 8 7 23 ll 3) 3 52 22 51 12 40 
10s>.0 313 2 il Lees RM 78 3.35 22 33 12 18 
15" A +27 2 44 6 54 10 41 3 2A $22). 16 DES a7 
20 ——-4 8637. 217 6 42 10°21 ot B2h 759 .¢ 1k 36 
25 1 43 2-19 6 29 9 55 2 44 21 42 #11 1 
AUGUST. 

Dh Seddiaid DDD 6 15 9 23 2 22-21 18 § 10-46 
Ds ail ng Ce 2-24 Gi Pied 9 3 2-9 ie “4 10 30 
los 134 2 26 5 58 & 45 1 54 0 48 410 #10 
1 earn Pama 2 28 5 80 8 29 1 39 20 35 9 50 
20 0 58 2 31 5 43 8 4 1 24 20 15 9 3l 
28 0 29 2 33 5 37 q 49 Pee RIG (5s 9° -Tl 

SEPTEMBER. 

1 23 35 2 36 5 29 7.25 0 49. 19 35 8 47 
5 23 14 2 39 5 25 7. 13 0 38 #+19 19 8 32 
16 22 58 2 42 5 21 6 57 0-24-5195 8 14 
15 22 55 2 45 5 17 6 42 OF stGee a= 49 7 56 
20 23 «3 2 48 5 13 6 24 23 53 .18 32 7 38 
25 23 «16 2 dl 5 10 6 33 21 39 218 15 7 20 

Declination of the Planets. 
JULY. 
Mercury. Venus. Mars. Ceres. Jupiter. Saturn. Georgian. 
i / ° , ° , ° ‘ e ‘ es / e , 

1 24 8N 1955N 1527S 2810S 9 4N 2227N 19 38S 
i. 22: \0 17 54 16 3 28 33 8 42 22 28 19 37 
16 17 38 14 19 a7 cnge 28 58 8 7 22 29 19 36 
22 14 6 12 40 17 51 29 17 7 34 22 29 19 35 
28 10 32 8 56 18 38 29 23 ey 22 29 19 34 

AUGUST. 

1 S816N 656N 1912S 29 33S 6 59N 2229N 19 33S 
a -9 15 3 55 20 2 29 39 6 30 22 29 19 32 
TG S225 -113S 2115 29 46 5 57 22 28 19 30 
22° «6-2 25 3.15 22 4 29 50 5 28 22 27 19 29 
28 = 4 21 620 2250 29 54 4 58 22 27 19 28 


SEPTEMBER. 


1 626N 850N 2315S 2952S 428N 2226N 19 295 
7 9 24 ll 44 23 53 29 52 3 57 22. 25 19 28 
16 10 20 15 47 24 38 29 5l 3 12 22 24 19 _ 28 
22 8 5 18 17 24 49 29 50 2 46 22 23 19, 28 
28 418 20 40 25 15 29 49 2 15 22 22 19327 


The preceding numbers will enable any person to find the positions of 
the planets, to lay them down upon a globe, and determine their rising 
and settings. 

VOL. V. NO. I. JULY 1826. N 


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——. | - —— } | —— | ——— | ———— 


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g¢ Gb | ob Lb 86 | WL 
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tg gg |9¢ 9g 9% | “S 
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SV'63| Ob'6a||9°Lb | 09 | Sb 
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1G¢°6a|| 6S | 99 | 6¢ 0g 
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CL'6c| S6°6a|| 9b | 89 | Fe S"6 
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THE 


EDINBURGH 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


Art. I.— Account of a Voyage to Madeira, Brazil, Juan Fer- 
nandez, and the Gallapagos Islands, performed in 1824 and 
1825, with a view of examining their Natural History, &c. 
By Mr Scovuter. Communicated by the Author. 


Axrnovcu the public are already in possession of many voy- 
ages to the Pacific Ocean, yet, as the places I had an oppor- 
tunity of visiting are seldom frequented by Europeans, and 
as the natural history of the North West Coast of America 
is still but imperfectly known, the remarks contained in the fol- 
lowing Journal may perhaps be interesting. 

The voyage of Captain Vancouver, and the journeys of Sir 
A. M‘Kenzie, and of Captains Lewis and Clarke, have laid open 
the geography of these remote regions, and added some valuable 
contributions to our knowledgeof theirnatural productions. The 
botanical investigation of the North West Coast by Mr Menzies 
was as complete and extensive as its survey by Captain Van- 
couver, and it is only to be regretted that some equally active 
zoologist had not accompanied this expedition. The overland 
journey of Captains Lewis and Clarke enriched the American 
Flora with many new and curious plants, whose descriptions 
form the most interesting part of Pursh’s work on North 
American plants. Little need be said recommendatory of the 
zoological riches of a country which possesses such a variety 
of animals of the tribe Rodentia or Gnawers, from the Beaver 
down to the Marmot and Squirrel, and which contains the Vudéur 

VOL. V. NO. It. OCTOBER 1826. oO 


196 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


Californianus, with many other rare or nondescript species of 
the Eagle tribe. 

The Hudson’s Bay Company, with an honourable zeal to ad- 
vance the knowledge of those extensive regions which are with- 
in the sphere of their commercial exertions, were anxious to 
have a surgeon, (in their vessel about to undertake a voyage 
to the Columbia River,) who, in addition to his professional ac- 
quirements, was qualified to make collections in the various 
branches of natural history. Through the kind recommenda- 
tions of Dr Hooker and Dr Richardson, I had the good fortune 
to meet with the company’s approbation, and was appointed to 
visit the North West Coast of America. To the encouragement 
of the company, and the cheerful assistance I obtained from 
their servants, I am entirely indebted for the numerous excur- 
sions and extensive collection I was enabled to make. As it 
is to the Hudson’s Bay Company I am indebted for the means 
of making my collection, so, on my return, the objects I had 
procured would have been of very little use to the public, un- 
less I had enjoyed the assistance of Dr Hooker, and the free 
use of his extensive library. The following paper, containing 
an account of our voyage from London to the Gallapagos, &e. 
will be continued in a future number, when some papers of a 
more scientific nature may also be communicated.* 

On the 25th July 1824 we left Gravesend, with every thing 
necessary for the preservation of plants and animals. In a me- 
dical point of view we were also excellently supplied. Every 
article, either of medicine or food, which could in any degree 


* While in London I received much important information from Dr 
Richardson and Mr Menzies with respect to the countries I was about to 
examine. ‘The knowledge acquired from Mr Menzies was peculiarly inte- 
resting, as he had already explored the very coast I had to visit, and cheer- 
fully allowed me at all times to examine the plants he had collected on the 
North West Coast, and to direct my attention to those which were most like- 
ly to be useful when cultivated in this country. Through his advice I was 
induced to pay particular attention to the seeds of Gualiheria Shallon, 
which have already produced young plants in the Botanic Garden at Glas- 
gow. Dr Richardson also gave me much instruction with regard to the best 
means of preserving animals, a subject on which his advice was of the ut- 
most value; and I was farther indebted to him for specimens of many of 
those interesting plants he had collected while engaged in the Arctic expe- 
dition. 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 197 


contribute to our comfort, or assist in preventing scurvy, was 
liberally provided. But the best evidence of the prudence of 
the means employed is their success; and it may be stated 
that, during a long voyage of twenty-two months, we never 
once could detect a symptom of scurvy on any individual in 
the vessel. In the prospect of a long voyage, I esteemed my- 
self fortunate in having for a companion Mr Douglas, a zea- 
lous botanist, who was engaged by the Horticultural Society of 
London to explore the vegetable treasures of the North West 
Coast of America. 

During our voyage from London to Madeira nothing occur- 
red to attract the attention of the naturalist, and, as the wea- 
ther was agreeable, we employed ourselves in making those ar- 
rangements which our new mode of living required. Since 
leaving England, the only animal we saw was the Procellaria 
pelagica (Petrel,) which became more numerous as we ap- 
proached the land. On the 9th August we saw the island of 
Porto Santo, and afterwards that of Madeira, which, to use 
the expression of Spix and Martius, * appeared to float like a 
pleasant garden on the bosom of the ocean ;” but we were so 
detained by the calmness of the weather that it was the even- 
ing of the 10th before we came to anchor off Funchal. Next 
morning, impatient to make the most of our limited time, we 
proceeded to the interior of the island. On leaving the coast 
wefound ourselves among the vallies of this fertile island, which 
present the appearance of one continued vineyard, interspersed 
with fields of the esculent Arwm, and groves of Sugar-canes ; 
at a greater elevation these vegetables disappear, and are re- 
placed by the Chesnut-tree and the Myrtle ; and the steep sides 
of the Pica da Cruz are only supplied with the heath and a few 
grasses and ferns common to alpine regions. Although we 
collected a considerable variety of plants and insects, the re- 
sults of our journey were far from satisfying our too sanguine 
expectations. The phenogamous plants were sufliciently 
known to us, and the alpine regions afforded but a poor sup- 
ply of Lichens and Mosses. idee 

Yo give any detailed description of an island so well known 
as Madeira would be superfluous, and to acquire a knowledge 
of its productions during our short visit was impossible, The 


198 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


island consists of steep hills, intersected by numerous deep val- 
lies, which are generally watered by some small rivulet, whose 
supplies are obtained from the melting of the mountain snows. 
The rocks are of a blackish colour, inclining to blue, and the 
decomposition of the basalt affords a favourable soil for the 
growth of the grape. 

The fortunate situation of Madeira, placed between the 
limits of the temperate and torrid zones, enables the inha- 
bitants of this favoured clime to cultivate the plants of two 
climates. The common potato grows in company with the 
esculent Arum, and the Date of the east with the Banana, and 
the Fuschia coccinea is seen in company with the Vinca and 
Lonicera. In the course of our excursion we visited the mo- 
nastery of Nossa Senhora del Monte, surrounded by groves of 
chesnut-trees, and the cultivation of its garden seemed to 
form the chief amusement of its inhabitants, who have adorn- 
ed their retired abode with some of the finest plants of Eu- 
rope and America. At sunset the chiming of the. bells re- 
minded us that it was time to return to the vessel, while our 
strange pursuits had attracted the notice of the islanders, and 
seemed to have excited their contempt. Next morning we 
left Madeira, and by the 15th August our proximity to the tro- 
pic was indicated by the abundance of flying-fish. we now saw ; 
and, in the dull monotony of a long voyage, it was no small. 
pleasure to preserve and dissect even these well-known ani- 
mals, 

On entering the tropical regions, the marine Zoophytes be- 
come more abundant, and we had now every opportunity of wit- 
nessing that beautiful though still obscure phenomenon, the 
luminous appearance of the ocean. We fortunately were suc- 
cessful in procuring one of the most interesting of the phos- 
phorescent inhabitants of the Atlantic. Since we had left the 
temperate zone, we were delighted by the brilliancy of a trapi- 
cal sun, and the clear and serene sky, where a cloud or a shower 
are regarded as an agreeable novelty, and where, in the even- 
ing, the deep azure colour of the waves is replaced by flashes of 
vivid phosphorescence ; but as we approached the equator, the 
weather became squally and cloudy, attended by frequent 
though moderate thunder storms, which generally prevail im 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 199 


the vicinity of the line. On the evening of the 8d Septem- 
ber, during one of these squalls, the sea became so uncom- 
monly luminous as to attract even the attention of the sailors ; 
and on bringing up a bucket of water, we found it contained 
some beautiful specimens of the Pyrosomu atlanticum of Pe- 
ron. It was probably from the phosphorescence of this animal 
that the sea acquired its uncommon brilliancy. This animal, 
or rather aggregation of animals, is about two inches long, and | 
as thick as the finger, somewhat cylindrical and diaphanous. 
On its surface are numerous scattered tubercles; at one ex- 
tremity is a circular orifice, which opens into a central cavity ; 
the other extremity has a globular form, and has no vestige 
of an aperture. The central cavity extends through the body. 
On its surface are little yellowish papillae which appear to 
communicate with the external tubercles. At first sight the 
Pyrosoma might be mistaken for a solitary individual of the 
zoophyte class, but the researches of Cuvier prove that it is an 
assemblage of smaller animals united organically together. This 
animal we never found in any other part of the ocean,—a cir- 
cumstance in accordance with the observations of Peron, who 
remarks that these oceanic Mollusca and Zoophytes are by no 
means scattered indiscriminately over the ocean, but generally 
confined within definite geographical limits. See Peron, Voy- 
ages, t.i.p. 488. For a figure of the Pyrosoma, see Plate 30, 
Fig. 1 and 2 of the same work. 

On the 11th September we crossed the equator, but were 
detained for some time among the variable winds and heavy 
tropical showers. The sea-birds of the torrid zone, the tropi- 
eal bird ( Phaeton aethereus, ) and the man-of-war-bird ( Tachy- 
petes aquilus, ) were frequently to be seen, and seemed to be in 
alliance with the Bonito, (Scomber Pelamis, ) for maintaining 
a perpetual war with the flymg-fish. As we advanced to the 
south, the Procellaria Capensis, a beautiful species of Petrel, 
became very abundant, but though they greedily devour any 
fatty substance we throw overboard, all our endeavours to pro- 
cure one of them have as yet been unsuccessful. 

25th September.—The abundance of land-birds around us, 
and the number of butterflies which fluttered among the rig- 
ging, indicated the vicinity of land, and in the afternoon our 


200 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


expectations were realized by the sight of Cape Frio, the first 
land in the new world we had an opportunity of seeing. 

27th.— While sailing into the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, we 
were entirely o¢cupied in preparing to add to our collections a 
rich variety of specimens in every department of natural his- 
tory. From the deck of our vessel, the hills of Brazil, co- 
vered to their summits with the richest verdure, promised to 
satisfy the ardour of the most zealous botanist. 

28th.—To-day we landed near the Palace, whichis utterly un- 
worthy of being a royal residence ; and in our progress through 
the town, although some of the streets had a good appearance, 
no public edifice of any merit attracted our attention. 'The 
streets are narrow, and the houses are built of granite, with 
which the streets are also paved. The churches are numerous, 
but none of them are very remarkable for the beauty of their 
architecture, and the interior is distinguished only by a taste- 
less profusion of gilding. The city is supplied with water by 
fountains, which draw their supplies from the neighbouring hills 
by means of an aqueduct, which is certainly the most splendid 
and useful public edifice in South America. Rio also pos- 
sesses several useful institutions, which, however, are still in 
their infancy. There is a museum of natural history, which we 
had no opportunity of seeing during our stay in Brazil, as it 
was undergoing some repairs. In the town there is a sort of 
public garden, which contains some curious plants; but there is 
a much more extensive establishment at Botafogo, where are 
several interesting oriental trees and shrubs. In this garden the 
tea-plant, the bread-fruit, and the nutmeg-tree are cultivated. 

After visiting the town, we set out to examine the natural 
history of its environs. The coast attracted my chief attention, 
that I might have an opportunity of collecting some marine 
ei ae my expectations were not feeepeniad The 
number of crustaceous animals with which the shore abounds 
is astonishing, and the rocks are everywhere covered with fine 
species of Holothuria, sea-stars (Asteric,) and sea-anemones 
(Actinee,) &c. In this profusion of interesting objects, one 
is more perplexed in making a selection than in procuring 
specimens. In the afternoon I returned to the ship with a 
collection only limited by ability to carry it. 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 201 


29th.—The heavy showers prevented us from collecting 
many plants, as one is exposed in the woods to the double in- 
convenience of the wet and the mosquitoes. I was, however, 
fortunate in finding a friend, whose hospitality and knowledge 
of the couutry enabled me to spend my time to more advyan- 
tage than a stranger could otherwise have done. To Mr 
Boag I was further indebted for considerable additions to my 
collection of reptiles and insects, and in directing me to those 
places where the most interesting plants were to be found. 

80th.—The few days I had now to spend at Rio were occu- 
pied in making excursions to the neighbouring woods and 
hills. ~ But although plants were easily collected, they were 
rendered so moist by the frequent rains as to render the task 
of drying them extremely difficult. In these excursions, it is 
with intense curiosity one newly arrived from Europe visits the 
woods of a tropical country, and sees growing, in their native 
wildness, those plants which are cultivated with so much trouble 
and expence in more northern regions! Here one sees the Mela- 
stomae and Bauhiniae unregarded, except by the curious fo- 
reigner, and the trees of Europe rivalled in height by the ferns 
of the tropics. 

The most abundant rock in the neighbourhood of Rio is 
granite. Near the sea this rock is interesting, from the large 
size of the crystals of felspar and mica which enter into its 
composition ; some of the crystals of felspar were from two to 
three inches in length. In the vicinity of the coast this rock 
is protected from the influence of the weather by the dense 
vegetation which covers the soil. In ascending one of the 
neighbouring hills, the rocks are quite exposed, and destitute 
of vegetables : these rocks are of a white bleached appearance, 
and consist of decomposing granite, so altered, that its com- 
ponent minerals can scarcely be recognised. The summit of 
this hill is also composed of granite, but not in a decomposing 
state, like that lower down; nor is it of so coarse a texture as 
the granite of the coast. 

The crystals of mica and felspar are smaller, and the for- 
mer is of a deeper colour than it is near the sea. On this hill 
(Corcovado) the Brazilian government have a telegraph ; and 
no place could be better adapted for such a purpose, as it com- 
mands a beautiful and extensive view of the coast. To the 


202 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


north, Cape Frio is distinctly seen, while the city of Rio and 
the bay of Botafoga appear like a magnificent chart spread at 
the feet of the spectator. The fatigue of this journey is 
amply repaid by the beauty of the view; and the descent 
under a meridian sun is one of the most cheerful scenes 2 
naturalist can witness. The numberless variety of insects, dis- 
playing the most brilliant colours to advantage in the rays of 
the sun—the serpents and lizards issuing from their holes in 
quest of their prey,— exhibit an appearance of life and activity 
that cannot fail to please. 

No excursion in the vicinity of Rio can be more agreeable 
than exploring the Corcovado, in the vicinity of the aqueduct, 
where the traveller enjoys its cooling streams, and, for the 
same reason, finds animals more frequent in such a situation. 
Here one may procure an endless variety of insects,* and of the 
most curious reptiles, while the strange appearance of toucans, 
humming-birds, and parrots, pleases the ornithologist. In pro- 
ceeding further up the hill, the streams which supply the aque- 
duct spread over a large surface of granite rocks, in the form of 
gentle cascades. After leaving the cascades of Caryoca, the as- 
cent became more steep; but one had little reason to complain, 
as there was always a supply of cooling water at command, and 
curiosity was always kept awake by the variety of new objects 
which attract attention. In this situation the Bignonia Cham- 
belaint grows in great abundance. During this excursion, I 
was often interrupted by the unfortunate slaves, who seemed 
to be aware of the nature of my occupations, and brought me 
many fine insects for a small pecuniary reward ; one of them 
brought me a fine living specimen of a beautiful snake, Coluber 
VENUSLLSSEMUS. 

On the 13th October we left Rio, and proceeded on our 
voyage to Cape Horn, our progress southward was soon in- 
dicated by a corresponding change of climate. The absence 
of the tropic bird and man-of-war-bird, (T'achypetes,) and 
other inhabitants of the torrid zone, was now compensated by 
the appearance of the petrels and albatrosses of the southern 
hemisphere. We succeeded in procuring plenty of specimens 
of the Cape petrel, (Procellaria Capensis,) by means of a fish- 


* Papilio Torquatus, Pandrosus, Evander, Colias, Statira, Thecea, Ga- 
lathea. 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 203 


hook bated with a little suet; while off the Patagonian coast 
we caught about 200 individuals, which, notwithstanding their 
fishy flavour, were not disliked by the sailors. The Petrel, 
when caught, never fails to vomit a considerable quantity of 
yellowish oily fluid on his enemy, and on dissection the source 
of this supply is easily detected. The first stomach is large 
and membranous, and thickly set with numerous glandular 
follicles, which appear to be the organs which secrete this oily . 
fluid, the only defensive weapon this animal possesses. The 
Petrel lives chiefly on the minute crustacea, as we found no 
other kind of animals in the numerous stomachs we examined. 

29th.—For several days past great quantities of sea-weed have 
floated past us, and we at last succeeded in procuring a mass of 
this fucus, which, on examination, proved to be the F’. pyriferus. 
The roots of this plant abounded in marine animals, forming 
a little floating menagerie of crustacea and zoophytes. We 
obtained five species of sertularia, two species of testaceous 
mollusca, two sea-stars, (Asteri@,) two fine species of Cancer’, 
an Echinus, and a Hirudo. 

4th November.—We have now got round Cape Horn with- 
out experiencing any of those dreadful storms which are far 
more alarming in the journals of travellers than off the coast 
of Terra del Fuego. The chief difficulty arises from the con- 
stant westerly winds; but in the summer season probably 
little danger is to be apprehended. 

8th.—'This morning we were nearly becalmed, and had abun- 
dance of albatrosses in the vicinity of the ship. In the course 
of an hour we succeeded in procuring forty specimens, all of 
the dark-coloured variety, D. fuliginosa. Some of these birds 
measured seven feet between the tips of the wings. Their 
weight did not correspond well with their size, as they generally 
weighed about five pounds. This was owing to the very thick 
plumage with which they were provided. The physiognomy of 
the albatross is very remarkable ; its flat head and crooked bill 
give it some resemblance to the owl, which is much heighten- 
ed by its large eyes and very convex cornea,—a structure 
which renders it probable that this animal seeks its food chiefly 
during twilight. The cesophagus of this bird is furnished at 
its upper part with an apparatus similar to what we find in the 


204 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


gullets of the marine turtles, and probably for a similar use, 
as the albatross lives principally on molluscous animals of the 
genus Sepia. 

As we advanced to the north, the D. fuliginosa became more 
scarce, while the larger species, the D. ewulans, appeared more 
abundant ; and, as far as our experience goes, we always found 
that the dark leaden-coloured species was more plentiful in high 
latitudes, and that the D. evulans always approached nearer 
the confines of the tropics. The last named species is by far 
the largest of aquatic birds; one of them we examined mea- 
sured twelve feet between the extremities of the wings, and 
weighed eighteen pounds. ‘The feathers of this species 
abounded in a large species of Ricinus, and in their intestinal 
canal we found two intestinal worms,—the one was an Ascaris, 
which inhabited the cesophagus, and the other was a Tenia, 
which abounded in the great intestines. 

14th December.—This forenoon we saw the island of Mas- 
safuero, bearing N.N.E.; and the appearance of land, how- 
ever inaccessible, is always agreeable, especially during a te- 
dious voyage. This island had a rugged appearance, termi- 
nating in steep, almost perpendicular, rocks, which render 
it of very difficult access. The highest land might be about 
200 feet above the level of the sea. The only inhabi- 
tants of this rock are the goats and seals; and on account 
of the latter it was frequently visited by vessels occupied in 
killing seals, and carrying their skins to China. The master 
of one of these vessels, alike destitute of every principle of ho- 
nour and humanity, formed the design of taking away a num- 
ber of the inhabitants of Easter Island, and leaving them to 
kill seals for him on this desolate spot. With this intention he 
proceeded to Easter Island, and after seizing a number of the 
unsuspecting natives who had visited the ship, and secured 
his unhappy victims, he resumed his voyage to finish his 
scheme. After being three days at sea, they were allowed to 
come on deck, under the idea that distance from land would 
have rendered them tractable, as all hopes of again seeing their 
native island must now be at an end. In this, however, he was 
disappointed, for they all leaped overboard, expecting to swim 
to Easter Island. The boat was sent to pick them up, but 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 205 


they preferred death to slavery, and, by their dexterous div- 
ing, successfuily eluded the pursuit of the sailors. They were 
seen to swim away in different directions, as each thought was 
most direct to their native island, which they were never to re- 
visit. 

At a distance Juan Fernandez brings to recollection the 
appearance of Madeira, only its superior verdure is rendered 
doubly charming by the vast extent of ocean one traverses be- . 
fore he can visit its fertile valleys. The island was approached 
with equal interest by every one in the vessel, but with differ- 
ent feelings; the seamen regarded it as classic ground, from 
the romance connected with its history, and the naturalists ex- 
pected many additions to their collections, ina land as yet un- 
touched by the botanist. 

15th.—We landed in a small bay at the northern extre- 
mity of Juan Fernandez, and hastened to explore the hills 
whose verdure promised us abundance of plants. The level 
land near the coast had more resemblance to a European corn- 
field than to a desolate valley of the Pacific Ocean, being en- 
tirely overgrown with oats, interspersed in different places with 
wild carrots. On penetrating through the corn-fields, we dis- 
covered a small cavern excavated from the decomposing rock, 
and bearing evident traces of having been recently inhabited. 
A kind of substitute for a lamp was suspended from the roof, 
and the quantity of bones scattered about showed there was 
no scarcity of provisions on the island. A little to the eastward 
of this strange abode, our curiosity was amply gratified by a 
beautiful example of romantic scenery. A natural arch, about 
seven feet in height, admitted us to a small bay, bounded on 
all sides by steep perpendicular rocks, continually washed by 
the waves. ‘The almost inaccessible crags afforded a secure 
retreat to the sea-birds, which resort thither to deposit their 
eggs. These rocks are of a more volcanic appearance than 
those of Madeira, and contain many small crystals of a green- 
coloured mineral. This bay abounded in sponges, which had 
been washed ashore, and many of them in a very fine state. 
We succeeded, though with much difficulty, in detaching some 
specimens of a species of Cerastium, which grew on the surface 
of the rocks. 


206 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacijic Ocean. 


Having satisfied our curiosity respecting the shore, we pro- 
ceeded up the valley, in expectation of finding more plants. 
Here we found a little stream of excellent water, which was 
first detected by its rippling, as its surface was entirely con- 
cealed from our notice by the immense quantities of mint 
(Mentha piperita) and balm (Melissa officinalis) which grow 
on its margins. In the afternoon we returned to the ship, well 
satisfied with our excursion ; but the boat’s crew had procured 
very little water, as the stream lost itself in the sand about a 
mile and a half from the beach. 

17th.—This morning we landed in Cumberland Bay, which 
we found far better than the place we had visited yesterday, 
for procuring water and vegetables. On approaching the land- 
ing-place, we were surprised by the appearance of smoke aris- 
ing among the trees, and by seeing goats feeding near the 
shore. When we got ashore, we were much pleased by find- 
ing an Englishman, who welcomed us to the island, and offer- 
ed us all the assistance in his power. He told us, that, when 
our boat first made its appearance, he was afraid we had belonged 
to some Spanish privateers, and had concealed himself in the 
woods, as his little establishment had been formerly destroyed 
by these unwelcome visitors. Our new friend’s name was Wil- 
liam Clark; he had sailed from Liverpool several years ago, . 
and visited most places in the South Pacific. At present 
he belongs to a party of English and Chilians, employed in 
killing the goats and bullocks, which are plentiful here, and in 
remitting their flesh and skins to different parts of the Chilian 
coast. ‘The rest of the party had gone to the other side of the 
island, and would not return for a week. We were highly de- 
lighted with the beautiful situation where they had fixed their 
abode. <A fine stream of water ran into the bay, a few yards 
from the landing-place, and the house was situated amidst a 
shrubbery of Fuschia, mixed with peach and apple-trees. The 
sea abounded in fishes, and the fruits of Europe grew in the 
greatest profusion. In the vicinity of Cumberland Bay we saw 
the following foreign vegetables, chiefly European : oats, pears, 
apples, strawberries, peaches, vines, rue, mint, balm, radish, 
Indian cress, and figs. 

Our guide had very little European furniture in his house, 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 207 


but we were much surprised at the extent of his library, as he 
possessed upwards of twenty English books on different sub- 
jects. The most curious article he had was an iron pot with the 
bottom knocked out. It was, however, too valuable an article 
to be thrown away, and he had fitted a wooden one to it ; when 
he had occasion to boil any thing, he immersed it in the earth 
and kindled a fire round its sides. 

During our short excursion to the interior we had no occasion 
to complain of the poverty of the country, as it abounded in . 
the most beautiful plants and shrubs. The dry soil was co- 
vered by an evergreen Arbutus and a shrubby Campanula, 
(bell-flower,) and almost every sheltered rock afforded a differ- 
ent species of fern. During this excursion we were tempted to 
stop in the vicinity of the old fort by the abundance of ripe 
strawberries which grew on the sides of the hill; these straw- 
berries were of small size and pale colour, but of a very agree- 
able flavour. One curious circumstance is the redness of the 
soil in this situation, which is, however, much exaggerated by 
Lord Anson, when he says it equals vermilion in brightness ; 
but the redness of the ground was so inconsiderable that it 
would not have attracted our attention had we not been di- 
rected to it by Lord Anson’s statements.* 

Cumberland Bay used to be the favourite resort of the Eng- 
lish privateers and whalers; and in time of war its utility to 
them was so great as to excite the jealousy of the Spaniards, 
who, in 1765, constructed a battery mounting fifty guns, to 
command the harbour, and at the same time formed a set- 
tlement on the island; but in a few years this colony was 
abandoned. In 181] the island was resettled and used as a 
place of banishment for convicts from Chili. This attempt, 
however, like the preceding, was given up after a short trial. 
At present the island is seldom visited by ships, but is still 
the occasional residence of the adventurers employed in pro- 
curing cattle and fishing. ‘The battery, which still remains 


* These two statements may be reconciled by supposing that Lord An- 
son saw the soil when the sun was near the western horizon. We have seen 
the same soil exhibit the same discrepaney of colour under different cir- 
cumstances.—ED. 


208 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


almost uninjured, is situated on an eminence about 500 
yards from the beach, and effectually commands the landing- 
place. Most of the guns remained till a few years ago, when. 
they were removed by the Chilians to prevent their falling in- 
to the hands of the Spanish royalists. The ground on which 
the fort stands consists of a red-coloured earth, formed by the 
decomposition of the basaltic rocks, and is plentifully covered 
by strawberries, now in a state of ripeness, and very abundant. 
To the west of the battery a church, and an excellent oven, 
still remain. The church is built in the form of the Latin 
cross, and bears the following inscription. ‘ La caza d® Dios 
overto del cielo y saccolacaesta, 24 de Septiembre 1811.” Al- 
though the doors and windows of this building had been re- 
moved, it still possessed the font, and the walls still retamed 
their whitewashed appearance. To the north east of the 
church this beautiful valley is quite covered by corn-fields, 
which are still divided from each other by their former land- 
marks. As the valley approaches the mountains, the clus- 
ters of ferns raising their green fronds on the margins of the 
stream, have a most pleasing appearance, and, in my opinion, 
forms the most beautiful vegetable ornament of the island. 

Such is the present state of that island which afforded to 
Lord Anson’s ships so much refreshment after his voyage round 
Cape Horn, and fully merics all the praises he bestows on 
it. With a climate similar to Madeira, and a similar geolo- 
gical structure, it is probable that Juan Fernandez should af- 
ford equal advantages for the cultivation of the vine ; and those 
plants which we saw appeared to grow luxuriantly, and were 
loaded with plenty of grapes, but still in an early state. 

Land animals are by no means numerous, nor, with the 
exception of the seal, can Juan Fernandez boast of a single 
indigenous mammiferous animal. ‘The bullock, the goat, 
and the rat, are the only other animals of this class, and all of 
them have been introduced. ‘The cattle are now driven from 
the north side of the island, since the hunters have fixed 
their residence there; but they are stil] abundant on the south- 
ern extremity, which is more inaccessible. The hunters in 
killing the bullocks drive them into a small plain, bounded 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 209 


by steep hills, and then shoot them. In killing the goats, a 
different method is adopted. The people employed in this 
difficult business lie down in those rocky situations which the 
goats frequent, and when they approach the hunters, their ham- 
strings are cut with a sharp knife. ) 

Juan Fernandez is entirely destitute of hzards and ser- 
pents, at least we never saw any. 

The rocky shores afford a safe retreat to the Cape petrels and 
other sea-fowls which abound near the island, so that it was in 
vain we attempted to reach their nests. The only land-birds we 
saw were pigeons and owls. The former are exceedingly abun- 
dant, especially in the vicinity of the corn-fields, from which 
they probably obtain their chief support. The owls are of small 
size, and by no means abundant ; they appear to be confined 
to the more secluded places, at a distance from the shore. 

The bay abounds in fishes, which are to be procured with 
very little trouble, so that, if the visitor fails in procuring 
cattle, he may at all events depend on a plentiful supply of 
fresh provisions. Our limited time did not allow us to examine 
the different fish we caught with sufficient care; but the most 
common, and by far the best, is the cod (Gadus morhua ;) 
the next in frequency is the lump-fish (Cyclopterus lumpus,) 
which is seen adhering to almost every stone; and this help- 
less animal becomes a ready prey to the seal and the sea-fowls. 

The articulated animals are the most plentiful on this island; 
and although we saw few insects, I have every reason to 
believe they are exceedingly numerous at a more advanced 
period of the year, for almost every vegetable had its pecu- 
liar caterpillar feeding on it. Near the shore we found seve- 
ral kinds of crab, and the deep water abounded in a beautiful 
species of lobster, which may be described in a future paper. 

The antennae were as long as the body, which is of a fine 
red colour, and thickly set with strong sharp spines. The 
difficulty of obtaining this animal, from the quickness with 
which it swims, and the trouble of laying hold of it from its 
sharp spines, rendered it an interesting specimen. 

At low water we found some species of corallines and spon- 
ges, and a sea-star (Asterias,) furnished with from twenty-five 


to thirty-eight rays. 
4 


210 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


19th December.—This morning we left Juan Fernandez, 
and directed our course to the Gallapagos. The island of Juan 
Fernandez, for beauty of scenery and richness of verdure, ex- 
exceeds any place we visited during our voyage. Independent 
of its natural beauty, the deserted houses and ruined gardens 
give yariety to the landscape, and add an interest to the sce- 
nery which the unsettled desert cannot possess. Previous to 
going on board the ship, our countryman, whose exhausted 
wardrobe we had in some degree replenished, gave us the ac- 
ceptable present of a goat which he had feeding near the 
house, and would gladly have added more to our fresh stock, 
had it been in his power. 

7th January.—Our passage to the Gallapagos was the most 
pleasant part of our voyage. We enjoyed the serene weather 
and cloudless sky of the tropical regions. During this wea- 
ther the Noddy (Sterna stolida) for the first time alighted on 
our vessel, a bird which we only saw in the tropical climates. 
This bird is remarkable for the stupidity with which it al- 
lows itself to be taken; it would perch on the rigging, and, 
regardless of our presence, quietly allow itself to be laid hold of. 

9th—We saw Chatham Island, one of the Gallapagos. 
The appearance of this island at a distance indicates but little 
fertility. The land consisted of low conical hills risg gra- 
dually from the ocean, and bounded by a flat sandy beach, 
against which the sea beat with some violence. On the hills 
many dark patches of land appeared entirely deprived of ve- 
getable covering. 

10th.—To-day the boat was sent to land on James's island, 
to ascertain what was to be found in the way of fresh provi- 
sions. The land is in some places very abundant in trees and 
shrubs, while other situations presented a bare and exposed 
surface, consisting of masses of lava. Such at least was the 
appearance from the ship. In the afternoon the boat return- 
ed, bringing two very large turtles (7". viridis,) Iguanas, and 
plenty of fish. Those who had been in the boat assured us 
that the shore abounded in turtles, and that tortoises were to be 
got in the woods. They had not however seen any fresh water. 

11th.—Next day we went ashore in the long-boat, and - 
found considerable difficulty in landing, on account of the 

1 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 911 


heavy surf which beat against the beach. he place where 
we now were consisted of a low sandy bank which separated 
a small salt water lake from the sea. Here we found traces of 
previous visitors, but the most unequivocal and most affecting 
was the tomb of an American officer. This unassuming grave 
was only accidentally discovered, as it is concealed from no- 
tice by a thick bush-wood, cotton trees, and Tournefortie. At 
the head of the grave was a board painted black, and bearing — 
the following inscription, so honourable to the deceased. “ Sa- 
cred to the memory of John Cowan, lieutenant of the U. S. 
frigate Essex, who died here September 1813. His memory 
is lamented by his friends and country, and honoured by his 
brother officers.” * 

On penetrating into the country, we found very few plants, 
at least few in comparison to what we might expect in such a 
climate. The abundance and interesting nature of the ani- 
mals well compensated for the scarcity of plants; but the 
heat was so intense, and the moisture of the country so great, 
that we were unable to preserve many birds and fishes which 
we thought new or curious. The rocks were covered by 
pelicans and other web-footed birds watching the fish, and, 
near the coast, various species of heron were very common. 
The pelican belonged to the common species, (P. onocrotalus,) 
but most of them were young individuals. 

In this excursion we trode, for the first time, on volcanic 
ground, and made our way, with difficulty, through the loose 
lava, which readily gave way under us, and reminded us of the 
slag and melted matter in the vicinity of a smelting furnace. 
Near this place we saw a large column of volcanic matter, si- 
tuated amidst a stream of lava; its surface was rough and un- 
even, and in many places deeply excavated—it reached to the 
height of sixty or seventy feet. During my excursion, I had 
not the good fortune to see any vestiges of a crater; but Mr 
Douglas, who had taken a different route, informed me he 


* This unfortunate gentleman was killed in a duel with one of his fel- 
low-officers. In another part of the island we saw the remains of a small 
hut, or rather cave, which had been occupied by a Spaniard, who spent 
two years on this wretched place, where he had been Jeft by his com- 
panions. 

VOL. VY. No. II. ocTOBER 1826. P 


212 Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 


had seen one, a circumstance which we had expected, as we 
saw one of the conical hills of Albemarle island burning 
every night we were in the vicinity of this group of islands. 
In the woods, where the grass is abundant, we found the tor- 
toises grazing, and many of them of large size, weighing pro- 
bably 200 pounds. 

The tortoise, (7'. Indica,) we found to be much more agree- 
able food than the green turtle, as it is quite free from the fishy 
flavour which the other possesses. We found much difficulty 
in taking them to the shore, on account of the excessive heat, 
and the roughness of the ground. 

The birds were so tame, as to be easily knocked from the 
branches on which they were perched, and frequently alight- 
ed on the sticks we happened to have in our hand. In re- 
turning to the beach, we killed plenty of Iguanas, an animal 
of the lizard tribe, and esteemed a most delicate kind of food 
in tropical countries. Although our Iguanas differed very 
much from the West Indian species, both in size and appear- 
ance, being larger and of a yellowish colour, we found them 
much more palatable food than turtle. 

The following is an account of the most frequent animals 
we saw during our short visit to James’s island. The only 
mammiferous animal is a species of seal, with very short ears 
and short brown hair. We killed one individual, but it soon 
became so putrid, that we were unable to make a descrip- 
tion, a circumstance which prevented us from examining, 
in a detailed manner, many other animals. In addition to 
the birds already alluded to, we saw a beautiful bird of 
the genus Swla, nearly allied to the soland goose; its co- 
lours are very fine, and, what is most remarkable, the feet 
and legs are of a beautiful azure colour. On the elevated 
rocks, we frequently saw a small though handsome species of 
eagle, of a golden yellow colour. A small species of pigeon 
was very common in the woods, distinguished by the beauty 
of its plumage, and the bright metallic hue of the feathers of 
its neck. 

The reptiles, which are very numerous and interesting, are 
different kinds of turtles and lizards. The tortoise frequents 
the shady places in the interior of the island, where grass 15 


. 


Mr Scouler’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 213 


plentiful, which they consume in large quantities. As the 
tortoise is destitute of all offensive weapons, he draws his head 
aud limbs within his shell on the approach of danger, making 
at the same time a hissing noise. These animals are capable 
of enduring very long fasts, and in cold weather they remain 
quite torpid. I kept one of these tortoises for eight months, 
and, during that time, it did not consume above an ounce of 
food. 

The green turtle is very plentiful, and attains a great size, 
often weighing 300 pounds; and, in the course of two days, 
we caught about thirty of these animals. We had two me- 
thods of taking the turtle ; we either surprised them while 
they came on shore, or caught them while asleep on the wa- 
ter. In this case we approached them in the boat, making as 
little noise as possible, while a man stood ready to fix a toma- 
hawk into the shell, and to hold him till he could be lifted in- 
to the boat. ‘This last method was attended by an inconye- 
nience, that the turtle was often so injured, as to die in a few 
days. 

The woods abound im a species of Iguana, which I think 
is new, but, unfortunately, the specimen I attempted to pre- 
serve became so putrid, that I was obliged to throw it away. 
It is almost twenty-nine inches long; the back and sides are 
of a brown colour, and the belly is yellow; the whole skin 
was covered by small scaly tubercles, and had a ridge of very 
large pointed ones extending along the back, from the occi- 
put to the extremity of the tail. There was a dilatation under 
the throat, but no large tubercles in that situation. The 
tongue was fleshy, inextensible, and slightly bifurcated at the 
point. The Iguana lives entirely upon leaves and fruits, and 
burrows deeply into the ground.* It isa timid inoffensive 
creature, and always runs from the pursuer, unless when 
wounded, when it turns upon its enemy. We killed great 
numbers of them, and used them as food. ‘There is a smaller 
aquatic species, belonging to the genus Monitor, with a flat 
perpendicular tail, but it is much rarer than the other. . 


* The sandy ground near the coast is quite ploughed up by these ani- 
mals, so as to render walking in the vicinity of their abodes very trouble- 
some. 


214 Mr Barlow’s illustration of Facts connected with 


Although snakes are said to abound on the Gallapagos, yet 
in all our excursions we never saw a single species. 

Shells and molluscous animals were not very plentiful. Crabs 
of different species were very numerous, and some of them 
very beautiful. The land-crab was common near the shore, and 
appeared to be more gregarious than the other species ; they 
were seen running about in small families of twenty or thirty 
individuals, and when pursued covered themselves in the sand. 

On the 19th we left these islands and proceeded to the 
north-west coast. 

All the islands of this group have a similar appearance. In 
some places the coast rises into perpendicular rugged cliffs, 
attaining the height of 200 feet, and in other situations it as- 
sumes the form of a low sandy beach, separating some salt- 
water lakes from the sea. ‘The mountains are generally of a 
conical shape, very gradual ascent, and moderate elevation. 
The country, in most places, is pretty well furnished with 
trees, except where the lava has run down, and in these situa- 
tions very few vegetables grow. 


Art. Il.—ZJllustration of some Facts connected with the De- 
velopement of Magnetism by Rotation. By PETER Bar- 
Low, Esa. F.R.S. Mem. Imp. Ac. Petrop. &c. In a Letter 
to the Editor. 


Dear Sir, 


As I feel interested on some of the subjects alluded to in Mr 
Christie’s letter in your last number, I must beg to be allowed 
to make a few observations, with a view to correcting any er- 
rors which may have been committed in the reports of our 
experiments. Neither Mr Christie nor myself can wish to 
have any thing recorded but what we believe to be correct, 
and therefore the plainer the facts connected with these ques- 
tions are stated, the better. 

Mr Christie objects first, to that part of the historical no- 
tice, in which it is said that “ in repeating some of my expe- 
riments,” he was led to observe that property of iron which 

1 


the developement of Magnetism by Rotation. 215 


forms the subject of his paper. Now the plain fact is this :— 
In 1819, I proposed my correcting plate, and from that time 
it beeame necessary for me to ascertain the attractive power 
of circular iron plates in different positions, and at different 
distances from the needle, and to determine their strong and 
weak points of local magnetism; which was done by making 
them revolve on their axis in certain situations near the com- 
pass. 

In 1821 Mr Christie, with some particular views of his 
own, undertook a series of experiments on the attraction of 
circular iron plates, on which it was likewise necessary for him 
to determine their strong and weak points of local magnetism, 
by making them revolve on their axes; and while thus engag- 
ed, he fell upon the property in question. 

His object, of course, was different from mine, and the results 
he obtained were entirely his own; but one may see clearly, 
that it was the similarity in the two processes that led to the 
passage in the report complained of. Strictly speaking, how- 
ever, these experiments were not a repetition of mine, and it 
was certainly not my wish they should have been so repre- 
sented. At the same time, as mine were probably the first 
experiments in which iron was put in rotation for magnetical 
observation, I think they were very properly introduced into 
the historical notice. 

I must beg, also, to bear testimony with Mr Christie, that 
his paper in the Camé. Phil. Trans. was undertaken with a 
different view to mine; but still, as the experiments were not 
made till after mine were completed, and for the purpose of 
verifying an hypothesis suggested by a comparison of my re- 
sults,* on the apparatus which had been constructed for me, 
and with the same designations of latitude and longitude of 
position, I can hardly consider the inquiries as “ quite un- 
connected.” 

There was indeed this difference, as Mr Christie has stated 
in his letter, that, both in this paper and that more particu- 
larly in question, he referred the centre of the ball to the 
sphere circumscribing; the compass, while I referred the com- 
pass to the sphere circumscribing the ball, and pages 21 and 


* See p. 110, Ist Edition. 


216 Mr Barlow’s illustration of Facts connected with 


28 of my first edition are quoted, to show that I in “ all cases” 
so made my reference. I undoubtedly generally made my 
reference in this way; but still, in page 51 of the same edi- 
tion, in the * General Summary of my first series of Experi- 
ments,” I have stated, that, “* instead of conceiving the imagi- 
nary sphere to surround the ball, we may imagine a similar 
sphere concentric with the pivot of the needle; then it is: ob- 
vious, that the centre of the ball will have the same relative 
position on the latter sphere, as the pivot of the compass has 
with respect to the former ; so that the reference may be made 
to either at pleasure.” 

In fact, whether I had stated this inversion or not, it does 
not necessarily alter one step in any investigation, nor change 
a single letter or sign, whether the reference be made to one 
centre or to the other. It is obviously the idea of employing 
latitude and longitude of position by means of an imaginary 
sphere, instead of the usual position by rectangular co-ordi- 

nates, that is meant, where it is said that “ Mr Christie, 

adopting the views of his friend Mr Barlow, by conceiving an 
ideal sphere to surround the compass,” &c.; and I must think 
that common courtesy required this reference. 

Mr Christie’s next remark, which applies rather to myself 
’ than to the reporter, is certainly a very singular one, viz. that 
notwithstanding I waited from December to May, that our 
papers might appear together, I afterwards rendered that ac- 
commodation nugatory, by permitting a report of my experi- 
ments to appear in the Edinburgh Journal for the July fol- 
lowing, that is, two months after the papers were read, and the 
very day on which two distinct reports of Mr Christie’s expe- 
riments were published in two other quarterly journals; and 
he at the same time expresses his surprise how it should 
be known in Edinburgh, (although I had been there just 
before) that this delay had taken place. The following ex- 
planation, therefore, does, upon the whole, appear to be ne- 
cessary . 

When the thought had occurred to me to make my experi- 
ments on the rapid rotation of the iron ball, and that T had 
obtained the result, (some months after Mr Christie had given 
the first sketch of his experiments in the PAi/. T'rans.) 1 men- 


the developement of Magnetism by Rotation. 217 


tioned the circumstance to him, and in consequence of the 
analogy between the two series proposed, and I thought it 
was agreed between us, that he should complete his paper in 
the form he had intended, and that mine should be delayed 
till he was ready. Having taken this step, and duly noticed 
Mr Christie’s prior experiments in my memoir, I hoped I had 
complied with every thing that good fellowship, or the interests 
of science required, by thus leaving to Mr Christie all the ad- 
vantages he could have derived from an earlier publication of 
his experiments. I must say, therefore, that I was rather sur- 
prised afterwards to find that he had, in this interval, added 
an appendix to his paper on this new class of rotations, in 
which no mention whatever is made either of my experiments, 
or of this arrangement. This omission, and a very injudi- 
cious remark in one of the reports above alluded to, served to 
throw a mystery over the subject, and to imply a want of can- 
dour on one part or the other, which the slight reference that 
had been made in another part of the paper, was by no means 
calculated to remove, but which, I conceived, ought to be 
cleared away. It might therefore easily have been conjectured 
‘through whom the information relative to the delay was ob- 
tained ; and I was pleased to find it had been given exactly as 
I desired, that is, merely stating the fact, without any refer- 
ence to the omission alluded to; and I cannot but wish it had 
been allowed to pass as it was stated in the report, without 
rendering this further explanation necessary. 

I have only one other observation to make, relative to Mr 
Christie’s remarks on my correcting plate. It would certainly 
appear to any general reader, from what is said about the “ ne- 
cessity of some precaution” to prevent the plate revolving, 
that this precaution had been hitherto omitted, whereas it has 
never been omitted since the plate has been permanently ap- 
plied, it having been always necessary to secure it against the 
motion of the vessel. The precaution, therefore, although in- 
troduced for another purpose, is always taken ; and it is a little 
remarkable, that the very first plate I had made in August 
1819, and which I have still by me, did slide on, as Mr Christie 
now recommends, the socket and rod being both square; but 
I afterwards found it more convenient to make them cylindri- 


218 Prof. Hansteen on the Decrease of the 


cal, in order the better to rotate the plates separately on their 
axes, for the purpose stated in the first page of this letter. 
The motion of rotation is prevented on ship-board by a steady 
pin, and proper printed directions are given with the plates, 
to insure their being attended to. I remain, Dear Sir, 
Yours very truly, 
PETER Bartow. 


Art. I1I.—Observations on the Decrease of the Magnetic In- 
tensity of the Earth. By CurisropHer HanstEEn, Pro- 
fessor of Astronomy in the University of Norway. Com- 
municated by the Author in a Letter to the Editor. 


Tue horizontal part of the magnetic intensity of the earth 
here in Christiania, has been almost quite invariable for these 
six years since 1819. The observation of 300 horizontal vi- 
brations of my invariable magnetic cylinder, made every day 
at 105 «a. mM. and 5—7 p. m. in the months of maximum 
(January) aud minimum (June,) has given the following re- 
sults. The observations were made in three different places 
of my house, A, B, and C, but all very carefully reduced 
to C. 


: ] Difference be- 
Time of 300 Vibrat. |Meanof Max.) tween Max. 


Medium of the Month.| and Minim.| ang Med. 


1819, December, 825.27 Bal 


1820, June, July, 830 .96 


1821, January, 827 .21 aes 


8 


1821, June, 830 .93 .07 


1822, June, Not observed. 
1823, January, 825 .36 


1823, June, 829 .90 
1824, January, 827 .13 


1824, June, 829 .24 


z 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 


aon OO we why pb 


Dis 
9 
9 .44 
7 
8 
8 


1825, January, Not observed. 
1825, June, 829 .98 
1826, January, 828 .34 


8 
8 
8 
8 
8 
2 
2 


8 
8 


2% 


j 
j 
1822, January, 827 .95 ; 
5 
j 
j 
j 


On. 


Magnetic Intensity of the Earth. 219 


From these results the following consequences may be drawn. 
The intensity is more constant in June than in January. In 
six summer months it has only varied between 830796, and 
829’24, but in the winter months between 825’27, and 
829"98. But the regular daily variations from 10 a. m. to 
6—7 p. M., are much greater in June, when they amount to 
1”4, than in January, when they are not greater than 02. 
In both these circumstances, these variations have a great re- 
semblance to the variations of the barometer, of which the — 
regular daily variations are greater in summer than in winter, 
the irregular greater in winter than in summer. I suppose 
that both these phenomena, (the regular daily variations of the 
barometer, and of the intensity and the magnetic declination,) 
have a common cause, viz. a regular motion or stream in the 
atmosphere, caused by the different effects of the sun-rays, 
(proportioned to the sine of their angle of incidence,) upon 
different places of the earth. ‘This streaming, or transposition 
of great quantities of air from one place to another, will affect 
the barometer ; and different streams of air, of different tem- 
peratures, at different heights, may perhaps produce a weak 
electromagnetic effect, which may have some influence upon the 
direction and rate of vibrations of the magnetic needle. Con- 
sequently these regular variations may be much greater in the 
summer, in proportion to the variations of the temperature 
from noon to midnight. But these are only rude ideas, which, 
on another occasion, I shall more fully explain. 2. The mean 
between maximum and minimum of intensity is so very nearly 
constant, that it is difficult to say whether it has decreased or 
increased from 1819 to 1826. 3. The difference between sum- 
mer and winter 1s very variable, and seems to have regularly 
decreased from 1819 to 1526; but probably this difference 
will again increase in the following years. In those days, 
(from Ist to 3d June,) I have found the time of 300 vibrations 
varying between 832’9 and 834’0; but as some few obser- 
- vations in the open air have given almost the same result as 
the observations in June in the same spot in all the foregoing 
years, I fear that some change in the house may have produ- 
ced a little local variation, which, by further observations, will 
be detected. 


220 Prof. Hansteen on the Decrease of the 


But as the horizontal part of the magnetic intensity here in 
Christiania is very nearly constant, and the dip decreases, it 
follows, that the whole intensity is decreasing. Denoting the 
whole intensity by F, its horizontal part by f4 the dip by 4, 
the time ‘of a certain number of vibrations of the horizontal 
needle by T, and upon another place of the surface of the 
earth the same quantities by F’, 7’, 2’, and T’, itis evident, that 

if 

f=F cos.7, accordingly F = par gh 

Now, as 7 is decreasing, cos. 7 is increasing, and consequently 
F. decreasing. Further, 

F:f' =(T')?: T?=SF cos. 2: F’ cos. 7’, and FT? cos..2 = F(T’)? cos: 4’ ; 

that is, F T? cos. 2 is for the same magnetical needle a con- 

stant quantity over the whole surface of the earth, and also in 

the same place at different times. Calling this constant = C, 


we have, 

I. FT? cos.\z = C, or F = are 
Where C can be found when upon a single place F, T, and 
i are observed. Differentiating the equation, No. I., you will 
find, (C being constant,) 

Il. eed + — — Tang. 2 di = O, (where dz may be expressed 
in parts of the radius.) 

As in Europe di is negative, the last member, Tang. 2. di, 
changes its sign, and consequently the whole sum cannot be — 
2dT 

4 
is, unless the variation of intensity dF, or of the time of vi- 
brations dT, are negative. In Christiania I have found, by 
a great number of observations, 


dF : 
0, unless —, or , or both of them, are negative ; that 
EF 8 


‘In 1820, . 3 i = 72°42'6 
1825, = : i= 72°26/4 

Decrease in five years, = — 162 

Yearly di = - - — 3/24. 


By the observations of Mr Arago at Paris, (where the . 
whole intensity, according to Humboldt’s Observations, is 
supposed = 1.3482,) with one of my cylinders, I have found 


Magnetic Intensity of the Earth. 221 


log. C = 5.45064 ; in Christiania, in the open air, by the mean 
of the year, T is nearly constant = 814/76. By equation 
No. I., I then find, 


- dF 


For 1820, i’ = 1.4306 
1825, F’ = 1.4093 
Difference in five years, F’ — F —=— 0.0213 
Yearly dF = — 0.00426, 
By putting di = — 3.24, dT =O, in equation No.'II., you will find . 
—-- 0.003, and dF = — F. 0.003 = — 0.00426, as before. 


By comparing my own observations of 300 vibrations of 
the magnetic cylinder at London and Paris in 1819, with those 
of Captain Kater and Mr Arago in 1823, I find the follow- 
ing differences: 


London. Paris. 
1819, Hansteen, 77779 Hansteen, 75619 
1823, Kater, 175"34 Arago, 753”03 
Difference—= — 9 2”45 Difference —=— 316. 


I must confess that my observations were not made in the 
open air, as those in 1823, but in the middle of great rooms, 
where no iron was visible. Accordingly, they are not quite 
unexceptionable. But as they agree in making the time of 
300 vibrations in both places nearly 3” longer than in 1823, 
I will assume the annual decrease of T for London dT = 
— 061, for Paris = —0’79. Further, supposing in 1821, 

At Paris, 7 = 68°23’, di =— 3/84, T= 75461, dT = —0'79, 


At London, z= 70°3’, di == —3'22, T = 776"56, dT =—0’61, 
by these suppositions, Formula II. gives dF at Paris = — 0.00098, and 
at London = — 0.00138. 


