y ~nN. t J^VN ^ibrarg of t^e ^us^um OP COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, IT HARVARD COllEGE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. rv-x.^ '%r----v.^_- The gift Of <^hjL mLjuLx. M^buOCA.. No. -f-f,. yzl> ^ . Cl ' ^ \^\t^ o JOURNAL OF THE Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, FOR THE YEAR 1884:— 1885 PUBLICATION COMMITTEE R. H. GRAVES, J. A. HOLMES, W. B. PHILLIPS. C RALEIGH, N. C. : EDWARDS, BROUGHTON & CO., STEAM POWER PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1S85. 0RRieBR|. 1884--1885. President— VV. C. KERR, Pii. D. Vice-President— W. J. MARTIN, A. M. Resident Vice-President — J. W. GORE, C. E. Sec. and Treasurer— F. P. VENABLE, Ph. D., F. C. S. EXECUTIVE eeMMITTEE. R. H. GRAVES, B. Sc, C. & M. E. J. A. HOLMES, B. Agr. W. B. PHILLIPS, Ph. D. JOURNAL OF THE Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society REPORT OF THE RESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT FOR THE YEAR 1884-85. J. W. GORE. The second year of the Mitchell Society is now completed; and it is gratifying to be able to report a successful year. It was feared by some of the friends of the Society that the very commendable interest expressed and maintained during the first year would wane, and the Society languish somewhat, or require greater effort on the part of a few to support it and keep alive the interest in its existence. Hence it was with great solicitude that its progress was watched; and now that another prosperous year has been added to its life, it is with increased confidence that we regard the Society as permanently established, and worthy a more hearty support and co-operation of those interested in, and desirous of, the prosperity of an organization which proposes to use every effort and employ all means for increasing and disseminating a knowledge of science. During the year there was a series of four public lectures given under the auspices of the Society by Prof. Winston and Dr. Vena- ble, of the University, Dr. Thos. F. Wood, of Wilmington, and Prof. J. H. Gore, of Washington, D. C. The members of the Uni- versity and citizens of the town attested their appreciation of the opportunity for instruction these lectures afforded by their presence and attention. There were also held, during the year, six regular monthly meet- ings for the reading and discussion of papers presented.* These meetings were limited to members and invited guests, and were well attended and very encouraging interest was taken in the exercises. This separation of the more popular feature of the work we had allotted ourselves from the more technical or scientific work of the Society, has proven by experience to be a happy solution of the complex problem of interesting the public in the aims of the Society, 4 JOURNAL OF THE and of stimulating the members to take an active part in presenting papers on technical subjects and the discussions they call forth. The character and amount of work done during the year can best be estimated by the Journal and reference to the Secretary's report. It is a pleasure to note, and it may not be out of place, the recog- nition by some of our Southern States of the material assistance science may afford when properly directed. As examples of this, we would refer to the well equipped and ably conducted Experiment Station of this State, and a similar institution in South Carolina, each of which is doing valuable work in the interest of their respect- ive States and science. We trust this is but a beginning of a revival of science in the South, and we wish to put our shoulder to the work and help it bravely on. The success which attended the issue of the Journal for the year 1883-84 was very flattering. If it were appropriate, the compli- ments of the various journals and newspapers of the country might be cited. Some of the papers have been republished in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and in the London Chemical News. Some have been mentioned in the Smithsonian Report on the Year's Progress in Chemistry. One of the papers has also appeared in the North Carolina Medical Journal. These form most pleasing evi- dences of the value set upon our work, and it is just such recogni- tion that we are trying to win. These encouragements to our efforts should act as a stimulus to more earnest effort, that the expectations and hopes of friends may be realized. The object of the Journal is now well known, though we regret that but few members of the Society, who do not have the privilege of attending the meetings, make use of the Journal as a means of recording original work and observations, and as a vehicle of com- municating their results to others. It is hoped that our members will recognize and appreciate the advantages the existence of the Journal offers, and avail themselves of the opportunity and encouragement it supplies. Follo.wing the precedent of the previous number of the Journal, and in fulfilment of a partial promise, the present number contains the portrait and a sketch of the life of Dr. Curtis. It is hoped in the third number of our Journal to present a similar biography of Dr. L. D. von Schweinitz. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. F. P. VENABLE. Business Meetings. October 3d, 1884. Prof. J. W. Gore presiding. It. was moved and carried that, the meetings during the coming session be divided into two classes: Regular meetings, for the especial benefit of the members, at which papers on strictly scientific subjects are to be presented; Public Lectures, which are to be on some general popular subject, for the entertainment and instruction of the public at large. These meet- ings are to be held at such times as may seem suitable and conve- nient to the Council. May 25th, 1885. Prof. J. W. Gore presiding. This was the regular meeting for elections. The official reports for the year were discussed and ordered for printing in the Journal. The following officers were elected for the year 1885- '86: Presi- dent, Dr. Thos. F. Wood; 1st Vice-President, Dr. W. B. Phillips; 2d Vice President, Prof. J. W. Gore; Secretary and Treasurer, F. P. Venable. Executive Committee: R H. Graves, J. A. Holmes. One place on the Executive Committee was left vacant, to be filled by the Council. The following Honorary Members were elected : Dr. J. W. Mallet, University of Virginia; Dr. H. Carrington Bolton, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. ; Dr. A. W. Chapman, Apalachicola, Fla. The treasurer was instructed to get estimates for printing the next Journal. For the coming year it was decided that the biography should be that of Dr. Louis D. von Schweinitz, and the Secretary was instructed to correspond with the family as to the choice of a biographer. The meeting then adjourned. Regular Meetings. Five public meetings were held for the presentation and discussion of scientific papers. At these meetings forty-three papers were pre- sented. During the session, also four public lectures were given under the auspices of the Society. 6 JOURNAL OF THE National History Lecture Room, October iSth, 1884. 1. Report on the British and American Association Meetings for 1884. ...J. W. Gore. 2. Constituents of the Yopon Leaf, F. P. Venable. 3. Transpiration of Water by Plants, F. P. Venable. 4. Flora of Angola Bay, J. A. HoLMES, December ^th, 1884. 5. Recent Progress in Engineering, .. ..J. W. Gore. 6. Analysis of Crystals of Dog-tooth Spar, W. B. PHILLIPS. 7. Analysis of Salt-boiler Deposit, W. B. Phillips. 8. Analysis of Zinc Furnace Deposit, E. A. de SCHWEINITZ. 9. Analysis of Specular Iron Ore from Forsyth county, L H. Manning. 10. Examination of some Chapel Hill well-waters, ..J. C. Roberts. February ']th, 1 88 5. 11. Use of Balloons in Meteorology, J. \V. GoRE. 12. Mercurous Hypophosphite, . ...E. A. de SCHWEINITZ. 13. Recent Progress in the Liquefaction of Gases,. F. P. Venable. 14. The Jetties at the Mouth of the Mississippi, ---J. A. Holmes. 15. The True Source of the Mississippi, .F. P. Venable. 16. Forty Solutions of the " Pons Asinorum," Chas. Phillips. 17. Analysis of Spiegeleisen, .. iNL\x. Jackson. 18. Analysis of Kaolin, ... ..1 L H. Manning. ig. Analysis of Red Hematite from Forsyth county. A. E. WiLSON. March ']lh, 1885. 20. Sir Wm. Thomson's Theory of Luminiferous Ether, J. L Love. 21. Meteorological Report for February, F. P. Venable. 22. A Botanical Note, M. E. Hyams. 23. Progress in Astronomy,.. R. H. Graves. 24. Clay-eating, F. P. Venable. 25. Occurrence of Malic and Citric Acids in Pea-nuts, ..E. A. DE SCHWEINITZ. 26. Heptyl-benzol, ... ._ F. P. Venable. 27. Algebra and Acid Phosphates,.... W. B. Phillips. April 25M, 1885. 28. Arctic Exploration, J. W. Gore. 29. Observation of Thunder-storms by Balloon, F. P. Venable. 30. A (so-called) Petrified Human Body, - - - J . A. Holmes. 31. Peculiar Animal and Plant Life in Geology, ..J. A. Holmes. 32. Additions to Catalogue of North Carolina Plants, .. M. E. Hyams. 33. Character of the Border Rocks of North Carolina Triassic, J. A. Holmes. 34. Trap Rocks in Triassic Sand Stone, J. A. Holmes. 35. Distribution of Rhododendrom in North Carolina, J. A. Holmes. 36. Quantitative Determination of Sugar, J. L. Howe. 37. Meteorology of Chapel Hill for the years i88o-'84, F. P. Venable. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 7 38. Certain Reactions of Phosphorus, . F. P. Venable. 39. Determination of the Latitude of Chapel Hill, J. W. Gore. 40. Determination of Total Phosphoric Acid, ..F. B. Dancy. 41. Common Salt as a Wash for Phosphoric Acid insoluble in Citric Acid, F. B. Dancy. 42. Solubility of Alumina in Sulphuric Acid Max Jackson. 43. Ammonia in Saliva, Max Jackson. Public Lectures. Gerrard Hall, N'ovember 1st, 1884. 1. The Domestic Life of the Romans, as illustrated by Pompeii, Prof. Geo. T. Winston. Natural History Lecture Room, February 28//^, 1885. 2. Alchemists and Alchemy, Prof. F. P. Venable. Gerrard Hall, April ^th, 1885. 3. History and Objects of Geodesy, Prof. Howard Gore. Natural History Lecture Room, May 230^, 1885. 4. Biography of Dr. Curtis, Dr. Thos. F. Wood. REPORT OF THE TREASURER. f. p. venable, Dr. Cr. Balance in treasury May ist, 1884 $ 134 42 Additional receipts for 1 883-'84, 3400 Printing Journal for i883-'84, $ 140 70 Engraving for 1 883-'84, n 53 Express charges, 3 75 Annual dues for 1884-85, 8g 50 Engraving for i884-'85, 10 00 Stationery, 80 Postage, -- 6 02 $ 257 92 $ 172 So Amount in treasury August 1st, 1885, $ 85 12 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON CARUTHERS KERR. Washington Caruthers Kerr, Ph. D., the second President of the Mitchell Society, died in Asheville, N. C, August 9th, 1885, fifty-six years old. He was born in Guilford county, N, C, and was graduated at the University of N. C, with highest honors in schol- arship in 1850. After teaching school in North Carolina, and while a professor in Marshall University, Texas, he was appointed a computer in the Nautical Almanac Office at Cambridge, Mass. Availing hin - self with great ardor of the opportunities offered by Harvard College, he became the companion as well as the pupil of Davis, and Agassiz, and Peirce, and Lovering, and Guyot, and Horsford, and Eustis, and formed lasting friendships with others renowned in science on both sides of the Atlantic. From Cambridge he went, in 1857, to Davidson College, N. C, as its Professor of Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy. This position of personal safety he left at the begin- ning of the late civil war and enlisted as a private in the Confede- rate army; but was soon detailed to devise methods for, and to superintend the manufacture of salt on the coasts of Norfh Carolina and of South Carolina. In 1866 he became the successor of Dr. Emmons as the Geologist of North Carolina. In 1867-'8 he deliv- ered the lectures on Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy before the Senior Class at the University of North Carolina. In 1882 he ac- cepted a position in the Coast Survey of the United States, that he might connect his own work in North Carolina with that of the Nation. His labors among the mountains of North Carolina were suspended, because of bodily infirmity, in 1883. Dr. Kerr was one of the oldest and most active members of the American Association for the Advance of Science, and was connected with several other similar societies. To the archives and to the publications of these bodies he contributed frequently and often largely. Although of a slight physical frame, he was of great en- ergy in body and in mind. He visited every portion of his native State and examined personally its plains, hills, mountains, rivers, creeks, forests, minerals, metals and climate. No man has ever labored so constantly, intelligently, lovingly and successfully to discover and proclaim the capability of North Carolina to supply the wants of mankind. Possessed of a fiuent tongue and a ready pen, he spread the fame of his State wherever science is cultivated. EI.ISHA MITCHKLL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 9 This sliort notice of an early and active member of the Mitchell Society, who looked with interest on its work as promising much good and much honor to North Carolina, is to be regarded as but preliminary to a more extended account of the life, character and labors of one who was at all times a faithful servant of the public, "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." A SKETCH OF THE BOTANICAL WORK OF THE Rev. MOSES ASHLEY CURTIS, D. D. Read before the Mitchell Society at the University of North Carolina. May 220. 18S5, by Thomas F. Wood. In the early days of this century botany was the science of great expectations in America. The florid narratives of the old chroni- clers were being displaced by a generation of scientific men, whose zeal and earnestness fitted them for the vast work of the exploration and study of the fiora of a new continent. From the very beginning in this country, the science of botany was an aristocracy of learning, except in the matter of lineal trans- mission, and even in this direction we have two illustrious examples in the case of the Bartrams and Michaux. The pioneer teachers were admitted authority in their broad domain, and received the encouragement and patronage of the mother country in our colonial state, and the sympathy and respectful admiration of the people when we became federated States. This was a very natural state of things, for although the science of botany was so well cultivated that it became a matter of national pride, still the real botanists were very few. As we look through the superb volumes which remain the perma- nent monuments of the work of these men, we find a striking repetition of a very few names referred to as authority, but these men were able, industrious, and with very few exceptions, men of marked lon- gevity, having the capacity of exciting enthusiasm among the young men who attended their instruction. It was not until the century was nearly twenty years old that botanical works began to multiply in such numbers as to be of use to the student; so at the time Dr. 2 lO JOURNAL OF THE Curtis entered upon the 8tudy of botany, the t-cience had already enlisted the men who were to give it the permanent impress of their rare ability. I propose now to pass in review the botanical career of the Rev. Dr. Curtis, rather than attempt a general biography. Moses Ashley Curtis was born in Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Mass., May 11th, 1808. His mother was the daughter of Gen. Moses Ashley. He graduated at Williams College, September, 1827. Mr. Curtis came to Wilmington in October, 1830, as a tutor in the family of Governor Dudley. He devoted himself in all of his leisure hours to the study of the flora of that region. Especially on Satur- days he made excursions among the sand hills and savannahs near Wilmington. At that time (1831) Wilmington was a village of about 4,000 inhabitants, and the field for botanizing existed where now are busy streets. Close up to the village reached the pine forests abound- ing with a flora rich and novel to the enthusiastic young botanist, while the savannahs, with their strange and interesting Sarracenia and Pixidanthera, and Droseras, and the thousands of gaudy heads of Liatris, and the brilliant yellows of Coreopsis and Solidago, charmed the eye and filled his portfolios, A flora so vast as that of America was difficult for any one man to compass in the course of a lifetime, and so the earlier botanists had conceived the advantage of florulas, to De prepared each for his local section. Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell led off in 1807 in this work i>y publishing a catalogue of the plants growing around his country seat in New York, and he was followed by Maj. John le Conte in a florula for the island of New York in 1811, and in 1814 Dr. Jacob Bigelow published a model specimen of a local flora en- titled Florula Bostoniensin. Subsequently the science uf botany was enriched by the contributions of Dr. J. A. Brereton, for Wash- ington, D. C. ; and in 1830 by Prof, C. W. Short, for Lexington, Ky. It was the result of his botanical studies that Mr. Curtis gave to the public under the title of '^ Enumeration of Plants Growing Spontaneously Around Wilmington, North Carolina,'''' with remarks on some new obscure species." This first appeared in the Boston Journal of Natural History, September 3d, 1834, (No. 2, vol. 1,) the first edition of which was nearly all burnt, but it was subsequently reprinted " with many additions and emendations." Dr. Gray says it was one of the first works of the kind in this country in which the names are accented. His quick eye and assiduous application may be judged by the fact that* in little more than two seasons, at intervals from other * Enumeration of Plants, &c., M. A. Curtis, p. 83. Reprint Boston Journal Natural History, Vol. i, No. 2, 1834. ELTSllA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. II engagements, he made a collection of over a thousand species (ex- actly 1,031.) This was two hundred less than were then reckoned as belonging to the Hora of Massachusetts, and more than half the number described in Elliott's Botany of Souti Carolina and Georgia, and about a fourth of the phenogamous flora of the United States, as then known. He then adds that much ground still remains un- examined. Most of these plants were found within about two miles radius of Wilmington, and a number of maritime species discovered at Smithville, and several from Rocky Point, Dr. Darlington, who was one of his earliest and warmest friends, speaks of Mr. Curtis at that date as a careful observer and sagacious botanist. At the time Mr. Curtis was pursuing his studies in Wilmington, there were few professed botanists in the State. The year before Dr. Curtis published his florula (1833),* H. B. Groom, Esq., and Dr. H. Loomis made a pretty careful survey of Xewbern, and printed a catalogue of the plants they found growing in that neighborhood. Subsequently (1837) Mr. Groom published an enlarged catalogue. Mr. Groom was a lawyer, and a botanist of no mean ability, and besides the above contributions, prepared a valuable monograph on the Sarracenias whici appeared in the third volume of the Annals of the New York Lyceum. The memory of Mr. Groom received a more distinguished record in the annals of botanic science than any of his contemporaries or successors in North Carolina, having had a genus (Croomia) named in honor of his contributions. In a recent contribution the Botanical Gazette, (April, 1885,) Dr. A. W. Chapman, author of the Flora of the Soutliern States, says: "Fifty years ago, on one of those calm, hazy October evenings, peculiar to the climate of Florida, the quiet of the pleasant town of Quincy was interrupted by the rapid approach of a carriage with attendant outriders, which, having made part of the circuit of the public square, drew up before my oflBce, and a gentleman of middle age, spare habit, light hair and blue eyes, caiue forth and intro- duced himself as Mr. Groom, of North Carolina. This was the com- mencement of my brief intercourse with Hardy B. Groom, the dis- coverer of Torreya; for as is well remembered, a year afterwards he was lost at sea, with all of his family, on the passage from New York to Charleston. Of his perbonal traits, it is needless here to say more than that he belonged to that class of wealthy and intelligent Southern gentlemen whose homes, renowned for their unostenta- tious hospitality, were the abode of all that is most charming in the * Dr. Curtis gives the date of his publication as 1833, but in the reprint I have, it is stated that the paper was communicated to the Boston Journal of Natural History in 1834. 