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OF

COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY,

AT HARVARD COllECB, CAMBRIIICE, MASS.

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JOURNAL

OF THE

ELISHA MITCHELL

v^l

H

H

Society

FOR THE YEAR i883-'84.

PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

R. H. GRAVES,
W. B. PHILLIPS,
T. W. HARRIS.

RALEIGH:

EDWARDS, BROUGHTON & CO., STEAM PRINTERS AND BINDERS.

1884.

1883—1884.

Presidea-t— R P. VENABLE, Ph. D., F. C. S.
Vice-Presidext— J. A. HOLMES, B. Agr.

Secretary and Treasurer — J. W. GORE, C. E.

EXBCUXIVE COMMITXEE

R. H. GRAVES, B. Sc, C. & M. E.

W. B. PHILLIPS, Ph. D.
T. W. HARRIS, A. M., M. D.

JOURNAL OF THE

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1884.

F. p. VENABLE.

The Mitchell Society has completed the first year of its existence
and it becomes the duty of the President to submit a report as to
the work accomplished and proposed, and the general well-being of
the Society.

The formation of a Scientific Society was first proposed at a meet-
ing of several gentlemen, connected with the scientific department
of tlie University, held on September 24th, 1883. A call was then
issued to all who were thought to be interested in the development
ol the State or the progress of science, in order to see whether the
encouragement would be sufficient to justify a permanent organiza-
tion. The proposed aims of the Society were the arousing of an in-
creased interest in scientific work, the building up of a spirit of
research, the encotiraging of those already at work and the advan-
cing of our knowledge of the State and its resources. The plan or
system of work for the Society was to have the centre of the organ-
izition at the University with enough resident members there for the
transaction of business. Monthly meetings were to be held, at which
popular treatises on scientific subjects were to be read with the hope
of interesting and training up a number of. young scientific workers.
An annual Journal was to be published containing all papers on
original work or observations, contributed by members of the
Society.

At a second meeting held October 1st. 1883, a regular constitution
was adopted and the first monthly meeting arranged for the second
Saturday in November. Many encouraging replies were received
from those to whom the call had been sent and the Society now has
upon its roll of members the names of 7 life members, 75 regular
members, and 74 associate members, or 156 in all, a most gratifying
showing for the first year. With so cordial a support, the Society

6 JOURNAL OF THE

The following officers were elected for the year beginning October,
1884 :

Dr. W. C. Kerr, President; Col. W. J. Martin, Vice-President;
Prof. J. W. Gore, Resident Vice-President; Prof. F. P. Venable,
Secretary and Treasurer; Profs. R. H. Graves and J. A. Holmes and
Dr. W. B. Phillips, Executive Committee.

On recommendation of Council, the following were elected hon-
orary members :

Prof. Joseph LeConte, Berkely, Cal. ; Dr. James C. Southall,
Richmond, Va. ; Prof. Charles U. Shepard, Charleston, S. C.

Adjourned. J. W. Gore.

PAPERS PRESENTED BEFORE THE SOCIETY.

November lo, 1883.

1 . President's Address .F. P. Venable.

2. Biography of Dr. Mitchell Chas. Phillips.

3. Insectivorous Plants . . J. A. Holmes.

4. Action of Sulphate of Calcium on Potassium Cyanide

(read by title) . . . . . J . F. WiLKES.

December 8, 1883.

5. vSouthward Growth of Florida . J. A. Holmes.

6. Ptolemaic Astronomy .... R. H. Graves.

7. Artificial Milk and Butter. ... .F. P. Venable.

8. Primitive Rocks . .. ..A. E. DeSchweinitz.

9. Estimation of Phosphoric Acid and Value ot Fine

Ground Phosphates read by title] Dr. W. B. Phillips.

January 12, 1S84.

10. "Radiant Matter " (illu.strated by experiments) j. \V. GoRE.

1 1. South Carolina Phosphates ...H. B. Battle.

12. Singular Sunsets and Sunrises (Fall of 1883) F. B. Venable.

13. Elements and Supposed Elements (read by title)... . . J. C. Roberts.

14. Chemical Examination of Drinking Waters (read by

title) A. E. DeSchweinitz.

15. Rain Storm of April 22d. 1883, (read by title) F. P. Venable.

February 9, 1884.

16. N. C. Phosphate Rocks and Tinstone Chas. W. Dabnev.

17. The Pons-Brooks Comet _. R. H. Graves.

18. Applications of Electricity -- J. W. Gore.

19. Volcanic Eruptions in Straits of Sunda - -J. A. HoLMES.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 7

«

20. Action of Gravity on one Atom ' Chas. Phillips.

Read by title :

21. Action of Ammonia on Lead Chloride.. Julian Wood.

22. Decomposition of Red Hematite (Chapel Hill Mine) F. P. Venable.

23. Barometrical Determination of Elevation of Chapel Hill J. W. Gore.

24. Stability of Filters washed by Hydrofluoric Acid F. P. Venable.

25. Observation on movement of Water J- A. Holmes.

26. Note on Lunar Halos F. P. Venable.

March 8th, 188.1.

27. Rosin and Turpentine W. B. Phillips.

28. Dissolved Phosphates H. B. Battle.

29. Tornado of February 19th, 1884 J. A. Holmes.

Read by title:

30. Results of Observation on Pressure and Temperature at

Chapel Hill ..Chas. Phillips.

31. Estimation of Phosphoric Acid as Magnesium Pyro-

phosphate : J. L. Borden

32. Alterability of Amorphous Phosphorus ...J. C. Roberts,

33. Solvent Action of Gasoline on Copper F. P. Venable.

34. Caffeine in Yeopon Leaf F. P. Venable.

April 12th, 1884.

35. Rotation of the Eearth R. H. Graves.

36. The " Chatham Blood Shower" ... .... F. P. Venable.

37. Tornado of March 25th, 1884 J. A. D. Stephenson.

38. Principle and Applications of the Spectroscope (Illus-

trations by Lantern) F. P. Venable.

Read by title :

39. Oxyiodides of Lead J. L. Borden.

40. Time of Flowering of Plants (at Chapel Hill) Chas. Phillips.

41 . Zinc in Drinking Water. F. P. Venable.

42. Indian Mounds in Eastern North Carolina J. A. Holmes.

43. Magnetite from Orange county, N. C L. J. Borden.

44. Measurement of Amethyst Crystals .R. H. Lewis.

45. Note on Reverted Phosphate ...W. B. Phillips.

MaV 7d, 1884.

46. Theory of Tornadoes .. J. W, Gore.

47. Coal-tar Products F. P. Venable.

48. History of the Observatory of the Univ. of N. C Chas. Phillips.

Read by title :

49. Silk Industry JULIAN Wood.

50. Medical Practice among Indians Geo. M allett.

51. Sources of Phosphoric Acid J. C. Roberts.

8 JOURNAL {)F THK

•

52. Production of Butter and Milk .J. P. Kerr.

53. Double Acetate of Copper and Barium J. C. Roberts.

54. Relative Solubility of North Carolina and South Carolina

Phosphates J . L. Borden,

55. Analysis of Cotton Seeds A. E. DeSchweinitz.

56. Nature of precipitate from Phosphorus in Carbon Bi-

Sulphide and Sulphate of Copper F. P. Venable.

57. Hydrate of Carbon Bi-Sulphide .F. P. Venable.

58. Analysis of Rock Salt from Virginia Thos. Radcliffe.

59. Zinc deposit in blast furnace _ . Tiios. Radcliffe.

60. Reversion of Phosphoric Acid in Superphosphate from

Red Nevassa Rock W. B. Phillips.

61. Occurrence of N. C. Phosphate in Duplin and Onslow

counties W. B. Phillips.

62. Geographical Distribution of Certain Plants in N. C --.J. A. Holmes.

63. Note on Indian Arrow Heads in Eastern N. C J. A. HoLMES.

64. Temperature of Well Waters at Chapel Hill F. P, Venable.

65. Note on Distribution of Earth Worms. R. L. UzzELLandE. F.Strickland.

66. Note on Food of Cat Fish W. A. Graham.

67. Note on Amount of Sand in Alimentary Canal of Birds. M. R. Braswell.

TREASURER'S REPORT.

Dr. Cr.

Annual Fees .. $164 50

Contributions for expenses ... 7 00

Stationery and stamps .-. $23 08

Expenses of monthly meetings 14 00

$171 50 $37 08

Amount in Treasury May 1st, 1SS4 $134 42

J. W. Gore.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

A SKETCH OF ELISHA MITCHELL.

He whose name this Society bears, the Rev. Elisha Mitchell,
D. D., late Professor of C-heniistry, Mineralogy, and Geology in
this University, was born in Washington, Litchfield county, Conn.,
on he 19th day of August, 1703. He was a Naturalist by inheri-
tance, by inclination, by education, and by profession. His father
was a v^ery respectable farmer. His mother, a descendant of John
Eliot, "the Apostle to the Indians," was the grand-daughter of the
Rev. Jared Eliot, M. D. and I). D., a man distinguished in his
day for a successful pursuit of knowledge in many branches of
Natural Science. He was a correspoildent of learned men, such as I)r.
Franklin and Bishop Berkely, and in 1762 received, from the Royal
Society of London, a gold medal for improving the manufacture of
iron. From this ancestor Dr. ^Mitchell inherited, besides delight in
the phenomena of Nature, and curiosity for its secrets, personal
qualifications t'at fitted him well for the life he chose. Like him
he was of a commanding presence, great bodily vigor, quaint humor,
solid and sensible piety, and liberal philanthropy. Insatiable de-
sire for knowledge was the prominent characteristic of Dr. Mitchell
from his boyhood. It was then his delight to spend his play -time in
telhng his school-mates wdiat he had seen in his rambles, heard from
his elders, or read in his books and newspapers. This tendency to-
wards objective Science was wisely and skilfully strengthened by his
preceptor in classical studies, the Rev. Dr. Backus, who, as a school-
master, and as the President of Hamilton College, N. Y., Was, in
the early part of this century, famous lor his excellent common
sense, his keen wit, his large acquaintance witli Science and Litera-
ture, and iiis devout deference to the teachings of Inspiration. Thus
it was that the bending of the twig in Connecticut determined the
inclination of the tree in North Carolina.

Fortunate in his parentage, and in his pupilage, Dr. Mitchell w^as
equally fortunate in his associations while a student at Yale College.
There he became a marked man by the depth and breadth of his
culture. Standing always at the head of his class, he was repeatedly
selected by his iellow-students to represent them on public occasions.
The dignity of his bearing, his handsome face, the originality of
the views he set forth, the humor with which he enlivened his argu-
ments, and the evident intimacy of his acquaintance with great
English authors, made his orations and debates both instructive and

2

10 JOURNAL OF TITP:

delightful to all men of taste and learning. To say that he was a
marked man in the class of 1813. a class thai contained Dr. Olmsted
of Yale College, President Longstreet of Georgia, and Mr. Thomas
P. Devereux, the Rev. Mr. Singeltary and Judge Badger of North
Carolina, is to say that his honors bore the signs of a vigorous and
well contested race. The last year of his course at Yale College was
ever memorable to him, because in it he joined the Church of his
fathers. The determination to do so was formed by the earnest and
gentle persuasion of a class-mate, a man by no means his equal in
the grasp or activity of his mental powers. So it was all through
his life. He who was often hard to move by argument, and gener-
ally firmly fixed in the face of opposition, yielded a ready acquies-
cence to truth addressed to his heart. He often gave what no man
could take from him.

Dr. Mitchell began his life long work of teaching, immediately
after graduating, by becoming an usher in the school of the Rev.
Dr. Eigenbrodt, a notable pedagogue of Jamaica, L. I. In the
spring of 1815, he took charge of a seminary for girls in New Lon-
don, Conn. There again, while busy with the head, he became in-
terested in the affairs of the heart. His love for Nature found sat-
isfaction in visiting the library and enjoying the conversation of
Dr. North, who had a great name as a Physician and as a ^^hysicist.
In Dr. North's family he also found, in the person of his daughter,
the wife who, from 1819 until he died, made his home delightful to
him by the wisdom, dignity, intelligence and charity with which she
presided over their household. A nephew of Mrs. Mitchell, Dr. H.
Carrington Bolton, is now sustaining his grand-father's reputation
as the Professor of Chemistry in Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.,
and so adds another to the group of scientific men with whom Dr.
Mitchell must be associated.

In 1816 Dr. Mitchell became a tutor in Yale College. AVhile thus
beginning to increase the fame and power of his Alma Mater he
attracted the attention of the Rev. Sereno Dwight, at that time
Chaplain of the Senate of the U. S. Mr. Dwight mentioned him,
with Dr. Olmsted, to Judge Gaston, then a member of the House of
Representatives, as two young men likely to become prominent Scien-
tists. The Trustees of this University were, at that time, looking
for men fit to fill the chairs of Mathematics and of Chemistry which
they had lately established here. On the recommendation of Judge
(iaston. Dr. Olmsted was chosen Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy
and Geology— while to Dr. Mitchell was assigned the Professorship
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. Dr. Mitchell did not

ELISilA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETV. II

repair to Chapel Hill at once; Imtypent a year in studying Theology
in the Seminary at Andover, Mass. This he did that he might be
the better prepared to learn and to teaeli whatever Science might
discover or Revelation inculcate. So it happened that it was Jan-
uary, 1818, when Dr. Mitchell began his labors in the professor's
chair and the preacher's pulpit — labors not interrupted till his death
in 1857. but continued during nearly forty years with great energy,
rare intelligence, and notable success — forty years of wonderful dis-
coveries in Science and profound discussions in Religion.

As has been already stated, Dr. Mitchell came to our University
to be its Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. The
ardor with which he entered on this professorship is evident in the
pages of a njanuscript volume which lies before us, entitled ''Compte
oiiTert de mes etudes, mes pensees—de mon etre.'' Its first entrv is
dated '' ^ept. 9, 1818," and mentions his ''mathematical studies un-
eonnected with those of the classes.'' It also contains a division of
the hours of each day according to the studies thereof. From sun-
rise, and " apresles matins,'' till 11 o'clock— the first of his recita-
tion and lecture hours — he was to study Mathematics with the reso-
lution "-Jene toncherais pas aucun livre de belles lettres.''' From
the hour for recitation till that for dinner he was to read newspapers,
a reading that he continued till his death. No man in North Caro-
was better acquainted with the useful news of the day. He was a
constant reader of the N. Y. Journal of Commerce, paying special
attention to its items respecting the sales of merchandise, and the
coming and going of ships, that he might know what was being
made and sold, and how it was transported to markets all over the
world. So it came to pass that his knowledge of Geography was
wonderful, for its extensiveness, minutene.'^s, and accuracy. After
dinner he was to study the Spanish language and Botany with this
provision — "./e lie toucherais pas aucun livre Auglais, a moins que
les livres botaniques.'''' On Saturday he was to busy himself with
" Greek, Latin, and Hebrevj, and the History of Greece.'" One en-
try is, " 'Petals malade et Je lisais 80 lic/nes dans la traite de Cicero
sur la vieillesse.'''' This book contains Dr. Mitchell's notes on New-
ton's Principia, Hutton's Mathematics. Lacroix's Calculus, Vince's
Fluxions, Montucla's History of Mathematics, Art. 'Optics' in the
Perth Encyclopaedia," &c., &c. We have seen how Dr. Mitchell
became a great Geographer. He made also a list of the years from
"904 B. C, Troy taken" to "A. D. 1719, Biot commences his ob-
servations at the Shetland Isles." It was made that he nnght record,
for each year, the events that rendered it remarkable in his eves.

12 JOURXAL OF THE

Tliis constant recording of his observations as he read as a red his
becoming a trusty and universal Historian.

In 1825 Dr. Ohnsted returned to Yale College. There he labored
Till his death and acquired a wide spread renown. Dr. Mitchell
was then transferred to the Professorship vacated by Dr. Olmsted ?
while his own inst- uctions were continued by the late Rev. Dr. James
l^hillips. Ardent as had been his pursuit of Science hitherto, it wa^
hereafter much more ab-orbing — for Natural Science was con-
natural to him. His Botanical studies in North Carolina began at
his tlrst acquaintance with its hills and vallies, its woods and mead-
ows. They closed only at the close of his life. For a memorandum
about one of his later trips to the mountains of North Carolina
shows that he carried with him '' avasaulumfor j^lonts., and a ham-
mer for rocks.''' The MS. quoted above contains a list of flowers,
mosses, oaks, hickories, maples, (fcc, which he had observed about
Chapel Hill, and about Hillsboroug i. A most careful observer was
Dr. Mitchell. His entries concerning his collections contain gener-
ally the date as well as the place of his discoveries — the n arks he
noted on his specimens, criticisms of the descriptions in Pursh,
Eliot, Michaux, Nuttall, &c., together with memorabilia touching
points still doubtful. One page is headed — '' Catalogue of plants
to he sent to Mr. Schweinitz.'''' Here then we have the data by which
a useful comparison may be made between the contents of the flora
in this neighborhood at this time and sixty years ago. What was
in the valley of Morgan's creek, from the wli.t-stone quarry, past
McAulay's mill and Kittrell's — now Purefoy's — plantation, down to
Scott's hole, what on the affluents of Boiling's creek — what on New
Hope — what around Hillsborough, and what "beside Haw Riv^er,"
are recorded with much clearness. An examination of what is now
in those localiti^s might show what plants have been lost — what con-
tinued, and what introduced, '^ven into the yards and gardens of
Chapel Hill. The attention of the Mitchell Society is rispectfully
called to this good work. Its present Professor of Botany can
doubtless spend — as his predecessor spent — and with the help of ar-
dent and able pupils, may utilize many pleasant Saturdays by re-
viving these labors of love for Science.

Dr. Mitchell left no such evidence of his work in Mineralogy.
But in his day it was well known to be equally broad and deep. He
had a large collection of sto es, and specimens of rock, gathered
by himsslf, and sent by friends, from various parts of North Caro-
lina. These — their names and their loci were very familiar to the
Professor, and he introduced them fully and frequently to his pupils.

^

ELISHA MITCHEl.L SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 1 3

But unfortunately he labelled very few of them, and what he knew
■about theui must be re-collected, because it cannot be rei ollected.
But he was the principal authority, while he lived, as to th*"* con-
tents of the soil and sub-soil of our hills, and plains, and moun-
tains. The light that the Mineralogy of State throws on its Geology,
arly engaged his attention. And he was in correspondence with
Agassiz and other Scientists, to learn what their museums contained
and how they explained the curiosities he sent them. It must be
remembered that, to Dr. Mitchell, Mineralogy and Geology and
Chemistry were juvenile members of the great family of Science.
He knew them when puny inhabitants of the cradle and he helped
to nurse them into their present vigorous growth, ani that without
the helps in Geography, Lithology, Petrology, and Biology that
a,bound in our Modern Laboratories. Hence, while the larger fea-
tures of the Geology of North Carolina were well known to him, he
passed away from contemplating them before the bounds of its
various deposits had been ascertained, and their relations to each
other settled, and the upheaval of our mountains traced with the
accuracy and fulness that marks the work of our accomplished
Geologist, Dr. Kerr. Here let me remind the members of the Mitch-
ell Scientific Society that as the first Astronomical Observatory i-n.
these United States was built at the University of North Carolina —
so by a Professor of the same University, Dr. Mitchell's fellow-
student and colleague, Dr. Olmsted, was planned and begun the
first Geological survey of a State in our Union. Waddy Thom^-son,
the brilliant Congressman from South Carolina, in conversing with
Gov. Swain, gave North Carolina great credit for its early, consist-
ent and persistent efiorts in behalf of political liberty. But he
complained that 'SSVie has done nothing since.'''' So also in Physical
Science she has exhibited an early and intelligent desire for knowl-
edge both theoretical and priactical. But herein she has lost much
of the ardor of her first love. Let it be the reward of the Mitchell
Society that its labors have moved her to "repent and do her first
works."

Besides "Notes on Natural History," and " Civil and Biblical HiS'
tory," intended to be guides for his students in their private studies,
Dr. Mitchell published two editions of a Manual of Chemistry to be
used in connection with his lectures and experiments. This was
another department of Science wherein evolution was rapid all the
time that Dr. Mitchell was a teacHer therein. But he was in the
front line of its progressives. His library and his laboratory showed
that he withheld neither time, labor nor money to keep himself

C4 JOURNAL OF THE;

well infonned concerning all that wasa dr)ing throughout the worFd"^
In organic as well as inorganic? Chemistry. Indeed the shelves of
his Laboratory and of his ware-rooms fully illustrated the Chrono-
logy of Art in that Science. They contained what instruments had
been useful as well as what were the fittest to survive. His oldest
Instruuients, whether of metal or of glass, were almost all made in
Europe. His latest, far simpler, more elegant, and more useful,
were made in Northern workshops, or were the products of his own
handiwork, guided by his own ex, erienceand rertection. We should
not forget the difficulties that beset a N;ituralist in North Carolina
in Dr. Mitchell's time. During a great part of that lime there was-
not a railroad in North Carolina, and the common roads were very-
vile. Travel through the State to visit a Botanical, a Geological^
or a Mineralogical 'egion was almost entirely in private convey-
ances. Books and Apparatus were sent forwards and backwards^
from Chapel Hill to Philadelphia, or New York, or Boston only
thrrugh wagons to Petersburg, or New Berne, or Fayetteville, and
thence by boats and schooners. In 1830 it cost more time aiid
worry for Dr. Mitchell to get Chemicals, or an Instrument front
Philadelphia than, in 1850, it did his successor from Berlin.

It is to be regretted that Dr. Mitchell's time as a student was di-
vided by his labors as a teacher into parts so small, and so separate^
that he could not engage in any work that demanded all his atten-
tion for a period longer than that afforded by a vacation of the
University^. IJe was much interested in the improvement of North
Carolina — was always ready to give advice that was valuable, be-
cause of his large acquaintance within and throughout the State.
The surveys for some of its roads he superintended in person. But
these exertions were limited by his duties at the University. These
he regarded as of paramount importance. Very rarely was Dr.
Mitchell ever absent from his office at the beginning a college term,
or from his seat at College Prayers, or from his de.^k in the lecture
room, or from his duties in the pulpit, or from the weekly Faculty
meeting. It was this conscientiousness, respecting duties imposed
on him by authority, that circumscribed his original labors in the
fields of Science, and rendered that fragmentary which otherwise
might have presented a well ordered totality. A striking instance
of this occasional working, and of the trouble which it caused, is to
be found in the history of his examinations of the mountains of
North Carolina. He had notic^Ti that the Michaux — father and son,
had both surmised that in our State, on the Grandfather, or the
Black Mt., would be found the highest ground this side of the Mis-

ELTSHA ^IITCHELL SCiEXTIFlC SOCIETY. 1%

sissippi. This conjec.ture was warranted by their finding among
those heights Alpine plants which they had not seen south of Can-
nda. So when, in 1830. Dr. Mitchell learned from Gov. Swain that
Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, entertained the same opinion,
because from that region rivers tlov> to all points of the compass,
he resolved to verify these speculations by inimediate and instru-
mental observations. But it was 1835 before he <?ould begin to exe-
<Mite the plan he proposed for this verification. Michaux, the
younger, had asserted that the Grandfather Mountain, which he
climbed in 1704, and on the top of which he sang the Marsellais ,
was, ''lAiplus liaute Montague detoute V Amerique Septentrionale.^^
But Dr. Mitchell differed from the great Frenchman, and prepared
to measure the Black Mountain by selecting its highest peak from
Yeates' Knob, as did Pr >f. Guyot afterwards, in 1856. On the next
•day, July 28th, 1835, he ascertained the height of this peak, and in
the same year published that it w^as "5,508 feet above Morgcmton,
or 6,476 feet above the level of the sea''; Morganton being then
thought to be 968 feet above the same level. Since 1835, Morganton
has been found to be 1,200 feet above that base. So the measure of
Mitchell's peak in 1835 should be regarded as 6,708 feet. The other
measures of the same peak have been, by Dr. Mitchell, in 1844^
6,672 feet; by Gen. Clingman, in 1855, 6,941 feet; by Prof. Guyot,
in 1856, 6,701 feet; by Major James Wilson, (with a spirit level) in
1857, 6,711 feet; and by the U. S. Coast Survey, 6,688 feet.