By comparing my own observations at Berlin with those of 
Mr Humboldt, I have found, that the intensity there is also 
decreasing ; namely, 


Christiania, dF = — 0.00426 
Berlin, =— 0.00193 
London, = — 0.00138 
Paris, = — 0.00098. 


Hence it seems evident, that the decrease of the intensity. is 
greater in the northerly and easterly parts of Europe than in 
the southern and westerly. The cause of this change is evi- 


- 


229 Capt. Beaufort’s Account of an Earthquake at Sea, 


dently the same as the cause of the decrease of the dip, and 
the increase of the westerly variation in the same _ places, 
viz. the motion of the magnetical North-Pole in Siberia to- 
wards the east ; hereby the dip and intensity in the neighbour- 
hood of this pole may decrease more than in greater distances 
from it, and the horizontal needle may turn its northern ex- 
tremity more towards the American North Pole. But as this 
latter pole also has a slow motion against east, it is probable, 
that in the north-westerly parts of the Atlantic Ocean, for in- 
stance at Iceland and Greenland, the intensity is ¢ncreasing. 
The greatest difficulty on this inquiry, is to get a perfectly 
invariable magnetical cylinder, or needle. I hope to surmount 
this difficulty, and I shall, on another occasion, communicate 
the result of my endeavours. 
Curistiania, June 3d 1826. 


Art. IV.—Account of an Earthquake at Sea, felt in the Me- 
diterranean, on the 29th November 1810, in his Majesty's 
Srigate Salsette. In a letter from Carrain Beaurort 
R.N. F.R.S. to Dr Brewster. 


Sir, 
As it appears from a passage in your last Jowrnal, that you 
are desirous of putting on record notices of earthquakes that 
have been felt at sea, the following account of one which I 
witnessed in the Mediterranean is at your service. 

On the 29th of November 1810, at 7 a. m., his Majesty’s 
frigate Salsette being about nine leagues S.W. by W. (true) 
from the island of Cerigo, and ten leagues south from Cape 
Matapan, the sky suddenly assumed a remarkably black and 
threatening appearance, which, however, spent itself before 
eight o’clock in heavy rain. The wind had changed during 
the shower from E.S.E. to N.W., where it continued the rest 
of the day, and very faint, with the exception of one gust, which 
will be again mentioned. At 11 a. m., solar time, while tran- 
quilly standing to the southward, the ship was felt to quiver 
violently from stem to stern,—the masts, yards, and rigging - 
partaking of the general tremor, and even the guns being 
strongly affected. The agitation, which commenced with con- 


Felt in the Mediterranean. 223 


siderable force, seemed rather to increase for about two-thirds 
of its duration, and then gradually subsided till it became in- 
sensible. According to the general opinion, it lasted between 
two and three minutes ; but, when allowance is made for the 
surprise occasioned by such an unusual phenomenon, a minute 
and a half will probably be the safer estimate. The sensation 
it produced will be accurately recognised by any person who 
has been launched in a boat over a rough beach of gravel ; in- 
deed, the resemblance was so alarmingly manifest, that the 
leads were instantly thrown overboard ; but no bottom was 
found with seventy fathoms of line, and I have since sounded 
nearly in the same spot with 500 fathoms without reaching the 
ground. No peculiar smell was detected in the air, nor was 
there any ebullition in the sea, nor tremor on its surface, nor 
change of colour ; yet the water alongside had something of a 
fretful unnatural appearance, not easy to describe,—the little 
waves suddenly rising and dropping as if their motion was ar- 
rested by some unseen impulse acting in a direction contrary 
to their course. It did not appear that any change had taken 
place in either the barometer or thermometer ; but circumstan- 
ces unfortunately prevented their being examined for ten or 
twelve minutes. Many persons afterwards asserted that this 
singular scene was accompanied by a hollow indistinct noise ; 
but nothing of the kind was heard by the officers, who with 
me had been attentive observers of all that passed. 

In about five minutes after it had ceased, we were assailed 
by a very sharp squall, accompanied by large hail, and by re- 
peated flashes of forked lightning, with thunder, at the distance 
of a few seconds of time. The squall was transient, the musky 
appearance of the sky quickly vanished, and the afternoon was 
peculiarly serene and clear. 

We afterwards ascertained that, on the same day, earth- 
quakes had taken place both in Candia and in the Morea ; and 
as the ship was nearly in a line connecting the extremities of 
those countries, it was probably the same great convulsion which 
had extended throughout that space. The only accounts, how- 
ever, that could be obtained were too loose to identify the shocks, 
much less to discover in which direction they had been propa- 
gated. It is remarkable that from two officers of the English gar- 


224 Mr Barlow on the apparent acceleration 


rison at Cerigo, who came on board.the following morning, we 
learned that no earthquake had been felt in that island, though 
it forms such a connecting link between the above places, and 
though that which we had experienced must have been of very 
considerable violence, to be transmitted through a mass of wa- 
ter of at least 500 fathoms in depth. Slight shocks, I imagine, 
are seldom communicated, even through shallow water ; for it. 
has twice happened to me in Smyrna to have been wakened at 
night by smart vibrations of the bed, when nothing was felt on 
board, though the ship was at anchor only one-third of a mile 
from the house in which I slept, and though officers and sen- 
tinels were upon deck, by all of whom such an occurrence 
could not have been unobserved. 

Though very unlikely to have been connected with the 
earthquake which was felt on board the Salsette, it may not 
be uninteresting to mention that, on the preceding evening, 
between 9 and 10 o’clock, several meteors, of different degrees 
of brilliancy, were seen; and that one of them, which emitted 
a long train of sparks, passed so near the ship that I heard the 
whizzing sound of its flight through the air, and, immediately 
after its disappearance, the fall of a ponderous body into the 
water. Iam, Xe. j F. B. 


Art. V.—Conjectures as to the Cause of the high degree of 
apparent acceleration in the Rates of the Chronometers ob- 
served by Mr Fisher, and reported by him im the Phil. 
Trans. By Prtrer Bartow, Esq. F. R.S. Mem. Imp. 
Acad. Petrop. Communicated by the Author. 


Wuew we consider the long practice which has now been had 
in the use of chronometers on ship-board, without any very 
remarkable change having been observed between the land 
and sea rates, although there can be no doubt some small 
change does take place ; and when we combine with this previ- 
ous practice, the valuable observations of Captain Parry in his 
late voyages, we cannot do otherwise than consider the results - 
obtained by Mr Fisher at Spitzbergen as anomalous, and as 
1 


in the Rates of Chronometers. 225 


depending upon some cause very distinct from that usually 
operating on ship-board. 

This being the case, I beg to offer what I consider to be 
by no means an improbable explanation of the irregularity in 
question ; that is to say, Is it not probable, or at least possible, 
that what Mr Fisher has attributed to an unusual acceleration 
in the ship, was actually a corresponding retardation on shore, 
occasioned by the action of some terrestrial magnetic power be- 
low the surface of the earth at air Haven ? Such partial ter- 
restrial action is by no means unknown, I might almost say not 
uncommon; some instances of the kind have, I believe, been 
published, and two or three others have come to my know- 
ledge, upon information on which I can place the greatest re- 
liance. The first is a statement made to me by Captains Vi- 
dal and Mudge, who informed me, that during their former 
voyage, while they were engaged in surveying the coast of St 
Mayo, one of the Cape de Verd islands, they found the land 
on which they were carrying on their observations so strong: 
ly magnetic that the needle of their theodolite became wholly 
useless: the dip was so much increased that the needle would 
not traverse till they had inclined the face of the instrument 
at a very considerable angle, and even then the direction of 
the former was found so variable and uncertain as to be whol- 
ly inapplicable to the purposes of the survey. Now, let us 
suppose that the chronometers of the ship had been brought 
on shore in this place to obtain their rates, there can be no 
question that they would have been found very different from 
what they were on board, and as the difference would be all 
that could be shown by the observations, and supposing no 
partial action to have been suspected on shore, the change 
would naturally be referred to some attraction in the vessel, but 
the character assigned to it would be the reverse of that which 
actually belonged to it ; viz. if the chronometers lost on shore, 
they would be supposed to gain on board, but if they gained 
in the former case, they would be supposed to be losing in the 
latter. It is true, that, on the return of the vessel, the error 
would be detected, provided the rates were still taken in Lon- 
don; and it is much to be regretted that Mr Fisher has not 
informed us whether this precaution was taken in the cases he 


226 Mr Barlow on the Rates of Chronometers. 


has reported, or whether, as in most instances, the chronome- 
ters were suffered to go down the moment the expedition re- 
turned. 
The other case to which I have alluded, I give verbatim 
from the note I took of it a few years back, while I was at 
Chatham dock-yard on some business for the Navy Board re- 
lative to the stowage of the compasses in that establishment. 
“ Mr Duncan, the master attendant of this yard, who appears 
to have always paid great attention to the compasses, inform- 
ed me of a remarkable case which happened to him in the 
year 1791, while he commanded the Beaver, a vessel belong- 
ing to the Hudson’s Bay Company. His object seems to have 
been to find a north-west passage, and while on this service, 
on the 18th of August of the above year, in latitude 61° 
52 north, and longitude 92° 23’ west, being then about twenty 
leagues from land, and with soundings from sixty to sixty-five 
fathoms, with blue mud, he found his azimuth compass, 
(which he describes as a very excellent one, by the senior Gil- 
bert) suddenly affected in a very remarkable way, the needle 
refusing any fixed direction whatever. He immediately or- 
dered up his other compasses, seven in number, and they were 
found to be all affected in the same way, revolving round and 
round in the most simgular manner. He then stood off from 


the land, and soon after these instruments all resumed their 


usual action.” 

«¢ Mr Duncan had with him also a dipping-needle, furnish- 
ed by the Royal Society, and the dip, on which he also made 
some observations, varied during a short time from 78° to 86°.” 
The above particulars were all noted by him immediately, 
and I extracted them from his log-book. 

Another instance of a very similar kind was reported to Dr 
Gregory by Mr Edmondston of Unst, one of the Shetland 
islands. This case is as follows: Dr Gregory, while making 
his pendulum experiments, having found the results to be dif- 
ferent from what he had anticipated, suspected that it might 
arise from some partial terrestrial magnetism, and having 


mentioned his suspicions to Mr Edmondston, that gentleman - 


informed him, that, in one instance, several of his boats 
were out fishing, and the weather being foggy, they had re- 


Mr Blackadder’s Remarks on an Optical Phenomenon, &c¢. 227 


course to their compasses to regain the shore, when the man 
in the landing-boat, looking to his compass, found it run- 
ning round, as described by Mr Duncan. He then called to 
the man in the next boat, whose compass was in the same 
state, and so also were those in all the others. Mr Edmondston 
moreover stated, although he could not speak to the fact from 
his own knowledge, that it is always asserted and believed, 
that, in approaching the small island of Fetlar, the compass 
always points directly to the land, on whichever side the ap- 
proach is made. 

Now, there cannot, I conceive, be the least question, that, 
in any spot of this kind, where a partial terrestrial action so 
strongly manifests itself, a considerable change would neces- 
sarily be observed in the rate of a chronometer; and as we 
must look to some extraordinary. cause for the anomalous re- 
sults obtained by Mr Fisher, I think it by no means an im- 
probable conjecture, that they might be occasioned by some 
such partial attractions as those above described. I offer this, 
however, merely as conjecture, and with every respect for Mr 
Fisher’s talents as an observer and mathematician. 


C7 


Art. VI.—Remarks on an Optical Phenomenon observed at 
sunrise from the Summit of Mount Alina. By H. H. 


Brackapper, Esq. F.R.S. Edin. Communicated by the 
Author. 


From the earliest ages the less familiar optical phenomena of 
the atmosphere have attracted particular attention, less, how- 
ever, from their grandeur or beauty than from their supposed 
mysterious origin and incomprehensible nature. In several of 
the mest ancient writings now extant, distinct references are 
made to some of these phenomena ; and when it is considered 
that the human mind has a natural tendency to superstition, 
and that it is only in the present age that the torch of science 
has thoroughly consumed the veil which gave to these por- 
tentous appearances almost all their previous interest, we 
shall have but little occasion to be surprised at the wildly er- 
roneous notions that were so long entertained regarding them. 
VOL. V. NO. 11. ocTOBER 1826. Q 


228 Mr Blackadder's Remarks on an Optical Phenomenon 


At the present day, when these phenomena have received the 
most satisfactory explanation on well-known physical prin. 
ciples, the interest that is felt in them is no longer the same; 
but if it be less intense, it is more rational ; if less irresistible, 
it 1s infinitely more pleasing. 

The following notice is extracted from T'ravels in Greece, 
&c. by the Reverend Mr Hughes of Cambridge, 2 vols. 4to :— 
“I must not forget to mention one extraordinary phenome- 
non which we observed, and for which I have searched in 
vain for a satisfactory solution. At the extremity of the vast 
shadow which Aitna projects across the island, appeared a 
perfect and distinct image of the mountain itself, elevated - 
above the horizon, and diminished as if viewed in a concave 
mirror. Where or what the reflector could be which exhibit- 
ed this image, I cannot conceive ; we could not be mistaken in 
its appearance, for all our party observed it, and we had been 
prepared for it before-hand by our Catanian friends: it re- 
mained visible about ten minutes, and disappeared as the 
shadow decreased. Mr Jones observed the same phenome- 
non, as well as some other friends with whom I conversed 
upon the subject in England.” 

The interesting phenomenon here described was observed 
from the summit of Mount Aftna on the 28th June, at sun- 
rise; and the fidelity of the writer is not to be questioned. 
But while Mr Hughes i is persuaded that he and his friends 
“could not be mistaken in its appearance,” we all know that 
‘* appearances are deceitful.” There is indeed reason to sus- 
pect that the alleged difficulty of solution has proceeded either 
from inaccurate observation, or from the relation of the facts 
having unintentionally received a deceptive colouring. We 
are given to understand that a distinct and perfect image of 
Mount A€tna, diminished as if viewed in a concave muror, 
was seen elevated above the horizon, and by observers who 
were at the time standing on the summit of the mountain, 
whose image was thus seen reflected. On reading such a 
statement, one who is at all familiar with phenomena of this 
nature, is forced either to suspect inaccuracy, or to admit 
something altogether new ; and, on such occasions, “ le dowte 
philosophique” is certainly not out of place. It may be asked, 


observed at sunrise from the Summit of Mount Aetna, 229 


What proof was there that the image was that of Mount 
AKtna?—To say that there was no other mountain whose 
image could be thus seen reflected, would be merely to enun- 
ciate an opinion, and far from giving such an answer as the 
question required. When an object is seen by reflection from 
a concave mirror, it appears inverted as well as diminished ; 
it is not said, whether, im this instance, the image was or was 
not inverted. But, on the supposition that the appearances 
were produced. by unequal atmospheric refraction, the upright 
or inverted position of the image would be contingent on the 
particular state of the air at the time of observation. A dis- 
tinct and perfect image of any part of the earth’s surface ap- 
pearing elevated above the horizon is never produced by sim- 
ple reflection, but is the effect of unequal refraction ; hence 
the image, as above described, could not be that of Mount 
AXtna, for the place occupied by the observer could not be re- 
presented to him by any reflective power of the atmosphere ; 
and it would be absurd to suppose the effect to be produced 
by refraction. If it were allowable to suppose that what is 
described as a perfect and distinet image of A®tna, elevated 
above the horizon, was merely a part of the shadow of that 
mountain rendered visible by the presence of a white cloud 
or misty vapour, somewhere between the place of the observer 
and the horizon, the description, though imaccurate, would — 
be so far intelligible, and the image might disappear as the 
shadow of the mountain decreased. ‘The well-known opti- 
cal phenomenon seen on the Hartz mountains, and vulgar- 
ly named the Spectre of the Brocken, is of this nature : 
When a person stands at sunrise on the top of the mountain, 
and looks toward the west, if there be any white clouds, or 
even a thin misty vapour, in that direction, he sees his own 
shadow on these clouds immensely magnified, but so well de- 
fined as to render his form, attitudes, and motions, distinctly 
visible. If, by observing the representation of smoke issuing 
from the crater, or by other means, Mr Hughes had determin- 
ed, with certainty, that the image was that of Mount Atna, 
there is little reason to doubt that the above would have been 
the true explanation; but his description taken as a whole, 
and particularly the circumstance of the mage being diminish- 


230 Mr Blackadder’s Remarks on an Optical Phenomenon, &c. 


ed as in a concave mirror, is against this supposition, and ren- 
ders it probable that the appearances were produced by un- 
equal refraction. 

In that state of the air which gives rise to unequal refrac- 
tion, the natural appearance of objects undergoes surprismg 
modifications. ‘They are seen diminished, magnified, multi- 
plied, and transformed, so as to bid defiance to description ; 
mountains seem levelled or divided, and plains raised into 
mountains. On the occasion referred to, some part of the 
island of Sicily, lying to the west of Aitna, may have had its 
appearance thus modified, and the aérial creation may have 
had such a resemblance to that mountain as to have been mis- 
taken for its image. If the observed image was evidently at 
a greater distance than any part of the island, every allowance 
being made for ocular deception, the appearances may still be 
traced to unequal refraction. Mr Hughes states that the 
island of Malta, which is distant about 140 miles, has been 
seen from the summit of Aitna.* At the time of the year when 
he and his party visited that mountain, its shadow at sunrise 
is nearly in a line with the solitary island of Pontellaria, which 
is distant about 180 miles. If, then, Malta has been seen, whe- 
ther aided by looming or otherwise, at the distance of 140 
miles, Pontellaria may also be seen, through the influence of 
unequal refraction, though it be forty miles farther off. Pontel- 
laria thus elevated, and rendered visible at the extremity of 
the shadow of Aitna, may have been the source of deception. 
As the diurnal altitude of the sun increased, causing the sha- 
dow of the mountain to diminish, the state of the air upon 
which the unequal refraction depended would likewise be 
changed, and the image would consequently disappear. It 
may readily be determined, either by those who have witnes- 
sed, or who may yet have an opportunity of witnessing, the 


* Tt appears, that, from the summit of Ben Lomond, which is 3191 feet 
above the level of the sea, the Isle of Man is visible, though distant about 
130 miles. ‘The Peak of Teneriffe, 12358 feet in height, has been deseri- 
ed at a still greater distance from the deck of a ship. Mount tna, by 
barometrical measurement, is 10936 feet in height; and mountains at a - 
greater distance than the Island of Pontellaria are said to have been dis- 
tinguished from its summit. 


Mr Stewart’s Meteorological Observations, &c. 231 


phenomenon in question, whether or not this be the true solu- 
tion ; for the shadow of Mount A®tna at sunrise lies in the di- 
rection of Pontellaria only at a particular season of the year. 


Ant. VII.— Abstract of Metcorological Observations made in 
the Isle of Man, from 1822 to 1825, inclusive. By Rozert 
Stewart, Esq. Receiver-General of the Isle of Man. Com- 
municated by Dr Hibbert. 


A. general state of the weather, for the year ending the 31st 
of December 1822. ‘Thermometer (Fahrenheit) always out, 
on a northern exposure. Taken at 9 o'clock a. M., and at 11 
o'clock Pp. m. 


1822. 
1822 i Wind, Weather, 

an These Number of Days. || Number of Days. 

Months. A. M.|P. ol] N. | S. - | W. |Rain.|Snow] Fair. 
January, . . | 45 | 45 5 1 12 Sie all hO 
February,. . | 414] 41 8 | 10 Q Seieens | 28 
WViarchs.) iu. 45 | 42 Gy} aly OM V4 laneal, 1S 
Aprils. >) Saar 48 iss 9 14 -10}] 2] 18 
May). uo 53 | 513] 10°] 12 5 Sj 5, |.2s 
Dune, ee". {. 62 | 574] 12 5 3 ai) *,, | 26 
Sly, Hes Glieh nnaatG4uH), 6931 12.) 9 | aa, ORY TCT 
August, .  ., || 634] 593) 5] 5 DA; 22 55 19 
September, . | 603] 553] 2 | 10 1212] ,,| 18 
October, - . 553] 46 4} 10 15 7 1.4.23 
November, . | 51 | 48 8 | 10 LOW 15 |] 55.4 2S 
December, . | 473) 47 6 | 10 tf 1) 1) 15 


General Medium. 523 


Highest state of Thermometer . . . 64 593 
PBeSO Ci eH eR. ESO ee’ Ahk Pan 
Mean of the year 1822 . . . . . - 514 


Nore.—With reference to the “ Winn,” the prevacling point for the 
day is taken. If any rain, snow, or sleet, during the day, not considered 
as a fair day. 


232 Mr Stewart’s Meteorological Observations 


1823. 
1823 chan Wind, Weather, 
; e Number of Days. || Number of Days. 
Thermom. 


Months. ‘A. M.|P. M. 


Rain.|Snow]Fair. 


5 |. 5 [al 
74 part 
12| 1] 18 
Dy) ast as 
16: | "G15 
10] ,, | 20 
15 | ,, | 16 
15) os aS 
Th |) Plo 
14] 4, | 17 
a ae 22 
13 | 2| 16 
General Medium.) 473] 4447 104{ 108] 60 214 


Highest state of the Thermometer . . 61 60 
WGOWest «ich as Sg Boe OTE a mele 22 


Mean of the year.1828 sive 463 
1824. 
pe ears Wind, Weather, . Rain 
phate Number of Days. ||Number of Days.|_ Fallen. 


ee 


Months. A.M.| P.M.|| Ns | S. | E. | W. ||Rain.)SnowjFair.|/Inch |LOOpt 


et 


January, . . | 403) 403] 15] 4] 1411 Sa eer 2 | 47 
February, .. . | 413} 40/1 2/ 8] 12] 7]/ 9] ,,| 20] 11 52 
March,2,¢ . 4: 741 } 394] 9 cp 7 | 15 |} 14 3 | 14 3 | 43 
April,...-. [453] 41a 71-8] 8] 71-7] 2] 21 fer | 86 
May, 522] 48 9 4 | 13 5 7 Ls a | Oe 
June, ‘52 Woo 2 7} 18 3 2 » | 18 2 | 42 
July, SF je ea) “EPs Pre Pe ys Ts yl ay 
August, 59 | 56 1] .8.] 20}, 12917, o9 | 14) 2 [48 
September, . | 53 | 51 7) 4] 5144 10] 2) 181 5 | 36 
October, . . | 48/46/12] 5/12] 2120] ,,/ 11] 6 | 58 | 
November, . | 45:| 453/11] 5] 3/11 |) 18 10 5 | 93 
December,. . | 42 | 4231 14] 2] ,,].18 || 16 12) 6 | 74 


a 


General Medium. 


493]/ 93 | 61 | 92 | 120|\150] 15 |201]} 40 | 75 


A.M. P.M 
Highest state of Thermometer . . . 68 Gi 
LOWERE ose. ata Hoes Hg otee Es 


Mean of the Year 1824 


in the Isle of Man. 233 
1825. 


Weather, 
Number of Days. 


-—_——-——_ 
——— 


Rain.|Snow] Fair. 


November, 
December, 
General Medium.} 513] 48} 126 || J45 
; A.M. P.M. 
Highest state of Thermometer. . . . 72 68 
TEOWESt ke cake Sci oer alee vem oO 28 
Méanroh 62a tx". (pe hreute, ianieues 50°4 


From these tables we obtain the following results : 


ESSAI SUS LOT De Ta aor ea 
1G2S ahicavock Jo. a treet ds steers th ary Aes 
Sod. ON NE lal oe gts Wide. 40 8 
RN ira ene aaa tdi io cuictsealn oo. s OO 
Mean of four’ Years’ 3/2 es" - « 49°25 
Correction in consequence of 9 and 11 ait heii 
the hours of Mean Temperature suet atted all eiee 08 838 
Corrected Mean Temperature . . 4s ee Oe 
Mean Temperature according to Dr Brewster’ s for- 
WNBA SW Prion «feted lik verissee te bree ese. Oe eae OS 


Difference between the formula and observation . + 0°732 


* In the month of June, the thermometer at mid-day, from the 10th to 
20th, 76 to 78, in the shade.—100 to 110 in the sun. 

+ 17th to 27th July—range of Thermometer, mid-day, in the shade, 
from 76 to 79. 


234 On the Appearance of the Stars when viewed Cursorily. 


Arr. VIII.—An Attempt to account for the fact that the Stars 
appear greater in number when viewed cursorily than 
when examined with attention.* By a Correspondent. 


Tux discoveries of science are well known to be frequently 
accidental, and the observations of one literary man will of- 
ten prove useful and applicable to the pursuits of another, 
even in a different branch of study. It is the adoption and 
generalization of such a discovery that constitutes the aim of 
these remarks. 

I have long been dissatisfied with the explanation currently 
given of the apparent number of the stars being greater to a 
cursory observer, than when attentively examined. Fergu- 
son says, (Astronomy, chap. xx.) ‘* The number of the stars 
discoverable by the naked eye im either hemisphere is not 
above a thousand. ‘This at first may appear incredible, be- 
cause they seem to be without number; but the deception 
arises from our looking confusedly at them without reducing 
them to any order; for, look but steadfastly on a pretty large 
portion of the sky, and count the number of stars in it, and 
you will be surprised to find them so few.” 

The method by which I account for the circumstance is as 
follows: Messrs Herschel and South, (Edinburgh Journal of 
Science, vol. nu. p. 28, &c. Also Phil. Trans. and Mem. Ast. 
Soc. Lond.) giving an account of their observations on double 
stars, remark, ‘ A rather singular method of obtaining a view, 
and even a rough measure of the angles of stars of the last de- 
gree of faintness has often been resorted to, viz. to direct the 
eye to another part of the field ; in this way, a faint star in the 
neighbourhood of a large one has often become very conspi- 
cuous, so as to bear a certain illumination, which will yet to- 
tally disappear, as if suddenly blotted out, when the eye is 
turned full upon it, and so on, appearing and disappearing al- 
ternately as often as you please.” 

I may illustrate this by an observation of my own, made 
some months since, with a 63 feet achromatic by Carey, and 
2.750 inches clear aperture, using a low power which I have 


* We should be glad to hear again from the author of this article, and, 
if agreeable, to learn his address.—Ep. 


On the Appearance of the Stars when viewed Cursorily. 235 


not exactly ascertained. The following is an extract from my 
original memorandum: ‘17th December 1825.—Last night 
was very fine. I observed Saturn just past his opposition; he 
was very beautiful, and I saw him in great perfection ; his 
ring was broad, well defined, and very open; I am almost cer- 
tain that I observed the belts parallel to it.* I observed, in 
the strongest and most satisfactory manner, the fact mention- 
ed in Brewster’s Journal of Science for October, (the article 
of Observations on Double Stars,) that mimute bodies may be 
distinguished by directing the eye to another part of the field. 
This I saw in a speck which was almost certainly one of Sa- 
turn’s satellites, or an extremely small star. I could not al- 
ways see it, and never when I directed my eye to the spot 
where it was, but when I looked at Saturn’s body, I could 
see it a little to the south,” [Qu. north ?] “and though so ex- 
ceeding minute, I have not the smallest hesitation im pro- 
nouncing it to have been no deception. I saw it at several 
intervals, and under different circumstances. I next directed 
the telescope to the sword of Orion, — — — — — — — : 
the moon was at her first quarter, yet I saw admirably. The 
accompanying is a sketch of the group. The star A I observ- 
ed only or almost entirely by the method of B 
oblique vision mentioned last, and of which 

this was scarcely a less satisfactory example. 

But the most interesting observation was on A ° 

the star B, &c. &. — — — — — — — — a 

My note then goes on to state at large my observations on that 
famous quadr uple star, which, however, I need not now quote. 
I however remark, that ‘‘1 found the oblique vision of use here 
too, though not so strikingly as in the other particulars ;” and 
conclude, ‘ It is proper to observe, that these observations were 
made about 8 v. m., when Orion was rising.”+ ‘The above ex- 
tracts abundantly illustrate the influence of this agent in prac- 
tical observation, and its power is such, that I am astonished 
that it has not been long ago observed. According to Dr Brews- 


* This is hardly probable, from the lowness of the power applied. 

+ I had not then read the note, (Ed. Journ. p. 292,) which mentions 
the application to Saturn’s satellites ; that observation was therefore per- 
fectly unbiassed on that score. 


236 On the Appearance of the Stars when viewed Cursorily. 


ter, (iii. 292,) Messrs Herschel and South are not the first who 
have noticed it. I shall not debate the priority of discovery, 
but proceed to apply the fact to our observations on the heavens 
with the unassisted eye. 

The expressions of Mr Ferguson already quoted, and the 
judgment of every attentive spectator, prove that the number 
of stars appear to be reduced on fixing the eye steadfastly on 
any portion of the heayens. Now, the application of the prin- 
ciple appears to me as simple as it is evident, and I scarce 
look out on the sky without being confirmed in my opinion. 
The stars seen in a hasty view of the heavens, are chiefly ob- 
served by oblique vision, and the number visible to the naked 
eye (as I hope I have satisfactorily proved,) is actually in- 
creased. I cannot quote a stronger instance than the Pleia- 
des, and it is one which I have very frequently observed. 
While the eye is many degrees from them in the heavens, it is 
attracted by the compressed blaze of light which they exhi- 
bit. Fix the eye steadfastly upon them, and they almost va- 
nish from the sight, and six or seven stars, so faint as to be 
just discernible, is all that remains. ‘The telescope shows very 
numerous stars surrounding these six or seven, and very near 
as bright and conspicuous as them, which one may therefore 
consider in the first degree of invisibility; the oblique vision 
supplies this, and instead of a few twinklers, we behold a com- 
pressed starry heaven of themselves. This I think is a proof 
so satisfactory as to amount almost to demonstration. It is 
certainly the most striking exemplification of the principle I 
have observed in the heavens; but I have experimentally found, 
that, if you review almost any spot of the Milky Way, that vast 
tract of stars, in the method just mentioned, it will almost 
seem depopulated before your eyes. The lesser stars ‘‘ hide their 
diminished heads” before the penetration of direct vision; and 
I cannot help thinking, that this explanation is applicable to 
that confused whiteness which we observe on a slight view, 
without going so far as to imagine with Dr Derham, that it 
arises from planets circulating round these very distant suns. 
The telescope sufficiently proves that there are plenty of stars 
one stage less than visible in this singular tract, which must con- 
tribute infinitely more than the atoms of planets (if such ex- 


On the Appearance of the Stars when viewed Cursorily. 237 


ist) to give it the milky appearance for which it has so long 
been famous. By our indirect glances during a careless re- 
view of the heavens, thousands of these minute objects are 
sufficiently increased in apparent diameter, as I shall present- 
ly mention, to make a sensible impression on the retina of the 
eye; and from the false glare surrounding each point, and 
the closeness of the stars, they appear, in many cases, abso- 
lutely in undefined contact, necessarily producing the appear-_ 
ance which the galaxy presents, and very similar to what I have 
already observed, and any one may convince himself of it, in 
the Pleiades. Other parts of the heavens present similar facts, 
of which I may notice that the frequent small clusters in the 
stream of Aquarius are favourable examples. 

There are two opinions regarding the physical cause of the 
phenomenon ; the one is that of Messrs Herschel and South, 
and also probably of the first observers of the fact, the French 
astronomers. They conceive, that “the lateral portions of the 
retina, less fatigued by strong lights, and less exhausted by 
perpetual attention, are probably more sensible to faint im- 
pressions than the central ones.” Now, were we to stand by 
this explanation, my generalization of the fact must fall to the 
ground ; for in such a survey of the heavens as I speak of, the 
retina cannot be said to be “ fatigued by strong lights,” or 
** exhausted by perpetual attention.”* Or, on the other hand, 
if my adoption of the principle is acknowledged to be correct, 
the explanation of these gentlemen is untenable. We therefore 
look to the second method of accounting for it, by Dr Brews- 
ter, wno observes that ‘a luminous point seen indirectly, 
swells into a disk, and thus loses its sharpness, and acts 
upon a greater portion of the retina;” and he adds in a note, 
that this advantage of expanded vision does not give the co- 
lours of the poimt truly ; we therefore only gain a knowledge 
of its existence, and an idea of its situation. This last expla- 
nation applies equally in both cases; for the stars are indivi- 
sible pomts, whether viewed by the telescope or the naked 
eye, and we thus receive a confirmation of the correctness of 

“ Our correspondent, we suspect, mistakes the meaning of this passage 
in Messrs Herschel and South’s paper. The exhaustion, we presume, here 


referred to, is a permanent effect, supposed to be produced upon the cen- 
tral parts of every retina.n—Ep. 


238 Mr Schonberg on the Spawn of Salmon. 


the hypothesis. This curious fact cannot fail to strike one as 
a very wise dispensation of Providence ; for, when the eyes are 
both placed in the front of the head, as in man, the circle of 
accurate vision is extremely small, but whatever approaches 
within the wide limits of indirect vision, particularly attracts 
the attention by its expanded size, and gives a remarkably ex- 
tended scope to our field of observation. 


July 1826. A 


Art. IX.—On the Spawn of Salmon, observed in its pro- 
gressive State, and Drawn from Nature. By L. Scuon- 
BERG, Esq. Communicated by the Author. With a Prater. 


Tue eggs or spawn of the salmon, represented in their natu- 
ral state in Figs. 1—4. Plate V., are of the size of a common 
pea. Their colour is lively, and they are transparent, mixed 
with yellowish brown and red. When they pass into whitish 
red, and lose their transparency, they are of no use for experi- 
ments, as they are then in a corrupted state. Few, indeed, 
can be brought, or rather kept in a proper condition, Out of 
nearly 200, four eggs only succeeded, however fresh their ap- 
pearance at first was. Changing of the water, and, if possible, 
from the same river, must be repeated hourly, and they must 
likewise be exposed to the sun’s influence. 

Fig. 1. 0. Shows a spawn magnified; position of the fish 
visible ; head joined with tail; a large artery passing between 
them ; point of pulsation very distinct, almost the day when 
taken from the river. The animal moves itself now and then 
with alternate contraction and dilatation. The spawn keeps 
generally a fixed point of gravity, viz. eyes sideways: The eyes 
are manifested by two gray-black spots, situated sideways 
in the globe. The following day no motion perceptible ; the 
day-light not strong enough to reflect upon the glass. Eyes 
assuming the third day a white spot in its centre. 

Fig. 2. Shows the spawn in different positions, after the 
head had made its way through the shell or egg; this hap-. 
pened the fifth day. 

The spawn advanced to the state in Fig. 3. after a lapse of 
eight hours. ‘Tail twisted around a transparent substance, per- 


Mr Schonberg on the Spawn of Salmon. 239 


haps the yolk, filled with a quantity of red spots, now and 
then variegated with some of a paler kind, which together seem 
to be oily and floating. This membrane presses itself out of 
the shell. 

Fig. 3. 6. Whilst examining it under the microscope, the 
fish made considerable progress with regard to the quitting of 
the shell ; this disengagement was perhaps too precocious, on 
account of its being often removed from its place, in order to 
be observed under the glass. A sight the most imposing, 
was, without contradiction, that of beholding the active mo- 
tion of the heart ; the innumerable streams rolling small glo- 
bules of blood, interposed with air, into larger vessels, where 
the number combine in forming some of a greater volume. 

The streams issue, as shown in the outline Fig. 6, from be- 
low the body of the fish, a vein not visible, (concealed in the 
spine ;) the colour of the blood light-brown red; it flows 
through numberless vessels, situated in the bladder, or trans- 
parent membrane itself; is collected into the large vessel seen 
below the membrane, always increasing in breadth, ascending 
towards the throat ; drawn thence by short regular intervals 
(twelve pauses in eleven seconds) into the heart, or rather in- 
to various chambers, one of which empties itself every time, 
colouring the next, which again throws it out into the third, 
and then ascending into the gills, as shown by the dart. 

The blood in the veins at the neck and head is much darker. 
Several other blood-vessels in the fore part ef the body are 
distinguishable. 

Fig. 4. The spawn left the shell at the time when the sketch 
was made ; the animal lay motionless for some hours, the pul- 
sation continuing ; tail much curved ; eye more brilliant. 

Fig. 5. The motion of the water, caused by pouring it into the 
vessel, made the body grow straight. The bladder attached 
to the animal is oval; it lived ouly two days in a state of lan- 
guor, without enjoying its element. 

Fig. 7. The shell or egg, after the animal had left it. It 
was semi-transparent, and three-fourths of it entire. In a for- 
mer case, the shell was excessively fragile, and almost disap- 
peared 1 in filaments ; ; in this, however, it remained for many 
days solid, which proves the immaturity of the fish. 


240 On the Severe Cold of last Winter, 


Three fishes came out on the 5th April, swimming with 
agility, sometimes leaping beyond the surface, moving con- 
stantly their lips and pectoral fins. ‘Their appetite seems 
awake, and they snatch some grains of meal, sometimes throw- 
ing it out again to get again hold of it. The red spots de- 
creasing, show sufficiently that it is partly nutritive matter, 
partly, as I had opportunity to perceive, digestive matter, 
(for it is considerably caustic, staming through and through 
paper, and is acted upon by acids.) 

The bladder assumes with time a more pointed shape, and 
loses at last the more transparent epi which is only visible at 
the posterior extremity. 

They repose sideways when there is no rough ground, but 
when upon pebbles, they conceal their heads between them, 
and seem to prefer this way of resting to any other. 

Their growth is now very considerable, and their colour, 
particularly the gray shades, more decided. 

Sea-water has a considerable effect on them; they seem to 
be at first full of vigour, twisting themselves with all possible 
muscular strength. When replaced in fresh water, they imme- 
diately sink to the bottom exhausted for some minutes. I 
found afterwards, and by means of an experiment, where the 
fish was at liberty to be either in fresh or salt water, that the 
latter only was to be their abode. 

On the 15th two died ; and this is presaged by the change 
of the blood in the heart and gills growing darker some hours 
before. 

Length of one ten day ys old.—From head to tail, 11 lines ; 
from head to bladder, 2} lines; from tail to bladder, or anus, 
4 lines; body of the fish, 1 line; from back to under part of 
the bladder, 34 lines. Pinse-paccovell 2 lines ; dorsal, 1 line ; 
ventral, 1 line ; abdominal, 2 lines ; tail, 1 line. 


Art. X.—Notice of the severe Cold of last Winter, and of the 
late great Heats in June 1826, with original Observations. 
By a Correspondent. 


From my observations in January last, chiefly made in the 
country near Edinburgh, I find the mean temperature to 


and of the Great Heat of June 1826. 241 


have been only 35°34, and according to Mr Adie 34°35, or 
lower than the minimum for January 1825. About the mid- 
dle of the month, there occurred a very intense frost, of which 
I have collected the following observations. 

Within a few miles of Edinburgh, and near 400 feet above 
the sea, I made the following observations with the utmost 
care. The instrument used was one by Knie, in which I put 
the utmost confidence. The mercury readily runs up the tube 
when reversed, and returns to the bulb with a click. Besides, - 
it agrees to the certainty of a small fraction of a degree with 
a very large scale thermometer by Adie. I therefore do not 
hesitate about the accuracy of the following numbers from my 
register. 


Day. Hour. Therm. Hour. Therm. Wind. 
9 815’ M. 25} 8 A. 23} IN. Ws 
10 8 314 8 29 N.W.&N.E. 
11 8 264 8 284 N.W. 
12 8 303 8 274 N. 
13 8 244 8 363 N.W. 
\4 8 22 8 203 N.W. 
15 8 234 8 19} N.W. 
16 8 15j 8 34 N.W. 
17 8 40 8 424 S.W. 


Additions to these observations : 
9 Tham. 25% 3p.m-26}- 10 P.M. 244. In the country. 
9 Barometer at Edinburgh, - 2 P.M. 29.90 


12 — _ — — _ a 29.60 
isi == == = = 40 — 29.75 
4— = = — —_ 12 — 29.85 
14 Therm. in the country at - - 10 P.M. 224 
15 Barom. at Edinburgh, - - 2 P.M: 30.06 
15 Therm. country, - - = 10 — 154 
16 Barom. Edinburgh, - - - lLo— 30.13 
16 Therm. country, - = = 10 — 364 
17 Barom. Edinburgh, - - - 1o— 30.00 


By Dr Orpen, South Frederick Street, Dublin. 


Jan. Thermometer. Barometer. Wind. 
10 10 m. 28° 10 a. 30° 10 m. 29.95 10 a4. 29.33 SH Nel. 
11 27 31 29.35 29.86 E. 
12 29 28 29.88 29.95 1D, 


13 26 25 30.01 30.00 EK. 


242 On the Severe Cold of last Winter, 


Jan. Thermometer. Barometer. Wind. 
14 10 um. 36 104.38 10 m. 29.93 10 a. 29.93 S.E. 
15 40 36 30.08 30.23 S.E. 
16 42 46 30.23 30.26 S.E. 


It is a highly curious fact, that the wind throughout was dia- 
metrically opposite to what it was at Edinburgh, and that the 
very thick fog was not accompanied, as it usually is here, with 
an east wind. The weather was in general clear, and very 
delightful, except on the 15th, and the ice sometimes seven 
inches thick. The wind had been almost constantly due east 
since the beginning of the year before the 9th, on which day 
also the frost began, being new moon, and broke up on the 
16th, with her first quarter, beimg one instance out of many 
of the moon’s influence. 


At Earl Spencer’s, Althorp, Northamptonshire. 


Thermometer. Barometer. Wind. 

Jan. Low. High. Morn. Even. Morn. Even. 

9 19 28 29.96 29.90 A De 10p 
10 16 31 74 59 W. W. 
il 22 Si 59 61 N.W. N.W. 
1s 164 29 70 70 W. by N. W. by N. 
13 16 Q7 84 86 W. by N. NW. 
14 13 28 : 97 97 W.. W. 
15 8 27 30.24 30.23 Ww. W. by N. 
16 8 26 32 38 W. by N. W. by S. 
17 163 33 38 38 S: W. by S. 

At the Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh. 

Jan. Thermom. 9 M. 4 a. Reg.* Barom. 9 Mm. 4a. Wind. 

9 18 23 29.807 29.740 Var. 
10 le 32 367 404 Var. 
13% 21 28 455 435 N.W. 
12 2) 28 470 556 N.W. 
13 18 23 63 764 N.W. 
14 15 Qt 715 737 Var. 
15 16 24 918 920 S.E. 
16 10 22 989 999 Var. 
17 224 38 931 $12 S.W. 


In the north of Scotland+ this cold was much more severe, 
as appears from the following observations. 
* | presume the maximum. 


+ We have taken the liberty of adding this paragraph to complete the paper of 
our Correspondent.—Eb. 


and of the late great Heats in June 1826. 243 


Observations made at the Doune, Inverness-shire, by J. P. 
Grant, Esq. of Rothiemurchus. 
Jan 12. Midnight, - - - 20° Fahr. 


13. Ditto, - ” - - 8 
14.9 a.M. = ~ - - 0 
Noon, = - - - 20 
Midnight, - - 6 
15. 97a. mM. = - - 3 
10 a. M. - - 5 


Noon, - - - 


+++++ 14111 
er 


Midnight, - - 5 
16. 9AM. = - ~ 22 
Noon, - - - 
17. Midnight, - - 37 
QA.M-. -@& - ~ 42 
Noon, - - - 45 


The following observations were made in Aberdeenshire by 
George Fairholme, Esq. On the 14th, at 11 p. m. the ther- 
mometer stood at + 6° at Castle Forbes, which is situated at 
a considerable elevation above the river Don, and overlooking 
the valley of Alford. At the above hour Mr Fairholme ob- 
served this valley covered with a dense fog; and supposing 
that the temperature would be much lower near the level of the 
river, he sent a thermometer down to the manse of Keig, where 
it stood at 5° below zero at 7 o’clock on the morning of the 
15th. In a few hours afterwards, a change of wind occasioned a 
rapid thaw, which continued for some time. 


I shall now simply state my own very careful observations 
made on the late uncommon heats in June in the country. 


June 24th, 9 m. 724° at a N. window, 3 floors from the ground, and per- 
2 gr p 


fectly open, with a large thermometer of Adie’s, ;'5 of a degree easily visi= 
ble. 


Therm. 
10 m. 5’ 75°.0 Circumstances the same. 
Pi 0 5 Ditto; ditto. 
12 0 78.2 Ditto, ditto. 
12 40’ 79.2 Ditto, ditto. 
1 3 80.2 Ditto, ditto. 
1 40’ 80.7 Ditto, ditto. 
2 0’ 80.9 Ditto, ditto, and a thermometer per- 
2 14 80.8 Ditto, — fectly agreeing, (see page 241,) hung 
2 25' 81.1 Ditto, out at a distance from the wall in a 


VOL. V. NO. II. OCTOBER 1826. R 


244 On the Severe Cold of last Winter, &c. 


2m. 40 $1°.3 Circumstances the same. N.E. exposure, only 791°— 
2 14/792. 2° 25’ 808. Ex- 
posed to the E. at a distance 
from the wall, and a white 
9 a East exposure 50°. Ditto, ditto. paper shade against reflec« 
tion, from a flat roof near, 
2 40’ $2°.—Ditto, 3° 6’ 
(well-shaded) $13. 3° 12’ 

13°, 

June 25th, 90} mM. 77°.2 Circumstances as above. 
80} a. 82 East wall. Other thermometer well shaded in 
9 a. 71. Ditto. trees, at 3" 50’, exactly 80°. 


On the 26th a very intense temperature occurred, and as 
my observations were made in a peculiarly cautious manner, 
and with the greatest attention to every possibility of reflec- 
tion, I have no scruple that they should be made public. 


June 26th. 
9m. 75°  Adie’s at a N. window, as last page 
12°56’ 81 1° 0’ [other therm. exposed behind a shady hedge, 802°. 
1® 35’ in the sun 110° . 
15 38 at the house 83.°3. Brought out Adie’s, and hung it behind a very 
large stem of a tree, perfectly screened from 
the sun by high trees, &e. 
i> 45 (Knie’s) 82° hung behind a fragment of building, with an im- 
mense head of ivy, and thoroughly shaded. Not far 
from Adie’s. 
In the sun 111° 
2> 0’ Sun 113° Knie’s 823° Adie’s $2.5 
2. 20' —- 1144° —— s2i fully —— 82.9 
2. 30' —- 1144° —— 83} —— 83.3 
2.45/ —=- 113° —— 843 —— 84.0 Finding that Knie’s was }° 
above Adie’s, probably arising from the sun’s 
reflection, which was on the grass 20 feet off, 
I now moved it to quite a different place. . 
3.0 Sun 114° Knie (New Place) 844° Adie $4°.3 
3.12 —- 112° —— $4.1 
823 .—— 84.0 : 
Finding Adie’s 13° highest, I brought Knie’s beside it, 
and found them at 
3.30’ Sun 112 Knie’s (beside Adie) 827°, Adie 84°.0, or just the same 
as before. Now, I should state, that Adie’s was in 
his sympiesometer case, which probably kept it too_ 
hot by producing a reflection of the heat from the 
surrounding brass, after long exposure. 
At 10" a. at the house, E. window 72°. 


Dr Turner on the Cyanuret of Mercury, &c. 245 


After all my care, the delicacy of these observations is such, 
that I do not feel myself entitled to give the true maximum 
with so much precision as I had hoped; but I feel confident 
that it was above 84°, and state without hesitation, that in 
perfect shade, and free from all usual defects in observation, 
such as the proximity of buildings, errors in the height of the 
mercury, &c. it was between the degrees 83 and 84. 

The temperatures in the sun cannot be perfectly trusted to 
perhaps within 1°; the bulb of the instrument was covered 
with black woollen stuff. The wind was variable throughout 
these experiments, and cirri, cirro-cumuli, and cumuli, slight- 
ly prevailed. 

The following days were very warm, but not so remarkably 
as the above. On the 27th was a thunder-storm, in the middle 
of which I took the temperature of a spring, which was no 
higher than I had reason to believe, from my observation of 
the day before on the same spring. This does not confirm 
the conjecture mentioned in the last number of the Journal of 
Science. 

P. §.—Some have stated that few. and small solar spots in- 
dicate hot weather, and others the reverse. On the 17th 
June, while the weather was quite cool, and I was not think- 
ing of such coincidences, I found a spot coming on the sun, 
which I have stated in my memorandum to be an ‘ immense” 
one. Indeed, it was almost the largest I ever saw, and I took 
a sketch of it. It was approaching the sun’s western limb on 
the 24th. This appears to favour the latter hypothesis. 

July 1826. A 


Art. XI.—On the formation of the Cyanuret of Mercury, and 
the Sulpho-cyanate of Potash. By Epwarp Turwer, M.D. 
F.R.S.E. Lecturer on Chemistry, and Fellow of the Royal 
College of Physicians, Edinburgh. 


Tue directions contained in systematic works on chemistry for 
the formation of the cyanuret of mercury, appear to have been 
derived from Proust’s excellent paper on Prussian blue, pub- 
lished in the 60th volume of the Annales de Chimie. M. 
Thenard directs that two parts of good Prussian blue, in fine 


246 Dr Turner on the Cyanuret of Mercury, 


powder, and one of the peroxide of mercury, should be boiled 
in eight parts of water until the colour of the mixture, from 
being blue, becomes yellow. The solution, after being filtered, 
is evaporated by heat and cooled alternately, in order to obtain 
the cyanuret of mercury in the form of crystals. As the com- 
pound, thus procured, always contains oxide of iron, Proust 
recommends, with the view of freeing it from the iron, that the 
crystals should be redissolved in water, and boiled with an ex- 
cess of the peroxide of mercury. Hydrocyanic or muriati¢e 
acid is then added to neutralize the solution, and the purified 
cyanuret of mercury is separated as before by crystallization. 

In making the cyanuret of mercury by this process, I always 
find considerable difficulty in procuring it free from iron. The 
solution, from the commencement, though the best Prussian blue 
which I could purchase in Edinburgh is employed, has uniform- 
ly a deeper colour than can be well produced by a small quan- 
tity of iron rendered soluble by the cyanuret of mercury ; and 
on separating the cyanuret as much as possible by crystalliza- 
tion, a yellow solution remains, which has no disposition to erys- 
tallize. Suspecting, from these circumstances, that the incon- 
venience of the process is owing to impurities contained in 
the Prussian blue, I boiled some of that substance in muriatic 
acid diluted with nine or ten times its weight of water, collect- 
ed the insoluble matter on a filter, and edulcorated. From the 
colour of the acid solution, it was obvious that it contained 
iron ; and, accordingly, on adding an excess of pure potash, 
the hydrous peroxide of iron was thrown down in large quan- 
tity. On filtering the alkaline solution, and boiling it with 
muriate of ammonia to neutralize the potash, a copious preci- 
pitate of alumina took place. These substances appear to ex- 
ist in the Prussian blue, as subsalts of sulphuric acid; at least 
pure water did not take up a trace of iron, whereas the solu- 
tion made by dilute muriatic acid was precipitated copiously 
by muriate of baryta. 

When the purified Prussian blue and the red oxide of 
mercury, in due proportion and in fine powder, are boiled 
together with water, the former is entirely decomposed, and a - 
perfectly colourless solution is obtained, which yields, by eva~ 
poration, pure crystals of the cyanuret of mercury, even to 


and the Sulpho-cyanate of Potash. 247 


the last drop. The success of the operation depends entirely 
on the proportions which are employed. The most conve- 
nient proportion is eight parts of the purified Prussian blue, 
well dried on a sand bath, to eleven of the peroxide of mer- 
cury. This quantity of the peroxide of mercury, without 
being in excess, decomposes the ferro-cyanate completely ; 
and the weight of the cyanuret which is obtained, somewhat 
exceeds that of the peroxide employed in its preparation. The 
ratio of eight to twelve gives an excess of the peroxide; in 
consequence of which the solution acquires an alkaline reac- 
tion. ‘Two inconveniences arise from this circumstance. In 
the first place, the cyanuret of mercury does not crystallize 
properly ; and, in the second, the excess of mercury occasions 
some of the peroxide of iron to be dissolved, which colours 
the solution, and renders the cyanuret of mercury impure. 
This fact I have observed repeatedly. If, after decomposing 
eight parts of purified Prussian blue by eleven of the peroxide 
of mercury, one part more of the latter be added, the solu- 
tion, from being neutral and colourless, acquires an alkaline 
reaction and a yellow colour, and deposits peroxide of iron 
when it is evaporated. 

The most economical method of obtaining pure ferro-cya- 
nate of potash, is by direct combination of its elements. The 
best Prussian blue, which in Edinburgh costs a shilling an 
ounce, yields, after bemg purified and well dried, little more 
than half its weight of pure ferro-cyanate of iron; while the 
ferro-cyanate of potash, which is the most expensive material 
in its manufacture, may be purchased in Glasgow at the rate 
of three shillings and sixpence per pound. The formation of 
pure ferro-cyanate of iron from the ferro-cyanate of potash, 
is very simple to the practised chemist; but, as there are 
one or two points of delicacy in the process, it may not be su- 
perfluous, in a pharmaceutic point of view, to state briefly the 
different steps of it. In principle, it consists merely in mix- 
ing the ferro-cyanate of potash, dissolved in a large quantity 
of water, with some persalt of iron, taking the precaution to 
have an excess of the latter, and washing the resulting ferro- 
cyanate of the peroxide of iron with successive portions of 
water, until the edulcoration is complete. The best method 


“N 


248 Dr Turner on the Cyanuret of Mercury, &c. 


of doing this, is to operate in a large glass vessel, and to draw 
off the supernatant liquid daily with a syphon. It is remarka- 
ble that the ferro-cyanate of the peroxide of iron does not 
subside well, unless an excess of the salt of iron be present ; 
and, consequently, after repeated washings with fresh water, 
by which the free salt of iron is removed, the Prussian blue 
loses its power of subsiding, and remains suspended in the 
liquid. This is a sign that the edulcoration has been carried 
to a sufficient extent. 'The pure ferro-cyanate is then dried 
on a sand-bath. 

The readiest mode of forming a persalt of iron, is by ad- 
ding nitric acid toa solution of the proto-sulphate, and boiling 
it for a few minutes. A measured drachm and a half of nitric 
acid, specific gravity 1.4, is sufficient for an ounce of the pro- 
to-sulphate. A few drops of sulphuric acid should after- 
wards be added, to prevent the formation of a sub-salt. 


Sulpho-cyanate of Potash. 

In preparing the sulpho-cyanate of potash, according to the 
method recommended by Vogel, it is difficult to obtam it quite 
pure, except by continuing the operation for a considerable 
length of time. An accident which occurred to my friend, 
Mr John Home, while making this salt in my laboratory, led 
me to the following modification of the process, by which it is 
rendered more speedy and effectual. Mix the ferro-cyanate 
of potash in fine powder, with an equal weight of sulphur, 
and after putting the mixture in a porcelain capsule, place it 
just above a pan of burning charcoal, so that it may be ex- 
posed to a very strong heat, but short of redness. The mix- 
ture speedily fuses, takes fire, and burns briskly for one or 
two minutes, during which it should be well stirred. The 
combustion soon ceases spontaneously ; and the dark-coloured 
residue, on being dissolved in water and filtered, yields a very 
pure and neutral sulpho-cyanate of potash. ‘To imsure the 
decomposition of all the ferro-cyanate of potash, I generally 
allow the mass to remain in a fused condition for a few mi- 
nutes after the combustion has ceased,-previous to withdraw- ~ 
ing it from the fire; but this precaution is not necessary, if a 
strong heat has been employed in the first instance, 


Mr Foggo on the Results of a Journal, &c. 249 


Ant. XI1.—Results of a Meteorological Journal kept at Se- 
ringapatam during the years 1814 and 1816. By Mr 
Joun Focco Junior.* 


Tues journals contain a register of the thermometer at sun- 
rise, and in the afternoon, of the thermometer within doors, 
and of the temperature of the river Caveri, taken at 6 a.m. 
and 3 p.m. These are followed by a column for the height 
of the river, and another for the evaporameter. In the year 
1816, the barometer was added to the register, and observa- 
tions made regularly three times a-day, namely, at 4 a.m., 10 
a.M., and 4 p.M., and in the last three months it was also ob- 
served at 8 p.m. The amount of rain was also measured dur- 
ing this year, and in both the state of the weather was care~ 


fully noted. 