12 JOURNAL OF THK refinements of domestic life; but which now, by impoverishment, resulting from disastrous civil conflict, and consequent change of social customs and duties, and by the invasion of lude manners and looser ethics, have entirely disappeared. + * * "jsir. Croom was then on one of his annual journeys from Newbern, N. C, the resi- dence of the family, to his plantation in the adjoining county of Leon; but previously to settling in that county, he had rented a plantation on the west bank of the Apalachicola river, opposite the calcareous cliffs at xVspolaga, on the east bank, which at that time were covered by a dense grove of Torreya, and it was here probably in 1833 that he first saw it." This glimpse of Dr. Curtis' contemporary is one of the very few I have seen, and hence its insertion here. In Wilmington Dr. James F. McRee, Sr. , also cultivated botany with assiduity, and the two botanists worked together effectively. Dr. McRee's country residence was at Hilton, the country seat of Cor- nelius Harnett, near the junction of the North East Cape Fear with the main stream. It was at this house that Harnett received a visit from Josiah Quincy,, and where plans were laid for the prosecution of active hostilities against Great Britain. Here Dr. McRee cultiva- ted with great care and with rare success the indigenous trees and shrubs he collected in the course of his extensive journeys in the pursuit of his calling. Dr. McRee added 34 species to Curtis' cata- logue, annotated by him, besides several which were printed in the catalogue proper, and all through the writings of Dr. Curtis may be fi)und appreciative allusions to his scientific attainments. No proper memorial has ever been made of this pioneer scientist. Before railroads brought their freights speedily to our doors, and the art of printing had so multiplied books, there could be found upon the shelves of Dr. McRee's library the most recent and expen- sive works on the science of medicine in which he was a great master, but side by side with them he had a natural history collection in volumes of such rare value that to day — the day of numerous and valuable books — it would be considered exceedingly choice. Until a late day in his life his herbarium was kept in order by replacing new specimens, but as his health failed and the war brought sorrows and cares to his home, his herbarium fell into neglect, and finding no cultured hand to preserve its scientific treasures, it was aban- doned, and its crumbling remains now lie neglected in the dusty garret of a former slave, and the best of the books doubtless found their way through the intervention of plunderers, to Northern book- stalls, if they did not go down off Cape Fear in the ill fated steamer Oen. Lyons, with thousands of dollars belonging to others of our citizens. ELISHA MTK IIKl.L SCIENTIFIC SOCIKT^•. I3 Pro'. Elisha Mitchell and Rev. Dr. L. De Schweinitz had preceded Dr. Curtis in the study of North Carolina plants, the former to abandon it for the Uiore congenial study of geology, the latter to establish a world-wide reputation. Dr. Cyrus L. Hunter, of Lincoln county, published a list of such plants as he found in liis neighborhood, about the year 1834, aud pursued his studies with more or less regularity and zeal since then. This scanty review gives an idea of what degree of cultivation the pursuit of botany had reached in North Carolina when Mr. Curtis engaged in it. To the soutli of us the Rev. Dr. Bachman, a diligent naturalist, had made such advance in the study of botany as to publish a cata- logue of the plants growing in the vicinity of Charleston. At the same time, Mr. H. W. Ravenel was also a cultivator of the science. Of both of these gentlemen Mr. Curtis speaks in his diary as having met, while on a botanical tour in South Carolina and Georgia in 1835, also Mr. Leitner, of Georgia. The number of botanists actually at work were few in number, but those were bound together by the closest ties of scientific and friendly interests. Much of the knowledge of plants was communi- cated by means of long and carefully prepared letters, written with that engaging art which unfortunately threatens to become extinct. Mr. Curtis was twenty-two years old when he came to Wilmington a young teacher. His early associations had been favorable for the inculcation of a true scientific spirit. He found absorbing pleasure in the quiet of the fields and forests, and without ever a thought of becoming a scientific botanist, he amassed a wealth of knowledge, and won an exalted position among the botanists of the world. No doubt he looked forward to Saturday with eager expectation, that he might exchange the constrained duties of the school room for the freedom of the woods, and for pleasant intercourse with the old and new fioral friends he was to meet. U there is such a thing as a scientific instinct, Mr. Curtis possessed it. He vvas habitually accurate in his studies, and the results were early relied upon by his correspondents. Coming into a new field of botanical study, it was <|uite natural that he should have directed his attention to the habits of the very local DioiKr.a intiscipula. Saturday after Saturday he would visit the savannahs, and lying at length upon the ground, would watch its peculiarities. The popular description which he gave of it in " Enumeration of Plants around Wilmington," has been repeated for the last fifty years, and 14 JOURNAL OF THE shows how greatly he possessed the gift of accurate and entertaining description. I quote the passage without apology: "The leaf, which is the only curious part, springs from the root, spreading upon the ground or at a little elevation above it. It is composed of a petiole or stem with broad margins, like the leaf of an orange tree, two to four inches long, whii h at the end suddenly expands into a thick and somewhat rigid leaf, tlie two sides of which are semicircular, about two-thirds of an inch across, and fringed around their edges with somewhat rigid cilia or long hairs like eye lashes. It is very aptly compared to two upper eyelids joined at their bases. Each side of the leaf is a little concave on the inner side, where are placed three delicate, hair-like organs in such an order that an insect can hardly traverse it without interfering with one of them, when the two sides suddenly collapse and enclose the prey with a force surpassing an insect's efforts to escape. The fringe or hairs of the opposite sides of the leaf interlace, like the fingers of the two hands clasped together. The sensitiveness resides only in these hair-like processes on the inside, as the leaf may be touched or pressed in any other part without sensible effects. "The little prisoner is not crushed and suddenly destroyed, as is sometimes supposed, for I have often liberated captive flies and spiders wliich sped away as fast as fear or joy could hasten them. At other times I have found them enveloped in a fluid of a mucila- ginous consistence, which seems to act as a solvent, the insects being more or less consumed in it. This circumstance has suggested the possibility of their being made subservient to the nourishment of the plant through an apparatus of absorbent ve.ssels in the leaves. But as I have not examined sufiiciently to pronounce on the univer- sality of this result, it will require further observation and experi- ment on the spot to ascertain its nature and importance. It is not to be supposed, however, that such food is necessary to the exist- ence of the plant, but like compost, may increase its growth and vigor. " But however obscure and uncertain may be the final purpose of such a singular organization, if it were a problem to construct a plant with reference to entrapping insects, I cannot conceive of a form and organization better adapted to secure that end than are found in the Dionoea muscipula. I therefore deem it no credulous inference that its leaves are constructed for that specific object, whether insects subserve the purpose of nourishment to the plant or not. It is no objection to this view that they are subject to blind accident, and sometimes close upon straws as well as insects. It would be a carious vegetable indeed, that had a faculty of dis- tinguishing bodies, and recoiled at the touch of one, while it quietly submitted to violence from another. Such capricious sensitiveness is not a property of the vegetable kingdom. " The spiders net is spread to ensnare flies, yet it catches whatever falls upon it; and the ant lion is roused from his hiding place by the fall of a pebble; so much are insects, also, subject to the blindness of accident. Therefore the web of the one and the pitfall of the other are not designed to catch insects! Nor is it in point to refer to other plants of entirely different structure and habit which some- times entangle and imprison insects. As well might we reason ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. iq against a spider's' web because a fly is drowned in a honey pot, or against a steel trap, because some poor animal has lost its life in a cider barrel." "In his note upon the structure of Dionoea, or Venus Fly-Trap, a plant found only in the district around Wilmington," says Dr. Asa Gray, "Dr. Curtis corrected the account of the mode of its wonderful action that had prevailed since the time of LinniBus, and confirmed the statement and inferences of the first scientific describer, EUis, namely, that his plant not only captures insects, but consumes them, enveloping them in a mucilaginous fluid which appears to act as a solvent." During the preparation of his first little work he returned to Boston and commenced his studies for the ministry, 1833-34, with the Rev. William Croswell. While there he commenced a corres- pondence with Dr. Torrey, who aided him in determining species. His acquaintance with Dr. Gray commenced later, but became much more intimate. While on his way to Boston, he formed the acquaintance of Dr. Darlington, of Westchester, Pa., and he afterwards became a valued friend and a helper bo long as he needed one. He married Miss Mary DeRosset, daughter of the elder Dr. A. J. DeRosset, of Wilmington December 3d, 1834. He returned to the South in the latter part of 1834, continued his studies with the Rev, Dr. R. B. Drane, and was ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal church by Bishop Moore, of Virginia, in 1835. He immediately entered upon mission work in Western North Carolina from Charlotte to the mountain country as far as Mor- ganton, with his residence in Lincolnton. It was while pursuing his work as a missionary that he took advantage of his journeying in the solitary woods to pursue his botanical researches. Most of his traveling was done in a "sulky," which was so arranged that his portfolio was under the cushion. As he came across specimens by the way, he would collect them and place them in his portfolio, and so by the end of his journey he had secured a number of ready pressed plants for future study, or for mounting permanently in his herbarium. He left the mountain section at the end of 1836, and was engaged as a teacher in the Episcopal school in Raleigh from the beginning of 1837 to May 1839. The summer <;f 1839 he spent in the mountain country for health chiefly, though always carrying on his botanical explorations, and went through that region to tlie extreme west and southwest of the State. 1 6 JOURNAL OF THK Extending his botanical observations to the western borders of his adopted State, Dr. Curtis was among the first to retrace the steps and rediscover the plants found and published by the Elder Michaux, in the higher Alleghany mountains." (Silliuian's Jour., January to June, 1873, p. 392.) From the very beginning of these journeys the search for a plant found in the Elder Michaux's herbarium was begun and pursued with hopeful expectation for years. Michaux had been proven so truthful and accurate in his descriptions, that he had impressed his successors with faith in him. This veteran botanist had collected a remarkable plant, as Dr. Gray says, with the habit of Pyrola and the foliage of Galax, and the only specimen extant was in the Michauxian herbarium, among the Plaiita incog- nita, and this only in fruit. This plant, since discovered in flower by Mr. Hyamsin McDowell, had already been named by Dr. Gray, in honor of Prof. Short, of Kentucky, and now known as Shortia galicifolia. Over and over again did Dr. Curtis traverse the line of Michaux's travel for Shortia, but without success. Prof. Gray* says in a paper in which he sketched the botanical tours of the botanists who had visited the moun ains of North Car- olina in 1841: "No living botanist is so well acquainted with the vegetation of the Southern Alleghany Mountains, or has explored those of North Carolina so extensively as the Rev. Mr. M. A. Curtis, who, when resident for a short time in their vicinity, visited, as op- portunity occurred. Table Mountain, Grandfather, the Yellow Moun- tain, the Roan, the Black Mountain, &c., and subsequently, (although prevented by infirm health from making large collections) extended his researches through the counties of Haywood, Macon, and Cherokee, which form the narrow southwestern extremity of North Carolina. To him we are indebted for local information, which greatly facilitated our recent journey, and, indeed, for a com- plete itinerarium of the region south of Ashe county." Early in 1840 he was called to mission work about Washington, in Beaufort county, remaining there a year, and early in 1841 he removed to Hillsborough, where he remained six years. In April, 1847, he removed to Society Hill, in South Carolina, which accounts for the fact that he is spoken of as a resident there, his residence at that place having been nine years. From Society Hill Dr. Curtis removed to Hillsborough in 1856, and resided there until his death in 1872. *Notes on a Botanical Excursion to the Mountains of North Carolina, &c. Am. Journal Sc, Oct., Dec, 1841, p. 12. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 1/ As it is the design of this paper to speak more particularly of Dr. Curtis as a botanist, it will be observed by many of his old friends who knew of his labors in his Divine calling— how self-sacrificing they were, how full of human sympathy, how devoid of self-seeking — that I must leave this part of his life to those abler to record the victories he won for the Cross. The first botanical essay contributed by Dr. Curtis was more than a mere catalogue, and it attracted the favorable notice of his teach- ers and correspondents. It was so thorough that after a lapse of half a century only about fifty species have been added to his list. One of them has a peculiar interest as illustrating the laudable jealousy with which he regarded his earlier achievements. In the summer of 1867, Mr. Wm. M. Canby, of Wilmington, Del., an esteemed friend of Dr. Curtis, a botanist second to none in the Union for diagnostic learning, came to Wilmington to add to his collection, and look over the old botanizing territory after the smoke of war had cleared up. On the memorable occasion of this narra- tive he had been to Hilton Ferry, close by the estate of Dr. James F. McRee, in search of the very local Alligator Bonnets, (Nuphar Sagittiefolium.) He had completed his collection, and was carefully spreading them on the logs to dry. His face was turned towards the bank of the river, which at this point, lb an abrupt bank of grey marl, overhung by thick festoons of beautiful shrubbery. Clinging to this wall, under the drippings of the water through the marl as the tide recedes, he espied beautiful fronds of the true Maiden's Hair Fern, (Adiantum Capillus- Veneris.) This beautiful fern had not before been detected in this part of the State, or indeed north of Alabama. The discovery was a great pleasure and surprise to Mr. Canby, for here on the territory of Curtis he had been able to add such a beau- tiful plant to his list. Specimens were soon borne by the mail to Dr. Curtis, then living in Hillsborough, and the earliest mail brought me a letter of specific instructions where to go and what to look for, and I was able to verify Mr. Canby's discovery. It was not long before Dr. Curtis had important business to attend to in Wilmington, and a visit to the newly discovered Adiantum station was not the least important. Dr. Curtis' method as a student was that of broad-minded scien- tist. Just to name a flower and preserve it carefully in his herba- rium was to him but the beginning of his work. His earliest records show that he studied the relation of plant-life to geologic and cli- matic surroundings. The study of botanical geography was begun and continued during his whole career as a botanist, extend- 3 1 8 JOURNAL OF THE ing over 38 years. The account he has given us in his " Woody Plants," is to-day the best guide to the natural climatological divisions of the State which has ever been given. His studies were also directed to the numerous economic questions which met him in his intimate acquaintance with the treasures of the field and forest. It was this feature of his labors alone which brought him an audi- ence in his adopted State, and with this object in view he brought together the material which he published as a part of the Geological and Natural History Survey, known best by the condensed title given to it by Prof. Emmons, as the " Woody Plants.'" This volume of 124 pages was printed by the State in 1860, and at once became a popular manual for the farmer and the woodsman, and for amateur botanists, a key to the more conspicuous trees and shrubs useful for their fruit or timber, or as ornaments. The key devised to enable one of no botanical knowledge to determine a given plant or shrub was founded upon the character of the fruit, and distinguished by their common name. The preface of this little work is an introduction to the geographical distribution of plants in the State, and shows what a thorough acquaintance he had with the vast subject. This short essay attracted the attention of the whole country to the unique position which our State holds in respect to climate, soil and forest products. Tuat North Carolina fias a difference of elevation between the east and west which gives a difference of climate equal to 10 or 12 degrees of latitude, was first shown by Dr. Curtis in his comparison of the local flora in his Woody Plants. He mtide him- self acquainted at the very outset of his work as i botanist with the labors of the earlier explorers of the State. In his "Plants around Wilmington," we find him quoting from BrickelTs Natural History of North Carolina, and Catesby's Natural History of Caro lina. The sketch he gives of the progress of botanical discoveries in the State in his Woody Plants is full of interest, and shows how deeply he caught the inspiration from their example of self-denial in the cause of science. In "Woody Plants" is displayed, as in the succeeding works written by him, an accurate knowledge of the common names of plants — a subject full of confusion — misleading young botanists and bewildering the old ones. As though the change from one system to another were not enough, then to add to this the formidable con- fusion of synonyms (with no guide to its mysteries like Watson's,) and then the local names of plants, it is confusion interminable. In this study, though. Dr. Curtis had a cultivated philological turn. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. I9 Scarcely a common name escaped him, as various as they were in all the numerous localities. Since Woody Plants was issued, it has been made the basis of several publications, and we fear without proper authorization. The report on Forestry by Hough, prepared for the general govern- ment, has quoted voluminously from Curtis, and since then a volume bearing on its covers the modest title of Woods and Timbers of North Carolina only reveals its true character after we pass the new title page. I am sure, though, that the author would have been delighted when he was preparing his little volume for the press with so much labor and such rare knowledge as a free offering to his adopted State, if he could have known that it would have been so largely read and appreciated by those for whom he originally in- tended it. As great a task as the collection of the Phi«nogamous Plants was. Dr. Curtis had fully completed it before his Woody Plants was pub- lished. Of coarse, exception is here made to a. small number of plants discovered since chiefly by Mr. W. M. Canby, Mr. Hyams, Mr. McCarthy, Maj. Young, and myself. Early in his career he undertook the study of the fungi. This very difficult branch of botany at that time had few votaries, and the unexplored field was immense. There was no book that could be considered a text-book on the subject published in America. The Rev. L. D. de Schweinitz had made two contributions to the fungi of America, one in 1820, published in Leipsic, and entitled ''Fungi Carolinw Superioris,'' the other a "Synopsis Fangorum in America Boreali media de- gentlum,'' published in the Transactions of the American Philo- sophical Society in 1831. With these guides to local species, our enthusiastic student addressed himself to his labor of love. In 1846 he commenced a correspondence with Mr. H. W. Ravenel, of South Carolina, a correspondence which was continued until Dr. Curtis' death in 1872. Mr. Ravenel was then, as he is now, a de- voted student of the fungi, having made large collections. His position now among American botanists is that of very high au- thority on the subject. About two years after Dr. Curtis began his correspondence with Mr. Ravenel, he also commenced a correspondence with the Rev. M. J. Berkley, of England. Mr. Berkley became greatly attached to Dr. Curtis by reason of the ardor and accuracy with which he pursued the investigation of new species. De Schweinitz had him- 20 JOURNAL OF THE self discovered over 1200 species, chiefly in this State, but the field was still far from being exhausted. Correspondence between these gentlemen continued for a number of years, and a scientific copart- nership was formed which resulted in the addition of nearly five hundred new sj ecies to the list up to the year 1867, and since Dr. Curtis' death a number of new species appeared in "Grevillia" under the joint authorship of Berkley and Curtis. Correspondence between botanists at that time was very active, and the letters which were interchanged comprised the principle stock of knowledge then available. The letters which have been preserved are very instructive, even at this date. Not only do we find in them the growth of botanical science, but such notes about the state of civilization as to roads, forests, dwellings, farms, taverns, and the social condition of the people, which make them treasure houses for the general historian. The correspondence between John Bartram, and Collinson, Humphrey Marshall, Ellis, Benj. Franklin, and other notables of the day, with an editorial by Dr. Darlington, is one of the few voluEfiies which have preserved letters in a printed form, and few volumes give a more satisfactory insight into the state of our social affairs than this one. It is not a complete pano- rama, but the passing allusions to what the^e itinerant botanists saw, gives a keen relish to their work. It is to be regretted that such a small part of this correspondence is preserved, for like that of McRee and Curtis, much of it is long since inaccessible. En passant it is interesting to observe how little notice these pioneers of science took of the current of political affairs. For although the travels of Wm. Bartram through the Carolinas and Georgia were made during the war of the Revolution, our zealous botanist has no ear for the war-like preparations which must have resounded in the air, but was totally absorbed in what Nature had so lavishly spread out before him. For him no triumph was equal to the discovery of a new plant, the solution of the mysteries of the habits of birds and insects. Like all of his sect, the Friends, Bart- ram had the strictest bias against the commotion of war, and this, added to love of the knowledge of nature, may account for his silence. But to return from this digression. Dr. Curtis found this new field of botany greatly to his liking. His habit of study was pains- taking and accurate, and the microscopic work necessary for the determination of species became in his hands a triumph of skill. It was in this steady sedentary pursuit that Dr. Curtis injured his health. For hours at a time, day by day, he pored over the micro- ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 21 metry of fungus spores. Few were the botanists with whom he could compare specimens and interchange notes. He pursued this specialty without the stimulus offered now by special societies, and for the greater part of his career absolutely without an audience. It is certain, therefore, that nothing but the intensest love of his studies led him up to the highest station occupied by any American botanist. I have heard him say, " Nothing surprised me more than to be called a botanist at first. Although I had accomplished the survey of the phenogamous plants of the State, I still felt that I was comparatively not a botanist." But this modesty was habitual with him. It was a modesty, however, not begotten of uncertainty, for in all his work Dr. Curtis was accurate. If he spoke at all it was always with the authority of the master. Shortly after Dr. Hawks' History of North Carolina appeared, Dr. Curtis published in the University Magazine, (1860), "J. Commen- tary on the Natural History of Dr. Hawks' History of North Caro- lina.'''' This paper demonstrated the thorough knowledge Dr. Curtis had obtained of the botany of the old travelers and explorers. Dr. Hawks had drawn with too free a hand the wonders of our truly wonderful forests and fields, and had been led away quite uncon- sciously by the florid accounts of Hariot, and Amadas & Barlowe, and Lawson. The analysis which Dr. Curtis made left but little of the fabulous statement of the early chroniclers disproved, and proved Dr. Hawks to have been but slightly informed about natural history. This paper is an almost complete key to Lawson's History, as far as the natural history items are concerned, although it is not a continuous narrative. The circulation which the University Mag- az ne had at the time was not large enough to overtake the natural history errors of Hawks' History, and many of them are extant to this day as traditions among the common people. It was during the war 1861—1865, that Dr. Curtis conceived the idea of preparing a work on the Edible Fungi. The events which led up to this .scientific essay, it may be well to narrate. Although he was well acquainted botanically with fungi, he was not an avowed mycophagist until somewhere about 1855. Before this he expressed himself to Mr. Berkeley as being afraid of them, as he had grown up with the common prejudices against them entertained by most people in this country. Having occasionally read of fearful acci- dents from their use, and there being abundance of other and wholesome food obtainable, he felt no inclination to run any risks in needlessly enlarging his bill of fare, and so he passed middle life without having once even tasted a mushroom. But as his confidence 22 JOURNAL OF THE increased, under the guidance and assistance of Mr. Berkeley, a confidence to discriminate species grew up witii it. and a curiosity to test tlie qualities of these much-lauded articles got the better of timidity, and at the time he wrote (1869) he could safely say that he had eaten a greater variety of mushrooms than any one on the American continent. He introduced several species before untried and unknown. From the beginning of his experiments he exercised great caution even with the species long recognized as safe and wholesome. In every case he began only with a single mouthful. No ill effect following, he made a second essay upon two or three mouthfuls, and so on gradually until he made a full meal of them. Fortunately he did not blunder upon any kind that was mischiev- ous, although he a,te freely of forty species. This, he says, was due to the fact that his general acquaintance with species which have been long used in Europe, and his experiments were only with species bearing some affinity or analogy to them. Mycophagy was an art and a science with Dr. Curtis, and in a letter to Mr. Berkeley he thus describes some of his experiences: "Of the Merisma group of Polypores, having already tried P. frondosus, confluens, and sulphureus, I ventured, after some hesitation, and with more than usual caution, to test the virtues of the new American species, (P. Berkelei, Fr.,) notwithstanding the intense pungency of the raw material, which bites as fiercely as Lactarius piperatus. When young, and before the pores are visible, the substance is quite crisp and brittle, and in this state I have eaten it with impunity and with satisfaction, its pungency being all dissipated by stewing. I do not, however, deem it comparable with P. confluens, which is rather a favorite with me, as it is with some others to whom I have introduced it. P. sulphureus is just tolerable; safe, but not to be coveted when one can get better. "When I say safe, I mean not poisonous. I cannot recommend it as a diet for weak stomachs, which should be said of some other fungi of similar texture. I am here reminded of an experience T had three or four years ago with this species, which would have greatly alarmed me had it happened at an early date in my experiments, and which would probably have deterred any one unused to this kind of diet from ever indulging in it again. I had a sumptuous dish of it on my supper table, of which most of my family, as well as a guest staying with us, partook very freely. During the night I became very sick, and was not relieved until relieved of my supper. My first thought on the accession of the illness was of Polyporus sulphureus ; but as I remembered that inflammation was one of the symptoms of fungus poisoning, and I could detect no indications of this in my case, I soon dismissed the rising fear, did not send for the doctor, nor take any remedy. Others who had partaken of the fungus more freely than myself, were not at all affected ; and I presume my sickness was no more in- duced by the Polyporus than by the bread and butter I had eaten. And yet ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 23 had I alone partaken of the dish, or had one or two others been affected in like manner, doubtless the night attack would have been very confidently attributed by some to the mushroom ; or had this been my first trial of that article, possibly I might ever after have regarded it with suspicion. I learned a few days after- wards, from one of our physicians, that this kind of sickness was then somewhat prevalent in the community, and could be attributed to no known cause. For the credit of this species, therefore, we were fortunately able to distinguish the post hoc from the propter hoc. There are families in America that for generations have freely and annually eaten mushrooms, preserving a habit brought from Europe by their ancestors. In no case have 1 heard of an accident among them. I have known no instance of mushroom-poisoning in this country, except where the victim rashly ventured upon the experiment without knowing one species from another. Among the families above mentioned, I have not met with any whose knowledge of mush- rooms extended beyond the common species (A. campestris) called Pink Gill in this country. Several such families live near me, but not one of them was aware, until I informed them, that there are other edible kinds. Everything but the Pink Gill, which had the form of a mushroom, was to them a toadstool, and poisonous. When I first sent my son with a fine basket of imperials (A. csesareu.s) to an intelligent physician, who was extravagantly fond of the common mushroom, the lad was greeted with the indignant exclamation, " Boy, I wouldn't eat one of those things to save your father's head !" When told they were eaten at my table, he accepted them, ate them, and has eaten many a one since wiih all safety and with no little relish. Since that time our mycopha- gists eat whatever I send them without fear or suspicion. "I have interested myself to extend the knowledge of these things among the lovers of mushrooms, and also their use among those who have not before tried them. In the latter work I am not always successful, on account of a strong prejudice against vegetables with such contemptuous names, and an un- conquerable fear of accidents. Yet, as in my own case, curiosity often con- querr these errors. When away from home I have frequently obtained ready permission from a kind hostess to have cooked a dish of mushrooms that I had found on her premises. It has rarely occurred in such cases that the dish, then tasted for the first time, was not declared to be delicious, or the best thing ever put in the mouth. This latter phrase was once used in reference to so indif- ferent an article as A. salignus. Indeed, I have found several persons who class this among the most palatable species. To such persons, a di.sh of fresh mushrooms need seldom be wanting, as this one can be had every month of the year in this latitude. I am induced to believe that the quality of this species varies with the kind of wood it grows from, and that it is better flavored when gathered from the mulberry, and especially from the hickory, than when taken from most other trees. Its fitness for the table seems also to depend much upon the rapidity of its growth ; those which grow slowly, as is the case with some of our garden vegetables, being of tougher texture and of less delicate flavor. A warm sun, after heavy rains, brings them out in greatest perfection. 24 JOURNAL OF THE " I have several times been asked by persons eating mushrooms for the first time, whether these things belong to the vegetable or animal kingdom. There is certainly a very noticeable resemblance in the flavor of some of them to that of flesh, fish, or mollusc, so that the question, as founded merely on taste, is not an unnatural one. But I was much struck with thepropriet when reading an article in " Eraser's Magazine " a few years since, written by the late Mr. Broderip, who therein says that mushrooms contain osmazome. If this be so, it accounts both for their flavor and for their value as food. Of this latter quality I had become so well convinced that, during our late war I sometimes averred, and I doubt if there was much, if any, exaggeration in the assertion, that in some parts of the country I could maintain a regiment of soldiers five months of the year upon mushrooms alone. " This leads to a remark which should not be overlooked, upon the great abundance of eatable mushrooms in the United States. 