Dr. Mitchell measured other mountains in 1835, viz: Table Rock,
The Grandfather, Yeates' Knob, Young's Knob, and the Roan. He
visited the Black Mountain again in 1838, in 1844, in 1856, and in 1857,
limiting his visit each year by the length of his summer vacation.
In no one of these visits did he, or could he do all he wanted to do,
or all he ought to have done. Hence he became doubtful concern-
ing what he did in 1835 thinking that his guides had not led him to
the peak he chose from Yeates' Knob. And he lost his life in at-
tempting to dispel the doubts that were in his own mind, but almost
no where else. Those who wish to see the evidence respecting the
measuring of Mitchell's Peak in 1835 will find it in the number of
the "University Magazine" for March, 1858, and in the Memoir of
Dr. Mitchell published at Chapel Hill in the fall of the same year.
At this time, when there are foot-paths and bridle-paths to almost
every mountan height in North Carolina, it is ditiicult to realize the
hardships undergone by Dr. Mitchell in 1835. The measuring of a
mountain often cost him a suit of clothes, that of July, 1835, cost
him a week's hard work besides. His way was often to where the

i6 JOURNAL OF Tilt:

boldest mountaineers had never trod, through, under, and over
thickets ■ f laurel, where only bears and snakes or iwled before^
One object before hmi in 1857 was to collect, in a southern latitude,
corrections for barometrical observations on mountain heights.
He proposed to connect the railroad survey across the Blue Ridge in
Nortli Carolina with the rop of MitchelTs Peak by a series of
stations differing from each other by 500 feet of altitude. He had
sent one of Green's Smithsonian Barometers to be observed by l)r,
Posey, in Savannah, Ga. Others were to be observed simulta-
neously in Asheville, N. C, at these stations on he sides of the
Black Mountain and on MitehelTs Peak thereof. But this, with
many other plans for the increase of Science, tlie welfare of the
University, the honor of North Carolina were buried and lie with
him in the lonely grave on the top of the mountain whicli he has
consecrated.

Besides teaching in the lecture-room, Dr. Mitchell taught con-
stantly from the pulpit. After he came to Chapel Hill, and through-
out his life, very few week« passed without his reasoning with his
fellowmen concerning "Righteousness, Temperance and the Judg-
ment to come. " His sermons in the University Chapel abounded in
apt illustrations of revealed Truth drawn from Natural Science,
from History, and from Biography. In the village church his ser-
mons and lectures were full of comparisons of Scripture with Scrip-
ture, and with the daily experiences of his hearers in private or in
social life. For, in all his studies and in all his instructions, Dr.
Mitchell was a Physicist rather than a Metaphysician. He scouted
the notion that there is — that there can be any conflict between true
Science and true Revelation. He rejected the doctrine of a Natura
maturans by means of innate or connate forces, but proclaimed
that of a Natura ?7iaturata by a Person who, after creating all
things besides Himself, still works in all things, and by all things,
according to the counsel of His own will. He judged that Miracles,
as the seals of a Revelation, were possible, probable and historical.
His descriptions of the wisdom, power, and goodness of God in His
works of Creation and Providence were often connected with novel
instances of his own observation, and were always striking — although
addressed to the intellect rather than the emotions. For the re-
demption of mankind from its abyss of sin and misery he looked to
the mystery of the Cross of Jesus Christ, inwrought by the Holy
Ghost, and accepted by Faith. Ready at all times for every good
word and work, his purse and his co-operation were never withheld
from any reasonable and charitable undertaking. The poor, the

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. I7

widow, the fatherless and the stranger found in him a liberal bene-
factor.

'Although Dr. Mitchell used his pen freely in correspondence with
his friends, and published, in the newspapers of the day, much in-
formation valuable especially to the citizens of North Carolina, it
is to be regretted that he did not place his contributions to Science
and Religion where they might have been more easily and perma-
nently accessible to all Students of Nature. To the pages of Silliman's
Journal, however, he contributed several interesting and instructive
papers. E. g. In January, 1830, on A Substitute for Welther's
Safety Tube, and on The Cxeology of the Gold Regions of North
Carolina. In January, 1831, on The Causes of inds and Storms.
In April, 1831. An Analysis of the Protogsea of Leibnitz. In July,
1831, A reply to Redfield's criticism of his article on Winds and
Storms. In January, 1839, Observations on the Black Mountains in
North Carolina. After this time the great increase in the number
of students at the University, and the consequent increase of his
labors as Professor, and as Bursar, precluded such work as this. To
the end of his life he was, nevertheless, a close observer and a fre-
quent critic of what was going on in the world of Science, Religion,
and Politics. His pamphlet on "The other side of the Book of
Nature and the Word of God, ' and a large quantity of unpublished
MSS. show^ed that he was deeply interested in the discussions that
preceded the war of Secession. Had he lived to see this great civil
commotion, he would doubtless have manifested a deep sympathy
with the people among whom he had cast his lot in the prime of his
manhood.

Dr. Mitchell perished by falling from a precipice on the Black
Mountain, on the night of Saturday, June 27th, 1857. He was
descending the mountain alone to visit William Wilson, his faithful
guide of 1835, whom he had not seen in twenty-two years. A storm
on Mitchell's Peak delayed his descent so that his watch, when he
was found, marked nineteen minutes past eight. He was found on
the 8th of July by Mr. Thomas Wilson, the "big Tom Wilson" of
Harper's Magazine, for November, 1857, who with some. two hun-
dred mountaineers was searching lor Dr. Mitchell in every glen of
that fearful mountain mass. He had fallen some forty feet into a
deep pool in a branch of the Sugar Camp Fork of Caney River, not
far from the route he had pursued with William Wilson in his first
visit to those high places. He was buried first at Asheville, N. C,
on the 10th of July, but afterwards, at the solicitation of many
friends — but especially of the mountain men of Yancey county — his

3

1 8 . JOURNAL OF THE

remains were removed on the 16th of June, 1858, to the top of Mitch-
ell's Peak.

Such were some of the characteristics, and principal events in the
life of Dr. Mitchell, one of the pioneers in Scientific research in
these Southern States. "His bow abode in strength to the last,
neither was his natural force abated." At the news of his death,
men of Science marked the loss of a learned associate— while mem-
bers of our Isational Cabinet and Ministers to foreign countries.
Senators and Representatives in Congress, Governors of our States,
with their Judges and their Legislators — Ambassadors from the
court of Heaven, and men of reknown in all the liberal professions,
distinguished Professors, with famous school-masters and hundreds
of other pupils in the more retired walks of life rose up, in all parts
of our country, to do honor to their revered preceptor. May his
mantle of wisdom, energy, industry, learning, charity and piety rest
on those at whose feet the young men of our country are now gath-
ered, that they too may receive the plaudit :

" Well done! Thou good and faithful servant."'

DECOMPOSITION OF POTASSIUM CYANIDE.

J. F. WILKES.

Entomologists frequently find it convenient in killing insects to
use a bottle containing moistened potassium cyanide over which
plaster of paris is spread. The insect usually dies in a few minutes
after enclosure in the bottle, the mixture assumes a brownish tint and
the odor of hydrocyanic acid can easily be detected. As no expla-
nation of t^his re-action could be found, some experiments were under-
taken with a view to deciding the effect of the plaster of paris and
how far it is necessary for the reaction.

To determine the nature of the gas given off, about one grain of
pure potassium -yanide (only the chemically pure was used through-
out these experiments) was placed in a test-tube, moistened with
water and covered with a layer of plaster. Through an accurately
fitting cork two bits of tubing entered this test-tube, one extending

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 19

nearly to the surface of the mixed substances and having its other
end connected with a washing flask containing a strong solution of
iodium hydroxide ; the other just entered the cork and was con-'
nected w th a calcium chloride tube to which was joined a tube, 300l
m m long, filled with murcuric oxide. A smaller tube from the end of
this, dipped beneath a solution of potassium hydroxide. By means of
an aspirator, air was drawn through this system of tubes slowly and
at regular intervals for about two days. At the end of this time
the potassium hydroxide was tested with the ferroso-ferric solution
and no trace of prussian blue could be detected. The calcium
chloride and mercuric oxide tubes were then removed and air once
more drawn through into a solution of potassium hydroxide. On
testing this the reaction for hydrocyanic acid with the ferroso-ferric
solution was very clearly given. Here then was proof that hydro-
cyanic acid and no cyanogen was formed during the reaction. As
a confirmatory test, however, hydrochloric acid was added to a por-
tion of the potassium hydoxide through which the gas had been
drawn, then sodium hydroxide, and it was heated to boiling. No
ammonia could be detected. There was therefore no potassium
cyanate present and hence no cyanogen had entered the liquid.

The aqueous solution of potassium cyanide can be kept unaltered
in closed vessels at ordinary temperatures according to Pelou/e and
rieiger^(Giuelin's Hand-book, vii, 415), but when boiled it is resolved
into ammonia and potassium formate. It is well known that a strong
smell of ammonia can be detected on opening a bottle containing
moist cyanide, but we have seen no mention of the formaticjn of
hydrocyanic acid from the cyanide by simple decomposition without
the aid of carbon dioxide or any strong acid. It was noticed during
these experiments that when moistened potassium cyanide was en-
closed in a test-tube and air aspirated over it for several days a
slight but distinct Prussian blue test was given by the solution of
potassium hydroxide through which the air after leaving the tube
wa-: drawn. Of course every precaution was taken to free the air
from all traces of carbon dioxide or acid. It was made to pass
through a wash bottle containing a concentrated solution of sodium
hydroxide, then through two V tubes filled with small lumps of
solid hydroxide, and lastly, fo have proof of the absence of carbon
dioxide, through a small tube containing limewater. passing thence
into the lube containing the cyanide. This experiiiient was repeated
at various temperatures ranging from 12^ — 18^ c. and always with
the same result. If the amount of moisture was small the depth
of color gotten in the ferroso-ferric test was slight. ]f about 1 c.c.

20 JOURNAL OF THE

of water was used to 1 grain of the cyanide a clear deep green was
gotten. Witli calcium carbonate, ordinary hydrated calcium sul-
phate or barium sulphate, the cyanide when mixed in about equal
parts and moistened gave off apparently about the same amount of
hydrocyanic acid as when alone, judging from the depth of color in
the ferroso-ferric test. AVith the anhydrous sulphate a distinct blue
was gotten, showing a decidedly increased decomposition, and in
this case the mixture left in the tube had a purplish brown color
which was not observed with the others.

Since other sulphates and other calcium compounds failed to act
on the potassium cyanide and no change in the anhydrous sulphate
itself could be detected, it seemed probable that its action was due
in some way to its \ ower of combining with a portion of the water
present to form the hydrated sulphate. When an excess of water
3-5 c.c. was added to the mixture of the cyanide and the anhy-
drous sulphate the test showed very little, if any, more hydro-
cy nic acid to be given off than when the hydrated sulphate or the
cyanide alone was used and no discoloration was produced. When
barely moistened thi? evolution of hydrocyanic acid was considera-
ble. If porous, partially dehydrated calcium chloride was added
to the cyanide in the place of the sulphate the amount of acid
evolved was still greater and .the color of the mixture almost black.
Anhydrous sodium carbonate had tliesame effect, though in a lesser
degree. Again, when the cyanide and the plaster had both been
carefully dried, the air was drawn over them for four days and no*
' ydrocyanic test could be gotten in the final tube of potassium hy-
droxide.

The mixture of potassium cyanide and anhydrous calcium sulphate
left after two or three days of aspirating was examined and to con-
tain potassium h droxide. The reaction then is probably

KCN + H.O = HCN -f- KO'H.

It has been shown by Karsted (Poggendorff \s Annalan, 115, 348)
and Storer (Amer. Chem. Journal v. 69) that where air alone comes
in contact with corks and organic connectors carbon dioxide is
formed. This would probably account for decomposition when
potassium cyanide and water alone were used, but the greatly in-
creased depth of test when plaster of paris is added shows a decided
action on the part of that body.

Chemi-al Laboratory, U. N. C, Nov., 1883.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 21

REVERSION OF PHOSPHORIC ACID BY HEAT,

TOGETHER WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS

ON THE FINE GRINDING OF

ANALYTICAL SAMPLES.

W. B. PHILLIPS, Ph. D.

When manufactured Phosphates are analyzed immediately after
preparation, the percentage of Phosphoric acid soluble in water is
generally found to be higher than at any subsequent time. A por-
tion of it becomes insoluble in water, but is soluble in some of the
organic salts of Ammonia; i. e., in the oxalate, and citrate. To
this Phosphoric acid the term Reverted is applied, signifying, as is
well known. Phosphoric acid which, though at one time soluble in
water, has become insoluble in that liquid, and occupies an inter-
mediate position between the original tri-calcium-phosphate of the
crude material, and the tetra-hydrogen-calcium-phosphate of the
manufactured product.

The change from Soluble to Reverted begins almost at the very
moment of manufacture, and continues for an indefinite period, vary-
ing among other things with the raw material used, the quantity of
acid employed, &c., &c.

It might be supposed that as this reversion begins when the pro-
duct begins to dry, it was connected intimately with the process of
drying. But it has been shown by Post (Chem. Industr. 1882, p.
217,) that it goes on even in samples enclosed in hermetically
sealed bottles, and hence is not dependent on the loss of moisture,
under ordinary conditions of temperature.

The limits of this paper will not allow me to enter at all into the
discussion of the various causes of reversion. Among the more
prominent ones are the presence of unattacked oxides of Calcium,
Iron, and Aluminum, and Calcium Sulphate and Carbonate.

The object of this paper is to direct attention anew to the fact
that a temperature of 100° c maintained for varying lengths of time
on the manufactured phosphates causes a very rapid reversion.

The material used was a saj'.ple of an "Acid Phosphate" pre-
pared under my personal supervision at the works of the Navassa
Guano Company. It was prepared as follows :

\

22

JOURNAL OF THE

Fine ground Charleston Rock, - - - 1,100 pounds.
Sulphuric Acid, 470 B - - - - - 950

Several tons of it we. e made November 21st, 1883, and a sample
of it was drawn by myself November 22d. The sample was pulver-
ized by hand as fine as possible, and analyzed at once.

Fifty grains of the sample were then taken and dried at a temper-
ature of 90=^-100° C. for two days. At the end of that time a sample
was drawn, pulverized until it passed through a sieve of 100 meshes
per square inch, and analyzed.

The drying was continued for eight (8) days longer, at the end of
which time a sample was drawn, passed through a 100 mesh sieve,
and analyzed.

Tabulating these results for convenience of reference we have :

A.

B.

C.

On a dry basis.

24 hours after prep-
aration, pulverized
by hand.

After 2 days at 90^-
loo'^ c. Through
100 mesh sieve.

After 10 days at
90°-ioo°c. Thro'
100 mesh sieve.

Total Phos. Acid
Soluble
Insoluble "
Reverted '
Available "

17.31 per cent.
11.74 "

3.32 "

2.25 "

13.99 " "

17.13 per cent.

10.59 " *'

2.95 " "

3.59 " "
14.18 " "

17.32 per cent.

7.48 "
2.85 "
6.99 " "
14.47 " "

We have here a loss of 4.26 per cent, of Sol. Phos. acid in days,
a loss of .47 per cent of Insol. Phos. acid, and a gain of 4.74 per
cent, of Reverted. Ordinarily the loss of Soluble is compensated
by the gain of Reverted, while the Insoluble remains about the
same. Post, in the article before referred to, claims to have found
that in the course of six (6) months, in sealed bottles, some of the
Soluble becomes so Insoluble as not to be dissolved by Am. Citrate
at 90° C. But here it is shown that in ten (10) days at a temperature
of 90 — 100° C. Some of the originally Insoluble Phos. acid, viz:
.47 per cent, aas 6ecome Soluble in Am. Citrate at 40° C, that is,
has changed to Reverted ! But this loss of .47 percent, of Insol.
Phos. acid is doubtless due to the very fine grinding of the dry
samples. For the difference in Insol. Phos. acid between the fir-t
and second analyses is .37 pei cent., while the differeiice between
the second and third is only .10 per cent. That is to say, the differ-
ence between the Insol. Phos. acid in the sample pulverized by
hand, and the sample dried for two (2) days and then passed through
a 100 mesh sieve is .37 per cent, in favor of the finely pulverized.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIEx\TIFIC SOCIETY. 23

Bat the difference between the two finely pulverized samples after
eight (8) days of drying is only . 10 per cent.

That the Am. Citrate should dissolve more Phos. acid from the
finely ground san pie is just what was to be expectei. When sufii-
cient Sulphuric acid is added to the crude Tri -calcium Phosphate
to render all of the Phosphoric acid Soluble in water reversion
does not appear to proceed as rapidly as when there is present some
of the original undecomposed phosphate. But in this casf^, when
using Charleston Rock, it is very difiicult to obtain a product which
will dry in a reasonable time without the aid of artificial heat, or
some carbonate as a dryer. Using artificial heat there is great
danger of hastening reversion, and the same is true if some chemi-
cal "dryer" is used, to say nothing of the reduction of the content
of total Phosphoric acid in this latter case.

There is one point to which I wish to direct especial attenti- n,
and that is what I conceive to be the necessity for fine grinding of
the ancdytical sa7nx)le. Plants derive their food from the soil in
solution*, and in these solutions the food is in a state of almost in-
conceivable fineness.

In estimating the value by chemical analysis of any plant food,
we should, as far as practical, approximate to the degree of fine-
ness to which the food must be reduced before the plant can use it.

Other things being equal, the finer we grind analytical samples be-
fore acting upon them with chemical reagents which in a greater or
less degree represent the action of the soil the nearer do we approach
to the methods of nature.

Laboratory of Navassa Guano Company, \
Wilmington, N. C, Dec. 6tli, 1883. /

ANALYSIS OF CHAPEL HILL WELL-WATERS.

E. A. DeSCHWEINITZ, A. B.

The sampl s examin d were drawn during the months of October
and November, 1883. The methods of analysis given in Cairns Avere
followed, as a rule. The oxidizable organic matter was roughly de-
termined by titration with potassium permanganate. The results

24

JOURNAL OF THE

are calculated in grains to th-^ gallon and for purposes of compari-
son certain published analyses are appended.

I is tlie Campus well; II the well at President Battle's; III the
well at Hon. John Manning's; IV the well at Dr. Venable's; V the
well at Mrs. Hendon's; VI the well at Dr. Phillips' ; VII is calculated
from the analysis of a pure spring in Surrey, England, published in
Watt's Dictionary ; VIII is a spring, less pure, from Yorkshire, Eng-
land; IX is the lake of Geneva; X is rain-water.

Na CI ....

K CI

Nao So^ . .
Kg S04 .. -

Na.3 COg .

Ko C03

Mg S04 . . -
Mg Clo.-.
MgCo3...

Ca C03

SiOo

Oxidizable
Org. mat. .

Total

.873

11 i III

IV

V I VI

VII

.416 9. 90S 2.3202.264 3.283 .722
.260 .128 .261! .I4II .327

.211

VIII.
43- 246

I. 121 .212

084 .303 --

.227 .092
.106 .359

.486! -.210 3.066 .987

.420
2.493

•438

5-915

.905 4.485 7.740

.666 1.942 2.841

.279 .162 .138

• 003

1.078
38.414

IX

----- .253
--- i 1-235

.583;

1.220I 9.005

2.963! 2.676

trace.

trace.

162' .579

3.202 19.956 14.603 ♦7-456 17-172

.829
Ca 804 = . 899

•754

3-34

.656
1.767

I 525

.185

2.465
•504

4-693
.058
Ca 804 = . 746

87.243! 8.466

X. Organic matter - -- 040

Chemical Laborator5\ U. N. C, )
January 12th, 1884. j

ACTION OF AMMONIA HYDRATE UPON LEAD

CHLORIDE.

JULIAN WOOD.

The lead chloride for these experiments was gotten by precipita-
ting pure lead nitrate with hydrochloric acid. The precipitate was
thoroughly washed and dried. To about 7 grains of thi> chloride
140 c.c. of ammonia solution was added, the mixture being heated

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 2$

then some six hours upon a sand bath. The residue was washed,
dried and analyzed with the following results :

I. ,6200 grams of substance gave .3585 grams AgCl. p, c. C1. = I4.20.
The water was determined and CI. calculated on a dry basis=:i4.68.

II. .5003 grams of substance gave .2950 grams AgCl. p. c. CI. = 14. 57.

No water in the specimen.
III. .5650 grams of substance gave .3265 grams AgCl. p. c. CI. = 14.29,

Calculated water free= 14.54.

IV. 1.3345 grams of s\xbstance gave i. 5340 grams PbSO 4 p. c. Pb. 78.52.

Free of waters 81. 14,

V. HgO in air-dried substance = 3.33 p. c.

I. II. III. IV. V,
Pbg calculated p. c. 82.56 found p. c. 81.14

O ^' " 3-31 "

CI2 " *' 14.13 " " 14.68 14-57 14-54

HgO '' " 3-46 '• " 3.33

Again between ten and eleven grams of the chloride was heated
wth 175 c.c. ammonia solution for twelve hours on a water-bath, then
washed and dried as before.

I. .145 grams of substance gave .0525 grams AgCl. p. c. CI. = 8.61,

Water-free = 8. 70.
IL .4935 grams of substance gave .1490 grams AgCl. p. c. CI. = 7.48.

Water-free=7.56.

III. .5035 grams of substance gave .1594 grams AgCl. p. c. CI. = 7.81.

VVater-free=7.89. •
IV. 1.5353 grams of substance gave 1.9420 grams PbSO^ p. c. Pb=86.3l.

Water-free=87.26.

I. II. III. IV.

Pb4 calculated p. c. 87.53 found p. c. 87.26.

CI2 " " 7.48 " 8.70 7.56 7.89

O3 '* " 4.99

These two experiments then would point to the formation of two
entirely different bodies, the first having the formula PbCl.,. PbO.
HgO., the second the formula PbCL. SPbO. HoO.

^To test the correctness of these results two equal amounts of the
chloride (about five grams) were taken, ammonia solution added
and the two then heated, one upon sand-bath and the other upon
water-bath. As the one on the sand-bath was kept at a brisk boil,
evaporation was faster and more of the ammonia had to be added
to replace that which was thus lost. Hence to the chloride upon

4

26 JOURNAL OF THE

the sand-bath 145 c.c. were added, whereas 65 c.c. sufficed for that
heated on the water-bath. The object was to keep the ammonia,
solution strong enough to give always a decided ammonia smell.
Once or 1 wice, however, that upon the sand-bath became very weak.
The residue from the sand-bath mixture was washed. The sub-
stance was creamy yellow and was unchanged, by heating up to 200=^ C -

I. .5060 grams of substance gave .2745 grams AgCl. p. c. Q.=^i3.4i

Water-free= 13.89.
II. 1.2700 grams of substance gave 1.4730 grams PbSO^ p. c. Pb=78.45

Water-free = 81.26.

I.

II.

Pb ealcuTated p. c. 82.56 found p. e.

81.26

CI2 " " 14.13 "

i-3-8g

0 "' " 3.31 '"

The formula then is PbClg. PbO.

The residue from the water-bath was much yellower and becante
a deep yellow on heating. The analysis gave the foll6wiiig results :

I. .520 grams of subs-tance gave .1370 grams AgCl. p. c. CI, =6. 51

Water-free=7.28.