Mean Results for both Years. 


The mean temperature of the whole year is, by observa- 
tion, 77.06; by Dr Brewster’s formula 76.92, without correc- 
tion for elevation. From the register of the barometer kept 
in 1816, it appears that this city is elevated 2412 feet above 
the sea. As in the tropics an elevation of 613 feet depresses 
the temperature 1.8 Fahr. for moderate heights, we have 
for the mean temperature of the coast intermediate between 
Madras and Pondicherry, 84.14. Now, in the year 1823, 
the mean temperature of Madras was 83.53, and the tempera- 
ture of Pondicherry, according to the old observations of Le 
Gentil, 85. By Mr Atkinson’s formula for depression of 
temperature according to the altitude, the temperature of the 
coast 1s 82.4. "The mean temperature of these places appears to 
vary considerably from year to year, as we find that Dr Rox- 
burgh’s observations give the temperature of Madras no higher 
than 80.42. The mean temperature at Seringapatam at sunrise 
is 63.17, at 3 p.m. 90. 95, and the mean temperature of the day 
is 84°, of the night 70.11 ; the average daily range of tempera- 


* The very valuable Registers, of which the following is an abstract, 
were kept by Mr Scarman. The editor owes them to the kindness of Hen= 
ry Harvey, Esq. 


250 Mr Foggo on the Results of a 


ture 27.7. The mean temperatureof January, thecoldest month, 
is 70.8; from this the monthly temperature rises till May, of 
which the temp. is 85 ; after this it declines till the end of July, 
but, at the approach of the sun in his progress southward, the 
temperature in October increases to the mean of the year, 
after which it falls till January. The curve of monthly temp. 
has, therefore, two convex summits, of unequal elevation, and 
about 120 days distant from each other. The highest tem- 
perature observed is 115°, and the lowest 48°; and the ex- 
treme range of temperature experienced during the two years 
= OF 

The mean temperature of the river is ‘77.2, agreeing ex- 
actly with the temperature of the air. At sunrise, the mean 
temperature is 76.47, and at 3 p.m. 78.03, and the difference 
between these — 1.56°. 

The highest temperature observed in the river is 88°, and the 
lowest 68°. The mean height of the river is 2 feet 8 inches, 
the greatest height being 12 feet, and the lowest 9 inches; 
but these appear to be relative heights. It is highest in July 
and August, and lowest in April. The register of the amount 
of evaporation does not agree with the other observations. The 
mode of registering was to observe the loss of height in a co- 
lumn of water of 30 inches, from the Ist of January till the 
end of the year. We thus observe a gradual diminution of 
the column of .O7 of an inch daily, or 26.5 in the year. As 
the mean temperature of the air is 77°, an evaporation to this 
amount would take place though the point of deposition was 
only 2} below the temperature of the air. But the remark- 
able range of 27° daily, shows that the climate of this place is 
one of the driest of the habitable regions of the globe, so that 
it is probable the evaporameter has been kept within doors, in 
which case its results would coincide with the indications of 
the thermometer in the house, of which the mean is the same 
as that of the air, and the range is not greater than that of the 
river. The measure of evaporation must in every case be 
more or less hypothetical, and Mr Daniell has shown that a very 
close approximation would be obtained by the difference of elas- 
tic force of the vapour at the temperature of the air and the dew 
point. ‘The mean temperature of the air, or of the river, which 


Meteorological Journal kept at Seringapatam. 951 


must be the principal source of the vapour, being 77, and the 
probable dew point 63°, then .966— .615 = .351 of an inch, 
the depth of water evaporated in twenty-four hours, or 128 
inches yearly.* The degree of dryness on the thermometer will 
be therefore 14°. The degree of moisture on the natural scale 
of the hygrometer .636, 1.000 being perfect dampness; and 
the weight of a cubic foot of vapour, 6.522 gr. 

The prevailing winds are the N. E. and S. W., or the gene- 
ral monsoons of the Indian Ocean. The S. W. sets in during 
the month of April. When it first commences, its reciproca- 
tion with the N. E. interrupts the serenity of the weather, and 
during its continuance thunder storms occur almost every 
day, with heat,—lightning at night. This is the rainy sea- 
son, but the monsoon having deposited its superabundant 
moisture upon the Ghauts, very little rain falls at Seringa- 
patam. During the N. E., which begins about the end of Oc- 
tober, the weather is settled and fine, with heavy dews before 
sunrise. 


Results for the Year 1814. 

I have arranged the numerical results of this year under 
(A) Table I. The temperature was considerably higher than 
in 1816. The mean temperature at sunrise = 64.65; in the 
afternoon 92.1, mean temp. 78.4. Mean temp. of the day 
85.2; of the night 71.52; of the coldest month 72.6; of the 


warmest 86.5 ; 


* Mr Anderson has observed that in settled weather the minimum tem- 
perature of the night does not fall below the term of precipitation taken at 
sunset, or in the evening ; and a variety of experiments made at Leith 
have proved the general truth of the principle. Since the temperature at 
sunrise will be a very little above the minimum by a register thermo« 
meter, and since the constituent temperature of the vapour varies very 
little during the day, there cannot be a great error in assuming the tempera- 
ture at sunrise to correspond with the mean point of deposition. Dr 
Young has shown that the mean evaporation in twenty-four hours is ex« 
pressed by the height of a column of mercury equivalent to the elasticity 
of the vapour, and the effect of the moisture in the atmosphere may be 
allowed for by deducting the tabular number of the elasticity at the dew 
point. The evaporation at London, calculated in this way by Mr Daniell, 
accords in a remarkable manner with the amount observed by Mr How- 
ard. { 


252 Mr Foggo on the Results of a 


December, January, February, 75.20. 

March, April, May, 84.58. 

June, July, August, 76.22. 

September, October, November, 77.30. 

Of the coldest decad (beginning 1st January) at sunrise, 
50.5; in the afternoon, 80.5, mean, 68°; of the warmest 
decad (15th May) sunrise, 69°, afternoon 107, mean 88. 

On the 31st of May, a severe thunder storm occurred, the ef- 
fects of which are described in the Journal :—“ Weather, to- 
wards evening, fresh, north-west wind, distant thunder N. Ed.; 
before 6 p.M., strong N. E. wind, with a heavy shower, vivid 
lightning, and twice exceedingly loud thunder; the last loud 
explosion took effect on the terrace of the house. Ten or 
thirteen small holes were made in the terrace by the explo- 
sion, within the space of thirteen feet in the direction, and over a 
thick partition-wall. All the holes, excepting three, did not 
penetrate deeper than the outer thick layer of plaster. Of 
the three which appeared to have penetrated beyond the layer 
of tiles under the plaster, one, which was much larger than 
the others, but not exceeding the diameter of a pistol-ball, si- 
tuated rather on one side, and at a little distance from the 
wall, passed through the terrace, and penetrated the room be- 
tween the rafter and cornice. The thick chunam plaster over 
the cornice, projecting about 2 inches under, and adhering to 
the under surface of the rafter, to the extent of near 2 feet in 
length on each side of the hole, and down the wall about 3 
feet in length and 2 in breadth, was thrown off, and an irre- 
gular groove, superficial at top, and deeper at bottom, was 
formed down the cornice and wall about 24 feet in length. 
The surface between the place from which the chunam was 
thrown off, and the door-frame underneath,:a distance of near 
four feet, was not injured, excepting a very fine crack being 
just perceptible from the broken chunam to the frame, and 
the plaster immediately above the frame little broken. The 
side of the door-frame, situated in a line under the hole 
through the terrace, was split down in two or three pieces, 
the mortice of the upper piece of the frame, and some of the 
surfaces of the splintered side frame being charred. The chu- 
nam and jelly of the floor adjoining the bottom of the splinter- 


Meteorological Journal kept at Seringapatam. 258 


ed side frame was broken up to the distance of a few inches. 
Another of the holes which penetrated the terrace, was si- 
tuated nearly over the other side piece of the door-frame, 
which was also split down in two or three pieces, the surface 
of the wall above did not appear to have been injured, but 
two or three holes, apparently not deep, were observed in the 
side of the doorway on the surface of the wall, against which 
the side piece of the door-frame was situated. The lower hinge 
of the opposite half door was slightly melted at two points, 
and the fine chunam on the opposite side of the door-way, ra- 
ther above the level of the hinge, was blackened to the extent 
of about 6 inches in length and 3 in breadth, as if the electric 
fluid had passed down the inside of the wall out at the surface, 
against which the side of the door-frame was placed, and, 
splittmg the door-frame, struck the opposite hinge and surface 
of the opposite side of the doorway. The upper piece of the 
door-frame was a little split near the mortices, but the under 
piece was not injured. The broken surfaces of bricks were 
slightly vitrified, and surfaces of chunam plaster blackened, or 
of gray colour.” 


Results of the Year 1816. 


The observations of this year were made on a more extend- 
ed scale, and the remarks on the weather are detailed at con- 
siderable length, though deficient in precision. ‘The mean tem- 
perature of the year was 75.75 ; at sunrise, 61.7 ; in the after- 
noon, 89.8 ; the mean temperature of the night, 68.7, of the 
day, 82.7; of the coldest decad in the year (13th January) 
67.8, at sunrise, 54.9, in afternoon, 80.9; of the warmest de- 
cad (25th April) 85, at sunrise 67, in afternoon 103; of the 
coldest day, 15th January, 64; of the warmest, 20th May, 90. 

December, January, February, 71.3. 

March, April, May, 82.08. 

June, July, August, 75.83. 

September, October, November, 74.66. 

Mean temperature of the river 76. 

The average height of the barometer is 27.568.* ‘The pres- 

* Hence the elevation of Seringapatam is 2412 feet, assuming the pres- 


sure at the level of the sea to be 29.88, and the mean temperature of the 
intercepted column of air = 78°. 


254 Mr Foggo on the Results of a 


sure at 4 A. M. 1s 0.027 below that of 10 a. m., and .04’7 above 
4 p.m. The average of 10 a. M. is .074 above 4p. mu. In 
the last three months the average of 8 Pp. m. is .006 below that 
of 4a. M., .04 above 4 p. m., and .041 below 10 a.m. I do 
not find one instance of the horary oscillations being suspend- 
ed; but during the prevalence of the S. W. monsoon the ex- 
tent of the variation is diminished. See Table IT. col. 9, 10, 11. 
Besides the horary oscillations, there is a monthly variation 
from the annual mean pressure of remarkable regularity, when 
it is considered that the results are obtained from one year’s 
observations only. This variation, however, is not the same 
at each hour of observation, so that the decrement has reach- 
ed its maximum for 4 A. mM. and 4p. M. in June, but for 10 
A. M. not till July. It appears to be occasioned by the united 
effects of increase of vapour and the influence of the monsoons. 

The amount of this variation is .262. The maximum pres- 
sure observed throughout the year is 27.79, and the minimum 
27.34; extreme range 4.5. 

The mean height of the river this year was 3 feet. The 
amount of rain measured 23.77 inches, and the probable amount 
of evaporation 122 inches. I have calculated a hygrometric 
table for this year (Tab. III.) according to the method men- 
tioned above, which is perhaps as near the truth as any simi- 
lar table for an intertropical climate that has been published. | 


Monthly Results for 1816. 


In January, the temperature is at its minimum, but the pres- 
sure has attained its maximum, the N. FE. monsoon is fairly esta- 
blished, and the weather clear, without rain or thunder. The 
mornings generally hazy, from the rapid evaporation occasion- 
ed by the energy of the sun’s rays. Copious dews fall during 
the night, and particularly before sunrise. ‘The only two 
mornings on which no dew was observed were subsequent to the 
two coldest days of the year, the 7th and 15th; lightning was 
seen only once, on the evening of the 16th. The height of the 
river on the first of the month, 2 feet 3 inches. 

February.——Weather in general the same as last month ; 
lightning more frequent at night; and rain apparently all 
round the horizon on the hills. On some mornings the wind 


Meteorological Journal kept at Seringapatam. 255 


was from the S. W. Height of the river on the Ist, 1 foot 
8 inches. 

In March the dew is scarcely so heavy. During the day, 
the wind variable from N. E. E. and 8. E. In the evening, 
the S. E. generally ; and after the middle of the month the 
S. W. prevailed during the night. Frequent lightning at night. 
Height of the river 15 inches. 

In April, S. W. the prevailing wind ; large clouds rise from 
all quarters during the day; rain at night frequent, but in 
slight showers ; lightning every night, The river began to 
rise on the 4th, and at the same time the electric explosions 
first became audible. 

May.—Weather as in last month; height of the river 20 
inches. <A period of ten days, beginning with the 7th of this 
month, gives the mean annual pressure ; and during this time 
the N. E. wind prevailed after noon, but the S. W. at night. 

In June, thirteen rainy days; height of the river on the 
Ist, 10 inches, and it remained nearly at this height till the 
24th, when it rose in the course of the night to 7 feet 6 inch- 
es. §. W. uninterrupted. Heavy dew, when no rain fell ; 
lightning with thunder almost every night. 

July.—21 Rainy days. Greatest height of the river 9 feet ; 
weather as in last month. Barometer rising after the 7th, ex- 
actly when the river had attained its greatest depth. 

August.—Temperature very uniform throughout the 
month ; height of the river on the first day of the month 5 feet 
7 inches; eleven rainy days ; lightning less frequent ; continual 
S. W. wind, with heavy dew, every night. 

September.—Continued S. W. monsoon, nine rainy days, 
light dew at night, height of the river 5 feet. 

October.—Height of the river 4 feet 6 inches; twelve rainy 
days, the amount of which was only 4 inches ; the showers in 
the vallies of the Mysore have little resemblance to tropical 
rains in general. Of the heaviest shower that fell this year the 
amount was only 1 inch. About the middle of this month 
the wind varied from 8. W. S. E. and N. E. and afterwards 
chiefly from N. E. Lightning frequent, with very heavy dew. 

November.—Height of the river 3.4, six rainy days; wea- 
ther as in last month; N. E. prevailing. 


256 Mr Foggo on the Results of a 


December.—Height of the river 20 inches. On two nights 
a few drops of rain. Rain appeared on several days to be 
falling on the hills all around. Wind variable from N. E. and 
S. E. 


TABLE I.—Thermometric Results of a Meteorological Register kept at 
Seringapatam during the years 1814 and 1816. E. Long. 76° 51’. N. 
Lat. 12° 45’. Height above the level of the sea 2412 feet. 


1814 (A) 
‘Temperature of the Air. T 
emp. 


M. eur, tate ag Mean | Monthly | of the 


Extreme 


Months, Max. | Minim.| Range. Sunrise. | Aftern. | Range. |M.Temp.| River. 
January, 98° | 48° | 50° 56°.25| 88°.7| 32°.5 | 72°.6 | 73°.5 
February, 105 | 57 48 63 .5 95 .5] 32 795 | Tops 
March, 109 | 54 55 162-5 |101 |38.5 |81 .75| 81.25 
April, 110 | 65 45 68 .8 | 102 .5| 33.7 | 85.5 | 82.8 
May, 115 | 64 51 69 .28| 103 33, 7:5) .86).5> |: Sax 
June, 109 | 64 45 68 .9 91 .1| 22 .2 | 80 79 .75 
July, 106 | 66 40 67 .25|, 85 .5) 18 .25] 76 .37| 75 .7 
August, 96 | 64 32 66 .25| 81 14..75| 73 .5 | 75 .9 
September,} 100 | 63 37 66 .5 89 22.65 | 71 «tO 29 
October, 105 58 47 63 .5 92 .5| 29 78 78 .5 
November; 99 | 50 49 62 90 .5| 28.5 |76 .25| 77 .4 
December, 98 | 55 43 62 85. .|23 Tomo Ano 

Extremes | 115 | 48 67 64 .65| 92 .10} 27 .54] 78 .4 | 78.36 
and — - a — a 
Averages. Extremes. Averages. 


1816 (B) 
Temperature of the Air, Temp. 
ye M.Temp.|M.Temp. -| of the 
Months. Max. | Minim. ager EA ps e grote nine MoTea, River: 
January, 96° | 48° 48° 54° 84° 69 71°.6 
February, | 102 | 51 51 58 91 74 75 3 
March, 109 | 53 56 59 .5 | 100 79 .75| 78 .4 
April, 109 | 62 47 66 100 83 81 .2 
May, 108 | 62 46 66 .5 | 100.5 83.5 | 81 .3 
June, 105'"{762 43 65 .25) 90.5 TT LTO TBI 
July, 94 | 62 32 64.5 | 82 73 .25| 73 .6 
August, 101 | 60 41 62.5 | 85.5 74 73 .8 
September, | 102 | 57 45 62 .25) 89 75 .6 175 .36 
October, 99 | 58 41 64.5] 88.5 76 .5 | 78 2 
November, 90 | 54 36 61.5 | 82.5 72 74 07 
December, 89 | 52 37 57 85 71 71 .8 


eee ee 


Extremes 109 | 48 61 61 .7 | 89 .8 | 28.1 | 75.75} 76 «1 
and a 
Averages. Extremes. Averages. 


re ee | a ee | ee | 


257 


Meteorological Journal kept at Seringapatam. 


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258 Mr Foggo on the Temperature of Seringapatam. 


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On the Optical and Physiological Discoveries, &c. 259 


Arr. XIII.—Farther Observations on the supposed Optical 
and Physiological Discoveries of Mr Charles Bell 


“Que d’ecueils doit craindre celui qui prend son imagination pour guide! 
Prevenu pour la cause qu’elle lui presente, loin de la rejeter lorsque les 
faits lui sout contraire, il les altere pour les plier a ses hypotheses ; il mu- 
tile, si je puis ainsi dire, !ouvrage de la nature, pour le faire ressembler A 
celui de son imagination ; sans reflechir que le temps detruit d’une main 
ces vaines phantomes, et. de l'autre affermit les resultats du calcul et de 
Vexperience.” Lapluce, Expos. du Syst. du-Monde, liv. y. chap. iv. 


Tue superiority of physical over metaphysical science has 
been generally held to consist in the superior evidence of its 
facts and reasonings. We accordingly find that scientific 
controversies have related principally to technical questions 
respecting priority of inventions and discoveries, and that, 
in those cases where they have involved poimts of pure sci- 
ence, either one or both of the combatants have been un- 
able to discover the truth themselves, or incapable of re- 
cognizing it when it has been brought before them with all 
the fulness of demonstration. Those who have once ventured 
to publish extravagant opinions on the authority of hasty 
observations, and ill-devised experiments, are not likely to 
renounce them, even when their absurdity has been calmly 
and courteously pointed out. The love of truth is not the moy- 
ing principle of such minds. <A feverish thirst of fame alone 
impels them, and, under the influence of this passion, they 
seek to involve truth m an ambuscade, or to get possession of 
her by storm,—while humbler and less ambitious spirits are on- 
ly rearing the redoubts by which her outworks can be ap- 
proached, and her strong holds secured. When a controver- 
sy, therefore, arises between these two classes of inquirers, 
between those who, as Laplace elegantly expresses it, muti- 
late, as it were, the work of nature, in order to make it re- 
semble that of their own imagination, and those who found 
their results on calculation and experiment, we must not sup- 
pose that the empire of science is divided against itself, or that 
her eternal and immutable laws can be thus brought into doubt 

These observations have been suggested by some controver- 
sial discussions, to which we have had occasion to direct the at- 

VOL. V. NO. II. OCTOBER 826. _— ss 


260 On the Optical and Physiological Discoveries 


tention of our readers. When Mr Brooke attempted to put 
down a general law * of nature on the single authority of a 
hasty observation on the sulphato-tri-carbonate of lead, which 
he made out to be rhombohedral, he erected that little fabric 
of his imagination against a principle deduced from hundreds 
of facts, and now admitted by every mineralogist who has ex- 
amined it. Although it was hinted to Mr Brooke, that a law 
without any exception required a number of facts, and these 
well established, to bring it into doubt, and that it was possible 
that his solitary observation might be wrong, or at least that 
some explanation of the anomaly might be found if his obser- 
vations were right,—yet this gentleman again presented him- 
self at the bar of the public with fresh asseverations of the truth 
of his observations, and committing the most unheard of tres- - 
passes on the fields of double refraction and polarisation, on 
which he had no qualification to sport. The point at issue was 
now taken up by Mr Haidinger, who examined a great varie- 
ty of the finest crystals of the sulphato-tri-carbonate of lead. 
This skilful mineralogist speedily found that the mineral in 
question was a compound and not a simple crystal as Mr 
Brooke had supposed, and, by measuring its angles with great 
nicety, he proved, by actual calculation and experiment, that 
its primitive crystal was not a rhombohedron, but. belonged to 
the hemiprismatic system of Mohs. Although Mr Haidinger 
pointed out the very re-entering angles of the composition, and 
though the combination is so plain to the dullest eye that we 
have observed it in polarised light in more than an hundred 
crystals without a single exception, yet, will our readers be- 
lieve it, Mr Brooke again came forward, asserting the accura- 
cy of his results, and questioning the demonstrations of Mr 
Haidinger.+ ‘This dying struggle for error neither merited 
nor has received any reply ; and those who have on this occasion 
combated for the truth, have (to use the sentiment of Laplace) 


* We allude to the optical law of primitive forms, of which we shall 
give an account in an early number. See EpinpurcH EncycLopaptia, 
Art. Orrics, vol. xv. p- 572, &c. and Beudant’s Traité Element. Mineral. 
Paris, 1824, p. 167. 

+ The able and elaborate paper of Mr Haidinger will be found in the 
Edinburgh Transactions, vol. x. p. 217- See also this Journal, vol. ii. p. 73- 


of Mr Charles Bell. 261 


ieft in the one hand of time those vain phantoms whieh she 
destroys, and committed to the other those humble results of 
calculation and experiment which she will not fail to spare. 

From the rhombohedral visions of Mr Brooke, we now pass 
to the optical and physiological phantasies of Mr Charles Bell, 
to which the sentiments in our motto bear a more peculiar ap- 
plication. We have already attempted, by a gentle admoni- 
tion, to conjure back these nebulosities into the mare nubium 
in which they have been generated ; but they have returned 
to our atmosphere with showers of mud and stones, and we are 
again compelled, from self-preservation, either to dissipate the 
storm, or suffer from its ravages. 

Had the speculations of Mr Bell been confined to the work 
in which they originally appeared, their influence would not 
have been widely extended ; but they have been reprinted in 
a more popular form, and they are, besides, taught in public 
lectures delivered to students of surgery, who cannot fail to 
imbibe them as sacred truths, and make them the basis of a 
rash and dangerous manipulation. The diseases of the eye have 
been long the special field of empiricism ; and there is no branch 
of the healing art which calls so loudly as this for an improved 
practice, founded on a thorough knowledge of the structure 
and functions of that important organ. We have ourselves 
seen the needle and the lancet thrust into the interior of this 
delicate organ, to cure diseases which were incurable, and 
which existed only on its surface ; and we have seen defects of 
vision treated as cases of amaurosis, when they arose merely 
from a temporary debility in the external muscles. We can- 
not doubt, therefore, that Mr Bell’s speculations, if they shall 
ever form an article of surgical belief, must mislead the hand, 
as well as the judgment of the operator; and under the influ- 
ence of this opinion, we shall examine them with a degree of at- 
tention, which they should not otherwise have received from us. 

1. In the third Number of this Journal, we have laid be- 
fore our readers Mr Bell’s doctrines in his own words, and we 
endeavoured, in the most courteous manner, to demonstrate 
their fallacy, both by general reasoning, and by direct experi- 
ment. It did not surprise us, that Mr Bell remained insen- 
sible to the force of these arguments; but we were astonished 


262 On the Optical and Physiological Discoveries 


at the method which he chose to repel them. As a fellow of 
the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he announced his intention 
of communicating to that body a paper “ on the motions of 
the eye-ball ;” and in order that both sides of the question 
might be before the society at the same time, Dr Brewster 
announced a notice, entitled, Further Observations on the Vi- 
sion of Impressions on the Retina, which we shall give as it 
was read. 


Farther Observations on the Vision of Impressions on the 
Retina. 


‘“‘ Havine learned from Professor Bell, that the paper on the 
Motions of the Eyeball, by Mr C. Bell, was an answer to the 
Observations on the Vision of Impressions on the Retina, 
which I had the honour of submitting to the Society, and 
which have for some time been before the public, I take it for 
granted, that that paper has not carried conviction to Mr Bell’s 
mind. 

As the part of the subject which came under my notice is 
strictly physical, and is susceptible of experimental proof, and 
of rigid demonstration, it will not admit of that special plead- 
ing, by which, in the less accurate sciences, the gravest errors 
have often gained a temporary ascendancy. The points at 
issue between Mr Bell and me are too simple in themselves, 
and too much insulated from physiological mysteries, to ad- 
mit of being involved, either in the ambiguities of language 
or of argument; and if any such cloak is thrown over them, 
it is easy to strip them of the unnecessary drapery. 

Mr Bell maintains, that when the eye, with a spectral im- 
pression, is pushed aside by the finger, the spectrum remaims 
absolutely fixed and immoveable. In direct opposition to this, 
TI maintain, that the spectrum does move, because I have seen 
it move, and have measured the extent of its motion. 

Mr Bell next maintains, that the immobility of the spectrum 
is a physiological fact, arising from the non-exertion of the pro- 
per muscles ; whereas I maintain, that the motion which does 
take place is an optical fact, and that the amount of it actually 
observed, can be computed from optical principles. 

Mr Bell likewise maintains, that when the eye is closed, the 


/ 


of Mr Charles Beil. 263 


eyeball instantly turns upward ; and he distinctly describes the 
experiment by which he feels it move, by the application of 
his finger to the ridge of the cornea. In opposition to this, I, 
and other persons who have made the same experiment, find 
that the eyeball remains at rest ; and we have the high authority 
of Professor Soémmering of Gottingen in support of our re- 
sult. If Mr Rell, therefore, has performed his own experi- 
ment accurately, he has mistaken a casual motion of his own 
eye for a general function ; and if that motion has, as he al- 
leges, the effect of smoothing the accumulated ridge of the lu- 
bricating fluid, he enjoys a privilege of vision which others are 
not fortunate enough to possess. 

In the latter part of my former paper, I endeavoured to 
show, that, even if the spectrum were immoveable, the notion 
of position was actually acquired without the exercise of the 
proper muscles. Against this position, which formed no part 
of the philosophical argument, Mr Bell may make a stand ; 
for it is here alone that refuge is to be found, among the phy- 
siological sympathies—the never-failing strong-holds of hypo- 
thesis and error. Even here, however, the argument may be 
brought within the grasp of fixed principles, and the experi- 
ment may be conducted as follows : 

Let the eye be supposed to be pushed by the finger from left 
to right, through an arch of 10°, in a horizontal plane, then, 
according to Mr Bell, the spectrum has not followed the mo- 
tion of the eye, because the motion was brought about by the 
finger, and not by the proper muscles, which alone have the 
power of conveying the idea of change of place. 

Let the head be now placed so as to be capable of being 
turned round through the same arch of 10°, by the pressure 
of the finger upon the eye; in this case, the spectrum does 
follow the motion of the eye, and the head, though the proper 
muscles are no more exerted in the one case, than in the other. 

It may perhaps be said, that the sensoriwm beg now 
turned round along with the eye, has some how or other ob- 
tained a notion of the change of position; but such a suppo- 
sition, besides being unintelligible, is hostile to Mr Bell’s opin- 
ion, unless’ the sensoriwm has acquired its knowledge from 
an incipient action of the muscles, or rather from a disposition 


264 On the Optical and Physiological Discoveries 


to act when the finger is applied. But such a supposition, if 
at all intelligible, returns with equal force against the argu- 
ment which it is brought to support, for the same disposition 
to act, on the part of the muscles, ought to be conveyed to the 
sensorium when the motion of ihe eyeball is produced by the 
finger alone. 

I forbear saying any more or the subject, although the views 
which I have given are susceptible of numerous illustrations. 

Those who are desirous of being acquainted with the funda- 
mental difference between ordinary vision, and the vision of 
impressions, will see it in the two figures on the board, the 
lowest of which represents the effect produced, when the eyes 
receive an angular motion of translation from the fingers, 
while the upper one, which I gave formerly, shows the effect 
produced when the eye is pushed so as to move parallel to it- 
self. In the first case, the change of place of the spectrum, 
which Mr Bell cannot see, is equal to the vertical ascent of the 
eye, added to the tangent of its angular motion, while in the 
second case, it is equal only to the vertical ascent of the eye ; 
but in both cases, there is the same relative difference between 
the change of place in ordinary vision, and the change of place 
in spectral vision, a difference of such magnitude as to have 
occasioned the oversight which Mr Bell has committed.” 


Mr Bell’s paper on the Motions of the Eye-ball, which was 
read after the above notice, was a controversial reply to a 
paper inserted in Number i. of this Journal, and was print- 
ed in a periodical work now at an end. It was read by his 
brother, George Joseph Bell, Esq. advocate, who supported 
the contents of his scientific brief by the system of attack and 
defence which is still tolerated at the bar. There were present 
at the meeting of the Royal Society, a very great number of 
medical gentlemen, and among them several of the most dis- 
tinguished medical professors in the University ; and as soon 
as Mr Bell’s paper was read, Dr Brewster rose, and pointed 
out to the society the various errors which Mr Bell had com- 
mitted, both in his experiments and in his reasoning, and he 
pledged himself to answer any objection, or explain any diffi- 


culty, which any of the gentlemen present might state ; and 
1 


of Mr Charles Bell. 265 


as no objection was stated to his views, he had reason to believe 
from this, as well as from other causes, that there was not one 
of the numerous members then present, who did not concur in 


the refutation which he had given of Mr Bell’s paper. 

As Mr Bell had now embalmed his erroneous views in the 
Transactions of the Royal Society of London, and in the Me- 
mory of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the two great sci- 
entific bodies of the kingdom, and by publishing a defence 
of his doctrines, had evinced a resolution to maintain them at 
all hazards, it might have been thought advisable to put 
down, with a strong hand, a philosophical heresy, which had 
assumed such an obtrusive character, and which had come be- 
fore the world apparently under such imposing patronage. 
We, however, had resolved not to disturb its repose. Scienti- 
fic truth, when once clearly expressed, forces its way in silence 
to the judgment-seat of time ; and her march is rendered only 
more quick, and more steady, by the clamours and the imperti- 
nences with which she may be assailed. 

Under such feelings we had determmed to be silent. But, 
while perusing Dr Wells’s Essay upon Single Vision with Two 
Eyes, published at London in 1792, we were surprised to 
find that the experiments and conclusions, brought forward 
by Mr Bell as his own, were given in the most minute man- 
ner by Dr Wells. We felt ourselves, therefore, called upon 
to resume the subject, and to point out the fallacies by which 
this distinguished writer was led to maintain, and to apply to 
the explanation of the phenomena of vision, opinions so con- 
trary to reason and experiment. 

The following are the passages in which Dr Wells has record- 
ed his opinions : 

““ When we have looked steadily for some time at the flame of a candle, 
or any other luminous body, a coloured spot will appear upon every object 
to which we shortly after direct our eyes, accompanying them in all their 
motions, and exactly covering the point which we desire to see the most 
accurately. Whatever can, therefore, be proved concerning the apparent 
direction of such a spot, in any given position of the eyes, must likewise be 
true in the same position of the eyes, with regard to the apparent direction 
of an object situated at the concurrence of the optic axes, as its pictures 
must occupy, in this case, the very parts of the retinas, upon the affections 


of which the illusion of the spot depends. This being premised, I shall 
now relate one or two observations respecting the apparent directions of the 


266 On the Optical and Physiological Discoveries 


spot, and, consequently, upon those of external objects, which, as far as f 
know, have not been mentioned by any other person. i 

“1. The spot is always seen single, whether the surface, upon which it 
is projected, be touching the face, or at the greatest distance from us ; and 
the reason is plain. For the parts of the retinas, by whose affections from 
the luminous body it is occasioned, are those likewise which receive the 
pictures of objects placed at the intersection of the optic axes ; and as such 
objects always appear single, so must also the spot. The fact indeed is so 
open to observation, and its cause so easily shown, that I should scarcely 
have thought of mentioning it had not Dr Darwin lately told us that the 
spot is seen double as often as the eyes are directed to an object more or 
less distant than the luminous body which gave rise-to it. With respect 
to our different assertions upon this point, I shall only say, that I have 
made the experiment, I believe, upwards of an hundred times, uniform- 
ly with the same result ; and that, if the spot ever appears double, this 
must be from some cause very wide of a change in the mutual inclination 
of the optic axes, to which he attributes it. 

“* 2. The spot not only appears single in every ordinary position of the 
optic axes, but cannot even be made to appear double by any means what- 
ever. If it be projected, for ede upon a piece of white paper, who- 
ever makes the trial, will find that, although on pressing one eye upward 
or downward, or to either side, the paper will be seen double, yet the spot 
will always appear single, and to possess its former place on the paper, as 
seen by the eye which is not disturbed. Before I knew the result of this 
experiment, I had imagined, that the position of one eye being forcibly al- , 
tered, the external situation of the spot, which was suggested by the af- 
fection of that eye, would likewise be altered, and the spot by consequence 
be seen double. As the event, however, was contrary to my expectation, 
I began to suspect some cause uf fallacy had been overlooked, which, at 
length, I thought might be this, that the spot had been seen by that eye 
only whose position had not been disturbed, the violence suffered by the 
other interrupting the due exercise of its functions. To determine, there- 
fore, whether my conjecture was well founded or not, I made another ex- 
periment, which is mentioned in the following article. 

“*3. Having looked steadily for some time at the flame of a candle, with 
one eye only, I directed afterwards, with both eyes open, my attention 
to the middle of a sheet of paper, a few feet distant; the consequence of 
which was, that a spot appeared upon it, in the same manner as if I had 
received the flame with both eyes, though somewhat fainter. My atten- 
tion remaining fixed upon the sheet, I now pushed the eye, by which the 
Spot was seen, successively upward and downward, to the right and to the 
left, and in every oblique direction ; the spot however, never altered its po- 
sition, but kept constantly upon the middle of the appearance of the paper 
perceived by the undistorted eye, though the appearance of the paper to the 
distorted eye was always separate from the former, and the sheet conse- 
quently seen double. My conjecture, therefore, was proved to be ill ground- 
ed, and all suspicions of fallacy in the former experiment ceased. 

it 


of Mr Charles Beil. 267 


** Now it is evident, from these two last experiments, that the situation 
of the spot does not depend upon the bare position of the eyes, or else in 
the former of them it would have appeared double, and in the latter it 
would have been moved from the middle of the paper, when the only eye 
by which it was seen, was pushed from its place. Neither can it depend 
upon the bare position of the muscles of the eye, as these were also moved 
in the same experiments, nor upon any affections whatever of the optic 
nerve. For since this last substance is altogether passive, even in those 
motions of the eyes which do occasion a change of the spot’s situation, every 
alteration induced upon the nerve by those motions, must be ultimately. 
ascribed to a change of its position; and we have seen, that similar changes 
of its position, have been produced by external violence without any alter- 
ation of the spot’s situation. The apparent situation of the spot being, 
therefore, dependent upon none of these circumstances, and being at the 
same time affected by the voluntary motions of the eye, it must, I think, be 
necessarily owing to the action of the muscles by which these motions are 
performed. Assuming, then, as true, that the apparent direction of an ob- 
ject, which sends its picture to any given point of the retina, depends upon 
the state of action existing at the same time in the muscles of the eye, and, 
consequently, that it cannot be altered, except by a change in the state of 
that action, I shall proceed to trace to this principle several phenomena 
of vision, particularly the uniform singleness of the spot already described, 
and the two facts respecting the visible directions of objects in the optic 
axes, which were mentioned in the beginning of this part of my essay.” 


Having thus quoted Dr Wells’s own account of his experi- 
ments, we shall give a brief, and we trust an irrefragable de- 
monstration of their fallacy. 

1. When we push up the one eye by the force of the fin- 
ger, and keep it in its new position, it has not performed an an- 
gular movement in its socket, but merely a small vertical as- 
cent, by which, in an upright position of the body and head, 
it is raised into a more elevated horizontal plane. In this ele- 
vated position, the eye can execute horizontal, and even verti- 
cal angular movements, and can direct itself to contemplate 
either one or other of the double images of the objects before 
it. The consequence of this is (as we have explained in this 
Journal No. iii. p. 5,) that the spectral impression ascends only 
through a very small space, which it requires nice observation 
to appreciate, but which increases with the force applied to the 
eye. 

2. It is impossible, by the pressure of the finger, to fix the 
left eye in a different angular position from the right eye ; 


268 M. Kriel’s Mean Results of Observations 


because, however much we press upon the former, such is the 
power of its muscles, and such is the tendency of both eyes te 
execute similar movements, that the pressed eye directs its op- 
tic axis as near as possible to the point contemplated by the 
right eye, or that which is free. The attempt, therefore, to 
force the left eye into an angular position different from the 
right eye, is immediately resisted ; and while one of the doub- 
led images is descending, in consequence of the ascent of the 
pressed eye, the pressed eye, so far from having changed its 
angular position, will be actually contemplating the fixed im- 
age, provided the other eye is contemplating that image, or it 
will direct itself to any other part of space to which the right 
eye may direct itself. 

3. It isa circumstance not a little remarkable, that it never oc- 
curred to Dr Wells, nor, so far as we know, to any person else, 
to press upwards the two eyes at the same time. When this is 
done, the two spectral impressions will be seen to move, and to 
rise through spaces so obvious to the dullest perceptions, as to 
put an end for ever to the extraordinary dogma, that they are 
capable of being put in motion only by the action of the vo- 
luntary muscles. 

As Mr Charles Bell has not been sensible to the two first of 
the preceding observations, we recommend to his notice this 
last experiment ; and we trust that he will have the candour 
to communicate the result of his observations to the Royal So- 
cieties of London and Edinburgh, and to acknowledge that he 
has discovered the true locality of that hallucination which he 
dared to ascribe to the functions of a sound mind. 


Art. XIV.—Mean Results of Observations with the Thermo- 
meter and Barometer at Batavia. By M. Krier, M. D. 
Communicated by Professor Mott of Utrecht. : 


Worn the view of obtaining a measure of the mean tempera- 
ture of the equator, we requested Professor Moll to obtain for 
us observations on the mean temperature of Batavia, which is 
situated within 6° of the equinoctial line ; and he was so kind 
as to favour us with the following communication : 

“The following abstract ismade from the 7'’ransactions of the 


with the Thermometer and Barometer at Batavia. 269 


Society of Sciences at Haarlem, vol. vi. part ii. p. 9, printed in 


1762. 
: 1758. 


Therm. Fahr. Barometer in English Inches. 
Max. 


Min. Mean. 
Max.|Min. | Mean|[nch.| Lines. |Inch.| Lines. |Inch.| Lines. 
29) 9,50} 29 | 10.17 


29 975 | 29 } 10.45 


January, | 86% 75° 79°] 29 | 11.00 
February, 861 76] 80 | 29 | 11.00 


March, 86| 76] 80 | 29 | 10.75 | 29 | 9,00} 29} 10.17 
April, 84} 76| 79 | 29 | 1050] 29] 8,50] 29] 9.97 
May, 84| 76| so | 29 | 10.75 | 29 | 8,75] 29 | 10.12 
June, 83| 75| 77 | 29 | 11.25 | 29 | 10,25 | 29 | 10.59 
July, 86| 74| 78 | 29 | 11.00 | 29 | 9,50}.29 | 10.49 


29 | 10,25] 29 | 10.61 
29 | 10,25} 29 | 10.65 
29 | 10,25 | 29 | 10.75 
29 | 19,75} 29-| {10.40 
29 | 9,50| 29 | 10.20 


August, 87] 75] 79 | 29 | 11.25 
September, | 86} 76| 79 | 29 | 11.50 
October, 831-76) 77 4.29 | hhe25 
November, | 83} 74] 75 | 29 | 11.00 
December, | 84] 74] 79 | 29 | 11.00 


Hence the mean temperature of the year is 78°5. 

In the above volume the observations are given at full length. 
The thermometer was observed regularly at 6 in the morning, 
at 12 and 2 p.m., andat 10 p.m. The thermometer was made 
by Prins, successor of Fahrenheit, at Amsterdam, and it indi- 
cated 32° in snow, and 214° in boiling water. No regular 
hours, which is to be regretted, were kept in observing the ba- 
rometer. The observations, however, were generally made in 
the morning and evening. 


1759. 


Barometer in [nglish Inches. 


Max. Min. Mean. 
Max.| Min. |Mean|Inch.} Lines. {Inch.) Lines. |Inch.} Lines. 


Therm. Fabhr. 


January, 82°} 74°] 77° | 29 | 11.25 | 29 | 10,00 | 29 | 10,55 
February, 81 | 71 | 78 | 29 }10 75) 29 9,75 | 29 | 10.31 


March, 83 | 76 | 79 | 29 | 11.00} 29 | 10,00 | 29 | 10.44 
April, 84} 76) 79 | 29 | 10.50] 29 | 9.50 | 29 9.86 
May, 85 | 75.| 80 | 29 }11.25] 29 | 9,00 | 29 | 10.29 
June, 78 | 29] 10.75 | 29 | 9,00 } 29 | 10.65 


The mean annual temperature, deduced from these obser- 
vations for half a year, is obviously below 78°5. 

Prins was an excellent thermometer-maker. I possess some 
of his manufacturing, which agree very well with those of 
Dollond and Newman. The thermometer hung within the 
house. 

Professor Reinwardt, who is preparing for the press his Tra- 


270 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


vels in Java, writes me, that he found the mean temperature 
of Batavia, near the sea shore, 82° F.; and at Buitenzoig, 
about 40 English miles from Batavia, 737 feet above the level 
of the sea, the mean temperature was 79° F.” 


These observations, so far as they go, confirm the opinion 
of Humboldt, which has been called in question by Mr At- 
kinson,* that the mean temperature of the equator cannot be 
assumed above 82°} of Fahrenheit. ‘his very important sub- 
ject will be resumed in another paper. ; 


Art. XV.—Account of a Survey of the Valley of the Setlej 
River, in the Himalaya Mountains. From the Journal of 
Captain ALEXANDER Grranp, Surveyor to the Board of 
Commissioners. 


Tux Journals of the preceding excursions of Captain Gerard 
having been printed for the first time in the pages of this Jour- 
nal,+ as communicated to us by his uncle, the late Colonel 
Gerard of Rochsoles, we have been anxious to procure an ac- 
count of his more recent examination of the Valley of the Set- 
lej, and had written to India, with the view of obtaining it. 
The journal, however, of the examination having been trans-. 
mitted to the East India Company, it was, at the request of 
its author, communicated to Thomas Colebrooke, Esq. Direc- 
tor of the Royal Asiatic Journal, who has given a very able 
and interesting summary of it in the newly published part of 
the T'ransactions of the Asiatic Society.{ As this work must 
be in the hands of a very few of our readers, we need not 
make any apology for drawing from it a continuation of the 
travels of our enterprising and intelligent countryman. Cap- 
tain A. Gerard was accompanied with his brother, Mr J. G. 
Gerard, and their Journal begins on the 6th June 1821. 

Rol, at the foot of the Shatél pass,§ is a small district in 
Chiara, one of the larger divisions of Baséhar. It contains 

* See this Journal, vol. vi. p. 180- 

+ See No. I. p. 41, and No. II. p. 215. 

+ Vol. i. part ii. p. 343. 

‘3 See the Map of the Countries north of the Sutlej, given in No- iii, 
of this Journal. 


of the Valley of the Setlej River. 271 


five villages, situated upon the south-western declivity of the 
mountainous range. These villages vary in altitude, from 
9,000 to 9,400 feet above the level of the sea. Rol itself is 
9,350 feet. It is the highest inhabited land without the Hi- 
malaya. ‘The crops are wheat, barley (H. hexastychon,) Sibe- 
rian barley (H. czleste,) called by the mountaineers U’d, Poly- 
gonum? (phapar) and pease: they just reach to 10,000 feet. 
The wheat seldom ripens; and, when the rains fall early in 

June, most of the grains are cut green. | 

The travellers proceed from Ré/ through a fine wood of oak, 
yew, pine, rhododendron, and horse-chesnut, with some juni- 
per, and long thin bambus, to Buchkalghat, just overtopping 
the forest at the elevation of 11,800 feet. 

They passed by an extremely difficult and tiresome way, 
amongst piles of loose stones, which seemed to have been but 
lately precipitated from above, to Rétém2, a halting-place for 
travellers, on the bank of a rivulet, at an elevation of 11,750 
feet. In the vicinity were stunted birches, dwarf oaks, pines, 
and juniper, and two species of rhododendron ; one, as called 
by the natives, J'alsar. Flowers abounded, such as thyme 
and cowslips. ‘The soil is a rich moist black turf, not unlike 
peat. 

The Shatél pass had not been traversed since the month of 
September, 1820, when Mr James G. Gerard effected the pas- 
sage with much difficulty and danger, and lost two of his ser- 
vants, who were frozen to death at mid-day. It was attended 
with less peril at this early season: Messrs Gerard were the 
first persons who visited it in 1821. Having before travelled 
the ordinary road through the pass, they determined to strike 
directly across the ridge, which they accomplished. Its ele- 
vation was found by barometric measurement to be 15,556 feet 
above the sea, confirming a similar measurement in the pre- 
ceding year, which made it but two feet less. 

The rocks were chiefly mica slate, and gneiss. In the as- 
cent they had noticed a huge granitic rock, in the chilly re- 
cess of which they rested ; and their route had led them in 
some places over heaps of angular fragments of gneiss, gra- 
nite, quartz, and felspar, jumbled together in wild disorder, 
where every step was dangerous. 


272 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


To the east and south-east was seen a low part of the Hi- 
malayan range. Its altitude is much less than that of Shatél ; 
but it is rendered impassable by a perpendicular wall of gneiss, 
that forms an impracticable barrier for several miles. 

The snow became more frequent as they ascended, till they 
attained the crest of a ridge, at the elevation of 13,450 feet, 
where it is continuous at that early season. A month later, 
it would be dissolved. Upon the snow, at the greater height 
of Shatul, were many insects like mosquitoes; at first they 
were torpid; but sunshine revived them. Some birds were 
seen, resembling ravens. Mosses were found on the few rocks. 

The travellers halted for the night at Kanijan, under the 
shade of a large rock, at the height of 13,400 feet, whence the 
steep ascent of the pass begins. There were plenty of flowers 
where the snow had melted, but no bushes. The firewood 
was brought from the last camp. 

From this spot the ascent seemed appalling. 'The crest was 
nearly 2,200 feet higher. Here and there a rock projected 
its black head ; all else was a dreary solitude of unfathomable 
snow, aching to the sight, and without trace of a path. 

The travellers found the snow, which was soft at mid-day, 
afford good footing, and reached the summit with less fatigue 
than they anticipated. They remained the night and follow- 
ing day at the crest of the pass, and suffered much from head- 
ache and difficulty of breathing, usually experienced at such 
elevated positions. It snowed in the evening. ‘The tempera- 
ture did not rise above 41° at noon: it was 24° and 26° at sun- 
rise (9th and 1Uth of June.) 

On the subsequent day, they descended upon the same side, 
and proceeded along the dell of the Andrét2, a branch of the 
Pabar river, rising near Shatél, and halted on the bank of 
a rivulet called Dingré, at an elevation of 12,300 feet, just 
above the limit of the forest. The lowest point in the dell 
was 11,100 feet. Leeks were gathered at the height of 12,000 
feet. The ground was here a rich sward, cut up in grooves 
by a large kind of field-rat, without a tail. (Spalax, “* Mus 
typhlus ?”) 

Captain Gerard and his brother continued to explore the 
glens and valleys of the tributary streams of the Pabar river ; 


of the Valley of the Setle; River. 273 


in particular the valley of the Sipon river, and that of the 
Pabar itself, visiting the confluence of these rivers, the sum- 
mit of the ridge which divides them, and the sources of both 
rivers. 

The Himalayan glens for the most part run almost perpen- 
dicular to the range, or from N.N.E. and N.E. to S.S.W. and 
S.W. The face exposed to the N.W. is invariably rugged ; 
and the opposite one, facing the S.E., is shelving. The roads 
to the most frequented passes lie upon the gentle acclivity: . 
the difference of the elevation of forest on either side is re- 
markable. On the declivity towards the N.W., which, as be- 
fore observed, is the most abrupt, the trees rise several hun- 
dred feet higher than those upon the opposite face, which has 
a more gentle slope; and in some instances, the difference ex- 
ceeds 1000 feet. The general height of the forest on the 
southern face of the Himalaya, is about 11,800 to 12,000 
feet above the sea. Oaks and pines reach that elevation ; 
birches extend a few feet higher. Descending from the pass 
of Bandajan, the level of the highest juniper was observed 
13,300 feet. 

From Shéarghal, at an elevation of 13,720 feet (which the 
travellers reached by a very steep path, crossing several snow- 
beds, where it was necessary to cut steps with a hatchet, and 
passing among gigantic oblong masses of mica slate, disen- 
gaged from the impending crags,) the prospect is very exten- 
sive. Towards the plains appear the Chir mountains, 12,000 | 
feet (one measured barometrically is 12,143 feet;) to the S.E., 
snowy summits of immense altitude, in the direction of Ya- 
munavatare, rising one above another in majestic disorder, and 
presenting mountains of eternal snow ; and beyond the source 
of the Pabar, one of the huge Raldang peaks, above 21,000 
feet. Across the Pabar, is the Chashil range, through which 
are several passes, 13,000 to 14,000 feet high. 

The travellers passed through T’angno, which gives name 
to a small district, comprehending five villages. Abundance 
of thyme, strawberries, nettles, thistles, and other European 
plants, was noticed. The houses are shaded by horse-chest- 
nuts, walnuts, and apricots. The elevation of the place is 
8,800 feet. 


Q74 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


Unable to procure guides to the Séndré pass, Messrs Ge- 
yard proceeded to Janglig, a place already visited in 1820. 
Its height is 9,200 feet : the highest habitation, 9,400 feet. 

The Yusé pass, at the head of the Spon river, which is 
called Yést, i its upper course, above Bandajan, 1s 15,877 
feet high. The dell, between this and Banddjan pass (14,854 
feet above the sea), is shut in towards the N.E. by snow-cap- 
ped mountains, upwards of 17,000 feet high, amongst which 
the river has its source. The rocks at Bandajan, and on the 
bank of the river, where the travellers encamped at the height 
of 13,650 feet, were gneiss ; and the adjoining mountains the 
same, and clay slate. The descent was over broken slate, 
from Bandajan. 

The ascent of Yést pass was extremely fatiguing: Messrs 
Gerard describe themselves as having been so exhausted at 
first, that they rested every hundred yards; and, had they not 
been ashamed, before so many people, some of whom they had 
induced to accompany them after much intreaty, they would 
have turned back. 

At the summit of the pass, there is a plain covered with 
snow for 400 or 500 yards. ‘The ground slopes suddenly to 
the valley of the Setlej:.the peaks on each side seemed about 
800 feet higher. 

The ¥; ist river is divided into several streams, all of which, 
but the principal one, were crossed by arches of snow. ‘The 
largest, which was forded, was forty feet broad, and six inches 
deep: the bed full of pebbles, and the margin snow-washed 
by the stream. With the exception of that prmcipal channel 
of the river, and some openings partially disclosing the smaller 
branches, the rest is a bed of snow six or eight inches thick. 

The glen becomes more and more contracted, till at last it 
is bounded by mural rocks of granite, with the Yasé forcing 
its passage between them in impenetrable obscurity, under im- 
mense heaps of indestructible ice, running in ridges, and stud- 
ded with mounds of snow. 

The source of the Pabar is in a lake, called Charamdi, 
above a mile in circuit, whence the river rushes forth over a. 
perpendicular rock, forming a fine cascade. Above it are en- 
ormous banks of snow, 80 or 100 feet in thickness, which have 


of the Valley of the Setlej River. 275 


cracked and partly fallen outwards into the lake. Just beyond 
them are three high passes, Nebrang, Gunds, and Ghasil, 
which lead over the summit of the range, into the valley of the 
Baspa river, and are very steep. ‘The travellers were unable 
to persuade the guides to conduct them over either of these 
passes, but subsequently visited them from the other side. 

The Birendo, or Brudng pass, near the Pabar, was again 
visited. It had been measured barometrically in 1818: the 
measurement now taken exceeded the former one (which was 
15,095 feet) by 153 feet. To that extent the barometric 
measurements must be considered uncertain. They halted 
two days on the summit of the pass; and, as is usual at so 
great elevations, were troubled with headaches and difficulty 
of respiration. ‘The nights were calm; but the solemn still- 
ness was now and then interrupted by the crash of falling rocks. 

They descended into the valley of the Baspa; sliding down 
the declivity of a snow-bed, by seating themselves upon a blan- 
ket on the snow. This mode is invariably practised by the 
mountaineers, where there are no rocks nor precipices. They 
had then a dreadfully dangerous footpath, along the rugged 
sides of the dell: it crossed many snow-beds, inclined at an 
angle of 30° or more; which delayed them much, as they had 
to cut steps in the snow. 

The Baspa is a noble river, running through a romantic 
valley, which, the people have a vague tradition, was formerly 
a lake, and it has every appearance of it. ‘The valley is bound- 
ed, on each side, by abrupt ridges of the Himdlaya, which 
present a great deal of bare rock. 

The travellers advanced to the confluence of the Baspd and 
Bakti rivers; examined the valley of the latter, and reached 
the confluence of the Bakti and Nalgén rivers, proceeding 
along the ridge, which is traversed by several passes before- 
mentioned, all of which they now visited, viz. Nibrang, 16,035 
feet high; Génds, 16,026 feet; and Ghistl, 15,851 feet; as 
also Réptn, 15,480 feet. 

At Néaré, a halting-place, where there are good caves for 
shelter, at the elevation of 13,150 feet, and at Dénisén, where 
they halted the following evening, at the heigit of 14,200 
feet, there was, through the night, a continued crash of falling 

VOL, V. NO. 11, OcTOBER 1826. T 


276 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


rocks, on the rugged side of the dell. The species of rhodo- 
dendron called by the natives J'alsar, was observed in the vi- 
cinity of Dénisén, at its level. 

The Nalgin pass, the lowest pass through the Himdlaya 
which had been yet visited, is 14,891 feet above the sea. 
From this pass they descended to the confluence of the Nal- 
gin and Bakti rivers, and thence proceeded along the Bakti, 
and across the Baspd river, to Sangla, where they halted 
several days (23d to 29th of June,) and whence they despatch- 
ed their collection of plants and geological specimens ; but the 
paper envelopes of the latter were rendered illegible, and the 
whole of the former destroyed, by the heavy rain which over- 
took the despatch, in the followmg month. 

Messrs Gerard, resuming their journey, ascended the valley 
of the Baspé to Chétkil, the last, and highest village im it; 
crossing, the first day, two large branches of the Baspd, the 
Chuling, and Gor, from the Cailéds range on the north; and, 
the second day, two other considerable streams, the Mangsé 
and Shitt. They first passed over tremendous blocks of 
coarse-grained granite, the decomposition of which seems to 
have formed the sand in the river; it gives the water a turbid 
appearance. ‘lhe granite-is white, and from a distance looks 
like chalk. 