1 think it is Dr. l^ad- ham who boasts of their unusual number in Great Britain, stating that there are 30 edible species in that kingdom. I cannot help thinking that this is an under estimate. But if the doctor is correct, there is no comparison between the number in your country and this. I have collected and eaten 40 species found within two miles of my house. There are some others within this limit which I have not yet eaten. In the catalogue of the plants of North Carolina, you will notice that I have indicated one hundred and eleven species of edible fungi known to inhabit this State. I have no doubt there are 40 or 50 more, as the alpine portion of the State, which is very extensive and varied, has been very little explored in search of fungi. " In October, 1866, while on the Cumberland mountains in Tennessee, a plateau less than 1,000 feet above the valleys below, although with little leisure for examination during the two days spent there, I counted eighteen species of edible fungi. Of the four or five species which I collected there for the table, all who partook of them, none of whom had before eaten mushrooms, declared them most emphatically delicious. On my return homeward, while stopping for a few hours at a station in Virginia, I gathered eight good species within a few hundred yards of the depot. And so it seems to be throughout the country. Hill and plain, mountain and valley, woods, fields, and pastures, swarm with a profusion of good nutritious fungi, which are allowed to decay where they spring up, because people do not know how or are afraid to use them. By those of us who know their use, their value was appreciated as never before during our late war, when other food, especially meat, was scarce and dear. Then such persons as I have heard express a preference for mushrooms over meat, had generally no need to lack grateful food, as it was easily had for the gathering, and within easy distance of their homes, if living in the country. Such was not always the case, however. I remember on one occasion during the gloomy period, when there had been a protracted drought, and fleshy fungi were to be found only in damp shaded woods, and but few were there, I was unable to find enough of any one species for a meal ; so gathering of every kind, I brought home 13 different kinds, had them all cooked together in one gxQ.nd. pot pourri, ELISHA MITCHKLL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 25 and made an excellent supper. Among these was the Chautarelle, upon which I would say a few words in confirmation of what I have already said upon the varying qualities of mushrooms in different regions and localities. You have somewhere written of this mushroom as being so highly esteemed a delicacy, that it is much sought for when a dinner of state is given in London. Can this be because it is a rarity ? (for nothing common and easily obtained is deemed a delicacy, I believe), or because you have it of finer flavor in England ? Here, where it abounds, no one seems to care at all for it, and some would forego mushrooms entirely rather than eat this. Itcertainly varies much in quality, as I have occasionally found it quite palatable, and again, though cooked in the same mode, very indifferent. I have been unable to ascertain whether this difference is due to locality, exposure, shade, soil, moisture, or temperature. That soil has much to do with the flavor of some mushrooms I am well convinced. In a parcel of Pmk Gills I have sometimes found one or two specimens, though perfectly sound, of such unpleasant odor and taste as would spoil a whole dish. So also with the Snow Ball, (A. arvensis), of which I annually find a few beautiful specimens growing near my residence, upon u grassy turf which covers a pile of trash made up of decomposed sticks, leaves and scrapings from the adjoining soil. Their taste and odor are perfectly detestable. I had one speci- men cooked, but no amount of seasoning could abate the offensiveness of the odious thing ; yet within 100 yards of these I gather specimens of the same identical species, which are of fine flavor, equal to that of the best mushrooms. As I have before intimated, the varying flavor of mushrooms growing on differ- ent kinds of wood, so here I suppose the unpleasant qualities of some speci- mens of these two well known and favorite species may be owing to something in the soil where they grow which they cannot assimilate, and so render a pala- table and wholesome species totally unfit for the table. Whether such speci- mens, if eaten, would be poisonous or unwholesome. I do not feel any tempta- tion to prove. It is not probable that they will ever do any mischief, for it is incredible that any human being should so pervert his instincts as to swallow such a villainous concoction. " Experience and observation like these would perhaps justify the inference that an innocent species may sometimes be deleterious, on account of its taking up some bad element from the soil. But as I have never known a case of poisoning in families that are well acquainted with the common mushroom or Pink Gill, that gather the specimens for themselves and have used this article of food annually for many generations I cannot agree with an objection some- where made by you, that perhaps all mushrooms contain a poisonous element, but some of them in such small quantity as to have no appreciable effect. Now, had you seen the quantities of stewed mushrooms swallowed at a single meal which I have seen thus devoured, and with no more harm than from the same amount of oyster or turtle soup, I think you would be forced to the conclusion that such an amount, even of poisonous infinitesimals, must have had some very unpleasant manifestations, or else be a very innocent diet." 26 JOURNAL OF THE It would seem that our rigidly scientific botanist did not disdain the subtle arts of the gastronomist. For example, in this letter to the Rev. Mr. Berkeley, from which I have already made a lengthy extract, he says, " The Lycoperdon giganteum is also a great favor- ite with me, as indeed, with all my acquaintances who have tried it. It has not the high aroma of some others, but it has a delicacy of flavor that makes it superior to any omelette I have ever eaten. It seems, furthermore, to be so digestible as to adapt it to the most delicate stomachs. This is t' e Southdown of mushrooms." Could gastronomic enthusiam run higher than to compare a devil's snuff box, that the school boy takes particular delight in using as a foot ball to show his detestation, to the luscious meat of a South- down mutton! And then triumphantly he adds, in this latitude (about 36^) we can find good mushrooms for the table nine or ten months of the year, and some even the year round, and one some- times emerging from the soil frozen solid! Dr. Curtis' neighbors shared largely his gastromic pleasures. It was his custom to send baskets of the choicest of them to his friends, until the divine art of mycophagy reached a good degree of cultiva- tion, and many of them learned to distinguish for themselves the edible ones. Some members of his family became especially expert in foraging for the table among the mushrooms, and Mr. Chas. J. Curtis, now the Rev. Mr. Curtis, afterwards put his knowledge of the forms of these plants to use, by drawing and coloring specimens to illustrate his father's still unpublished work on the " Edible Fungi.'''' This work was designed to popularize the use of mushrooms as an article of food. It was written during the late war, when the sub- ject of food was a matter of daily solicitude to thousands of families. In taking up the pen for this work, Dr. Curtis succeeded admirably in divesting himself of every technicality, and, indeed, of describing minutely about 40 of tl.e 111 species, in language not only easy to be understood, but he really made the subject very enticing. Illustrations and comparisons were occasionally drawn from the numerous for- eign authors he had mastered. When the war ended and a pub- lisher was sought for the work on " Edible Fungi," little encourage- ment was given. It now remains in MS. The subject has never been very popular in the United States, and the students who undertake its study are not numerous, and myco- phagists do not abound : the former seek for information in works of English and French authorship, and the latter are content with the authenticity of the trade mark on the cans of Champignons, imported from France. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 27 In 1867, the State published as a part of the Geological and Natural History Survey, '* A Catalogue of the Indigenous and Naturalized Plants (of the State,") by Dr. Curtis. It was intended that this work should have been printed with '' Woody Plants," but the outbreak of the war prevented it. At the time of its issue, in 1867, its author stated that it was the most extensive local list of plants efer published in North America, comprising over 4,800 species. It was the first attempt to enumerate the cryptogamous as well as the phenogamous plants made by any botanist in this country, and its appearance was a matter of much scientific con- gratulation. The volume consisted of 158 pages of catalogue, with lio scientific description, but a mere statement of the locality of each plant. This was the result of twenty-five years of botanical study, over a territory of 50,000 square miles. Still he was quite confident in the assertion that few flowering plants would be added to his list, and that the additions which would reward the researches of future obobservers would be entirely cryptogams. Tt has always been a matter of regret that this work of a lifetime should have been given to the public in such a skeleton form, and produced in such a primitive state of the typographer's and book- maker's art. The only reward to the man of science was the con- sciousness of his thorough work, and the State could well have afforded to have made an ample volume in which he might have recorded the rich treasures of his research for the use of the future student. But it seems that Dr. Curtis was very many years in advance of his time, and the expectation that his broad foundation would have been built upon by his early successors has little prospect of fulfilment. The part which Dr. Curtis took in the progress of American Bot- any, was always recognized as important. His correspondence was very extensive, and his herbarium was consulted by botanists with great satisfaction. So largely did Dr. Chapman feel himself in- debted to Dr. Curtis for aid, that he dedicated the first edition of hisFlora of the Southern United States to him, and the two bota- nists were in close communication until the death of Dr. Curtis in 1872. " All our associate's work was marked by ability arid conscientiousness. With a just appreciation both of the needs of the science and of what he could best do under the circumstances, when he had exhausted the fields in Phge- nogamous Botany within his reach, he entered upon the inexhaustible ground of Mycology, which had been neglected in this country since the time of Schweinitz. In this difficult department he investigated and published a large 28 JOURNAL OF THE number of ne\v species, as well as determined the old ones, and amassed an ample collection, the preservation of which is most importiint, comprising, as it does, the specimens, drawings and original notes which are to authenticate his work. By his unremitting and well directed labors, filling the intervals of an honored and faithful professional life, he has richly earned the gratitude of the present and ensuing generations of botanists." (Am, lour, of Science. Third series. Vol. V. No. 29, May, 1873.) During Dr. Curtis' lifetime very little attention had been paid to the life-history of fungi by the medical profession. The theory of contagium vivum was barely foreshadowed by J. K. Mitchell, and afterwards by Salisbury, but so crude was the botany of even these writers, that they made but little impression upon the medical pro- fession, and only excited the mild derision of the real botanists. I well remember upon one occasion when a group of doctors had accidentally met at the office of a brother physician, and were ad- miring the beautiful microscopic appearance of several fungi, espe- cially the Oidium albicans, as figured in the book of the season — Beale on the ''Microscope in Practical Medicifie.'" This fungus was supposed to i^tand in relation of a causative agent in muguet or thrush. Dr. Curtis came up in the midst of our discussion of the subject, and at once recognized a very familiar fungus and made it very clear to us that fungus spores only found lodgment when the soil was prepared to receive it, and that we must beware of a two hasty conclusion of the disease-carrying properties of the fungi. Oidium was found in the mouth of the baby with thrush because there was a condition precedent which favored its lodgm^ent, and so far from being the cause of the disease, it was the result of the dis- ease. His familiarity with the forms, which to doctors who had been four years cut off from medical literature, was truly wonderful, but was a pretty clear statement of the general principles which to-day are held by some of the best thinkers in the medical profes- sion. 1 have spoken of Dr. Curtis' splendid achievements, his scientific precision, his ardor in the pursuit of natural history, his completion of a botanical survey almost to the remotest domain of the lowest microscopic plant, but I would not have you believe that this was the sum of his life work. Botanical science was his pastime and recreation. In the mission he had chosen as a servant of Christ, he was no sluggard. He was a pioneer missionary in the rugged hills of North Carolina, when to be a pioneer was to suffer hardship and privation. Love and sympathy beamed from his benignant face, and wherever he went his Master's mission of " Peace on earth ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 29 and good will towards men." was made actual by the tenor of his own life. An intimate friend, Rev. Dr. F. M. Hubbard, who knew him well as a collegian, as a minister of the gospel, as a scientific botanist, thus speaks of him : The Diocese of North Carolina has suffered a great loss, and the church at large hardly less, in the recent death of the Rev. Dr. Curtis, and his many ex- cellences deserve a larger notice than the customary announcement that one much loved has been called to his reward. His health had been rather feeble for several years, but the end came very suddenly, and was a sad blow to all who knew him. The Rev. Moses Ashley Curtis was a native of Stockbridge, Mass., and graduated at Williams College, in that State, in the class of 1827. Some three or four years after leaving college he removed to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was married, and in that State the most of his later life was spent. He was ordained by Bishop Ives, and after a brief tour of missionary duly, took charge of St. Matthew's Church, Hillsboro. To this parish, except" ing that he was for a few years the Rector of Trinity Church, Society Hill, S. C, the active, clerical service of his life was given. Here, by the great strength, as well as the sweetness of his character, his unwearied labors, his quick and tender sympathies, his high attainments in learning, and warm and steadfast affections, he won from his people, and, indeed, from all who knew him, a love and reverence that were hardly less than devotion. Few men are more earnestly loved while they live, or, when they are called to die, are more sincerely mourned. By his brethren of the clergy he was no less valued. Indeed, it is no dis- paragement of the many excellent men of that order in that diocese to say that no one among them was more esteemed and revered by them than was Dr. Curtis. He was a well read and skillful theologian, a good classical scholar, and not unfamiliar with modern languages. His degree of Doctor in Theology was given by the University of North Carolina. His duties as the rector of a parish, of course, occupied him chiefly ; but as his tastes, developed in very early life, led him to give much of his leisure to the study of natural history. In all the departments that are included under this name, he was singularly well informed. Botany was, however, his favorite field, and in it he gained a very enviable reputation. He had thoroughly — none so much so — explored the plants of North Carolina from the sea to the mountains, and the monographs he published are very accurate and of great value. His correspondence on this subject, both at home and in Europe, was very extensive, and no man in the Southern States had a higher or wider reputation. For many years his investi- gations were mainly microscopic, and in cryptogamic botany he was in that region without a peer. The standard work of the Rev. Dr. Berkely on English mycology owed much to his minute and careful researches, and was at first pub- lished under their joined names. In the survey of the State, ordered by the Legislature, the department of natural history was entrusted to him, and his so JOURNAL OF THE report on the woody shrubs, etc., was of great and popular value. He had also ready for the press a treatise on edible mushrooms, which would be of much use to the people of this country, should it see the light. These were his amusements, and such is an imperfect statement of the results. Yet they never diverted his thoughts or labors from the cure of souls, in which he delighted, or fi;om his Master's cause, for which he lived. Besides the care of his own parish, he served for many years as a member of the Standing Com- mittee of the Diocese of North Carolina. He was sent as a deputy to the General Convention and to the Southern Councils as often as he could be in- duced to accept the trust, and was the clerical trustee from North Carolina of the " University of the South," from its inception through his life, and ren- dered to its interests wise and faithful service. To his family and parish, to which he was so dear, and to his diocese and brethren that so highly regarded his noble qualities and eminent usefulness, the departure of such a roan is a most sad loss. One who had been in intimate relations with him for well nigh half a century may close this scanty sketch by saying that in all that time he has met no man to whom he gave a heartier esteem, or a more sincere affection ; no man more true in word and deed, more steadfast in friendship, of a more beautiful simplicity, of a more sterling worth, of a more humble temper of devotion. Science did not mislead him into the paths of skepticism ; for him '* The earth was crammed with heaven. And every common bush afire with God." God's wondrous works were visible to him in every plant he saw, and all his converse with nature only drew him nearer to that divine life towards which it was his mission to lead his fellow men. To our young men we point to his life as an example of the im- mense advantage of patient training, and of the renown it is possible to achieve by quiet, unobtrusive work, even in the stillness of the forest. Also to our young men, and to all men, we will say, his life was the proof that profound scientific study is not only not incom- patible with profound faith in revealed religion, but is the safest path through which to attain it. BIBLIOGRAPHY. "Enumeration of Plants growing Spontaneously around Wil- mington, North Carolina," with remarks on some new and obscure species, by Moses A. Curtis, A. M., vol. 1, No. 2, Boston Journal of Natural History, Communication Sept. 3d, 1834. Reprint with ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 3 1 many additions and emendations, the result of further research. Reprint with MS. additions and index, by Dr. James F. McRee. " New and rare Plants of North Carolina," dated Hillsboro, N. C, Nov. 1, 1842. (Silliman's Journal, vol. 14, p. 80, Art. XI.) " Contributions to Mycology of North America," by M. A. Curtis. (Sill. Jour., vol 6, 2d series, p. 349, Art. 83, 1848.) • " New and rare Plants, chiefly of the Carolinas." (Sill. Jour., vol. 7, p. 406, 1849.) ' "Contributions to Mycology of North America," by Rev. M. J. Berkeley, of England, and Rev. M. A. Curtis, of South Carolina. (Sill. Jour., vol. 8, 2d series, p. 401, 1849.) "New Fungi collected by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition," by M. A. Curtis. (Sill. Jour., vol. XI, p. 95, 1851.) " Contributions to Mycology of North America," by Rev. M. J. Berkeley, of England, and Rev. M. A. Curtis, of South Carolina. (Sill. Jour., 2d series, vol. 9, p. 171, 1859, and voL 10, p. 185.) "Geological and Natural History Survey of North Carolina," part III, Botany. Containing a catalogue of the plants of the State, with description and history of the trees, shrubs and woody vines, by M. A. Curtis, Raleigh, 1860. " A Commentary on the Natural History of Dr. Hawks' History of North Carolina," by Rev. Dr. Curtis, of Hillsboro, March, 1860. "Esculent Fungi," by Rev. M. A. Curtis, in manuscript, Jwith colored illustrations. (Sill. Jour., 3d series, vol. 42, p. 129, 1866.) " Geological and Natural History of North Carolina, part III. Indig. and Naturalized Plants of North Carolina. Raleigh, 1867, pp. 155. "Edible Fungi in North Carolina." Rev. Moses A. Curtis, D. D., Gardner's Chronicle, London, October 9th, 1869. 