Thi« corresponds with the per centage of chlorine calculated for
the tribasic chloride Pbclg. 3Pbo.

As Mr. Wood had to leave the research at this point, further iik-
quiry into this formation of the oxysalts of lead was left to Mr,
Borden, who contributed the next paper.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C, Feb. 9, 1.884.

EXAMINATION OF IRON ORES FROM CHAPEL

HILL MINE. ^

J. C. ROBERTA.

I'he samples were not selected so as to ^ive the eommefcial valu0
Of the mine but were chosen to illustrate the different grades of the
ore and its decomposition so far as possible. The samples taken
were as follows: 1° A fairly compact Brown Hematite; 2° A crum-

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

27

bling, siliceous, nearly decomposed ore ; 3=> Fairly compact, purplish
browii ; 4:° Compact, representing mass of ore; 5° Very compact,
showing crystalline structure; 6° Compact and siliceous; 7° Com-
pact and siliceous; 8° Very compact. As to magnetic properties,
1^ was not at all magnetic— 2, 3, and 4 very slightly so — 5, 6, and 7
rather more magnetic — 8 decidedly magnetic. The general charac-
ter of the ore is compact, crystalline with a slight action upon the
needle. Tests were made for titanium an^ chromium but none
found in the specimens examined. The solubility (relative) was
tested by putting a gram of each ore in a small loosely stoppered
flask, covering with 5 c.c. of hydrochloric acid (Sp. Gr. 1.15) and
heating on a sand-bath two hours. All were heated at the same
time, so the same temperature was maintained as nearly as possible.
As a rule, the methods recommended in Cairns^ Quantitative Analysis
were followed for the various determinations. In the colunm headed
*' Solubility,'' the figures show what percentage of the total amount
of iron present was dissolved.

G

g

a.

•

>

c3

0
0
Cm
t/5

p. c. Fe,

p. c, Siog

p.c. HgO

p.c.S.

p.c. P

p, c, Mn.

p. C. AI2O3

3

'0

CD

I
2

3

4

5
6

3-19
3-74
4.16

4-30
4-79
3-74
3-70

4-45

46.47
46.07
50.45
57-41
61.99

39-94
37-48
52.71

21.35
29.81

2a. 60
17.09

1

11.96

.40

1.26

-72

-25

I races

.09

.03

.06
.01

.05
none.

none,
none,
none,
none.

none.
3-97

3-93
none.

100.00

100.00

100.00

90.16

63-31
95-89
85-64

7
8

25.65

The figures for the percentage of silica were gotten by analysis
only in the case of Nos. 4 and 8, In the other cases they were got-
ten by difference, Nos, 5, 6 and 7, were determined only so far as
the iron was concerned, since they seemed merely siliceous varieties
of No. 4. In No. 8 the silica is probably a little high as the ore is
somewhat magnetic. The difiiculty of reaching exactly the same
<?onditions with this ore (No, 8) prevented a determination its rela-
tive solubility.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C, February, 1884.

28 JOURNAL OF THE

NOTES ON THE TORNADO WHICH OCCURRED

IN RICHMOND COUNTY, N. C,

FEBRUARY iqtit, 1884.

J. A. HOLMES.

It will be remembered that on February 19th of the present year
(1884), occurred an extensive series of tornadoes, which beginning at
their western Hmits during the early morning hours, as the day ad-
vanced moved in a general easterly and northeasterly course through
parts of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee, and from Mississippi
through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and
into Virginia. Tornadoes occurred in South Carolina between the
hours of about 5 and 10 o'clock p. m. ; in North Carolina between
9 and 11 p. m. : and in Virginia about 12 o'clock midnight.

At the time of the occurrence of the tornadoes in the Carolinas,
the general storm center (region of barometric minima) was pass-
ing over the central portion of Lake Huron.- Around this center
the isobars were so disposed as to form a somewhat irregular oblong
barometric trough, the major axis of which was extended in a nearly
north and south direction. At this time over the central Mississippi
Basin, and as far South as Atlanta, the winds were from the northwest ;
in the southeast portion of the Basin these winds turned toward the
east. Along the South Atlantic Seaboard from Savannah to Cape
Hatteras, the winds moved from the ocean in a general northerly
course. The winds from the northwest were cold — those from the
south were warm and moist ; and whether this fact may or may not
have been an important factor in producing the tornadoes, it was
over the region of country where the meeting of these winds took
place that the series of violent tornadoes occurred.

The tornado to be considered in this paper occurred in Richmond
county, N. C, — passing near Rockingham and continuing a north-
east course beyond that town. In loss of life it proved to be the
most destructive tornado recorded as having occurred in the State.
Eighteen persons were killed at the time and seventy-five wounded;
loss in property estimated at f 10, 000. The writer visited the path
of this tornado one week after the occurrence storm, and examined

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 29

about ten miles of it, including the portion of over which the de-
struction was greatest.

The first appearance of destructive work by the storm, so far as
I was able to learn, is just east of the Peedee River, about six miles
below the Carolina Central R. R. Bridge. From this place the storm
moved on toward the northeast, passing within one mile of the town
of Rockingham, eight miles distant. From such information as
could be obtained, I concluded that not until the storm had reached
the vicinity of Rockingham, did it assume the character of a tor-
nado ; the destructive work was described as slight and irregular ;
at this point, however, and for about eight miles on toward the
northeast, the destructive work was great, and there can be no
doubt but that the storm in passing over this region developed into
a true tornado. The path for three or four miles before its north-
east end was reached was reported as showing evidence of a decrease
in the violence of the storm, and the disappearance of the tornado
characteristics.

As to topography, the surface of the country over which the storm
passed was undulating, and in places somewhat hilly. From the
river to the region about Rockingham, there was a rise in the path
of the tornado of about 150 feet. From this point onward the
general surface of the country was more nearly on a level ; but the
path of the tornado was crossed by several small and irregular val-
leys, cut down from 50 to nearly 100 feet below the general level.
These irregularities seem neither to have modified the violence, or
to have changed the direction of the storm.

The character of the path of the tornado varied considerably
over different points of its course. The writer's observations begun
on the path about 1^ miles to the south of Rockingham. x4t this
point no great destructive work had been done. The storm had
passed over a cultivated field and entered a forest of old field pines,
trees 30 to 50 feet high. An occasional tree had been blown over,
and on both sides of the centre of the storm path these trees lay
with their tops in the direction the storm was moving, but inclined
toward the centre — at angles with the direction of the path varying
from 20^ to 75^. I could not find at this point any evidence of a
whirling wind, nor was any such indication observed until the path
had been followed into the pine forest for the distance of f of a
mile. Here, a few hundred yards south of the C. C. R. R., near the
centre of the path, over an area of about two acres, ev^ery tree had
been blown over. The total width of the path at this place was
about 550 yards. The forest around was rather dense, and but com-

30 JOURNAL OF THE

paratively few trees had been disturbed. In this central space,
however, the trees were piled upon one another in seemingly great
confusion. Examination showed that in most cases the trees at the
bottom (the first to fall) had fallen toward the northwest, and (on
the north side of the path) even toward west northwest, while those
on top had fallen toward the northeast. Even on the northeast side
of this cleared space just alluded to, the larger portion of the trees
were left standing, for the distance of some 300 yards, where the
storm crossed the C. C. R. R.

Near the railroad the storm crossed a ravine, and then ascended a
gentle slope, and moved on partly through cleared fields, and partly
across groves of trees, over somewhat hilly ground, for a distance of
about two miles, retaining its width of about 500 yards. Over this
distance, there was abundant evidence of an increasing violence of
the storm. Every house in the path had been torn down, even to its
foundations. Oak and hickory trees, 8 to 12 inches in diameter, had
been broken or twisted off at 6 or 8 feet above ground. Beyond, the
course of the tornado passed through an extensive forest of Long-
leaf pines, thinned out in places, and occasionally interrupted by a
cleared field. Through this forest extended a road, and on both
sides of this road extending in a general northeast course, were
located the negro cabins which made up the town of Philadelphia.
As many of these cabins were loc ited on the ground passed over by
the storm, all such were torn down and many lives lost.

It was along through this region, in the position of the fallen pines
and the scattered debris from the houses, that the general spiral
m^ovement of the winds — in a direction opposite to that of the hands
of a watch — was more clearly shown. Near the beginning of this
region, the path of the storm rapidly widened out from 500 to 1,500
yards. And for a distance of five miles very few trees of any size
were left standing in the storm's path. There w^as, too, a good deal
regularity in the positions occupied by the fallen trees ; especially
on the south side, and across the centre of the path, the trees nearly
all lay parallel to one another. The positions are shown by a cross
section of the path ; distance in yards indicating the distance from
the southeast side. Starting from the southeast side and going di-
rectly across loward the northwest, at right angles to the course of
the path, for the first 400 yards, trees lay toward the north north-
east.

Between 400 and 800 yards trees lay toward the north.

At 800 yards trees lay toward the north northwest.

At 900 " " " " " northwest and others w. n. w.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

31

' *

' ' west.

" w. s. w. and s. w.

" s. s. w.

" s., s. e. and s.

" s. e.

" e.

At 1000 yards trees lay toward the northwest.

At 1100 " '' "

At 1150 " " "

At 1200 "

At 1300 " " "

At 1400 "

At 1500 "

For the remaining 75 to 100 yards, to the extreme left (n. w.) side
trees lay toward the east. Observations made at several different
points along the path of the storm showed that generally the trees on
the right (s. e.) side of the path had fallen in directions varying from
north to northeast, while on the extreme left (n. w.) side of the
track, their directions varied considerably. Over the section of the
path where the storm seemed to have assumed the form of a true
tornado, the trees, within a distance of from 100 to 200 yards from
the left side of the path, lay in directions varying from east to south-
east, and generally between 200 and 300 yards from that side, (about
the line of meeting between the whirling wind and the inflowing
current from the west) the trees lay more toward the south — while
over portions of the (.ath where there was little or no evidence of
the whirling movement, the trees lay toward the north or northeast.

The "tornado centre," in every case where its position could be
determined, (as is usual in tornadoes) was found to be much nearer
the left (n. w.) than the right (s. e.) side. In the cross sections of
the path made at different points, the distance of the " centre "
from the left (n. w.) side, was found to be equal to one-third the
total width of the path. And in one cavse where there was no whirl-
ing motion of the storm, the line along which the two wind currents
met, as indicated by the position of trees and debris, occupied
about the same relative position as to distance from the two sides of
the storm path.

One noticeable feature about the path of the storm, especially
that section over which the storm was most violent, was the evi-
dence of a strong wind having followed the tornado blowing in the
direction that the tornado was moving. Ov^er a space along which
must have been the tornado centre, varying in width from 100 to
200 yards, the trash, light timbers, and sand were piled up against
the southwest side of trees that had fallen across the track toward
the northwest. The soil in many places looked much as though it
had been washed over by running waters. Some heavy logs and
timbers appeared to have been rolled considerable distances toward
the northeast, after the trees had been blown down. The violent

32 JOURNAL OF THE

" after blow " causing all this, I suppose to have been due to the
fact that the wind immediately behind the tornado, blowing from
the southwest, would rush in to join 'he whirling and rising current.

The width of the tornado path, as already indicated, varied from
500 to 1600 yards. Over the eight miles of the path where the storm
was most violent, the width varied from 1200 to 1600 yards. The
region of greater violence extended from 200 to 300 yards to the
left (n. w.), and from 400 to 500 yards to the right (s. e.) of the
"centre." What is called the "tornado centre,"' so far the region
over which this passed could be identified, while varying in width
and appearance, seemed to have been more generally between 100
and 200 yards wide.

The total length of the tornado path, so far as information could
be obtained, was about twenty miles.

The exact time of occurrence ol the tornado could not be learned,
but general testimony showed that the storm passed Rockingham
at about 10 o'clock p. m. The time of starting or time of ending
of the tornado could not be learned ; and hence the rate of the pro-
gressive movement could not be estimated. The length of time
consumed by the tornado in passing by any one place after its front
had reached such place was generally estimated, by those exposed
to the storm, as being less than one minute.

With regard to the appearance of the tornado cloud, and the at-
mospheric conditions preceding and accompanying the storm, it was
difficult, and in many cases impossible, to obtain satisfactory infor-
mation, owing, in part at least, to the fact that (1) the tornado oc-
curred at night, and (2) the people exposed to the storm were prin-
cipally negroes, who were too badly frightened to observe closely
what was taking place about them. Summing up the best evidence
taken, the following seems to be as nearly correct as the report
could be made : During the two or three days preceding February
19th, nothing was noticed about the weather that was considered
peculiar or at all unusual. On the night of the 17th a lie:ht rain
fell in the vicinity of Rockingham. The 18th was a generally open
day, a few clouds in the morning disappeared later in the day —
winds not violent, generally from west and southwest. The morn-
ing of the 19th (day of the storm) nothing unusual — wind brisk,
but not violent, generally from the west. Between one and two
o'clock p. m., wind changed to southwest, and became some stronger ;
heavy clouds began to form in the southwest, and distant thunder
was heard in that direction. During the afternoon, wind increased
in strength, and continued to blow from southwest. The clouds in

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 33

th-- southwest increased in amount, and thunder became more dis-
tinct. At evening twilight, wind from southwest was strong, but
not violent, of medium temperature; light clouds had pretty well
covered over the heavens; heavy, dark clouds were still banking up
in the southwest; thunder distant, heavy and rolling; flashes of
sheet lightning frequent. From dark until the time of the storm
(about 10 p. m.j the wind continued about the same in direction,
strength and temperature. The lighter clouds were continuous over
head, and the dark clouds of the southwest were increasing in ex-
tent, and in their threatening appearance, and were rising higher
above the horizoi . Between 9 and 10 o'clock p. m., the dark storm
cloud appeared to increase more rapidly in its dimensions and to
move toward Rockingham from the sovithwest. As observed by sev-
eral gentlemen living seven or eight miles to the northwest of the
storm path, the cloud (which was rendered visible by the almost
continuous flashes of lightning) appeared to move about as rapidly
as an ordinaryfthundier-cloud. Beneath its under surface the smaller
fragments of cloud ("racks") wei'e moving rapidly about in almost
every dii-ection, ("boiling up") showing great disturbance. One
gentleman living several miles to northwest of the track, and watch-
ing the cloud as it appeared several miles to the southwest of Rock-
ingham, observed a distinct funnel shaped mass extending down
from the under surface of the main cloud, with its lower and smalh r
end still some distance above the horizon, and moving from side to
side. Over that portion of the path where the storm proved to be
most destructive, many persons who Avere in the path, described the
^loud as being all about them on the ground.

The noise accompanying the storin resembled that of havy trains
of cars running at high speei. This noise was accompanied by fre-
quent and heavy rolling thunder.

The exhibitions of electricity were great and varied. Flashes of
sheet lightning were so frequent and brilliant that several persons
stated that they could almost have read by the light. " Balls of
fire," and "lamps" in the cloud were described as having been seen
by a number of persons. One gentleman of acknowledged integrity
and character, who lives several miles to northwest of the storm's
path, described to the writer one of these "balls of fire" as an illu-
minated portion ■;f cloud, which appeared to be 15 to 20 feet in diam-
eter, and about as bright as the moon, looked at through a "light
fog or cirrus cloud." This phenomenon was watched for several
minutes, as it moved along at the front edge of the storm cloud.

34 JOURNAL OF THE

Falling hail was observed to precede the v* hirling winds of the
tornado by a few seconds, and the hail with some rain continued to
fall for 15 or 20 minutes after the storm had passed. Hailstones
were generally small.

At no time before the storm was there any notable change in the
temperature of the air, or peculiar conditions of the air which gave
rise to "difficult breathing," or "feeling of suffocation," sometimes
experienced by those exposed to the violence of such storms. After
the storm, the wind continued to blow from the southwest as a strong
wind, but not violent. As soon as the storm had passed, the tem-
perature of the wind began to fall, and it soon became "chilly,"
and cool, continuing so until morning.

It is to be regretted that exact temperatures, and variations in the
atmospheric pressure were not observed or recorded, either before
or after the storm.

Tiie lateness of the hour at which the tornado occurred is worthy
of note. It must have started at some time between ^ and 10 p. m. ,
and have stopped at some time between 10 and 11 p. m. ; whereas
such storms do not often occur after 7 or 8 p. m.

Mention of the other tornadoes which occurred in this State about
the same time as the one herein described, is omitted from the present
paper, for the reason that the regions over wdiich they passed have
not been examined by the writer, and further, the facts concerning
them are to be published by th^U. S. Signal Service Bureau.

Chapel HUl, N. C, March 8th, 1884.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

35

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36

JOURNAL OF THE

A TABLE OF HIGHEST AND LOWEST THERMOMETERS AT

CHAPEL HILL. N. C,

Together with the Dates and Degrees of the Highest and Lowest

Daily Means of Thermometer for Six YeArs — 1 8 54-' 59 — as

OBSERVED BY ReV. Dr. JaMES PhILLIPS.

Highest Therm.

Lowest Therm. |

1

Warmest Day

Coldest Day.

Years.

Date.

Ther.

Date.

Ther.

Date.

Ther.
Mean.

Date.

Therm.
Mean.

1854.

June 30 )
July 6f

100^

Jan. 24

16°

July 5

89.60°

Jan. 9

26°

1855.

April 19

102°

Feb.27 )
Feb. 28 f

18°

Jun.30 )
July 19 )

86.67

Feb. 28

25

1856.

July 30

105°

Feb. 4

5°

July 30

92.67

Feb. 4

5

1857.

Aug. 17

99°

Jan. 23

1°

Aug. 15

87.67

Jan. 23

10.6

1858.

Aug. II

98°

Mar. 3

18°

June 30

86.67

Mar. 3

25

1859.

July 18 ;

July 22 )

99^

Jan. 23

130

July 18

S9.67

Jan. 23

18.7

RAINFALL AT CHAPEL HILL FOR FOUR YEARS.

0

3
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2..536

3.754

0.602

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2.766
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2.704

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In.

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1856

In.

2.811
2.596
3.126

In.

0.139

' 5.280

3.353

In.

2.304
2.817
5.281

In.
1.656

2.792

2.763

' 3.435

In.
3.835

4.381

2.405

3 659

In.
1.454

4.403

6.148

3.946

In.

3.788

3.656
2.716
5.6S6

In.

7.460

In.
2.777

In.

1857

4.931
6.009
2.981

1858.
1819.

4.115
4.069

1.947
22:39

43.941
42.171

A TABLE OF MONTHLY MEANS OF THE BAROMETER FOR

SIX YEARS,
As Observed by the Rev. Prof. James Phillips, D. D., at Chapel

Hill, N. C.

Months.

1854.

1855.

1S56.

1857.

1858.

1859.

Sums.

Means.

January

February

March .. .

April...

May .

June

Tuly. . ...

30.157
30.142

30.041
30.029

29.975
29.927
29.972
29.964
30.018
30.073
29.967
30.038

30.076

29.973
29.956

29.991
29.946
29.920
29.983
29.978
30.050
29.976
30.072

30.074

30.001

29.948

29.953
30.063

29.897
29.920
29.941
29.887
29.984
30.056
30.086
30.094

30.161

30.175
30.031
29.924
29.918
29.856

29.937

30.035
30.142
30.090

30.158
30.118

30.204
30.122
30.110
29.986
30.046

30.074
30.044
30.064
30.166

30.133
30.171
30.230

30.279

30.134

30.010

29.9S6

30.096

30.200

30.075

30.059

30.83

30.128

30.224

30.186

180.896
180.494
180. lOL
197.979
179.898

179.897
179.952
179.987
180.484
180.456
180.678
180.740

30.149
30.0S2
30.016
29.996
29.983
29.983
29.992

J J

August ...

September

October

November

December

29.998
30.074
. 30.070
30.113
30.123

Means 30.024

29.985

29.997

i 30.947

1
30.104, 30.125

180.282

30.047

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

37

A TABLE OF YEARLY MEANS AND RANGES OF BAROMETER

AT CHAPEL HILL, N. C.

Years.

Means.

Range.

1854-
1855-
1856.

1857-
1858.

1859-

.30.024
.29.985
29.977
30.047
30.106
30 125

1. 12
1. 19
1.20

1. 58
1.24
1.23

ALTERABILITY OF AMORPHOUS PHOSPHORUS.

J. C. ROBERTS.

Authorities are at varience as to the alterability of amorphous
phosphorus. Fresenius says : (QuaL AnaL) "Red phosphorus does
not alter in air. " Miller, (voL ii, p. 261), " The red phosphorus, if
pure, absorbs oxygen slowly, the oxidation being more rapid if the
powder is noist; phosphoric acid is formed and from its deliques-
cent character, the powder becomes damp. This oxidation occurs
so slowly that it was at first imagined that the body underwent no
change on exposure to air." Gmelin (vol. ii, p. 109,) says: '*It is
unalterable in the air." Fownes (ed'n 1878, p. 216,): " Nor has it
any tendency to coit bine with the oxygen of the air." Roscoe &
Schorlemmer (vol i, 479): " This substance can be exposed to air
for years without undergoing any change. All commercial amor-
phous pljosphorous, however, contains traces of the white modifica-
tion and this undergoes oxidation in the air so that the mass always
has an acid reaction owing to the formation of phosphoric and
phosphorus acids." W^tts (vol. vi, 934): "Groves found that
amorphous phosphorus whi^h had been kept for two years in a
cracked vessel was converted to the extent of 16. p. c. into phos-
phorous and phosphoric acids."

So-called pure amorphous phosphorus, gotten from Marquart in
Bonn, was left a year in a loosely stoppered bottle, then a portion
of it transferred to a glass-stoppered bottle. At the end of another
year it was noticed that the first lot was becoming pasty and deli-
quescent, a } in. layer of a yellowish liquid covering the surface

38 JOURNAL OF THE

of the ma«!S in the bottle. This was poured off and examined. It
gave : bundant tests for phosphoric acid reduced silver solutions
and gav^* phosphine on heating so that it was seen to consist of
phosphoric and phosphorous acids. A strong solution of phosphoric
acid was then made and some dry amorphous phosphorus added to
it. This gave reactions for phosphorous acid after standing over
night and quite strongly on standing three or four days. Some of
the phosphorus was then washed well with water and then alcohol.
It was then washed with carbon bisulphide, this latter filtered off
and washed away and the phosphorous got. en thus quite free from
the yellow variety. When this was treated with a strong solution of
phosphoric acid, it showed signs of oxidation but the dry powder
exposed under a beaker and placed in a damp room was still dry at
the end of three months.

''FALL OF BLOOD" IN CHATHAM COUNTY.