The first part of the valley has the same general character 
with most others in the Himalaya; but it is considerably 
broader. The face of the mountain exposed to the S.W., 
which is part of the Cailas or Raldang group, presents abrupt 
precipices and threatening cliffs, with little soil, and but few 
trees; the opposite face again is more gently sloped, and thick- 
ly wooded with pines, which are overtopped by a belt of birch- 
es. Near the top of this chain, there is a good deal of snow. 
The last half mile to the village of Rdkchdm, situate in the, 
western corner of the glen (and 10,500 feet above the sea,) is 
a rugged descent upon enormous masses of granite. The dell 
has here a pleasing appearance, and it expands to three fur- 
longs in breadth; haif of it is laid out in thriving crops of 
wheat and barley, and the rest is occupied by sand-beds, which 
form many small islands, with the river winding among them. 
Just above the village, huge piles of black rock * rise abruptly, 


* Composed of black mica (fine-grained) with a little oxide of iron. 


of the Valley of the Setle) River. i | 


in numerous black spires, to about 9000 feet higher, or nearly 
20,000 feet above the level of the sea. Approaching Chétkil, 
the dell becomes more contracted ; the right bank becoming 
very precipitous, and almost mural to the Baspa. The alti- 
tude of the village is about 11,400 feet, and the highest fields 
are scarcely 200 feet more. The valley continues about 800 
yards wide for two or three miles; the Baspé then makes a 
bend to the southward, and the view is shut up by snowy 
mountains of great height. 

From Chétkil the travellers attempted the Kimlta pass, at 
the head of the valley of the Risé river, a large stream, de- 
rived from a double source, one branch rising in the snow of 
Saglé pass, which bears nearly south; the other, or smallest, 
in the Kimlta, about S.W. Above the elevation of 13,300 
feet, the level of the highest birches, the Résé is increased, 
in rapidity and turbulence, to a torrent, and foams in dread- 
ful agitation and noise. Still higher up, the road ascends 
gradually, upon snow of immense thickness in the channel of 
the current, which now and then shows itself in deep blue 
lakes. The travellers passed along the margin of one, 150 
feet in diameter: the way was extremely dangerous, upon ice 
sloping abruptly to the water ; in this there was no footing, 
till notches were cut with a hatchet, an operation which Jong 
delayed their progress. Latterly, they travelled over mounds 
of unfathomable snow, so loose as scarcely to be capable of 
supporting them at the depth of three feet. The guides had 
snow-shoes, which were at least five or six inches in breadth. 
They said, that early in the morning, before the sun had power, 
the snow would bear the weight of a loaded person; and in 
May and June, when the pass is most frequented, it does not 
sink at any time of the day. 

The travellers reached the elevation of 15, 500 feet, where 
the pass appeared to be 1400 or 1500 feet higher, over vast 
fields of snow. 

The dell is broad (half a mile wide,) and covered with snow 
in high wreaths. The mountains, which have a S.E. expo- 
sure, are nearly bare, a few patches of snow only appearing at 
great heights. The line of cliffs may be 17,500 feet. On the 
other side, the mountains are nearly of the same height, and 


278 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 

they present a chain cf mural precipices, eaten away by frosts 
into ferms like towers and steeples. Much of the rock near 
the summits is exposed ; and snow, having lost its hold on their 
steep craggy sides, has accumulated below. 

It had rained several hours; the sieet fell thickly, without 
any prospect of its clearing up. Messrs Gerard thought it 
prudent to order a speedy retreat; especially as the guides 
were greatly alarmed, and strongly remonstrated against their 
proceeding further, lest they should fall into some deep chasm, 
concealed by soft snow. 

The shower of sleet continued with them the greater part 
of the descent; and latterly changed to rain, with a milder 
climate. From the craggy sides of the dell the rocks were 
loosened by the rain, and followed each other in a continued 
crashing, and some pieces tore up the path a few yards from 
them. 

Having caught severe colds, they did not renew the attempt 
to visit Kimlté (nor Saglé,) but returned to Chétkél ; and 
were dissuaded from attempting the Neilang pass, where, 

_several years ago, eighteen persons perished in the passage: 
since which time, few loaded travellers have ventured by that 
route. } 

Messrs Gerard proceeded by the Chdrang pass (17,348 feet 
high) to the valley of Nangaltt. The inclemency of the 
weather rendered it very arduous. They were detained three 
days at Shalptd (a resting-place for travellers) by incessant 
rain; on the fourth day their guides consented to proceed. 
Many snow-beds were crossed; and, about the height of 
16,300 feet, continuous snow-beds commenced; at first a gentle 
acclivity, and latterly a very steep slope, surpassing in terror 
and difficulty of access, any thing which the travellers had yet 
encountered. The acclivity was at an angle of 374°, of loose 
stones, gravel, and snow, which the rain had soaked through 
and mixed together, so as to make moving laborious, and all 
but impracticable. The stones gave way at every step, so that 
it became necessary to use hands as well as feet. The travel- 
Jers reached the crest of the pass at noon, in a state of exhaust- 
ion and numbedness of hands and feet, from continued ex- . 
posure to snow and sleet, with a violent freezing wind. 


of the Valley of the Setlej River. 279 


The dell leading to the pass is very much contracted; and 
the ridges on each side are almost bare. The rock is gene- 
rally a sort of slaty gneiss, sometimes in large masses, but more 
commonly tumbling in pieces, with little bapil and less vege- 
tation. 

Here, as at Shétél, Captain Gerard noticed the circum- 
stance of the mercury appearing quite pure [perfectly fluid ?] 
when they left camp; but, at the pass (when used for filling — 
a barometer) it had lost its lustre, and adhered to the fingers 
and cup as if it were amalgamated. 

The descent from the pass, for half a mile, was at an angle 
of 33°, upon gravel and snow, with a sharp-pointed rock oc- 
casionally projecting through it. Some of the loaded people. 
slid down this declivity at the greatest risk. Travelling was 
rendered laborious on the easier slope of snow, from its sink- 
ing one and a-half to two feet. ‘The fissures were beginning 
to appear, and the guides picked their steps with much cau- 
tion, leaping over whatever had the least appearance of a rent. 
The snow fell fast ; and a piercing wind blew with fury down 
the dell. 

The principal branch of the Nangaltz has its source much 
further to the west; a rivulet joins it from the pass. The 
mountainous range having a N.W. aspect, is very rugged ; 
and the snow (atin of a eeliich colour) presents enormous 
banks of sixty or eighty feet thick, as shown by the part to- 
wards the dell having fallen down where it cracked. This is 
always the case on the precipitous sides of the vallies, because 
the ridges, for a considerable way down, are too abrupt for 
the snow to rest upon them: it therefore accumulates in large 
quantities, where the inclination is more gentle; it then cracks, 
and tumbles down by its own weight, during the rainy season, 
and leaves a perpendicular wall of eighty to a hundred feet in 
depth. ‘The mountains on the other side were less steep, and 
the snow lies in continuous fields. q 

The travellers proceeded over heaps of loose stones, snow, 
and slush, at the point of congelation. They passed by seve- 
ral deep blue lakes, with their banks of frozen snow: these are 
always to be dreaded ; and they made a circuit by a seemingly 
more arduous road, to avoid the danger. Two avalanches 


280 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


descended opposite to them: one of rock, which spent its force 
in distance, the smaller fragments just reaching them; the 
other of snow, but arrested by intervening rocks. 

The rocks in the vicinity of Kiz#ktéche, an enclosure for 
cattle, on the banks of the Nangaltt (where they encamped at 
an elevation of 12,400 feet, as indicated by the barometer,) 
were granite, and fine-grained mica slate. 

Four considerable streams were forded, which rise at the 
back of the Cailas, and joining the Nangalti, at length mingle 
their waters with the Tidéng river. 

After fording the Nangaltt, thyme, and further on juniper, 
mint, sage, and a variety of odoriferous plants were met with. 
At Kitikiche there were a few animals of the cross-breed, be- 
tween the yak (bos grunniens) and common cow. 

‘On either side, for a few hundred yards, there is a grassy 
slope, with juniper and other bushes ; and just above it, the 
dell is inbound by craggy cliffs of horrid forms. A little fur- 
ther down, the glen becomes more contracted in breadth, and 
the mountains present mural faces of rock, which continue for 
two miles, to the union of the Nangalte with the Tiding. 

Few of the loaded people arrived the same day ; two of them 
stopped all night at the top of the pass, and tore up their blan- 
kets to protect their feet. Fortunately it did not snow, and 
clouds prevented severe frost, or they certainly would not have 
survived the night. People were despatched to their assist- 
ance ; and all were up soon after noon next day. 

Recommencing their journey, the travellers followed the 
course of the Nangaltt river to its junction with the Tidéng, 
and explored the valley of this last-mentioned river, ascending 
to the village of Charang (12,000 feet,) amidst mountains 
18,000 feet high; and proceeding thence to Thangi, and af- 
terwards to the confluence of the same river with the Seflej. 
The principal branch, retaining the name of Tiding, flows 
from the E.S.E., having its source in Chinese Tartary. 

The valley of the Tidéng is very narrow ; in parts so much 
so, as scarcely to afford a passage for the river. The stream 
is furiously rapid, the declivity very great, and the rumbling - 
of large stones, carried down with velocity by the force of the 


water, was incessant. For six or seven miles the fall of the 
A. 


of the Valley of the Setlej River. 281 


river is 800 feet per mile, and in some places almost double : 
where it presents an entire sheet of foam and spray, thrown 
up and showered upon the surrounding rocks with loud con- 
cussion, re-echoed from bank to bank with a noise like thunder. 

The dell of the Tidéing, at Haims, a ‘Tartar village, is con- 
fined by towering cliffs of white granite and mica slate. The 
mountains in the neighbourhood of Chdrang are all of blue 
slate, naked to their tops, and exhibiting decay and barrenness 
in the most frightful forms. They tower in sharp detached 
groups to about 18,000 feet. No vegetation approaches their 
bases, whilst their elevated summits offer no rest to snow. 

Where the dell was narrowest, there was so little space for 
‘the stream, that the road continued but for a small distance 
on the same side, and crossed the river repeatedly by Sangas ; 
one was inclined at an angle of 15°. The travellers had to 
pick their way: one while upon smooth surfaces of granite, 
sloping to the raging torrent ; at another, the route led among 
huge masses and angular blocks of rock, forming capacious 
caves, where fifty or sixty people might rest: here the bank 
was formed of rough gravel, steeply inclined to the river; 
there the path was narrow, with a precipice of 500 or 600 feet 
below, whilst the naked towering peaks, and mural rocks, 
rent in every direction, threatened the passenger with ruin 
from above. 

In some parts of the road there were flights of steps; in 
others frame-work, or rude staircases, opening to the gulf 
below. In one place is a construction still more frightful to 
behold ; it is called Rapid, and is made with extreme difficulty 
and danger. In the instatice, it consisted of six posts driven 
horizontally into clefts of the rocks, about twenty feet distant 
from each other, and secured by wedges. Upon this giddy 
frame a staircase of fir spars was erected, of the rudest nature; 
twigs and slabs of stone connected them together. There was 
no support on the outer side, which was deep, and overhung 
the Tidéng, a perfect torrent. 

After surmounting this terrific passage, they came to ano- 
ther, where the footpath had been swept away. It would 
have been impracticable ; but, from previous intimation, thirty 
people had been despatched the preceding night from T'hang?, 


282 Captain. Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


and had just completed two tolerable sangas by the time the 
party arrived, so that they passed in safety. 

The last mile and a-half to Thang? was better; the road 
ascended from the river, often by staircases and scaffolding ; 
and at the village, the shade of the Deédar and Neoza (same 
with Mr Elphinstone’s Chilgooza,) two species of pine, was 
again enjoyed. 

Grdmang, one of two divisions of T’hang?, 1s pleasantly si- 
tuate upon a southern slope; the houses rising above each 
other, with the inclination of the soil. There are few fields, 
but they appeared thriving. ‘The grains were wheat, barley, 
phapur (Polygonum ?) Siberian barley, and millet (Panicum 
miliaceum,) with some patches of turnips and pease. ‘The 
whole is neatly laid out, and intersected with aqueducts, whose 
banks are adorned with walnut, apricot, apple, and poplar- 
trees. Above the village is a thick forest of pine: and the 
summits of the surrounding mountains are all peaked, and 
very rugged. On one side of the river they are fine-grained 
black mica, so hard, that it was difficult to break off a good 
specimen with a hammer; across the Tiding, the rocks ap- 
pear to be white granite. 

The route fiom Thang? to Marang lies through a forest of 
pine (#?,) upon the slope of a hill, composed entirely of blue 
slate, often crumbling in pieces. 

From the edafienes of the Tiding with the Set/ej, the 
town of Ribé, or Ridang, has a charming appearance: yellow 
fields, extensive vineyards, groves of apricots, and large well- 
built stone houses, contrast with the gigantic Raldang moun- 
tains. These are scarcely four miles from the town. 

Marang* is a large town, surrounded by high mountains. 
Although 8500 feet above the sea, it enjoys a mild climate. 
During eight days’ halt, the temperature varied from 58° to 
82°; and flies were very troublesome. ‘The sun, even at this 
season (July) does not appear more than nme hours: was 
scarcely visible above the mountains before 8 a.M., and dis- 
appeared behind them at 5p.m. There were alternately light 
clouds and sunshine, and now and then a little rain, euieig in 
this valley never falls heavy: the height of the outer chain of 


* Already visited by Capt. Gerard in 1818 and in 1820. 


of the Valley of the Setle} River. 283 


the Himdlaya being sufficient to exclude the rains, which de- 
luge Hindusthan for three months. 

Having collected from the surrounding villages, supplies 
for ten days, Messrs Gerard proceeded to examine the valley 
of the T’agla river, which has its source in Chinese Tartary. 
They travelled to Nisang (on the Tagila,) a Tartar village, 
already visited both in 1818 and 1820; crossing the Tungrang 
pass, which was again measured, and the previous measure- 
ment (13,739 feet) confirmed. 

The pass leads over a spur, which runs down to the Setlej 
river, from a cluster of snowy mountains, upwards of 20,000 
feet high. The rocks are slate : it easily splits into large even 
slabs, which are well adapted for carving the sacred Tartar 
sentences upon them. Across the Se¢/lej the mountains are of 
white granite, breaking into gravel, and more abrupt than on 
the hither side. 

They proceeded along the banks of the Tagla to U'rché, 
and thence to Rakor, through the Ruthing? pass, and near the 
source of a rivulet of that name, after passing the Khdt?, which 
descends very steeply from the Himdélaya on the south, in 
which direction a peak of vast altitude is visible. The eleva- 
tion of the pass is 14,628 feet; that of the resting-place at 
Rakor, 14,100 feet. A few birches are growing 200 or 300 
feet lower. 

Upon the left bank of the T'agla, the height of the moun- 
tains is upwards of 16,000 feet, and no snow appears. 'The 
rocks are brown clay slate, and mica slate. Upon the right bank 
of the river, the mountains appear to be all clay slate, crumb- 
ling into soil, and forming a natural declivity. The summits 
seem to be 18,000 feet high at least; and there is very little 
snow in streaks. Farther to the east is a large mountain, white 
with snow, and near it anaked ridge of rocks, ending in a num- 
ber of sharp points, apparently formed of slate. In the vicinity 
of the source of the Ruthingi, several conical points are seen 
covered with snow. 

The travellers continued along the banks of the Tagla to 
Zongchen, passing several streams which fall into it, and a 
larger one named Kegéche, which comes from the south (S. 


284 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


by W.) and one less considerable, called Langurge, from the 
S.E., both very muddy. The Taga itself is quite clear, and 
its course is from the N.E. -They crossed at once by a sango. 

The path lay upon broken slate and slippery soil, then upon 
inclined faces of rock ; at one time ascending steeply upon loose 
stones ; at another, descending abruptly upon rude steps and 
scaffolding, projecting over the stream, and between cliffs that 
subtend an angle of 60° or 63° on either side. Now and then 
these crags are perpendicular for 200 or 300 feet, and they 
‘even overhang the pathway. Large snow-beds conceal the river 
for several hundred yards : an immense load of stones and gra- 
vel lies above the snow. In one place the accumulation of 
rocks, which have fallen from the surrounding peaks, is sixty 
or seventy feet thick ; and the river is seen rushing from be- 
neath a large vault, whose under surface is frozen snow. 

The height of Zoncheng is 14,700 feet, which, in lat. 31° 
36’, according to received theory, should be buried under ever- 
lasting snow. ‘The situation, however, is far different. On 
every side of the glen, which is a bowshot broad, appeared 
gently-sloping hills, for the most part covered with Tama, 
(Tartaric furze.) The banks of the river were covered with 
grass turf, and prickly bushes. Around, the land was covered 
with verdure; flocks of sheep were browsing, and deer leap- 
ing ; altogether it was a romantic spot, wanting but trees to 
make it delightful. 

During the march the sun was found at times powerful ; but 
the temperature was evidently decreasing with the elevation. 
The highest observed in the day (23d of July) was 68°. 

The rocks were limestone ; the soil a stiff yellow clay, rent 
in every direction by small fissures, and seeming to have been 
under water. The surface was ground to dust.. 

The next stage was to Zamsiré, by the Kéubrang pass ; after 
tracing the Tiiglé (crossed frequently by snow-beds,) until it 
was reduced to an inconsiderable rivulet at the foot of the pass. 

The ascent of the pass is by no means steep, the angle bee 
only 19° or 20°. But the difficulty of breathing and severe 
headaches, which all the party, not excepting their Tartar 
guides, experienced more or less, rendered the exertion of walk- 


of the Valley of the Setlej River. 285 


ing very laborious. As they advanced, vegetation became more 
scarce, till at length it wholly disappeared ; and the last mile 
presented a scene of solitude and desolation. 

The elevation was found by barometric measurement to be 
18,313 feet above the sea. The pass is reckoned the boundary 
between Kundwar and that part of Chinese 'Vartary which is 
under the authority of the Grand Lama of Lahasa. 

There was very little snow in sheltered situations contiguous 
to it, but none in the pass itself. Several birds were heard, 
and especially the call of a species of pheasant, which lives near 
the snow. 

The mountains inclosing the dell of the T'agla river, which 
lead to the pass, are between 19,000 and 20,000 feet above 
the level of the sea, just tipped with snow ; else they were co- 
vered with tama, a prickly bush, to which the travellers in a 
former journey gave the name of whins, and which they now 
called Tartaric furze. It is the ordinary fuel of the Tartars ; 
and appears to thrive best among arid gravel, and in the 
bleakest places. Its upper limit near Kéubrang was observed 
at something above 17,000 feet. 

After halting some time, it began to snow; and though 
the thermometer was not below 44°, the violence of the wind, 
added to the difficulty of respiration, rendered the situation 
unpleasant ; and the travellers hastened down to a milder 
climate. 

Zamsiri, a mere halting-place for travellers, on the banks 
of the Shélti, to which they proceeded from Kétbrang, is 
15,600 feet above the sea, a height equal to that of the passes 
through the outer range of snowy mountains; yet there is 
nothing to remind one of the Himalaya. Gently sloping 
hills and wanquil rivulets, with banks of turf and pebbly 
beds, flocks of pigeons, and herds of deer, would give one 
the idea of a much lower situation. But nature (Capt. Ge- 
rard remarks) has adapted the vegetation to that extraordinary 
country ; for, did it extend no higher than on the southern 
face of the Himalaya, 'Tartary would be uninhabitable by 
either man or beast. 

It seems surprising (he goes on to observe) that the limit of 
vegetation should rise higher the further we proceed, but so 


286 Captain Gerard’s Account of a Survey 


it is:—on ascending the southern slope of the snowy range, 
the extreme height of cultivation is 10,000 feet; and even 
there the crops are frequently cut green. The highest habi- 
tation is 9500 feet; 11,800 feet may be reckoned the upper 
limit of forest, and 12,000 that of bushes: although in a few 
sheltered situations, such as ravines, dwarf birches and small 
bushes are found almost at 13,000 feet. 

In the valley of the Baspa river, the highest village is at 
11,400 feet; the cultivation reaches to the same elevation; 
and the forest extends to 13,000 feet at the least. 

Advancing further, you find villages at 13,000 feet, culti- 
vation at 13,600 feet, fine birch trees at 14,000 feet, and 
tama bushes, which furnish excellent firewood, at 17,000 
feet. 

To the eastward, towards Ménassarévar, by the accounts 
of the Tartars, it would appear that crops and bushes thrive 
at a still greater height. 

The travellers descended the valley of the Shélti river to 
its confluence with the Szmdé river, and ascended to the crest 
of the Hékéé pass, of which the elevation is 15,786 feet. 
The soil is reddish, apparently decomposed limestone, with no 
large stones. The ground is thickly covered with green sward 
and beds of prickly bushes. No rocky points are seen, the 
whole being gentle slopes of gravel, much resembling some of 
the Scotch Highiands; the tama at a distance seeming like 
heath. Yaks and horses were feeding on the surrounding 
heights 5 and the climate was pleasant; the temperature being 
57°. 

There are the usual piles of stones to mark the crest of the 
pass, and a great number built upon all the surrounding 
heights. At a distance they could not be distinguished from 
men; and were taken at first sight, by the servants, for Chi- 
nese come to dispute the pass. The guides assured them 
they were piles of stone ; and a view through a telescope con- 
firmed the assertion. 

Three of the people, who were attending the cattle, watched 
the party for some time, until being convinced there were 
Europeans, they mounted their horses, and set off at a gallop. 
The travellers quickened their pace, determined to advance as 


of the Valley of the Netley River. 287 


far as practicable; but two miles further they were stopped 
by the Chinese, after they had crossed a rivulet with swampy 
banks, winding among rich turf, near which, they found many 
ammonites, at the height of 16,200 feet, on the elevated land 
between Hikéé and Zinchin. © 

The Tartars under Chinese authority were encamped, 
awaiting their arrival, of which previous intimation had been 
received, and pointed out a spot for their camp, and a line 
beyond which they should not pass. ‘Their manners were 
polite, and their civility was requited by presents of tobacco, 
the only thing for which they seemed to have any, the least 
desire. 

The height of Zinchin is 16,136 feet, and the eminences in 
the vicinity rise many hundred feet higher. In every direc- 
tion, horses were seen galloping about, and feeding on the 
very tops of the heights; altogether there were about 200. 
Kites and eagles were soaring in the air; large flocks of small 
birds, like linnets, were flying about, and locusts jumping 
among the bushes. 

Immediately across the Seélej, the mountains are abrupt ; 
but, more to the east, there is a succession of gentle slopes. 
Beyond them again, appeared a lofty snowy range. It seemed 
to run N. 50° W. to S. 50° E. Clouds hang about it. 

At this altitude the atmosphere exhibited that remarkable 
dark appearance which has been often observed in elevated 
situations. The sun shone like an orb of fire, without the 
least haze. At night, the part of the horizon where the moon 
was expected to rise, could scarcely be distinguished before 
the limb touched it; and the stars and planets shone with a 
brilliancy never seen, unless at great heights. 

With a transit telescope of 30 inches, and a power of 30, 
stars of the fifth magnitude were distinct in broad day; but 
none of less size were perceptible. At Sabathi, 4200 feet 
above the level of the sea, stars of the fourth magnitude 
require a power of 40 to make them visible in the day. 

The temperature was greater than expected: the thermo- 
meter rose to 60° in the shade, and at sunset was 42°. It 
sank to 303° before sunrise. About nine in the forenoon, a 


288 M. Avogadro on the relation of the Density of Bodies 


wind from the S.W. began; it was at its greatest strength at 
3 p.m., and subsided at sunset. 

The climate is very different from that which is experienced 
in crossing the outer range of the Himalaya at the same 
season. Here, at the height of 16,000 and 17,000 feet, is 
abundance of fuel (metéh, bearmg a beautiful yellow flower, 
and no prickles,) good water, and a serene sky; there, at an 
inferior elevation, no firewood is nearer than five or six miles, 
the clouds hang around the mountains, the sun is rarely visible, 
and showers of rain are frequent. 


Art. XVI.—On the relation of the Density of Solid and 
Fluid Bodies to the size of their Molecules, and their affinity 
for Caloric. By M. Le Cuevarirr Avocapro. 


Dorrve a long series of years, the genius of mathematicians 
and philosophers has been directed to the determination of 
the laws which regulate the mutual action of the planetary 
masses. ‘The progress which has been made in this inquiry 
since the time of Newton, is not more remarkable from the 
beauty of the laws which have been proved to exist, than from 
the singular accuracy with which they have enabled the astro- 
nomer to compute the various phenomena of the celestial mo- 
tions. 

In consequence of this advanced state of astronomical science, 
it has for a long time been nearly stationary. The tide of 
ambition has flowed into new channels, and the efforts of in- 
tellectual power have been directed to the facts and laws of 
Molecular Philosophy, as exhibited in the actions, the proper- 
ties, and the organization of terrestrial matter. The great 
discoveries which have been made in chemistry during the last 
forty years have paved the way for this branch of T'ranscen- 
dental Physics ; and various important preliminary laws have 
already been established. 

The law of Definite Proportions was one of the first great 
steps in this inquiry. The optical law of primitive forms, and 
the connection between the optical structure and the chemical 
composition of crystallized bodies, formed another step ; and 


to the size of their Molecules, &c. Q89 


the researches of M. Avogadro, of which we now propose to 
give a brief account, promise to carry us still further among 
the mysteries of elementary matter. 

‘In a preceding number, * we have already given some ac- 
count of a remarkable law announced by M. Kupffner, who 
has endeavoured to establish a relation between the crystalline 
form, the weight of the atom, and the specifie gravity of bodies. 
If y, for example, is the volume of its primitive form, the cube 
of its axis of crystallization being unity, p its atomic weight, © 
and s its specific gravity, then, according to M. Kupffner, 


pst , . ay Sie ee 
yi Cont. ; and, consequently, s is in the direct ratio of y, 


and the imverse ratio of p.+ But this relation, as M. Avo- 
gadro has remarked, is not indicated by any theoretical con- 
sideration ; and, with regard to the facts upon which he rests 
it, there isso much latitude in the relation of primitive forms, 
and in the determination of the atomic weights, that there is 
reason to believe, that any other arbitrary relation might, 
by similar means, be made to agree with observation, and that 
the one which he has adopted has no real foundation. 

MM. Royer and Dumas have endeavoured to show, that 
the volume of the atom of all solid bodies is either equal 
to, or represented by, a variable multiple of the smallest of 
these volumes, or rather of an ideal unity, assumed as the 
type of them all; or, what is the same thing, that the densi- 
ty of solid bodies is proportional to the mass of the molecule, 
or to an aliquot part of this mass. But M. Avogadro is of 
opinion, that this law is not established. by the observations 
they have brought to its support, and that it is liable to other 
objections, which we have not room here to enumerate. 

The density of any body is, in general, necessarily in the 
ratio of the mass of its integral molecules, divided by the cube 
of the distance of the centres of these molecules. In ductile 
bodies, whose molecules may change their position without 
separating, and in which, consequently, the figure of the mo- 
lecules does not appear to exert any sensible influence, the 


* See this Journal, vol. iv. p. 186,—188. 

+ In the Scientific Intelligence of this Number, we have given several 
results, deduced by M. Vincent from Kupffner’s Law, which are so re- 
markable, as to render a farther examination of it very desirable. 


290 M. Avogadro on the relation of the Density of Bodies 


distance of the centres of the molecules ought to depend only 
in its turn on the mass of these molecules, and on their affi- © 
nity for caloric ; for it is this fluid which, interposing itself be- 
tween the molecules of these bodies, ought, by the repulsive 
force which it exerts among its own molecules, to determine 
the distance in question, according to the quantity and the 
density to which it may raise itself, when this repulsive force 
is in equilibrium with the attractive force which the mole- 
cules of the body exert upon it. With regard to an attrac- 
tive force which would exert itself immediately between the 
molecules themselves of the bodies, it could take place be- 
tween similar molecules, only in virtue of some polarity de- 
pending on the relative position of the molecules, and on their 
figure, which cannot be admitted in ductile bodies. ‘There 
should be still another quality of molecules, which ought to 
have an influence on the distance of their centres, in the state 
of equilibrium of the forces which we have mentioned, that is, 
their volume, from which there ought to result, round their 
centres, a space more or less great, which can only be occu- 
pied by caloric, and, consequently, a different limit in the dis- 
tance of the molecules of caloric from the centre, and a differ- 
ent action of the molecule upon it. But we may suppose, 
with sufficient probability, that this volume of the molecules 
is proportional to their mass, as if the matter of the molecules 
of bodies was of the same density for all; and then the in- 
fluence of the volume of the molecules, in changing the dis- 
tance of their centres, ought to be included in the function, 
by which we express the influence of the mass of which we 
have spoken, and it will only modify this function. This cir- 
cumstance obliges us, therefore, only to consider separately 
the mass of the molecules, and their affinity for caloric, in the 
determination of the total function on which their distance 
ought to depend, without being able to confine ourselves toa 
function of the attractive power of the molecule for caloric ; 
that is, of the product of its mass, by its affinity for that fluid, 
provided that the law, according to which the distance in 
question depends on the mass, may be found by the cireum- 
stance indicated, different from that by which it depends on 
the affinity for caloric. 


to the size of their Molecules, &c. 291 


By the application of these principles, which we have not 
room to detail, M. Avogadro obtains the following law, viz. 


d= 9 OT, & =P /'m 
a ad 


in which d is the density, m the mass of the molecule, and a 
the affinity of the body for caloric. In these formulae the af- 
finity for caloric is given relatively to potassium, which is taken 
for unity. In order, however, to apply the formula to metals 
in general, he puts it into another form, in order that he may 
immediately make use of the masses of the molecules related 
to that of oxygen, taken for unity, and of the densities rela- 
tive to that of water, and which gives the affinities for caloric, 
by taking for unity that of oxygen. 

Calling, therefore, M, D, A, the quantities m, d, a, expressed 
in the new units, he obtams D—0.87 d; A=3.8.a; M=4.9m; 


D A M ie 
— 3 A= a5 MN = 
or, d = 087? *“=33°? a9 By substituting these 
values in the original formula, it will become 
A ee £0:87 MI, . 
S28 Guy 480 
Bean Brsy/: aN 5 or, 


3 0.87 ° ™M 
B= 9d) Oe 


A — Laps (/M. 


In applying these formulae to ductile metals, M. Avogadro 
has obtained the following results :— 


1st Grove. Ordinary Metals. 


Affinitary number, between 1.95 and 2.47. 
Neutralizing power, between — 0.057 and + 0,46. 


Affinitary Neutralizing Affinitary Neutralizing 
Number. Power. Number. Power. 
Platina, 1.950 — 0.057 Water, - 2.222 SOceny 
Point of Neu- Tron, - 2.240 + 0.235 
trality, 2.004 0.000 Mercury, 2.243 + 0.238 
Gold, - 2018 + 0.014 Tito. =) eaeenoail + 0.336 
Silver, - 2.019 + 0.015 Lead, - 2.439 + 0.433 
Copper, - 2.134 + 0.130 Zine; = 2,462 + 0.456 


VOL. V. NO. If. OCTOBER 1826. U 


292 M. Avogadro on the relation of the Density of Bodies 


2d Grove. Alkalifiable Metals. 


Affinitary Neutralizing 

Number. Power. 
Potassium, - - 3.300 + 1.291 
Sodium, = - - 3.371 + 1.361 


By applying the same formula to frangible metals, M. Avo- 
gadro has obtained the following results : 


Affinity for Neutralizing Affinity for Neutralizing 
Caloric. Power. Caloric. Power. 
Todine, = 1.705 — 0.297 Cobalt, - 2.095 + 0.090 
Arsenic, - 1.934 — 0.070 Copper, = 2.134 + 0.130 
Selenium, 1.942 — 0.061 Tron, - 2.240 + 0.235 
Platina, - 1.950 — 0.057 Mercury, 2.243 + 0.258 
Chrome,- 1.969 — 0.037 Bismuth, 2.261 + 0-256 
Antimony, 1.973 — 0.031 Win, =. 234i + 0.336 
Gold,- = 2.018 + 0.014 Manganese, 2.368 + 0.362 
Silver, - 92.019 + 0.015 Lead, - 2439 + 0.433 
Tellurium 2.034 + 0.030 Zinc, = 2462 + 0.456 
Nickel, = 2.035 + 0.031 Potassium, 3.300 + 1.291 
Molybdena, 2.069 + 0.065 Sodium, 3.371 + 1.361 
Tungsten, 2.075 + 00.71 


M. Avogadro considers these results only as approximations, 
particularly for the frangible metals, to which the formula is 
perhaps less exactly applicable than to the ductile metals. 

In applying the formula to bodies which are not metallic, 
M. Avogadro supposes that the molecules either remain with- 
out alteration, or double and quadruple themselves in passing 
from the gaseous to the solid state. In sulphur and iodine the 
gaseous molecule suffers no change. In antimony and sele- 
nium two molecules go into one in the passage to the solid state, 
and so on with the other bodies, as given in the following table : 


The formula by which this table is computed is changed in- 
ee + =e 7 Mt for reasons which our author. 


has fully explained. 


Mass of the Number of Gaseous Mass of the 
Gaseous Molecules which form Solid 


Molecule. a solid one. Molecule. 
Gold, - 12.43 4 49.72 
Tin b- - 7.35 4 29.40 


Platina, “= 12.15 4 48.60 


to the size of their Molecules, &c. 293 


Mass of the Number of Gaseous Mass of the 
Gaseous Molecules which form Solid 


Molecule. a solid one. Molecule. 
Silver, . 6.75 4 27-00 
Lead, - 12.96 4 51.80 
Zinc, - 4,03 8 32.26 
Tron, - 3.39 8 27.12 
Copper, - 3.96 6 23.74 
Mercury, - 12.65 4 50.60 
Potassium, - 2.45 4 9.80 
Sodium, - 2.91 4 11.74 
Tungsten, - 12.10 4 48.40 
Molybdena, > 5.97 4 23.88 
Arsenic, - 4.70 4 18.82 
Antimony, - 8.06 2 16.13 
Selenium, > 4.96 2 9.92 
Tellurium, - 4.03 4 76.12 
Chrome, - 3.52 4 14.07 
Tode, - 7.69 1 7.69 
Manganese, - 3.56 8 28.48 
Nickel, - 3.70 6 22.18 
Cobalt, - 3.69 6 22.14 
Bismuth, - 8.87 4 35.48 
Sulphur, - 2.00 1 2.00 


Such is a very brief view of the First Memoir of M. Avo- 
gadro, which was read on the 7th March 1824, and is pub- 
lished in the thirtieth vol. of the Memorie della Reale Accademia 
delle Scienze de Toriné. In the thirty-first vol. of the same work, 
our author has published a second Memoir, the object of which 
is to give for all bodies a general formula, expressing the rela- 
tion between the density, the mass of the molecule, and the af- 
finity for caloric, of which the above formula is only an ap- 
proximation, and which might even apply itself in all its gene- 
rality to bodies which appear commonly under a solid form, if 
we had for them all the data which that application requires. 

This Memoir is divided into two sections; in the first of 
which our author establishes a formula for the densities of li- 
quids, in relation to a particular state in their law of dilatation ; 
while, in the second, he transforms this formula, in order to 
compare it with that for solid bodies, and to point out the con- 
nection between the two. 

M. Avogadro considers, that the dilatation of liquids may 
be represented by two terms, the one proportional to the in- 


“« 


294 M. Avogadro on the relation of the Density of Bodies 


crease of temperature and positive, the other subtractive and 
proportional to the square root of this same increase of tem- 
perature reckoned from a determinate point of temperature 
for each liquid, or expressed by the ordinate of a parabola, 
whose abscissee, reckoned on a diameter of this parabola, are 
proportional to the increments of temperature. He calls that 
the minimum of temperature for each liquid, which corresponds 
to the origin of the diameter of the above parabola, where the 
ordinate of the parabola becomes nothing, and below which, 
consequently, this ordinate, and the term of the law of dila- 
tation which it represents become imaginary, because he sup- 
poses, that at this point a new Bie coctan of caloric would 
augment the temperature anew, in place of farther diminishing 
it, and would give rise to a new branch of the curve represent- 
ing the law of dilatation, for which we ought to take the ordi- 
nate of the parabola with the positive in place of the negative 
sign. 

Let ‘T be the number of centigrade degrees, which the mini- 
mum of temperature for each liquid is below the tempera- 
ture of ebullition of this liquid under the pressure 0.76; d 
the density of this liquid at this minimum of temperature, 
taking the density of water at zero as unity ; and g, the co- 
efficient of the term of the law of dilatation of this liquid, pro- 
portional to the increase of temperature, or the increase of vo- 
Jume which that liquid takes in virtue of this term for each 
centesimal degree of the increase of temperature, taking for 
unity the volume at the minimum of temperature : The densi- 
ty of this liquid, at its boiling point, such as it would be if its 
law of dilatation from the minimum of temperature had been 
expressed by the single term of which we have spoken, will 


‘ d ms : ; 
riousl =. § F 7 
obviously be Taet Since the densities are in the inverse 


ratio of the volumes, let m be the mass of the gaseous molecule 
of the liquid, or the density of its gas, cata that of oxygen 
g d 
for un iat php 
ity, the fraction ee (l+gT)m, will express the 
ratio between the density of the hquid i in the state supposed, 


and thg density of its gas under a given pressure and tempera- 
ture. 


to the size of their Molecules, &c. 205 


Now, since the distance of the molecules is in the ratio of 
their affinity for caloric a, and since the density is necessarily 
in the inverse ratio of a®, the cube of this distance, M. Avo- 


gadro obtains as the ratio which ought to be con- 


aed 
(+gT)m, 7 
stant in all liquids in the case of a non-alteration of the mole- 
cules, in passing from the gaseous to the solid state, or in the 
case where the number of duplications and divisions are the 
same in the liquids compared, and which ought to be double, 
quadruple, &c. in one liquid of what it is in another, if in one 
of them there are duplications of the molecules which do not 
take place in another. 

In applying this formula to water, alcohol, ether, and sul- 
phuret of carbon, M. Avogadro assumes the minimum of 
temperature at — 70° cent. and consequently T = 170°. 


In Water. In Alcohol. 

= 170° cent. T’ = 170° cent. 
d ‘= 0.8865. d’ = 0.6426. 
g = 0.00177. e =0.0034. 
m = 0.0005873. m’ = 0.001514. 
ars 'j.* al, = )-256; 
as = 1. di 1 -pes. 

a°d 2 @d' OR ies? 
(tel) +eTym = 1160. Cte'T ym’ = 537.3. 


But 537.3 x 2 = 1074.6, which differs little from 1160, 
which it should be on the hypothesis of the duplication of the 
molecule. In applymg the formula to ether and sulphuret 
of carbon, and comparing them with water, we obtain, 


Ether. Sulphuret of Carbon. 
‘T= 170° cent. ‘T = 170° cent, 
de 0.580: d = 0.6426. 

g 0.00427. g = 0.0034. 
m = 0.00244. m == 0.001514. 
a —=T1.318. 
a? = 2.291. a? == 0.212. 
asd |) 29! wii & Oe re 
Q+gT)m TeaErGs G+gT)m eyes 


“ The affinities of water and alcohol for caloric, are 23.22, and 2.791, that 
of oxygen being unity; but in taking that of water for unity, we have 


2.791 


that of aleohol — —— = 1.256. 


~~ 2.222 


296 M. Avogadro on the Relation, &c. 


But 316.16, quadrupled = 1265, not very different from 
1160, and 57.45, taken 16 times = 919, not very different 
from — 1160. 

By taking a new value of a for sulphuret of carbon, we ob- 
tain 1075, which approaches still nearer to 1160 than 919 
does. 

In the transformation of the formula for the purpose of 
comparing it with that for solid bodies, which occupies the 


second section, M. Avogadro, taking D = a obtains 
ihe 
A = 1.475 oe ap almost exactly the same as A = 1.472 


7M } 
xf D> which he obtained for solid bodies. 


The formula for solid bodies, thus connected with the for- 
mula for liquids, is obviously inexact for bodies which undergo 
a dilatation in place of a condensation, when they become 
solid. In order to apply the formula to such bedies, we 
must determine their dilatation by experiment. In this case, 
and in general for all bodies of which we know immediately 
the condensation and dilatation, we may make it enter into the 


formula, i Cae 

a, in place of the supposed relation of D’ = Saoegy and 
. . D 1 

calling the ratio », we have D =D’ or D’ = weer being 


a number greater than unity or a fraction, according as there 
is condensation or dilatation. The formula will then be, - 
35 M ‘0k 
A = 1.449 hiss = 1.449, 9m 4/20 
n 
And there will remain in this formula no other hypothetical 
approximation, than that which results from the supposition, 
that the coefficient really variable in the formula for liquids, ~ 
1s constant and equal to that which takes place in alcohol, ac- 
cording to our calculations. 

The general formula, free of every supposition, for solid 
bodies, taken with their density, D, at the temperature zero, 
will be, 

A =1.1555./ i+eT bc ecey 
v +g (L-E—2h JT) SS: vn. 


Mr Ewing on the Eyes of Insects. 297 


which requires us to know, beside the ratio of condensation » 
when it becomes solid, the law of the condensation and dilata- 
tion in the body in question in the liquid state, viz. the 
temperature E of its vaporisation at the ordinary pressure, the 
depression 'T of its minimum of temperature below the tem- 
perature of its ebullition, and the two coefficients 2 and 2h of 
this law. , ' 

This formula will therefore not differ from that for liquids, 
taken in its generality, and relatively to their density D’, ex: 
cepting in the presence of the factor 4/= depending on the 
condensation or dilatation of the body in its passage from the 
liquid to the solid state. 


Arr. XVII.—On the Structure of the Eyes of Insects. By 

Mr Wiuziiam Ewinc. In a Letter to the Editor. 

Si, 
Havine diligently employed my leisure time in investigating 
the structure of the eyes of imsects, and conceiving I had 
made some progress beyond what was at present known on 
that subject, I arranged my observations into a shape for pub- 
lication, which I had put into the hands of Dr Hooker to be 
forwarded for your approbation. That gentleman’s knowledge 
of the subject, however, prevented it, and favoured me with 
the third volume of a very learned and systematic work, at 
present publishing on the subject. The impressions which I 
have received from my observations and experiments differ 
materially from the descriptions given in that work; I will, 
therefore, under the same arrangement, submit to you a few 
remarks on the Ocular Organs of Insects. 


Simple Eyes. 

These are the eyes with which we find insects provided in 
the first state of their existence, as well as those that are pro- 
duced perfect from the egg. They differ, indeed, as to number, 
situation, and arrangement, in those insects, but they are 
identically the same; their structure is that of a double con- 
vex lens, but more ccenvex without than they are within: 
they are all transparent when cleaned, and capable of refract- 


398 Mr Ewing on the Structure of the Eyes of Insects. 


ing light: they are of a hard substance, and change not on 
being taken from the insect. 


Conglomerate Eyes. 


They are exactly the same as simple eyes, being double 
convex lenses, each of them capable of refracting light; only 
they are more numerous than simple eyes, and are collected 
into patches, and have a common retina. 


Compound Eyes. 


Under this head are included the whole of those eyes which 
we find provided with a lace-like covering. I am satisfied, 
however, that, under this division of the subject there are 
different modifications, which I shall notice separately. 


Beetles’ Eyes. 


It appears to me that those eyes differ not from simple eyes 
of the conglomerate kind. The form indeed varies, but the 
structure is the same. It is spherical, and composed of a num- 
ber of hexagonal apertures, filled with lenses, each of which 
possesses the same properties as simple eyes; and having a 
common retina, which is connected to the external covering, 
so as to exhibit the appearance that two watch glasses would 
have if they were cemented together. 


Butterfly’s Eye. 


This eye differs from all the insects eyes I have examined. 
It consists of a ball which is orbicular, and of a dark purple 
colour towards the external lace-like covering ; and on the 
other side, where the optic nerve enters, it is white and less 
convex. This ball occupies a circular cavity formed by the 
external covering and the retina, and is surrounded by a very 
clear gummy liquor into which it appears to move. My way 
of ascertaining this, was by fixing the live insect in the pliers 
under the microscope, and, putting a mark on the centre of the 
external covering, I turned the insect backwards and for- 
wards ; and I observed, that when the lace-like covering moved 
round, the dark spots in the eye were stationary, and could 


be moved from one edge of the eye to the other. Now, this 
4 


Mr Ewing on the Structure of the Eyes of Insects. 299 


may either be a reflection, or it may be the dark orbicular side 
of the ball above-mentioned, shining through the limpid gummy 
liquor into which it floats. There are no lenses in the lace- 
like covering of the eyes of this insect, but they are lined with 
a thin transparent membrane betwixt the external covering 
and coating of the eye. 

The eye of the night butterfly, or moth, has the same struc. 
ture as the one just described, only it is dark when viewed 
in the light, but if examined in the shade, it shines with a 
beautiful yellowish lustre. This is emitted from the ball of 
the eye after being extracted from the insect. ‘There is a pe- 
culiarity in the eye of this insect which I cannot find in any 
other I have examined ; viz. from the hexagons in the exter- 
nal covering proceed tubes which convey the apertures through 
the dark coating of the eye. They are smallest next the ball, 
are hard and transparent, and appear to be of the same sub- 
stance as the external covering. ‘l'here are no lenses in the 
covering of the eye of this insect. 

‘The next modification of compound eyes belong to a very 
numerous class of insects of the fly kind, (and it is to this 
class chiefly I think the term can be applied ;) viz. to all those 
which are provided with stemmata, (a kind of eyes which I 
shall next mention.) As I have not been able to discover the 
effect of these as organs of sight, I shall merely state, that, in 
all those appendages called compound eyes in insects having 
stemmata, I could never find lenses, nor any internal organi- 
zation similar to those that have them. 


Stemmata. 


These are eyes with which the greater number of bees and 
flies are provided, and they appear to be their real eyes. They 
are exactly similar to, and capable of the same properties as 
simple eyes ; they are variously situated in various insects, but 
in all of them which I have tried, if they are shut up, the in- 
sect is rendered blind. 

In the foregoing remarks, I have merely mentioned the 
result of many experiments, from which I have preserved spe- 
cimens of various eyes, which prove the facts stated ; and since 
the oculi of insects arrange themselves under three different 


300 Mr Stromeyer on Metallic Iron and its Oxides. 


modifications, I have suggested the three following queries, 
which I hope some e of your learned correspondents will be able 
to solve: 

Query, How is vision performed in those insects of the but- 
terfly kind, since they are not provided with stemmata, nor 
have lenses in the hexagonal gab in the external covering 
of their eyes ? 

Query, How is vision performed in those insects which we 
find unprovided with stemmata, but in the external covering of 
whose eyes we find the hexagonal apertures filled with double 
convex lenses ? 

Query, How is vision performed in those insects which we 
find provided with stemmata, but want lenses in their com- 
pound eyes ? 

If the foregomg remarks are deemed worthy of a place in 
your valuable publication, your inserting them will oblige, Sir, 

Your very humble Servant, 


Mitchell-Street, Glasgow, 
21st August 1526. Wiriram Ewine. 


Art. XVIII.—On Metallic Tron and its. Ovides. By F. 
StromMeyver, M.D. F.R.S.E. &c. &c. Professor of Che- 
mistry in the University of Géttingen. 


Tue third volume of Poggendorffs Annalen der Physik und 
Chemie, contains some observations by M. Gustav Magnus on 
the spontaneous combustion of certain metals, in which that 
property has not been previously noticed. He finds that nickel, 
cobalt, and iron, reduced from their oxides by means of hy- 
drogen at a very low heat, undergo spontaneous combustion 
when they are exposed to the air at common temperatures ; 
whereas they are not subject to the same change if the reduc- 
tion is effected by hydrogen in a strong fire. M. Magnus as- 
cribes the difference of combustibility to the density of the iron 
being greater in the second than in the first case, owing to the 
more intense heat which is employed in the operation. 

In the sixth volume of the same Journal, Professor Stromeyer 
has offered a different explanation of the phenomena, at least 


Mr Stromeyer on Metallic Iron and its Oxides. 301 


so far as regards the combustibility of iron. The Professor 
remarks, that, im order to obtain iron with ease and certainty 
in a perfectly metallic state, by means of hydrogen, it is ne- 
cessary to conduct the gas, previously dried by the chloride of 
calcium, over the peroxide of iron at a red heat. The process 
does indeed succeed at temperatures which are much below a 
red heat ; but the reduction in these instances takes place very 
slowly, so that it is exceedingly difficult in this way to prepare 
metallic iron perfectly free from the protoxide. 

Professor Stromeyer maintains that pure metallic iron ob- 
tained by the preceding process, however low the temperature 
which may have been employed in its reduction, does not pos- 
sess the property of burning spontaneously ; but that on being 
heated to the degree at which cadmium fuses, it then sud- 
denly takes fire, and burns with emission of heat and light till 
the whole of it is converted into the black oxide. But if hy- 
drogen gas is conducted over the red oxide of iron at a tem- 
perature still lower than that at which complete reduction is 
effected, a partial deoxidation ensues, and the peroxide is con- 
verted into the veal protoxide of iron. Professor Stromeyer 
employs the term real protoxide, because this oxide, previous 
to his experiments, has never been obtained in an insulated 
state, and because the black oxide, procured by passing watery 
vapour over metallic iron, though commonly mistaken for the 
protoxide, is in reality a compound of the protoxide and pe- 
roxide of iron. 

The real protoxide of iron has a dark blackish blue colour, 
which appears almost black by reflected light. It stains glass 
blue, and is the cause of the blue colour of iron slag. This 
protoxide is combustible in a high degree. If, after its forma- 
tion, it is completely protected from the atmosphere by being 
kept in hydrogen gas till quite cold, it will take fire the instant 
it is placed in a saucer, so as to be completely exposed to the air; 
but instead of passing, like metallic iron, into the black oxide, 
it is converted at once, and completely, into the peroxide. 

Professor Stromeyer ascribes the spontaneous combustion 
of the metallic iron in the experiment of M. Magnus to this 
protoxide, the presence of which it is difficult to avoid alto- 
gether, when the peroxide is reduced by hydrogen at a low 


302. Mr Stromeyer on Metallic Iron and its Oxides. 


temperature. . He affirms that the protoxide is first inflamed, 
and that the caloric emitted by it sets fire to the metallic iron, 
in consequence of which combustion takes place rapidly through 
the whole mass. 

In addition to these interesting remarks, the Professor ob- 
serves, that there are only two proper oxides of iron, name- 
ly, the blue or protoxide, and the red or peroxide. He con- 
firms the opinion of Proust, that the black oxide, whether 
formed by the direct combustion of iron, or by passing the 
vapour of water over ignited iron wire, is not a distinct oxide, 
but a combination of the two others. He adds, also, that the 
proportion of the oxides to one another, in the black oxide, is 
variable, the relative quantity of each being dependant on the 
duration of the process, and on the temperature at which it 
is conducted. 


M. Magnus has replied to the observations of Professor Stro- 
meyer in the same Number of Poggendorff’s Journal. After 
repeating and varying his former experiments, he draws from 
them the two following conclusions: First, that the combus- 
tion of iron does not arise from the presence of the protoxide, 
but is occasioned by the porous condition of the metal. Se- 
condly, that iron at a temperature between the boiling pomt 
of mercury and the degree at which zinc fuses, is completely re- 
duced by hydrogen, and that, according to his experiments, 
no deoxidation at all takes place at a lower temperature. 

This le es us theref ore in the dark as to the real cause of 
the spontaneous combustion of iron. It is clear from the second 
conclusion of M. Magnus, either that he must have committed 
some oversight, or that Stromeyer’s protoxide cannot be formed 
in the way which that chemist has described. The character of 
Stromeyer is too well known to leave a doubt as to his accu- 
racy ; and we, in particular, have good reason to know that 
he is right on the present occasion, having, in his laboratory, 
so long as four or five years ago, both seen the blue oxide of 
iron, aud witnessed its formation. 


Mr Ellis on the Burning Chasms of Ponohohoa, &c. 303 


Art. XIX.—Account of the Burning Chasms of Ponohohoa 
in Hawaii, one of the Sandwich Islands.* By the Reverend 
Witisam Evuis. With a Pirate. + 


Arrerr travelling about five miles over a country fertile and 
generally cultivated, we came to Ponohohoa. It was a bed 
of ancient lava, the surface of which was decomposed, and in 
many places stumps of trees had grown to a considerable 
height. As we approached the places whence the smoke 
issued, we passed over a number of fissures and deep chasms, 
from two inches to six feet in width. ‘The whole mass of rock 
had obviously been rent by some violent convulsion of the 
earth, at no very distant period ; and when we came in sight 
of the ascending columns of smoke and vapour, we beheld im- 
mediately before us a valley or hollow, about half a mile across, 
Sormed by the sinking of the whole surface of ancient lava, to 
a depth of fifty feet below its original level. 

‘Its superficies was intersected by fissures in every direction ; 
and along the centre of the hollow two large chasms, of irre- 
cular form and breadth, were seen stretching from the moun- 
tain towards the sea, in a south-and-by-west direction, and ex- 
tending either way as far as the eye could reach. The prin- 
cipal chasm was m some places so narrow that we could step 
over it, but in others it was ten or twelve feet across. It was 
from these wider portions that the smoke and vapours arose. 

As we descended into the valley the ground sounded hol- 
low, and in several places the lava cracked under our feet. 
Towards the centre it was so hot that we could not stand more 
than a minute in the same place. We passed as near to the aper- 
tures that emitted smoke as the heat and sulphureous vapour 
rismg from them would admit. We looked down into seve- 
ral, but it was only in three or four that we could see any bot- 
tom. The depth of these appeared to be about fifty or sixty 
feet, and the bottoms were composed of loose fragments of 
rocks, and large stones that had fallen in from the top or sides 
of the chasm. Most of them appeared to be red hot, and we 


* From Ellis’s Missionary Tour through Hawait, p. 190. 
+ See Plate VII. Fig. I. 


304 Mr Ellis on the Burning Chasms of Ponohohoa, &c. 


thought we saw flames in one; but the smoke was generally 
so dense, and the heat so great, that we could not look long, 
nor see very distinctly the bottom of any of them ; our legs, 
hands, and faces, were nearly scorched by the heat. In one 
of the small fissures we put our thermometer, which had stood 
at 84°; it instantly rose to 118°, and probably would have 
risen much higher could we have held it longer there. 

After walking along the middle of the hollow for nearly a 
mile, we came to a place where the chasm was about three 
feet across at its upper edge, though apparently much wider 
~ below, and about forty feet in length, and from which a large 
quantity of lava had been recently vomited. It had been 
thrown in detached semi-fluid pieces to a considerable distance 
m every direction, and from both sides of the opening had 
flowed down in a number of small streams. 

The appearance of the high and long grass through which 
it had run; the parched leaves still remaining on one side of 
a tree, while the other side was reduced to charcoal ; and the 
strings of lava hanging from some of the branches like stalac- 
tites, together with the fresh appearance of the shrubs, par- 
tially overflowed and broken down, convinced us that the lava 
had been thrown out only a few days before. It was highly 
scoriaceous, of a different kind from the ancient bed of which 
the whole valley was composed, being of a jet black colour, 
and light variegated lustre, brittle and porous, while the an- 
cient lava was of a gray or reddish colour, compact or broken 
with difficulty. We found the heat to vary considerably in 
different parts of the surface ; and at one of the places where 
a quantity of lava had been thrown out, from which a volume 
of smoke continually issued, we could stand several minutes 
together without inconvenience. We at first attributed this 
to the subterranean fires having become extinct beneath ; but 
the greater thickness of the crust of ancient lava at that place 
afterwards appeared to us the most probable cause, as the 
volumes of smoke and vapour which constantly ascended, indi- 
cated the vigorous action of fire below. 