32 JOURNAL OF THE LATITUDE OF CHAPEL HILL. J. W. GORE. Prof. Julius E. Hilgard, chief of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, kindly loaned the University a portable Transit, Zenith Telescope and a Chronometer for the purpose of deteriuining accurately the latitude of this place. Not knowing sidereal time, the transit had to be placed approxi- mately in position by observations on Polaris. After leveling the rotation axis and watching for Alioth or Epsilon Ursae Majoris and Polaris to come into the same vertical circle, then following Polaris for 17 minutes, fixing the instrument, which now is approximately in the meridian. By observing some well known star, such as delta bootis, which culminates near our zenith, we get a near approxima- tion of sidereal time, and the chronometer was set. Then followed a series of oDservations on time stars for the pur- pose of accurately adjusting the instrument in the meridian, and also for determining the error of the chronometer and its rate. The Zenith Telescope was easily set in the meridian by the aid of the Transit, when the preliminary work was done and we were ready to begin recording observations for latitude. Talcott's method by circumzenitli stars was followed. Several pairs of stars are selected, such that the two of each pair do not differ in zenith distance by more than about 20' of arc; one culmi- ting north of the zenith and the other south. The difference in the time of crossing the meridian must be sufficient to read the instru- ment and turn it 180^ in azinuth, though not too long for fear of changes in the state of the instrument. The Telescope is set at a zenith distance, which is the mean of the zenith distances of the two stars, the star that culminates first is observed and its position in the field of view is determined by the micrometer, after noting the level the telescope is rotated 180^, about its vertical axis, and the second star will be in the field of view as it crosses the meridian, without altering the zenith distance of the instrument; its position is also determined by the micrometer. Thus the difference in the zenith distances of the two stars is determined, which is the only quantity to be measured. Eight pairs of stars were observed, and twenty-five satisfactory observations of pairs taken between June 15th and July 3rd. The ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 33 value of one turn of the micrometer screw was determined by obser- vations on Polaris when near its eastern elongation. The method of the U. S. Coast Survey was employed in the reduc- tion of the observations, and from the data the latitude was com- puted to be 35° 54' 18^^57 north. The record of observations and the computations will be preserved by the Mitchell Society for future reference, should the determina- tion of latitude ever be repeated. The latitude of this place was determined several years ago by Dr. James Phillips to be 35° 54' 22", though there is no record of the method employed or the position occupied by his instruments. While the Transit was accurately adjusted in the meridian, two long stones were planted 175 feet apart, in the ends of which holes were drilled and filled with melted lead, and in the lead were driven small steel nails, marking the direction of geographic north and south. This fixed meridian direction will be used for determining the declination of the magnetic needle. THE MANUFACTURE OF -ACID" PHOSPHATE. W. B. PHILLIPS, PH. D. It is always interesting to notice the play between theory and prac- tice. The student among his books and the workman with his tools are one and the same person if the theory of the student is sustained by the results of practical work. And in no department of industry is the beautiful dove-tailing of what should be and what is more fully illustrated than in the mauufacture of commercial manures. Not that this coincidence of calculation and actual result is even here perfect ; quite the contrary, in fact. But the illustration loses nothing of its force by being along side of most things here, i. e., far from perfect. The manufacture of fertilizers, which has grown in 20 years from almost nothing to $30,000,000, can hardly be said even now to be in a satisfactory condition. It is true that with certain crude phosphates our preconceived notions of what they should yield on treatment with sulphuric acid are borne out by the analyses of superphosphates made from them. But I need hardly remind chemists and those acquainted with the trade that there still remain large quantities of rich phos- phates beyond the reach of the manufacturer's skill. It is only very "5 54 JOURNAL OF THE recently that so gooi a material as the Mejillones guano has been successfully used. For Dr. Pieper (Landw. Centralbl. 1873, 1, 371) only a few years ago gave impetus to the use of this material. And there are other phosphates equally as good, which so far defy alike the chemist and the manufacturer. But with the ordinary grades of Charleston rock one can predict the actual resul of treatment within very narrow limits. It is the purpose of this article to dis- cuss briefly the action of sulphuric acid on some grades of Charles- ton rock. The rock was ground so that the whole of it passed a BO*^ seive. It was then sampled and analysed. The analysis was as follows : Per cent. Moisture at 2I2^F 6.52 Loss at red heat (COo restored) 3.83 Insoluble silica 17. 84 Soluble silica _ .10 Carbonic acid _ .. .. 2.80 Phosphoric acid __ 22.82 Lime 33.60 Ferric oxide, (Oxide of Iron) 11.56 Aluminic oxide .00 99.07 The amount of oxide of iron is greater than is usually found. The formula used was: EXPERIMENT I. Rock . 1 200 lbs, Sulphuric acid, 47°B . ..1050 " Temp, of acid I40°F. (6o'C.) in pan i8o'F. (82'C.) Stirred 3 minutes and sampled direct from pan. To show the difference between the " calculated " and " found '• ingredients the subjoined comparison is given : Calculated. Found. Per cent. Per cent. Moisture at 2I2°F.. 24.51 27.75 Phos. acid sol. in water 9.30 8.53 " insol. in water 2. 88 2.92 " total.. 12.18 11.45 ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 35 Twenty-four hours after mixing, the temperature of the large pile of one hundred tons, of which this was a fair sample, was 180°F <82='C.), and the composition of it was as follows : Per cent. Moisture at 2I2°F 16.50 Phosphoric acid Sol. in water 9.48 " Insol. in water.. 3.67 " " Reverted 2. go " Insol. Am. Cit. 65° .77 " Total ...13.15 The calculated analysis is based upon the following reaction : Ca3P20,+,H.SO, = CaH4P,Os-l-2CaS04. That is to say : 200 pounds of 53^B acid are required to render soluble all the phospho- ric acid in 100 pounds bone phosphate. As pure bone phosphate (CaaPoOgj contain845.81 percent, phosphoric acid, itfollows that 4. 36 pounds 53=^8 acid are required to render soluble 1 pound of phosphoric acid in bone phosphate, or 5.02 pounds 47°, (as 1 pound 53=B = 1.15 pounds 47^). One pound (1 lb.) then of 47"^ acid renders soluble .20 lb. (two-tenths of a pound) of phosphoric acid in bone phosphate. Let us assume for the moment that the above reaction is the only one that takes place. It is not really the only one, but for our present purpose we can take it so. The 1200 pounds of rock used contained 273.84 pounds phosphoric acid (12 X 22.82=273.84), therefore, to render the whole of it soluble we should have added 1374.67 pounds 47*^ acid. We actually used 1050 pounds 47^. The difference then between what we should have added and what we did add, multiplied by the co-efficient of solu- bility (in this case .20) represents the phosphoric acid we could have made soluble but did not. Thus (1374.67—1050) X .20=64.934 pounds phosphoric acid insoluble in water, or 2.88 per cent, as 100 H- _2250_ _ 2 gg Qj course the difference between the total 64.934 phosphoric acid and the insoluble in water gives the soluble phos- 2250 phoric acid, but it can also be calculated, as 100 -^ =9.33 1050 X. 20 per cent. •The presence of so much oxide of iron in the rock probably accounts for the discrepancy between the "calculated" and the "found" soluble phosphoric acid. The discrepancy between the two "mois- tures " arises from the fact that in the calculated moisture no allow- ance is made for carbonic and hydrofluoric acids. If these three 36 JOURNAL OF THE analyses of the acid phosphate be calculated od a water -free basis, so that they may be in the same condition, we can see at a glance how the matter stands. TABLE L Calculated. Actual analy- sis at mixing. Analysis of same article in bulk at end of 24 hours. Phosphoric acid soluble in water " " insoluble in water.. *• *' reverted per cent. 12.29 3.71 per cent. II. 81 4.04 1.58 2.45 15.85 per cent. 11.34 4.41 3.49 .92 15-75 '* " insol. am. cit. 65°.. •' total 16.00 Shepard & Robertson have shown (in their very excellent pam- phlet "on certain changes liable to occur in large heaps of acid phosphate,") that if the mass maintains a high temperature (56° — 61°C.) for several weeks, there may result a considerable loss of available phosphoric acid, (Available = Soluble + Reverted). But this change probably does not begin for several days after mixing, unless the crude phosphate used contained large quantities of iron and aluminum. If a sample is drawn from the pan just before dis- charging, put into a well closed bottle (corked), and cooled at once, and allowed to stand for several weeks at the ordinary temperature of the Laboratory, the reverse is the case. And the results obtained by Shepard and Robertson from stuff ''which at no time after drawing the first sample exhibited a higher temperature than 50°C," confirm this statement. To test still farther the possibility of calculating out beforehand the probable composition of an acid phosphate, another experiment was conducted. The composition of the rock at this time was as follows : Per cent. Moisture at 2I2°F 2.32 Loss at red heat (COo restored) 3.03 Insoluble silica 11.56 Soluble silica 14 Carbonic acid 3-33 Phosphoric acid 26. 29 Lime 38.55 Oxide of iron (FeoOg) 3.35 Oxide of aluminum 3.07 ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 37 EXPERIMENT II. The formula used was : Lbs. Rock (60" seive) .1 500 Sulphuric acid 46'"B 1200 Temperature of acid I22°F. (so^C). Temperature in pan i6o°F. (7i°C). Sampled from pan, bottled, corked and cooled. Calculated. Found, per cent. per cent. Phosphoric acid, soluble in water 8.73 8.81 Phosphoric acid insoluble in water 5,87 5.01 Phosphoric acid reverted 1.69 Phosphoric acid insol. am. cit. 65" 3.32 Phosphoric acid total 14.60 13.82 Moisture 21.73 22.45 From Experiments I and II it will thus be seen that it is possible to calculate within one per cent, of the actual analysis. If care be taken to use uniform qualities of rock and acid, and to mix thor- oughly, hut not too much, I believe that the difference can be brought within still narrower limits. It may be of interest to some to have a compact working formula for calculating the probable yield of a given mixture, and I have prepared one. It is in fact the one I use constantly. With the higher grades of Charleston rock it may be relied upon to within 1 per cent. Let a = amount of acid used. m = " " " needed for complete decomposition. c = coefficient of solubility, w = total weight of mixture. then looX— ^ — ' =per cent, phosphoric acid insoluble in water. w and 100 X — = per cent, phosphoric acid soluble in water. w To derive m, let x= per cent. H2SO4 in 53°B acid y= " " " " strength of acid used. z = No. of pounds 53°B acid needed for complete decomposi- tion of I pound. Phosphoric acid in bone phosphate=4.36 (constant.) p=pounds of phosphoric acid in mixture. 38 JOURNAL OF THE then .^_= no of pounds acid used needed to render i pound phosplioric acid soluble. y and zx p = m. y The coefficient of solubility is given by the formula c— ^- zx It is evident that some starting point is required, and for this it is most convenient to take SS'^B., and to consider that the reaction given on p. 35 of this article is the true one, viz. : Ca.jP^OgH- 2HoS04 = CaH4P20s+2CaS04. A stronger acid than 53°B is very seldom used in the manufacture of acid piiosphates, and t is custo- mary to say that two parts by weight of 53^B acid will completely decompose one part of bone phosphate. Of course c. will vary with the strength of acid used, for instance it will vary from .23 in 53°B acid to .19 in 46°B acid. It is perhaps needless for me to say there are many causes operating to prevent the universal application of these working formulae. Foremost among these is the variation in the composition of the crude rock whereby compounds of phospho- ric acid other than Tri-calcium Phosphate may exist. Then comes the variation in the fineness of the rock when the acid is added to it. This is a point of far greater importance than is generally sup- posed, and upon it depends in very large measure the quality of the resulting acid phosphate. It has been shown by a writer in Lippin- cott's Encyclopaedia of Chemistry, vol. 2, p. 375, art. "manure," that in the case of Navassa Phosphate, there was obtained from dust that passed a 38^ seive 22.65 per cent, soluble phosphate. " " 50 " 23.80 " " as fine as possible, 25.75 " " " " And he goes on to say, " No dust should be used which does not pass through a seive of 40 wires to the inch, and in the case of hard phosphates, still finer grinding is very desirable." If he had said that all the dust should pass a 60^^ seive, he would have been still nearer the truth. Variation in the purity of the acid used is also a very important factor. It is well known that the strength of the acid, as given by Beaume's Hydrometer, is not always correct, when the chamber acid is employed, as the dissolved impurities cause a higher reading than the amount of acid justifies. The humidity of the atmosphere ELTSHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 39 has also a part in the quality of the acid phosphate. On a damp, muggy day. the mixer-man will say, "It works bad to-day." the rapidity with which the mass "dries out'' being an element of manufacturing not to be despised. Given a rock of good and uniform quality, acid of uniform and suflBcient strength, and favorable weather, and the applicability of the formula? here given is assured. Laboratory Navassa Quano Co. Wilmington, N. C. ANALYSIS OF THE LEAVES OF ILEX CASSINE. F. P. VENABLE. The Yopon {Ilex Cassine, Linn), is described in Hale's "Woods and Timbers of North Carolina," as an elegant shrub 10 to 15 feet high, but sometimes rising into a small tree 20 to 25 feet. It has, according to the same authority, for its habitat the strip of country from Virginia southward along the coast, never extending, how- ever, very far into the interior. The leaves are i to 1 inch long, with a smooth surface, and fine serrated edge. The plant is an evergreen, and its dark green leaves and bright red berries make it attractive as an ornamental shrub. In the region of the Dismal Swamp, and in other sections the leaves are annually gathered, dried and used for tea. This decoction is, according to Hale, oppressively sudorific, at least to those unaccustomed to its use. The famous " Black Drink" of the southern Indians was made from the leaves of this shrub. " At a certain time of the year they come down in droves from a distance of some hundred miles, to the coast for the leaves of this tree. They make a fire on the ground and putting a great kettle of water on it, they throw in a large quantity of these leaves, and seating themselves around the fire, from a bowl that holds about a pint, they begin drinking large draughts, which in a short time occasions them to vomit freely and easily. Thus they continue for the space of two or three days, until they have suflBi- ciently cleansed themselves, and then every one taking a bundle of the leaves, they all retire to their habitations." Having on hand a small sample of these leaves procured from New Berne during the 40 JOURNAL OF THE winter of 1883, it seemed desirable to make an examination of them to decide, if possible, the presence of any alkaloid or other principle which would make the decoction useful as a beverage. The usual treatment with magnesium oxide, exhaustion with water, separation by means of chloroform and subsequent purification, was adhered to, resulting in obtaining a small amount of a white substance slightly soluble in water, more so in alcohol, and easily soluble in chloroform, which gave distinctly the tests for caffeine, especially the murexide reaction, and very closely resembled a specimen of pure caffeine from Powers & Weightman. This caffeine formed .32 per cent, of the dried leaves. Later on, in May, a much larger supply of the same leaves was gotten from the neighborhood of Wilmington. A more thorough examination o- them was then made with the following results : Water in air-dried sample ..13.19 Extracted by water 26.55 Tannin.- 7.39 Caffeine 27 Nitrogen (on combustion) _ 73 Ash - 5.75 The analysis of the ash is shown in column I. I. II. CaO .10.99 12.34 MgO -16.59 11-39 NagO 47 7.28 K2O 27.02 2.98 MnOg --- 1.73 2.50 FegOg .26... 3.41 SO3 -- 2.50.. .92 CI. 66... .71 P2O5 3.34---- - 5.54 SiOa 1.32 .44.75 The Mate or Brazilian Holly {Hex Paraguay e7isis), belongs to the same genus. Its ash analysis, as made by Senor Arate, is given in column II. The plant grows wild in Brazil and is very largely used by the South Americans. It has, according to Peckolt (Pharm. J. Trans. [3] 14, 121—124. Abstract, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1884, 479), been planted, and seems to succeed well, in the Cape of Good Hope, Spain and Portugal. It is stated that six different species of Ilex are used in the preparation of this tea. Peckolt gives, in his analy- sis of the air-dried leaves, the per centage of caffeine as . 639. The ELISHA MITCHELL SCIEXTIFIC SOCIETY. 