F. P. VENABLE.

A singular shower of some red liquid, supposed to be blood, which
fell in Chatham on February 25th, 1884, was mentioned in some of
the State papers, but little notice was taken of it. Nearly a week
after the fall, Dr. Sidney Atwater brought a small specimen of sand
soaked with this liquid to the University, to be examined. It was
looked upon rather as a joke and no analysis was made for some
time. When it was taken up several days afterwards there seemed
to be sufficient interest attaching to it to warrant paying a visit to
the locality w^iere the matter fell. Meairtime nearly three weeks
had elapsed, and several heavy rains had fallen, so that when the
place was reached (a small negro-cabin in New Hope township,
about a quarter of a mile from the Raleigh and Pittsboro road) no
vestiges of the matter could be found on the ground, and only one
or two marks of drops on the fence. The woman who saw it fall
was, however, examined and inquiries were made of the neighbors
who visited the spot soon after. The fall came from a cloudless
sky, when the wind was so slight as to be almost imperceptible.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 39

The position of the drops seen on the fence indicated a very slight
wind from the south or southwest, across some plouglied land. The
woman was standing on this ploughed land, near a fence, along
which some small pine bushes were growing 8he noticed some-
thing falling between her and the ground, saw it leave a red splash
on the sand, heard a pattering like rain around her, looked up, but
it was all over and she could see nothing. She was a good deal
frightened and aifected, taking it as a portent of deat or evil of
some kind. Mr. S. A. Holleman visited the spot the next morning,
(the fall took place about mid-day), and has kindly given me the
following facts observed : The space covered was about fifty by
seventy feet, and nearly in a rectangular form. The drops were of
sizes varying from that ol a small pea to that of a man's finger and
averaged about one to the square foot. Smaller drops were in-
stantly absorbed, larger ones, with those on the wood, coagulated.
Some fell in the bushes and coagulated upon the limbs. Dr. Robin-
son, living near, collected some of the freshly fallen material and
made certain simple tests which satisfied him that it was blood. It
even had the smell, he says, of fresh blood. Now as to the samples
which I could procure for analysis : One from Mr. Holleman was
gotten by some third person and consisted only of a few grains of
stained sand. The other, also stained sand, was somewhat larger
in quantity and came indirectly into the hands of Dr. Atwater, who
gave it to lue. It is a pity that a sample could not have been gotten
more directly — one whose origin would have been placed beyond all
dispute. The analysis is detailed at length, as it is important to see
on what foundation rests the claims of this material to be blood.
The sand placed in cold water gave a brown-red solution, which
coagulated on heating. The coagulum, a dirty brown, was soluble
in caustic alkalis, giving an indistinct green solution — treated with
an acid solution of mercury nitrate, it gave a brick-red color.
Nitric acid also caused the formation of this coagulum and gave the
characteristic yellow tint on heating. The original solution in water
was brightened in color, not turning green or crimson on adding
ammonia. On leaving the solution two or three days, it readily
putrefied, showing under the microscope a great swar of bacteria.
Examined by the microscope, the appearance of small, slightly al-
tered corpuscles was seen, corresponding well with those gotten from
slaughter-yard soil. The spectrum of this substance when the solu-
tion was perfectly fresh gave a line in the yellow, none in the green,
and a faint one in the red. On standing, the first two disappeared,
and the red absorption band or line became very distinct; nn add-

40 JOURNAL OF THE

ing ferrous sulphate the red line disappeared and the two first be-
came distinct. To explain now: The yellow and green lines are
characteristic of reduced hsematine (the red coloring matter of the
blood). The red line is characteristic of acid hcematine. If you
take fresh blood and add tartaric acid to it you get the red line— if
you then add ferrous sulphate you get the yellow and green. The
material then, according to the spectroscope, is partially decom-
posed blood. The test known as haemin crystals could be gotten
only indistinctly, if at all.

This leaves little or no reasonable doubt then that the samples
examined had blood upon them. The question arises, were they
carefully taken; had no animal ever bled on the same ground; had
pigs never been slaughtered in that quarter of the field ? etc. As to
theories accounting for so singula^r a material falling from a cloud-
less sky, I have no plausible ones to offer. It may have been some
bird of prey passing over, carrying a bleeding animal, but a good
deal of blood must have fallen to cover so large a space. If a hoax
ha;^ been perpetrated on the people of that neighborhord it has cer-
tainly been very cleverly done and an object seems lacking. On
the possibility that it is not a joke, I have deemed this strange mat-
ter worthy of being placed on record. Other similar observations
hereafter may corroborate it and combined observations may give
rise to the proper explanation.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C.

NOTES ON THE PHENOMENA ACCOMPANYING

THE TORNADO AND HAIL STORM, WHICH

PASSED ACROSS CATAWBA AND

IREDELL COUNTIES, N. C,

MARCH 2STH, 1884.

J. A. I). STEPHENiSON.

On the morning of the 25th nothing unpsual could be observed
about the weather. The sun rose clear at 7 a. m., temperature 50^
with light wind from the south.

Very few clouds appeared before 12 o'clock noon; wind still light

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 4I

from the south. About 1 p. in., clouds commenced to form: at 2
p. m., temperature 78° and heavy clouds and thunder in the south-
west; at 3 p. m., commenced raining with considerable wind from
the southwest and lightning and thunder. This lasted about twenty
minutes, and then cleared o£E. At 5 p. m. , heavy clouds in the west
and southwest, very black on the north side and copper colored to-
wards the south side. The cloud advanced rapidly toward the east
but was accompanied by no sound. It commenced raining at 5:30
p. ra., still without any wind, but with lightning and heavy thunder
and a fearful roaring. Hail commenced falling almost as soon as
the rain. At first, hail stones very small, but they increased in size
tiJl the end of the storm. The hail stones were of a great variety
of forms and size; the smaller ones were mostly of the shape of
a small mush-room, with stem attached by which they could be held
and examined, and were from one-half inch to one and a half inches
in diameter. Most of the larger stones were of the following forms:

l.st. Plane convex, circular, and three inches in diameter.

2d. Double concave, thin in the middle and three inches in diam-
eter.

3d. Elliptical, solid, six inches in circumference on the longer
diameter, and five inches on the shorter.

4th. Spherical, and roughened on the surface, presenting the ap-
pearance of a conglomeration of small cubes.

Others were flat and irregular in outline and covered with small
spines of ice. Those of the first f Oi m or plane convex were opaque
and the others of clear ice with a white opaque center or core.
Many stones were reported larger than those the dimensions of which
are here given, which are from actual measurement, but when the
largest were falling it was dangerous to try to secure them.

Fortunately, there being no wind, the hail fell perpendicularly,
and did but little damage, ^

Just before it stopped hailing, a dense fog commenced rising from
the surface of the ground, and this continued for some time aftei
the rain and hail was over. During the continuance of the storm
it looked dark towards the north and light towards the south, pro-
ducing the impression that the storm center had formed to the
north, which was not the case. These developments were as follows:
In a few minutes after the rain and hail ceased, reports were re-
ceived that a cyclone had passed three miles south of Statesville
prostrating everthing in its course.

Carefully collected facts and incidents from a number of intelli-
gent persons living immediately in and very near its track, show

6

42 JOURNAL OF THE

that this tornado formed a few miles west of the town of Newton,
in Catawba county, N. C, which town is distant twenty miles, nearly
west from Statesville. Before reaching Newton it destroyed several
houses and struck Newton on its southern limits, destroying twenty-
five or thirty houses, some of them large buildings, such as churches
and mills, injuring many more, and damaging fences, fruit trees,
and timber. Continuing its course nearly east it destroyed almost
everything in its track for an average width of one hundred and
fifty feet. The full width of prostrated timber being nearly a quar-
ter of a mile, but outside ihe width of one hundred and fifty feet
the de truction was much less complete. The north side of the
one hundred and fifty feet, was much more sharply defined than
the south side, fre{iuently on the north tearing off part of a house
and leaving the rest slightly damaged. Crossing the Catawba river,
near to and north of Buffalo shoals, it entered Iredell county, and
continuing its general course and destructive work, it crossed the
Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad three miles south of the
town of Statesville. At ^this point, it turned more to the north,
crossing the Western North Carolina Railroad about two and a half
miles east of the town. About one mile after it crossed the railroad
it stopped in the valley of Fourth Ci*eek, a small stream which runs
nearly parallel with the railroad towards the northeast. This seems
to be the end of this storm, but it is certain that a cloud had formed
near Elm wood, a station on the W. N. C. Railroad, eight miles east
of Statesville, and nearly five miles southeast of the point where
the described storm stopped ; and this second storm went in an east
direction as far as the Yadkin River, and perhaps farther.

From evidence collected from persons along the track of the tor-
nado after it crossed the Catawba River, it appears that it did not
come in contact with the rain and hail storm until it reached the
vicinity of Statesville, at which point it appeared to enter the track
of the hail storm.

The general appearance of the tornado as described by persons
who had the best opportunity of observing its approach, was that
it resembled a mass of dark clouds boiling upwards from the sur-
face of the earth, and some say assuniing a funnel shape with a.
rapid rotary or whirling motion. Others describe it as resembling
the smoke from a gigantic coal burning locomotive. It struck the
bravest with terror by its terrible appearance.

Duration — At any fixed point from one to two minutes.

PrecijJitation — Most persons say none ; a few say a little.

Noise — All accounts say the roaring of the storm would have
drowned the loudest thunder in the vicinity of its track.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 43

Contour of Ground — The ridges in the track o! the storm present
their more gentle slopes to the direction from which the tornado was
approaching, the eastern faces being much more abrupt. On the
western slopes the trees were blown down with their tops to the
east, but on the more abrupt eastern slopes they were crushed to
the ground lying in every direction, and s. lintered as if the force
had been applied perpendicularly. Generally the greatest destruc-
tion was observ^ed on the abrupt eastern slopes and in the hollows
where ground was lowest.

Velocity — It has been very difficult to get the exact time the storm
left Newton and passed the various points on the way, but from the
best information at hand it left Newton at 5 o'clock p. m,, and in
the last dwelling destroyed where it crossed the W. N. C. Railroad,
two miles and a half east of Statesville, a clock stopped at 5 :43 p.
m. Showing if these data are correct that its velocity was thirty
and seven-tenths miles per hour.

Soon after the hail storm, I learned that many substances had
been thrown outside of the track of the cyclone far to the north of
it. On inquiry, I ascertained from more than one source of un-
doubted reliability, that many of the hail stones contained small
quantities of clay and sand. The general course of the storm agrees
exactly with that laid down as generally followed by similar storms
in this latitude, by Prof, Elias Loomis, of Yale College.

Statesville, N. C, April 5th, 1884.

ACTION OF AMMONIA OF LEAD IODIDE,

J. L. BORDEN.

Lead iodide was prepared by precipitating pure lead nitrate with
pure potassium iodide and thoroughly washing and drying the pre-
cipitate. In the first set of experiments three portions were taken.
One was heated on the sand-bath ten hours, the second a similar
time on the water-bath, the third was covered with ammonia solu-
tion and set aside for three days at a temperature of 15^20^ c. In
the first two instances no precautions were taken to keep a strong
solution of ammonia over the iodide. In the analyes, lead alone was

44 • JOURNAL OF THE

determined as pointing suflBciently accurately to the nature of the
body formed. Corrections were made for the percentage of water
retained in the powders analyzed. Generally two simultaneous lead
determinations were made of each substance. The means of con-
cordant analyses are given :

1. Substance heated on water-bath gave 62.50 p. c. Pb.

2. Substance heated on sand-bath gave 60.11 p. c. Pb.

3. Substance standing in the cold ga,ve 58.82 p. c. Pb.

Calculated for Pbl^. PbO p. c. Pb = 6o.5i. Calculated for Pblg. 2PbO

p. c. Pb. =68.45.

From this it would seem that the ammonia which was only mod-
erately heated had the greatest effect ; that which was not heated
at all had the least.

In the second set of experiments the heating lasted only seven
hours (the mixture stood three days before heating) but care was
taken to insure a strong solution of ammonia covering always the
iodide. The results were as follows :

1 . Substance heated on water-bath gave 64. 1 3 p. c. Pb.

2. Substance heated on sand-bath gave 63.25

k(

Another set heated ten hours without previous standing were
analyzed :

1. Substance heated on water-bath gave 61.60 p. c. Pb.

2. Substance heated on sand-bath gave 60.37

((

From these results it is seen that the longer ammonia is allowed
to act upon the iodide, the more iodine is removed, and hence the
more oxide of lead formed. To test this, two portions were taken
and the ammonia allowed to act on one for 38 hours (heating it on
the water bath) ; on the second 68 hours. The analyses were as
follows :

1. Substance heated 38 hours gave 74.10 p. c. Pb.

2. Substance heated 68 hours gave 78-94 " "

Calculated for Pblg. 3PbO 73-26 p. c. P6 ; for Pblg. 4PbO 76.38 p. c Pb. ;

for Pblg. 5 PbO 79.31 p. c. Pb.

These experiments then would lead to the following conclusions :

1. By the action of ammonia in the cold the monobasic oxyiodide
of lead is formed.

2. By heating the solution we get oxyiodides, the basicity of which
is determined by the length of heating. If, by the more active boiling
upon the sand-bath, the ammonia solution becomes weak, then the

ELISHA MITCHEI-L SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

45

tendency is to form the monobasic oxyiodicle. The oxide of lead
previously formed reacts upon the ammonium iodide, forming lead
iodide and setting free ammonia.

In the case of the action of ammonia on lead chloride as exam-
ined by Mr. Wood (see this Journal), it seems that the oxychloride
formed is not dependent upon the time of heating, but a definite
oxychloride is formed whether heated six, ten or fifteen hours, pro-
vided the chloride is kept covered with an excess of ammonia. If
by active boiling on the sand-bath the ammonia solution becomes
too much weakened, then a definite oxychloride is formed, indepen-
dent of the number of hours the solution is heated. Some of Mr.
Wood's experiments were repeated to test these conclusions.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C, May, 1884.

DATES OF THE FLOWERING OF PLANTS;

Collected r.v Rev. Dr. James Phillips, K. P. Battle and R. H.

Batlte.

Plants. | Day. Month.

Acer rubrum, L. (Red Maple) ■] ; ^

Aeculus glabra, wild. (Ohio Buckeye) lo

Ailanthus glanrlulosus, Desf. (Tree of Heaven).. 26

Amelanchier Canadensis, L. 'Shad-Bush) j 20

Amygdalus nana (Flowering Almond) i 20

Carya alba. Nutt. (Shellbark Hickory) j 7

Cercis Canadensis, L. (Red-Bud. Judas Tree) < | 30

Chionanthis Virginica, L. (Fringe Tree) 20

( ^9

Cornus Florida, L. (Flowering Dogwood) < \ 14

( ! 12

Epigaia repeus, L. (Trailing Arbutus) .. 20

Erythroninm Americanum, Smith. (Dog-tooth Violet) < \ ^^

Fragaria Virginiana, Ehr. (Virginia Strawberry^ ; 24

Geranium maculatum, L. (Cranesbill) 24

Houstania coerulia, L. (Innocence, Bluets'^ \ ^^

Ins versicolor, L. (Large Blue Flag) 16

Kalmia latifolia, L. (Calico Bush. Ivev'. , 23

Liriodendron Tulipifera, L. (Poplar, Tulip Tree) j 25

Morus rubra, L. (Red Mulberry)...'.. 28 j

3
4
4

5

*^

3
3
4
4
3
3
4
4
4
4
3
3
4
4
4
2

4

4
4

4
4

ear.

46

JOURNAL OF THE

Plants. ' Day.

( 27

Prunus Peisica (Peach) '_. - iS

( 15

Pirus malus (Apple) -] ^^

Quercus alba., L. (White Oak) ' 4

Rhododendron Catawbiense, Michx. (Laurel) 20

Rhododendron nudiflora, Torr. (Azalia. False j 12

Honeysuckle) . -i I7

Robinia Pseudacacea, L. (Common Locust).. 22

Robinia Viscosa, Vent. (Claming Locust) . . .. 25

Rubus Villosus. Ait. (Blackberry) -j 'g

Sambucus Canadensis, L. (Common Elder) i

banguuiaria Canadensis, L. (Blood Root) -j |

Sassafras officinale, Nees. (Sassafras) .'. 20

Syringa ulgaris. (Lilac) . .^- -j ^

{ 7

Taraxacum Dens-leouis, Desf . (Dandelion) --■ i 3

(7

Vitis jestivalis, Michx. (Summer Grape) __ 14

Month.

Year.

2

1851.

2

1883.

4

1858.

3

1853-

4

1858.

4

1853.

4

1858.

4

1857.

4

1853.

4

1857.

4

1858.

4

1853-

4

1858.

6

1853-

3

1853-

3

1858.

3

1855-

4

1853.

4

1852.

2

i»53-

4

1S54.

4

1858.

5

1853.

DATES OF THE FOLIATION OF PLANTS;

Collected near Chapel Hill, N. C, by the Rev. Dr. James Phillips,

K. P. Battle and R. H. Battle.

Plants.

Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh. (Silver Maple)

Acer rubrum, L. (Red Maple)

Achillea millefolium, L. (Yarrow, Milfoil)

Ailanthus glandulosus, (Desf. (Tree of Heaven) -j

Amclanchier Canadensis, L. (Shad-bush)

Aniygdalis nana. (Flowering Almond)

Asclepius cornuti, Decaisne (Milk Weed)

Carya Alba, Nutt. 1 Shell-bark Hickory)

Cercis Canadensis, L, (Red-Bud, Judas Tree)

Chionanthus Virginica, L. (Fringe Tree) -]

Cornus Florida, L. (Flowering Dogwood) <

Day.

Month.

Year.

30

3

1858.

2

4

1S53.

23

3

1853.

20

4

1853.

8

4

1858.

18

4

1853.

23

3

1853.

7

5

1853.

3

4

1858.

20

4

1853.

30

4

1858.

16

4

1859-

20

4

1553.

15

4

1858.

18

4

1853.

5

4

1858.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

47

Plants.

Dav. iMonlh. i ^'ear.

Crataegus Crus-galli, (Cockspur Thorn)

Crataegus Oxycanthus, L. (English Hawthorn)

Erythronium Americanum, Smith. (Dog-tooth Violet).

Fragaria Virginiana, Ehrh. (Virginia Strawberry)

Fraximus Americana, L. (While Ashe) . .

Houstoniri Cacerulea, L. (Bluts, Innocence)

Iris versicolor, L. (Large Blue Flag) ... .

Benzoin odoriferum, Nees. (Spice Bush) ...

i

Liriodendron Tulipifera, L. (Tulip Tree. Poplar)

Morus rubra, L. (Red Mulberry) j

Platanus occidentalis, L. (Sycamore)

Pirus communis, (Pear) -j

Pirus malus, (Apple) - -]

Quercus alba, L. (White Oak) -|

Rhododendron nudiflorum, Torr. (Azalea. False Hon-
eysuckle)

Robinia Psendacacea, L. Common Locust)

Rosa rubiginosa, L. (Sweet Brier. Eglantine)

Rubus villosus, Ait. (Blackberry) I_ •]

Sambucus canadensis L. (Common Elder)

Sanginaria candensis, L. (Blood Root -j

Sassafras officinale, Nees, (Sassafras)

Syringa Vulgaris (Lilac) -]

Taraxacum Dens-leonis, Desf. (Dandelion)

Ulmus Americana L. (American Elm) -!

Viburnum Opulus (Snowball)

29

7

20

I

9
15
12
20

28

19
25
6
10
II

7
28

25
12

9

20

24

I

26

I

II

20

30

17

23

28

I

I

3
10

3
4
3
4
4
2

4
4
3
3
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4

3
4

J
3
3
4
3
3
4
4
4
5

85S.
858.
S53.
853.

S58.

853.
853.

853.

853.

858.

854.
858.

853.

853.
8^8.

853.
853.

853.

858.

853.
853.
153-

853-
85S.

853.
853.
85S.

853.
853.
858.

855.
853-

858.

S53.

ZINC IN DRINKING WATER.

The increase in the use of galvanized iron, especially in the form
of water tanks and pipes, has lead to a reopening of the question
as to the possible injurious effects from the use of such water. It
is a matter of importance then to us how far our knowledge extends
on this subject, and I will collect here all of the known facts so far
as I have been able to get at them.

The so-called galvanized iron is of course nothing more than iron

48 JOURNAL OF THE

dipped in a bath of zinc and so superficially coated with it and to a
certain extent alloyed ^vith it. The character of the protection
afforded the iron is galvanic (hence the name), the two metals form-
ing a galvanic couple, so that under the action of any exciting liquid,
the zinc and not the iron is attached. That zinc dissolves in potable
waters h is long since been shown by the experiments of Boutigny,
Schaueifele and Langonr^e. Distilled water and rain water dissolve
it more readily than hard water. Especially is water containing
carbonic acid capable of this solvent actior. So much may be taken
up that the water becomes opalescent and acquires a distinctly me-
tallic taste. It seems that by the action of water, hydrate and car-
bonate of zinc are gradually formed, and that this action is more
rapid in the presence of certain saline matters, but is weakened by
the presence of calcium salts.

As to the injurious effect of such waters, authorities differ. Fons-
sagrives has investigated the question, consulting the statistics of
the French Navy and the recorded experiments of other, adding,
however, none of his own. The French Government had, before
this, appointed a committee to make a special report on the subject,
and the investigations of Roux in 1865 and 1866, furnished evidence
enough of possible injury to health from water stored in galvanized
iron tanks to lead to an order, from the Minister of Marine, prohib-
iting the use of such tanks on board of ships of war. Boutigny
attributed grave effects to the use of these zinc-containing waters,
looking upon it as probably resulting in epilepsy. Fonssagrives,
however, maintains that the zinc is not cumulative and produces no
bad effects unless taken in large doses. Doubt is thrown on this
position though by the fact that Ms assertions as to the limited solu-
bility of zinc in ordinary drinking water are not sustained by experi-
ments. Without doubt such waters have been used for considerable
lengths of time and no injurious effects have been noticed. This
may have been due, however, to the hardness of the water, and
hence the small amount of zinc dissolved. Pappenheim states
in contradiction to the assertion of Fonssagrives that zinc vessels
are dangerous and must be carefully avoided. Dr. Osborne, of
Bitterne, has frequently observed injurious effects from the use of
waters impregnated with zinc. Dr. Stevenson has noticed the sol-
vent action of rain-water on galvanized iron and states that proba-
bly its continued use would cause injury to health. He recommends
as a convenient test for the presence of zinc in potable w^aters, the
addition of potassium forocyanide to the filtered and acidulated
water. Zinc gives a faint white cloud or a heavier precipitate when

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 49

more is present. Dr. Frankland mentions a case of zinc poisoning
where well-water, containing much dissolved oxygen and but little
•carbonic acid, was used after passing tlirougli galvanized iron pipes.
Prof. Heaton has recorded the analysis of a spring water in Wales,
and a second analysis of the same water after pas ing through half
a mile of galvanized iron pipe, showing that the water had taken
up 6.41 grains of zinc carbonate per gallon.

A similar instance of zinc impregnated water has come under my
own observation, and I append the analytical results. The water
from a spring 200 yards distant was brought by galvanized iron pipes
to a dwelling house and thera stored in a zinc lined tank which was
painted with white lead. The water became somewhat turbid and
jnetallic-tasting and its use for drinking purposes was discontinued.
Analyses were made after the pipes had been in use about one year.
A somewhat full analysis of the spring water was made under my
direction by Mr. J. C. Roberts. The analyses of water from the
tank and directly from the pipe, I (tarried out only so far as zinc,
iron, and tests for lead were concerned. The results are calculated
in grains per gallon of 231 cu. in. :

ANALYSIS OF SPRING.

Silica . .2.45 grains.

Lime.. • .23

Magnesia.. .17

Alkalies .43

Chlorine .35

Sulphuric acid _ .19

Carbon dioxide (calculated) .45

Total residue on evaporation . — 4.34

The tank contained 4.48 grains of zinc carbonate per gallon with
a trace of iron and no lead. Water from the pipe gave 4.29 grains
of zinc carbonate per gallon and a trace of iron.

It is evident then, when the dangerous nature of zinc as a poison
is taken into consideration, that the use of zinc-coated vessels in
connection with water or any food-liquid should be avoided.

.7

so JOURNAL OF THE

AN ATTExMPT AT FORMING COPPER AND

BARIUM ACETATE.

J. C. ROBERTS.

The double acetate of copper and calciuiu is described in Watts'"
Dictionary (I, 15), but no mention is made of a corresponding dou-
ble acetate with barium. The preparation of this body was under-
taken as an exercise in manipulatioii and an account of the experi-
ments is here given as showing some of the difficulties which pre-
vented its formation.

Pure, crystallized copper acetate was prepared and also a supply
of pure barium acetate. A mixture of the concentrated solutions
of these salts with an excess of barium acetate was evaporated on
a water-bath to thick syrupy consistence, giving a deep blue liquid^
from which after four days' evaporating a mass of crystals settled out.
Thesr crystals seemed blue but on thorough washing with alcohol
proved to be barium acetate.