Our guide told us that the two large chasms were formed . 
about eleven moons ago ; that nothing else had been visible till 
two moons back, when a slight earthquake was experienced at 


M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact, &c. 305 


Kapapula, and the next time he came by, the ground had 
fallen in, forming the hollow that we saw, which also appear- 
ed full of fissures. About three weeks ago, he saw a small 
flame issuing from the apertures, and a quantity of smoking 
lava all around. The branches of the trees that stood near 
were also broken and burnt, and several of them still smoking. 

Though the surface of the whole country around had a 
voleanic origin, this infant voleano seems to have remained un- 
disturbed a number of years, perhaps ages. The lava is de- 
composed, frequently a foot in depth, and is mingled with a 
prolific soil, fertile in vegetation, and profitable to its proprie- 
tors; and we felt a sort of melancholy interest in witnessing 
the first exhibitions of returning action, after so long a repose 
in this mighty agent, whose irresistible energies will probably, 
at no very remote period, spread desolation over a district now 
smiling in verdure, repaying the toils, and gladdening the 
heart of the industrious cultivator. 

Ponohohoa is situated in the district of Kapapula, and is 
about ten or twelve miles from the sea-shore, and about twen- 
ty miles from the great volcano at the foot of Mauno-roa. 


Art. XX.—Kemarks on the Electric effects of Contact pro- 
duced by changes of Temperature. By M. BecquERret.* 


Turs interesting paper, of which we propose to give an ab- 
stract, is divided into three sections.+ 

1. On the process for measuring the intensity of the electric 
current. 

2. On the laws of the electric effects of contact when the 
temperature of each metal is made to vary equally. 

I. The electro-chemical theory, as adopted by several cele- 
brated chemists, admits it as a certain fact, that two bodies, 
capable of combining, have different electric states when they 
are put in contact; that bodies which have an acid tendency 
assume negative electricty, and alkaline ones the positive elec- 
tricty ; that these electric states increase with the elevation of 


* Ann. de Chim, Avril 1826, tom. xxxi, p. 371. 
+ See the next Article, which forms the third section, 


306 M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact 


temperature till the instant when the combination takes place ; 
that fire then bursts out, produced by the simultaneous com- 
bination of the two electricities, and that all the electric phe- 
nomena soon cease. 

In this theory only one point has been demonstrated by ex- 
periment, and that is the electric condition of acid and alkaline 
bodies on their mutual contact, but we are quite ignorant of what 
takes place when their temperature is simultaneously varied. 

I shall now describe the process by which I have measured 
the electro-dynamic force produced by an electric current, 
which describes a metallic circuit enveloped with a silk thread, 
and roiled round a box so as to form a galyanometer, in which 
is placed a system of two magnetised needles, as devised by 
M. Ampere. A divided circle upon a plate of glass points 
out the deviations of one of the needles. ‘The first point is to 
ascertain the ratios between these deviations, and the corre- 
sponding intensities of the electro-dynamie force. 

This intensity has been supposed proportional to the size of 
the angle of deviation, but this law is not founded on any ex- 
periment. My object was to determine the intensity of the 
current which corresponds to a given deviation. 

By employing two magnetised needles fixed in a parallel po- 
sition, and with their opposite poles near one another, one in 
the inside of the box, and the other without it, we destroy, in 
a great measure, the influence of terrestrial magnetism, and 
we leave them no other directive force but what is necessary 
to bring them back into their ordinary position of equilibrium, 
when they are made to deviate from it. Its sensibility is such, 
that when we employ a divided brass circle, crossed by a bar 
of the same metal, the magnetic needle, when made to oscil- 
late, will place itself in the direction of this bar. This source 
of error, therefore, is avoided by making use of a circle di- 
vided upon glass. 

Instead, however, of one wire of copper, I take three of 
the same metal, equal in length and in diameter, equally co- 
vered with silk, and rolled in the same manner round the ap- 
paratus. If we cause the same quantity of electricity to pass 
into each of these wires, it is perfectly evident, that every thing 
being similar on all sides we shall have three perfectly equal 


produced by changes of Temperature. 307 


currents, and the deviation will then correspond to a force 
triple of that which we would have had if we had only consi- 
dered a single current. In causing to vary equally the quan- 
tity of electricity which passes into each wire, it becomes easy 
to compare the deviations of the needle with the correspond- 
ing intensities of the electric current. 

Nothing is more easy than to procure equal currents. It is 
sufficient to solder to each of the ends of the same wire one of 
the extremities of an iron wire, so as to form three closed cir-. 
cuits, then to bend each of them to each soldered joint simi- 
larly placed, in order to pass the curved part into a tube of 
glass, closed at one of its extremities, and plunged into a mer- 
curial bath, whose temperature is raised by a spirit lamp. A 
thermometer also placed in the mercury indicates the changes 
of temperature. In proportion as it is heated, the magnetised 
needle, according to the discovery of M. Seebeck, deviates 
from its position of equilibrium, and if we submit successively 
to experiment one soldered joint, two soldered joints, and mark 
at each time the deviation of the magnetised needle for the 
same temperature, we shall have the angle which corresponds 
to single, double, and triple forces. 

This method of experimenting requires great precautions 
if comparable results are required. We must first plunge the 
soldered joint, whose temperature is not to be raised, into melt- 
ing ice, and the thickness of the tube into which is passed 
part of the circuit, where the soldered joint is, ought to be 
sensibly the same as that of the thermometer, in order that 
the mercury of this instrument, and the metal of the circuit, 
‘may receive the heat in the same time. Experiment proves al- 
so that a mercurial bath is preferable to one of oil, on ac- 
count of the great difference of conductibility of heat between 
oil and the metal, a difference which occasions retardations in 
the simultaneous production of phenomena. _ It is also neces- 
sary, that, in the curved part of the circuit, whose temperature 
is raised, the metals have no other points of communication 
but those of their contact, for the intensity of the current 
would certainly experience modifications from such a cause. 
This inconvenience is avoided by covering with silk one of the 
wires ; and care must be taken that the thermometer and the 

VOL. V. NO. Il. OCTOBER 1826. x 


308 M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact 


points of the circuit heated by the mercurial bath attain ex- 
actly the same temperature at the moment of observation. 
This may be obtained by raising the temperature to the heat 
at which the experiment is to be made, and suddenly extin- 
guishing the lamp. The temperature will then remain sta- 
tionary for some seconds, and we are certain that the thermo- 
meter and the soldered joints have the same temperature. 

The following table contains the results of the experiments 
thus made. 


Deviations Deviations Deviations Deviations 
Temp. Cent. with 1 Wire. with 2 Wires. with 3 Wires. with 4 Wires. 
10° 1°.30 2°.60 3°.90 5°.20 
20 2 .60 5 .30 7 .80 10 .10 
30 4 .00 7 «65 10 .55 Ue Pees 
40 5 .40 10 .00 13 -35 16 .50 
50 6 .65 11.75 15 .40 19 40 
60 7 -90 13 .5 17 .50 21 .50 
80 10 .30 16-5 21 .00 25 .00 
90 1110 17 .65 DO aD 26 .00 
100 11 .90 18 .80 93 75 28 .00 
110 12 256 19 .90 25 .60 ARN yf 
120 13 .20 £ .00 26 .50 30 .35 
130 14 .00 22 .00 27 .30 81 .17 
140 14.75 23 .00 28 .00 32 .00 
160 15.50 24.00 29 .40 33 .25 
200 16 .90 35 -00 30.00 — 33:25 
300 17 .80 26 .50 3 ee ae) 


It appears from this table, that from 0° to 10° of deviation 
the increments of heat are proportional to the increments of 
deviation, but beyond that term the ratio is no longer the same. 

Let us suppose, however, that the deviation 1°.30 is produ- 
ced by an electro-dynamic force equal to 2, the deviation 2.60 
will be produced by a force equal to 4, because there are two 
wires in action; the deviation 3.90 by a force equal to 6, &e. 
By continuing the same reasoning, and by placing beside each 
deviation the number which corresponds to it, and admitting, 
that, at the same temperature, two wires produce a double 
force, three a triple force, &c. we shall form the following 
table, in which we have, in one column, the deviations of the 
magnetic needle, and in the next the corresponding intensities” 
of the electro-dynamie force. 


produced by changes of Temperature. 509 


4 1 Wire. 2 Wires. 3 Wires. 4 Wires. 
Devia- Electr.|Devia- Electr.|Devia- Klectr.|Devia- Electr. 


Temperatures. | ‘tions. Intens.| tions. _Intens.| tions. Intens.| tions. Intens. 
$° 0°.65 l 1°.30 62 | 1°.95 3 2°.60 4 
10 1.30 2 1 .60 4 3 .90 6 5 .20 8 
15 1 .95 3 3.95 6 5 .85 9 7 .60 1s 
20 2 .60 4. 5 .30 8 7 .80 To TKO ARG 16 
30 4.00 6 7.65 12° 110 55 1s {13 .25 24 
4.0 5 .40 8 LO .00 16 {13.35 24 (16 .50 32 
50 6 .85 10 HHL 75s 20 {15 .40 30 {19 .00 40 
60 7 .90 12 {13 .50 24 \17 .50 36 /21 .50 48 
70 9 .00 14 {15 .00 28 {19 .25 42 |23 .25 56 


150 
160 15.50 30 |24 60 |29.40 90 |33.25 120 
180 
200 TGP 4 32912 64 {30.00 96 35.15 £28 
250 


31.21 108 


The numbers which express the deviations of the magnetis- 
ed needle are the arithmetical means of the results of a great 
number of experiments which it would be useless to detail at 
present. With regard to the numbers which express the elec- 
trical intensities we have given only the whole numbers. 

The following tables show the effect produced. in a closed 
circuit composed of two wires of copper and iron soldered at their 
ends, and in which each joint is raised to a different temperature. 

Temp. Ist Joint. Temp. 2d Joint. Dey. of Needle. Electro-dynamic Intensity 


50° cent. 0 TAS il 
100 0 12.75 22 
No. I. 150 0 16 .00 3l 
200 0 18 .00 37 
250 0 19 40 
300 0 ‘ 
50 50% 7°.25 ll 
100 50 11.75 20 
No. II. 150 50 14 .00 26 
200 50 15 .25 29 
250 50 16 30.50 
300 50 
50 100 
100 100 
Ne. III. 150 100 6 9 
200 100 9.50 15 
250 100 ll 18 


310 M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact 


In Table No. II. the joint which was at zero in No. I. is 
brought to 50°, and in No. ITI. to 100. But in Table IT, the 
electro-dynamice force 11, produced by the temperatures 100 
and 50, is equal to the difference of the forces 22 and 11, ob- 
tained in Table I. by the temperatures 100° and 50° of the 
same joint. Besides the force 20 is equal to the difference of 
the forces which have been given in Table I. by the tempera- 
tures 150° and 50°, and so on. The force 9, Table ITT. is equal 
also to the difference of the forces produced by the tempera- 
tures 150 and 100 of Table I. 

Hence we obtain this general rule, that in a circuit formed 
of two metallic wires soldered end to end, when we raise each 
of the joints to different temperatures, the resulting electro- 
dynamic intensity is equal to the difference of the forces pro- 
duced successively by each of the temperatures in the same 
joint, the other being at zero, and not to the intensity of the 
force produced by the difference of temperature alone. 

But since the electric state of each joint depends on its tem- 
perature, and not on the temperature of the neighbouring 
joints, we may form a table similar to that in p. 309, without 
employing four metallic wires. I take, indeed, four copper 
wires and four iron wires; about 5 decimetres long, and ¢ of a 
millimetre in diameter, and solder them end to end, in such a 
manner.as to have alternately a copper and an iron wire, and — 
the whole communicates with the wire of the apparatus already 
mentioned. I then raise successively to the same temperature, 
one joint, two joints, &c. taking these alternately, in order to 
have currents in the same direction. We shall then obtain an 
electro-dynamic force, simple, double, triple, &c. and it will 
then be easy to construct a table the same as that of p, 309. 


Il. On the Laws of the electric effects of Contact, when the 
temperature of cach metal is equally varied.—In the present state 
of the science, it is impossible to determine the absolute quan- 
tity of electricity which disengages itself in the contact of two 
metals, or at least to compare together those which result from 
the contact of the same metal with several others. For this 
purpose, it would be necessary that we should be able to join 
the two metals by a body which is a good conductor of elec- 
tricity, and which should not exercise electromotive actions 


_ produced by changes of Temperature. 311 


upon either of them, a thing which at present is impossible ; 
but by the aid of what precedes, by taking for the point of 
departure the electric state of the two metals, both at the zero 
of temperature, we may discover what modifications that state 
experiences, either by increasing or diminishing it at the same 
time in both metals. This is the only means of arriving at a 
knowledge of what takes place in the electric effects of con- 
tact, until the combination of the metals begins to operate. 

Circuits are formed with wires of different metals, by mak-. 
ing the wire of the apparatus enter into it; and the whole is 
so disposed, that its two extremities may communicate with 
the same metal, the only means of annulling its action on bo- 
dies submitted to experiment. ‘These wires have the same dia- 
meter, about the third of a millimetre. The temperature is 
then raised, and we operate as above described. The results 
are given in the following table :— 


Metals in Contact. |Tempera- |Deviations. | Intensities of the |Differences between 


tures. Electric current. the Intensities. 
(| 50 7.50 11 11 
f }| 100 1225 22 9 
| Copper.< | 150 16.00 31 3 
| | 200 17.25 34 : 
j 250 18.10 37 3 
{| 100 11.00 18 6 
| 150 13.50 QA. 3 
| Gold. x | 200 14.50 Q7 3 
250 15.50 30 
[ 300 2? 29 9 
Iron.) fc 40 5.80 8.50 

} : 80 10.00 16.00 7.50 
| Silver | 120 12.50 22.00 6 
| : | 140 2 ” »” 
1} 200 15.75 30 ¢ 
| L 250 ” 9 » 
| 40 6.50 10 10 
[ 80 11.40 20 10 
| | 190 15.10 30 9 
Platina | 160 18.50 39 10 


312 = M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact 


Electri- |Differences be- 


Metals in Contact. ied ae cal In- tween the In- Bae 7 (i 
tensities. tensities, 
50° 1 1.50 6 Ke 
p sole 100} 2.00 3.00 
150 |) 23-75 6.00 3 3 
Lead. 200} 7.00) 10.50 4.50 4.25 
250 10.00} 16.00 5.50 5.50 
300.) 12.75} 23 7.00 6.75 
501m, 2 3. 
100} 4.50 6.7 ST 3.4 
150} 8 12: As, 5.0 
Zinc. 200 | 11.50} - 19.00 7.00 76 
250 | 14.75) 28.00 9.00 9°7 
300} 19 40 12 11.80 


50 
100 


Copper. 


|i 
| 
ert 
| 
Py 
| 
Z 
“fs | “ 
| 
| 
| 
tt 
| 


or 


Gold. 


Tron. 


oO = 

So Oo 

=) 

Set S OO PS cGy Ola teres OD ie wont 
tt or S et 
oor o 
~ _ 

Gr © Or wo 
SIONS ie) 
& to 

OD > 

oOo Oo 


produced by changes of Temperature. 313 


Electrical 


Metals in Contact. aes Intensi- Differences. eae 
ties. 
if if 40 0.5 
80 1.00 
120 1.50 
Silver. 160 2.00 
200 3 
| 240 3.50 
| 280 4.00 
f 30 1 1 
| 100 2 2 
} 150 4. ) 
Pm. 1 200 6 
| 250 8 2 
Bae yee! | 300 " , 
{ 50 1 
| 100 2 1 
Lead. 150 4, 2 
200 6 ) 
250 8 2 
50 2 Q 2 
100 4s 
150 7 3 3 
Zine. 200 10.50 3.50 4 
250 15.00 4.50 5 
300 21.00 6 6 
350 27.00 6 7 


From the preceding tables, it appears that the évon is always 
positive with platina, copper, gold, silver, &c. and, consequent- 
ly, the rise of temperature exalts the electric effects produced 
by its contact with the metals. For if it had been otherwise, 
the strongest positive electricity would be furnished by the 
jomt whose temperature is the lowest, and then the current 
would change its direction. With the copper the following ef- 
fects take place. From 0° to 140° of temperature, the inten- 
sity of the electro-dynamic force increases, and the same quan- 
tity for each equal increment of temperature. From 140° this 
increase diminishes with considerable rapidity, and at 300° it is 
-hardly sensible. This very remarkable effect leads me to sup- 
pose that the current changes its direction. I plunged, indeed, 
the points of junction in a flame, in order to give it a high 


314 M. Becquerel on the Electric effects of Contact 


temperature, and the electric effect immediately became in- 
verse. - 

Gold and silver comport themselves nearly in the same man- 
ner in their contact with iron, and there is no other difference 
but in the temperature at which the increments of the electro- 
dynamic force cease to be proportional to the increments of 
temperature. 

The manner in which Jon comports itself in its contact with 
the different metals when the temperature is raised, is in ma- 
nifest contradiction with the electro-chemical theory, which ad- 
mits that the electrical effects of contact increase continually 
with the rise of temperature, till the combination operates. 

Platinum, in its contact with copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, 
palladium, does not comport itself in the same manner as iron. 
At first it is always negative, whatever be the temperature, 
which proves that the electric current increases in intensity with 
the elevation of temperature ; but the manner in which this 
increase takes place, is not such as might have been supposed. 
Experiment proves, as may be seen in the table p. 312, that, 
from zero to 350°, for equal increments of temperature, the dif- 
ferences between the successive increments of the electro-dyna- 
mic force are sensibly in an arithmetical ratio. 

Palladium follows the same law, for, from zero to 350°, there 
is a constant ratio between the equal increments of temperature 
and the increments of intensity. = 

Copper and Zinc do not oppose the ordinary law. The elec- 
trical intensities increase with the temperature, and the differ- 
ences between the increments are in arithmetical progression. 
With tin, lead, silver, these increments are sensibly equal, but 
as they are feeble, there may exist between them differences 
which the apparatus cannot recognise. 


Diminutions of temperature produce effects analogous to 
those which T have obtained by an increase of it. I take a 
closed cireuit of two wires, one of copper, and another of pla- 
tina, and I put one of the joints into melting ice, and the other 
into a mixture of snow and diluted sulphuric acid. The fol- 
lowing were the results :-— 


produced by changes of Temperature. 315 


Temperature | Deviations of|Electro-dynamical | Intensities 
below Zero. | the Needle. Intensities. calculated. 

4 2.60 4 3.4 

8 4.70 7 6. 8 

12 7 10 Ose 

16 8.50 13 13.60 

20 10 16 17.00 

24 12 20 20.40 

28 13.50 25 23.80 

32 14.75 28 27.20 


Hence it appears that the intensity of the electric current 
diminishes proportionally to the diminution of tempera- 
ture. 

An important question here presents itself. How comes it, 
if there really exists such intimate relations between the elec- 
trical effects of contact and the chemical forces, that the incre- 
ments of these effects, in consequence of the rise of tempera- 
ture, are not more rapid than experiment shows them to be, 
and that the electrical actions are not more intense at the mo- 
ment when the chemical forces increase with so much rapidity ? 
It is difficult to reply to this question. Besides, how happens 
it that iron, in its contact with the other metals, gives electrical 
effects which change their sign with a rise of temperature? And 
perhaps iron is not the only metal which enjoys that property. 
By forming circuits with different metals, so as to have in each 
of them two different metals, and raising the temperature of 
one of the joints of junction, we find the following electri- 
cal series, in which each metal is negative in relation to those 
which follow it, and positive in relation to those which precede 
iia 


Bismuth, Silver, 
Platina, Copper, 
Mercury, Zine, 
Lead, Tron, 

Tin, Antimony. 
Gold, 


From these experiments we conclude, that zine and copper 
in contact, when they make part of a circuit, give rise to an 
electric current, the less intense as the temperature is elevated. 
Other metals enjoy equally the property of producing electri- 


316 M. Becquerel on a method of measurmg 


cal effects less strong in proportion as the temperature in each 
of them is raised. 

We might perhaps be led to believe that the rise of tempe- 
rature, diminishing the conducting power of the metallic wires, 
the apparatus does not then show all the increase of the elec- 
tro-dynamic intensity which takes place from the rise of tem- 
perature. But this opinion is destroyed by experiment ; for 
if we operate at moderate temperatures, which give distinct ef- 
fects, and if we bring toa red heat a part of the circuit remote 
from one of its joints, the diminution of the conducting power 
is not sufficiently sensible to alter the results obtained before 
the experiment was made. This fact seems to contradict the 
observation of Sir H. Davy, who has found that a conducting 
wire allows less and less electricity to pass in proportion as we 
raise to a red heat the temperature of a small portion of its cir- 
cuit. But it is easy to reconcile these apparently contradictory 
results, for Sir H. Davy has shown that when we make a small 
quantity of electricity pass through the conducting wire, the 
least change in the conductibility of the place where the elec- 
tric fluid has not the power of extending itself, ought to dimi- 
nish sensibly the quantity of electricity which it transmits ; 
whereas, when we come to pass only a very small quantity of 
electricity, we may conceive that the fluid, not experiencing any 
difficulty in extending itself, a diminution in the conductibility 
ought to allow to pass nearly the same quantity, which is con- 
firmed by experiment. 


Art. XXI.—On a method of measuring High Tempera- 
tures. By M. BecauereEt. * 


We have seen in the preceding pages, that a metallic cir- 
cuit, formed of a palladium wire and a platina wire, possesses 
the property, where one of the joints is raised successively 
from 0° to 350° of temperature, of giving equal increments 
of electro-dynamic intensity for equal quantities of tempera- 
ture. 

* This article forms the third part of the preceding paper- We have 


given it separately, in order to excite that attention which it so well merits. 
Ep. s 


High Temperatures. 317 


Besides, it 1s easy to prove, that this property belongs to two 
platina wires of any diameter, but not formed of the same platina. 
We first take a platina wire, and cut it in two, and we then pass 
one of its halves through a wire-drawmng machine, to diminish 
its diameter. The two wires are then united together by twist- 
ing together their ends. If we bring one of the joints to any 
temperature, no electrical effect is manifested ; but if we melt a 
fragment of the metal at one of the ends of the wire, there is 
immediately a manifestation of the electrical current, and this © 
will happen whenever the circuit is formed of two wires which 
do not proceed from the same platina. The least difference 
in the platina of the two wires, is sufficient to give rise to an 
electric current, when both are brought to the same tempera- 
ture at the points of contact. I may remark, that the wires 
were previously plunged in boiling nitric acid, so that we can- 
not suppose that the preceding effects are owing to any foreign 
substances adhering to their surfaces. 

It would appear, then, from these experiments, that the 
more remote the melting point of metals is, the higher is 
that temperature at which the ratio between the increase of 
heat, and that of the electro-dynamic force ceases to be con- 
stant ; but as the platina does not melt but at a very high, 
temperature, and as in feeble melting, the law of decrease is 
not rapid, we may suppose, without any fear of committing 
great errors, that, in the circuit of two platinum wires, which 
do not proceed from the same metal, the constant ratio be- 
tween the increments of heat, and the increments of the elec- 
tro-dynamic intensity still exists at elevated temperatures, but 
remote from their melting point. This property will now 
enable us to express the temperatures of red heat in functions 
of the degrees of the centigrade thermometer. 

As an application of the method which I am about to ex- 
plain, I shall proceed to determine the temperature which the 
two platina wires assume, (put together as above describ- 
ed) when we place successively their points of junction in the 
different cones of the flame of a spirit lamp. 

Tt is known that a flame in general, particularly that of a 
taper, or spirit lamp, is formed of several unequal divisions, 
of which we may easily distinguish four; the 1st, which is at 


318 M. Becquerel on measuring High Temperatures. 


its base, is of a sombre blue, and becomes less, as it removes 
from the wick ; the 2d, is the obscure place in the middle of 
the flame ; the 3d, is the brilliant envelope which covers this 
last, and which, properly speaking, is the flame; and the 4¢h, 
which is slightly luminous, and surrounds the flame. 

We first place one of the junctions of the two wires at the 
superior limit of the blue flame, where the air, still charged 
with all its oxygen, begins to meet the flame. The deviation 
is here 22°.50. When the junction is placed in the white 
part, or in the proper flame, the deviation is 20°, while in the 
obscure part round the wick, it is only 17°. Now, when we 
raise the point of junction to 300°, the deviation was 8°, which 
corresponds to an electro-dynamic force of 12; hence the in- 
tensities of the current in the three preceding places will be 
54, 44, 32, which correspond to temperatures of 1350°, 1080, 
780°, upon the supposition that if the force 12 is produced by 
a temperature of 300, the force 48 will be produced by a tem- 
perature four times as great. The temperature 1350° (2462° 
Fahr.) is therefore the greatest that a platina wire + of a 
millimetre in diameter can assume in an alcoholic flame, and 
it corresponds precisely to the points of the blue zone which 
touches the brilliant part of the flame, where we know the 
greatest heat resides. With respect to the temperature 780° 
(1436° Fahr.) it cannot represent that of the same wire 
placed in the dark part of the flame, which surrounds the 
wick, since the wire receives all the heat of the brilliant enve- 
_ lope which it traverses; hence it follows that the temperature 
is much higher than it would be without this. 

In order to confirm the accuracy of the law which I have 
used to determine the temperature of each of the parts of a 
flame, or at least of the wires immersed in them, I have ope- 
rated with wires of platina of any diameter not less than the 
third of a millimetre, and not containing the same quantity of 
alloy, and I have always obtained the same results. But if 
this law were not exact, it would inevitably experience changes 
in operating with wires which contained more or less alloy. 
Besides, the results obtained by the above method, compared 
with those given by other methods, may draw attention to a 
question so interesting to the arts and sciences. 


Mr Drummond’s Apparatus for producing Intense Light. 319 


Arr. XXII.—Description of an Apparatus for producing In- 
tense Light, visible at great Distances, invented by Lieu- 
tenant 'Homas Drummonp of the Royal Engineers. 


Tur memoir from which the following article is taken, is en- 
titled On the Means of Facilitating the Observation of Distant 
Stations in Geodeticul Operations. It was read before the 
Royal Society of London on the 4th of May 1826, and will - 
appear in their 7'ransactions for the present year. 

It has been long ago observed by those who have been in 
the habit of using the blowpipe, that lime and other earths 
give out a very intense and dazzling light when exposed to the 
action of that instrument. 

The idea of applying this kind of light to economical and 
useful purposes, seems to have been first published in a notice 
on a singular luminous property of wood steeped in solutions 
of lime and magnesia, written by Dr Brewster in 1820, and 
printed in vol. i. p. 343, of the Edinburgh Philosophical 
Journal. 

* The sight of these experiments (it is there remarked) na- 
turally suggests the idea, which occurred also to Mr Cameron, 
that such a brilliant light, capable of being developed by the 
heat of the flame of a candle, might have some useful application. 
In order to obtain some information on this point, I prepar- 
ed three or four pieces of wood, terminated with the white 
masses of absorbed lime, and placed these masses so as to re- 
main near the circumference of the flame.of a candle. In this 
situation they yielded the brilliant light already described, and 
lasted, without any apparent diminution, for more than two 
hours. I next prepared a very thin slice of chalk, and having 
held it on the flame of a candle, I found that it did not give’ 
the same brilliant light as the absorbed lime. Upon expos- 
ing it, (the chalk) however, to the heat of the blowpipe, it 
emitted the same white and dazzling light, which has already 
been described ; (namely, a brilliant dazzling light, not much 
if at all inferior to that which arises from the deflagration of 
charcoal by the action of galvanism.”) 

* As this light seems to be developed by degrees of heat 


320 Mr Drummond’s Apparatus for producing 


inversely proportional to the minute state of division in which 
the particles of lime are combined, it is highly probable that 
denser kinds of wood, in which the pores are very small, 
might leave after combustion a residue in which the lime ex- 
ists in a much more attenuated state than that which I used, 
and, therefore, the same intensity of light mightbe evolved 
at a temperature still lower than that which exists at the edge 
of acommon flame. If this should turn out to be the case, 
the light of the lime and the magnesia might be developed at 
a temperature lower than that which discharges the phospho- 
rescent light of minerals, and it might have a most extensive 
and useful application, both in the arts and in domestic eco- 
nomy. Even in the present state of the fact the subject de- 
serves farther investigation.” 

In order to obtain an intense light for facilitating the ob- 
servation of distant stations in geodetic operations, Mr Drum- 
mond endeavoured to make use of some of the most brilliant 
pyrotechnical preparations, and to try phosphorus burning in 
oxygen; but he found in these cases the flame large and un- 
steady, and unfit for a focal light ; and he was therefore led 
to try the brilliant light emanating from several of the earths 
when exposed to a high temperature. Having completed an 
apparatus for this purpose, he produced a light so intense, 
that, when placed in the focus of a reflector, the eye could 
with difficulty support its splendour, even at the distance of 
forty feet. 

* In order to obtain the requisite temperature,” says Mr 
Drummond, ‘“* I had recourse to the known effect of a stream 
of oxygen, directed through the flame of alcohol, as a source 
of heat, free from danger, easily procured and regulated, and 
of great intensity. Fig, 2. of Plate VIII. represents the ap- 
paratus such as it is now made for the survey. The spirit 
entering at a, ascends through the tubes ¢, while the oxygen 
entering at d is directed by the jets ¢ upon the small ball of 
lime 4; the tubes ¢’ are connected with the cylindrical box h 
by flexible caoutchouc tubes e, f, and also pass with friction 
through small cylinders at c, which admit of being moved 
backwards and forwards upon the arms, and are clamped, 
wheii in the proper position, by small mill-headed screws at the 

ul 


Intense Light visible at great Distances. 321 


sides. . By these means every requisite adj ustment is obtained 
for the jets through which the gas issues. The apparatus is 
attached by its base to the stand which carries the reflector, 
(Fig. 1. Plate VIII. ;) and the small ball may then, by 
means of the horizontal and vertical screws 7, be brought with 
great accuracy into the focus of the reflector. The cistern ¢ 
containing the alcohol is placed behind the reflector, (Fig. 1 ;) 
and being connected with the stem a by a flexible caoutchouc 
tube, may be elevated or depressed on the upright rod r, 
Fig. 2, and the flame of the spirit, accordingly, regulated so 
as to produce the greatest effect. A flexible tube leads from 
d to the vessel containg the oxygen, which may be either a 
common gas-holder, or, perhaps, a silk bag, with a layer of 
caoutchouc, such as they are now made, might be convenient- 
ly employed for this purpose. ‘The apparatus first made was 
provided with jive jets, and could light up a ball 3 inch in 
diameter; that now represented has only ¢hree, and with it a 
ball { of an inch in diameter may be used sufficiently large to 
admit of the requisite allowance bemg made for aberration 
in the reflector, from its true figure, as well as uncertainty of 
direction, arising from terrestrial refraction. 

“ To ascertain the relative intensities of the different in- 
candescent substances that might be employed, they were re- 
ferred by the method of shadows to an argand lamp, as a 
common standard, the light from the brightest part of the 
flame being transmitted through apertures equal in diameter 
to the small spheres of the different substances submitted to 
experiment. 

* The results of several trials made at the commencement, 
gave for 


Lime, - - - 37 times 
Zirconia, - ~ - 31 times 
Magnesia, - - - 16 times 


the intensity of an argand burner. The oxide of zine was 
also tried ; but, besides wasting away rapidly, it proved infe- 
rior even to magnesia. 

‘The mean of ten experiments, made lately with every pre- 
caution, gives, for the light ennitted by lime, eighty-three times 
the intensity of the brightest part of the flame of an argand 


322 Mr Drummond's Apparatus for producing Intense Light. 


burner, of the best construction, and supplied with the finest 
oil. The lime from chalk, and such as is known at the Lon- 
don wharfs by the name of Wlame-lime, * appears to be more 
brilliant than any that has been tried. 

“The lime from the chalk, besides being the most brilliant, 
is, in other respects, very convenient for use; it admits of 
being turned in the lathe, and thus any number of the small 
focal balls, with slender stems attached to them, may be pre- 
pared with the utmost facility. ‘The surface of the ball, by 
the continued action of the heat, appears to be kept nearly in 
a state of fusion. It is gradually worn down, and in cooling 
presents a semi-crystalline appearance.” + 

This method of producing an intense light, visible at a great 
distance, was successfully applied, in October 1825, to the pur- 
poses of the trigonometrical survey im Ireland. The lime-light 
was exhibited by Mr Drummond on Slieve Snaght, the high- 
est hill of Innishowen, about 2100 feet above the sea, and 15 
miles north of Londonderry ; and it was distinctly seen from 
the Divvis hill near Belfast, a distance of 661 miles. Colonel 
Colby proposes to employ this light to effect the observation 
of Benlomond from Knock-Layd, in the north-east extremity 
of Ireland, a distance of 95 miles, and of the Calton Hill, 
Edinburgh, from Benlomond, and thus to measure the differ- 
ence of longitude between the Edinburgh Observatory and that — 
of Dublin, which is nearly in the meridian of Knock-Layd. 

We cannot conclude this abstract without noticing the 
strange oversight of Lieutenant Drummond im ascribing to 
M. Fresnel the invention of the compound or built up lens, 
which he could scarcely fail to know was invented by Dr 
Brewster, and described by him in the Edinburgh Encyclo- 
peedia ten years before M. Fresnel directed his attention to 
the subject. 


* Well-burned Carrara marble, made into a paste and gradually dried, 
was found by Mr Drummond to be nearly equal to the flame-lime. 

t Mr Drummond found that the intense light discoloured a mixture of 
chlorine and hydrogen, and produced an equally remarkable effect on chlo~ 
ride of silver. 


M. Humboldt on the Discovery of a Mine of Platinum. 323 


Arr. X XITI.—Account of the Discovery of a Mine of Plati- 
num in Columbia, and of Mines of Gold and of Platinum 
in the Uralian Mountains.* | By Baron ALEXANDER DE 
HumsBotpr. 


Ax a meeting of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, held on 
the 18th July last, Baron Humboldt communicated verbally 
to the academy the following interesting information. 

M. Boussingault, a celebrated French chemist, has just dis-_ 
covered a mine of platinum at Antioquia in the department of 
Cundinamarca. Hitherto this precious metal, so valuable in 
the arts, had only been found in the Uralian Mountains in 
Russia, in Brazil, and in the provinces of Choco and Barba- 
coas, on the coasts of the South Sea, but always in alluvial 
lands, where it could only be met with accidentally. As this 
cireumstance renders the discovery of M. Boussingault much 
more interesting, M. Humboldt has been anxious to establish 
it. He observes, that in all lands where platinum has been 
discovered, there are found at a very great depth the trunks 
of trees well preserved. It cannot, therefore, be supposed, 
that, in this case, transplanted earth has been mistaken for 
real rocks decomposed in situ. With regard to the platinum 
found in the province of Antioquia by M. Boussingault, there 
can be no doubt that this metal exists there in real veins in 
the valley de Osos, and it is sufficient to pound the materials 
which these veins contain, in order to obtain from them, by 
washing, the gold and the platinum which they contain. 

M. Humboldt had not himself visited the country where M. 
Boussingault has discovered the platinum and gold; but ex- 
perience has proved to him that almost all the auriferous 
soils of America belong to the formation of Dyorite and Sye- 
nite, and it is in this formation that M. Boussingault has dis- 
covered the platinum mixed with gold. The valley de Osos, 
where the platinum occurs in veins, being very near the pro- 
vince of Choco, from which it is separated only by a branch 
of the Cordillera of the Andes, this circumstance accounts for 

* We have taken this interesting Notice from Le Globe, No. 90, J uly 


20, 1826. 
VOL. V. NO. II. OCTOBER 1826. Y 


324 M. Humboldt on the Discovery of a Mine of Platinum. 


the presence of the same metal in the alluvial soils of the val- 
ley de Osos. 

M. Humboldt announced at the same time, that mines of 
platinum had recently been found in the Uralian Mountains, 
in the government of Perma. ‘These mines are so rich that 
the price of platinum fell nearly one-third at St Petersburg. 
Hence we may reasonably expect that this valuable metal 
will cease to bear that high price at which it has hitherto been 
sold. In 1824, the auriferous and platiniferous soil of the 
Ural produced 286 puds, which gave 5700 kilogrammes of 
metal, having a value of nineteen millions 500,000 francs. 
The mines of all Europe together do not produce annually 
more than 1300 kilogrammes. Those of Chili yield only 
3000, and all Columbia furnishes only 5000. 

The Ural yields at present as much gold as was ever ob- 
tained from Brazil at the time when its mines were most pro- 
ductive. The maximum, which took place in 1755, was 6000 
kilogrammes of gold. At present Brazil yields only 1000. 

It would be reasonable to suppose, that this prodigious in- 
crease in the productiveness of the mines of the Ural might 
have a very important influence, not only on the prosperity of 
Russia, but on the real value of gold. But this opinion can- 
not be maintained, if we attend to the circumstance, that the 
quantity of this metal actually existing on the surface of the - 
globe is so considerable, that a quantity eighteen millions of 
francs in value, is, comparatively, almost insensible ; and, be- 
sides, that the diminution of the produce of almost all the 
mines of the New Worid would occasion a compensation. 
Relatively to the particular prosperity of Russia, an augmen- 
tation of eighteen millions is, in reality, very little for a state 
of such vast extent, particularly as nearly one-third of this 
must be expended in working the mines. 

Nothing, besides, is more variable than the product of 
mines. ‘Those of Mexico, which in 1700 furnished only six 
millions of piastres in gold and silver, produced twenty-five 
millions in 1809; and this immense augmentation was un- 
known in Europe, (where it had not produced any sensible re- 
sult,) when M. Humboldt announced it a long time after it 
had taken place. The revenue of Mexico has since that time 


M. Arago on the Influence of non-Magnetic Bodies, &c. 325 


kept at nearly eighteen millions of piastres, without any effect 
being produced on the price of commodities. 

With regard to platinum the case is quite different. As 
the quantity of this metal, which has only been worked for a 
short time, is still very inconsiderable, an increase in the pro- 
duce of the mines which furnish. it may bring down greatly 
its price,—a result which will be extremely fortunate for the 
useful arts. 


Art. XXIV.—Notice of the recent Researches of M. Arago, 
on the Influence of Bodies reckoned not magnetic, on the 
motions of the Magnetic Needle-* 


WE have already, in various articles in this work, had occa- 
sion to lay before our readers an account of M. Arago’s mag- 
netical experiments, and of those of Messrs Barlow, Christie, 
Babbage, and Herschel, by which they were preceded and 
followed. 

At the sitting of the Academy of Sciences, held on the 3d 
of July, 1826, M. Arago made a new communication on the 
subject. M. Nobili and another Italian natural philosopher, 
having denied that substances not metallic have any influence 
on the magnetic oscillations, M. Arago makes the following 
reply. 

I cannot conceive what could have prevented these observers 
from recognising a fact so easy to verify. In order to show 
the Academy how impossible it is that I should have been de- 
ceived, it will be sufficient to state the results at which I have 
arrived relative to bodies which may be supposed not to con- 
tain a single metallic particle: for example, distilled water and 
ice. 

With respect to water, the variation between the position 
of the needle at a very small distance, and at a distance so 
great that the distance of the body may be regarded as no- 
thing, is in the last case double of what it is in the first. The 
error of the Italian observers arises perhaps from this, that 


® This article is partly composed of the abstract of the proceedings of the 
Academy of Sciences, published -in Nos. 84, 85, and 87 of that excellent 
periodical work Le Globe. 


326 = M. Aragoon the influence of non-magnetic Bodies 


they have made the experiments on non-metallic bodies at toc 
great distances. 

The cause of the phenomena produced by metallic and other 
bodies in rotation, has been generally attributed to the forma- 
tion of a certain number of poles situated upon the non-mag- 
netic body, and which, subsisting during a certain time, are 
supposed to be sufficient either to fetter the motion of the 
‘needle, when the disc remains immoveable, or to cause it to 
turn in the case when the disc itself is put in motion. This 
explanation, apparently so simple, is however liable to the ob- 
jection that the formation of these poles, even if their existence is 
admitted, would be insufficient to account for the motion of 
the needle. If the observers who give this explanation had 
endeavoured to compute the force which might be supposed to 
reside in these poles, they would have found that the limit of 
the motion which they could have communicated to the needle 
would perhaps not have exceeded a minute, whilst, in order to 
explain the rotation, it should have exceeded 90 degrees. 

Not content with this refutation of the common hypothesis, 
M. Arago has endeavoured to point out its imsufficiency by di- 
rect experiments. 

Having suspended above the disc which he uses in his ex- 
periments, a vertical magnetic needle, which can move only by 
turning round its axis in a plane also vertical, and passing 
through the radu of the disc ; and having put the disc in mo- 
tion, he observed the needles carried towards the centre of the 
disc, whenever it was placed at a less distance than about two- 
thirds of the radius of the disc from its centre. At this distance, 
the needle remained immoveable, while at a greater distance it 
was carried in a contrary direction, or from the centre of the 
disc. When the distance was equal to the radius, and even 
greater, the needle was still pushed in the same direction. 

M. Arago next placed a needle in a horizontal situation, 
so that it could move only round its middle in a horizontal 
plane, and so that one of its extremities was found above and 
very near the disc. When the disc was made to turn, this ex- 
tremity of the needle was raised, as if it had been repelled . 
by it. 

As the force which is developed in a great number of cases 
is repulsive between the different parts of the dise and the 


on the Magnetic Needle. 327 


pole of the needle which is near it, M. Arago conceives that 
it is impossible to attribute it to any magnetism of the disc, 
since it is known that, in whatever way a needle acts upon ano- 
ther body, in order to communicate to it its magnetic proper- 
ties, it can only give it a magnetism from which there will 
arise an attractive force. * 

At a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, held on the 10th 
July, M. Arago continued the account of his magnetic expe- 
riments. He announced that he had made experiments from 
which it resulted that, for certain positions of a vertical needle, 
and for velocities of rotation sufficiently rapid, the repulsive 
force which is exerted in the direction of the radius is as great 
as the force perpendicular to the radius, the effects of which 
are observed upon a horizontal needle. 

M. Poisson having stated, in his memoir on the theory of 
magnetism in motion, (of which we shall give some account in 
the next article,) that Coulomb had recognised the magnetic vir- 
tue in all bodies, independently of the iron which they contain, 
M. Arago remarked that the idea of Coulomb was quite differ- 
ent from his, Coulomb having been of opinion that a quantity 
of iron too small for chemical analysis even to appreciate, was 
yet sufficient to produce in bodies which contained it appre- 
ciable magnetic effects. MM. Thenard and Laplace confirm- 
ed this remark, and M. Poisson said that he would suppress the 
assertion, which he had made without attaching to it any im- 
portance. 

In justice to M. Arago, we have given the above statement 
as we find it: but in justice to M. Coulomb, it is necessary 
to remark, that he is the undoubted author of the discovery 
that all bodies, whether organic or inorganic, are sensible to 
the influence of magnetism. M. Biot + has remarked, that there 
are two ways of explaining this, either all substances in nature 
are susceptible of magnetism, or they all contain portions of 
iron, or other magnetic metals, which communicate to them this 
property. This last explanation, though adopted by Cou- 


* M. Ampere stated to the Academy his opinion that the action of the 
disc on the needle is always repulsive, and he ascribes the apparent attrac- 
tion which is manifested, when the needle is placed at two-thirds of 
the radius, to the action of the excentric part of the disc. 

+ Traité de Physique, Tom. iii. p. 117. 


328 M. Poisson on the Theory of Magnetism in Motion. 


fomb, by no means affects his claim to the discovery of the 
general fact that all bodies, whether organic or inorganic, are 
susceptible of becoming magnetic. Coulomb’s explanation 
may be right, or it may be wrong, and it is one of those op~ 
nions which are not likely to be overturned by experiment ; 
but were it proved to be erroneous, his discovery remains as 
much his own as if he had never attempted to explaim it. M. 
Biot has distinctly stated, in the page already quoted, that the 
phenomena may not really be magnetic; that other cireum- 
stances may develope forces similar, or analogous to those of 
electricity by contact ; and that the magnetic action experien- 
ced by needles of all substances made use of by Coulomb, 
may be owing to some small force which is yet unknown 
to us. 

Professor Hansteen of Christiania, whose important magne- 
tic researches we have frequently communicated to our read- 
ers, has drawn from numerous experiments and observations 
the important conclusion, that-every vertical object, or wHaT- 
EVER MATERIAL IT IS COMPOSED, has a magnetic south pole 
above, and a north pole below. 'This curious fact we had oe- 
casion to publish, for the first time, in the Edinburgh Philo- 
sophical Journal for January—April 1821. 


Art. XXV.—Abstract of a Memoir on the Theory of Mag- 
netism im Motion.* By M. Poisson. 


Ar the sitting of the Academy of Sciences of Paris held on 
the 10th July last, M.: Poisson communicated his Memoir 
on the Theory of Magnetism in Motion. 

This celebrated mathematician, who had long ago given a 
formula representing all the phenomena in magnetism as then 
known, has undertaken the same task for. the new facts ob- 
served by M. Arago and others. 

Besides the effects produced in the interior of bodies by the 
austral and boreal magnetic fluids, when they are in a state of 
rest, there are others which are the result of the same fluids 
m motion. The first take place when the external forces, 
which separate the fluids from one another in the smal! spaces 


Abstracted from Le Globe, No. 87. 


M. Poisson on the Theory of Magnetism in Motion. 329 


where they are enclosed, are constant in magnitude and direc- 
tion. In this case, the two magnetic fluids spread over the 
surfaces which envelope these small spaces, and are distribut- 
ed over these surfaces in a manner determined by the magni- 
tude and direction of the external forces. 

The second effects take place when the external forces, vary- 
ing continually either in magnitude or direction, there are con- 
tinually new portions of the neutral magnetic fluid decompos- 
ed, so that the austral and the boreal fluid resulting from that 
decomposition act in the time even that they take to pass from 
the interior of the small spaces, where their decomposition 
takes place, over the surfaces which envelope these spaces. 

Admitting, as M. Poisson has done, that a species of fric- 
tion hinders this transport from being instantaneous, the ac- 
tion which is thus produced upon an external point of the bo- 
dy rendered magnetic, may, according to the nature of that bo- 
dy, predominate greatly over that which the same fluids: exert 
im the first case upon the same external point. 

With regard to the friction above mentioned, which, with- 
out opposing itself to the transport of the molecules of the 
fiuid, only diminishes the velocity with which ‘the transport 1s 
effected, we must carefully distinguish it from the coercive force, 
the effect of which is absolutely to prevent the displacement of 
the magnetic fluids, till it is overcome by an external force more 
considerable. There is no coercive force in most bodies sus- 
ceptible of being magnetised ; and it is chiefly in steel that this 
force shows itself, both by the property which this body has 
of being magnetised, and by that which it possesses of pre- 
serving its magnetic properties when once acquired. 

M. Poisson admits, on the contrary, in all bodies, the ex- 
istence of the force which he compares to friction, and those 
even in which we cannot discover any coercive force are not 
exempt from it. He remarks, that the action produced by 
the magnetic fluids in motion is nothing in the two extreme 
cases, viz. the case: where we would suppose that the magnetic 
fluids would be ‘transported instantaneously into the position 
where they should rémain in equilibrium, and the case in which 
we would admit a coercive force sufficient to oppose itself to 
any displacement of these fluids. 


330 Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 


In setting out from this theory, M. Poisson announces that 
his memoir contains general formule which give at once the 
action produced in a state of rest and in a state of motion. 
The first embrace the magnetic phenomena long known ; and 
the author thinks that the second are sufficient to explain the 
phenomena discovered by M. Arago. 

It follows from M. Poisson’s calculations, that there is no 
dependence between the two sorts of actions, and that experi- 
ment alone is capable of determining the respective co-efficients 
of the values of these actions. 


Art. XXVI.—On the Fall of Leaves. By Professor VaucHER 


of Geneva. * 


Amone the phenomena of Nature obvious to every eye, and 
interesting in many respects, is the Fall of the Leaf—that 
period of the season when the foliage of summer, having per- 
formed its office, shrivels and falls off, to make way for the 
buds and leaves of a future summer. This phenomenon has 
afforded to the Moralist and the Poet many of their most beau- 
tiful allusions, and has served for an iJlustration of that alternate 
decay and renovation which seem to pervade all the classes 
of organized matter. To the medical philosopher the fall of 
the leaf is no less interesting, as having some how or other a 
connection with certain states of health and disease ; and com- 
mon observation has long regarded this epoch as peculiarly 
marked in our variable climate by a more than usual morta- 
lity—when the fairest hopes of many families “‘ drop off like 
leaves in autumn.” The structure and functions of leaves— 
their use to the plants of which they form a part—and their 
use in the general economy of nature—have long occupied 
the attention of the vegetable physiologist ; but the causes of 
defoliation, and the means by which that defoliation is accom- 
plished have been less successfully investigated. In a paper 
by Dr Fleming in the seventh Number of this Journal, that 

able naturalist has made some judicious remarks upon the de- 

foliation of trees, and upon the classification of systematic 


* Mem. de la Soc. de Physique et d’ Hist. Nat. de Geneve, vol. i. p. 120. 


Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 331 


writers upon this branch of Natural History. But by far 
the best and most philosophical account of this periodical de- 
foliation that has fallen under our notice, is contained in a 
memoir upon this subject by Professor Vaucher of Geneva. 
As the memoir of this excellent observer does not seem to be 
generally known, we make no apology for presenting an ab- 
stract of its contents. 

There are few phenomena more remarkable than the fall of 
leaves. ‘Trees, which during summer preserve their foliage in ~ 
spite of the changes of the atmosphere and the effects of winds, 
despoil themselves naturally on the approach of autumn, what- 
ever be the temperature of the season, and the cireumstances 
in which they are placed. The only exceptions to this law of 
nature, says Professor Vaucher, are what are called evergreens, 
of which the defoliation does not take effect till the lapse of 
vears, and trees of which the leaves lose their vitality at the 
same time with the others, though they do not separate from 
the stem till the era of spring. 

Many theories have been formed by ingenious men to ac- 
count for the periodical fall of leaves. Some have believed 
that leaves fall from trees in autumn, because the bud which 
they shelter, increasing in size, separates the leaf-stalk insensi- 
bly from the stem. Others have imagined, that this fall is 
caused by a disease in the leaf itself, occasioned by the super- 
abundance of the juices it receives in autumn, and the diminu- 
tion of insensible transpiration ; while others have attributed 
this phenomenon to the difference of growth between the cir- 
cumference of the twig and the leaf-stalk, the effect of which 
is to break the fibres which attach it to the stem. None of 
these explanations, however, seem sufficient, in M. Vaucher’s 
opinion, to account for the fact. As to the first, it is evident 
from simple mspection that it cannot be admitted. This pres- 
sure of the bud, which, like a wedge, ought to detach the leaf- 
stalk from the stem, almost never operates in this way: and, 
besides, if it did, its action ought to be as general as the fall 
of the leaves. But leaves which have no buds at their axil, 
or which have them very small, fall as quickly as the others ; 
and in compound leaves, the leaflets, which have no buds, are 
separated from the principal leaf-stalk before it is detached 


332 Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 


from the stem. There exists, however, one case where the 
pressure of the bud, if not the principal cause, is at least the 
secondary one of the fall of the leaf ; and this is when the leaf- 
stalk, instead of being placed under the bud, according to the 
common law, envelopes it like a bonnet ; but this arrangement 
is not common. The only trees in which it has been observed 
are the Plane, the arborescent Sumach, the Ailantha glandu- 
losa, and Acacia. 

' Disease or plethora of the leaves cannot occasion the rup- 
ture of the leaf-stalk; for it happens sometimes, and particu- 
larly after white frosts, that they fall whole and green. Be- 
sides, in dry autumns, when the juicies are less abundant, the 
leaves fall as quickly, and even sooner than in moist seasons. 
In short, this hypothesis does not explain why, in the case of 
disease, the leaf separates by the base of the leaf-stalk rather 
than at the leaf; how it always takes place in the same man- 
ner and at the same point; and how, above all, the fracture 
appears smooth and well-defined, in place of presenting an ir- 
regular and lacerated surface. 

The third supposition, which attributes the fall of leaves to 
the increase of the diameter of the twig, although more con- 
formable to the course of nature than the preceding, does 
not explain all the appearances which accompany the rupture. 
For example, it is easily conceivable that the increasing thick- 
ness of the twig must favour the separation of the ijeaf-stalk ; 
but it is not known how this separation, in place of presenting 
all the irregularities of ordinary fracture, is found so well 
marked, and so similar to itself in all plants. Farther, al- 
though this explanation may suffice for simple leaves, that is 
to say, for those of which the leaf-stalk is not divided, it can- 
not apply to compound leaves, for the leaflets of these separate 
from the common leaf-stalk, without its receiving any more 
growth than the smaller petioles which it supports. 

If the point of adherence of a leaf-stalk, says Professor 
Vaucher, be examined at the moment of separation, it will be 
remarked, that it forms a clean and perfectly defined section. 
This species of cicatrix, of which the impression is also seen - 
upon the twig, is differently figured, according to the confor- 
mation of the leaves. In some it presents the appearance of 


Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 333 


a horse-shoe—in others a heart, the segment of a circle, &c. 
but always similar in trees of the same species. But if the 
leaf-stalk be attempted to be broken elsewhere than at its or- 
dinary point of separation, the fibres are lacerated and torn, 
and proof is thus afforded that means for this separation haye 
been previously prepared by Nature at one exclusive point, 
without reference to exterior causes. 

The fibres of a leaf-stalk, in place of being a simple pro- 
longation of those of the twig, are therefore, in M. Vaucher’s - 
opinion, separated from it at the point where this cicatrix is 
seen. ‘There appears, mdeed, no real continuity between 
them; and the temporary union which connects the leaf-stalk 
with the twig, is merely kept up by a kind of adhesive sub- 
stance, which, when the purposes of the leaf to the parent 
plant are served, is dried up or dissolved. This adhesive sub- 
stance is probably formed by some portion of the parenchyma 
interposed between the two systems of fibres. While this pa- 
renchyma is under the influence of the vegetable action, the 
adhesion i is maintained ; when this action ceases, the union Is 
dissolved, and the leaf falls. 

The pot of separation is also to be perceived exteriorly in 
the form of a circular ring, at the point which separates the 
leaf-stalk from the stem. This ring is easily perceptible in 
most trees. It is particularly marked in the leaf-stalks of 
compound leaves, the fall of which present more varieties in 
their appearance than simple leaves. In the Aralia spinosa, 
for instance, it divides the principal leaf-stalk and its depen- 
dent petioles into many parts. In the great Chesnut, the ring is 
seen at the base of the leaves. In the Walnut, this appearance 
explains how the odd leaflet remains adhering while the others 
detach themselves ; and in the green leaves of the Clematis 
may be remarked all the appearances which precede their fall. 
At the same time, it may be observed, that the solution of 
continuity which takes place in compound leaves is not of the 
same nature as that which occurs in simple leaves. 

This natural separation, however, is not a phenomenon pe- 
culiar to the leaves of arborescent stems. It is equally seen 
m the peduncles which support the male flowers of a great 
number of plants, such as the walnut, the willow, &c. and it 


334 Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 


is still more distinctly marked in the pericarps. ‘The different 
ways in which these pericarps open at the moment of maturity, 
and the constancy of the mode of opening in the same spe- 
cies, cannot be explained without having recourse to the 
supposition of a peculiar organization—to a primitive solder, 
similar to that which retains the leaf-stalks in their places. 
In short, says Professor Vaucher, the same traces of stric- 
ture or tightening may be perceived on the exterior covering 
of a great number of pericarps; and even seeds do not sepa- 
rate from the feeble peduncles which support them but by 
analogous means. 