4I average percentage of analyses, by different authors, is about 1.3. I can find mention of only one other Ilex used as a substitute for tea. The analysis of this by Ryland and Brown is quoted in Blythe's " Composition and Analysis of Foods," p. 343. It is called the Ilex Cassiva, is said to be used as a tea in Virginia, and the per- centage of caffeine is given as .12. This is probably the same thing as the Yopon, the analysis of which is given above, and the "cas- siva " may be a misprint for " cassine." TJnwersity of North Carolina. ON THE DETERMINATION OF "TOTAL" TliOS- PHORIC ACID IN FERTILIZERS. F. B. DAXCV. The writer has been led to make a few comparative experiments on total phosphoric acid in fertilizers mainly by reason of the method adopted by the late convention of Agricultural Chemists in Philadelphia in September last. For a long time it has been my custom, as practiced in the Laboratory of the N. C. Experiment Station, to fuse the fertilizer with a mixture of one-half carbonate of soda and one-half nitrate of potash. I had always found the method most satisfactory and knew of no important objection to it. When, therefore, the Agricultural Chemists decided to use a very diilerent one, I determined to try that method, find out the objec- tions to it and then make as many comparative experiments of that and other methods, with our old " fusion " method, as my limited time would allow. The lately adopted method referred to (which I shall call the *' Philadelphia method "j bears the impress of being a theoretical method, so many and so irksome are the practical difficulties to be met with in its pursuit. The Philadelphia method is as follows : Two grammes of fertilizer are intimately mixed in a capsule with 4 -7 c. c. of a nearly saturated solution of magnesium nitrate; dry; ignite gently; if necessary, moisten the residue with nitric acid and ignite again to destroy organic matter; add to the reidue 15—20 c. c. of fuming HCl ; digest at a gentle heat until all phosphates are dis- solved; dilute to 200 c. c. ; mix; pass through a dry filter; take 50 6 42 JOURNAL OF THE c. c. of filtrate; neutralize with NH4HO; add about 15 grammes dry ammonium nitrate, and to the hot solution add molybdic solu- tion sufficient to precipitate all the PoO., present. Digest at about 65" C for one hour, filter and wash with ammonium nitrate solution. Now in the first place the drying down vvith magnesium nitrate solu- tion must of necessity be done over the water bath ; it must, moreover, be transferred to the air bath and the drying finished at a higher temperature, else there will be loss from spitting when it comes to be ignited, however gently. It next requires a long ignition to de- stroy organic matter, and if, as the method suggests, moistening with HNO, becomes necessary the drying process must be repeated. It is quite difficult, also, to decide on a convenient form of capsule to be used. I tried two kinds in two different sets of experiments, one kind being simply an extra large best porcelain crucible, and the other being a capsule more on the order of a fiat-bottomed evaporating dish. I made eight experiments with the crucibles and four with the " capsules." In every single instance in the case of both kinds they cracked at the "gentle ignition" stage. However carefully and slowly I applied the heat in each case, the ominous " crack " was heard, and this too some little while after they had attained their maximum temperature. Such wholesale breakage makes the method very expensive, and I cannot see how it can be avoided. In our fusions we always used platinum crucibles with economy. Now the ignited mass must be treated with fuming HCl. Whatever be the form of capsule used the violent chemical action caused by pouring HCl on this mass of MgO causes serious loss by spitting and it is not convenient to cover the capsule when the HCl is added. Afterwards, also, when digested at a heat however gentle, serious loss may again occur from spitting (to be avoided with much inconvenience) when the first bubbles of HCl gas are given off. And then in case one has a broken capsule, as I did in every instance, the capsule and contents must be enclosed in some other containing vessel (as a beaker) and there treated with HCl under cover of a watch glass. This necessitates the addition of a very large quan- tity of HCl in order to cover the crucible and contents, and the fumes from this HCl, in the case of a dozen or more analyses going on at once, render the atmosphere of the laboratory very disagree- able despite the use of a hood. Such were the numerous practical difficulties I met with in the Phil- adelphia method. For my experiments I selected four samples of commercial fertil- ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 43 izers with different kinds of organic matter in them. The samples were very carefully prepared and were made to pass a 20-mesh sieve. 1. Contained organic matter, fish-scraps and tobacco dust, 2. " " tankage," &c. 3. " cotton seed. 4. " dried blood, " ammonites," &c. I determined total PsO^ in each of these by four methods. 1st, by the Philadelphia method ; 2nd, by dissolving directly in strong, boiling HNO3 with the aid of lumps of KCIO3 thrown in from time to time, — long boiling; 3rd, by fusion with NaaCOg+KNOa and taking up with hot water and HNO3 ; 4th, by burning off organic matter by fire and taking up in strong hot HCI. Following are the results obtained : TABLE I. Sample. Fusion with Na2C034- KNO, Dissolving in strong, boil- ing HNO3 withKClOo 10.25 12.02 10.66 10.29 9.26 11.92 9-54 9.21 Phila. Method. 8.93 11.67 991 9.12 Destroying organ- ic matter by fire and taking up in strong, hot HCI. Per cent. P^Og 8.88 "•93 10.00 9.29 The results from the fusion are seen in every case to be the high- est. The HNO3 and KCIO3 method cannot, I believe, be relied upon in any case, unless it be in case of sample 2. Three of the four cases where the organic matter was destroyed by fire gave higher results than the Philadelphia method. The lowness of the results by this latter method are due, I believe, to imperfect oxidation of the organic matter and to unavoidable loss from so much manipu- lation, despite the fact that the greatest care was taken. Four more samples were taken and the fusion method compared with the Philadelphia method alone in these. The results obtained were much nearer together than in the case of the other samples, being larger again in case of the fusion method, but this time not materially so. 44 JOURNAL OF THE TABLE IL Fusion method. Philadelphia method, 1. 11.70 11.67 2. 14.12 13.93 3. 13.52 13.50 4. II. 19 II. 10 The painful precautions which Fresenius recommends to remove cidorides from a solution of phosphates before adding molybdic so- lution are, I believe, entirely necessary. But that the presence of free HCl is objectionable is shown by the following results, obtained from identical HCl solutions of phosphates, but in the one case pre- cipitating in the. HCl solution direct, and in the other neutralizing the HCl with NH.HO and adding a little HNO3. TABLE III. Precipitating in free Neutralizing HCl and HCl solution. making HNO3 solution, 8.90 9.01 11-59 11.72 9.S9 9.93 9.17 9.24 S.8S 8. 91 11-93 11.88 10.00 9.S7 9.29 9.27 It will be noticed that the difference is considerable in all cases except 5 and 8, and is on the other side in one case only (6), due, perhaps, to some error. It seems to be a mooted question how far the presence of silica in solution effects the results in a determination of phosphoric acid. If it does form a precipitate and thereby makes the results too high, then it is the only objection I know of to the fusion method, for the NaoCOs necessarily fuses some of the sand present in a fertilizer into soluble silicate. I resolved, therefore, to separate soluble silica from four solutions by fusion and compare per cents of P2O5 with per cents found before separation of silica. The silica was separated by careful evaporation over ths water bath, transferring to hot air bath with higher temperature until all acid (HNO3) was entirely removed, moistening with strong HCl, drying and heating thor- oughly again, and finally taking up in hot HoO with some HNO3 ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 45 and filtering from silica. The silica was also in each case deter- mined. The amount precipitated was 50 c. c. of the solution, and the same four solutions were used that were compared with the Philadelphia method in the last eight comparative results cited, (Table II.) I. 2. 3. 4- Four solutions with silica gave 11.70 14.12 13-52 ii.ig(a.) Four solutions with silica removed 11.52 13.61 11-55 io.3o(b.) Difference .iS .51 1.97 .8g SiOo found 1.16 2.02 2.96 2.26 It is impossible to tell how far the differences between (a) and (b) are due to unavoidable loss incident upon two evaporations to dry- ness and extended manipulation, but the fact will be noticed at once that the differences in each case vary directly as the amount of silica found, but being in no case as much as the silica found. Strange to say also, if the presence of the silica tended to increase the per cent, of the PaOs found, then there ought to be equally as much silica in the other four solutions from the Philadelphia method (Table II), because the per centageshere of PgO^ are not materially greater than the per cents there, in fact, within the limits of error. I am inclined to the opinion that the presence of silica in large amounts is hurtful, but that if a fusion is carried only far enough to completely destroy all organic matter and reduce the fused mass to a homogeneous state and no farther, not enough silica is brought into the solution to do any harm — certainly very little more than is in an ordinary acid solution, such as is gotten by the Philadelphia method. For here are four fusion solutions showing practically the same per cents of PaOs as four Philadelphia method solutions, and yet showing silica present in each case, and a diminution in per cent P-^Os when silica is removed. I therefore conclude that if proper precautions are taken not to fuse unnecessarily long, the fusion method is in- comparably preferable to the Philadelphia method. Nor do I believe, from the results of the first set of experiments (Table I), that the Philadelphia method in many cases sufficiently oxidizes and destroys organic matter. One more time-consuming objection to the Philadelphia method, inadvertently omitted above, T will mention here. Most copious and protracted washing of the yellow " phospho-molybdate of ammo- nia " with ammonium nitrate solution is necessary, in order to free it from the magnesium chloride which is formed when the MgO (after the ignition) is dissolved in HCl. Unless this is entirely 46 JOURNAL OF THE washed out, when the yellow precipitate is dissolved with ammonia, magnesium-ammonium phosphate may precipitate in the filter. I found that four washings by decantation and three subsequent wash- ings on the filter failed to accomplish the entire removal of the mag- nesium chloride. Five washings by decantation and four washings on the filter failed to effect this entirely completely in every case. More washing than this, however, will remove the trouble, but at the expense of much time. Raleigh, N. 6'., April 6th, 1885. ANALYSIS OF SPIEGEL-EISEN. MAX. JACKSON. The specimen analyzed was one produced at the charcoal furnace of the American Iron and Steel Company at the Buckhorn Locks. The Buckhorn mining section lies in Chatham county, on the border of Harnett, and a full description of the economical geol >gy of the district is given in Kerr's Geology, vol. I, 222. A very superior car wheel iron has been turned out by this company. The product is mainly spiegel-eisen. Partial analysis have been made by Mr. Lob- dell. In this analysis the directions in Cairns' Handbook were generally followed. The carbon was determined by Weyl's method, no attempt being made to distinguish between combined and uncom- bined carbon. The iron and manganese were separated according to the method described by Holthof (Zeit. f. Anal. Chem. 23.491). Sulphur, copper, nickel, cobalt, calcium and barium were tested for but none found. The figures in the analysis below are, in most cases, the means of two or more accordant determinations. For comparison, Lobdell's analysis are also tabulated under the II, III and IV. I. II. III. IV. Iron 95 -03 -.-- Manganese 2.46 4-573 6.50 4.8S Silicon II .233 .14 .38 Sulphur .015 .009 Phosphorous 10 .051 .12 .095 Carbon 2.35 Titanium, trace. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 47 The manganese in this specimen was in very small amount. The furnaces were probably "running on ordinary iron," and not at- tempting the production of spiegel-eisen, as was also the case in analyses IT, III and IV. The phosphorus probably comes from the fluxes, as the Buckhorn ore contains only slight traces of this. Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. OCCURRENCE OF CITRIC AND ?^IALIC ACIDS IN PEANUTS, ^ARACHIS HYPOG^EA.) E. A. de scinvEixnz. Citric, malic and oxalic acids have been shown by Ritthausen to exist in the seeds ol the yellow lupine and other leguminous plants, vicia sativa, vicia faba, phaseolus. An examination of peanuts arachie hypogma shows the presence of malic and citric acids. To detect them the seeds were extracted with water aciditied with HCl, filtered, solution neutralized with NaHO, filtered and precipitated with basic lead acetate. This precipitate decomposed by H.,S and lime water added to the filtrate. This was again filtered and the filtrate boiled. Calcium malate, and citrate being precipitated. After boiling, the solution was allowed to cool and stand for twenty-four hours with frequent stirring and the Calcium malate then filtered oil. The filtrate upon being again boiled, yielded a precipitate of Calcium citrate, which dried at 100° and weighed gave .055 per cent, citric acid. As lime water when prepared with cold water does not precipitate malic acid until the solution is boiled, and as Calcium citrate is re-dis- solved by cooling the solution after boiling, the two acids could be separated in this way. Both precipitates, Calcium malate and Calcium citrate were dis- solved and confirmatory tests for citric and malic acids made. University of N. C. 48 JOURNAL OF THE METEOROLOGICAL RECORD AT CHAPEL HILL FOR THE FIVE YEARS 1880-1884. There is unfortunately quite a gap in the meteorological records kept at Chapel Hill. For sixteen years, 1844-''o9, they were kept by Dr. Jas. Phillips, and his records were published in our last Journal (p. 35). There was then a period of twenty years, in which came the war and disorganization of the University, when no attention was paid to such matters. In 1880, fresh instruments were procured and Dr. Wm. B. Phillips, grandson of the former observer, recorded his observations. Since September, 1881, the records have been kept by Dr. F. P. Venable, with the kind assistance of Dr. Charles Phillips, and since January, 1883, these records have been each month transmitted to Washington, thus placing Chapel Hill in the list of voluntary Signal Service Stations. The five years of observa- tions reported in this paper make a total of twenty-one years, with the sixteen years already published, and give a fair idea of the cli- matology of this locality. Still the gap of twenty years is much to be regretted. The books of Dr. Jas. Phillips were destroyed, and only his published monthly averages and sums are extant. The observations for the past five years are complete, and hence admit of more detailed discussion. TEMPERATURE. The mean annual temperature for the five years is 59.77^, for six- teen years 59.32°, for twenty-one years 59.42°. The lowest annual mean is in 1882 (58.69°). The highest is 1880 (60.90°), which is the highest annual mean for the twenty-one years. The average temperature for the seasons is, Spring 58.35, Summer 77.25, Autumn 61.08, Winter 42.39. The warmest month of the year is July, with a mean of 78.69°. For August, 1881, the mean was 81.60. The maximum daily mean was, June 12, 1880, 90.7°, and the maximum observations July 22d, 1883, 102°. On July 30th, 1856, the thermometer registered 105°. The coldest month is January, with a mean of 39.02. The lowest monthly mean is 35.20° for Jan- uary, 1881. The minimum daily mean was 10.50° for January 6th, 1884, and the minimum temperature observed was — 2° at 7 A. M. De- cember 30th, 1880. This is the lowest temperature observed in the twenty-one years. This gives a range of 104° for the five years, with a mean annual range of 92.4°. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 5 I HUMIDITY. The average annual mean humidity is 71.18. January has the highest average 77.24, and February the lowest 68.88. The six months from August through January have means above the aver- age; the remaining six are all below. The month with the most saturated atmosphere was January, 1883, the mean being 83. 67. The least saturated atmosphere was during April, 1880, with a mean of 57.60. The mean saturation for spring is 69.77, for summer 71.54, for autumn 72.41, for winter 73.21. The lowest observations were 17 on April 5th, 1881, and March 31st, 1884, at 2 p. m. RAIN-FALL. The mean annual rain-fall was 41.64 inches. The largest monthly sum was 9.34 inches for August, 1880. One month, January, 1881, is recorded as being entirely without rain. The heaviest single rain- fall was 4.19 inches on April 22d, 1883, (see this Journal for 1883-84, p. 83). March, with an average of 4.74, is the month of largest rain- fall, December (4.30 inches), August (4.25 inches), and April (3.97 inches), coming next. There is no apparent division into wet and dry seasons, the six months mentioned under humidity as being most saturated have about the same average rain-fall as the other six. Spring has an average of 11.25 inches, summer 11.58 inches, autumn 8.08 inches, winter 10.76 inches. T' e monthly average is 3.47 inches. The range is from 34.50 inches in 1881, to 49.82 inches in 1883, or 15.32 inches. PRESSURE. No comparisons can well be made between the barometric obser- vations for the five years, as the first three were corrected for tem- perature only, and the last two for temperature and an elevation of 500 feet. The true elevation is 514.47 feet. (This Journal for 1883-'84, p. 82). So far as the range is concerned, the mean annual is 1.240 inches. The greatest annual range was 1.348 inches in 1881, and 0.969 inches in 1880 was the lowest. January (1.095 inches) and February (1.078 inches) are the months of greatest range. July, August and September present the least range. January, February and November are the months of highest barometer, and April and June are the months of lowest barometer. As the mere statement of the monthly range can give no idea of the number of changes or barometric waves, these waves have been added up for the various 52 JOURNAL OF THE moDths, taking a rise and fall of 2 inches as a wave or total wave, length 4 inches. March is seen to be the month of greatest change, and the six months, November — April show a much more variable barometer than the remaining six. WINDS AND SKY. Our winds are mainly from the west. Out of 5,192 observations, 1088 were west. Of south winds there are only 320 observations, the least frequent of all the winds. In January and August easterly or northerly winds prevail, in February southwesterly. The remain, ing months are variable. Our storms usually come from the north- west, summer and spring rains from southwest, and winter rains from northeast, westerly winds bringing clear weather. Set rules, however, cannot be laid down from this short series of observations. Observations of the cloudiness give an average per year of 67 clear days, 78 cloudy, and 220 fair. The term fair is used for partial cloudiness. The average of clear and cloudy days during autumn months is very low (about 3 of each). In winter the number of clear and cloudy days rises to over half the total number in the month. In the table the term rainy days is used for days on which .01 inches or more of rain -fell. GENERAL REMARKS. The year 1881 was noted as a most disastrous one to farmers in this section. An unusually cold and dry winter was followed by a very hot summer, with a rain-fall 4.83 inches under the average. The total rain-fall was 7.14 inches below the average. In 1882, the crops, especially those of small grain, were remarkably fine, no one recalling such yield per acre of wheat and oats. A warm and wet spring was followed by a temperate summer, with plenty of rain. The maximum temperature was 94*^. The average of atmospheric saturation was high. The drought in the fall of 1884 was the most noteworthy meteor- ological fact of that year. It was the longest on record, lasting from September 17th, when .02 inches rain fell, to October 22d, when .80 inches fell, or 35 days without a drop of rain. So far as the effects of the drought were concerned, the preceding 18 days might also be counted in, as only one rain of .50 inches came in that time. The ground became excessively dry during this time, and the dust will be long remembered by all in attendance upon the State Expo- sition at Raleigh. The days from September 29th to October 7th ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 53 were the warmest consecutive eight days on record, the thermometer rising to 98 and 100 degrees, except on two days, when it registered 95 and 93. The mean temperature for September, October, Novem- ber and December was about two degrees above the average. The rain-fall for September, October and November was 2.96 inches, or 5. 