The two salts in concentrated solution were then mixed in the
proportion of their molecular weights. One portion was still further
concentrated by evaporation on a water -bath and then exposed in
a crystallizing dish to a temperature of 20^ — 25° c. The other was
placed under a glass receiver over sulphuric acid. Green crystals
formed in both of these dishes, alternating with the settling out of
flocculent masses of some bluish substance. These masses had a
silky, crystalline appearance. All green crystals were removed, the
blue mass washed and copper and barium d terminations made. A
little Licetic acid was generally added to effect complete solution
before analysis. The barium in three different samples ranged from
3.90 to 4. 10 per cent. , but seemed an accidental impurity from in-
sufficient washing. The copper in two determinations gave 48.82
and 45.85 per cent. The amounts procurable for analysis were how-
ever very small. The mass seemed to be then a basic acetate. It
was found that the production of this blue settling out could be
greatly hastened by adding alcohol to the mixed solutions and allow-
ing the dish to stand in a free current of air at about 20° c. Two
specimens gotten in this way were analysed giving copper=35.47
per cent. ; bariup = .OOper cent., and from the second copper=34.25

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. ^1

per cent. ; barium = 1. 12 per cent. The percentage of copper in tlie
mormal acetate is 34.49.

According to Watts the acetate of copper and calcium is prepared
t)y simple evaporation at 25"^ — 27^ c. of the mixed (in molecular pro-
portions) solutions of the two salts. It would seem from these ex-
periments that the barium double acetate cannot be gotten in the
same way. The tendency to form a double salt of copper and
barium is not so great as in the case of copper and calcium. Time
was lacking for a further examination of the subject.

Chemical Laboratory U. N. C, May, 1884.

A THEORY OF TORNADOES.

J. W- GORE.

Tornadoes are phenomena accompanying a great disturbance of
the atmospheric eciuilibrium. A centre of minimum pressure travels
across the continent, say in a northeast direction, and any where
south and east of its track tornadoes may occur. This centre of
low pressure produces and tends to produce a cyclonic movement of
the air over a large area of country. The wind to the south and
east will be southwest, warm and moist. Suppose a given area to
be within the region of the cyclonic currents, which are from the
north and west and therefore cold and dry. The meeting of these
winds of different temperatures and hygrometric states will cause
condensation, liberation of heat and a consequent fall of the barom-
eter. Thus a cloud will be formed, gradually extending southward,
for simplicity we will suppose this cloud to be bounded on the south
by an»east and west line. Along this line the air is rarified, thereby
accelerating the southwest wind and causing the air on the north
side to move towards this line, the slowl , moving cyclonic current
giving an eastern component of motion ; hence it will be a w ind
west of north. The condensation of moisture will thus be increased
by the accelerating and producing of those winds, and in their turn
these velocities will be augmented until they attain considerable
violence.

5^

JOURNAL ()¥ THE

Suppose A B (in the fig.) to be the line of the southern edge of
the cloud formation and the line along which the wind S, S, S, &c.,

from the southwest meet

QJ

A

from

the wind N, N, &c.
the north and west.

Let S O and N Q repre-
sent these winds in mag-
nitude and direction. &•
Q is necessarily greater
than N Q.

The effect of these
winds upon the air at the
place of meeting will be
best determined by resolv-
ing them in directions
perpendicular and paral-
lel to A B. NX and S Y
will be the components
perpendicular to A B, and
(^^ X Q and Y O those paral-
' lei. If N X is equal to S
Y the air at (O Q) will not
be urged out of the line
A B, and also Y O will be
greater than X Q ; hence
the air at (O Q) will be
made to rotate opposite
the hands of a watch. A
rotating mass of air may
be regarded as an isolated
mass and capable of be-
ing acted on by the pres-
sure of wind, especially
as these forces tend to
^ preserve and accelerate
this motion.

Hence the components
N X and S Y being equal
and opposite neutralize
"^ each other, leaving X Q

and Y O as the effective components, which because they are unequal
in magnitude produce rotation and because they act in same "direc-
tion A B produce translation.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 53

As long as the components N X and S Y are equal, the rotating
mass of air is driven forwards in the Hne A B and is constantly acted
on by these forces S, S, &c., and N, N, &:c., which may be similarly
resolved, the components in direction of A B will be forces continu-
ously acting, aec' lerating the velocities of rotation and translation.
The maximum of each motion is reached when the accelerating force
is equal to the resistance to motion by friction, &;c.

The actio necessarily begins along the southern edge of the
cloud, and -the whirl may reach the surface of the earth both by
friction against the air underneath and by the winds producing it
extending down to the earth.

The tornado cloud is formed by the cooling of the air in the centre
of the rotating mass, which is the result of diminished pressure,
owing to the so-called centrifugal force.

The upward rush of air along the axis of rotation is also due to
diminished pressure along that line.

Electric phenomena would seem to be results and not agents.

The greater extent of destruction on the south side of centre of
tornado track is also accounted for, since the supposition requires
that the wind on south side shall have a greater velocity than that
on north side and is able to prostrate trees, &c., before it begins to
w^hirl.

University N C, May 3d, 1884,

SOLUBILITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PHOS-
PHATE ROCK.

J. L. BORDEN.

In the American Chemical Journal (v. 6, p. 3), Gladding rei ords
certain experiments on the amounts of various natural phosphates
dissolved by ammonium citrate solution under different conditions.
With a view to comparing the newly found North Carolina phos-
phates with these a corresponding series of experiments were carried
out with some specimens in the possession of the University. The
conditions of the experiments were the same as is in the paper men-
tioned above. One gram of phosphate was used and ammonium

54

JOURNAL OF THE

citrate solution of the specific gravity 1.09. 50 c.c. of this was
taken, a closely stoppered Hask was used and tlie digestion lasted 30
minutes.

1st, One gram witli neutral solution at 40° e.

2d, One gram with neutral solution at 65° c.

3d, One gram with ammoniacal solution at 65° c.

4th, One gram with acid solution at 65° c.

The specimens taken were :

1st, A light colored sandy friable phosphate from North Carolina.

2d, A liglit colored sandy friable phospliate from South Carolina
(land rock.)

3d, A compact hard grey friable phosphate from North Carolina.

4th, South Carolina river rock (Gladding's results quoted).

No. of
Specimen.

Dissolved by
1st solution.

Dissolved by
2d solution.

Dissolved by
3d solution.

Dissolved by
4th solution.

Total per ct.
present.

I

2

/^
J

4

2-95
i.6i

I.OO

I.og

3.21

2.83
1.07

1.35

I.OO

.46
1.06

4.61
7.69
2.48
2.89

21.37
28.48
20.64

The analyses were carried out in the ordinary way (precipitation
with ammonium molybdate and then with magnesia mixture, &e.).
The results are given in percentages of P2O5.

Chemical Laboratory U. N. C, May, 1884.

COTTON-SEED ANALYSES.

E. A. DeSCHWEINITZ.

The interest attaching to the variation in the percentage of fats
yielded by different varieties of cotton-seed, has led to the analysis
of several American and foreign seeds, with results as tabulated.

Table I gives a food stuff analysis of the kernel, and table II the
value of the raw seed as to its ash, and possible yield of fats.

In all cases the fats were extracted with ether, the proteins calcu-

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 55

lated from the percentage of water, the fat-free residue was washed
with NaHO and H2SO4 to find the crude cellulose and the carbohy-
drates obtained by difference. The calculations are all made on
the air-dried seed. Eight varieties in all were exainined.

No. 1. Belongs to the botanical species Gossypiun hirsutum ;
generally supposed to be a variety of the Gossypimn Barbadense.
It is called the "Duncan" cotton, comes from the eastern part of
the State, was grown on sandy land with a yield of 400 pounds to
the acre.

No. 2. Also Gossypiun hirsutum, known as the "Heavy Boll
Prolific," was grown on sandy loam in the central part of the State
with a yield of 300 pounds to the acre.

No. 3. Gossypimn hirsutum, known as "Sea Island" cotton,
grown for one year on clayey loam in the central part of the State
with a fair yield.

No. 4. Is known as the "Hodge" cotton, was grown on sandy
upland with a yield of between 300 and 400 pounds to the acre.

No 5. Known as the "American Cotton Tree," is a varietv not
cultivated for commercial purposes but grows wild on marsh land in
warm districts. The seed show's a noticeably high percentage of
ash and fats. The tree being fairly large probably concentrates a
large amount of mineral matter in tlie seed for its use in germin-
ating.

No. 6. Gossypium Barbadense, is an Egyptian cotton.

No. 7. Belonging to the same variety is from the West Indies; and

No. 8, is from the "Red Cotton " of Southern Russia. These last
seeds were small, of a gray color and had a slightly musty odor,
showing that they had probably undergrne a slight change. This
may account for the very high percentage of fats.

Experiments in selecting seed and cultivation with a view to in-
creasing the yield of fats ani 1h© nutritive ratio would be inter-
esting and valuable. As the use of a dominant ingredient, potash,
in the fertilizer is found to increase the percentage of sugar in the
beetroot, so the use of a special fertilizer on the cotton might be
made to increase the value of seed as well as of the fibre. As soil
and climate afl"ect the quality and yield of the cotton, so is the seed
influenced. The same variety consequently shows variations in differ-
ent seasons and localities and even in the same field.

56

JOURNAL OF THE

I. Kernel,

No. i.jNo. 2. No. 3.

Moisture @/ 212° F..

Ash

Fats

Crude Cellulose . , —
Protein Nitro. Matter
Carbohydrates N. free
Extract

No. 4.

7.08J 7.25; 7.50 7.23

4.9IJ 4.15J 3.51J 4-23

34.42! 40.39' 39.76I 38.09

4-7oi 3-43 4.24! 4-21

30.251 27.941 23.44i 27.68

Nitrogen

Equiv. to NH3

Nutritive Ratio

II.
Whole Seed — Kernel,
Hull.

13.64

16.84

21.55

18.56

100.00

100.00

4.47
5.42

100.00

100.00

4.84

5. 87

3-75
4.55

4.43

5.38

1:1.90 1:2.17 1:2. So 1:2.19

Ash.
Fats

4.26 3.46I 3.26
19.71 20.19 19.88

No. 5,

6.45
5.41

44.70
4.06

21.62

17.76

100.00

No. 6. 1 No, 7.

No. 8.

8.81; 7.46, 6.94

4.96; 4.45! 4.92

38.54I 36.77; 32.71

4.33 5.12; 5.00

27.25
16. II

28.81 35.18
17.29 15.25

100. 00! 100.00 100.00

3-46
4.20

1:3.07

4.38
5.29

4.61

5-59

5-63
6.81

1:2.13 1:2.05 1:1.50

3.-40

4.27

19.04 22.35

3-62 3-47
19.271 1S.38

4-12

RATE OF REVERSION IN SUPERPHOSPHATES
PREPARED FROM RED NAVASSA ROCK.

W. B. PHILLIPS.

(Abstract from Part of Thesis for Ph. D.)

The manufacture of a high grade superphosph: te from Red Na-
vassa Rock is one of those problems which, appearing easy of an-
swer, yet present great difficulties. How great these difficulties are,
only the manufacturer knows. Working formulae which on other
natural phosphates give entire satisfaction, on Red Navassa give
curious and rather discouraging results. In this Rock we have to
deal with a mixture of the phosphates of Calcium, Iron, and Alu-
minum, and the oxides of Iron, and Aluminum. The superphos-
phate made from it is consequently of a more complicated structure
than that made almost entirely of Tri-calcium Phosphate, i. e., from
bone, or Apatite, or Charleston Rock. In a high grade superphos-
phate made from Red Navassa Rock, the Soluble Phosphoric acid

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY,

57

exists in a more easily decomposable form than it does in any other
superphosphate with which I am acquainted. It is reverted in-
stantly on diluting the aqueous solution. The same is true, to a
limited extent, of similar articles made from Charleston Rock.

In the superphosphate itself, the rapidity with which reversion
takes place is largely dependent upon the content of Iron and
Aluninum. In most cases, if all the phosphoric acid has been ren-
dered soluble, the reversion proceeds slowly. But if any unattacked
Iron and Aluminum oxides are present, the reversion proceeds rap-
idly. (Compare H. Joulie, Compt. Rendus 88, 1879, p. 1324, and
Carl Ferd. Meyer, Zeit. An. Chem. 1880, p. 309.)

I have recorded in the following tables the results of some observa-
tions made on Superphosphates prepared from Red Navassa Rock.
The material used was of uniform fineness, the whole of it passing
through a 60 mesh sieve. The samples were prepared so that in one
there should be about 5 per cent. , in another about 8 per cent. , and
in the third about 14 per cent, soluble phosphoric acid.

The same method of analysis was used in every case. All the
phos. acid determinations were made with Ammon. Molyb. For
the estimation of insol phos, acid there was used a slightly alka-
line solution of Ammon. Citrate, 100 c. c. to 2. Gms. time 30 mins.
Some of the comparative determinations of insol. phos. acid had
to be omitted from lack of time, but it is hoped that those that ap-
pear will prove to be sufficient for the end in view. The reverted
phos. acid was determined by difference.

TABLE I.

Calculated

on a dry

3d day after

loth day after

17th day after

4th wk. after

basis.

Mixing.

Mixing.

Mixing.

Mixing.

Per cent.

Per cent.

Per cent.

Per cent.

Total Phos.

Acid

19.42

19.42

19.42

19.42

Soluble "

i «

4.6S

4.08

4.65

3-36

Insol. "

" 40°

7.04

4.46

3-59

5-97

< i t (

" 60°

4-15

3.48

3.50

5-03

< < it

' ' lOO^

1.96

3.81

2.86

Reverted "

" 40°

7.70

10 88

II. 18

10.09

( i t (

" 60"

10.59

11.86

11.27

11.03

< i ( <

" 100"

12.78

ir-53

II. 91

Available"

" 40°

12.38

14.96

15-83

13-45

1 ( < (

" 60°

15-27

15.94

15.92

14-39

It 1 1

" IOO«

17.46

15.61

16.56

Moisture . .

32.85

29.63

24.07

21.50

8

58

JOURNAL OF THE

TABLE IL

Calculated on dry

basis.

Total Phos. Acid.
Sol. " "

Insol. "
Rev'd "
Avail. "
Moisture .

" 60°
"100°
♦' 60°
"100°
" 60°
" 100°

p. c.
21.77

7.83
8.46

5.48

p. c.

21.77

6.16
8.72
8.76
6.89
6.84
13.31 1 13.05

1 13.00

3i.49i26.16

p. c.
21.77

5.40

9 06

8.97

7.31

7.40

12.71

12.80

30.77

C !1^

p. c.
21.77

5 10

8.71

8.31

7.96

8.33

13.06

13.43

16.14

C <D

c o

.id
O Q^

p. c. p. c. p. c.
Z177

3.79

7.24

7.34

10.74

10.64

14.53

14.43

6.01

21 .v;

21.77

5 02

4.17

8.58

8.05

8.03

7.99

8.17

9.55

8.72

9.61

13.i9

13.72

13.74

13.78

12.41

8.22

O <ii

p. c.

21.77

p. c.
21.77

3.49

3.10

7.86

F.09

7.82

7.83

10.42

10.58

10.46

10.84

13.91

13.68

13.95

13.94

5.17

5.22

p. o. p. c.

21.77 21.77

3.17

8.1S

7.57

10.42

11.03

13.59

14.20

6.86

3.091

7.63

7.68

11.05

11.00

14.14

14.09

6.03

p. c.
21.77

3.04

7.32

7.24

11.41

11.49

14.45

14.53

5.36

p. c.
21.77

3.25

7.66

7.60

10.86

10.91

14.11

14.17

6.10

TABLE III.

Calculated on a Dry Basis.

c

<

(I

w

•

-a

0

c

W

-a
0

C

-4— k

-*-

Total PhosDhoiic acid

p. c.
20,17
14.02
1.28

p. c.
20.17

15-42

.94

.77

.63

5.81

5.98

6.12

19.23

19.40

19-54
30.20

p. c.

20.17

12.57

• 94

.76

•39
6.66

6.84

7.21

19.24

19.41

19.78

30.19

p. c.

20.18
12.20

.32

.42

.41

7-65

7-55

7.56

19.85

19.75
19.76
29.29

p. c.
20.17

Soluble PhosDhoric acid . -

11.60

Insoluble Phosphoric acid 40°

60°

.42

" < " " 100° -

Reverted Phosnhoiic acid j.o°

4.87

8.15

<i 5qo

" '• " 100°

Available Phosuhoric acid 4.0*^

18.79

19-75

60°

" " 100° -

Moisture _ ^> ..

41.61

28. 90

The sample yielding about 8 per cent. sol. phos. acid was exam-
ined through a much longer time than either of the others. For
comparison, therefore, we must consider them at the end of the same
time, i. e., at the end of the 4th week. During this time, as indeed
throughout the experiment, the samples worked on stood in large
earthenware 1: ans in the Laboratory and were protected from dust.

ELISHA MITCHEIX SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

59

Table IV shows the rate of reversion for 4 weeks, absolute and
comparative, and the accompanying loss of moisture;

TABLE IV.

Soluble Phosphoric acid.

i-i

1

3

6 "rt

.'S 1

weeks aft
mixing.

OSS of So]
ble.

everted p.
of origin
Soluble.

OSS of mo
ture in 4
weeks.

<

"i-

hJ

ci

1

p. c.

p. c.

p. c.

p. c.

p.c.

4.68

3-36

I 32

28.21

11-35

7.83

5-40

2.43

31-03

10.72

14.02

11.60

2.42

17. 26

12.75

S5 o

. eS

o_c

(u 'So

;:: o

p. c.
34-55
34-05
30.61

TABLE V— COMPARE TABLE II.
Behaviour of Insol. Phos. Acid.

-|- denotes gain

—

- denotes loss.

End

of weeks.

3

4

5 &

7

8

9

10

II —

12

13

14

+ P-c.
.26

+ P-C-
.60

-h P-Cj-h P-c.
•25 ' ..2

p.c.
.41

p.c.
1.22

— p.c.
.60

p.c.
•37

p.c.

.28

p.c.

-83

p.c,
1. 14

p.c.

.80

TABLE VI— COMPARE TABLE II.
Behaviour of Soluble and Reverted Phos. Acid, 60°.

,

.

.

•

^

.

i£

•

.is!

M

^

^

"3

J4

Ol

tD

s>

O)

(V

0

a>

<V

a>

01

^

ID

0

0)

0

^

^

^

^

p:

?

r^

j3

A

A

J2

•*^

1.3

'C

••^

^^

■1-^

•^^

■^-^

-1.^

■^

•—1

i-i

cc

-r

cc

-r

IC

"~

t^

00

c;

"^

^^

i-H

p. c.

p. C.

p.c.

p. c,

p.c.

p. C.

p.c.

p.c.

p.^.

p. e.

p. c.

p. 0.

Loss of Phos. acid

L67

2.43

2.78

2.81

3.66

4.04

4.34

4.73

4.66

4.74

4.79

4.58

Gain Rev'td "

1.41

1.83

2.48

2.69

4 07

5.26

4.94

5.10

4.94

5.57

5.93

5.38

The most striking fact brought out by these tables is that the
Insol. Phos. acid is not stationary, but oscillates from week to week.
Thus from Table V it is seen that this oscillation of Insol. Phos.
acid is from a gain of .60 per cent, to a loss 1.22 per cent., the inter-
val between being four weeks.

The oscillation of Insol. Plios. acid has been touched upon by J.
Post, (Chem. Industr. 1882, p. 217), who states, among other most
interesting facts, this, that during the first month the phosphates
which have become insoluble in water remain soluble in citrate at
40*^; but later on a part of the Reverted Phos. acid insoluble at 40^

6o JOURNAL OF THE

becomes insoluble in citrate even at 90°. In other words, the per
cent, of Insol. Phos. acid varies from time to time. In reflecting
upon this subject, there was reason to suspect that this variation
was largely controlled by the mechanical condition of the analytical
sample. Some experiments w^ere begun on this point, but could not
be carried through, owing to the pressure of routine work. In pass-
ing an article of 6 per cent, or 8 per cent, moisture through a 40
mesh seive, a good deal of it must necessarily be pulverized finer
than the seive. The less moisture the article holds, other things
being equal, the more will tlipre be of it much finer than the seive.
The citrate acts upon this fine stuff more effectually than upon the
coarser, and in this way the variation of the Insol. Phos. acid may
be partially explained. Doubtless this has some eifect, for from the
7th through the 14th week, Tables II and Y, when the moisture
varied from 8.22 per cent, to 5.17 per cent., there was a loss of insol.
phos. acid all the time.

Other interesting points might well be considered did this space
allow. Such as they are the careful reader will recognize. It is
hoped to follow up this discussion with some parallel observations
as soon as possible.

Laboratory of the Navassa Guano Company, )

Wilmington,, N. C. ^

NORTH CAROLINA PHOSPHATES.

W. B. PHILLIPS.

{Abstract from Thesis for Ph. D.)

So much has been said and written about North Carolina Phos-
phates during the last six months, that it appears necessary now only
to give an abstract of the first detailed investigation of the subject,
together with such additional infonnation as has been acquired by
t'ie writer up to this time.

It can hardly be said that the true Phosphate Rock (of value to
be worked without concentration) had been noticed in North Caro-

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 6 1

lina, prior to August, 1883. Coprolites more or less rich had indeed
been found and in more or less advantageous localities. But the
supply of these was wholly insufficient for the demands of a mod-
erate size factory even. Some hand specimens of very good phosphate
had been examined, and endeavors made to find the de^josit from which
these were said to have come. The hand specimens and the analyses
were good enough, but the deposit — well the deposit has not been
found yet. Some fairly good hand specimens from Duplin county
had been examined before tlie investigation into the subject began,
but they were regarded perhaps as from some pocket of coprolites,
and hence as of no great importance.

It was not until August, 1883, that the matter assumed sufficient
importance to demand careful recognition. On the 10th of that
month in the Morning Star of Wilmington, N. C, appeared a letter
from Major W. L. Young, Chief Engineer of the Duplin Canal Com-
pany, in which he gave an account of what he took to be Phosphate
Rock in Duplin county. This was the first public intimation of the
discovery of the true Phosphate Rock in North Carolina. Major
Young considered it Phosphate, and my examination of about 75
pounds of it confirmed his judgment. The Roc v he brought to me
had been selected Avith care, for it fell readily into 3 (three) varieties,
which varieties I afterwards fully verified from several tons.

1° A hard, heavy, block, fine grained sub-crystalline Rock, most
frequently watsr-worn, and generally perforated to the depth of ^
inch to 1 inch with cylindrical holes of a diameter from i to 4^ inch.
These perforations are generally, though not always, filled, and the
filling material is sand and mud. It is the richest in Phosphoric
acid of all the varieties. On concussion it has a slight Phosphatic
odor.

2°. A hard, heavy, fine grained sub-crystalline Rock, with whitish
and somewhat softer exterior, a black, hard core, and not so dis-
tinctly water worn as No. 1. This core generally comprises four-
fifths of the mass of the Rock, and probably nine-tenths of its
weight. Similar perforations occur in this variety filled with the
same material, but they do not extend into the black core. It is
likely that this variety is a modification of No. 1. It contains less
Phosphoric acid than No. 1, and has on concussion a decided but
not strong Phosphatic odor.

3.° A light to dark grey Rock, neither as heavy, nor as hard, nor
as distinctly marked as the two former varieties, nor as good. The
time at my disposal did not allow me to make complete analyses of
these varieties. But No. 1 is composed of about equal parts of

62

JOURNAL OF THE

sand and tri-calcium phosphate, Tvath some calcium carbonate, and
small quantites of Iron and Aluminum. Quantitative estimations
were made of sand, and phosphoric acid, as the samples were very
dry.