But it may be asked, continues M. Vaucher, how the fall 
of leaves is determined >—Why, if there be an original sepa- 
ration of the leaf-stalk and stem, do not the leaves fall as soon 
as they appear ?—and why, on the contrary, do these leaves, 
so intimately united to the stem, fall at the approach of win- 
ter >—The reason is, 1. That there exists between the leaf- 
stalk and the stem a substance which unites them, and which 
botanists call parenchyma. While this substance 1s impreg- 
nated with vegetable juices, it fulfils its vital functions, ad- 
hesion is maintained, and any attempt to remove the leaf 
produces laceration ; but in autumn, the interposed pareuchy- 
ma having dried up, ceases to preserve the continuity with 
the stem, and the leaves necessarily fall. 2. Because the 
fibres which envelope the vessels in the stem or branch are not 
of the same nature as those which penetrate the leaf-stalk. At 
their first developement the difference is not manifest, but in 
autumn the first are hardened, while the others remain herba- 
ceous—the first continue to live, while the others die, and 
there is in consequence a natural separation. Besides, the 
twig and the branches increase in diameter, while the leaf-stalk 
contracts in drying till the separation is complete. It must 
be recollected, however, that this difference of increase in the 
stem and leaf-stalk is not the chief cause of the fall of leaves ; 
itis but one of the accessory circumstances. ‘The true and 
only cause is the solution of continuity, and this depends 
primarily on the difference of organization. Without this 
difference leaves would never separate from their stems in a 
manner so general and uniform. They would on the con- 

1 


Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 335 


tary be broken on all sides, and irregularly, as the peduncles 
of a great many species of fruit ; and a tree deprived of its 
leaves would present branches loaded with useless vestiges of 
their former footstalks—a species of disorder which is never 
seen in Nature. 

In examining more closely the phenomena of the fall of 
leaves, it is observed that their separation is favoured by the 
torsion of the peduncle. This torsion is seen in leaves which 
are ready to drop off, and in those which have fallen. M.. 
Vaucher observed it in the apple, the peach, the cherry, the 
willow, and many other trees, but did not notice whether it 
followed the same direction in all. The ring or circle which 
indicates the approaching fall is most easily perceived on the 
approach of autumn. It is double in the orange, the leaves 
of which sometimes break off by the first mark, sometimes by 
the second. In the barberry it is placed above the point of 
contact between the leaf and the stem, so that, after the fall of 
the leaf, the rudiments of the leaf-stalk may protect the young 
bud. 

In compound leaves, while the parenchyma retains its func- 
tions, the adherence between the two systems of fibres or ves- 
sels is maintained ; but when the leaf has finished its growth, it 
twists and dries by little and little, the fibres and the vessels are 
disunited, and the least exterior agitation breaks the adhesion. 
In this case, however, the separation is not so determinate as 
in simple leaves. Sometimes the entire leaf separates itself 
from the stem, and the leaflets remain adherent ; sometimes 
portions of the common leaf-stalk break off—often leaflets ; 
and never, as may be easily conceived, does this rupture (de- 
termined by the drying up of the parenchyma alone) appear 
so clean and well-defined as in simple leaves. Traces, more 
or less distinct, of the disorganized parenchyma are often to 
be observed adhering at the place of separation. 

It is not difficult to reconcile what is here said with the 
phenomena which the fall of leaves presents. Since the rup- 
ture of the leaf-stalk depends upon a primitive organization, 
and the period of its fall is determined by the increase of the 
stem, and the branches of the year begin to harden at their 
hase, it is easy to understand why the inferior leaves are detach- 


336 Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 


ed before those of the summit, as happens indeed in most 
trees. It is also easily understood why leaves fall in warm 
as well as in cold countries—in stoves as well as in the open 
air; the heat, which favours the imcrease of the stem, ad- 
vances the moment of separation, and the more southerly we 
advance, the more defoliation ought to be accelerated. The 
cold and snows which, in altering the organization of a petiole, 
destroys its adhesion, hasten also the fall of leaves, and on this 
account they sometimes fall when green. Trees of which the 
shoots are more tardy or more vigorous, ought, on the con- 
trary, to preserve their leaves till the twigs acquire a woody 
consistence ; and this is found to be the case with oaks and 
elms which have been lopped. Branches likewise which have 
been cut before autumn, ought not to part with their leaves 
after drying, because these have been prematurely stopped in 
their vegetation, before the natural period of their fall. 

The chief objection to this theory is, that there are trees 
which preserve their leaves during autumn and even in win- 
ter. This, according to M. Vaucher, so far from forming an 
exception to the general law, rather tends to confirm it. If 
the leaves of these trees be examined, they will be found dis- 
similar in structure to the other leaves. Harder, more coria- 
ceous or ligneous, their tissue approaclies nearer to that of the 
stem upon which they are produced. But when the stem has ~ 
acquired sufficient size, its adherence with the leaf-stalk is 
broken, and the leaves follow the common law. The epoch 
of the fall of leaves of this description, varies with the nature 
of the tree—in spring—summer—or even after some years. 
But even admitting these considerations, and others of a simi- 
lar nature, it is finally found, says Professor Vaucher, that the 
defoliation of these trees depends upon the cause which he has 
assigned, viz. a solution of organic continuity between the 
vessels and fibres of the stems, and the vessels and fibres of the 
leaf-stalk. 

M. Vaucher concludes his memoir with some reflections, and 
with the observation, that the circular ring or stricture found 
at the base of the petiole, and common to all trees, is not per- 
ceived in annual plants, nor in these which, though peren- 
nial, decay down to the root. When leayes are torn from 


Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 337 


these, the plant is wounded, the fibres lacerated, and the place 
of junction possesses not the clean and well-defined cicatrix of 
the leaves which are destined to fall at stated periods. His 
reflections are— 

1. That the leaves in our climate are nearly all petiolat- 
ed, never sessile, decurrent, or amplexicaul, and that he 
knows but of one instance where the stricture is placed in 
the substance of the leaf, and not at the base of the petiole— 
the orange. 

2. That leaves are always attached to new stems—never 
to branches of the preceding year; and that the necessary 
union cannot exist between the woody stem and the new 
leaf. 

3. That the cicatrix which the leaf leaves in falling, and 
which is well marked in many trees, gradually disappears. 
The epidermis of the cicatrix is detached, and carries away in 
falling the last trace of the rupture. 

4. 'That it is interesting to know whether the peduncles 
which sustain the fruit, and those which bear flowers and 
stamens, as in the trees which have catkins, are attached to 
their places by this predisposed adhesion. These last fall 
when fecundation is over, while the others adhere till the 
fruit is mature. Their peduncle acquires a woody consist- 
ence, and dies a long time before falling. At the period of 
its fall, occasioned by agitation of the air, it breaks irregu- 
larly at various parts of its length, and presents, in general, 
no trace of a ring or stricture. This anomaly affords another 
proof of that wisdom by which all the processes of Nature are 
regulated. ‘The male catkins are useless when they have per- 
formed their office, and of course they fall, but the peduncle 
of the fruit remains till the fruit reaches maturity. 

5. That there exist many genera of plants, species of which 
have woody stalks, persistent during winter, while others are 
annual, or at least only preserved by their roots. Not the 
least discontinuity is perceived in the petiole of the leaf of the 
last of those, while in the first, the rmg which marks the place 
of rupture is generally extremely well defined. 

6. The simplicity of the assigned cause is proof of its 
reality. 


338 Prof. Vaucher on the Fall of Leaves. 


7. The temporary adhesion or solder should be found in all 
forest trees of cold and temperate climates, of which the leaves 
are parenchymatous, and of a loose tissue, and which belong 
to the class of Dicotyledons. M. Vaucher is not aware of what 
happens in regard to trees of the torrid-zone, and is inclined 
to suspect that Monocotyledonous and arborescent vegetables 
enjoy not this property, or at least it may be modified in re- 
gard to them. 


Such is Professor Vaucher’s theory of the Fall of Leaves. 
Whether he be right or not in assigning the solution of con- 
tinuity between the leaf-stalk and the stem as the sole cause 
of the fall, we stop not to inquire. ‘To us it appears to be 
only the last of a train of circumstances intended to produce 
this effect. The pressure of the bud—the increase of the 
stem—and the diminution of transpiration and absorption, 
caused by change of temperature, may all be said to contri- 
bute to the fall of the leaf: But M. Vaucher has the merit 
of first directing the attention of Vegetable Physiologists to 
an organic structure at the base of the petiole, which has 
escaped the observation of Malpighi and Grew, as well as of 
later writers ; and has shown that the connection of the vessels 
of the stem and the leaf, though necessarily intimate, is mere- 
ly temporary. A similar arrangement, there is little doubt, 
prevails in the other parts of plants which successively drop 
off—in the corolla and stamens, for instance—and in the means 
by which the capsules or pericarps of many plants burst open 
for the discharge of the seed; and although this last circum- 
stance has been marked by botanists asa specific distinction, it 
has hitherto failed to lead to the investigation of the means by 
which this rupture is accomplished. This investigation offers 
a new field for botanical research, and will no doubt furnish 
matter for future and interesting observation. 


History of Mechanical Inventions, &c. 339 


Art. XXVII.—HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS 
AND PROCESSES IN THE USEFUL ARTS. 


1. Account of a Cheap and Effectual Wethod of Blasting Granite Rock, 
By Wixuram Dyce, M. D. F.R.S. Ed. Communicated by the Author. 


Tue city of Aberdeen is particularly favourable, in point of situation, for 
the exportation of granite ; and, as it is well known that this mineral 
abounds in an especial manner in and about it, it is no wonder if the in- 
habitants avail themselves of every opportunity of supplying their neigh- 
bours wherever a market can be found. The quality of this granite has 
been universally allowed to be superior to any that has yet been discover- 
ed, not only in point of beauty of colour, but in durability and tenacity 
of parts, so as to resist the greatest weight that can almost be put upon it, 
whereas all other granites are crushed by their own superincumbent weight 
where they exceed 200 feet in altitude. This tenacity of its composition 
renders it valuable for many purposes, and its superiority for street pave- 
ment does not require to be pointed out ; independent of its great use in 
the construction of arches in bridge work, and in the simple article of a 
fire-proof press or repository for books or papers, which I believe was 
never yet known to be injured by fire in a house. 

But whatever may be the qualities of tnis substance, that is not the pur- 
port of my present communication. What I have in view is, to detail a 
method whereby it can be more effectually detached from its solid bed. 

I have for many years suspected that the plan usually adopted was 
wrong, that of igniting, from three to ten feet of gunpowder, at the top 
of a tube whose diameter did not exceed one to two inches at most. I 
conceive that this mode of igniting the powder, giyes the greatest power 
to the weakest part, for the clay, or material with which the whole is to 
be compressed, is by no means equal to the resistance of the solid block, 
consequently, it will give way first, and the advantage of the explosive 
power of the gunpowder will be imparted to the upper side of the block 
and yery little to the lower, so that a few splinters will be thrown off, 
without one particle being detached below the centre of the gunpowder. 

It is this circumstance that emboldens me to speak, having observed it 
on several occasions ; and although I cannot prove from actual experience 
what I have to recommend, yet the thing seems plausible ; at all events it 
will answer the purpose of igniting the powder at the bottom of the charge, 
and that with more certainty and safety than is done by any of the me- 
thods that are at present followed. 

It is to be done in this manner. According to the depth of the bore, a 
copper tube is to be made, so as to reach.to the bottom, of the diameter 
of a quarter to halfan inch. This tube is then to be provided with an iron 
rod, or, if the bore is of great depth, it would require to be made of steel 
in case of bending, but in either way it must be made of such size as will 
move easily up and down in the tube ; and the lower part of this rod (per- 
haps to the extent of one to two inches) should be made of copper, with a 

VOL. V. NO. Il. OCTOBER 1826. Z 


340 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


small hole drilled up through the centre of it, sufficient toadmit the stem 
of a glass ball, as will be better understood by the outline, Plate VI. Fig. 1. 
This glass ball, which is exactly the same with common crackers that 
are stuck into the candles and explode by the water being converted into 
steam by the heat of the flame, but instead of water, it is filled with sul- 
phuric acid, which, on being crushed, the acid immediately comes in con- 
tact with a detonating powder, which fires the lower part of the column 
of gunpowder, and the full effect is given to its expansive power at the part 
where it is wanted to exert its force. 

This detonating powder is composed of equal parts of gunpowder and 
oxymuriate of potass, carefully mixed together with a small quantity of 
water. To those who are not acquainted with such a mixture, it may be 
proper to mention, that, if the two articles are mixed together in the dry 
state, and rubbed down into a powder in any way, the whole will explode, 
unless water be added so as to make it into a kind of paste, after which it 
is to be spread out on some paper or cloth, and left to dry, after which it 
easily crumbles down between the fingers into a fine powder, which should 
be kept in a bottle, as it is easier set fire to than gunpowder. 

When this powder or priming is to be used, the tube with its ramrod 
is to be placed into the bore down to the bottom, that is, as far as the gun- 
powder goes; then the powder is put in as usual, and the whole process 
completed in the ordinary way, by hammering down clay, or broken tiles, 
or bricks, with this great difference that the pricker (as the workman term 
it) acquires no movement, for it is by it that almost all the accidents hap- 
pen in our quarries. Now, in this case, the tube remains firm in its place, 
and does not require to be moved at all, but the ramrod can be moved or 
withdrawn at pleasure. When this is done, a small quantity (a tea-spoon- 
ful) of the detonating powder is to be poured into the tube, after which 
one of the glass globes is to be fixed into the end of the ramrod, and is 
gradually lowered down into_the tube till it come in contact with the pow- 
der, after which all is now ready for the explosion ; and this is effected by 
a simple blow, such as is produced by the hammer ofa gun lock, whereby 
the glass ball is broken. The sulphuric acid instantly lays hold of the po- 
tass, and the chlorine is set at liberty to act on the charcoal and sulphur of 
which the gunpowder is composed, whereby inflammation is instantly 
produced, and the charge set on fire from the bottom. 

This part of the plan, as is before hinted, I have never actually put in 
practice ; it has only been done with a model, but there is no doubt what- 
ever of its answering the purpose for which it is intended. The second 
part of the plan is to take advantage of the explosive or repulsive power 
of the charge, by calling to our aid one of the mechanic powers, so as to 
divide the rock at the bottom of the bore. Now, this is to be done ine 
very effectual manner by means of the wedge. In order, however, to ef- 
fect this, the bore must be somewhat different from the common. After 
having been carried to the depth which the workman judges proper for 
his present purpose, another bore must be carried down 18 inches or two 
feet, of less than half the diameter of the original bore, and this will be 


Processes in the Useful Arts. / 34d 


better understood by an inspection of Fig. 2. When this part of the pro- 
eess is completed, the next operation is to apply the wedge; which is ac- 
complished by a cone of steel, at first dead hardened, but afterwards brought 
back to spring temper. This cone, Fig. 3. it is unnecessary to say, must be 
in proportion to the size of the bore at its base in diameter, and its apex 
of a size so as to enter at least one inch into the lower chamber or 
bore. When the charge is to be made, the cone is to be lowered down, 
till it meet with the resistance at the bottom of the bore, as represented in 
Fig. 4. Then the gunpowder is to be put in, and the whole completed 
in the usual way, or according to the plan that I have stated, but as that 
has not been put in practice, I can only state the result of the common 
mode of charge with the cone. 

Having been informed by the quarrier that a two inch and an half bore 
would be the most proper size to try the effect of it, I gave orders to have 
the cone made exactly of these dimensions at its base. But, on attempt- 
ing to pass it down, by means of a piece of cord, into the aperture, I found, 
to my surprise, that it did not proceed quite one-third of the depth of the 
bore ; consequently, to my great disappointment, it could not be used at 
this time ; but as all things were prepared for the destruction of the rock, , 
I remained till the blast was made, by which there was a great alteration 
in the appearance of the rock ; for, instead of being one solid body, it was 
now a heap of confusion, of fragments more or less in magnitude, all of 
which seemed to have been thrown off not lower than two-thirds of the 
depth of the bore. 

This last circumstance gave me great encouragement to procure another 
opportunity of trying the effect of the wedge er cone. 

After a lapse of several months, the quarrier called upon me, and said 
that he had now another opportunity of trying the new method, as he called 
it ; accordingly, I gave him instructions to make his bore to the depth that 
he thought right, and then to measure the diameter of it at the bottom, 
for I had not learned till now that no man could make a cylindrical bore 
to any extent in stone. That as it went down it became narrower, in other 
words, it became quite oval, and therefore unfit for my purpose. Now, on 
reflecting on this circumstance, it occurred to me that means might be 
devised to obviate this circumstance, either by employing a,jumper (as the 
workmen call these tools) of a different construction originally, or, after 
the bore is made with the common tools, to use the one that I would re- 
commend ; and an inspection of Fig. 5, 6, will show what I mean. By per- 
severing in the same manner that the first tool was used, the bore will at 
last be made quite cylindrical. But as this does not seem to be of any great 
consequence in regard to the general result, seeing that the inconvenience 
of an oval bore can be easily obviated by the smallest attention on the part 
of the operator, I have not given myself any trouble on this score. 

Next day the workman called and mentioned that the depth of the bore 
was nine feet, and its diameter at the bottom was two inches, while at top 
it measured half an inch more and rather better. Accordingly I got the 
cone made very exactly to his measurement at the bottom, hut, on arriv~ 


342 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


ing at the quarry, and lowering it down by means of a string, I found that 
it would not descend more than seven feet ; and, to add to my mortification, 
I found that the lower bore was not more than nine inches in depth, in- 
stead of eighteen, as I had directed. 

However, with all these disadvantages, I was desirous to have the ex- 
periment tried, more especially as the first objection accorded with my own 
ideas respecting the proper position of the cone, that it should be at least 
two feet from the bottom of the large bore ; this, however, I intended for a 
second experiment, so as to compare the difference, if any, but necessity 
made it the first. 

Accordingly, matters being all prepared, the cone was let down into the 
bore, and forced down to twenty inches from the bottom, a small piece of 
flannel was put down upon it, in order to prevent any of the gunpowder 
from passing into the lower chamber, that is, below the cone. The 
charge which the workman informed me was used for such a depth of 
bore, was nine pounds weight of gunpowder, but I requested him to use 
only six, which quantity was had recourse to, and every thing else con- 
ducted in the ordinary way. 

At last the usual signal of the blowing of a horn was given to all in 
the great cavity of the quarry below, as well as all in the surrounding quar- 
ries, to keep at a distance. Fire was then communicated to the match, 
and in about a minute the whole went off with less noise than I could 
have conceived, considering the quantity of gunpowder ; but the proprie- 
tor of the quarry made a remark, before I had time to speak on the sub- 
ject, ‘‘ that he was sure that this was a good blast from the hollow sound.” 
Being at a considerable distance from the rock, we could not discover what 
had Beoadly taken place, but from the altered appearance we exanid foresee 
great demolition of it. 

On our arrival, by very rugged and uneven paths, we found most extraor- 
dinary devastation indeed ! a mass of rock exceeding, according to the work- 
men’s measurement, one hundred tons, was thrown off to the distance of three 
feet from the solid rock, and a quantity of fragments, none less than a ton, 
and many of them equal to twenty, were thrown to a considerable distance 
beyond this great mass, and one piece, from the upper surface of the rock, 
was thrown into the air directly upwards, in the most beautiful circular di- 
rection, to the distance of one hundred fect, as was judged by those who 
witnessed it. All these detached blocks were measured by the workmen 
in the rough way that they are accustomed to do, and they were calculated 
to be about another hundred tons. But the most remarkable circumstance 
(to the quarriers) was the immense splzt or rent given to the whole 
rock in every direction, for it was traced to twelve feet beyond the bore, 
an occurrence which they had not witnessed before. From this unexpect- 
ed occurrence they had no great trouble in separating a large quantity of 
this rock by the simple use of the mechanical power of the lever and wedge, 
by means of which some very fine blocks of stone were separated to the 
extent of another hundred tons. Thus showing, in the most incontestible 
manner, that this plan is more efficient than any that has been proposed 


Processes in the Useful Arts. 343 


or put in practice ; and that, by a little perseverance, so as to become more 
perfect in the plan, the blowing of rocks may be rendered as safe as the 
letting off of a fowling piece. 

The cone was not found for six weeks, because, being buried among the 
great masses of stone, it could not be got at until these were worked up 
and removed ; when brought to me it was, by the violent percussion, 
broken in two, and its surface rubbed and scratched as if it had been soft 
lead. u 

The shortness of the lower bore seemed to be the cause of its breaking, 
for the workman informed me that he found it fast in the bottom of the 
lower tube, consequently this points out the propriety of having it fully 
of the dimensions that I have before stated. And, whether the cone be 
used or not, it seems to me to be a matter of great importance, that the 
gunpowder (whether inflamed at the top or bottom) should not be allow- 
ed to go to the bottom of the bore, but have a certain space filled only with 
common air, which can be done in a variety of ways, and therefore requires 
no explanation from me. By the adoption of this plan, I have no hesita- 
tion in saying, that half the quantity of gunpowder will be saved, and that 
the same, if not a greater effect, will be produced, than is at present effect- 
ed by such an enormous quantity of gunpowder, as a pound to the foot 
of depth of bore. 

Thus I have detailed all that has occurred to me as far as I have gone, 
yet I ain aware that my method is not yet perfect ; nevertheless it is satis- 
factory to know, that the principal part is quite conclusive as far as respects 
the destructibility of the rock, in a greater degree than has hitherto been 
done. 

The whole process, therefore, may be summed up under the three 
following heads, viz. 

1. To inflame the gunpowder at the bottom of the charge, by means of 
sulphuric acid, charcoal, and sulphur. 2. To take advantage of the pro- 
pelling power of gunpowder, as is done with a cannon- ball, only reversing its 
mode of action, and instead of a spherical, to apply one of a conical form, 
by which the full effect of the wedge is given in every direction at the low= 
er part of the charge, but particularly downwards. 3. And, in the last 
place, to add to the effect of the whole, to insure a fourth part of the depth 
of the bore at the bottom to be free from the gunpowder, so that when 
inflammation ensues a red-heat may be communicated to the air in the 
lower chamber, whereby it will be expanded to such a degree as to have 
the power of at least one hundred times the atmospheric pressure, and 
thereby give this additional momentum to the explosive power of the 
gunpowder. 

Explanation of the figures before alluded to. Fig. 1 of Plate VI.is meant 
to represent the tube with its ramrod, the lower part of which is drilled with 
a small hole, as represented at A, of sufficient size to admit the end of the 
ball B, containing the sulphuric acid, which end, if too small for the aper- 
ture, is to be wound round with a little thread, so as to remain fast when 
once introduced. The dotted line represents the portion of copper that 


344 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


may be proper at the bottom of the ramrod. — Fig. 2 can barely convey the 
idea that it is a bore carried down through a solid rock of two inches in 
diameter, and to the depth of nine feet, yet at C we may easily conceive 
that it will assume the figure, as represented by the dotted line, and at D, 
some conception may be formed of the lesser bore that has been before-men- 
tioned. Fig. 3 represents the steel cone, which must be made in propor- 
tion to the size of the bore, and, with respect to itself, five times the dia- 
meter of its base in length to the apex is to be the length of the cone, but at 
the apex a fifth part is to be cut off, being of no use. Fig. 4 is intended 
to show the bore down through the rock, with the cone let into it as far 
as the lower or small bore. Fig. 5 shows the proposed plan of a jumper 
for producing a circular bore through the whole extent or depth of the 
tube; and Fig. 6 is another for the same purpose, either of which may be 
used according to the workman’s fancy of their utility. 


2. Description of a Self-Generating Gas Lamp. Communicated by the 
inventor. 


The oil vessel of this lamp is represented at A, Plate VIII. Fig. 3. B is 
the tube by which the oil is admitted, C is the generator, D is a hollow 
vessel, where the heat from the burners F, underneath, is collected, the 
dotted lines are projecting ridges on it, within the generator, to prevent 
the oil running down and collecting at the bottom of the generator. E isa 
circular piece of iron to collect and retain the heat. G are tubes to conduct 
the gas from C to F. L is a tube to supply the vacancy in A with gas, as 
the oil is discharged into C. H is a metal heater to fit into D. 

To use the lamp, fill A partially with oil, alcohol, or any fluid from 
which gas is produced, and having made the metal-heater H red-hot, place 
it in the bulb D; after it has continued a minute or two, turn the stop- - 
cock I, allowing the fluid to drop slowly on the heated bulb D, below, by 
which it will be converted into gas. When it is found to escape in sufficient 
quantities from the burners at F, set it on fire, remove the heater, and a 
beautiful bright flame will be supported by its own heat as long as there 
is oil in A. : 

It may be found necessary to replace the first heater by a second, when 
the lamp is used for the first time, to expel more effectually the atmo- 
spheric air from the generator and tubes. The heat collected in D will be 
found sufficient to generate gas to a third burner if required, as it is an 
indisputable fact, that most bodies in a state of combustion give out much 
more heat than is requisite to support an equal body of flame, and it is quite 
evident by fire spreading so rapidly in all combustible substances, if not 
checked. m/e 


3. On the Composition of the Mosaic Gold, or Or-Molu, discovered by 
Messrs Parker and Hamitron. 


The resemblance of this alloy to pure gold has attached to the discovery 
of it an importance of no ordinary kind. Although it is an alloy of zinc 


Processes in the Useful Arts. 345 


and copper, yet great care and experience are necessary to its production. 
The following is the exact method given by the patentees. 

Take equal quantities of zinc and copper, and melt them at the lowest 
temperature at which copper will fuse. Having mixed them perfectly by 
stirring, add zine in small portions till the alloy in the crucible assumes 
a yellow colour like brass, then continue adding the zine till the colour 
changes to a purple or violet, and becomes perfectly white, which is the 
colour necessary to its perfection. It may then be cast into ingots, or in- 
to any required form, and when cold, it will have the appearance of an al- 
loy of fine gold and copper. 

The great art in making the alloy consists in working with the lowest . 
temperature, for if the temperature is too great the zinc will fly off in 
fumes, and the product will be spelter or hard solder. From this cause it 
is difficult to make the alloy preserve its character when remelted. The 
alloy consists of a hundred parts of copper, and of from fifty-two to fifty- 
five parts of zinc. 


4. Account of a Patent Substitute for Leather. Invented by Mr Tuomas 
Hancock. 


In a former patent, Mr Hancock proposed to form a substitute for 
leather, by depositing caoutchouc in a fluid state upon loose fibres of 
wool, cotton, or flax, felted or matted together. In the present patent, 
he uses a woven cloth, made of wool, cotton, or flax. When this cloth is 
stretched upon a flat surface, the composition to be presently described is 
spread over it. Above the composition, a uniform layer of wadding, made 
of cotton, flax, wool, silk, or hair, is to be Jaid, and the whole pressed be- 
tween a pair of rollers, in order to force the fluid composition among the 
fibres. It is then to be dried at a temperature not exceeding 80° or 90° 
of Fahrenheit. 

Mr Hancock has given us the two following compositions, to be used 
according to circumstances. 

First composition.—Dissolve two pounds of caoutchouc in one gallon of 
oil of turpentine and highly rectified coal tar. Add six ounces of black 
resin, two pounds of strong glue size, and one pound of yellow ochre, 
whitening, or powdered pumice. 

Second composition.—Dissolve 1% Ib. of caoutchouc as before, and having 
melted and mixed one pound of glue size and resin in a steam bath, add 
the dissolved caoutchouc to it, stirring while mixing them. The whole 
must then be strained through a sieve. 

The first of the above compositions must be used when a cheap and stiff 
substance is required, and the proportions may be one-third part whiten- 
ing or glue ; but when a strong and pliant substance is wanted, the se- 
cond composition, in which the caoutchouc predominates, is to be preferred. 

A substance like leather may be formed by joining together several 
thicknesses before they are dry. When leather for the soles of shoes is re- 
quired, Mr Hancock proposes to use, as the groundwork, wool and cotton 
in equal quantities. For pipes, straps, &c. he proposes chopped hemp and 


346 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


cotton or flax ; and when smooth surfaces are wanted, the substance must 
be pressed between polished metallic plates. 


5. Account of an Improvement on Ropes. By Mr Tuomas Hancock. 


This invention, also secured by patent, consists in soaking the strands of 
strand ropés and cordage in the juice of the tree called Hevw@a, which grows 
in South America and in the East Indies. It has the consistency of cream 
when it first flows from the tree, and, with the exception of its not being 
heated, it is used in the same way as tar. Several coats may be laid on the 
outer surface of the cords before the preceding coat has dried. ‘The ropes 
are then placed in a drying room till they cease to be sticky. When thus 
made, they will last much longer than ordinary ones. 

6. Method of making Impressions on Steel Plates. 

A mould having been formed of the object to be impressed upon the 
steel, a mixture of one pound of brass, and five ounces of pewter, in a fus- 
ed state, is poured upon the mould. The piece of steel to be impressed 
being wetted with turpentine, it is covered with blotting paper, and the 
whole is enveloped in earth in order to preserve the polished surface of the 
steel from oxidation by the air. ‘The steel being brought to a red heat, is 
taken out of the fire, and the earth being removed, the composition cast 
is imprinted upon it by a powerful pressure. In a similar manner may im- 
pressions be executed on brass, or any of the metals.—Hollander’s Metal- 
lurgico-Technological Journal, quoted by Mr Newton in his Journal of 
Arts. 


7. Description of Improved Aaletrees. By My W11i.114mM Mason. 


The object of this contrivance is to prevent the wheel of a carriage from 
coming off by accident. For this purpose, the end of the axletree terminates 
in a screw, upon which a nut is screwed in nearly the usual way. In the 
screw, as well as in the nut, there are several semicircular grooves cut 
across the threads in the direction of the axis of the screw. ‘The conse- 
quence of this is, that when the nut is screwed home, a cylindrical hole is 
formed whenever two semicircular grooves come opposite each other. In- 
to these holes a pin or bolt attached to a collar is introduced, so as to lock 
together the nut and the screw.—See Newton’s Journal of the Arts, June 
1826, p. 309. 


8. Account of the Vitruvian Cement for building and other purposes. An 
invention communicated to Mr J. P. Beavan by a Foreigner. 


This cement, for the exclusive privilege of manufacturing, which a patent 
has been obtained, consists in mixing together, and sifting through a very 
fine sieve, one part of pulverised marble, one part of pulverised flint, and one 
part of chalk ; to this is added one other part of lime, which has been slacked 
at least three months. ‘The whole being made into a thin paste with water, 
is spread as thinly as possible over a rough coarse ground, and reduced by 


Processes in the Useful Arts. 347 


the trowel to a smooth surface. When dry, its surface may be made per- 
fectly smooth and shining with pulverised Venetian talc. 

When the cement is to be applied to buildings, the rough ground for 
receiving it should be prepared as follows. Mix together equal parts of 
the coarsest river sand, and the sand which is pulverised from millstones, 
and add a third part of lime which has been slacked for about three months. 
‘These are then to be made into a paste with water, and when it is about 
to be used, add a fifth part of very fine sifted lime, and apply it as a com- 
mon plaster.—See Newton’s Journal of the Arts, July 1826, p. 372. 


9. Mr Samuel Morey’s New Vapour Engine. 


Mr Morey has taken out an American patent for this invention. ‘The 
vacuuin in the cylinder is produced by firing an explosive mixture of at- 
mospheric air, and the vapour of common proof of spirits mixed with a’ 
small portion of spirits of turpentine. A working model has been set in 
motion and kept at work without raising the temperature of the fluid which 
yields the vapour, higher than that of blood heat.—Franklin’s Journal. 


10. Account of the Performance of one of Mr Perkins’s Steam-Engines. 


The following very interesting observations on Mr Perkins’s steam en- 
gine are taken from the last number of Mr Newton’s Journal of Arts. 

Mr Perkins’s system of generating high steam has recently been ap- 
plied to the Cornish single stroke pumping engine by Mr Samuel Moyle, 
civil engineer, from Cornwall. Although the engine is not yet complete 
in all its parts, yet enough has been done to prove its great power and safety. 
As to the economy of the fuel, although undoubtedly great, nothing deci- 
sive is yet known, owing to the imperfection of the injecting pump, which 
occasionally failed in giving the full supply of water, upon which the proper 
supply of steam wholly depends. Enough, however, has been done to 
establish the important fact, that the higher the steam is used the greater 
is the gain. Steam used at forty-two pounds per inch, or at three atmo- 
sphere’s pressure, without condensation in the cylinder, is undoubtedly not 
likely to do more, if so much, as the condensing engine using steam at 
three or four pounds per inch pressure. ‘The eduction side of the piston 
has not only to overcome the pressure of the atmosphere, but the friction 
ofthe steam rushing from the cylinder through the eduction pipe, which 
will amount to at least half an atmosphere more, making twenty-one pounds 
resistance: add the friction of the piston, piston-rod, and valves, then 
there will be very little more pressure, if any, on the inch than when low 
condensed steam is used. It would appear, that about two-thirds of the 
forty-two pounds pressure on the inch is lost by the resistance on the 
eduction side of the piston. But as you increase the pressure of the steam 
the gain is almost wholly on the induction side of the piston, since the re- 
sistance to the escape of the steam is very little more, whether you work 
with 500 pounds per inch or forty-two pounds per inch. 

The following statements will show the power and safety, although not 
the ‘amount of the saying of fuel. This engine, with a nine and one~ 


348 History of Mechanical Inventions and 


third inch piston diameter, and six and a half feet stroke, lifted a co- 
jumn of water forty inches diameter, and forty feet high, making fourteen 
six and a half feet strokes per minute, consuming not more than 120 pounds 
of coals per hour. But as the engine never worked more than two hours 
at any one time, it is impossible to say what the actual saving of the fuel 
would be. After the engine is completed, and worked day after day with- 
out interruption, then the economy in the fuel will be clearly ascertained. 
The area of the pump being twenty times larger than the area of the 
steam-engine cylinder, and the water being lifted forty feet high, it ba- 
lanced the weight or power of twenty-five atmospheres ; but as the friction, 
&c. must be added to the power required to lift the water, it was found ne- 
cessary to raise the steam to about thirty-two atmospheres to give a lively 
stroke to the pump. 

The safety of this engine has been proved by the frequent openings or 
fractures which have taken place (without injuring any one) in the expe- 
riments made in generating high steam. ‘The maximum of high steam 
has not yet been ascertained, but, undoubtedly, the higher it can practi- 
cably be used, the greater is the economy. The greater portion of the 
gain in high steam appears to be owing to its expansive property. The 
higher the steam is raised the sooner the stroke can be cut off ; of course 
more is gained by expansion. The highest Mr Perkins has ever used his 
steam for his steam-engines, is 800 pounds to the inch, or about fifty-se- 
ven atmospheres. That the gain goes on in a geometrical ratio, his expe- 
riments on the steam-gun have fully demonstrated. In some of these ex- 
periments, a pressure of 1600 pounds to the square inch has been used 
with perfect safety, and was found to project musket balls of the same 
weight and distance one quarter farther into the target than the strongest 
gunpowder. Mr Perkins has made another very curious discovery in ex~ 
perimenting on high steam, namely, that temperature does not always 
show ‘the true power of the steam, although the steam is in contact with 
the water from which it is generated ; but we cannot be so particular on 
this point as we could wish, on account of Mr Perkins not having complet- 
ed his patent for the remedy, 

We feel great pleasure in adding to the above, the testimonials of two 
gentlemen, Messrs Hornblowers, whose names are well known in con- 
nection with steam engines. 

<< We, the subscribers, have, for some time past, been employed as prac- 
tical engineers at Perkins and Company’s steam-engine manufactory, in 
applying Mr Perkins’s system of generating high steam, to the Cornish 
single-stroke pumping engine, of which we have had nearly twenty years’ 
practice. From what we have witnessed, we are perfectly satisfied that no 
danger can be apprehended from explosions. Its great power is established 
by the fact of iis having lifted a column of water 40 feet high, and 40 inches 
diameter, with a 93 inch piston. As to the economy of fuel, which is evi- 
dently great, we cannot exactly say, owing to some parts of the engine 
being incomplete, especially the injection pump, The longest the engine 
has worked at any one time was two hours: at that time it was mak-~ 


Processes in the Useful Arts. 349 


ing 14 strokes per minute, 64 feet stroke, and lifting a column of water 
36 feet high, and 40 inches diameter, consuming not more than 100 lbs. 
of coals per hour. We also certify, that Mr Perkins’s flexible steel piston is 
quite tight, although at times working at a pressure of fifty atmospheres.” * 


11. On the method of preparing Catechu in Bundelkund in India. 

Atthe season when the sap flows most copiously, a few Gonds take up their 
temporary residence in some solitary glen where the Khair tree+ (Kha- 
dira) abounds. All the implements they require are a hatchet, a few 
earthen-pots, and the convenience of water. The tree, after being felled, 
is barked and chipped, whilst the sap is flowing ; and, in the meantime, . 
the earthen-pots, half filled with water, are ranged in rows over fires ; the 
chips, as soon as cut, are thrown into the water, and boiled until the in- 
spissated juice acquires a proper consistency. ‘The liquor is then strained, 
and suffered to cool, and it soon coagulates into a mass, which is the 
Catechu, the quality of which depends very much upon the freshness of 
the tree from which it is obtained.—Captain Franklin’s Memoir of Buns 
delkund, in the Trans. Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 276. 


12. Ona new method of manufacturing Glass. By M. Lrenay. 

Take 100 parts of dried sulphate of soda, 656 parts of silica, 9340 of lime 
which has been exposed to the air, and mix them well. When the furnace 
and pots are heated to a full red, this mixture must be put into the pot in 
small balls. The mouth of the pot being stopped up, it is then put into 
the furnace, and as soon as the materials have sunk, more of the same mix ~ 
ture must be put in, till the pot is filled with a melted vitreous substance, 
and a strong fire must be kept up to have the mass completely fused, and 
as soon as possible. When the fumes diminish, small portions must be 
taken out, to see if the glass is sufficiently refined, which generally happens 
in about 22 hours. The glass is then fit for use, and may without risk 
continue double the time in the furnace. 

The following other proportions have also been given : 


1. Well dried Muriate of Soda, - - 100 parts. 
Silica, - - - - 123 
Lime, - - ~ - 92 

This will be sufficiently refined in 16 hours. 

2. Dried Muriate of Soda, ¥ . 100 
Slacked Lime, - - “ 100 
Sand, - - = - 140 
Chippings of Glass of the same quality, . 50—200 

3. Dried Sulphate of Soda, - - 100 

Slacked lime, = = - 12 
Powdered Charcoal, - - - 19 
Sand, - - - - 225 
Broken Glass, = - - 50—206 


* A report on Mr Perkins’s engine was made to the Institute of France on the 
31st July last, by M. Gerard. 
+ The Mimosa Catechu, which grows in great abundance in Bundelkund. 


350 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


4. Dried Sulphate of Soda, “ _ 100 
Slacked Lime, - : = 266 
Sand, : - - - 500 
Broken Glass, - = = 50—200 


See the Description de Brevets, or the Annales de l Industrie National. 


13. Description of an Improved Mertise Lock. Invented by Messrs Joun 
and Tnomas Smiru, Darnick. Plate VI. Fig. 7, 8. 


A is the spring-bolt, cranked inside to avoid the key of the lock bolt, 
and to bring its nose and tail into the same line. 

B, the tumbler, or follower, of hardened steel, made to work upon the 
breech CC, which is of brass, and fixed to the bell by the tenor CC. 

E, a piece of brass, with an oblong hole through it, to admit of the tail 
F working through it, to keep the bolt in its proper place, and diminish 
the friction. 

The spring G, and player H, are brought to the fore end of lock, which 
allows it to be narrowed at the other end. 

In the lock-bolt and night-bolt, there is little difference from the com- 
mon lock. 

The advantages of a lock constructed upon this plan, are the following, 
viz. 

Ist, It is less bulky than the common lock, easier put on, and does not 
weaken the door so much. 

2d, There is less friction in the working, from-the spring being placed 
to draw; in place of pushing, as in the common lock. ‘The slide at F also 
contributes much to diminish ‘the friction. 

3d, It works with perfect equality whichever way the -handle is turn- 
ed, from the tumbler being placed exactly in the line of the centre of the 
boJt ; which it is evident the common lock can never do, from the tum- 
bler being placed so far from the bolt. In the common lock there is a dif- 
ference, in most cases, of between 30 and 40 per cent. between the turns of 
the handle, which is the reason of the bolt coming readily back when the 
handle is turned the one way, and often sticking fast when turned the 
other way. 

This we conceive to be the principal advantage of our lock. 


Ant. XXVIII—ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS AND 
MEMOIRS. 


Deutschland’s Flora. By Franc. Cart. Menrens, and W. H. J. 
Kocn. 


We shall take the opportunity, whilst we notice the commencement of 
this long expected work on the Plants of Germany, to offer a few observa- 
tions on the state of botany in that vast empire, including, as it does, with- 
in its limits, above 10° of latitude, and 24° of longitude ; bounded by Italy 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 351 


on the south, the Adriatic Sea in lat. 45°, and a part of Turkey ; on the 
north by Denmark and the Baltic Ocean ; on the west by France, Holland, 
and a small portion of the North Sea; and onthe east by Russian Poland : 
thus comprising a superficies of above 220,000 square miles. 

This great extent of country, too, possesses much variety of soil and 
climate. The Sudetic chain of mountains rises in Westphalia, and stretches 
southerly till it reaches the Carpathian Alps on the frontiers of Poland and 
Hungary. In the south the Alps of Tyrol seem to vie with those of Swit- 
zerland, which they join on the east. Near the centre of Germany is an- 
other lofty range of hills, which, taking a semicircular direction, appears 
to form a natural boundary to Bohemia and the neighbouring countries. 
Many of the mountains have an elevation which reaches far above the line 
of perpetual snow, and, consequently, produce a vast variety of highly 
curious Alpine plants; whilst in the vallies of the south, both the climate 
and its productions resemble those of Italy. Even in the northern parts 
the summers are warmer than in Britain, although the mean temperature 
may not be equal; and, taking a given space in the same degrees of lati- 
tude, we find a vegetation both more abundant, and more varied than is to 
be found in our island. In the north of Germany, sandy plains abound, 
and heaths: and the Prussian dominions may be considered, upon the 
whole, to possess a poor and sterile soil. Saxony is generally fertile ; but 
Wirtemberg, Bavaria, and the Austrian dominions are the most diversified, 
some parts being exceedingly rugged and mountainous, whilst others have 
very extensive tracts of deep and fertile soil. The rivers are numerous, 
and some of great magnitude, and the forests of Germany have been cele- 
brated ever since the invasion of the country by the Romans. 

Situated in such a country, we must not wonder if the Germans early 
devoted their attention to the study of plants. Cuba, a physician of 
Frankiort, was the first who published figures on wood, along with his 
descriptions of 509 vegetables, about the end of the 15th century. But 
in what concerns the early attention that was given to botany by the Ger- 
mans, I shall translate what Mirbel has said in his “ Naisyance et Progrés 
de la Botanique ;” since it is much better than anything I could myself 
offer upon the subject. 

‘* Tt must be confessed,” he says, ‘‘ that since the time of Theophrastus, 
botany, far from advancing, may be said to have retrograded. A greater 
number of plants were indeed known by name, but there was less acquaint- 
ance with their organization, and the art of observing was lost. This 
was the result of injudicious methods, much more injurious, as Malpighi 
observed, to the developement of the intellectual faculties, and, conse- 
quently, to the progress of science, than even the ravages of barbarians.” 

** At length the light burst forth ; the evil was seen, and a remedy 
sought out. The works of Otho Brunfels, of Jerome Tragus, of Antoine 
Musa Brassarol, of Leonard Fuchs, and of some others, but little consulted 
now, show the return of genius to the study of nature. The greater 
number of these authors combated stoutly the false opinions of their day. 

** Our blind respect for the ancients,’’ said they, “‘ is an insurmount- 


352 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


able obstacle to the progress of botany. We never find any but the plants 
of Theophrastus, of Dioscorides, and of Pliny ; notwithstanding that bota- 
nists have not known the hundredth part of the plants which covered the 
globe. Theophrastus never went out of Greece ; Dioscorides, more curious 
to discover the medical properties of vegetables than to describe their forms, 
has generally left only incomplete notes for the botanist ; and Pliny has 
copied, without judgment and without remark, the authors which have 
preceded him. We cannot apply to the plants of Germany or of France, 
the names under which the ancients designated those of Italy, of Greece, 
and of Asia. The hand of the Creator has varied almost infinitely the 
productions of the vegetable kingdom. ‘There is scarcely a spot, if we 
may so say, which does not offer some plant unknown elsewhere. Before 
studying the species of foreign countries, (of which we generally see no- 
thing but specimens disfigured in the Herbaria,) let us examine those of 
our native soil. The true means of knowing them, is to traverse the plains, 
the vallies, and the mountains. Libraries alone are insufficient to form 
botanists. 'To what do our subtle reasonings, upon the nature and quality 
of species, lead us? We are not even able to distinguish one from an- 
other. And what a shame for us to quote continually the Arabian authors, 
who neither knew how to observe nature, nor to comprehend the books 
of the ancients ; whose texts they have corrupted, and who have filled 
their own writings with the grossest errors.” 

Induced by reflections similar to these, there appeared many men in 
Germany during the sixteenth century, whose names deserve to be com- 
memorated as having contributed to advance the science in question. 

Otho Brunsfels, the son ot a cooper at Mayence, himself a schoolmaster, 
and afterwards a physician at Strasburgh, published in the latter city, 
about the year 1532, his “ Herbarium vive Icones,” in folio, with many 
wood engravings, and is deservedly reckoned by Haller among the re- 
storers of botany. 

Fuchsius,* a professor of Ingolstadt, and afterwards at Tubingen, edit- 
ed at Basle his Historia Stirpium, in folio, 1542. Here likewise are 
many excellent wood-cuts, scarcely inferior to those of Brunsfels. In 1552 
appeared Valerius Cordus’ ** Historia Plantarum.” ‘The author himself, 
who had carefully investigated the country about Wittinberg, dying from 
an accident at the early age of twenty-nine, left his MSS., containing 
many new species of plants, for posthumous publication. This was under- 
taken by Conrad Gesner, one of the most learned men of his time, and 
who has been complimented as the “ greatest naturalist the world had seen 
since the time of Aristotle ;” but who, although thus connected with the 


* Tt is not, perhaps, generally known that the common English name given to 
the Digitalis purpurea is a corruption of that of this author. The generic name (Di- 
gitalis) was first applied to this plant by F'uchsius, from the resemblance of the flowers 
to the fingers of a glove ; thence the plant was called Digitalis Fuchsii, (Fuch’s Di- 
gitalis) by succeeding writers ; and from that its English appellation of Fuch’s” 
or Fox’s Glove was derived. 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 353 


progress of botany in Germany, yet being a native of Switzerland, and 
professor at Zurich, does not so properly come within our province. 

Thal, Joachim Camerarius, Jungermann, and Rauwolff, who travelled 
in the east, flourished during the same century ; each in his turn being in- 
strumental in advancing the knowledge of botany at that carly period. 

In the seventeenth century we have Rudolph Jacoh Camerarius, pro- 
fessor at Tubingen, who seems to have been one of the first who made ex« 
periments upon the sexes of plants, and ascertained that the pistil was 
imperfect, unless acted upon by the stamens. Rivinus, too, of Leipzig, 
in his great work, ‘‘ Iniroductio generalis in Rem Herbariam,” publish- 
ed between 1690 and 1699, established a method that was long followed in 
that country ; and this depended upon the corolla, which he considered the + 
perfection of the plant. During this century, however, few other bota- 
nists ofeminence could be mentioned ; and in botanic gardens, at least 
in what deserved that name, which now began to be established in all other 
countries of Europe, Germany seems to have been particularly deficient. 

In the eighteenth century, Germany boasts of her Dillenius, who publish- 
ed at Giessen, where he was professor at the university, several botanical 
memoirs, and his celebrated “‘ Catalogus Plantarum sponte circa Gissam 
nascentium :” but, as is well known, his most valuable works, “ Historia 
Muscorun” and “* Hortus Elthamensis,” appeared after he came to reside 
in Britain. Burbaum, * also, who travelled to Constantinople, gave to the 
world, in 1740, his * Plantarwm minus cognitarum Centuria.” Ludwig of 
Leipzig, too, and Gleditsch of Berlin, may be mentioned as supporting 
systems in botany, which were soon forgotten in that which was establish- 
ed about the same period by the immortal Swede. . 

We could here, did the limits of our article allow of it, mention many 
eminent men, whose labours served materially to advance the science of 
botany in the dominions of Germany, at the beginning, or during the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century, such as Haller, who was for a long time 
professor of anatomy and botany at Gottingen. Schreber, author of Fi, 
Lipsiensis ; Schoeffer, who first published coloured figures of the Fungi; 
and Scopoli, + a native of the Tyrol; but we must hasten to speak of the 
state of botany nearer our own times. 


“ After whom Buxbaumia is named ; and justly too; for, besides his merits as an 
author, he was the first to dsicover this curious moss, He was anxious, he too tells 
us, to call this after his father, ‘¢ sed venit in mentem,’’ he says “¢ vulpes qui de- 
ridebatur ab aliis, quod uvas non pro se, sed pro egrota posceret matre.”” 

+ This learned man, in his admirable “* Delicice Flore et Faune Insubrie,” has 
made two curious mistakes, the one at Tab. xx. where the Physis intestinalis is repre- 
sented as a new genus of Vermes, but which is nothing more than the trachea of a 
Guinea fowl, ( Numidia meleagris ) which some wicked students pretended had been 
vomited by a woman in the hospital:—-And again at Tab. xxiv where a plate of in- 
sects is dedicated, with some propriety, perhaps, to Mr Benjamin White, an emi- 
nent natural history bookseller of London. Mr White had, however, for a sign 
of the literary character of his shop, a large gilded head of Horace over his door in 
Fleet Street. Hence the address was, Mr B. White, at Horace’s Head, Fleet 


354 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


And here we must mention one individual, Nic. Jos. Baron von Jacquin, 
who flourished both during the time of Linneus, and long after; and 
who thus, beginning his career while systematic botany was yet in its infan- 
cy, or indeed scarcely known, lived to see it fixed upon a firm and solid ba- 
sis, whilst he himself aided materially in its establishment. He was born 
at Leyden, and studied at Antwerp, Louvaine, Rouen, and Paris. Along 
with Gronovius, he received instruction in botany under Adrian von Royen. 
At the invitation of Van Swieten, physician to the empress, he was invit- 
ed to go to Vienna, where he became a physician, and gave lectures on 
Hippocrates, devoting his leisure time to botanizing around the city, and 
to visiting the newly formed Imperial Garden of Schoenbrun. 

» It was here the Emperor Francis I. became acquainted with him, and 
loved and esteemed him, as every one else did who had the happiness of 
his acquaintance. He received orders to draw up a catalogue of the plants 
of the Schoenbrun Garden, according to the method of Linneus, which 
he was thus the means of introducing to Vienna. This, too, he did so 
satisfactorily, that he was directed to make a voyage to the West Indies, 
along with the gardener Schott, in order to collect plants and animals 
from that part of the New World. He returned to Vienna in 1739, and 
wrote his ‘‘ Historia Stirpium Americanum.” In 1763, the Empress Maria 
Theresa appointed him counsellor of the mines, and professor of chemistry 
and mineralogy at Schemnitz. In 1768, he became professor of botany 
and chemistry at the University of Vienna in the room of Languier ; and 
in every department to which he was called, he showed himself to be most © 
profound, both as aman of science and a scholar. He now published his 
Hortus Vindobonensis, 3 vols. in folio; ‘* Flora Austriaca,” 5 vols. in folic, 
and his “‘ Miscellanea Austriaca” and ‘‘Collectanea.” 

Leopold II. confided to him the direction of the famous garden of Schoen- 
brun ; where, finding that he had leisure for such publications, he edited, 
under the auspices of the emperor, the splendid and justly celebrated 
works, ‘© Hortus Schoenbrunensis,” “ Icones Plantarum rariorum.” ** Mono-= 
graphia Oxalidum,” &c. Towards the close of his life, he gave an account 
of the parts of fructification of the Asclepiadew, and was much occupied 
with the Stapelie, of which singular family of plants he published a his- 
tory in a folio volume, between the years 1806 and 1815, this being the last 
of his works. Indeed, so much was he interested in these vegetables, that in 
his dying illness, after having for many days lain without speaking, and 
without motion, he inquired one fine morning in August, “‘ if there were 
any Stapelias in flower.” 

The mortal career of this excellent man was closed in 1818, at the age 
of ninety years and eight months, at his house within the garden of Schoen- 
brun: where, for some time past, he had constantly resided, amidst a vege- 


Street. But Scopoli, probably from his ignorance of the English language, had the 
impression that Mr Horace Head was a partner in the firm, and, therefore, determin- _ 
ed to dedicate the plate to the two individuals jointly. The artist indeed added to 
the blunder, and inscribed upon the copper-plate ‘* Amspiciis Benjamini White et 
Horatii Head, Bibliopol. Londinensium.” 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 355 


tation unknown to Europe, till his travels and his extensive correspond- 
ence caused it to be introduced. 

He is succeeded in the professorship, and in the garden, by his son Joseph 
Francis, who is publishing the “‘ Ecloge Botanice,” in the same style of 
splendour as that with which so many of his father’s works haye appeared. 

The same city, Vienna, boasts the ‘* Plante rariores Hongarice” of Wald- 
stein and Kitatbel in three vols. folio, a work which has made known to us a 
great number of plants that have recently been discovered in that interest- 
ing country ; and the labours of Host, author of a Flora Austriaca, and of a 
work on “‘ Grasses and Cyperacee,” in four vols. folio, (which, for the execu- 
tion of the plates, can scarcely be exceeded,) who is also now engaged in a 
publication of equal or greater interest, on the ‘* Willows” of Austria: in- 
deed, we have been promised the appearance of the first volume of this latter 
work, of 100 coloured plates, in the course of the last year, 1825. 