12 inches below the average. In December good rains fell. The fall planting was greatly delayed by this drought, many farmers being forced to plant in the dust. It came too late, however, to greatly injure the grain crops. The following three tables will need no further explanation. Table I gives the monthly means for temperature, humidity and state of the sky. Table II contains the monthly ranges of barometer, baro- metric waves and rain-fall. Table III gives the annual means and ranges. 54 JOURNAL OF THE O Coo c) Ocooo) '-fvOco o) c> r~^ O CO i^oo CO vo IT) in lo r-. cfl C c^ o "^ IT) o o o o "^co M VO '5 ?^?! t -t in r^ o tr> -I- c«^ O r-- M O ^ Q S 1- 1-1 " "" " " '"' Q S M CO CO O CO O O -^cc O O N O mco'vO mcncoio'^ioi-' r>. UQ S O O CO vn N u-)CO vO CO O oo N vO r^vo o ^ ci ci d -f r-^ r^ r-^ cjco m-j-iocococc MO covn r^co* 6^ 6 d^ d 6 « «n M w c«-) ^ NO moo r-^O lOi^OPJ fi O O^O I-. T^ (N p-H CO loco HH o r^ CO l-H O CO O t^r^C>inO CO i^vo r^ r-« t^o O r^ r^o i^ pi oco ■^C'l c^ M c r~-o o o o vo o o r^o r^o "=j- r-*0 inco C>co r-- in m r-^ co C> C^ lOTtl-O -+0 COM « Ow CO inO^MO OC^O incomO co CO Tl- in ino r^ r^ r^ r^o in T^ CO CO o o -^co o t^ O coco r- ri M coOccpjMOc^-tinx^coco CO in t^ coo r^ in oo co O i-i -^ CO -f -1- ino r^ r^ r--o o m '^ inincoincoOO O CT^cr>c^O i-^inOin^ O O i^i-ico r^oo CO Ot^Oco -tcoo ^O M inin co-i-inino r^r^r^r^o -^-co r) inco Oco a -to co ^ Ooo CO lOM in-1-co inO w r^O O m cO'^Tfino t^coco r^O inrt u n ^ ^^^tx^ ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY 55 s a S en en rf en -ic/D en vo w o a^tx) o vo u-^co o o 4 c^ vO ci -t en o" 4 ' "wo en oo oo O oo O^ eno O w O O M r^oo xrieno r>-i-H xnencJo eni-c m OO oo oo u-> in o^ >o M enoo ui en r^ r- ►"OCT^fH-^Oent^W'^OO r^ rf h-i en en en en m' ci en ' c4 OO oo OOOOu^vr>OOOioenO q W 00 !->. Tt M CO oo •rt-CO w w en en -f ci en « « en pi en -^ c*^r-«t^OC< lOT^enM ooo m wrf-i-H (NenO^MWOu-) r^MMMi-ioovOvOi-Oi~^ o r^oo' vd •^ en c4 en en rj-vd vd ^ IT) in in vn 00 r^o o O "^t ■* P) PJ en in in r^ en U-) lO IT) in in oo O r^oovc en en en PI -f en -TfO 00 in u-> in in in in oo r-. r^ I^vO in en N Tt p< cn^ oo oo oo O 00 oo u-> en in in en in '^ en \n\0 in "^ •+ P) in ^^^ oo f^ moo Tj-inTj-inO i-" in>-< rj-O O^t^i-ioo O O OO OO^enen O O a-^<2 r^o in •* ino co oo )co o O -^ eno O PI oo r^ )Pi enM ino O r^>-i r^o C^incoo en^^ino OO O O -^ O O M o n-co O coco en enoo "^ p» i-i r^ m OO enO Ot^oo r^or^incnooo i^i^ en O O PJ Tfoo O ooo O 1- O Owpiv-iO'-'wi-.i-i 1^00 en w PI 00 O 1^ vnvO in t^ rj- in r^ r^ in en M OO -t- en m t^)'^ O w O -^ -^ Ooo -Tf t^ Ti- ^ P< Ooo ininTj-'TJ-r-^oo en Ti- en p< c-^^o p» ^^ cy^ c^ O Oi '^rfeneno •^•rtinrfinint^Or^ 56 JOURNAL OF THE T.A.BnL.E III. Years, TEMPERATURE. Annual Mean Monthly Maxima . . Monthly Minima Mean 7 A. M. . . " 2 P. M...- " 9 P. M.... Daily mean Max. . Daily mean Min Max. Observation.. Minim. Observation HUMIDITY. Annual Mean Monthly Maxima .. Monthly Minima .. Mean 7 A. M. .. " 2 P. M.... " 9 P. M.... Minim. Observation Total Rain-fall Total clear days.. .. Total cloudy days.. WINDS. North Northeast . . East .'. Southeast South Southwest West Northwest BAROMETER. Annual Mean Maxim. Observation Minim. Observation Range .. 1880. 60.90 July 80.94 Dec. 35-90 55-57 67.24 56.60 90.70 9.00 J'ne.J'y 99 Dec. — 2 68.16 75.80 57.60 76.78 54-68 72.90 20 39-76 54 78 62 70 221 81 63 130 205 165 29.695 30.098 29.129 0.969 60.45 Aug. 81.60 Jan. 35-20 54-30 67.69 58.69 89.30 19.30 J'y.A'g 98 Jan. 16 67.40 75.50 60.40 76.80 54.77 71.48 17 34.50 50 53 64 51 192 83 56 136 261 200 1882. 58.69 June. 78.00 Dec. 35.86 54-79 65-07 56.86 85.70 18.25 June. 94 Dec. 75.80 82.89 70.28 83.52 64-55 7887 23 38.27 71 lOI lOI 152 79 128 141 118 144 177 29.525 29.558 30.148 30.101 28.800 28.837 1.348] 1.264 :883. 58.92 July 79.20 Jan. 35-89 53 36 68.40 57-45 72.52 44-70 J'y 102. Jan. 9 73-66 83.67 65-24 81.83 59-45 79.68 20 49.82 86 97 53 237 76 82 37 250 171 160 30.170 30.720 29.436 1.284 1884. 5990 July 76.67 Jan. 35.27 53.60 71.73 57.61 87.00 10.50 J'y, Oct 100. Jan. o 70.89 76.10 62.48 81.84 54.50 77-39 17 45.86 71 62 62 160 125 63 23 173 307 133 30.086 30.759 29.424 1.335 Sums. 298.86 396.41 178.12 271.62 340.13 287.21 425.22 101.75 493. 31. 355.91 393-96 316. 400.77 287.95 380.32 97. 208.21 332. 391- 342. 670. 693. 437. 320. 807. 1088. 835. 149.014 151.826 145.626 Means. 59-77 79.28 35.62 54-32 68.02 57-44 85-04 20.35 98.60 6.20 71.18 78.79 63.20 80.15 57.59 76.06 19.40 41.64 66.40 78.20 68.40 134. 138.60 87.40 64. 161.40 217.60 167. 29.803 30.365 29.125 1.240 ELlbHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 57 CERTAIN REACTIONS OF PHOSPHORUS. F. P. VENABLE. I wish to gather, under this heading, some scattered observations which I have made in working with phosphorus during the past year. No great claims to originahty are made. Some are but new applications of old principles. Sidot (Compt. Rend., 84, 1454) has described the action of phos- phorus upon a solution of copper sulphate. My own observations agreeing with his, show that the solution is decomposed with the formation of copper phosphide, metallic copper, sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid. The stick of phosphorus first becomes black and then speedily coats itself with metallic copper (often crystalline). This crust is easily removed with a sharp wire or knife, the phos- phorus may be dissolved away with carbon disulphide, leaving the black phosphide. Traces of copper sulphate are capable of thus blackening the phosphorus, affording a delicate test for copper. The oxidation of the phosphorus thus coated with copper is very slow. It can be left exposed to the air for months without danger. The rapidity with which the coating takes place, and the phosphorus is rendered harmless, suggests the use of a copper sulphate solution where small pieces of phosphorus escape into cracks of a table or floor, or get beneath the finger-nail. A little of the comparatively dilute solution removes the danger of fire and prevents the serious injury which comes from a phosphorus burn. Blyth (Poisons ; Effects and Detection, p. 667) recommends copper sulphate as an antidote for phosphorus poisoning, giving it as an emetic. Very probably its beneficial action is also due to the insol- uble copper phosphide which immediately covers the phosphorus. Else why not use some safer emetic? Why is copper sulphate the best, as stated by Blyth. W. Schneid (Zeit, Chem. IV, 161, quoted by Watts) mentions the precipitates given with certain metallic solutions by phosphorus dis- colved in carbon disulphide. Only a few metallic solutions can be decomposed in this way. The best precipitates are gotten with copper, silver and mercury. An examination of these precipitates showed that they were not the phosphides alone. The precipitate gotten by shaking the solution of phosphorus with a solution of copper sulphate is made up of small brownish black grains which, 58 JOURNAL OF THE after washing with water, alcohol and ether, take fire spontaneously on drying. This shows that much phosphorus is precipitated also, enclosed in and carried down by the metallic phosphide. "Washing with carbon disulphide did not remove this. Careful drying, with exclusion of air, weighing, oxidizing and dissolving in nitric acid and determining the copper, gave in three experiments as the per centage of copper 10.44, 6.95 and 6.77. If this precipitate be left some days in contact with an excess of the copper solution, or cov- ered over with alcohol, (water might have answered the purpose, but was not used), it becomes non-inflammable, and is copper phos- phide. The silver precipitate acts in the same way, at first inflam- mable, after long standing non-inflammable. It is black in color, but usually not so homogeneous in appearance as the copper pre- cipitate, having white grains in it lighter than the rest, and tending to rise to the surface of the washing liquid. Agitation with water alone does not precipitate the phosphorus from its solution in carbon disulphide, nor does water with other metallic salts than those mentioned, dissolved in it. Lead salts, for instance, give only a dingy scum. Agitation with alcohol will cause a precipitation of the phosphorus, and so also with ether. If the precipitate is covered with alcohol and left a month or so at ordinary temperatures, the alcohol becomes denser and strongly acid, and the phosphorus disappears from the precipitate. On attempting a distillation, the alcohol first comes over. This alcohol* is still slightly acid and becomes milky on adding water. The tine milky white precipitate cannot be caught on a filter. It smokes on exposure to air as phosphorus does. For the remaining liquid the thermometer rises a few degrees above 100°, then falls with rapid evolution of gas. If distillation is persisted in, a few c. c. of a dense syrupy liquid with a strongly acid reaction are left. There is prob- ably a formation of ethyl phosphoric acid then, and this is decom- posed by the distillation. Alcohol poured over any finely divided phosphorus acts very similarly. Chemical Laboratory^ U. N. C. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 59 NOTES ON A "PETRIFIED HUMAN BODY." T. W. HARRIS AND J. A. HOLMES. During the past autumn several papers published accounts of a *' petrified "' human body, discovered at Bell's Cross Roads, Chat- ham county, N. C. Through the kindness of the friends of the body, permission wps granted the writers to make an examination of the case, with the following results : The body was that of a white woman, past middle age, who died in March. 1879, and was buried a short distance from the cemetery at Bell's Cross Roads. After remaining in this place for six years, it was taken up and removed to the cemetery. During this removal it was observed that the form of the body was well preserved, and the surface comparatively hard, and hence the report as to petri- faction . At the time of our examination (April last), upon re excavation, the body exhibited the same characteristics. The features of ti.e face, the ears and nose were gone, but the general form of the limbs and other external parts of the body were well preserved. The outer surface was rather dark in color. The clothing was still in place but pretty well decomposed. The body was light in weight, and showed no tendency toward falling to pieces on exposure to the air. On examination we found, as we had anticipated, and what is probably true of all the reported cases of so-called petrified human bodies, that there was no petrifaction at all. but the formation of adipocere. That is, all over the body the adipose tissue just under the skin, instead of decomposing, as it does ordinarily, had changed into a light colored granular substance, soapy to the feel, and oth- erwise possessing the characteristics of adipocere. This layer of adipocere was firm but easily cut with a knife. It varied in thick- ness from ^ of an inch over the arms, to i inch through the mam- mary glands. The muscular tissues of the body had not generally undergone a similar transformation, but had disappeared, so that cutting through this outer layer of adipocere on the limbs, the space between it and the bones was hollow, except that here the muscle sheaths of con- nective tissue were in many cases in place, and suflBciently well preserved to be readily distinguished. On examination of the heart, however, here the thick muscular walls appeared to have changed in part to adipocere. The connective tissue of the heart was soft 8 6o JOURNAL OF THE and easily torn, but in part fairly well preserved. The valves be- tween the auricles and ventricles were preserved in place and shape. The arteries and veins were hardly to be distinguished at any point. Other thoracic and abdominal organs had disappeared, excepting partly decomposed connective tissue which they contained. The bones of the body were considerably altered. The outer compact layer was neither so thick nor so hard as normally. Thin bones, as ribs, were easily cut with a knife. The inner portion of the ribs, radius and ulna (including the marrow) was also changed to adipocere. The body had been origiftally buried in moist earth, and at the time of removal (six years later) water was found standing in the bottom of the coffin. There was nothing to indicate whether or not tha body had been for any length of time covered with water. But having been buried during early spring, the rainy season of that section, it is probable that not long after burial the water passed from the surrounding soil into the case in sufficient quantity to keep the body thoroughly moist, if not wet. It is believed that animal bodies do not undergo such a change, except when submerged be- neath water, or buried in places where there is an excess of moisture, and a scarcity of oxygen. ANALYSIS OF A DEPOSIT FROM SALT-MAKING. W. B. PHILLIPS, PH. D. During the late war between the States the difficulty of procuring salt for domestic and government consumption induced its manufac- ture in some of the south-eastern counties of the State. These estab- lishments were located along the coasts of Brunswick and New Han- over counties, among others, and the method employed was a simple concentration of sea water in shallow iron pans to the crystallization point of the sodium chloride. A series of pans enabled the operator to work cheaply and expeditiously. There would thus be left in the pans begining with No. 1, deposits forming an ascending scale of solubilities, the least soluble salts in pan No. 1, and so on. We would of course naturally expect this to be the case, and an oppor- tunity has been presented to me for verification of what we might expect from pan No. 1. The most insoluble substance in sea water ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 6l is calcium sulphate, and we might expect to find it composing the No. 1 deposit. Through the kindness of Mr. Donald McRae, of "Wilmington, N. C, I have secured a piece of this No. 1 deposit. It is very hard and tough, of a light greyish color, and dense structure. The analysis shows : Loss at lOO^C. 9 Loss at iij°C I Insoluble in HCl (after fusion) i Ferric oxide Magnesium oxide ... Calcium oxide 34 Sulphuric anhydride 49 Undetermined . . 2 Per cent. 74 96 GO 32 89 79 19 II The SO3 calculated to CaO.SOg gives 83.62 per cent., contain ng CaO 34.43 per cent., which leaves .36 per cen . CaO, in some other combination. It is not likely that any of the SO3 is combined with the magnesium, as none was yielded to boiling water. It may be that the excess of CaO, and the MgO exist in some form not deter- mined. But that the deposit is calcium sulphate we cannot doubt, nor that it was formed as we would expect it to be, viz : in the first evaporating pan. This specimen was from the old salt works at Masonboro Sound, New Hanover county. 62 JOURNAL OF THE ANALYSIS OF CRYSTALS OF DOG-TOOTH SPAR, FROM GANDER HALL, NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N. C, E. SIDE CAPE FEAR RIV- ER, 15 MILES BELOW WILMINGTON. W. B. PHILLIPS, PH. D. These crystals were found lining the interior of shells, and were first brought to my attention by Mr. Donald McRae, of Wilmington. They presented the usual characteristics of the Dog-tooth Spar, and mention is here made of them on account of their almost perfect purity. Thus for instance, weight of crystals taken = .2224 grm's. CaCOg found = .22230 CaO " - =.12448 CO2 " - = .09782 yielding CaCOg 99.95 per cent. The locality is an interesting one. It is about 1200 metres back from the river, where there occurs a notable deposit of a very coarse-grained coquina. much used by the U. S. government for the break-waters at the mouth of the river. This coquina is obtained from openings in the face of a blufi some four or five metres in height, and the general course of it is parallel with the river. It is of two kinds, fine and coarse, with much intei mixed quartz sand, and con- tains many complete shells of various sizes, besides of course innu- merable small fragments of shells, which constitute the main por- tion of it. The rock is of various degrees of hardness, some of it crumbling under pressure of the hand, and then again requiring a smart blow of a hammer. Exposed to the action of sea water it hardens, and resists the beating of the waves as well or even better than many denser rocks. The crystals are found within the larger shells, some of which are 7 decimetres long by 4 decimetres wide. Occasionally the coquina completely covers these shells, and on breaking it off the interior of the shell is most beautifully lined with the carbonate, presenting an exquisite appearance, as the pellucid crystals are suddenly uncovered. A most remarkable geological phenomenon is to be seen at this locality, viz : the existence of large pot-holes in the ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 63 coquina, showing that after it had been laid down it was subjected to the action of powerful currents rolling stones along. Some months ago when I visited the place, in company with Dr. W. C. Kerr and Mr. Bacon, U. S. Engineer, we found several of these holes 1 and 2 metres in depth, and from .50 to 2 metres in breadth. One of them especially interested us. It was 2 metres in depth and 2 metres in breadth, and had scolloped sides, with the convexity turned inward, as if several small holes had combined to make this large hole. Considering the age of this deposit, the general flatness of the surrounding country, and the remoteness of stones that could be used as drills, we have here a most enticing subject for investiga- tion. And it is to be hoped that some enthusiastic young geologist of our society will win his spurs by an elaborate paper on this coquina. This scolloped hole has been drilled into the hardest rock, and must have been some time in the cutting. Whence came that couple" forming current and the stones ? The deposit is nearly a mile from the river, with considerable bluffs betvveen, and the river itself has here cut its way down twenty feet into the sand and clays. But then perhaps the river did not drill those holes. Well, tht3 holes are there and must be accounted for, and any one who likes can un- dertake the work. SOME NOTES ON PLANT TRANSPIRATION. F. P. VENABLE. The announcements of results differing from those commonly ac- cepted, made by certain recent experimenters in this line, led to a collection of all within my reach relating to the subject and a repe- tition of some of the experiments. Unfortunately I could only refer to abstracts of the original articles. The author's methods of exper- imenting were consequently unknown to me. 1 present the results of my own investigation, with the hope that some members of the society may be tempted to confirm them by their own experiments. Wiessner in Biedermann's Centralblatt f or 1883, p. 471, has noticed that moistened leaves of plants transpire more freely than dry, con- sequently a larger quantity of water is withdrawn from the soil by the roots. He adds : "If there is plenty of moisture in the ground the plant flourishes, but if otherwise, it droops and languishes. 