Variety i
2

Number of
Analyses.

9
8
I

Average Phospho-
ric acid.

per cent.
19.36
17.42
12.79

Average Tri -Cal-
cium Phosphate.

per cent.

42.13

38.52 •
37.92

Average Sand.

per cent.
42.64

51-31
64.70

An analysis of the white shell marl (Miocene ?) occurring above
variety at W. H. Kornegay's gave me, air dried

Per cent.

Calcium Carbonate ..41.84

Sand -30. 15

Phosphoric acid .50

On the 27th day of August, I visited Duplin county in company
with Major Young, and began an investigation into the Phosphate
Rock. This was the first attempt at any thing like a systematic con-
sideration of the subject, and although from the very nature of the
case it could not be as full as was desired, still every fact herein
stated about the Rock is the result of careful personal experience.
The beds I visited are located in the western part of the county of
Duplin, North Carolina, 50 miles north of Wilmington, and from
2^ to 7 miles east of the line of the Wilmington and AVeldon Rail-
road. The places visited were the farms of W. H. Kornegay, Geo.
McClammy, Halstead Bowden, Alonso Middleton and David Chest-
nut, all within 4 miles, a little N. of E. of Magnolia, a station on the
W. & AV. Ry., 48 miles N. of Wilmington. Arminius Johnson, 5i
miles, John W. Murray, 8 miles, a little N. of E. of Magnolia. A
similar Rock occurs also in Kenansville, 7 miles N. of E. of Magnolia.
All these places are located a little east of the divide between the
Cape Fear and the North East Rivers, but much nearer the latter,
from which they are distant from 4 to 8 miles west. The beds so
explored appear to occupy the bottoms of former streams or lagoons,
whose positions are now occupied by "branches," "runs," and
ditches, emptying their waters into the North East River, or one of
its numerous tributaries. The configuration of the surface of the
county is that of a broad, flattish plateau, intersected by ci eeks,
branches, "runs," and swamps. Its elevation above sea level is

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 63

from 50 to 125 feet. From the line of the W. & W. Ry., which tra-
verses ihe county from N. to S. in its western part, it slopes E. and
AV. with a general tendency towards the east, so that most of the
streams empty into the North East River.

On nearly every little stream and creek between Maxwell Swamp
and the North East River, 11 miles the Rock can either be seen or
exposed with very little trouble. Its average depth below the sur-
face is from 3 to 5 feet with clay, sand and soil above. At one pit
I found as follows :

Feet. Inches.

Cultivated soil and earth i o

White sandy clay - o 6

Light-yellowish-red clay I O

Mottled white and red clay 4 6

Phosphate in its sand and gravel - o 10

7 10

The Phosphate Rock is imbedded in a coarse, whitish sand, mixed
with water worn quartz pebbles, and minute garnets.

ABSTRACT OF COJS'CLUSIONS.

(a). The Rock is to be found in the ditches, dry "runs," and
branches, and long their banks at a depth of from 3 to 5 feet.

(b). It is overlaid by clay, sand and soil.

(c). Its upper surface is level, the lower appears to be slightly
inclined.

(d). It is imbedded in a garnetiferous sand, with coarse and fine
water worn quartz pebbles.

(e). The slopes of the enclosing hills vary within wide limits from
tV (0.10, 5f') to ^V (0.50 2fr') and below ^V

(f). The thickness of the stratum of Phosphate Rock varies from
8 to 12 inches. *

From some experiments which 1 have made in manufacturing this
rock into superphosphate, I am inclined to think well of it. It
takes kindly to sulphuric acid, and dries well. Whether it can be
used or not on a large scale remains to be seen.

Laboratory Navassa Guano Company, )
Wilmington, N. C. )

64 JOURNAL OF THE

NORTH CAROLINA PHOSPHATES.

CHARLES W. DABNEY, Jr.

History. — All the writers upon North Carolina geology have re-
ferred to the coprolites found in the coal stratas and in the marl
beds. Dr. Emmons, in his report published in 1852 (p. 46) mentions
the coprolites in the marl on the south of the Cape Fear md one-
half mile below Elizabeth City. The specimen he analyzed con-
tained 71.59 per cent, of phosphate of lime and 9.68-per cent, of
sand. He describes them as rounded or spiral in form, and con-
cludes that they must be true coprolites and not pseudo-coprolites
or modified marls, as the distinction was in his day. On p. 63 of
the same report, he mentions coprolites as occurring in the marl on
the banks of the Tar at Greenville. Dr. Emmons refers, on p. 6, to
the coprolites of the coal and marl in the following words :

' ' They do not exist in sufficient abundance in either formation to
warrant the expense of extracting them ; still the facts are impor-
tant and should never be forgotten."

The knowledge of the subject remained virtually in this condition
from that time (1852) to February, 1883, when the writer had the
beds at Castle Hayne, New Hanover county, opened and examined.

Dr. Kerr refers to the coprolites in the marl beds in two places.
On 193 of his Geology of North Carolina, 1875, Vol. I, he says, speak-
ing of the specimen of marl from Dr. Roberts, near Mount Olives,
Wayne county :

" It is a good representative of the marl beds of the immediate
neighborhood. =;= * * in this region the eocene marl has been
commingled with a considerable percentage of the underlying green-
sand, and contains numerous sharks' teeih, rounded fragments of
bones and coprolites."

In another place he refers to the small coprolites in the marl in
the north bluff of AVaccamaw Lake, Columbus county. He says :

"The lower portion =^ * contains many black, smooth phos-
phatic (probably coprolitic) nodules. Such nodules are of frequent
occurrence in the marls of both this and the preceding age — miocene
and eocene ; they are of no more value agriculturally than so many
flint pebbles, unless ground and treated with acid. '

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 65

Br. Kerr evidently adopts the views of Dr. Emmons in full, and,
believing them to be only the stray specimens of the true coprolites
or fossil excrements which may be found in any of the later forma-
tions, attached no importance to them. Such coprolites, sprinkled
through a number of formations, seldom occur in suiflciint quantity
to be of interest industrially. These writers do not appear to have
known of the existence of phosphates bedded in layers similar to
the South Carolina phosphates, and distinguished from the true
coprolites as pseudo-coprolites (the phosphatized marls of Holmes).

Distribution. — Since my investigations started, phosphate rock
has been found so far (January, 1884,) in larger or smaller quanti-
ties, in Sampson, Duplin, Onslow, Pender, New Hanover, Bladen,
Columbus and Brunswick counties. The same rock probably ex-
tends into the southern portion of Wayne county, and possibly into
liCnoir and Jones.

The Phosphatie Conglomerates of Pender and New Hanover. —
The phosphatic rock is found in two distinctly different relations.
In the lower country, as in Pender and New Hanover, we find
rounded, phosphatic nodules imbedded in a shell marl, which
all of the writers on North Carolina geology have classed as
Eocene. At Castle Hayne, for example, this bed occurs from
one to four feet below the surface and four to five feet thick. It
looks just as if the water-worn phosphatic nodules, sharks^ teeth and
quartz pebbles had been deposited here upon the bottom of the
sea, and that the broken and ground-up shells which were depos-
ited on top of them had then filled all the interstices and cemented
them together- At places, where the smallest nodules are deposited,
the shell-powder did not reach the bottom of the layer, and we find
loose nodules at the bottom. At other places the shell-powder did
not suffice to cover the layer, and we have a lot of loose nodules on
top. At another place the lime deposit rises far above the layer of
nodules, and we find a limestone, nearly pure carbonate, on top.
The lime formation evidently had a different niveau from the nodule
bed, as we find it at many places without a trace of the nodules.
The bedding of the nodules and the lime did not go on exactly to-
gether, therefore. We do not find nodules disseminated here and there
through the carbonate of lime, as the coprolites are found in the
marl beds, but we find the nodules touching in the layer and the
powdered-shell only filling the interstices.

These nodules are of all conceivable sizes, from the size of a
pumkin to a grain of wheat, though mostly about the size one's fist,
and rounded or kidney shape. They are all considerably water,

9

66 JOURNAL OF THE

worn, and they are bedded with water-worn pebbles, sharks" teeth,
and pieces of bone. Their composition is pecuh*^ar and renders the
supposition that they are coprolites in anything like their original!
condition untenable. The characteristic thing about all af them is
20 to 50 per cent, of silica, as rather course, sliarp-grained sand.
They are by no means of uniform composition. The two chief
Tariants are the insoluble matter (sand) and the phosphate of lime»
The phosphate of lime varies from 10 to 60 per cent. The fallowing:
complete analysis shows the composition of one of them taken at
random. It proves one of the poorest ones i

Insoluble matter (sand) 43-66

Carbonate of Lime 3A-S^

Magnesia o.86»

Potash and' soda . Ov39'

Oxide of iron and alumina 0.56-

Phosphate of lime ^g-Q^"

Sulphuric acid . trace.

Cnlorine ..1_ Jrace..

L0a.02

Another specimen contained 31.66 per cent, of insoluble matter^.
15.94 of carbonate, and 42.09 of phosphate of lime.

Nodules representing the extremes in eomposition are found side
by side. While they are all characterized by the same general prop-
erties, and especially by tMs coarse sand, one can find in a cubic foot
of this tiongfomerate every grade of phosphate nodule. All are-
more or less impregnated with the carbonate of lime and some con-
tain as much as' 40 per cent, Tlie cmiclusion seems irresistible that
this is not the first estate of the nodules. They would appear to be-
the result of the breaking up, wearing, commingling and rebedding-
of phosphate beds of different localities. The bedded phosphates^
tvhicli their composition shows these nodules represent,, never vary
so much in composition in the same bed. The various individuals
found here must have come together from distinet and possibly widely
separated beds.

The cement between the nodule is made from broken and, for the
most part, finely-ground shells. It is mostly quite pure. At French
Bros.* quarries, the lime deposit on top of the nodules gives from 95
to 97 per cent, of carbonate of lime. The cement broken from be-
tween the nodules at Castle Hayne was found to contain :

Sand and insoluble matter -„---^ 3.04 per cent.

Carbonate of lime.. ... ...90.80

Phosphate of lime .... . 1.46 '*

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 6^

The Phosphate Rock of Sampson and Duplin. — The question sug-
gested by the above : Whence came the original phosphate rock ?
was quickly answered by the discovery in the up-country (in Samp-
son, Duplin and Onslow counties,) of continuous beds of phosphate
of a similar character, separate and distinct from the lime forma-
tion. A gentleman from Duplin county sent me, August 7th,
some pieces of dark, gritty phosphate, which he said existed there
in a bed in large cakes and lamps. A visit to the location showed
that they were the very things we were looking for. This phosphate
varies in composition as did the first described, thougli it is mostly
richer, on account of the impregnation of the former with carbonate
of lime. It contains from 15 to 40 per cent, of coarse sand, 2 to 4
per cent, of carbonate oi lime, and from 30 to 60, and even 70 per
cent, of phosphate of lime, with smaller amounts of oxide of iron,
alumina, magnesia, &c. The lumps occur in continuous horizontal
layers, varying in depth Irom the surface to 15, and possibly 20 feet
deep, the layer being usually 8 to 16 inches thick. The cakes and
lumps have been partially dissolved and rounded at the corners.
They are occasionally perforated, though not so frequently, or to
anything like the same degree, as the South Carolina phosphates.
The unbroken lumps weigh frequently 200 to 500 pounds; there are
very few small ones, that is smaller than a hickory nut. The sur-

t

face sr.il is a very sandy loam, the subsoil is a stiff or yellowish clay.
The phosphate rock is found immediately underneath a stratu n of
2 to 4 feet of this clay imbedded in a coarse sand. Underneath this
is another stiff, fine-grained, blueish clay. At other places the rock
occurs underneath the marl.

What the extent of these beds is it is impossible to say at present.
The rock occurs mostly in the coves along the little creeks, and is
exposed in the ditches, creek banks or marl pits, although in some
localities it is upon the uplands. The rock of a given locality is of
very uniform composition, though it varies considerably mile by
mile. We find in this up-country rock corresponding to all of the
different grades and qualities of the jjhosphate of the conglomerate
beds of Pender and New Hanover. The two rocks can be shown to
be similar, when sufficient allowance is made for the changes to
which the rebedding has subjected the one and the action of the
soil-waters in the porous sand has modified the other. There can
be little doubt, then, that the phosphate first describvid came origi-
nally from beds similar to those existing to-day in Sampson and
Duplin.

This is not the place to discuss the industrial features of this dis-

6S JOURNAL OF THE

eovery. The possibilities ahead of us in this direction will be
thoroughly tested by our State Board of Agriculture. It must be
enough to say now that some of the poore t of this rock has already
been shown, by the writer,^ to produce very good superphosphate^
and that, as soon as the question of a sufficient supply is settled,,
large phosphate mining and manipulating works will be established
in this section.

EXPERIMENTS AS TO THE AMOUNT OF BUT-
TER FROM WEIGHED AMOUNTS OF MILK.

JAMES P. KERR

Some discussion having arisen as to how much buiter could be
gotten from a pound of milk, a series of experiments was under-
taken to see if an answer could be given to the question. In these
experiments the milk of several cows was mixed ; the cows were
pyartly thorough bred Devons and partly Devon and Jersey. Ire
every ease the milk of the same cows w^as taken. Two experiments
were carried out early in the spring, the feed of the cows being care-
fully measured for several days prior t ) each experiment. In the
first ease 23.12 pounds milk or 10.86 quart.s produced one pound of
butter. In the second, 17.59 pounds or 8.28 quarts produced one
pound of butter. These experiments were not made on consecutive
days.

In the second series of experiments, the milk was taken for three
consecutive days (April 28th, 29th, 30th).

Experiment 1.— Amount of milk taken was 40.5 pounds. This
milk was kept at a temperature of 60^ F. for two days, when it was
churnedv It was put in to the chum at 60° F. and churned for nearly
an hour, then it was gradually heated to 66° F. and churned forty
minutes longer. The yield of butter was 1\^^ pound.

Experiment 2. — Amount of milk 42f pounds. Management of
milk the same as in Experiment 1, except the milk was put into the
churn at 66° F. instead of 60° F. Time of churning 45 minutes.
Amount of butter produced 2 pounds.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 69

Experiment 3. — Amount of milk 42^ pounds. Management of
milk same as in 2^. Yield of butter ly^^ pounds.

SYNOPSIS OF EXPERIMEXTS.

23 12 pounds milk or 10.86 quarts produced 1 pound butter.
17.59 " '* 8.28 " " 1 " "

24.36 " " 11.41 " " 1 *'

21.37 " " 10.06 " " 1 " "
20.42 " " 9.60 " " 1 " <'

Average 21.35 pounds milk (10.04 quarts) produced 1 pound butter.

The approximate daily amount of food fed during the experiments
and for two days prior to their beginning was as follows, viz : 12 lbs.
cut food, consisting of 2 parts wheat straw and 1 part shucks; 13
lbs. corn-meal ; 6i lbs. wheat-bran ; 10 qts. cotton seed ; green feed
(short pasturage with a small feed of rye).

Haw River, N. C, April, 1884.

HYDRATED CARBON BISULPHIDE.

F. P. VEIN^ABLE.

This body discovered by Berthelot (Ann. Ch. Phys. [3] 46 490)
and Wartha (Bull. Soc. Chim. [2] 8, 258) has been examined also
by Duclaux (Ber. Chem. Ges. 3, 80) and by Ballo (Ber. Chem. Ges.
4, 118). The descriptions of it given in our text-books show, how-
ever, that our knowledge of it is still somewhat indefinite and in-
complete. The following experiments, undertaken at first for pur-
poses of class illustration, may serve to clear up some of the doubt-
ful points concerning this body. In filtering carbon bisulphide, a
sensation of decided cold will be noticed whenever the filter paper
is touched. To determine the lowering of temperature caused by
the rapid evaporation of the carbon disulphide, a thermometer bulb
was wrapped with filter paper and then suspended over a shallow
vessel dipped beneath the disulphide contained in it. The mercury
sank rapidly to 18° c. and the paper became covered with a peculiar
cauliflower like growth of a snow-white substance which was seen

JO JOURNAL OF THE

to be the same as that produced by forcing a current of air across
the surface of the disulphide. In farther experiments with the ther-
mometer the paper was discarded as uselessly cumbrous, the ther-
mometer was hung just touching the liquid, and evaporation was
started by blowing through a tube obliquely into the disulphide so
that the little waves struck against the bulb. The formation of the
snow-like solid soon commenced. The blowing could then be
stopped, and the growth went on rapidly until it reached a height of
5-6 cm., above the surface. If a current of air was directed upon
this growth, it increased most rapidly on the side exposed to the
current, forming little tufts resembling miniature, compactly-formed
trees and reaching in some cases a length of 7 — 8 mm. One point
observed was that the amount of moisture in the air had a decided
effect upon the ease of causing this formation and the rapidity of the
growth.

A simple and effective mode of showing as a class experiment the
abstraction of heat by the rapid evaporation of the disulphide, or
more properly speaking, by the formation of the hydrate, is to take
a small glass tube with thin walls about 90 m. m. long and having
a diameter of 10 m. m. This tube is provided with a collar of cop-
per wire having two projecting points which turn easily in the ends,
bent into rings of a strong copper wire attached to a support. The
ring of one of the ends of the longer and stouter wire should not
be closed, so that the tube can be easily unmounted. This arrange-
ment gives stability and the tube is much easier to tilt than
when simply suspended by threads. The tube is wrapped with a
single layer of filter paper for two-thirds its length, the paper ex-
tending about 1 cm. beyond the closed end. This lower edge dips
just beneath the disulphide when the tube is in position. The tube
is filled about half or two-thirds full of water, is placed in its swing
and in a few minutes the water will be frozen and will not flow out
when the t ube is inverted. In one experiment, with the tube arranged
as above, the water was frozen within four minutes. The original
temperature of the water was 30° c, and the relative humidity of
the surrounding atmosphere was 74 per cent.

Ballo has recorded one or two experiments to prove that this cau-
liflower-like growth is a hydrate and not solid frozen carbon disul-
phide. The following experiment confirms his results, and may be
regarded, I think, as conclusive of the dependence of this body for
its formation upon the moisture of the air. An open-necked bell-
jar, ground, greased and tightly fitting to a ground glass plate, was
provided with a large rubber stopper which was pierced with two

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. J I

holes. Through one of these a calcium chloride tube was inserted,
through the other a glass tube with a glass rod working tightly in it
and bound to it means of rubber lubing so as to be air-tight. The
calcium chloride tube was 250 mm. long, and was filled with freshly
dried calcium chloride. Inside the bell-jar, a glass acid-holder was
filled with concentrated sulphuric acid and on a triangle placed over
it wslS supported a watch glass containing carbon disulphide purified
by tlie method of Cloez (Compt. rend. 69, 1356). The glass rod had
attached to it by a bit of wax a strip of filter p^aper 25 mm. broad,
100 mm. long, which had been previously dried in an air-bath for
two hours at lOO'' — lOo'^ c. After this was put in the bell-jar, the
latter was fitted tightly to the glass plate and the whole allowed to
stand about thirty minutes so that every trace of moisture might be
removed from the enclosed air. At the expiration of this time, the
slip of paper was lowered by the movable rod until it touched the
carbon disulphide. The liquid rose rapidly in the pores of the paper,
but even after some minutes no sign of the solid incrustations could
be seen. As the confined space might have interfered with the
evaporation, an aspirator was attached to the calcium chloride tube,
but no formation of the solid could be induced. The sulphuric ac id
was then taken from the jar and water substituted for it. The solid
commenced to form almost immediately after the lowering of the
paper. The liquid did not rise quite so high as in the first case, and
aspirating increased the rate of formation but slightly. If the as-
piration was continued until the ja,r was filled with aqueous vapor,
the solid formation suddenly and completely melted away.

Several difi'erent ways were tried of forming this hydrate. First,
carbon disuljjhide mixed with about 25 per cent, of water, in a test
tube, was placed in a mixture of ice and hydrochloric acid ( — 2'6° c),
and for purposes of comparison a tube containing distilled water
wa- placed beside it. The first tube became very milky and turbid
and was frozen to an opaque solid ; in the second tube the water
remained transparent until completely frozen. A second tube of
water and the disulphid'^ was stirred whilst freezing, so as to freeze
only on the sides and leave a channel open from the bottom to top.
All that refused to freeze was poured out, the tube corked and its
contents melted. After melting, a layer of disulphide was observed
beneath the water. Of course no great reliance can be placed on
such an experiment alone, as the oil may have been mechanicallv
-entangled and retained. Again, if a few c.c. of carbon disulphide
be poured through 2-3 cm. of 90 per cent, alcohol in a tube the two
form clear and distinct layers. Let this tube gently down into a

72 JOURNAL (J¥ THE

freezing mixture of ice and hydrochloric acid and the carbon disul-
phide becomes turbid, while delicate cloud -masses form in the alco-
hol and if the alcohol contains more than 10 per cent, water, it be-
comes milky and opaque. These cloud-masses disappear above
-10^ or -9° c, but the temperature could.not be accurately fixed as
it seemed to depend upon the amount of carbon disulphide and
water held in suspension or solution. If the alcohol and disulphide
stand for some time, all disulphide apparently settles out as the
cloudiness cannot be again produced by cooling. Care was of course
exercised to prevent any agitation or mixing of the liquid layers in
sinking the tube into the freezing mixture. A mixture with ether
containing a small percentage of water gave also a turbid appear-
ance on being cooled, but the layers were not distinct, nor, on taking
the tube from the freezing mixture, did the cloudiness disappear so
easily as in the case of the alcohol. Experiments with it then could
not be so easily observed nor so rapidly repeated.

The temperature of formation or decomposition given by Wartha
(-12° c.) needs additional data to make it correct, according to the
following experiments. Even when evaporation and the formation
of hydrate was rapidly going on in a shallow watch glass full of the
disulphide, the temperature of the liquid itself did not fall below
-6° c. For these experiments a Geissler thermometer graduated
to ^ degrees was used, the bulb was nearly spherical and from its
under-surface a small bead of glass projected. With this bead touch-
ing the surface of the carbon disulphide and the evaporation started
by blowing upon it for a short time, the incrustations soon covered
the bulb and the mercury sank rapidly to about O'^c. It then sank
very slowly. Seemingly more carbon disulphide was drawn uxDon
the bulb than was used in forming the solid, as the latter had an
oily appearance and this probably tended to keep up the tempera-
ture. If the thermometer was raised entirely above the liquid the
oily look disappeared, the tufts of the solid, before thick and short,
branched and grew stiff and strong while the mercery rapidly sank
to a constant point. To determine this point, then, the solid was
allowed to form over the bulb and some extra disulphide was taken
up. By a crank arrangement the thermometer was then raised sev-
eral inches above the surface of the liquid and the lowest temi^era-
ture reached noted. The stny at this point sometimes lasted one or
two minutes before the rapid rise commenced. If the thermometer
was blown upon whilst the mercury was sinking, the temperature*
could be reduced several degrees below the point of decomposition.
If the constant point had been reached and the mercury was beginning
to rise, even if only yV degree, blowing caused a very rapid rise and

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 73

melting of the hydrate. The lowest temperature reached by blow-
ing was — 19.5"C., the relative humidity of the room being 75. When
the thermometer was wrapped with filter pajjer and this dipped in
disulphide, the reduction went on regularly to the constant point of
decomposition. The slow sinking at -9 C. was not noticed.