Upon the occasion of the marriage of a Princess of the House of Austria 
with the Crown Prince of Brazil, the Austrian Government sent out two 
naturalists, Dr Milan and Dr Pohl, to investigate the botany of Brazil. 
The result of their researches has in part been published by Mikan, in his 
** Delicie Flote et Faune Brasiliensis :” whilst Dr Pohl has prepared for 
publication 100 drawings of Brazilian plants, and Mr Schott is engaged 
in editing the Brazilian Ferns. Trattinich, besides many other botanical 
works, has lately given to the world, as part of a Species Plantarum, under 
the title of “‘ Synodus Botanicus,” a monograph of the Rosacew in 12mo. 
Nor must we omit to mention, among the botanists of the Austrian capital, 
Mr Ferdinand Bauer, the most beautiful designer of plants that probably 
ever lived. ' 

The botanic garden of Vienna, the oldest we believe in Germany, was 
established by order of Maximilian, and the direction of it was given to 
L’ Ecluse (or Clusius) to whom our gardens and shrubberies are indebted 
for the introduction of the Cherry Laurel (Prunus Lauro-Cerasus) and the 
Horse-Chesnut ( 4isculus Hippocastanum) which he received, among many 
other plants, from the imperial ambassador at the Porte in 1576. “ All 
the rest of the cargo perished, but Clustws bestowed the greatest possible 
attention to preserve and increase these; for, unlike many selfish collec- 
tors, he delighted to disperse his treasures among those who took pleasure 
in their acquisition ; and it is but just that his memory should be perpe- 
tuated along with those two beautiful trees, with which all botanists of 
taste ought for ever to associate his name, thus giving him a monument 
more lasting than brass or marble.” * 

In 1580 a botanic garden was formed at Leipzig by the Elector of Sax- 
ony ; at Giessen in 1605, and again at Altorf in 1625, both through the in- 
terest of Jungermann ; at Jena in 1629; since which period the German 
universities have each possessed their botanical institutions ; and, what has 
perhaps contributed still more towards the advancement of a knowledge 
of plants, many of the German princes and nobility have carried to the 


* See Smith's Life of Clusiusin Rees’ Cyclopedia. 
VOL. V. NO. II. OCTOBER 1826. Aa 


356 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


highest degree of luxury the art of cultivating exotics. Among these lat- 
ter is particularly deserving of mention the garden of Prince Hsterhazy 
at Hisenstadt in Hungary, of which we have the following account in the 
Bot. Zeitung for 1820. ‘* On a hill facing the south, are erected two long 
ranges of twelve of the most beautiful stoves, of various sizes, and varying 
in temperature according to the nature of the plants they contain. Ata 
short distance from these, and facing the east, is another house filled with 
ricas, which the prince’s gardener Mr Nurnmayer has raised, mostly from 
seeds that have been received from England. There are besides many 
frames and pits for raising plants, fruits, and pine-apples. The order, 
neatness, and luxuriance of the inmates of these houses is truly astonish- 
ing ; and, upon entering, one fancies himself transported to the native 
country of the plants themselves. In the middle of one, by a large cistern 
of water is an artificial rock clothed with beautiful ferns, and backed by 
a specimen of Chamerops humilis, twelve feet high. The water is filled 
with the choicest aquatics. Desmanthus natans rises to the height of two 
or three feet above the surface, crowned with its pretty tufts of flowers, 
and rambles over the Mimosa natans, whose leaves and fiower-buds alone 
appear above the water. Here also is Welumbium speciosum, with its mag- 
nificent leaves, and many species of Wymphea in full flower, together 
with Aponogeton distachyon and natans. Around the rock-work is a walk, 
on each side of which are planted palms, delighting the eye with their 
luxuriant growth and their elegantly formed foliage. In this division we 
found many Cact?, especially one which excited our admiration, a Cactus 
melocactus (or Turk’s-Cap torch-thistle,) which was purchased in Paris 
for the sum of 1000 florins. It jis unquestionably one of the largest in 
Germany, of an oval shape, measuring at the base 3 feet in circumference, 
at the middle 3} feet, and at the top 14; the height is 24 feet. Two great 
compartments are filled with New Holland plants, among which were 
many in blossom.” ; 

Vienna, however, with its University Garden and the Imperial one of 
Schoenbrun, fora long time held a pre-eminent rank, not only in Germany 
but among similar establishments throughout the continent ; and tlie mag- 
nificent works to which they have given birth have been a still further 
means of rendering them celebrated. 

A neighbouring German city, Munich, the capital of Bavaria, which, a 
few short years ago, scarcely numbered a single botanist within its walls, 
now possesses attractions of no ordinary kind ; and the writer of this ar- 
ticle deeply regrets that a severe illness, which attacked him at Paris in the 
early part of the present year, prevented him from fulfilling the plans he 
had formed on leaving home, of visiting that interesting city, and becoming 
personally acquainted with the botanists and the state of science there. We 
must now therefore content ourselves with giving all we know on the sub- 
ject, either from our correspondence, or from the German literary jour- 
nals, “ or from our acquaintance with the works that have been published . 
there. 

* Particularly the Botanische Zciiung, where the botany of Munich is a fre- 
quent and favourite theme with some of its contributors. 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 3857 


The late king, Maximilian Joseph, it is well known, delighted to pa- 
tronize every thing connected with the sciences and the fine arts, so that 
Munich now boasts of possessing some of the noblest niuseums in the 
world. In our department, the aged and respectable Schrank deserves 
to be first mentioned, since to him the country is indebted for the state 
of perfection to which the botanic garden has arrived, as well as for a 
“ Flora of Bavaria,” and the “ Plante rariores Horti Monacensis,” in 
folio, with coloured plates executed in lithography. This art, which, be- 
sides having been invented in Munich, is there carried, we believe, to its 
highest degree of excellence, is nevertheless not well calculated to repre 
sent the more delicate forms, and especially the analysis of the parts of 
fructification of plants. Such at least may be inferred from the figures of 
the work in question ; but other botanical figures, which we shall now 
mention, come much nearer to the effect of copper-plate engravings than 
any we have yet seen. We mean the “ Monographia Palmarum Brasilien- 
sium,” and the “‘ Nova Genera et Species Plantarum in itinere Brasiliensi,” 
&e. by Spix and Martius and Zuccarini. 

When the emperor of Austria sent naturalists to Brazil in the suite of 
the princess of that family, the king of Bavaria appointed other two gen- 
tlemen, Dr T. Bapt. von Spix and Dr C. F. Phil. von Martius, to go, 
under the protection of the Austrian embassy, to explore the Brazilian ter- 
ritories. They embarked at Trieste for Rio de Janeiro. From that capital 
they went to St Paulo, Ypanema, Villa Rica, and the Coroados Indians on 
_ the Rio Xipoto. Severe illness, induced by the climate and fatigue, com- 
pelled them to rest for a time in the captaincy of Maranham, whence they 
proceeded to the island of St Louis and Para. At the Amazon River they 
had attained the chief object of their wishes ; and setting out on the 21st 
of August 1819, proceeded along the bank of the stream (amidst a chaos 
of floating islands, falling masses of the banks, immense trunks of trees, 
carried down by the current, the cries and screamsof countless multitudes of 
monkeys and birds, shoals of turtles, crocodiles, and fish, gloomy forests full 
of parasitic plants and palms, with tribes of wandering Indians on the banks 
marked and disfigured in various manners, according to their fancies,) 
till they reached the settlement of Panxis, where, at the distance of 500 
miles up the country, the tide of the sea is still visible and the river, ex- 
tending to the breadth of a quarter of a league, is of unfathomable depth. * 
They then journeyed to the mouth of the Rio Negro. At the town of 
Ega, on the Rio Zeffe, the two travellers separated Dr Murtius pro- 
ceeded up the Japura over rocks and cataracts, and at length arrived at 
the foot of the mountain Arascoara, which is separated from Quito only by 
the Cordilleras. Dr Spiz continued by the main stream, and, passing 
through a country unhealthy in the extreme, abounding in savage men and 
venomous insects, at length arrived at the mouth of the Jupary, on the 
frontiers of Peru, when he heard the language of the Incas. They both 
returned to Para in April 1820, after having traversed the continent of 


* See the first part of the interesting travels of these gentlemen, English Edition, 
2 vols, 8vo, p. xii. 


358 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


South America from 24° south latitude, to the equator, and under the 
line from Para to the eastern frontier of Peru. An immense store of in- 
formation has been acquired, and very extensive collections in every dé- 
partment of natural history made, all which have safely reached Munich, 
and are deposited in a noble building expressly fitted for them, called the 
Brazilian Museum, and of which Spr and Martius themselves have the 
direction. 

Nor are these treasures to remain there unemployed. Drs Martius and 
Spix are engaged with the noble work on Palms, above alluded to, in 
which above ninety species will be represented and described on an Atlas 
folio paper ; and Dr Martius, in conjunction with Dr Zuccarini on the 
“* Nova Genera et Species Plant.” of which we possess four Fasciculi, in 
large 4to, with coloured plates : some of the early ones representing several 
species of that beautiful and curious genus Vallosia. Separate monographs 
will be given of the genera Melustoma, Rhexia, and Eriocaulon. A “ Pro= 
dromus Flore Brasiliensis” is likewise in a state of forwardness, in which 
will be included every species of plant that is known to be a native of the 
country, and the whole will be arranged according to the natural orders. 
The Lichens will be described by Dr Eschweiler (already known as the 
author of a new arrangement of this family, and a Monograph of the Genus 
Rhizomorpha ;) and among them the Graphidew and Trypthelic will form 
prominent features ; whilst to Dr Hornschuch of Griefswald is committed 
the publication ot the Mosses. 

The hall of the Academy of Munich contains the Herbarium of Schreber, 
which occupies two spacious rooms, and for extent is compared to that of 
Willdenow at Berlin. he royal library, containing a vast collection of 
books in every department of botany, is open every day for the use of the 
public. 1 

The venerable Dr Hoppe gives an interest to the town of Ratisbon. 
This excellent man is indefatigable in exploring the botanical treasures of 
the Alps in the south of Germany and we have given very full and inte- 
resting extracts from him and Hornschuch’s “ botanical Travels in Carniola” 
&c. in the earlier volumes of our journal. Ratisbon, too, has a Royal 
Botanical Society. At Gefrees, near Bayreuth, resides IM. Funck, an apo- 
thecary, who has published the beautiful “‘ Moss Pocket-book.” 

Anspach seems to have no botanist to replace Gleichen and Schmidel. 
Bonne upon the Rhine possesses one of the most eminent and most inde- 
fatigable of the German botanists, and one from whose correspondence and 
communications we have experienced both pleasure and instruction, Dr C. 
G. Nees von Esenbeck. His “* System of Fung?’ in 1 vol. 4to, with nu- 
merous and beautiful plates ; his “ Handbuch der Botanik ;” his various 
memoirs in the “ Botanische Zeitung ;” ‘‘ Hore Physice Berolinenses,” 
** Nova Acta Acad. Cres. Leopold ;” his translation of all the works of our 
Brown, together with his notes appended to them, will alone suffice to 
point him out as a man of deep research, well-versed in every department - 
both of practical and theoretical botany, and possessed of the most gentle- 
manly mind and feelings. His brother, Dr Th. F7. von Esenbeck junior 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 359 


is also an excellent botanist, has the charge of the botanic garden of Bonne, 
and is preparing a ‘‘ Flora Bonnensis et Coloniensis.”’ 

Leipzig has had a worthy successor to the great Hedwig, in Dr 
Schwaegrichen, the present professor of natural history there, and who 
is still labouring very successfully to increase our knowledge of the Mosses. 
He adheres rigorously to the system established by his predecessor. 

Dr Schultes, professor at Landshruth, in conjunction with the late Dr 
Rémer of Zurich, commenced a ** Systema Vegetubilium,’ with very full 
descriptions and synonyms, and which would have proved highly use- 
ful to the botanical student, had it been carried on.to its completion : but 
the death of Rémer has probably put a stop to the publication, which has © 
yet reached, in five thick volumes 8vo, no further than to the end of the 
class Pentandria. If this work is too full and too minute in its descriptions 
and synonyms for general use, we think that Sprengel of Halle, in his 
new edition of the Species Plantarum, has fallen into the opposite ex- 
treme ; for here we havea work so entirely confined te mere generic and 
specific characters, and those extremely short, that we have not evena 
reference to a single figure to help us in our investigation, nor to any book 
where we may find the plant described. Every one knows, that, in the 
present state of the science, it is utterly impossible to ascertain many species 
of plants, especially in the extensive genera, such as Erica, Solanum, 
Convolvulus, Campanula, and a hundred others, by a simple differential cha- 
racter of two, or at most, perhaps, three lines in length. Reference at 
least should be given to some full description to aid us upon such an oc- 
casion, and upon no account should the synonyms of the first author be 
omitted. Here we have only the two or three first letters of the author’s 
name, such as Br. Sm. &c. but in which work of these writers the plant 
is noticed, we are left in ignorance. Persoon’s ‘‘ Synopsis Plantarum’? 
we consider a model for such a book, and a very little more space and no 
more labour, would have been required to have accomplished this desirable 
object. With these exceptions we are anxious to give our highest praise 
to this useful work. Here is brought together all that has been described 
by other authors, and many new plants are introduced which have come 
to our author’s knowledge: and he seems, in a very great variety of in- 
stances which have fallen under our observation, to have judiciously re- 
duced a considerable number of doubtful species, and referred them to 
their proper places. * 

Berlin must now claim a little of our attention, for it was the residence 
of Willdenow, over whom the mantle of Linneus seems to have been 
thrown, and who was destined to accomplish, what no one else has been 
able to do, the publishing a “* Species Plantarum,” arranged according to 
the method of the illustrious Swede: so that until the completion of Ré- 
mer and Schultes’ or of Sprengel’s work, or of De Candolle’s Systema, 
Willdenow’s System will still be the principal book of reference for all 
botanists. Other great names, too, are intimately connected with the 


* This Systema has extended as far as the end of the class Tetradynamia, and to 
two thick and very closely-printed octavo volumes. 


360 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


capital of the dominions of Prussia, such as Link, Rudolphi, Weiss, 
Hayne, Humboldt, and Kunth, Von Buch and Chamisso, and Schlechtendal, 
together with Count Altenstein, the patron of science in Prussia. 

The Botanic Garden of Berlin has arrived at a very high degree of per- 
fection, and M. Otto is unwearied in his endeavours to increase the col- 
lection from all parts of the world. A publication upon the plants which 
have flowered in it, somewhat similar to the Hortus Berolinensis of Will- 
denow, the “ Icones Plantarum ;” &c. has been begun by Link and Otto, 
but we fear has come to a premature end with the fifth Number. Hayne 
labours upon the medicinal plants, Rudolphi upon vegetable physiology, as 
likewise does Horckel. Link is further engaged upon an Enumeratio 
Plantarum Hort. Berol., of which one volume is already published ; and 
conducts a work on the plan of our late Annals of Botany, under the title 
of “ Jahrbucher der Gewachskunde,” of which four Numbers have appeared. 
Two botanists, Olfers and Sellow, have been sent to collect plants in Brazil, 
and the latter has now proceeded for the same object to Buenos Ayres. 

Dr von Chamisso, who is appointed assistant-director of the Berlin 
Botanic Garden, is engaged in publishing the result of his botanical col- 
lections, made by him during the voyage round the world under Captain 
Kotzebue, and is at present occupied with the Grasses and Cyperacce. 
His Herbarium is extremely rich, and the liberal use he makes of it is 
highly deserving of imitation. Thus, Dr von Schlechtendal, so advantage- 
ously known as the author of “Animadversiones Botanice in Ranunculaceas 
Decandollii,” and who is now preparing for the press a “* Flora Berolin- 
ensis,” has published the new species of Ranunculus ; Count Sternberg * 
of Savifraga ; Kaulfuss, as we have mentioned in another part of the 
present volume, the Ferns ; Hornschuch has undertaken the Mosses ; 
Agardh the Alge ; and Ehrenberg the Fungi. 

The Herbarium and Library of Willdenow + having been purchased by 
the Prussian government, and attached to the university, it is intended 
to form with them the foundation of a great National Botanical Museum, 
Dr Schlechtendal being appointed to the charge of it. Here are, besides 
the Herbarium of Bergius from the Cape, of Chamisso, so rich in the plants 
of the north coast of Asia, of North and South America, and Behring’s 
Straits, the private Herbarium of 17. Otto and that of von Buch, which is 
reckoned almost complete in the vegetable productions of the Canary Isles. 

The limits of our article, already too much extended, and yet, we are 
aware, sadly deficient in the notice of many excellent botanists and many 


* The excellent author of “* Revisio Saxifragarum,” and a more learned work 
on the ‘* Vegetable Remains of a former World.” 

+ The grave of Willdenow is in the burying-ground of the church in the new 
town. A small hillock is raised over his remains, and it is shaded by a weeping 
Ash. Upon a stone fixed in the wall of the church is the following simple inscrip- 
tion, ‘* Here rests Dr Carl. Ludwig Willdenow, Knight of the Third Order of the 
Red Eagle, Regius Professor of Natural History and Botany, Director of the Bo- 
tanic Garden, &c.—Born at Berlin, August 22, 1765 ; died there July 10, 1812.” 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschland’s Flora. 361 


able works, will not allow us to enlarge on this favourite topic as we 
would wish. Nevertheless, we must not omit to mention the names of a 
few more individuals who are now engaged in raising still higher the bota- 
nical fame of Germany. Our excellent frieud Dr Hornschuch is the pro- 
fessor of natural history in the university of Griefswald, Prussian Pome- 
rania, and devotes a large portion of his time to the cultivation of what we 
consider to be his most favourite pursuit, botany. He has already been 
mentioned as the author, jointly with Dr Hoppe, of a 'Tour in the Southern 
Countries of the Austrian dominions, and is engaged in publishing the 
Mosses of Chamisso and Spix and Martius ; but that which will most 
tend to raise his celebrity, is the ‘‘ Bryologia Germanica,” published in 
conjunction with Dr Nees von Esenbeck and Sturm. If we differ from 
these authors in any important particular, it is in their raising, too fre- 
quently, what we consider to be varieties, to the rank of species, and thus 
by rendering it impossible to define clearly the characters of the indivi- 
duals, they add to the difficulty of the tyro in his investigation. The 
first volume, which includes only those mosses which are destitute of 
peristome to the capsule, is all that has been yet published. The second 
we anxiously expect ; and we are rejoiced to hear that Dr Hornschuch 
has promised to the world a complete Species Muscorum, for which he 
must be furnished with very abundant materials. This gentleman, too, 
is a great eontributor to one of the many excellent scientific journals of 
Germany, the ‘* Flora, oder Botanische Zeitung welche Recensionen, Ab- 
handlungen, Aufsiitze, Neuigkeiten und Nachrichten, die Botanik betreffend, 
enthalt :"—in fact, an “* Annals of Botany,” published by the Royal Bota- 
nical Society of Ratisbon, in weekly numbers. We know of no work 
better calculated to encourage and diffuse a love of botany than this cheap 
little work, which has extended to many volumes, having a great deal of 
original matter and numerous notices, from which we have selected much 
that has been useful to us in the present article. 

Treviranus of Breslau has gained reputation by his writings on the 
Sexual System of plants: Reichenbach of Dresden by his ‘* Lichenes Ev- 
stecate,”’ his ‘* Icones Plantarum rariorum,”’ ‘‘ Hortus Botanicus”? and 
“€ Monographia Aconitorum ;” Lehmann of Hamburg by his admirable 
monographs of Primula, Nicotiana, and, above all, of the Asperifolie ; 
Steudel of Efsling by his useful ‘* Nomenclator Botanicus,” which has 
been elsewhere more particularly mentioned by us: Meyer, * G. F. W. 
ot Gottingen, by his “* Primitie Flore Essiquebensis ;” and Ernest Meyer, 
also of the same place, by his Monograph of the Junci, and his “ Plante 
Surinamensis ;” Réper, of the same town, by his work on the Huphorbie ; 
Sturm by his numerous and excellent botanical plates, executed at Nu- 
remberg ; and, lastly, we shall mention Sieber and Helstnhorg and Bojer, 
who have done themselves great credit by their labours in collecting plants 
in many and distant regions. The former, besides visiting Crete, spent 


* This author is now preparing a Flora of the Kingdom of Hanover, on the plan 
of the Flora Danica. 


362 Analysis of Scientific Books and Memoirs. 


some time in the Mauritius, New Holland, at the Cape, in Trinidad, &e; 
and on his return has published beautiful specimens, under the titles of 
Floras of the separate countries. Helsinborg and Bojer have directed 
their attention principally to the plants of the Mauritius, Madagascar, 
and the opposite eastern coast of Africa, in which latter country Helsin- 
borg has fallen a sacrifice to the unhealthiness of the climate. Bojer still 
remains at the Mauritius. 

We must now devote a brief space to the work immediately under 
our review, Mertens and Koch's Flora of Germany, or, as the title express- 
es it, “ 7. C. Rihling’s Deutschland’s Flora neu Bearbeitet von Mertens 
und Koch.” Much as the botany of Germany had been explored, and nu- 
merous as were the partial Floras of the country, it was to be regretted 
that there did not exist one work including a full and complete account 
of all the plants of Germany, similar to our Flora Britannica and English 
Flora. Roth's “ Tentamen” was manifestly very imperfect. Hoffman's 
** Flora Germanica’” is little more than a synopsis. ‘‘ Schrader’s Flora 
Germanica” promised to make up every deficiency, but, (from what cause 
we know not,) the first volume, extending to the end of the third class, has, 
in the space of twenty years, been succeeded by no other. It was left for 
the authors now immediately under consideration, to commence such an 
undertaking ; and it is not a little remarkable, that the two first volumes 
made their appearance in Germany nearly at the same time with those of 
the “‘ English Flora” of our Smith ; a work with which, perhaps, it may 
best be compared for general plan and arrangement. It is entirely in the 
German language. ‘The first volume is devoted to some introductory mat- 
ter, an Alphabetical Dictionary of Terms, and a general view of the Artifi- 
cial and Natural Arrangement. - 

The second volume, all we believe that has yet been published, com- 
mences with the description of the genera and species, classed according 
to the Linnzan system, comprising the first four classes, and is concluded 
by a very copious index both of species and synonyms. Each class is 
headed by an enumeration of the genera, with their full characters, and, 
as in Smith, the name of the natural order to which they belong; so 
that, by referring to the character of that order in the first volume, the 
student will become well acquainted with their arrangement in both sys- 
tems. {t will be most to our purpose, in the few observations we shall 
here offer, to confine ourselves to the second volume of the work, and to 
the mention of such plants as, from their identity with those of our own 
island, may be likely to be most interesting to the British botanist. 

Of such, the first class contains Hippuris and Zostera ; Chara as well as- 
Callitriche being removed to the Diclinia. In Diandria we have Salicor- 
nia and Lemna. With the Salicornia herhacea the authors unite, as we 
have done in the Flora Scotica, the S. procumbens of Smith. The spicate Ve- 
ronice are, with propriety, much reduced in point of number of supposed 
species. Circwa Lutetiana and alpina are kept distinct, and the C. inter- 
media mentioned as a variety, but of which species the authors seem 
doubtful. Sprengel is perhaps correct in considering them all the same- 


Mertens and Koch’s Deutschlund’s Flora. 363 


In the third class are some excellent observations upon the Grasses, 
both in allusion to their divisional characters, and to the arrangement of 
Palisot de Beauvois. Scirpus multicaulis of Smith, though not found in 
Germany, is mentioned as a distinct species, but nearly allied to the Sc. 
uniglumis of Link. 

The Alopecurus fulvus of Smith is supposed to have an affinity with 
Alop. paludosus, the A. subaristatus of Michaux. The genus Gastridium 
is adopted for Milium lendigerum. It is rightly suggested that the name 
Agrostis stolonifera should be abolished ; it being indeed scarcely possible 
to ascertain precisely what Linneus meant by it or by his Agr. alba. 
Under this latter species, our authors have a host of names, which others 
have considered distinct plants ; and we are glad to find how nearly they 
agree with our own opinion, expressed in the Flora Scotica, on the same 
subject. Thus we have under A. alba the Agr. stolonifera, varia, &c. of 
Host ; ambigua of Roem. and Sch., decumbens, gigantea and patula of 
Gaudin ; coarctata of Hoffm. ; capillaris of Poll. ; compressa of Willd. ; and 
parviflora of Schrader. Arundo Phragmites, is made Phragmites vulga- 
ris. Molinia of Schrank is taken up for the Melica cerulea. In the ge- 
nus Glyceria of Brown, these authors not only, like Smith, place, besides 
the Gl. fluitans, the Poa distans, maritima and aquatica, but also the 
Aira aquatica of Linn. of which Sir James Smith has also observed that, 
in natural affinity, it comes near to G/. fluitans, maritima, and distans. 
Poa hadensis and Molinieri we are glad to see united with Poa alpina. 

There are some excellent remarks upon the Festuce of various authors. 
But this genus requires a complete revision, and many supposed species 
must be abolished. Festuca vivipara, Sm. is made a variety of F. ovina. 
Bromus multiflorus, Sm. is brought as a synonym to Br. grossus of Desf. 

We should recommend that our Parietarie be more attended to. Most 
of the continental authors make two species, which Willdenow distin- 
guished as P. officinalis et judaica ; to the latter, under the name of P. 
diffusa M. et K., our plant of Smith and Flora Londinensis is referred ; but 
we are almost sure of the existence also of what Mertens and Koch have 
called P. erecta, whether vr not it be well characterized as a species. The 
observations upon various species of Potamogeton, as weil as indeed the 
whole volume, we confidently recommend to the attention of the British 
botanist ; for there is so much care and attention bestowed upon all the 
descriptions and remarks, and so much research displayed in the investi- 
gation and determining of the species of other authors, that we conceive 
MM. Mertens and Koch to have rendered an essential service to the bo-« 
tany of Great Britain and the European Continent in general, as well as 
to their own country. Mertens is a professor at Bremen, and has been long 
known for his profound knowledge of the Algw. Kuch is, we believe, a 
physician at Kaiserslautern. 

During the present year, there has been published at Nuremberg a 
“* Compendium Flore Germanice.” The first volume in 12mo, now be- 
fore us, extends to the end of the class Polyandria. It is arranged accord- 
ing to the Linnean system. 


364 Scientifie Intelligence. 
Arr. XXITX.—SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 


I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 


ASTRONOMY. 

1. Correct Elements of the first Comet of 1825.—In vol. iii. p. 175 of 
this work, we have given M. Shumacher’s elements of this comet. The 
following elements have been calculated by M. Nicolai at Manheim, and 


M. Schwerd at Spires. 


Nicolai. Schwerd. 
D. D. 
Passage of Perihelion - - 1825, March, 30 .5693 30 .51573 
Long. of Perihelion - - = 273° 55/ 21” 273° 59! 25” 
Long. Asc. Node - - - 20 5 53 20 2 42 
Log. of shortest dist. - - 9 94896 9 .948743 
Inclination - - 56° 41 17” 56° 35/ 4” 
Motion - . retrograde. 


Shumacher’s Astron. Nach. No. 81, 83. 


2. Correct Elements of the Second Comet of 1825.—In this Journal, vol. 
iii. p. 175, vol. iv. p. 376, 377, and vol. v. p. 178, we have given various 
elements, &c. of this comet. The following are those caleulated from Dr 


Olber’s observations by M- Cluver for Altona. 
D 


Passage of Perihelion - - 1825, December, 16 .88510 

Long. Perihelion dist. - - - 0 .1186417 
Long. Perihelion - - - 321° 22’ 33” 
Long. of Asc. Node - - - A WF fig eA 
Inclination of orbit = - 36 53 34 


Shumacher’s Astron. Nach. No. 84. 


3. Elements of the Comet discovered by M. Pons. 'Vhe following ele-. 
ments are calculated by M. Peters for long. 30’ 30” east of Paris, and by 


M. Clausen at Altona. 


Peters. Clausen. 
D. D. 

Passage of Perihelion - 1825, August, 27 .1805 30 .579 
Long. of Perihelion - - - 346° 34’ 44” = 345° 137 
Long. of Node - - 206 48 2 207 38 
Log. shortest dist. - - - 0 .04688 
Log. of Perihelion dist. - = 0 .68290 
Inclination of orbit ~ P 35° 17’ 27” 34° 43/ 
Motion - direct. 


Shumacher’s Astron. Nach. No. 89. 


4. Fourth Comet of 1825.—The following elements are computed by M. 
Hansen for Seeberg, and M. Halaschka for Prague- 


Hansen. Halaschka. 

D. D. 
Passage of Perihelion 1825, December, 1] .29767 10 .56132 
Long. Asc. Node - - 215° 39’ 18” 2b" dae Oo" 
SIS AT “67 


Long. of Perihelion - - 
Long of Node—Long. Perihelion - 257 2 3 


Astronomy. 365 


Hansen. Halascbhka. 
D. D. 
Inclination of orbit - 33 35 10 33 27 48 
Log. Perihelion dist. . - 0 .0924 0 .0959 
Eccentricity - - - 0 .9817 
Revolution ~ - 556 years 
Motion - > - direct 


Shumacher’s Astron. Nach. No. 90. 


5. Dimensions of the Terrestrial Globe.—The following dimensions have 
been deduced by M. Puissant from the mezsures taken in France and In- 
dia. 


: 1 
Flatt t the Pol L i ¢ wen 
“pe taamretcag: 305,65 
Semiaxis a = 6376920 metres 
fee b = 6356076 


Quarter of the Meridian — 10000401 metres. 


6. La Lande’s Astronomical Prize adjudged to Captain Sabine.-—At the 
public sitting of the Academy of Sciences, held on the 5th June 1826, the 
medal founded by M. De La Lande was adjudged to Captain Sabine, for his 
work entitled, Account of Experiments to determine the Figure of the Earth, 
by means of the Pendulum vibrating Seconds in different Latitudes ; a work 
with which our readers are in some degree acquainted, by the extracts 
from it which we have inserted in this Journal. 


7. Rates of Mr French’s Chronometers at the Royal Observatory.— 
The following were the mean daily rates and extreme variations of two chro- 
nometers by Mr French, during their trial at the Royal Observatory, from 
May 1, 1825, to April 30, 1826. 


No. Sot No. 975. 

Mean Daily Extreme Mean Daily Extreme 

Rate. Variation. Rate. Variation. 
1825. May, aA Sel OHI QTE, A ee 
June, i 4.305 i. ce ho +2 54 5 
July, +414 ... 1.6 +1 93 2 .8 
August, +443 . . 1.4 + 2 30 0.9 
September, + 450 . » 0.9 +2 36 1 sl 
October, +465 . Hes +249 1 .4 
November, + 4.57 . tee +2 92 1.6 
December, + 4.36 1 .4 +2 51 1 .9 
1826. January, + 4.52 2 2 +2 20 ied 
February, +458 . . 1.3 +197 es 
March, — 4:52). 51 swibiwad +2 07 1 .4 
April. + 4.50 Lk + 2 26 real Lae | 


8. Probability of an Ethereal Medium in the Celestial Spaces.—The 
singular fact of the diminution of the periodic time of the comet of Encke, 
which cannot be explained by the perturbations of the planets, has been 


366 Scientific Intelligence. 


ascribed by Encke to the resistance of an ether diffused in space, which 
produces a diminution both in the periodic times and in the eccentricities. 
M. O. F. Mosotti, of the Italian Society, has endeavoured to calculate the 
resistance which a comet may experience from that cause, and by assum- 
ing for it a particular law of density, and taking into account the continual 
changes in the figure and volume of the comet as it approaches to or re- 
cedes from the sun, he arrives at the conclusion, “ that on the hypothesis 
adopted, the comet may have experienced from an ether a resistance such 
as is required to make the calculus accord with observations, though the 
planets have not yet manifested the least effect of the existence of that 
ether. As nothing opposes the probability that the hypotheses which we 
have made, or some others analogous to them, are really correct; and as, 
moreover, the effect of the acceleration of the mean motion of this comet 
supports the opinion of the existence of an ether, a greater degree of credit 
will, no doubt, be assigned to the hypothesis. If the comet which we ex- 
pect eleven years hence (in 1835) display corresponding effects, we shall 
then be authorized to regard the diffusion of an ether, in celestial space, as 
an admissible fact.”—Mem. Astron. Soc. vol. ii. part i. p. 62. 


9. Change upon the figure of Saturn when emerging from the Moon's 
dark limb.—Mr R. Comfield, with a Gregorian reflector, power 350, and 
Mr J. Wallis with a Newtonian reflector, power 160, when observing 
the emersion of Saturn, on the 30th October, noticed that the part of the 
ring which last emerged was rendered sensibly more obtuse, and at the 
instant after separation it approximated to a rectilineal boundary. When 
the eastern limb of the globe of Saturn emerged, Mr Comfield observed « 
similar effect upon it. 

ACOUSTICS. 

10. Deafness arising from the Eustachian Tube.—The Academy of Sciences, 
at their public sitting of the 5th June, have awarded a sum of two thousand 
francs to M. Deleau, author of different memoirs, for having brought to 
perfection the catheterism of the Eustachian tube, and for having cured, 
by this means, some individuals affected with that rare cause of deafness. 


11. Great distance at which Sounds are Heard.—At Port Bowen Lieu- 
tenant Foster kept up a conversation with his assistant, at a distance of 
6696 feet, or about one statute mile and two-tenths.—Captain Parry’s 
Third Voyage. 

OPTICS. 

12. Phosphorescence of the Glow-Worm, of the Fire-Fly, and the Lam- 

pyris Noctiluca.—The following is the substance of a paper on this sib- 
ject by Dr Todd, in the last number of the Institution Journal. 
' The light of the female glow-worm is of a light topaz colour, with 
rather a tinge of green. The hour’ upon a watch may be observed by it- 
The light of the male is of the same colour. It is confined to two very 
small round spots, and is seldom emitted spontaneously, excepting in cer~ 
tain sexual relations. The light, however, appears instantaneously by the 
least irritation or pain. 


Optics —Hydrodynamics. 367 


The female of the Lampyris Noctiluca excels all the rest in the beauty 
of its light. It is of a light bluish or greenish colour, and seems to en- 
velope the whole of the insect. The male fly has a soft and delicate bluish 
light. The fire-fly produces two degrees of light, the one fainter than 
that of the glow-worm, but without intermission. The second is a vivid 
white light, intermitting instantaneously like vivid sparks of fire suddenly 
extinguished. Its power of illumination exceeds that of the glow-worm, 
and all other animal light, as it may be seen in the brightest moonlight. 
The intermitting light gives the appearance of a membranous veil being 
removed from the surface of the organ and suddenly drawn over it. The 
larva or even the ova of these insects give out light. 

The glow-worm requires a mean temperature of 50° 7 for its appearance, 
and the others about 55° 7. 

The power of emitting light resides in a peculiar adhesive matter like 
animal gluten. Carradori calls it a white pasty matter, and Magaire a semi- 
lucid albuminous matter. It is said to be granular and organized, and 
according to Magaire it is penetrated by nerves. When the matter has 
lost its vital properties, Dr Todd has found it incapable of affording light 
by any contrivance. 

From these, and many other facts stated by Dr Todd, he concludes that 
the phenomenon is, in all its bearings, a vital action ; and that external 
causes only influence it, as they affect the vitality of the animal, and the 
sensibility of the organ. This result, he conceives, places before us a new 
power of animal life, resembling nearly the phenomena of animal heat, 
viz. the power of separating light from its combinations with matter. 

Dr Todd is disposed to agree with Reaumur, in supposing that it is by 
means of this light that the sexes distinguish each other in the season of 
sexual intercourse. 


13. Remarkable Phosphorescent Stone.—At a very recent meeting of the 
Philomathic Society, M. Becquerel exhibited a singular species of fluor 
spar, sent by M. Leman, and found in the granite rocks of Siberia. It shines 
in the dark with a very remarkable phosphoric light, which increases as its 
temperature is raised. Its light augments when it is plunged in water. In 
boiling water it is so luminous that the letters of a printed book can be 
seen near the transparent vase which contains it. In boiling oil the light 
is still greater ; and in boiling mercury it emits such a light that we may 
read by it at a distance of five inches. M. Eyries mentioned at the same 
meeting the fact stated by Sir John Mandeville, that at the entrance of a 
town in Great Tartary were two columns surmounted by stones which shine 
brightly in the dark.—Le Globe, No. 98. August 8, 1826. 


HYDRODYNAMICS. 

14. Prize of 1828, for the most important experiments on the Resistance of 
Fluids—The Academy of Sciences have just announced the following sub. 
ject for the mathematical prize of 1828. The prize will be a gold medal, 
of the value of three thousand francs, and will be adjudged on the Ist 
Monday of June 1828. ‘The memoirs must be sent to the secretaries of 
the Institute before the Ist of January 1828. 


368 Scientific Intelligence. 


Almost all the attempts which have hitherto been made for discovering 
the laws of the resistance of fiuids, are contrary to the first rule of experi- 
ments, by which we ought to endeavour to decompose the phenomena into 
their most simple elements. It has been most common, indeed, to observe 
the time employed by different bodies, in describing a given space in a 
fluid at rest, or the weight which keeps in equilibrium a body exposed 
to the impulse of a fluid in motion. But this can only make us acquaint- 
ed with the total result of the different actions, which this fluid exerts 
upon each of the points of the bodies, actions which are very varied, and 
often opposite to each other. In this state of things, compensations take 
place, which mask the primitive laws of the phenomenon, and which 
render the results of experiment inapplicable to any other case but that 
which has furnished them. M. Dubuat, author of the Principes d'Hyd- 
raulique, appears to have been the first who perceived this defect ; and, in 
order to avoid it, he endeavoured to measure the local pressures on the 
different parts of the surface of bodies, exposed to the impulse of a fluid 
in motion. His experiments, though small in number, and though not 
much varied, in so far as the form of the body is concerned, present, 
nevertheless, curious results. Under these circumstances, the Academy 
thought it would be useful to resume these experiments, with more per- 
fect instruments, to multiply them, and to vary the circumstances still 
more. It has proposed, therefore, for the subject of the prize, the follow- 
ing programme : 

** To examine in its details the phenomenon of the resistance of water, 
by determining with care, by exact experiments, the pressures separately 
sustained by a great number of points, properly chosen in the interior, 
lateral, and posterior surfaces of a body, when it is exposed to the impulse 
of a fluid in motion, and when it moves in the same fluid at rest; to 
measure the velocity of the water in different points of the current near © 
the body ; to construct from the results and observations, the curves which 
these currents form; to determine the point where their direction com- 
mences before the body ; and, finally, to establish, if possible, from the ex- 
perimental results, empirical formule, which might be,afterwards com- 
pared with the experiments formerly made on the same subject.” 


15. Dr Hare’s Litrameter for measuring Specific Gravities.—The object 
of this instrument is to measure the specific gravities of fluids, on the prin- 
ciple that, when columns of different liquids are raised by the same pres- 
sure, their gravity must be inversely as their height. Two barometer 
tubes, communicating with each other above, where there is a syringe to 
withdraw the air, their lower ends rest in two cups, containing the two 
fluids to be compared. The pressures upon the upper surfaces being then 
removed by the syringe, the fluids rise in each tube to heights which 
afford a measure of their specific gravities—See Franklin’s Journal, vol. i- 
p- 157. 

MAGNETISM. 

16. Magnetic Declination at Bywell, in Northumberland, in 1824.— 

Lieutenant Johnson has found the magnetic declination at this place, 


Electro-Magnetism—Meteorology: 369 


in June 1824, to be 26° 50’ west. Bywell is in lat. 55° 1’ north, and long, 
12 59’ west 


17. Magnetic Declination near St Petersburg in 1824.—The magnetic 
declination near St Petersburg, in lat. 59° 58’ 31” north, and long. 30° 
19’ 45” east, was found, by the late Professor Schubert, to be 7° 36’. 


ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. 

18. On the Magnetising of Needles by Currents and Electric Sparks.— 
On the 31st July last, M. Savary communicated to the Academy of Scien- 
ces a highly important memoir on magnetising,needles by currents and elec- 
tric sparks. The following are the leading points of this great discovery : 

1. The direction of the magnetic polarity of small needles, exposed to an 
electric current, directed along a wire stretched longitudinally, varies with 
the distance of the wire. 

2. This action is periodical ;—that is, when the small steel needle, which 
is in relation with the wire, is magnetised in a certain direction, at a cer= 
tain distance, the magnetism diminishes as the needle is removed, till at a 
certain distance it becomes nothing. At a greater distance it recovers its 
magnetism, but in a contrary direction, and it goes on increasing till it 
reaches its maximum at a particular distance. It then diminishes as the 
removal of the needle is continued, and again becomes nothing. The 
magnetism then resumes its first direction, which constitutes a new period. 
M. Savary has observed three periods. 

3. The distances at which the zero and the marimum of magnetism 
take place vary with the length and diameter of the wire, and with the in= 
tensity of the discharge. 

4. When a helix is used for magnetising, the distance at which the needle 
placed within it is from the conducting wire is indifferent, but the direction 
and the degree of the magnetism depends on the intensity of the discharge, 
and on the ratio between the length and size of the wire. 

5. The maximum of intensity, which can be produced with a given wire, 
depends on the ratio between its size and length, so that it is only for a 
certain value of this ratio that we can obtain the degree of magnetism cal- 
led the state of saturation. For all other ratios the maximum is less, 

6. Any metal placed in the vicinity of the needle has a very powerful 
influence on the direction and degree of the magnetism. 

7. Vhese effects vary with the relative positions of the wire, the needle, 
and the metal. 

8. The direction of the action of the metal depends on the intensity of 
the discharge, so that discharges different in intensity, develope in the me- 
tal a series of opposite states, analogous to the polarities of opposite signs, 
which small needles acquire at different distances from the conducting wire, 
or for different intensities of electricity—Le Globe, No. 96, August 2, 
1826. 


METEOROLOGY. 
19. Meteorological Observations made on the 1ith of July last-—Our 
meteorological readers will be gratified to learn, that many of the meteoro- 


370 Scientific Intelligence. 


logical schedules issued by the Royal Society of Edinburgh have been 
filled up with very valuable sets of observations, for every hour of the 17th 
of July last. In some of them the observations were made every half hour. 

The day did not present any great variety of meteorological phenomena. 
There was, for example, almost no rain, and no indications of electricity 
in the atmosphere; but it possessed a different kind of interest. It was 
one of those summer days which may be considered the best which our 
climate affords. The curve which represents the progression of tempera- 
ture, approximated very nearly to the character of the mean summer 
curve, and consequently the comparison of the phenomena observed at dif- 
ferent places may be expected to afford very curious results. 


20. Mr Foggo’s Elementary Treatise on Meteorology.—Mr John Foggo 
junior, with whose knowledge of Meteorology the readers of this Journal 
are well acquainted, is at present engaged in an Elementary Treatise on 
Meteorology, which will speedily be published. A work on this subject 
has been long a desideratum, and we have no doubt but that it will be well 
supplied by Mr Foggo’s work. 


21. Mean Temperature of the Sandwich Islands.—The following me- 
teorological journal of the year, from August 1821 to August 1822, was 
kept by the American Missionaries, we presume at Hawaii, in north lati- 
tude 193,° and west longitude 1553°. 


Maxim. Minim. Mean General course Weather. 

heat. heat. Temp. of wind. Days. Rain. 
August, 1821. 88° 7q4° 79° N. E. 1 Rain, 
September, 87 44° = 18 N. E. -5 Do. 
October, 8&6 73 78 N. E. 1 Do. 
November, 82 71 76 N. E. 1 Do. 
December, 6&0 62 72 N. & .N. E. 2 Do. 
January, 80 59 70 Variable. 1 Do. 7 Cloudy. 
February, Ziff 61 7l N. E. 4 Do. 10 Do. 
March, 78 66 q2 N. E. 5 Do. 8 Do. 
April, 81 62 73 Variable. 5 Do. 12 Do. 
May, 81 72 76 N. E. 4 Do. 30° Do. 
June, 64 AX 78 NEB 6 Cloudy. 
July, 84 74 78 N. E. 5 Rain. 7 Cloudy. 


— ee 


— 


Annual Results, 88 62 75°l 


Mean temperature, according to Dr Brewster’s general Formu- 
la, viz. T —86°3 Sin. D—3}° = as - - 74°.77 - 
Mean temperature observed, - a0 - 75 «1 


Difference, 0.33 


The thermometer was observed at 8 a. M., 3 Pp. M., and 8r.m. Rain 
falls but seldom on the western shores of any of the islands, though show- - 
ers are frequent on the eastern or windward sides ; and on the mountains 
they occur almost daily.—Ellis’s Missionary Tour through Hawaii, p. 7. 


Meteorology—Chemistry. 371 


22. Meteoric Stone from Castres—On the 18th July last the minister 
of the Interior presented to the Academy of Sciences a fragment of the 
metoric stone which fell at Castres. The colour of this stone, which was 
not at all deep, seemed to indicate that it is less ferruginous than most*of 
those of the same origin.—Le Globe, 20th July 1826. 


II. CHEMISTRY. 


23. On the Chemical Composition of Felspar and Serpentine. By M. 
Peschier.—The researches of M. Peschier on titanium having led him 
to suspect its presence in felspar, he undertook the analysis of several va- 
rieties of that mineral ; namely, of the adularia of St Gotthard ; the green 
compact variety from Siberia; the glassy felspar of Drachenfels in West- 
phalia ; the white felspar of Auvergne ; and the andalusite, from the Tyrol. 
The following table contains the result of his analyses, which are compared 
with those of other chemists : 


Glassy W hite 


Adularia. [Green Felspar Felspar. |Felsp. 


by By by By b 
Vauque-| Pes- |Vauque-] Pes- Kp. 


lin. chier. lin chier. | roth. 


— a 


Alumina, 20 |20 17.02/15 {15 
Silica, ‘ 64 |48.75] 62.83156 [68 
Lime, zit O 3 0 0 
Oxide of Iron,| 0 | 3-75] 1 3 0.5 
Potash, 

Soda, 

Titanium, 

Water, ~ 


100 |96.50] 96.85 |97.40|97.5 |96.20]97.68]98.87 199.35 


M. Peschier has also detected the presence of titanium in three varieties 
of serpentine. The first kind is the common spotted serpentine of Saxony. 
It is of a dull green colour, is soft to the touch, and has a conchoidal frac- 
ture. 

The second is the common magnetic serpentine of the Upper Palatinate, 
which M- Humboldt observed between Goldchronach and Munichberg. 
It is rough to the touch, and has an irregular fracture. 

The third variety is from the Vale of Aosta. Its structure is quite ho-= 
mogeneous ; it has a moss-green colour, scaly fracture, and like the tales 
is unctuous to the touch. It contains magnetic iron. 

The results of M. Peschier, together with those of other chemists, are 
contained in the following table :— 


VOL. V. NO. Il. OCTOBER 1826. Bb 


372 Scientific Intelligence. 


Analysis Yenaue: oe John. | Rose. | Knock. Peschier, 
of a = len er as 


Serpentines, 


31.50 | 28 43 21.25 |22 « 
34.50 |33.5 |29 


> | | = | | ee | Se | ee _ 


100.8 195-10] 99.50 | 101.0 | 96.75 {99.00 |101.50|98.80 


M. Peschier infers from his researches, 

1. That titanium is one of the constituent principles of felspar and ser- 
pentine ; 

2. That the analysis of serpentine cannot be exact, unless the usual pro- 
cess for analyzing rocks is so modified as to separate the titanium ; 

3. That an alkaline principle exists in serpentine, as well as in the rocks 


with which they are analogous. 
“* In a word,” concludes M. Peschier, “ my researches demonstrate that 


most primitive rocks contain titanium as one of their constituent prin- 
ciples, and that this substance exists much more extensively in nature 
than is supposed.”—(Extract from the Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. vol. 
XXxi.) 

In searching for titanium, M. Peschier has probably overlooked the pre- 
sence of chromium in serpentine. We have analyzed the common serpen~ 
tine from Zoblitz in Saxony, and that variety certainly contains chromium. 

24. Analysis of a New Mineral, (the Gay-Lussite.) By M. Boussingault. 
—This mineral, which M. Boussingault has named Gay-Lussite, in honour 
of M. Gay-Lussac, is found in great abundance in a bed of clay covering the 
native carbonate of soda, called urao, at Lagunilla, a small Indian village in 
the neighbourhood of Merida. It occurs in irregular crystals, which, from 
their form, were at first taken for carbonate of lime. It has the lustre of 
the carbonate and sulphate of lime; but it scratches the latter, and is 
scratched by the former. Its specific gravity, as a mean of twp experi- 
ments, is 1.939. 

Exposed to heat in a small mattress, it decrepitates slightly, gives out a 
considerable quantity of water, and becomes opaque. Before the blowpipe, 
it decrepitates till it has acquired a red heat; and then, on throwing upon 
it the point of the blowpipe flame, it fuses rapidly into an opaque globule, 
which, when once formed, is infusible. The bead, when put into the 
mouth, is found to have a distinct alkaline taste. These characters alone 


Chemistry. 373 


are sufficient for distinguishing the Gay-Lussite from the carbonate of lime ; 
and besides these M. Boussingault mentions the two following. 

1. On placing a fragment of the mineral in a watch-glass, and letting a 
few drops of a solution of oxalic acid fall upon it, a slow effervescence takes 
place, and, after a few hours, a white powder forms, covered with minute 
crystals, which it is easy to recognise as the oxalate of soda. 

2. The Gay-Lussite dissolves with brisk effervescence in nitric acid ; 
and if the solution, when complete, is allowed to evaporate spontaneously, 
fine crystals of the nitrate of soda are always obtained, swimming ina solu- 
tion of the nitrate of lime. 

These and other experiments having satisfied M. Boussingault that the 
mineral of Lagunilla contained lime, soda, carbonic acid, and water, he 
next proceeded to the analysis. The quantity of carbonic acid was deter- 
mined by the loss of weight which the mineral experienced when put into 
dilute nitric acid. The solution, so formed, was evaporated to dryness, 
the residue taken up by water, and the lime precipitated by carbonate of 
ammonia at a boiling temperature. The filtered solution was then evapo- 
rated and ignited to expel the salts of ammonia, and the soda was con- 
verted in the usual manner into sulphate of soda. The weight of the car« 
honic acid, lime, and soda, subtracted from the weight of the mineral which 
was employed, gave the quantity of water. This estimate was controlled 
by heating some of the crystals to a commencing read heat, when the wa- 
ter of crystallization was entirely expelled without any loss of carbonic acid. 
According to this analysis, the Gay-Lussite is composed (omitting one per 
cent- of alumina, the presence of which is obviously accidental,) of 


Carbonic acid, - = = 28.66 
Soda, - - - - 20.44 
Lime, - - - - 17.70 
Water, - - - - 32.20 


or, giving to each of the bases sufficient carbonic acid for combining with 
them, of 


Carbonate of soda, ~ - 33.96 
Carbonate of lime, - - 31.39 
Water, - - ~ - 32.20 
Carbonic acid, - . - 01.45 


M. Boussingault infers from these numbers, that the mineral of Lagu- 
nilla is a double carbonate of soda and lime, with eleven atoms of water of 
crystallization ; or, since the crystallized carbonate of soda is composed of 
one atom of the anhydrous carbonate of soda, with eleven atoms of water, 
that it may be considered as a compound of one atom of carbonate of lime, 
combined with one atom of crystallized carbonate of soda. On this view 
M. Boussingault calculates the composition of the mineral to be 


Carbonate of soda, - - - 34.76 
Carbonate of lime, = - = 32.95 
Water, - - 82.29 


(Extracted from the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, (vol. xxxi. 
25. On Fecula and the different Amylaceous Substances of Commerce. 


374 Scientific Intelligence. 


By M. Caventou.—M. Caventou has ascertained several interesting facts 
relative to the chemical changes which are occasioned by heat in fecula, 
and has applied them ably in illustrating the nature of the different amy- 
laceous substances of commerce, such as salop, sago, and arrow-root. 

Fecula, or starch, is characterised by its insolubility in cold water, by 
forming a blue compound with iodine, and by dissolving in hot water, 
with a due proportion of which it forms a paste. Chemists generally re- 
gard this gelatinous mass as a hydrate of starch, but M. Caventou has 
taken a different view of its nature. For he finds that paste cannot by 
any means be reconverted into pure starch ; and that on mixing it with 
a sufficient quantity of cold water, the greater part of it dissolves, a few 
opaque white particles alone remaining, which are found, on examination, 
to be unchanged starch. 

The change in the constitution of starch, by which it is rendered soluble 
in cold water, is ascribed by M. Caventou to the influence of heat. When 
dry starch is exposed to a temperature somewhat above 212° F. it acquires 
a slight reddish tinge, emits an odour analogous to baked bread, and if ex- 
posed, after cooling, to the action of cold water, it is dissolved- The same 
effect is produced by boiling starch in water. M. Caventou regards this 
modified starch as identical with the substance which M. Saussure has 
described under the name of amidine. Its essential character is to give a 
blue colour with iodine, and to be soluble in cold water. The solution, 
when evaporated, does not form a paste, but yields a hard, transparent 
mass, like horn, which retains its solubility in cold water, and in which no 
trace of pure starch can be detected. 

When dry starch is exposed to a still higher temperature than is suffi- 
cient for converting it into amidine, a more complete change is effected. 
It now dissolves with great facility in cold water, and gives a purple colour 
with iodine. A similar effect is occasioned by long-continued boiling in water. 

Salop- 

Salop, reduced to powder, forms with cold water a semifluid bulky gela- 
tinous mass, which does not dissolve in that menstruum even by the aid 
of heat, and which has all the characters of bassorine. Cold water dis- 
solved nothing but saline matters and a small quantity of gum. The 
solution did not give a blue colour with iodine, and therefore no amidine 
was present. Boiling water took up a minute portion of starch, the pre- 
sence of which was detected by iodine. Hence it follows that salop is 
composed of bassorine, with a small quantity of gum and of starch. 


Sago, Tapioka, and Arrow-root. 

When powdered sago is macerated in cold water for twenty-four hans, 
it yields after filtration a perfectly clear solution, which forms a rich blue 
with iodine. On macerating the residue in a fresh portion of water for the 
same length of time, a solution is formed, which with iodine gives a blue 
colour like the foregoing ; and by successive additions of cold water the 
whole of the sago may be dissolved. Boiling water dissolves it still more 
easily. The properties of tapioka are similar to those of sago. 

It hence appears that sago and tapioka have the character of amidine. 
M. Cayentou is of opinion that both substances originally exist in the 

11 


Mineralogy—Geology. 375 


plants from which they are extracted in the state of pure starch. Their 
conversion into amidine is explained by the fact that heat is employed in 
preparing them. Agreeably to this idea, M. Caventou has met with some 
specimens of sayo, which are very sparingly soluble in cold water, and 
others which do not dissolve in it at all. In these cases it is supposed 
that so a low temperature was employed in the preparation, that the conver- 
sion of starch into amidine is only partially effected. 

Arrow-root is exactly similar in its chemical properties to the starch 
prepared from the potato, and may be regarded as unchanged starch. 

It follows from these researches that the amylaceous principle of the po- 
tato may be substituted for arrow-root, and that a substitute for sago and 
tapioka may be made from the same material, by converting it into ami- 
dine by means of heat.—(Extracted from the Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. vol. 
XXX1.) 


26. Muride, a New Substance, intermediate between Chlorine and Io- 
dine.—At the Academy of Sciences there was read on the 3d July a me- 
moir by M. Ballart, on a particular substance contained in sea water, and 
which he proposes to call muride. It is of a blackish red colour, exhibits 
a disagreeable odour, similar to that of the oxides of chlorine ; its taste is 
equally disagreeable, and it exerts on the animal economy a deleterious ac- 
fion highly energetic. It boils at 37° Cent., and consequently volatilises 
with a facility which forms a remarkable contrast with its density, which 
is considerable. It congeals at 18° below zero, and it does not conduct 
électricity. Relatively to its action on different simple bodies, muride is in- 
termediate between chlorine and iodine.—Le Globe, No. 85. 


Ill. NATURAL HISTORY. 


MINERALOGY: 
27. Crystals of Sulphur in Galena.—The crystals of sulphur I found 
accompanying sulphuret of lead, in a vein of the latter, in sandstone, at 
Redpath, about five miles north of Wallington. Sometimes it occurs in ca- 
vities which appear from their shape to have once contained crystals of 
galena, but which has been decomposed ; indeed, where the sulphur oc- 
curs with the galena, it appears to be a result of the decomposition of the 
latter.—Wote from W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. 


28. Native Alum found at Calingasto, in South America.—A formation 
of native alum occurs at the place which is situated among the mountains, 
and on the banks of the Rio di San Pian, about 40 leagues north of the 
commencement of the valley of Uspallota. Many specimens of the alum 
exhibit a fibrous texture and a silky bark. It is excellent, and is used in 
these provinces for ali domestic purposes. The other day on my way to 
the Portillo, on the banks of a small rivulet, I saw there a formation of 
alum earth, where the alum is imbedded in earth in small round masses. 
—Fxtract of a letter from Dr Gillies to W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. 


GEOLOGY. 

29. Notice of the Explosion of a Volcano in the Andes.—TI have just re- 
turned from an extremely interesting journey across the Cordilleras as far 
as the Pacific, by a pass call ed the Portillo, to the south of Mendoza, much 


376 Scientific Intelligence. 


less frequented than the other pass. On the 1st of March, while approach. . 
ing towards the chain in which is situated the pass of the Portillo, we 

were enveloped for upwards of two hours in a shower of ashes, which, on 

further inquiry, I found proceeded from a volcano which had exploded 

about two hours before, towards the centre of the Cordilleras. Owing toa 

pretty strong breeze, I was only able to collect a very small quantity of 
these ashes, but sufficient to identify it with some ashes which I had pre- 

viously, on two occasions, collected at Mendoza, a distance of from 40 to 

50 leagues from the volcano, which is situated near the pass of the Peu- 
queues. ‘This volcano has been very active during the last year, and in- 

deed, ever since the great earthquake which destroyed Valparaiso a few 
years ago.—Eztract of a letter from Dr Gillies to W. C. Trevelyan, Esq. 
dated Mendoza, 11th April 1826. 


30. Singular Cascade of Lava.—Near Keokoa Mr Ellis observed a 
curious phenomenon. It consisted of a covered avenue, of considerable ex= 
tent, from 50 to 60 feet high, formed by the lava’s having flowed over the 
edge of a perpendicular pile of very ancient lava, from 60 to 70 feet high. 
It appeared as if, at first, it had flowed over in one vast sheet, but had af- 
terwards fallen more slowly, and in detached semifluid masses. These, 
cooling as they fell, had hardened, and formed a pile, which, by a conti- 
nued augmentation from above, had ultimately reached the top, and unit- 
ed with the liquid lava there. It was evident that the lava had still con- 
tinued to flow along the outside of the arch thus formed into the plain 
below, as we observed in several places the courses of unbroken streams, 
from the top of the cliff to the bed of smooth lava that covered the heach 
for several miles. The spacé at the bottom between the ancient rocks 
and more recently formed lava, was from 6 to 12 feet. On one side the lava 
was perpendicular and smooth, showing distinctly the different and vari- 
ously coloured masses of ancient lava of which it was composed, some of a 
bright scarlet, others brown and purple. The whole pile appeared to have 
undergone, since its formation, the effects of violent heat. The cracks and 
hollows horizontally between the different strata, or obliquely through 
them, were filled with lava of a florid red colour, and much less porous 
than the general mass. This last bed of lava must have been brought to 
a state of the most perfect liquefaction, as it had filled up every crevice 
that was more than half an inch wide. It appeared highly glazed, and in 
some places we could discover small round pebbles from the size of a hazel 
nut to that of a hen’s egg, of the same colour, and having the same vi-« 
treous covering, yet seeming to have remained solid, while the liquid lava 
with which they were mixed had been forced by subterranean fire into all 
the fissures of the ancient rock. 

The pile on the other side, formed by the dropping of the liquid lava 
from the upper edge of the rocks, presented a striking contrast, but not a less 
interesting sight. It was generally of a dark purple, or jet black colour, glit- 
tering in the sun’s rays, as if glazed over with a beautiful vitreous varnish. 

On breaking off any fragments we found them very porous, and con- 
siderably lighter than the ancient lava on the other side. Its varied forms 
baffled description, and were equal to the conceptions of the most fertile 


Botany. 317 


imagination. ‘The archway thus formed continued for about half a mile, 
occasionally interrupted by an opening in the fall of recent lava, caused by 
some projecting rock or elevation on the precipice above.—Ellis’s Mission- 
ary Tour through Hawaii. 

BOTANY. 

31. New Botanical Publication—Dr Hooker and Dr Greville are en- 
gaged in preparing for publication a work with numerous Figures, in folio, 
upon the New or Rare Species of Ferns, under the title of Zcones et De~ 
scriptiones Filicum Rariorum, &c. The engravings will be executed in the 
same style as those in De Lessert’s cones Selecte, and Humboldt’s Nova 
Genera ; and the descriptions will be entirely in Latin, The first part is 
in a state of considerable forwardness. 

32. Lemna minor and gibhba.—The high degree and long continuance of 
the temperature of the summer of the present year has had an obyious in- 
fluence upon vegetation ; and in no respect more remarkably than in the 
flowering of various plants. The singular genus Lemna, whose species are 
most rarely to be seen in flower in any part of the kingdom, and indeed 
were very long a desideratum in the botanical world, has been peculiarly 
favoured. We are not aware that the flowers have ever been observed in 
Scotland ; but on the 24th of July Dr Greville discovered those of both 
the above named species, in great abundance, in the ditch at the west end 
of Duddingston Loch. Lemna gibba has been seen in flower, we believe, 
in Great Britain, only by Mr Borrer, who observed it at Tewes, in Sus- 
sex. The stamens in this species do not appear together ; the second 
rarely becoming visible till the first has passed away. It appears to be 
certain, that temperature alone has influenced the flowering of these 
plants, as Dr Greville has regularly examined the same spot for several 
preceding years without success. 

33. Systema Orbis Vegetabilis.—A work under this title has recently been 
commenced by the learned and ingenious Swedish philosopher Fries, in 
which he proposes to arrange ihe whole vegetable kingdom, according to 
the views entertained by him, Dr Nees ab Esenbeck, and some other na- 
turalists. Our readers will recollect that the doctrines of affinity and ana- 
logy are very carefully studied and distinguished by the promoters of 
those views ; and it is certain that they have already contributed not only to- 
wards a more philosophical arrangement of natural bodies, but one also more 
tangible in practical investigation. M. Fries is well known by his labo- 
rious work on the Fungz: a tribe of vegetables, indeed, holding a low scale 
in creation, but capable of illustrating the advantages of the system pur= 
sued by the author. ‘‘ M. Fries,” observes Mr W. S. Macleay, ‘‘ has been 
able to give so connected and symmetrical an outline of what he considers 
to be the natural distribution of Fung?, as, at least in my opinion, to merit 
the careful attention of zoologists as well as botanists.” In the 14th volume 
of the Linnwan Transactions, Mr Macleay has successfully proved the same 
laws to be applicable to the natural distribution of insects; and more re- 
cently, in the same T’ransactions, Mr Vigors has extended them, in an able 
manner, to the orders and families of birds. 

In the present work, M. Fries confines himself to the genera ; which he 
intersperses with numerous and yaluable observations. The first part, re= 


378 Scientific Intelligence. 


cently published, contains 448 genera of Fungi, Lichens, Byssacew, and 
Alge ; four great groups, which he arranges in two classes, Funes, and 
Arc. The Lichens he considers as aérial Alge. Re Ke Ge 


IV. GENERAL SCIENCE. 


34. Notice respecting Mr Scouler’s and Mr Douglas's recent Voyage to 
the North-West Coast of America.—We mentioned in the number of our 
Journal for November 1825, the departure of Mr Scouler and Mr Douglas” 
for the North-West Coast of America, and under what circumstances they 
went. We are enabled, through Mr Scouler, who has lately returned, to 
give a slight sketch of this voyage. 

They embarked in a Hudson’s Bay Company’s ship at Gravesend on the 
25th of July 1824, and arrived at Madeira on the 12th of August, where 
they spent two days in collecting plants and insects. At Riv de Janeiro 
they remained a fortnight, experiencing the utmost kindness from the in- 
habitants, especially from the English residents, and revelled in a tropical 
vegetation. From Brazil they proceeded round Cape Horn to the Island 
of Juan Fernandez, where they landed, and found inhabited only by a few 
adventurers, who make a livelihood by killing and curing the cattle, which 
are so plentiful there. All that remains of the Spanish colony, besides 
these cattle, are the battery and the church ; for the place is scarcely visit- 
ed by strangers, now that Valparaiso is thrown open by the independence 
of Chili. Thence they sailed to the Gallapagos, uninteresting in a commer- 
cial point of view, but abounding in natural, especially animal productions, 
which would merit much greater attention than our naturalists were able 
to bestow upon them. The mouth of the Columbia was the place to which 
they next steered their course; but the weather they encountered on ap~ 
proaching the coast of California was more changeable than any they had 
experienced in the former part of their voyage ; and after six weeks of very 
severe storms, they at length came to an anchor in Baker’s Bay, Columbia 
River, on the 8th of April 1825. As they had seen no natives during the 
first day of their arrival, they made a short excursion into the neighbour- 
ing woods, proceeding to the distance of some miles in a northerly direc- 
tion, but still without seeing even the traces of Indians. The plant here 
which first attracted their attention, was the Gaultheria Shallon, crowned 
with its beautiful roseate flowers. From seeds of this plant, gathered as 
well by Mr Douglas as by Mr Scouler, individuals have been raised, pers 
haps for the first time in Britain, at the Botanic Garden at Glasgow. On 
the second day their impatient curiosity was gratified by the arrival of se- 
veral canoes with Indians. These were, all of them, of moderate height, 
and few had straight limbs; they had high cheek-bones and flat heads, 
whilst many of the children were still bandaged about the heads with the 
boards which, by constant pressure upon the infant’s skull, gives it that 
peculiar form which is characteristic of the principal families of the coun- 
try. The dress of the people consisted of a broad sugar-loaved shaped hat, - 
painted with different colours, and, for a cloak, their only covering, a robe 
made of the skins of a species of marmot, reaching from their shoulders to 
their ancles. This robe is common to the women as well as to the men ; 


General Science. 379 


but then the former had the addition of a straw petticoat, which descended 
below the knee. The few who had European dresses seemed very uncom 
fortable in their new costume. 

From these people, however, no information could be obtained ; nor till 
the afternoon of the same day, when a more intelligent visitor arrived, who 
was one of the company’s Canadian servants, with whom, on the follow- _ 
ing day, they proceeded to Fort George, where they experienced every de- 
gree of attention from the governor, Mr M‘Lellan. Hence it was that Mr 
Douglas made a voyage up the river to a new establishment, Fort Vancou- 
ver, 80 miles from the sea. He was followed soon after by Mr Scouler, 
together with a party from the Fort, consisting chiefly of French, Cana- - 
dians, and Iroquois, in the company’s service, and occupying five canoes. 

They encamped the first night of the voyage upon a low marshy spot, 
which is annually inundated by the river, and where a beautiful water- 
snake was killed, a species of Hydrophis, in whose stomach was found a 
large bull-frog, with the elytra of a fine species of Dytiscus. Every 
where the banks of the river were tolerably thickly inhabited by a people 
who never till the ground, and who subsist almost entirely by fishing. 

On the second day, the voyagers passed the famous Indian place of in~ 
terment, named by Captain Vancouver Mount Coffin, and by the Canadi« 
ans Rochers des Morts. These rocks, from which the place derives its 
name, appeared to be the cemetery, if one may so call it, of an extensive 
district. Owing to the dread, as well as the respect, which the Indians en- 
tertain for their deceased friends, they are accustomed to deposit them at a 
considerable distance from their dwellings. Here their bodies were pla- 
ced in canoes upon the rocks, covered by boards fixed down with cords, and 
further secured by having great stones placed upon them. In the canoes 
were lodged inany articles belonging to the deceased, particularly domestic 
utensils, as being their most valuable articles. 

Fort Vancouver they found to be situated in a fertile prairie, abounding 
in many curious plants ; and at this season (May) extensive tracts of coun- 
try were almost covered with the blue flowers of the Phalangium esculen- 
tum of Nuttall, called kamass by the natives, with whom it is a favourite 
article of food. The plant a good deal resembles the common field hya- 
cinth of ourcountry. The root is about the same size, and, when roasted, 
has an agreeable and sweet taste. In botanizing in this agreeable spot, 
they were charmed with the little Calypso borealis, and the graceful Lin- 
nea borealis, both of which are well known to be equally coramon in the 
northern parts of the continent of Europe. After this excursion, Mr 
Douglas made preparations for a journey into the interior as far as the 
falls of the Columbia. 

In the month of June, Mr Scouler proceeded in the ship to the north- 
ward, visiting Queen Charlotte’s Island, as well as Observatory Inlet. The 
Indians of these places speak a language totally different from that of the 
Columbian tribes. As to person, they are much taller, and a more muscu- 
lar race of men than any the party had previously seen, and were far supe- 
rior to their brethren of the south, both in industry and intellect. Many 
of them could speak a little English, which they had learned by their in- 


380 Scientific Intelligence. 


tercourse with the American traders. The disgusting custom of flattening 
the heads of their children was unknown here, but it was replaced by ano= 
ther equally strange, though confined to one sex only. The females hada 
large incision along their lower lip, in which they put an oval piece of 
wood, varying in size according to the degree of dilatation to which the 
wound has been subjected, so that it would seem as if some acquired de- 
formity was necessary to complete the character of savage life. Previously 
to returning to the Columbia, the expedition visited Nootka and De Fu- 
ca’s Straits. At the former place, the suspicious character of the natives 
prevented our naturalists from spending much time on shore. It is really 
painful to reflect, that the only savage chief of this country perhaps now 
alive, who was brought into notice by Captain Cook, is one of the most 
daring characters upon the coast. So late as the year 1816, this individual 
succeeded in capturing an American vessel, of which he murdered the cap- 
tain and all the crew except two individuals, who, after several years’ cap= 
tivity, escaped on board a vessel which accidentally visited Nootka. This 
chief well remembers Mr Mears and Captain Vancouver, and even speaks 
with gratitude of them. Maquina, a well-known character, is a stout 
healthy old man, but is still the same importunate beggar that former visitors 
had found him to be. His tribe indeed is now seldom visited by traders, 
on account of the hostile character he acquired, and the poverty of the 
place, yielding very few furs. 

The straits of De Fuca, and the gulf of Georgia, are still more rarely 
visited. The natives bear a considerable resemblance both to those of 
Nootka and of the Columbia. Their language is similar ; and they adopt 
the custom of flattening the heads of their children. They appeared 
to our navigators to be a peaceable and hospitable race, occupying both 
sides of the coast in considerable numbers, and subsisting chiefly upon the - 
hunchback salmon of Vancouver and Mackenzie, and upon a species of ha- 
libut. In the summer, they reside close by the water’s edge, and there 
lay in a stock of dried salmon for their winter provision. They migrate in- 
to the interior about the latter end of the mouth of August, and return to 
the shore in the month of April. 

On returning to the Columbia, Mr Scouler again saw Mr Douglas, who 
had made the most successful journey to the falls of the Columbia, at a 
distance of 250 miles from the coast. During this interesting route, he 
had the good fortune to detect, besides several new plants, the greater num- 
ber of those found by Lewis and Clarke. This indefatigable young man, 
still under the auspices of the Horticultural Society of London, is fulfilling 
the mission of that valuable institution, by returning over land to the east 
coast of America. During the remainder of Mr Scouler’s residence upon 
the North-West Coast, his attention was not wholly occupied by the bota~ 
ny and zoology of the country: he lost no opportunity of acquiring as com- 
plete a knowledge, as the nature of the circumstances would allow, of the 
manners and customs of the Indians; add to which he collected many ar- 
ticles of curiosity, such as the dresses, arms, domestic utensils, skulls of the 
natives, and a well-preserved mummy. 

A more full account of the voyage of this zealous naturalist will be given 
in the present and succeeding numbers of our Journal. 


List of Scottish Patents. 381 


Art. XXX.—LIST OF PATENTS GRANTED IN SCOTLAND 
SINCE FEBRUARY 16, 1826. 


16. March 20. For a Series of Machines, and certain Implements for 
Cabinet Makers’ Work. To W. THomson and J. Tuomson, Edinburgh. 

17. March 31. For an Improvement in ae Apparatus. To WiL- 
LIAM Erskine CocHrANE, Middlesex. 

18. May 6. For certain Improvements on a former Patent for an En- 
gine for Effecting a Vacuum. To SaAmuer Brown, Middlesex. 

19. May 6. For an Improved Apparatus for Spinning, Doubling, and 
Twisting Silk. To Henry Ricnarpson Fansuawe, London. 

20. May 6. For certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Steel. 
To Joun Martineau Junior, Middlesex. 

21. May 9. For an improvement in the mode of propelling Vessels. To 
Witciam Parr, Middlesex. 

22. May 9. For a New Polishing Apparatus, To JoserpH ALEXAN- 
DER Taytor, London. 

23. May 20. For an Improvement in Machinery, for Spinning and 
Twisting Silk and Wool, &c. To F. Motineavux, Somersetshire. 

24. May 20. For Improvements in Machinery for Preparing, Drawing, 
Roving, and Spinning Hemp, Flax, &c- To AtexanpeR Lams, London, 
and WILLIAM SuTTILL, Middlesex. 

25. May 26. For an Improved Mode of Constructing Wheel Carriages, 
to be used on Rail-Roads. To Tuomas SHaw Branpretu, Liverpool. 

26. May 26. For an Improved Steam-Engine. To Josrru Eve, London. 

27. June 12. For a Method of Applying Steam without Pressure to 
Pans, Boilers, Pipes, and Machinery, in order to produce, and regulate 
various Temperatures of Heat. To Ricuarp Mer Rarkes, London. 

28. June 17. For a New Manufacture of Ornamented Metal or Metals. 
To Tuomas JoHN Know tes, Oxford. 

29. June 26. For certain Improvements on Machinery, to be operated 
upon by Steam. To Francis Hatiipay, Surrey. 

30. June 29. For certain Machines and Improvements on Machines and 
Instruments, or Tools, applicable to the performance of Cabinet Makers’ 
Work. To W. TxHomson, Edin. and Matcotm Muir, Glasgow. 

31. July 12. For Improvements on Rotatory Steam Engines, &c. To 
Lovurs JoserpH Maris, Marquis de Campis, Middlesex. 

32. July 21. For Improvements on Apparatus and Works for Inland 
Navigation. To Henry AnrHony Koymans, London. 

33. August 7. For Improvements in Machines for Carding, Slivering, 
Roving, or Spinning Wool, Cotton, &c. To Moses Poor, Middlesex. 

34. September 5. For an Improved method of preparing Straw and 
Grass for Hats and bonnets. To J. Grey, and Jacon Harrison, Cum- 
berland. 

35. Sept. 9. For certain Improvements in Engines or Machinery, to be 
actuated by Steam. To Francis Hatuipay, Surrey. 

36. Sept. 9. For an Apparatus for preventing the Inconvenience arising 
from Smoke in Chimneys. To the said Francis Haniipay. 


382 Celestial Phenomena, October 1826—January 1827. 


Art. XXXI.—CELESTIAL PHENOMENA, 

From October 1st 1826, tc January 1st 1827. Adapted to the Meridian of 
Greenwich, Apparent Time, encepting the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites, 
which are gwen in Mean Time. 

N. B.—The day begins at noon, and the conjunctions of the Moon and 
Stars are given in Right Ascension. 


OCTOBER. NOVEMBER. 
D. He. Ms 58. D.... He, Ms 6. 
Feet 9B +) @ New Moon. I 2 58 21¢)1#2M )22S 
2 Sun in mean distance from earth. I 2-659 4046 )24M ) 22}’S. 
2 1 55 40¢)eMm) 47s. | 1 5 27 11g )vyM ) 52S. 
2 2 33 4d¢):Mp)3e7n. | 2 7 14 16 )e¢ Oph.) IVN. 
2 22 & On 3 5)? 
7 Ra eh IA Nts Dore fe tts 3 3 24 4¢)le f j5vN 
4 12 4 3¢)a2z)lan. | 3 3.58 336 ot DSRUN 
4 17 2 254¢)12M) 27'S. | 4 & ) Ceres. 
4 17 206 464¢)26M )27S. | 4 4 53 BBS )S ft YSN 
4 19 59 12¢)7M)57S. | 5 7 5 100) BMY )1IMN. 
5 22 40 364) p Oph.) 4 N. | 5 16 25 71m. II. Sat. 7/ 
6 dS )) Ceres. Geo) “25 ) First Quarter. 
G d)¢ LAega 6oH 
G19 Poke? A) eke a 1) Sos lod a Ae dg Oe 
6 20 9 4 ¢)2n f )2N.] 8 4 jess 
7 1 3 Sem 9 6 yu He py OE 
7 19 10 )) First Quarter. 10 5 )FH 
7 21 53 39¢)d f ) 48 N. |13 17 32 41Im.I. Sat 7/ 
8 d& )) Georg. Sidus. 14 VistBLE EcLipsE OF THE MOON. 
9 1 3 SIC) pI IN. The particulars of this Eclipse are 
11 23 6 QocM given at the end of this article, for 
12 12 ¢ Sup. and @) Edinburgh and Greenwich. 
13 © Greatest Elong. 16 1 55 49 ¢ } #3 )40’S 
13 14 45 Georg. Sid-in F7 ©]16 18 16 9G )EB } 20'S 
13 21 6g Pal 17 18 34 24¢)+TII )24’S 
14 16 dgardt 19 20 _ 3 & A Oph. j 
15 9 46 © Full Moon. 20 17 42 55¢ 2 ceeth GAP 
i9 19 38 3g¢)4y)ses [21 19 Cd EDD: 
20 11 59 47¢)E%)1vs. 122 3 ) Last Quarter. 
21 12 16 sld)vu)jeavs. |22 7 18 Gentes f 
21 17 22 51 Im. I. Sat. 23 5 9of 
21 23 Soa = g 3 i Ceres. 
23 10 48 enters ae 
293 14 50 Sie Quarter. Ze 23 = 38 4 a NY Joe S. 
23 20 Jb Un | 26 O 22 51 6 :TY ) 37 N. 
24 10 32 2446 )laeds ) 23'N. 28 VisIBLE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. 
24 ll 45 22¢ } 2a05)3'N. The particulars of this Eclipse for 
24 22 & Q A Oph. Edinburgh are given in our last 
25 & ¢ and Ceres Number, p. 71, as computed -by 
Bo d g Pi yao Mr George Innes. 
28 28 & Greatest Elong. from Sun. 
29 4) 3 28 5 32 436 ae 
29 12 51 200) TY ) 37 N. 28 9 47 Oi ua. 18 N. 
29 13 28 24¢).TY ) 18’ N 29 15 48 24 Im. I. Sat. “a 
BD, 18 G6 Yt 29 18 2 51g ) «Ont Me 
30 (*) Ecl. Invis. Green. 30 13 40 64)! ee N. 
30 13 22 New Moon. 014 13, 36.) 2a i 
31 =¢ 3) 30 17 20 23 Em. III. Sat. 2/ 
31 18 10 564 } x) IN. DECEMBER. 
31. 22 26 52:6) w= ) ISN. 1 5 )2% 


MIIES A reo orto eS 


Celestial Phenomena, October 1826—January 1827. 383 


Mercury. 
lie, yee 
23. 33 
23 44 
23 58 
8 
19 
31 


46 
54 
6 
16 
24 
31 


30 
22 
54 
58 
12 
40 


S Di) (He M.'s: 
wae) 4% by 22 15 57 14 Im. I. Sat. 2 
S ) Ceres 22 14 2) 28 Im. ; IV. Sat 
58d ) BM i N. | 22 16 22 19 Em. ‘ 
g nee 23 8 23 17 ¢d)aMm ) os S. 
464 25 WSi es 2 oD che Wie ys 43’ N. 
) First a 23) Tone i,'o" fe} 
57 Im. 1. Sat. 2/ 24 10 o) 
fe) Stationary. 24 16 GP2n f 
25 Im. II. Sat. 2/ 25 6 5 Ple ft 
37 Im. III. Sat. 2/ 25 16; 3 5246) «= )12/N. 
6a 25 20 24 40g Jax) 2I'N. 
d § lax 26 © Stationary. 
444 )s & )39'S Oat Oe Bee th, you! S. 
Full Moon. 26 I 1 27¢)24M ) 20'S. 
Sara ylvs. (26 3 30 32¢)ryM )50'S. 
J ¥ 38 NY 747 fee 4) 
14 Im. II. Sat. 27, 5 12 15.4.) p Oph. ) IT’.N. 
50d )vIl.)2VS. [27 23 3) 
© inf. 6 3 28 10 21 @ New Moon. 
10¢ )leoo )20¢N./29 1 15 576 )af )jSI’N. 
546 )2a05 )185’N.]29 17 50 301m. I. Sat. Y/ 
d § e Ovh. 30 d ) Ceres. 
hei. 30 2 465 9d )BV INN 
Last Quarter. 3l ra) RS 
S enters |/4 
Times of the Planets passing the Meridian. 
OCTOBER. 
Venus. Mars. Ceres. Jupiter. Saturn. Georgian, 
h ei Li ie h tas OE i hy ae 
2 55 5 6 6 dl 23 22 17 54 6 58 
2 58 a4 4 6 Al 23 mbt ty! AU 6 49 
be! ea 6 28 22 56 17 22 6 26 
3.64 4 358 6 34 22,, 42) U7 +6 6.7 
3. C6 4 59 Guage 22 27: 16 45 5 49 
3. 8 4 52 5 49 22) hE IG 26 5 30 
NOVEMBER. 
3. 8 4 48 5 3l1 21) APHIS GB" —h-254 
3. 66 4 44 5. 21 21 34 15 42 4 48 
Ses 4 40 Sey wider ee On pug 22 4 21 
2 356 4 37 4 59 ane a: ah ch 4 9 
2 46 4 31 4 48 20 46 14 38 3 40 
2 34 4 26 4) 28°" S20 27 2 16" 3-s0 
DECEMBER. 
2 13 419 4 12 20 5 I3 48 3.5 
1 55 4 14 4 1 19 350 V3! (29° 2) ab 
I 33 4A 3. 47 19) °S0sio) Woh So Qea2s 
0 59 4°50 3 33 19 (1E 12-489 2 °8 
Q 24 3 53 3 20 18 51 12 19 1 46 
23 43 3 46 3.5 18 31 11 55 1 2l 
Declination of the Planets. 
OCTOBER. 
Venus. Mars. Ceres. Jupiter. Saturn. ~ Georgian. 
° / ° / ° , ° / ° 7 ° / 
2135S 25248 2944'S 154N 22 22N 92 27S 
2326. 2529S. 2940 ~124 2221 92 26 
25 34 25 18 29 30 0 39 22 21 22 26 
26 36 a | 29 24 0 11 N 22 21 22 25 
27 28 24 39 29 17 018 S 22 21 22 25 


384 Celestial Phenomena, October 1826—January 1827. 


NOVEMBER. att 
1 19 18 27378 24138 29 6S 0368 9921'N 22° 228 
7 2146. 27 46 2332 2853 i 3°) G01 | 29. ag 
16 2439. 2723 2213 2830 141 ©2292 92 g 
22°25 37 2650 2120 2812 2.6 OBR 99 4g 
28°25 43 2610 2013 2755 230 2225 922 15 
DECEMBER. 
1 2526S 2538S 19238 2742S 2388 2225N 22 11§ 
7 2415 2434 18 2 2720 258 2226 22 8 
162117 2237 1548 26 42 325 22298 2 4 
221948 2111 1413 2612 340 22.29 22 @ 
28 1954 1943 1234 25 42 354 2230 21 57 


The preceding numbers will enable any person to find the positions of 
the planets, to lay them down upon a globe, and determine their times of 
rising and setting. 


The following elements and results for the lunar eclipse of November, 
have been calculated with the utmost care, from the tables of the sun by 
Delambre, and the lunar tables of Burg ; they agree very precisely with 
the times given in the Nautical Almanack, from Burkhardt’s tables : 


Apparent time of opposition at Greenwich, 14th November, 4h 9 9/9 
Sun’s Longitude then from true Equinox, November 1826, G® 21° 47’ 327.5 
Sun’s Latitude, then “ - - - 0”.19 
—— horizontal parallax, - - - - 8.90 
horary motion, . - - - - 2’ 31”.24 
—— semidiameter, . - - - - - 16’ 12”.41 
Equation of Time, - > = - - 15’ 21”.41 
Hor. dim. equation of time, - - - 0.41 
Moon’s Longitude from true Equinox, 5 - Is 21° 47’ 32”.5 
true Latitude, N. decr., = - - . 0° 9 52”.8 
equatorial horizontal parallax,* - - 53’ 51.2 
horizontal semidiameter,* - - 14’ 43”.7 
augmentation semidiameter at end total darkness, 0”.73 
<= eclipse, - - 3”.44 
horary motion in Longitude at 2, - - 29’ 30".373 
aS eee how preceding, - 29’ 30”.457 
ee — oe (Ol WING, - 29 30”.289 
ee Latitude, at &, - - - 2 27”.291 
a ee ae S10 —— how preceding, = 2’ 27”.316 
re OUOMINTS - 2’ 27”.266 
Angle of Moon’s relative Orbit, with Ecliptic, - 4° 45’ 41”.2 
Horary motion of ( a ©) in relative Orbit, ~ - 27 ib aS 


Distance centres ( and Earth’s shad. at the time of nearest approach, 9 50”.8 

The following table presents the results of the calculation in which the 
diameter of the shadow has been increased 4, for the refraction of the 
earth’s atmosphere. The alterations of diameter, equations of time, &c- 
have been carefully attended to, and the longitude of Edinburgh reckoned . 
12’ 41.4 W. in time. 

“ These results differing from the Nautical Almanack, the first about 13”, the 
second about 1”, I took much trouble to find an error in my computation, but in vain ; 
and haying compared several numbers of the Nautical Almanack, Conn. des Tems, 


Mr Adie’s Register of the Barometer, &c. 385 


and Innes, (solar eclipse) from Burkhardt, and also Innes from Damoiseau, I find con- 
siderable discrepancies, and therefore give mine only to one decimal place. The 
numbers I found were 53 53”.75, and 14’ 43”,69, and the former corrected to 
Greenwich latitude, 53’ 51/.17. 


Phenomena. | Green. App. T. |Green. M. Time.| Edin. App. T. | Edin. M. Time. 


2h 02’ 26”.4] 1b 47’ 37.2 
3, 10; 26°.4| 2. 55. 3.7 
3h 56’ 287.5] 3h 47.1 
3. 58. 18 .0|3. 42. 56 .6 


Beginning, |2h 15’ 17”.8| 1h 59’ 45”.6 
‘Total Immer. } 3. 23. 16 .8)3. 7. 45.1 
Ecliptic Opp. | 4h 9/ 97.9 | 3h 53’ 487.5 
Gr. Observ. 4, 10. 59 .4| 3. 5a. 38 .0 
Total Em., 4, 58. 40 .5| 4. 43. 19 .4]4. 45. 59.1] 4. 30. 37 .0 
End, 6h 6 48”.0] 5h 51. 27”.4 | 5h 53’ 6.6 | 5h 38’ 46”.0 


Digits eclipsed on the north side of the earth’s shadow, 17° 38’ 32”.0 
Only the Jatter part of the eclipse will be visible at Greenwich. A. 


Art. XXXII.—RecisTer or THE BAROMETER, THERMOMETER, AND 
Ratn-Gace, kept at Canaan Cottage. By Avex: Apiz, Esq. F.R.S. E. 


‘THE Observations contained in the following Register were made at Canaan Cot- 
tage, the residence of Mr Adie, by means of very nice instruments, constructed by 
himself. Canaan Cottage is situated about 14 mile to the south of Edinburgh 
Castle, about 3 miles from the sea at Leith, and about } of a mile N. of the west 
end of Blackford Hill. The ridge of Braid Hills is about 1 mile to the south, and 
the Pentland Hills about 4 miles to the west of south. The height of the instru- 
ments is 300 feet above high water-mark at Leith. The morning and evening ob- 
servations were made about 10 a.m. and 10 p.ar. 


MAY 1826. 


Thermometer. Register Therm. |} Barometer. 


Day of 
Month, 


Morn.| Even.|Mean.|| Min./Max.{Mean. ||Morn.| Even. 


ODDO PONe 


Bn ea Se A SSP PEA SRS PPA SHz | D.ot Week. 


6L9°6Z|G69°6S| ZE*19|90'TL|89"1S}| LE"09 | 8P°bS | LO"S9 PhL'GS|8OL*6Z|| R6'19|89'SL|6E"1S}] BUG | e"s¢ | £0°99 | r90‘0¢|z90°0¢ 82°19] Z'SLILE"0 | 8°29) Le'6¢ | p'99l| wesw 
£8"1|{60°0G6|9F0ZE}lo"0681} COG} REST||S° TL8T) 68LI | PE6T IL] |LV'GB6|FG'OGG]9°TS6T}O¢aa | S691|| S°LZ6T] sost} LbOG og: | ogoeles* 106 SRESTIIIISILIGL |@'S68166L1 | Z66L | ‘uns 
8o°6s |eS'6a “i 9L'6z |¢9°6a {19°89 | 08 | Le H1S"¢9 | 09 TL {re} "Ww 9L 
BL |ILb°6S |ab'6o “M 86°63 |68°6s ||¢°99 | LL | 9¢ co 149 199 loge] *s 96°06 ze jog o70L | s9 | 9L og 
Lo HLb'6S |09'6a < 8L°6S |I8'6S || 89 | 9L | 09 Lo |o9 |@ 6a} *S £6°66 2g |o9 GOL | $9 | 8h 1G 
65° |109°6S |IL*63 “IN 96°62 |¢0'0E |/¢.69 | 08 | Te |[¢°69 | ¢9 VL {gal ¢s 18°66 68 | 99 é 99 | bL $3 
C0" 1/69°6S |Lo"6% ‘s OT'0E J9T*OE |]oh9 | O8 | 6b eg 99: | L9 iL2| 1 Lz" 68°66 og | 1g |e%oL L9 | 6L jb 
TG" ||L9"6S |ob"6s Ss 9L0¢ Jotog |le6o | OL | 6p ¢9 |¢9 | £9 oal:atin 90°08 Lg |6b ||S'oL | 99 | 6L 9% 
0G°6S |b" “i Irog j90°0¢ |} $9 | 8L | Og je09 | PS {29 Jes) TT‘0g)| 810g: 98 | og |9°IL $9 | LL % 
ee"6G |0L"66 “1 Go0g |LO"0g || 99 | eL | 6 09 |og¢ 199  |pzlw ea'0s} Og'0g 1g jo¢ 9th | 99 | 99 ba 
563 |PS'6a M 600g |LO‘Og |} Lo | Lo. | LE |]s'Ig | 8h |S les) es Te"0g} Te"0¢ LL | 39 gg | 19° | £9 fd 
60° ||8b°6a |89°6z |] 9° | cg | LE Qi} goog |o0'0e |] 9¢° | co {Llp ||ole | og 1 $9 [Z3) *s T¢g"0¢} 8£°0¢ 99 | 6g go | 2S | 19 % 
LO" |/SL°63 |18"6a || ¢°6S | 69 | 0¢ ‘INI|LE |118°6s |eb'6s |ig'es | oo jae joes jag | SS Ita) ca 6g'0¢| 8e"0E 69 | 9b 9°09 | #9 Jo 1 
Sb* H128°6s |98°6s |/9"19 | Lo | 99 *$]|96" |]ae"6s |o9°6s || ¢¢ | 09 | on |/g°ge | 9g | SS loa) WL Geog} Ge"0¢ pL | 9p 9°09 | 9S | Gg 0% 
98°62 |oor0e ||S70L | 19 | 09 +S}]0S" |/GL'6S |F9°6s || GS | OL | Sp G°6G Joc | FO |6T)"MA Te"0¢] 96"0¢ tL | Lp 6G | £9 | O59 61 
gorog |o9°6z "OL | 0g | 19 ‘a 29°66 |29°6o ||S°69 | Lo | oo || 89 | Po | 69 [etl Bo'0L| LO°0S eh |oo || Lo | 6h | og | St 
___ HIL'6S JIL'63 || 19 | BL | 8b ‘iE @L'6S |9L°6S || 89 | OL | op |}e°6e | So | 9 IL1)"IN £o'0e| 66° OL | Lb 909 | 99 | oo LI 
£0° }]09°6S |sb'6a 19°09 | 69 | ao “M 89°63 |ab'°6s || 09 | 99 | bo |]G°lG | e¢ | 29 Jor] ‘Ss 910g] ele 19 | 1g ¥g | 69} 56 9L 
0G" ||92°6% |a9"65 19°09 | oL | 1¢ i Le63 |L¢°6s |G'LE | LO | gp 19: [29 | $9) Ion) *s 66°63| 9463 Lg |eg |g'so | 9b | co cL 
_ [9°63 |8¢"6o |] Ge | OL | 8b *IN|{£0" 1169°6% JaH'6s |/9°L9 | Lo | 8b 4g }@S | 69 Wp) “a 8°63] 00'0E OL | 2¢ oo | 6 | Ty ia! 
G0" |ITL"6S |88°6S |] 6S | OL | 8b ‘Ss G6'6S 19°62 |/9'19 189 | ogo |JS'Lo | So | 09 jet) .L PO'OE| LO‘ 6L | Lo |el9 | ¥9 | oF cI 
£0" 168°6S |p9°6S |} 9° | bo | BY "SHEL" 1526S |8b'6a ]"6S | 99 | eg |/ "19 | 09 | £9 WLAN 90"0¢} 80°08 6L | Lg 69),|\ 99. Icae at 
G0* 866s jes"6a |] EY | LO | Te “al 69°63 19 |0L | eg |}¢109 | LG | ¥9 ITI Llleg: || 00'0¢| 66°62 cL | 6b zg | 69 | <9 II 
60° |8h°65 J0L"6S |} O9 | IL | 6b “L 2°66 $09 |bL | Lp S29 | 19 | 99 JOT} "IN} 86'63| L6°63 99 | 6b 89 | £9 | oe OL 
88°63 |28'62 |} 09 | TL | 6b "M 8P°63 TO. -| LL | oP £9 1199 OL 6 | °s 00'0e) ET0e 69 =| OF bo og 60 6 
81°66 |L8°6s |/¢°S9 | oh | g¢ “i }e0" jlos'6s |6e"6a |} 69 |08 | 8¢ |} S9 | 09 Naeoa\Srles) LU‘0g) 13'0¢ b9 | ag eg §| - 19..| 22 8 
26°63 |e6'6o ||G°69 | LL | pe Wi; — [0b°6a Jz9'6 |] S9 | LL | ¢o 99 |'9 |89 {Lica Log] 910g sg | eg Lo | $9 | 09 L 
18°62 |L8°6z Ho"8e | OL | LE "Ss GL'6s \L9'6S || 89 | LL | 6¢ |/9°99 [69 | OL jo | 1 oL'0E| OVO cg | ag 09 | go | 99 9 
28°63 |Z8°6a || 6S | OL | 8p *GHOL* |[8¢'6s |LO'6s 19°69 | 6L | 09 [19°89 | S9 | 6h [co |*M}- OL'os| TL0¢ 19 | 6¢ Lg | go | 69 ¢ 
16°63 |06°62 || 68 |} 89 | 0¢ q]90° 1]18°6s |26°6% |} $9 108 | 0g oL | 89 OL Wp |L R00] £6°6S g oF 2g Lp | 6¢ b 
88°63 |Z8'6S 19-19 | Zb-4 19 “1 86°66 10°08 || $9 | 8L | ae 99 |09 | oh fe |" 98°62] 98°63 99 | ob 99 | aS | 09 ¢ ; 
§8°62 |10°0¢ || 6G | 99 | ae _M goog |Lo‘0g |1G°S9 | LL | po |jots9 | 19 | 0L 4's 81°63] 81°63 ¢ 6g Bo | SP | 09 ad 
B0°0E |e6°64 |} 09 | ZL *z||L0° ||86°6s |se'6a || L9 | 6L | oo |js's9 | 19 | OL |r] ‘s CL'63| EL'6s 69 |6 Po | OF | 29 T “ 
“uBd "XB *, ~) f « \ *x8 L) “ue “Ud ATT) *U1O ao t) ® Valmet "xB “UL “avo “HOA | "UIO TN 20 S 
~ ‘OTN War I OAT] | ULOT |} UVATA XE} cry || "UOT a WW) = = e UOAT] | UOJ || Ue W)C DIN ATT i Bs |e 
2 3 i Fr] 3 Bs 
B ai =| iB. a <= 
> “WATT 109s 1dox g S ‘yojyoWMOIeg, || ‘Ulta 1oysttoyy *JOPOWOULIOY, 5 8 P || -xojouorvg |] ‘way roystdoy “AOJAOMLOULIOY LD Fe, $ 
os B|m 4 
‘O6Z8T LSn9nV “OG8I ATAL ‘OG8T ANAL 


SOE. SS, I a a eee a eee ee ee SS SS - .— 


INDEX TO VOL. V. 


ACHROMATIC Refractor of Dorpat, ac- Boussingault, M. discovers mines of gold 


count of, 105, 385. 

Acids, hyponitrous and sulphuric, on a 
compound of, 181—menispermic, 184. 

Adie, Mr, abstract of his Meteorological 
Register for 1824 and 1825, 94—his 
Quarterly Register of the Thermometer, 
&c. 194, 385. 

JBtna, Mount, on an optical phenomena 
observed on its summit, 227. 

Air, on the quantity of in river and canal 
waters, 185. 

Air-Pump, on a new method of working 
it, 168. 

Albemarle Island, volcano of, 212. 

Alcoholic blowpipe for producing intense 
heat, 320. 

Alum, native, found in South America, 
375. 

Arago, M. account of his new experiment 
on magnetism, 320. 

Arts, useful, account of processes in them, 
168, 339. 

Atmospherical phenomena, notice respect- 
ing the rarer ones in 1625, 85. 

Attraction, local, of the plumb-line, 178. 

Aurora Borealis, on the sound which ac- 
companies it, 74. 

Axletrees, account of new ones, 170. 

Axletrees, on improved ones, 346. 

Barlow, Professor, on magnetism deve- 
loped by rotation, 214—on the accelera- 
tion in the rates of chronometers ob- 
served by Mr Fisher, 224. 

Batavia, on the results of meteorological 
observations made at, 268. 

Beaufort, Captain, on an earthquake felt 
at sea, 222. 

Becquerel, M. on the electric effects of 
contact, 3056—on a method of measuring 
high temperatures, 316—on the phos- 
phorescence of a remarkable stone, 367. 

Bell, Mr Charles, his supposed optical 
discoveries refuted, 259. 

Bibliotheque Britannique established, 4. 

Blackadder, Mr, on the changes in mer- 
curial thermometers, 47—on a new re- 
gister thermometer, 92. 

Blackadder, Mr, on an optical phenomena 
observed on the summit of Mount £t- 
na, 227. 

Bory de St Vincent, Col. on the genus 
Homo, 33. 

Botany in Germany, on the state of, 350. 


VOL. V. NO. I. OCTOBER 1826. 


and platina in Columbia, 323. 

Brewster, Dr, on the results of the hourly 
meteorological register kept at Leith 
Kort, 18—on a monochromatic lamp, 
77, 78—on the refractive power of the 
two new fluids in minerals, 122—on 
the vision of impressions on the retina, 
263. 

Brewsterite, a new variety of found in the 
Brisgaw, 186. 

Brunel, Mr, on a new power from car- 
bonic acid gas, 168. 

Burning-glasses, on the powerful effects 
of at great heights, 181. 

Carbonic acid gas used for driving ma- 
chinery, 168. 

Carnac, description of the great temple at, 

Cascade of lava, account of a singular 
one, 378. 

Catechu, method of preparing it in In- 
dia, 349. 

Caoutchouc, on the substances which ac- 
company it, 184. 

Cavery river, on the temperature of, 256 
—on the height of, 258. 

Celestial phenomena trom July Ist 1826, 
to January Ist 1827, 192, 382. 

Cement, Vitruvian, 346. 

Cowie on the temperature of places in, 

4}. 

Charamai, a lake in the Himalaya moun- 
tains, 277. 

Chasms, burning of Ponohohoa, 303. 

Christie, S. H. Esq. on the magnetism 
of iron in rotation, 11 

Chronometers, rates of two made by Mr 
French, 365. 

Chronometers, the acceleration of their 
rates explained, 225. 

Cold, notice of the severe cold of January 
1626, 243. 

Coldstream, Mr John, on the rarer atmo- 
spherical phenomena of 1825, 85.— 
his Meteorological observations made at » 
Leith, 190. 

Colombo, mean temperature of, 141. 

Combustion diminished by the sun’s 
light, 180. 

Comets of 1772, 1825, and 1826, 178, 
179, 364. 

Comptonite found in Bohemia, 186. 

Contact, on the electric effects of, 305. 


cc 


388 


Cyanuret of mercury, on the formation 
of the, 245. 

Decrease of heat, demonstration of Mr 
Leslie’s formula for it, 96. 

Decomposition of bodies, on the natural, 
116. 

Deutschland’s Flora analysed, 350. 

Diamond mines of Bundelkund, 376. 

Double star of 61 Cygni, 180. 

Drummond, Lieutenant, on an appara- 
tus for producing intense light, 319 

Dyce, Dr. on a new method of blasting 
granite, 359. 

Earth, ellipticity of at Port Bowen, 179. 

Earthquake in the Mediterranean de- 
scribed, 222. 

Eclipse of the sun on the 29th Novem- 
ber 1826, 71. 

Electric effects of contact, on the law of, 
as produced by change of temperature, 
385. 

Ellis,,Rev. W., on the burning chasms 
of Ponohohoa, 303. 

Eustachian tube, on deafness arising from 
it, 366. 

Explosion of a volcano in the Andes, 379. 

Eye, on its vision of ocular spectra, 209. 

Eyes of insects, on their structure, 297. 

Ewing, Mr William, on the structure 
of the eyes of insects, 297. 

Fire-fly, on its phosphorescence, 366. 

Flames, on coloured ones, 77. 

Fluids, resistance of, prize offered for ex- 
periments on the, 367. 

Fluids in minerals, on the refractive pow- 
er of the new ones, 122. _ 

Foggo, Mr, on the temperature of places 
in Ceylon, 141—his meteorological ob- 
servations made at Leith, 190—on the 
meteorological journals kept at Seringa- 
patam 249.—his elementary treatise 
on meteorology, 370. 

French, Mr, rates of his chronometers, 
365. 

Gallapagos islands described, 210. 

Gas lamp, a self-generating one describ- 
ed, 344. 

Gay-Lussac, M. on some sulphurets, 110. 
—on the reciprocal decomposition of 
bodies, 116. 

Gay-Lussite, a new mineral, 372. 

Gerard, Captain A. account of his survey 
of the valley of the Setlej, 270. 

Germany, on the state of botany in, 350. 

Glass, on a new method of manufactur- 
ing it, 349. 

Glow-worm, on the phosphorescence of 
it, 367. 

Gold mine’ discovered in Columbia, 323. 

Gold, Mosaic, on its composition, 344. 

Granites on a cheap method of blasting 
it, 339, 


INDEX. 


Hancock, M., his substitute for leather, 
345—his improved ropes, 346. 

Hansteen, Professor, on the magnetic 
poles of the earth, 65—on the mag- 
netic intensity of the earth, 218. 

Hare, Dr, his litrameter, 368. 

Harvey, Mr, on the effects of time in 
some cases of vision, 114. 

Heat, notice of the great heats in June 
1826, 240. 

Henry, Dr, on a compound of hyponi- 
trous and sulphuric acids, 18, 

Herschel, the planet, its occultation by 
the moon, 178. 

Himalaya mountains, account of the re- 
cent excursion of Messrs Gerard among 
them, 270. 

Hodgkinson, Eaton Mr, his observations 
on Mr Barlow’s theory of the strength 
of materials, 171. 

Homo, on the genus, 33. 

Hughes, Rev. Mr, on an optical pheno- 
menon seen on the top of Mount #tna, 
227. 

Humboldt, Baron, on the discovery of 
platinum and gold mines in Columbia, 
323. 

Humidity, on a process for preserving 
substances from, 169. 

Hyenas, on the habits of, 43. 

Hydrostatic balance, on an extremely 
cheap and delicate one, 118, 

Jacquin, Baron, notice of, 366. 

Iguana, a new species of, described, 213. 

Innes, Mr George, on the solar eclipse 
of the 29th November 1826, 71. 

Insects, on the structure of their eyes, 
297. 

Iron, metallic, on its oxides, 300. 

Juan Fernandez, island of, described, 
205. 

Kakoxene, a new mineral, described, 163, 

Knox, Dr, on the size of the teeth in 
sharks, 16. 

Kriel, Mr, his meteorological observa- 
tions at Batavia, 2668. 

Lead, on the composition of the native 
phosphates and arseniates of, 

Leather, on a patent substitute for, 345. 

Leaves, on the fall of, 330. : 

Legnay, M. on the manufacture of glass, 
349. 

Lepidolite, analysis of two varieties of, 
162 


Light, method of producing a very intense 
one, Visible at great distances, 319. 

Litrameter, Dr Hare’s, 368. S 

Lock, description of an improved mor- 
tise one, 380. 

Madeira, description of the island of, 
197. 


INDEX. 


Magnetic declination at Bywell, and at 
St Petersburg, 368, 369. 

Magnetic poles of the earth, on the posi- 
tion and revolution of, 68, 

Magnetic intensity of the earth, observa- 
tions on its decrease, 218. 

Magnetism by rotation, facts connected 
with its history, 1], 214. 

Magnetism, account of M. Arago’s re- 
cent experiments on it in motion, 325. 
—M. Poisson’s theory of, 328. 

Magnus, M., on metallic iron and its ox- 
ides, 300. 

Man, Isle of, meteorological observations 
made at, 231. 

Mason, Mr W.., his improved axletrees, 
346. 

Mechanical inventions and processes in 
the useful arts, 168, 339. 

Menispermic acid, on the nature of, 
189. 

Mercury, on the cyanuret of, 245. 

Meteorological observations on the 17th 
of July 1826, 181. 

Meteorological journal kept at Seringa- 
patam, 249—at Batavia, 268—at the 
Sandwich Islands, 370. 

Meteorological Observations made in the 
Isle of Man, 231—made on the 17th 
July, at the request of the Royal So- 
ciety of Edinburgh, 369. 

— madeat Leith, 
190—at Canaan Cottage, near Edin- 
burgh, 194. 

Meteorology, Contributions to, 141. 

Meyer Hermann von, on a fossil Paleo- 
therium, 165. 

Mitchell, Dr J. on two-headed snakes, 
187. 

Monsoons of the Indian Ocean, 251. 

Morey, Mr Samuel, his vapour engine, 
347. 

Nebula in Orion on a new appearance in, 
177. 

Needle, diurnal variation of in the Arctic 
Regions, 18]. 

New South Wales, on the botany of, 188. 

Orang Outang; on its habits and structure, 
166. 

Oxides of iron, 300. 

Pacific, account of Mr Scouler’s voyage 
to the, 195. 

Paleotherium, or the fossil remains of one 
found in Bavaria, 165. 

Parker and Hamilton, Messrs, on Mosaic 
gold, 344. 

Perkius, Mr on the performance of his 
steam-engines, 347. 

Pharmacy, questions in, proposed by the 
Parisian Society of Pharmacy, 184. 
Pholas, on two species of, found near E- 

dinburgh, 98. 


389 


Pholerite, a new mineral, 567. 

Phosphorescence, on a singular kind ina 
mineral, 367. 

Photometer, on a new one, 139. 

» Picrotoxine, on the nature of, 184. 

Pictet, Professor, biographical memoir 
of, 1. 

Platina mines discovered in Columbia and 
in the Uralian Mountains, 323. 

Poisson, M. on the theory of magnetism 
in motion, 328. 

Polarisation of sound, 8. 

Fond, John, Esq. on a new appearance in ~ 
the nebula of Orion, 177. 

Ponohohoa, on the burning chasms of, - 
303. 

Potash, sulpho-cyanate of, 248, 

Pratt, Mr Samuel, -on compound rods, 
170. 

Pyrometer, the principle of a new one 
described, 316. 

Ramond, M. on a singular phenomenon 
on the Pic du Midi, 180—on the effect 
of burning glasses at great heights, 181. 

Red-breast, notice regarding it, 82. 

Refractive power of the two new fluids in 
minerals, 122. 

Retina, on the vison of impressions on 
the, 259. 

Rio Janeiro, natural history of, 200. 

Ritchie, Mr, on a cheap and delicate hy- 
drostatic balance, 118—on a new pho- 
tometer, 139—on an improved air- 
pump, 168. 

Rods, compound, for bedsteads, cornices, 
&c. 270. 

Ropes, improved ones, 346. 

Ross, Captain, on the occultation of Her- 
schel, 178. 

Royal Society of Edinburgh, proceedings 
of, 176. 

Sabine, Captain, receives La Lande’s 
prize, 368. 

Salmon, on the spawn of, 238. 

Salt springs, raised by hydrogen gas, 189. 

Sandwich Islands, on the mean tempera- 
ture of, 370. 

Savart, M. on the vibrations of solid bo- 
dies, 48 

Savary, M. on a new method of magne- 
tising needles, 369. 

Schonberg, M. on the spawn of salmon, 
238. 

Scouler, Mr, his voyage to the Pacific, 195. 

Scrope, G. Poulett, Esq. on the voleanic 
formations on the left bank of the Rhine, 
145. 

Selenium found in Bavaria, 185—and in 
Bohemia, 187. 

Seringapatam, on the results of a meteoro- 
logical journal kept at, 249—thunder 
storm at, 253. 


390 


Setlej, account of a survey of the valley 
of the, 270. 

Sharks, on the size of their teeth, 16. 

Smith, Mr, on a singular phenomenon in 
vision, 52. 

Smith, Messrs John and Thomas, their 
description of an improved mortise 
lock, 350. 

Snails, on the mercantile importance of, 
188. 

Snakes, on two-headed ones, 187. 

Sound, on the polarisation of, 8. 

Sound which accompanies the Aurora 
Borealis, 74—distinctness of at great 
distances, 366. 

Specific gravities, instrument for measur- 
ing them, 368. 

Stark, John, Esq. on twospecies of pho- 
las found near Edinburgh, 98. 

Stars, explanation of their appearing so 
numerous when seen cursorily, 239. 
Steam engines, on the performance of Mr 

Perkins’s, 347. 

Steinmann, Professor, on kakoxene, a 
new mineral, 163. 

Steel plates, method of making impres- 
sions upon, 346. 

Stephenson, Robert Mr, on new axle- 
trees, 170. 

Stewart, Robert, Esq. his meteorological 
observations made in the Isle of Man, 
231. 

Straton, Major-General,- on the great 
temple of Carnac in Thebes, 54. 

Strength of Materials, observations on Mr 
Barlow’s theory of, 171. 

Stromeyer, Professor, on metallic iron 
and its oxides, 300. 

Struve, Professor, on the achromiatic re- 
fractor of Dorpat, 105. 

Sulpho-cyanate of potash, 248. 

Sulphur, crystals of, in galena, 27, 375. 

Sulphurets, observations on some, 110. 

Sun, spots upon the, on 17th June, 245. 

Talbot, H. F. Esq. on coloured flames, 77. 

Temperatures, method of measuring high 
ones, 316. 


EDINBURGH: 
PRINTED BY JOHN STARK- 


INDEX. 


Temperature of the Sandwich islands, 
370. 

Thenard, M. and Darcet on a process for 
preserving substances from humidity, — 
169. 

Thermometrical observations at Leith 
Fort, made every hour of the day ia 
1824 and 1825, 18. 

Thermometers, mercurial, on the changes 
which take place in them, 47. 

Thermometer, register, on a new one, 
92. 

Thunder storm at Seringapatam, 253. 

Trincomalee, mean temperature of, 141. 

Turner, Dr, his analysis of two varieties 
of Lepidolite, 162,—on cyanuret of 
mercury, 245,—on the suipho-cyanate 
of potash, 248. 

Uran-bloom, a new mineral species, 185. 

Vapour Engine, on a new one, 347. 

Vaucher, Prof. on the fall of leaves, 330 

Vibrations of solid bodies, as affected by 
different media, 48. 

Vision, on a singular phenomenon in, 
52. 

Vision, on the effects of time in modify- 
ing certain anomalous cases cf, 114. 
Vision of impressions on the retina in- 

vestigated, 259. 

Volcanic formations on the left bank of 
the Rhine, described by Mr Scrope, 
145. 

Volcanic rocks, account of Mr P. Scrope’s 
arrangement of them, 377 

Wayne, W. H. Esq. his observations re- 
lative to the habits of hyznas,.43. 

Weber, M. W. on the polarisation of 
sound, 8. 

Wells, Dr, his opinions on the vision of 
impressions on the retina, 265—demon- 
stration of their fallacy, 267. 

Wohler, M. F. on the native phosphates 
and arseniates of lead, 136. 

Zippe, Prof. on uran-bloom, a new mi- 
neral, 185—on Levyne, 186. 

Zircon found at Scalpay in Harris, 187. 

Zoological collections, 166. 


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