Several observations showed that the reduction was in a measure
dependent upon the relative humidity of the surrounding atmos-
phere. This was determined at each observation of the point of
decomposition, but the exf)eriments could not be made accurately
enough to deduce any fixed law. Air saturated with moisture gave
no hydrate. From this point the temperature of decomposition
seemed to sink, the lowest points being reached when the air con-
tained between 70 and 80 per cent, of moisture. Below 60 per cent,
the temperature in a number of observations rose once more. Even
if the current of air was too slight to affect a small candle flame,
it would still show upon the delicate thermometer used, the varia-
tions caused being shown by shielding the bulb on one side or the
other. Entire surrounding and protection of the bulb interfered
with the evaporation, and of course the evaporation itself caused
currents. Some other way must then be devised for determining
this point. Guarding against draughts as carefully as possible, the
determinations made, some twenty-five or thirty in all, ranged from
— 14°C. to — 17^C. No point such as that mentioned by Wartlia
( — 13=C.), to which the mercury would rise and remain constant, was
observed, the rise being rapid and regular till the temperature of
the room was reached. Berthelot gives the point of decomposition
as about — S'^C.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C.

NOTES ON THE INDIAN BURIAL MOUNDS OF
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

J. A. HOLMES.

.So far as is known to me, no account of the Indian burial mounds,
which are to be found in portions of Eastern North Carolina, have,
as yet, been published. This fact is considered a sufficient reason

10

74 JOURNAL OF THE

for the publication of the following notes concerning a few of these
mounds which have been examined in Duplin and a few other coun-
ties in the region under consideration.

It is expected that the examination of other mounds will be
carried on during the present year, and it is considered advisable
to postpone generalized statements concerning them until these
additional examinations have been completed. It may be stated,
however, of the mounds that have been examined already, that
they are quite different from and of much less interest, so far as con-
tents are concerned, than those of Caldwell and other counties of the
western section of the State. As will be seen from the following
notes, they are generally low and rarely rising to more than three
feet above the surrounding surface, with generally circular bases
varying in diameter from 15 to 40 feet; and hey contain little more
than the bones of human (presumably Indian) skeletons, arranged
in no special order. They h ive been generally built on somewhat
elevated, dry, sandy places, out of a soil similar to that by which
they are surrounded. No evidence of an excavation below the gen-
eral surface has as yet been observed. In the process of burial,
the bones or bodies seem to have been laid on the surface or above,
and covered up with soil taken from the vicinity of the mound.
In every case that has come under my own observation charcoal
has been found at the bottom of the mound.

Mound No. 1 — Duplin county, located at Kenansville, about one-
half mile southwest from the courthouse, on a somewhat elevated,
dry, sandy ridge. In form, its base is nearly circular, 35 feet in
diameter; height 3 feet. The soil of the mound is like that which
surrounds it, with no evidence of stratification. The excavation
was made by beginning on one side of the mound and cutting a
trench 35 feet long, and to a depth nearly 2 feet below the general
surface of the soil, (5 feet below top of mound) and removing- all
the soil of the mound by cutting new trenches and filling up the old
ones. In this way all the soil of the mound and for two feet below
its base was carefully examined. The soil below the base of the
mound did not appear to have been disturbed at the time the mound
was built. The contents of the mound included fragments of char-
coal, a few small fragments of pottery, a hand-full of small shells,
and parts of sixty human skeletons. No implements of any kind
were found. Small pieces of charcoal were scattered about in dif-
ferent portions of the mound, but the larger portion of the charcoal
was found at one place 3 or 4 feet square near one side of the mound.
At this place the soil was colored dark, and seemed to be mixed with
ashes. There were here with the charcoal, fragments of bones,

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 75

some of which were dark colored, and may have been burned; but
they were so nearly decomposed that I was unable to satisfy myself
as to this point. I could detect no evidence of burning in case of
the bones in other portions of the mound. Fragments of potrery
were few in number, small in size, and scattered about in different
parts of the mound. They were generally scratched and cross-
scrated on one side, but no definite figures could be made out. The
shell "beads" were small in size — 10 to 12 mm. in length. They
are the Marginella roscida of Redfield, a sniall gasteropod which is
said to be now living along the coasts of this State. The specimens,
about 75 in number, were all found together, lying in a bunch near
the skull and breast bones of a skeleton. The apex of each one had
been ground off obliquely so as to leave an opening passing through
the shell from the apex to the anterior canal — probably for the pur-
pose of stringing them.

The skeletons of this mound were generally much .softened from
decay — many of the harder bones falling to pieces on being handled,
while many of> the smaller and softer bones were beyond recogni-
tion. They were distributed through nearly every portion of the
monnd, from side to side, and from the base to the top surface,
without, so far as was discovered, any definite order as to their ar-
rangement. None were found below the level of the surface of the
soil outside the mound. In a few cases the skeletons occurred singly,
with none others within several feet; while in other cases several
were found in actual contact with one another; and in one portion
of the mound, near the outer edge, as many as twenty-one skeletons
were found placed within the space of six feet square. Here, in the
case last mentioned, several of the skeletons lay side by side, others
on top of these, parallel to them, while still others lay on top of
and across the first. When one skeleton was located above another,
in some cases the two were in actual contact, in other cases they
were separated by a foot more of soil.

As to the position of the parts of the individual skeletons, this
could not be fully settled in the present case, on account of the de-
cayed condition of many of the bones. The following arrangement
of the parts, however, was found to be true of nearly every skele-
ton exhumed: The bones lay in a horizontal position or nearly so.
Those of the lower limbs were bent upon themselves at the knee, so
that the thigh bone (femur) and the bones of the leg (tibia and
fibula) lay parallel to one another; the bones of the foot and ankles
being found with or near the hip bones. The knee cap or patella,
g:^nerally lying at its proper place, indicated that there must have been

76

JOURNAL OF THE

very little disturbance of the majority of the skeletons after their
burial. The bones of the upper limbs, also, were see- ingly bent
upon themselves at the elbow; thosf of the fore-arm (humerus) gen-
erally lying quite or nearly side by side with the bones of the thigh
and leg; the elbow joint pointing toward the hip bones, while the
bones of the two arms below tiie elbow joint (radius and ulna) were
in many eases crossed, as it were, in front of the body. The ribs
and vertebi'se lay along by the side of, on top of, and between the
bones of the upper and lower limbs; generally too far decayed to
indicate their proper order or position. The skulls generally lay
directly above or near the hip bones, in a variety of positions ; in
some cases the side, right or left, while in other cases the top of the
skull, the base or front was downward.

But two of the crania (A and B of the following table) obtained
from this mound were sufficiently well preserved for measurement;
and both of these, as shown by the teeth, are skulls of adults. C
of this table is the skull of an adult taken from mound No. 2,
below.

Crania.

Length.

Breadth.

Height.

Index of
Breadth.

Index of
Height.

Facial
Angle.

A
B
C

193 mm.
172 mm.
180 mm.

151 mm.
133 mm.
137 mm.

144 mm.
136 mm.
147 mm.

.746

.772
.761

.746
.790
.816

74"
66°
633

The skeletons were too much decomposed to permit the distin-
guishing of the sexes of the individuals to whom they belonged ;
but the size of the crania (adults) and other bones seem to indicate
that a portion of the skeletons were those of women. One small
cranium found was evidently that of a child — the second and third
p-air of incisor teeth appearing beyond the gums.

Mound No. 2, located If miles east of Hallsville, Duplin county,
on a somewhat elevated, dry, sandy region. Base of mound nearly
circular, 22 feet in diameter; height, 3 feet, surface rounded over
the top. Soil similar to that which surrounds the mound — light
sandy. Excavations of one-half of the mound exposed portions of
eight skeletons, fragments of charcoal and pottery, arranged in
much the same way as described above in case of mound No. 1. The
bones being badly decomposed, and the mound being thoroughly
penetrated by the roots of trees growing ovei it, the excavation

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. -JJ

was stopped. No implements or weapons of any and were found.
There was no evidence of any excavation having been made below
the general surface, in the building of the mound, but, rather evi-
dence to the contrary. The third cranium (C) of the above table
was taken from this mound.

Mound No. 3, located in a dry sandy and rather elevated place
about one-third of a mile east of Hallsville, Duplin county. In size
and shape, this mound resembles those already mentioned. Base
circular, 31 feet in diameter ; height 2^ feet. No excavation was
made, other than what was sufficient to ascertain that the mound
contained bones of human skeletons.

Mound No. 4, Duplin county, located in a rather level sandy
region, about one mile from Sarecta P. O., on the property of Branch
Williams. Base of mound circular, 35 feet in diameter; height 2^
feet. Soil sandy, like that which surrounds it. Around the mound,
extending out for a distance varying from 5 to 10 yards, there was a
depression, w ich, in addition to the similarity of soils mentioned
above, affords ground for the conjecture that here, as in a number
of other cases, it is probable the mound was built by the throwing
on the soil from its immediate vicinity. Only a partial excavation
was made, witli the result of finding human bones, and a few small
fragments of charcoal and pottery.

Since the above mounds were visited, I have obtained information
as to the localities of mounds similar to those described, in the east-
ern, southern and western portions of Duplin county; and I can
hardly doubt but that a closer examination of this region will prove
them to be more numerous than they are now generally supposed
to be.

In Sampson county, the localities of several mounds have been
noted; but one of these, however, so far as I am informed, has been
examined with care. This one (Mound No, 5), examined by Messrs.
Phillips and Murphy of the Clinton School, is located about 2.V miles
west of Clinton (Sampson county), on the eastern exposure of a
small hill. In general characters it resembles the mounds already
described. Base circular, 40 feet in diametei- ; height 3i feet ; soil
sandy loam, resembling that surrounding the mound. Contents con-
sisted of small fragments of charcoal, two bunches of small shell
"beads," and the parts of 16 human skeletons. These skeletons
were not distributed uniformly throughout the portion of the mound
examined. At one place there were 9, at another 6, and at a third
place 5 skeletons, lying close to, and in some cases on top of one
another. In this pqint as in the position of the parts of the skele-

yS JOURNAL OF THE

tons ("doublecl-up'') this mound resembles those described above.
The bones were generally soft from decay. The small shells were
found in bunches under two skulls; they are of the same kind (Mar-
ginella roscida, Redfield) as those from Mound No. 1, and their ends
were ground off in the same way. No bones were found below the
surface level, and there was no evidence of excavations having been
made below this point. No stone in plements of any kind were
found in the mound. One-half this mound was examined.

In Robeson and Cumberland counties several mounds have be- n
examined; and for information concerning these, lam indebted to
Mr. Hamilton McMillan, of Dora, Robeson county. Five mounds
are reported as having been examined in Robeson county, averaging
60 feet in circumference, and 2 feet high, all located on elevat. d,
dry ridges, near swamps or water-courses ; and all contained bones
of human skeletons. One of these mounds, located about two miles
east of Red Springs, examined by Mr. McMillan, in 1882, contained
about 50 skeletons. Many of these bones near the surface of the
mound, in Mr. McMillan's opinion, had been partly burned— those
nearer the bottom were in a better state of preservation. There was an
"entire absence of skulls and teeth" from this mound — a somewhat
remarkable fact. A broken stone "celt" was found among the re-
mains ; bu' with this one unimportant exception, no mention has
been made of implements having be#n found.

In addition to the above, Mr. D. Sinclair, of Plain View, Robeson
county, has informed me that he has seen four mounds in the south-
ern portion of this county — two near Brooklyn P. O., and two be-
tween Leesville and Fair Bluff, about five miles from the latter
^ lace.

In Cumberland county, two mounds are reported by Mr. McMil-
lan as having been examined. One of these loccated about ten miles
south of Fayette ville, was found to contain the crumbled bones of
a single person, lying in an east and west direction. There vvas also
found in this mound a fragment rock rich in silver ore. The other
mound, located ten miles southwest from Fayetteville, near Rock-
fish Creek, was examined by Mr. McMillan in 1860, and found to
contain a "large number of skeletons," — "bones were well preserved
and, without exception, those of adults. ' The mound was located
on a high sandy ridge, its base about 20 feet in diameter; height 2A^

feet.

In Wake county one mound has been reported as being located
on the northeast and several on the southwest side of the Neuse
River, about seven miles east from Raleigh ; and from the foi-mer it

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 79

is stated that large numbers o stone implementshave been removed.
But I have been unable to examine these or to obtain any definite
information concerning them. One mound in this county, examined
in 1882 by Mr. W. S. Primrose, of Raleigh, is worthy of mention
in this connection, as it resembles in general characters the mounds
of Duplin county. This mound is located about ten miles south of
Raleigh, on a small plateau covered with an original growth of pines.
Base of mound circular, about 14 feet in diameter; height 2 feet.
The contents of the mound consisted of small fragment of charcoal,
and the bones of 10 or 12 human skeletons, much decayed, and ar-
ranged, so far as could be determined, without any reference to order
or regularity. No weapons or implements of any kmd were found.

NOTE ON CASSITERITE FROM KING'S MOUN-
TAIN, N. C.

CHARLES W. DABIS^EY, Jr.

Mr. Robert Claywell, a student from Burke county at the high
school at King's Mountain, on the line between Cleveland and Gas-
ton counties, found in a street of that village a piece of mineral,
which he sent me for determination,

A specimen which Mr. Claywell gave Col, S. McD. Tate was sent
me by that gentleman along with some other minerals, listed by

the words, "No , Tin?" Still other specimens fell into the

writer's hands while in Burke county in July last collecting for the
Boston Exposition, which also undoubtedly came from Mr. Claywell,
who was the first to recognize it as a new mineral, unknown to him.
These specimens were determined by the writer to be massive cas-
siterite, the first found in this State.

It was not known to me at first where the mineral came from, and
I supposed they were isolated specimens from the gold bearing
gravel. In January, Mr. Claywell communicated to me through a
friend the source of the specimens. Ascertaining that there was a
considerable amount of it scattered through the surface-soil there, I
visited the locality and instituted some explorations.

8o JOURNAL OF THE

My expectations were more than verified when I found pieces of
Cassiterite from the size of an egg to the finest sand, loose and stick-
ing in quartz, scattered over the surface in a belt beginning about
the centre of the village, and extending southward a mile or more.

When the clay of the hills or the gravel of the neighboring
creeks was panned, a heavy black sand was obtained which yielded
more or less tin.

A number of shafts have been sunk and trenches dug along the
course of the hill-tops whence the tinstone appears to have come.
The rocks : re mica schist and slate, with frequent veins and streaks
of quartz and quartzyte. The rocks are nearly vertical, direction of
out-crop northeast and southwest with all of the rocks of this coun-
try. The tinstone is disseminated through the quartz and quartzyte
vein matter occurring in a belt of the rock 100 to 150 yards wide. The
chief tin-bearing territory is limited on the northwest by a large out-
crop of micaceous quartzyte, on the southeast side by very large
out-crop of tourmaline-bearing or massive toui-maline-stained
quartzyte.

A number of these tin-bearing quartz veins have been exposed in
this territory^. The surface is covered with fragments of them which
the decaying mica schist and slate have left. These veins are from
2 — 4 feet in width. They run mostly with the other rocks, though
there are frequent cross and string- veins. At places these quartz or
quartzyte veins are left by the mica schist and stand up through the
clay nearly to the surface, while at other places they are broken
down to the level of the mica schist, Al still other places where
the schists and slates contained more silica, the whole formation is
found now near the surface.

According to Dr. Emmons, the village of King's Mountain is near
the dividing-line between the Laurentian granite and the Huronian
slates. To the east of the village the rocks are micaceous and slaty
quartzytes, talcose slates and bluish crystalline limestone. A few
miles west are the hornblende slates, gneiss, etc.

Nearly all of the adjacent rocks, the mica schists and slates, the
tourmaline-bearing quartz, and the massive black quartz— all show
amounts of tin varying from distinct traces to 1 — 2 per cent.

The only remark on tin which I find in writings on North Caro-
lina mineralogy is the following from Dr. Genth (Mineralogy of
North Carolina) : "No tin ore has been found in North Carolina as
yet; traces of this metal have been found in the tungstates of Ca-
barrus county, and in a micaceous slate (Huronian) in Gaston county^
jassociated with garnet and columnar topaz." [The italics and pa-

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 8 1

renthesis are mine.] The observation is very interesting in the light
of the recent discoveries. Have we not here at King's Mountain, at
or near the junction of these slates and the older gneiss and granite
a concentration of this diffused tin ?

The Cassiterite is mostly massive or semi-crystalline; occasionally
crystals are found. Hardness, 6.5 to 7; Specific gravity, 6.6 to 6.9;
color, generally dark brown, but varying from this to light yellow
and cream-colored, or almost colorless. Composition, mostly an
impure Cassiterite, with 50 to 60 per cent, of tin, some dark brown
silicious specimens running as low a.s 46 per cent, of tin. The some-
what rarer light colored specimens are richer in tin coming nearer
the per cent, of metal (78.66) in pure dioxide of tin (SnOa).

Out of a large number of analyses, I take the following, i retty
much at random :

1. Is a rather light-colored (not the lightest I have seen, however,)
yellowish specimen, with a high lustre and distinctly marked cleav-
age.

2. Is a rich brown-colored specimen, not the^ darkest. Analyzed
by Prof. G. B. Hanna, U. S. Assay oflSce, Charlotte, for me.

I. Light-colored, 2. Rich brown-colored.

Silica 1.76 per cent. 2.36 per cent.

Arsenic none. . trace.

Sulphur trace. 0.46 per cent.

Iron 0.62 per cent. 1.76 "

Tungstic acid .0.92 " 1. 14

Tin (by wet method) 74.41 " (by fusion) 65.21

The tinstone is remarkably free from those worst ingredients of
tin ore, sulphur and arsen c. The lower-grade specimens do not
show appreciably more than the above,

TUe accompanying minerals are tourmaline, very abundant ; titanic
iron in more immediate relation with the Cassiterite ; lithia mica,
generally immediately around the larger lumps of the tinstone in
the quartz ; and more rarely zirkon and rutile.

Raleigh, N. C, February, 1884.

11

82

JOURNAL OF THE

NOTES.

TEMPERATURE OF WELL WATERS IN CHAPEL HILL.

Observations were taken during one year about the middle of
every month, excepting July. A very accurate Geissler thermometer
was used, graduated into tenths of a degree. The wells examined
w^ere College (1), Dr. Phillips' (2), Prof. Venable's (3), Mrs. Hendon's
(4), Prof. Manning's (5), ani President Battle's (6). These vary con-
siderably in depth and most probably tap different strata. The fol-
lowing table gives the results of the observations :

Seasons.

Spring . .
Summer
Fall ....
Winter .
Annual .

I

2

3

4

5
57.6

58.5

58.2

58.9

5S.3

90.2

59-8

60.5

59-8

59-5

59-1

59-7

59-8

58.8

58.0

57-0

58.1

56.8

55.5

1 59-1

585

59-3

59-1

58.1

55-9
58.6

58.5
55.8
57.2

University of North Carolina.

F. P. Venable.

ELEVATION OF CHAPEL HILL.

Determined by computation (using Guyot's tables) from Barom-
etric observations for the year September, 1882, to August, 1883,
inclusive, taken at Wilmington, Charlotte and Chapel Hill ; and de-
termining approximately the correclion to be made by comparing
the known elevation of Charlotte with the computed elevation.

Elevation of Chapel Hill by comparison with Wilmington is
491.56 feet.

By comparison with Charlotte, it is 495.84 feet.

Mean of the two computations is 495.2 feet.

Known elevation of Charlotte is 838 feet.

Computed elevation of Charlotte by comparrison with Wilming-
ton 806.61 feet.

Difference = 31.39 feet.

Making proportional correction to the computed elevation of
Chapel Hill, which is found to be 13.27 feet, we have an approximate
elevation of Chapel Hill 514.47 feet.

Chapel Hill, N. C. J. AV. Gore.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 83

ANALYSIS OF ROCK-SALT FROM SALTVILLE, YA.

A specimen of this rock-salt sent by the Superintendent of the
salt-works in the valley of the Holston, yielded on analysis some-
what different results from the previously published analysis (Chem.
News," No. 1038) and in view of this and the claim made for this
Virginia brine, that it exceeds in purity nearly all others of which
analyses are on record, the analysis made in this laboratory is pub-
lished. The specimen was brownish-red in color, with a crystalline
structure and was obtained whilst deepening one of the salt- wells.
This rock-salt is not mined, the brine alone being used for the man-
ufacture of salt. The capacity of the works is at present 450,000
bushels per year, though at one time, during the late war, the yield
was as high as 10,000 bushels per day.

According to this analysis the rock-salt contained :

Na CI 93.05

K CI ■ -- trace.

CaS04.2H20 - 2.40

MgSO* 07

FegOg--.. .83

SiOg .-- '....: 2.Sr

• HgO .30

99.46

An analysis of the salt as marketed gave 98.89 per cent NaCl with
a small perentage of CaS042H30 and a trace of MgSO^ showing it
to be a high-grade salt.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. Thos. Radcliffe.

THE STORM OF APRIL 22d, 1883.

This storm is remarkable for its exce?^sive rain-fall. The barometer
fell slowly on on 2 1st and between three and four-tenths on 22nd.
The depression lasted during 23rd and 24th. The temperature was
normal before and at time of storm, but a fall of 16^F. in daily mean
followed it. The percentage of moisture in the atmosphere on 21st
was lower than for two weeks previous. A rapid rise in this per-
centage was noticed on 22nd and the air remained nearly saturated
until 24th, when there was a sudden falling off. Surface winds were
light during 21st and 22nd coming from S. E. The cirrus clouds

84 JOURNAL OF THE

moved from N. W. during 20th and 21st, lower clouds from S. W.
During 22nd the air felt "close" and the clouds were threatening,
though not very heavy. They were flying fast and at times veered
westerly. Towards nightfall they massed heavily in the west. Ve-
locity of the wind was ten miles per hour and this remained nearly
constant throughout the storm. Discharge of electricity wag very
vivid and the thunder violent. Precipitation began at 11 P. M. and
lasted in its greatest violence until 1 A. M., or a little later. By 2
A. M. it had lulled into a gentle rain lasting into the next day. At
the time of greatest rainfall the wind fell off to four miles per hour.
The rainfall during the night was 4.19 in. This is the largest re-
corded at this Station. The damage done in the immediate vicinity
was great. All mill-dams and bridges on neighboring streams were
washed away. Haw River, Deep River, and the Neuse were reported
deeper than in many years before.

Referring to the charts of the U. S. Signal Service, we see that
this storm approached from the N. Pacific coast on the 18th and
swept across the country. Violent local siorms and tornadoes were
reported South and East, especially in the Mississippi and Georgia.
Dangerous gales were reported off the coast from Jacksonville, Fla.,
to Boston, Mass. Nine Stations in different parts of the State re-
ported a rainfall of over three inches, showing the storm to be very-
general. Two tornadoes Avere reported also, one in Martin county,
and one in Sampson county.

The auroral display on the 24th, following the storm, was very
widely observed and was especially noted for the southerly latitudes
in which it was seen. It was rather faint at Chapel Hill being visi-
ble between 8 and 9 P. M.

University Meteorological Station. F. P. Vexable.

ANALYSIS OF A DEPOSIT OF ZINC OXIDE.

As is well known these deposits of impure zinc oxide are some
times found in furnaces where zinc-bearing ores are used. The
name cadmia is given them in Dana's mineralogy. The green flame
of burning zinc is noticed at the tymp of these furnaces and was
formerly looked upon by furnace-men as indicative of sulphur — es-
pecially as this burning left on substances in the near neighborhood
of the tymp a coating of zinc oxide which was yellow whilst hot.
The specimen examined was sent through the courtesy of the man-
ager of the Longdale Iron Co. 's furnaces. According to analysis no

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 85

zinc is contained in the ores used by this Company, the said ores
being ordinary brown hematite. Nor has zinc been found in the
coke and Umestone used — evidently occurring then in minute traces,
probably in the ore. The deposit was very large, nearl ; choking
the mouth of the furnace. The specimen had a laminated appear-
ance, as if deposited in layers, and was greenish-brown in color. It
was quite hard, breaking in thin plates, like shale, m the direction
of the lamination and the specific gravity was 5. 0405 (temp, of water
16°C.).

The analysis gave :

ZnO - . - 93. 34

PbO 2.37

Fe (metallic) 1.09

CaCOg 1. 01

C --- -- .20

SiOg --- - i-ii

100.02
Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. Thos. Radcliffe.

CAFFEIN IN YEOPON LEAVES.

Having in my possession a small sample of the leaves of the
Yeopon (gathered in January), a qualitative examination for CaHein
was made. The leaves were boiled with water for one to two hours
(condensing the water in an upright cooler). This infuv^ion was
neutralized with magnesia then shaken with chloroform and the
two layers of liquid separated. The chloroform was then evaporated
off and the residue purified by dissolving in alcohol, then in water,
and lastly in alcohol once more. The residue thus purified was .31
per cent, of the whole dried at 100='C.,.but the original sample was
so small that no great reliance could be placed on these figures.

The residue was carefully compared with caffein from Powers &
Weightman, and presented a close rese oblanceto it in every respect.
It was sparingly sohrble in water, more so in alcohol and quite so in
chlorolorm. It gave a very distinct murexid reaction.

When a larger sample of the leaves can be obtained at a more
favorable time of the year, a thorough quantitative examination
will be made.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. F. P. Venable.

86 JOURNAL OF THE

FILTERS WASHED WITH HYDROFLrORIC ACID.

The removal of silica from filters by washing with hydrofluoric
acid was first recommended by Austen (Zeitschr. x\nal. Chem.).
Acting upon this suggestion, Schleicher & SchuU have prepared
since Spring of 1883. filters washed with both hydrochloric and hy-
drofluoric acid. An .lamination of these filters shows that the ash
can in most cases be disregarded. The published analysis gives the
ash of a 11 c. m. filter as 0.00017 grm. Burning five and weighing
on a fair balance gave 0.0002 as the weight of one ash. They are a
little difficult to burn thoroughly. The average weight of the dried
filter, same size, is 0.6284. The washing with hydrofluoric acid has
decreased to a slight extent the power of retaining fine precipitates.
The unwashed paper of the same number and grade fail to catch
such a precipitate as calcium oxalate, even after standing several
hours, that is, the first few drops are turbid. With the washed filters
the turbidity is greater and more lasting. Several sets of experi-
ments were carried out with papers from different packs, some pro-
cured from Germany, some from the New York agents, and it was
found that all ordinary difficult precipitates except calcium oxalate
were retained when the proper precautions were taken, the filtrate
running through with great rapidity. The folding of the filters
must be done carefully, as they break somewhat easily. The filter
fibres, too, are apt to rub off. When accurately fitted, with a plati-
num cone, to a funnel in a filtering flask, they were found to stand
well the pressure caused by an ordinary water air-pump. The head
of water was about twenty-five feet. The advantages of these filters
then are the rapidity of filtering and the extremely low ash-weight.
The disadvantages are the ease of breaking and the necessity of care
to prevent the passage of certain fine precipitates.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. F. P. Yenable.

OCCURRENCE OF ABIES CANADENSIS AND PINUS
STROBUS IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

Abies Canadensis, MirJix. (Hemlock Sjjruce). —in many parts of
the mountain region of North Carolina this tree occurs in consider-
able abundance— especially in the mountain valleys, along the bor-
ders of streams and swamps; and it has been observed about the
base of mountains at some distance east .of the Blue Ridge proper.
So far as I am aware, how^ever, it has not been recorded as occur-
ring at any point east of the ' ' Mountain Region. " Recently ) was

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 8/

informed that a few small trees of thi- species were to be found
growing in Wake county, on Swift Creek, about ten miles southwest
from Raleigh, and on visiting that place I found the real Abies
Canadensis growing there, at an elevation of not more than 350 feet,
latitude a little south of 56*^. The locality was the northern ex-
posure of a bluff about 100 feet high and 350 yards long, extending
in a nearly east by west course, with its eastern end curved around
toward the northeast and its western toward the northwest, thus
quite effectively shutting out a portion of the sun's heat.

There were four or fiv»^ trees growing on this northern exposure
that measured 12 to 15 inches in diameter near the base, and about
50 feet high. These with several smaller individuals were all that
could be found. The larger trees do not present a heathy, vigorous
appearance; and are quite certain to be shortlived. The smaller
trees are few in number.

Piniis Stobiis, L. {White Pine). — Distribution in mountain region
of the State much the same as that of the Hemlock Spruce, men-
tioned above; and like that tree the White pine has not, so far as I
know, been recorded as occurring at any point in this State east of
the "Mountain Region." Recently, however, as reported to me by
several reliable persons, it has been found in Chatham county, grow-
ing on the northern exposure of the steep, rocky, southern bank of
Rocky River, near the junction of the latter with Deep river, at an
elevation of less than 500 feet.

University of N. C. J. A. Holmes.

MAGNETITE FROM ORANGE COUNTY.

This magnetite is found on the farm of Cheek, about three

miles south of Chapel Hill. Pieces ranging up to ten or fifteen
pounds in weight are found scattered over the field. One of these
was analysed with the following result :

Magnetic iron oxide 96.03

Silica _ 3.02

Water .52

Sulphur ig

Phosphorus trace.

99.76
Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C John L. Borden.

88 JOURNAL Of THE

ACTION OF GASOLINE ON COPPER.

W. H. Watson (Chem. News 42-190) has recorded the action of
various oils on iron and copper. Tliinking it of interest to add to
the list the action of gasoline, some was drawn from the bottom
chamber of the generator in a Springfield Gas Machine and exam-
ined for copper. The oil was 88° and had stood in the chamber
about six months. It was deeply colored. One litre was carefully-
distilled down to 5 — 10 c. c. This was then saturated with nitric
acid and evaporated to dryness, the temperature being finally raised
high enough to charr and burn off most of the organic matter.
Washing out the residue with nitric acid and water and testing for
copper, gave no indications of copper, showing that the gasoline
exerted extremely slight or no solvent action on copper.

Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. F. P. Venable.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 89

LIST OF SCIENTIFIC PERIODICALS
KEPT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF N. C. FOR REFERENCE.

American Chemical JournaL

American Chemical Society Journal.

American Journal of Science.

American Journal of Agricultural Science.

American Microscopical Journal.

American Naturalist.

Annalen der Chemie, (Liebig's).

Annals of Mathematics.

Astronomical Register.

Berichte der dentschen chemischen Gesellschaft.

Boston Journal of Science.

British Geological Magazine.

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.

Chemical News.

Chemical Review.

Electric Review.

Franklin Institute Journal.

London Chemical Society Journal.

Journal fur praktische Chemie.

Mathematical Magazine, Erie, Pa.

Mining Record.

Nature.

Observatory. The,

Popular Science Monthly.

Science.

Science Observer.

Zeitschrift fur Analytische Chemie.

12

90 JOURNAL ()P^ THE

CONSTITUTION

Name: This Society sihall be known as the Elisha Mitchell
Scientific Society.

Members: There shall be three classes of members — Honorary,
Rej^iular and Associate.

Hoj*roRARY Members shall be elected by a three-fourths vote of
the members present at the time of the pnnual election of officers.
They shall be recommended to the Society by the Council. They
shall not be required to contribute to the funds of the Society. They
shall receive the publications of the Society.

Regular Members: These shall be nominated by at least three
Regular Members, and must receive a th'ee-fourths vote of the
members present at the meetings appointed for election. They must
have been connected with the University of North Carolina as stu-
dents or instructors; or be residents of the State of North Carolina,
interested in scientific pursuits and actively engaged in scientific
work. They cannot at the time be undergraduates of any College
or University. They shall pay the annual fee within three months
after notification of their election. They shall receive copies of the
publications of the Society. They shall have the privilege of voting
at all the elections of the Society and hold any of its offices.

Associate Members : To encourage taste for scientific wor .
among the undergraduates, they may join the Society as Associate
Members, on the nomination of three Regular Members. They shall
pay the fee for Associate Members and receive the puljlications of
the Society, and may attend the Society's meetings. They shall
have no power of voting nor of holding office. They may become
Regular Members after leaving the .university by payment of the
proper fee.

If a Regular or Associate Member sh ill have paid no fees for one
year and . hree months, his name shall be stricken trom the list of
members; and he cannot be re-elected a member until his past dues
are paid.

Any proposition to remove a member for other cause than the non-
payment of dues must come from the Council. It shall be read at
an ordinary Scientific Meeting and can only be voted on at an Elec-
tion Meeting. The removal can only take place by a tlu'ee-fourths
vote of the members present at such meeting.

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 9I

Election of Officers: All officers of the Society shall hold
oflftce for one year and shall be voted for during the month of May.
The Secretary shall prepare lists of offices, leaving blanks for names
opposite President and Vice-President, and tilling in the others with
the nominations of the Council. These lists shall be sent to the
members, to be filled and returned by them. Absent members may
vote by proxy. Twenty votes must be cast in an election and a
majority of the votes cast is sufficient to elect.

Officers : The officers shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents,
a Secretary and Treasurer, and an Executive Committee.

President: The President shall preside at the meetings of the
Society. He shall be a member of the Council. He shall draw up
an address for the members, to be delivered at the annual meeting,
stating the year's progress of the Society, plans for its improvement,
&c. He shall be a Regular Member and need not reside at the Uni-
versity. He shall be eligible for re-election after one year.

Vice-Presidents : Of the two Vice-Presidents, one shall be resi-
dent at the Univirsity to preside over rhe meetings in the absence of
the President. Both shall be members of the Council. They shall
be eligible for re-election after one year.

Treasurer: The Treasurer shall receive all money due the So-
ciety, and shall pay out such sums as maybe ordered by the resident
Vice-President. He shall keep an account of such receipts and dis-
bursements, and shall make an annual report to the Society. His
account shall be audited by the Executive Committee.

Secretary : The Secretary shall record the proceedings of the
Society and conduct its correspondence. He shall reside at the Uni-
versity. The offices of Secretary and Treasurer shall be held by one
person, who shall be eligible for immediate re-election.

Executia'e Committee: This Committee shall consist of the res-
ident Vice-President and three other members. The Committee
shall see to t e publication of the Journal ; shall audit the Treas-
urer's accounts ; and with the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary
and Treasurer, shall form the Council of the Society.

Council : At all meetings of the Council, four shall constitute a
quorum. Special meetings of the Society may be called by the
Council. Nominations for officers and Honorary Members are to be
made by the Council.

Meetings : There shall be an annual meeting of the Society for
election of officers. This meeting shall be held during the month
of May, and two weeks' notice of it must be given by the Secretary.

There shall be two meetings for the election of members, one in

92 JOURNAL OF THE

December and one in April. Members may also be elected at the
annual meeting.

There shall be monthly Scientific meetings, at which times Scien-
tific papers and contributions to the Journal shall be read and dis-
cussed, and lectures delivered on subjects of general interest for the
benefit and improvement of Associate and other members ; also re-
ports on progress in the various branches of Science, and brief
biographies of distinguished scientific men.

Fees: The annual fee for Regular Members shall be two dollars.
The annual fee for Associate Members shall be fifty cents. Any
member can become a Life Member by the payment of twenty-five
dollars.

Journal: The Journal shall be published before October. It
shall contain original contributions from the members of the So-
ciety on Scientific subjects. These papers must have a scientific
intei est and be subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.
There shall also be published a list of officers and members, together
with the President's address and reports of other officers.

All other matters relating to Journal shall be left to the Executive
Committee,

Amexdmexts to the Constitution : This Constitution can be
amended only by a two-third's vote of all members present at an
election meeting.

EUSHA MITCHEIX SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

93

ROLL OF MEMBERS.

LIFE MEMBERS.

Green, Rt. Rev. W. M.

Sewannee, Tenn.

Hardin, Wm. H Ralei.t^h, N. C.

Hooper, Prof, J. DeBermlr

Chapel Hill.

Hubbard, Dr. F. M Raleigh.

Manning, Hon. John.. Chapel Hill.

Morrison, Rev. Dr. ..

Phillips, Dr. Chas Chapel Hill.

REGULAR MEMBERS.

Battle, Kemp P., LL. D.,

Chapel Hill.
Battle, Dr. K. P., Jr.,

Marine Hospital, Stapleton,

S. J., N. Y.

Battle, H. B Raleigh.

Batile, R. H Raleigh.

Battle, T. H Tarboro.

Barringer, Rufus Charlotte.

Bingham, Maj. Robert

Bingham's Scnool.
Blake Prof. J. R.Davidson College.

BuRGWYN, W. H. Henderson.

Cameron, J. D Asheville.

Cameron, Hon. P. C Hillsboro.

Carr, J. S Durham.

Cheshire, Jos. B Charlotte.

Coble, Prof. A. L. . ..Chapel Hill.

Craige, Kerr Salisbury.

Dabney, Dr. C. W Raleigh.

Dancy, F. B. .- Raleigh.

Deems, Dr. C. F.

4 Winthrop Place, N. Y.
Deems, Dr. F. M.

4 Winthrop Place, N. Y,

Fries, J . W. . . . Salem.

Gore, Prof. J. W Chapel Hill.

Grady, Prof. B. F., Jr Albertson.

Graves, Prof. R. H Chapel Hill.

Hanna, Geo. B Charlotte.

Harris, Dr. T. W. Chapel Hill.

Hays, John W Oxford.

Herff, Dr. B. Von... Raleigh.

Hill, W. E Faison.

Holmes, Prof. J. A Chapel Hill.

Horner, Prof. J. H. Oxford.

Jackson, John W Raleigh.

John, Rev. R. L ...Chapel Hill.

KExNAN, W. R. Wilmington.

Kerr, T. P. .. ..Haw River.

Kerr, Dr. W. C Raleigh.

Ledoux, Dr. A. R.

ID Cedar St., N. Y.

Lewis, Dr. R. H Kinston.

Lewis, Dr. R. H. ...Raleigh.

McAllister, Capt. A. W.

Bingham's School.
Mangum, Prof. A. W... Chapel Hill.

Manning, Dr. J. M Pittsboro.

Manning, J. S. Durham.

Martin, Col. W. J Davidson Col.

Mitchell, Prof. Geo. O... Raleigh.

Morehead, Eugene ..Durham.

Phillips, Rev. A. L Chnton.

Phillips, Hon. S. F.

Washington, D. C.

Phillips, Dr. W. B Wilmington.

PiNNix, M. H Lexington.

Primrose, W. S. Raleigh.

Radcliffe, Thos. Cronley.

Saunders, Hon. W, L. Raleigh.

SCHWEINITZ, Prof.E.A.DE..Ch. Hill.
Shipp, Dr. A. M. ..Nashville, Tenn.
SiMONDS, Dr. W. F...San Jose, Cal.

Smedes, E. B .Baltimore, Md.

Smith, P. E Scotland Neck.

Spainhour, Dr. J. M. Lenoir.

Stamps, P Baltimore, Md.

Stedman, C. M ...Wilmington.

Stedman. T. H Wilmington.

Steele, Col. W. L Rockingham.

Stephenson, J. A. D. ...Statesville.
Summerville, Rev. J. H. N.

Salisbury.

Thomas, C. R. Newbern

Thomas, Dr. Geo. G. ..Wilmington.

Thompson, S. H ..Lexington.

Vance, Hon. Z. B Charlotte.

Venable, Dr. F. P Chapel Hill.

Wheeler, Col. J. B.

West Point, N. Y.

Wilkes, J. F Hoboken, N. J.

Wilson, Maj. Jas. W...Morganton.
Winston, Prof. Geo. T. .Chapel Hill.

Withers, W. A

W^ood, Dr. Thos. F Wilmington.

94

JOURNAL OF THE

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Baker, J. H., Jr.
Baker, F. A.
Beckwith, S. L.
Borden, J. L.
Braswell, M. R.
Bryan, J. A.
Butler, M.
Bynum, O. C.
Cox, P. B.
Dockery, C.
dunston, w. s.
Eaton, O. B.
Eller, a. H.
Everett, W. N.
Field, A. J.
Fields, A.
Gill. E. J.
Graham, W. A.
Grandy, L. B.
Grimes, J. B.
Harris, A. J.
Howard, George
Jackson, Max.
John, M. L.
Latham, H. A.
Little, F. M.
Love, J. L.
Mallett, G. H.
Mann, J. S.
Manning, P. B.
McDonald, W. H.
McGehee, L. p.
McNiELL, D. H.

McNiell, W. H.
Mehane, G. a.
Miller, J. D.
Monroe, E. D.
Monroe, J. R.
Moore, j. M.
Morgan, A. R.
Morris, J. A.
norris, w. l.
Patrick, G. L.
Patterson, F. F.
Patterson, G. B.
Pou, E. W., Jr.
Randall, W. G.
Roberts, J. C.
Scull, St. Leon
Simmonds. a. M.
Slocumb, j. C.
Smith, C. F.
Thomas, James
uzzell, k. s.

UZZELL, R. L.
Vann, L.
Ward, A. D.
Warlick, L, M.
Weill, S. C.
West, J. F.
White, B. F.
White, W. H.
Whitehurst, W. W.
Wilkinson, W. S.
Wilson, N. H. D. Jr.
Wood. Julian

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 95

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

PAGE

Abies Canadensis, Occurrence of ..86

Acetate of Copper and Barium 50

Action of Ammonium Hydrate on Lead Chloride 24

Action of Ammonium Hydrate on Lead Iodide 43

Action of Gasoline on Copper 88

Alterability of Amorphous Phosphorus 37

Analyses of Cotton-seed 54

Analysis of a Deposit of Zinc Oxide 84

Analysis of Chapel Hill Well-waters ^ .23

Analysis of Rocksalt from Saltville, Va., . 83

Analytical Samples, Fine-grinding of' _.2i

Barium and Copper Acetate 50

Barometric Means at Chapel Hill for six years 36

Burial-mounds, of Eastern N. C, Indian ..73

Butter from weighed amounts of Milk.. ..68

Caffeine in Veopin Leaves 85

Carbon Bisulphide, Hydrated 69

Cassiterite from King's Mountain, N. C 79

Constitution 90

Copper and Barium Acetate 50

Copper, action of Gasoline on. 88

Cotton-seed, analyses 54

Dates of Flowering of Plants ^5

Dates of Foliation of Plants 46

Decomposition of Potassium Cyanide 18

Deposil of Zinc Oxide, Analysis of 84

Drinking-water, Zinc in ^ 47

Elevation of Chapel Hill .82

Examination of lion Ores from Chapel Hill Mine 26

Fall of Blood in Chatham county 38

Filters washed with Hydrofluoric acid 86

Fine-grinding of Analytical samples 21

Flowering of Plants ^5

Foliation of Plants 46

Gasoline on Copper, action of .88

Hydrated Carbon Disulphide 6q

Hydrofluoric acid, Filters washed with 86

Indian Burial Mounds of Eastern North Carolina 73

Iron Ores from Chapel Hill Mine 26

Lead Chloride, action of Ammonium Hydrate on.. --24

96 JOURNAL OF THE

PAGE.

Lead Iodide, action of Ammonium Hydrate on 43

List of Scientific Periodicals 89

Magnetite from Orange county, N, C... 87

Members, roll of . 93

Milk, Butler from weighed amounts of ._ 63

Mitchell, Elisha D. D., sketch of... _... 9

Navassa Rock, Reversion in Superphosphates from 56

Notes 82

Notes on Tornado of February 19th, 1884 28

Occurrence of Abies Canadensis -. 86

Occurrence of Pinus Strobus ... 87

Papers presented befors the Society 6

Periodicals, List of 89

Phosphates, North Carolina ..60

Phosphates, North Carolina 64

Phosphate Rock, Solubility of 53

Phosphoric acid. Reversion of by Heat .21

Phosphorus, Alterability of Amorphous .. 37

Pinus Strobus, Occurrence of 87

Potassium Cyanide, Decomposition of iS

Rainfall at Chapel Hill for four years 36

Reversion of Superphospates from Red Navassa Rock 56

Reversion of Phosphoric acid by Heat 21

Report of President _ 3

Report of Secretary 5

Report of Treasurer 8

Rock-salt from Saltville, Va., analysis of 83

Roll of members -' 93

Sketch of Elisha Mitchell, D. D 9

Solubility of North Carolina Phosphate Rock 53

Storm of April 22d, 1883 .1 83

Superphosphates, Rate of Reversion in 56

Temperature of Well-waters at Chapel Hill, N. C ..82

Thermometric Means at Chapel Hill for sixteen years 35

Tornado of February 19th, 1884 ..25

Tornado of March 25th, 1884. .40

Tornadoes, Theory of .51

Well-waters, analysis of 23

Well-waters, temperature of 82

Yeopon Leaves, Caffeine in _ 85

Zinc Oxide, Analysis of Deposit of 84

Zinc in Drinking-water 47

ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 97

INDEX OF AUTHORS.

Battle. H. B. — 8outh Carolina Phosphates, 6 ; Dissolved Phosphates, 7.

Battle, K. P.— Flowering of Plants, 45 ; Foliation of Plants, 46.

Battle, R. H. — Flowering of Plants, 45 ; Foliation of Plants, 46.

Dabney, C. W. Jr. — N. C. Phosphates, 64 ; N, C. Tinstone, 79.

Gore, J. W. — Secretary and Treasurer's Reports, 5 ; Radiant Matter, 6; Ap-
plications of Electricity, 6; Theory of Tornadoes. 51 ; Elevation of Chapel
Hill, 82.

Graves, R. H.— Ptolemaic Astronomy, 6 ; Pous-Brooks Comet, 6 ; Rotation
of Earth, 7.

Holmes. J. A.— Insectivorous Plants, 6 ; Southward Growth of Florida, 6 ;
Volcanic Eruptions in Sunda Sts,, 6 ; Movements of Water, 7 ; Tornado
February iglh, 1884, 28 ; Indian Burial Mounds, 73 ; Ahien Canadensis
and Pinus Strobus, 86.

Kerr, J. P. — Butter from weighed amt)unts of milk, 68.

Mallett, Geo. — Medical Practice among Indians, 7.

Philliss, Chas. — History of Observatoiy at U. N. C, 7 ; Action of Gravity
on an Atom, 7 ; Sketch of Elisha Mitchell. D. D., q.

Phillips, J as. — Meteorological Tables, 35 ; Flowering of Plants, 45 ; Folia-
tion of Plants, 46.

Phillips, W. B. — Rosin and Turpentine, 7; Reversion of Phosphoric acid
by Heat, 21 ; Rate of Reversion in Superphosphates, 56 ; N. C. Phoe-
phates, 60.

Radcliffe, THoS. — Rock-salt Analysis, 83; Zinc Oxide Deposit. 84.

Roberts, J. C— Elements and supposed Elements, 6 ; Sources of Phosphork
acid, 7 ; Examination Iron Ores, 26 ; Alterability Amorphous Phosphorus,
37 ; Copper and Barium Acetate, 50.

DeSchweinitz, E. a. — Primitive Rocks, 6 ; Analysis of Well-waters, »3 ;
Analysis of Cotton-seed, 54.

Stephenson. J. A. D. — Tornado March 25th, 1884. 40.

Venable, F. P. -^Report of President, 3 ; Artificial Milk and Butter, 6 ;
Strange Stinsets and Sunrises, 6 ; Lunar Halos, 7 ; Coal Tar Products,
7 ; Fall of Blood, 38 ; Zinc in Drinking-water, 47 ; Hydrated Carbon
Disulphide, 6g ; Temperature of Well-waters, 82 ; Siorm of April 22d,
1883, 83 ; Caffeine in Veopon, 85 ; Filters washed with Hydrofluoric acid,
86 ; Solvent Action of Gasoline, 88.

Wilkes, J. F. — Decomposition of Potassium Cyanide, 18.

Wood, Julian. — Silk Industry. 7 ; Action of Ammonium Hydrate on Lead
Chloride, 24.

13

3 2044 072 223 175

Date Due

MM 1 0 1955