64 JOURNAL OF THE Plants should not be watered on the leaf unless the soil is likewise moist. The small amount of extra transpiration caused by de"^ can do no harm, as it is almost certain that the ground will be suffi- ciently moist to supply the requisite amount of water. The action of rain is more beneficial still, for then the supply of plant food is most rapid.'' The same author notes (Bied. Centr. 1884, 43,) that in most plants the leaves transpire moisture in larger quantities than the flowers, and as a rule cut flowers wither more slowly than leaf twigs. If the transpiration of the leaves is arrested the cut flowers will re- main a long time fresh as when severed, so that it would seem the flowers are deprived of moisture by the leaves. Johnson says that the wilting of a plant results from the fact' that the leaves sutler water to evaporate from them more rapidly than the roots can take it up. The speedy revival of a wilted plant on the falling of sudden rain or on the deposition of dew depends not so much on the absorption by the foliage of the water that gathers on it as it does on the suppression of evaporation, which is a conse- quence of the saturation of the surrounding air with moisture. Bochen, as quoted by Johnson, (How Crops Feed, p. 204,) has ar- rived at the conclusion that transpiration absolutely ceases in air saturated with aqueous vapor. Yet Unger has shown that plants lose weight in air saturated as nearly as possible with vapor when their roots are not in contact with soil or liquid water, and Duchartre has shown that plants do not gain, but sometimes lose, weight when their foliage only is exposed to dew or even to rain, although they increase in weight when rain is allowed to fall upon the soil in w^hich they are planted. Hoffman says that dew entirely prevents transpiration. No crit- icism ot these is possible without reference to the originals. I will merely recount some of my own experiments. To see if transpiration ceased in a saturated atmosphere, weighed leaves of Morning Glory (Convolvulus Major) were suspended in a bell-jar over a saucer of water. The ground edge of the jar fltted closely to a ground glass plate. The jar was fltted with glass tubes so that air could be sucked in. This air first passed through .3 — .4 metre of water and was used to fill the jar with saturated air imme- diately after putting in the leaf. Two experiments were made, the leaves remaining 8 anrl 9 hours at a temperature of about 25°C. I. Weight of leaf 2.8490 ; loss .0870, or 3.02 per cent. II. Weight of leaf 1.1820; loss .0090, or .76 per cent. The loss is, then, a decided one. The leaves of the convolvulus ELISHA MITCHKLL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 65 major were choisen because they transpire water rapidly and in large amounts, and hence any change would be more aptjarent. The relative transpiration of moistened and dry leaves was tested by fastening leaves with wax in test-tubes filled with water, and allowing the evaporation to go on during several days. The stems dipped equal distances beneath the surface of the water and the leaves to be kept moist, were in some cases wetted with a sponge, in others by the spray from a wash bottle. The leaves were placed in the diffuse light of the laboratory and inequalities in the exposure to the light neutralized by interchanging the position of the tubes. Various leaves were experimented upon — maple, grape, geranium, convolvulus major, and in all cases, at the end of three or four days, the transpiration and consequent loss of water in the tubes had gone nearly twice as far where the leaves were dry as where they were wet. Of course these leaves were not wet all the time. They were kept continuously wet during a greater portion of the day, but dried off at night. Yet even this greatly retarded the evaporation, a result directly contrary to Wiessner. Again, to test this transpira- tion, lejives of the geranium and of the zinnia were weighed and then allowed to lie, the one on paper and the other on glass with occasional wettings. These last were dried between filter paper before reweighing. This would show the difference of transpiration by the loss of the original water of the leaf. The results were as follows: Loss. Wet Leaves. Dry Leaves. L After 6 hours 6.6 per cent. 9.0 per cent. " 24 " 13.7 " 14.5 " " 30 '• 15.5 16.0 II. " 24 " 366 39.8 As to flowers transpiring more slowly than leaves, and hence cut flowers with leaves wilting more rapidly than those without, Wiess- ner's term, "most flowers," is indefinite. I have tried geraniums, zinnias and convolvulus. The weights in the other cases show the relative loss of water : Loss. Flowers, Leaves. I. After 6 hours 10.6 per cent. 9,0 per cent. " 24 " 24.8 " 14.5 30 " 28.4 " t6.o II. Flowers and leaves. Leaves. 24 " 29. 3 per cent. 28. 9 per cent. 26 " 30.8 " 30.5 " " 30 " 33.9 " 33-8 " 48 " - --50.3 " 49.8 66 JOURNAL OF THE In experiment I the loss of the flower alone (geranium) is shown to be much more rapid than that of the leaf. In experiment II the flower and leaf (zinnia) loses a larger per centage in the same time than the leaf, but the difference is slight. Besides, the flowers con- tain about five or six per cent, more water, and there is then more water to be transpired in the case of flowers and leaves, hence a larger loss is to be expected. Hellriegel, as cited in Chemi^ al News, No. 1336, says that when a plant begins to wilt it has already lost nearly half its water. This cannot possibly be so. I have observed the wilting of leaves after the loss of 6 per cent., and even less, from a total of 75 per cent, water. So, too, where some leaves of a plant are more exposed than others to the sun's action, they will wilt whilst the others are quite fresh looking. The plant cannot have lost much water. The trans- piration withdraws water faster than it can be supplied to the leaf through its ducts. University of North Carolina. EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF A SOLUTION OF COMMON SALT, (NaCl), AS A WASH IN DETERMINATIONS OF "CITRATE INSOLUBLE" PHOSPHO- RIC ACID, TO REPLACE PURE WATER WASH. F. B. DANCY. The Association of Agricultural Chemists in convention assembled at Atlanta, Ga., in May, 1884, took tardy notice of a fact that had been doubtless for some time evident to most practical chemists, and this was, that the use of a solution of half citrate of ammonia solution (Sp. Gr. 1.09) and half water as a wash in determinations of "insoluble" phosphoric acid being equivalent to further treat- ment, was no longer admissible. The method then adopted by them prescribed pure water, at ordinary temperature, as the proper wash to be substituted for the citrate wash. This was eminently proper theoretically, and in many cases it proved satisfactory in practice. But at the same time when the method comes to be tested practi- cally, it is found that in very many cases, if not in a majority, the ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 6/ use of the water wash is found to be open to the very serious objec* tioD that it carries particles of the residue through the filter "as soon as the saline matters are extracted." The writer found this difficulty quite grievous, in fact in some cases (e. g., in case of bone ash, finely ground phosphates or "fioats," and similar finely divided substances), this difficulty rendered analysis by the method well nigh impossible. The result is seen, furthermore, in almost all analyses of ordinary fertilizers by the dark ring on top the filtrate after the water wash has been applied. Others experienced the same practical difficulty. Prof. S. W. Johnson, of the Connecticut Experiment Station, met with it, and suggested that *' probably the use of any indifferent saline solution, e. g., sodium chloride or sodium sulphate, as a wash liquid, would prevent this practical difficulty." A solution of the best sample of NaoSO^ in the laboratory at the time gave me an acid reaction with litmus, due, doubtless, to impu- rities, and "was abandoned. A solution of ordinary commercial NaCl (table salt) was then made, which was found to react neutral with either blue or red litmus. I then determined to test the action of the NaCl solution, if any, on insoluble phosphate (CaaPoO^), by a few practical experiments. Want of time and pressure of other work made the investigation much less thorough than I would have desired, and the experiments far too few to have any very great weight. Yet I deem the results sig- nificant. The solution of salt used was made by dissolving 200 grammes of commercial table salt in a litre of water, making a solution of about 1.11 spec. grav. (The solution upon test failed to reveal a trace of P3O5). The solution, as made, was stronger, I should judge, than was necessary, but was purposely so made in order to give it a fair trial. Also subsequently in the experiments the washing was prolonged so as to give the NaCl every opportunity to act. The samples selected were : I. Orchilla Guano. II. Ammoniated Fertilizer. III. Acid Phosphate (from South Carolina Rock). In the case of the orchilla one gramme was acted on by 100 c. c. ammonium citrate solution (sp. grav. 1.09 and neutral) on account of the large amount of so-called '* reverted " phosphoric acid it con- tains. In each of the other two cases two grammes were acted on by 100 c. c. citrate solution as in ordinary practice. When the water wash was applied it carried through a small amount of the residue in each case as usual, but it happened fortu- 9 68 JOURNAL OF THE nately that in all these instances the amount carried through was very slight (hardly enough in the worst case to make any appreci- able change in the results), being most in the case of the ammo- niated fertilizer, less in the case of the acid phosphate and least of all (almost absolutely none) in the case of the orchilla. The mechanical effect of the NaCl solution, as a wash, was per- fect, no particle whatever in either case passing the filter, and fil- trates being consequently crystal clear. Following are the results reached : ^ , .,, ( Water wash, percent. " insoluble," PgO., 11.62 I NaCl wash, II-75 Ammoniated Fertilizer Water wash, per cent, "insoluble," PoO. NaCl wash, " " " '« 1.97 2,25 Arid Phn<;nhate^ ^^^^'^ '''^^^' P^' ''^"^- " insoluble," P2O5, I.I4 Acid Phosphate -j ^^(3j ^^^^j^^ " " " " 1.16 While these results do not show that the NaCl solution has abso- tiitely no effect on insoluble phosphate, yet they do show conclu- sively that if it has any effect at all it is so slight that it does not equal the loss by the water wash in three cases where the loss by the water wash vjsl^ unusually ^ma\\; being, for example, practically nothing in the case of the orchilla. I am of the opinion that it has no effect on the insoluble phos- phate whatever, certainly not enough to prevent its immediate and confident adoption as a substitute for water wash in all analyses. Be it observed also, in the above experiments, that the case of the greatest disparity in the results was the case where most of the sub- stance passed the filter with the water wash. And in every instance the results from the water wash are observed to be smaller than the results from the NaCl wash. N. C. Agricultural Experiment Station, March, 1885. ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 69 ON THE PRACTICAL QUANTFrATIVE DETERMI- NATION OF SUGAR IN URINE. JAS. LEWIS HOWE. The following paper makes no pretence to originality, but merely aims to set forth practical results obtained by the writer in his work, and give a description of that method which experience seems to show the best for a physician's use. Most physicians of ordinary ability are limited to a few simple qualitative tests for the presence of sugar in urine. The best are : 1st. Boiling the urine with strong caustic potash — a dark yellow or red color indicating sugar, the intensity of color being a very rough index of the quantity of sugar present. The addition of nitric acid to the solution causes the odor of caramel. 2nd. Adding to the solution, rendered alkaline by caustic potash or soda, a pinch of subnitrate of bismuth, which will turn black on boiling the solution if sugar be present. 3rd. Fehling's test. It is often, however, of great advantage in diabetes mellitus to know with some degree of accuracy the quantity of sugar secreted, and to watch its daily fluctuations under treatment, and this few physicians, unless near a city laboratory, are able to do. At least one drug firm puts up compressed tablets of the ingredients of Feh- ling's solution, but these are unfortunately not to be depended on as recently a case came to my notice in which these tablets failed to show any indication of sugar, though the secretion amounted to half a pound daily. The following method presents the advantage of simplicity and expedition, the only apparatus required being a graduated glass, a burette, a porcelain dish two and a half to three inches in diam- eter, a glass rod and a spirit lamp. The terms given are those of the metric system, since burettes are usually so graduated, but the results may be easily reduced to the English measure. Fehling's solution as modified according to Liebreich : 3.46 grams copper sulphate crystals (which may be weighed by the druggist) are dissolved in a small quantity of water, about five cubic centimeters of pure glycerine added, sixty cubic cen- timeters of a solution of caustic potash of specific gravity 1.14, JOURNAL OF THE and the whole diluted to 100 cubic centimeters. This solution should be prepared fresh every week. 10 cubic centimury, N. C. Burgw n, W. H .. Henderson, N. C. Cameron, J. D Asheville, N. C. Cameron, Hon. P. C. Hillsboro, N. C. Carr, Julian S_ --. ..Durham, N. C. Cheshire, Jos. B... .Charlotte, N. C. Cobb, Collier .. Wilson, N. C. Craige. Kerr . Salisbury, N. C. Dabney. C. W., Jr. ..Raleigh, N. C. Dancy. F. B Raleigh, N. C. Deems, Dr. C. F., 4 \V in throp Place, N. Y. Dupre, Ovide New York City. Fries, J. W.;. .... ... Salem, N. C. Gore, J. VV... ..Chapel Hill, N. C. Grady, B. F., Jr. Albertson, N. C. Graves, R. H ...Chapel Hill, N. C. Green. Rt. Rev. W. M. [L. M.] Sevianee, Tenn. Hanna, Geo. B Charlotte. N. C. Harris, T. \V.. M. D., Chapel Hill, N. C. Hays, Tohn W 'Oxford, N. C. Herff, B. Von Raleigh, N. C. Hill, W. E Faison's. N. C. Holmes, ]. A Chapel Hill, N. C. Hooper, J. DeB. [L. M.] Chapel Hill, N. C. Howe, Jas. Lewis [C. M.] Richmond, Ky. Hubbard, F. M. [L. M.] Raleigh, N. C. Hyams, M, E Statesville, N. C. Horner, J. H .. Oxford, N. C. Jackson, John W . .Nashville. Tenn. Kenan, W. R. Wilmington. N. C. -Haw River, N. C. .... Raleigh. N. C. Kerr. W. C... Ledoux, A. R , 10 Cedar Street, New /ork. Lewis, R. H., M. D..Kinston. N. C. Lewis. R. H., M. D.. Raleigh, N. C. Love, J. L Chapel Hill, N. C. Manigault, G. E. [C. M.] Charleston, S. C. Mannmg, Hon. John [L. M.] Chapel Hill, N. C. Martin, W. J.. Davidson Col., N. C McNider, V. St. C_.. Jackson, N. C. Morehead. Eugene.. . jJurham, N, C. Phillips, A. L ...Burgaw, N. C. PhilHps, S. F .,. .-Washington, D. C. Phillip , John L.,- Montana. Phillips, Wm. B Chapel Hill, N. C. Phillips, Charles [L. M.] Chapel Hill, N. C. Pickel, J. M. [C. M.J Lake City, Fla. Pinnix, M, H Lexington, N. C. Primrose, Wm. S. ... Raleigh, N. ' . Radcliffe, Thos.. Wilmington, N. C. Saunders, W. L Raleigh, N. C. Schweinitz, E. A. de ..Salem, N, C. Shipp, A. M Nashville, Tenn. Simonds, W. F ..San Jose, Cal. Smedes, E. B Raleigh, N. C. Smith, P. E .Scotland Neck, N. C. Spainhour, J. M., ....Lenoir, N. C. Stamps, Preston . Raleigh, N. C. Stedman, C. M. .Wilmington, N. C. Steele. W. L Rockingham. N, C. Stephenson, J. A, D., Statesville, N. C. Summerville, J. H. N., Salisbury, N. C. JOURNAL OF THE ELISHA MITCHELL SOCIETY. MEMBERS— Continued. Thomas, C. R Nevbern, N. C. Thomas, George G., Wilmington, N. C. Thompson, S. H.. Lexington, N. C. Vance, Z. B .Charlotte, N. C. Venable, F. P.... Chapel Hill, N. C. Wheeler, J. B Lenoir, N. C. Wilkes, J. F.... ...Charlotte, N. C Wilson, Jas. W. . .Morganton, N. C Winston, Geo. T. .Chapel Hill, N. c Withers. W. A. Raleigh, N. c Wood, Thomas F., Wilmington, N. C. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS. Baker, J. H., Jr. Baker, F. H. Beckwith, S. L. Bryan, J. A. Butler, M. Bynum, O. C. Costner, R. E. Cox, P. B. Craig, Braxton, Dockery, C. Dunston, W. S. Filer, A. H. Faust, E. M. Feild, A. J. Gill, E. J. Grandy, L. B. Grimes, J. B. Howard, Geo. Jackson, Max. John, M. L. Latham, H. A. Little, F. M. Long, V. W. Mann, J. J. Manning, P. B. McDonald, W. H. McGehee, L. P. McGuire, James. Mewborn, W. E. Monroe, J, R. Moore, G. D. Morris, J. A. Parker, Haywood. Patrick, G. L. Patterson, F. F. Patterson, G. B. Roberts, J. C. Scull, St. Leon. Simmons, A. M. Smith, C. F. Thomas, James. Uzzell, K. S. Uzzell, R. L. Ward, A. D. Weill, S. C. West, J. F. White, W. H. Wilkinson, W. S. Wilson, N. H. D., Jr. NDEX. 99 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. PAGE. Action of Common Salt as a Wash 66 Additions to Curtis' Catalogue of N . C. Plants 72 Alchemy and Alchemists . . 7 Ammonia in Saliva ... . .-.. 85 Analysis of Crystals of Dog-Tooth Spar 62 Analysis of Kaolin . 93 Analysis of Leaves of Ilex Cassine ... .-. 39 Analysis of Red Hematite 95 Analysis of Salt making Deposit .. ... .. 60 Analysis of Spiegel-eisen . _ . 46 Analysis of Specular Iron Ore 95 Analysis of Zinc Furnace Deposit. . 6 Arctic Explorations .. . . 6 Barium Chromate, Solubility ot . . 1 90 Bibliography of Dr. Curtis .. 30 Blephilia Ciliata . 94 Chapel Hill Well-water 6 Clay-eating .. 6 Common Salt as a Wash .. . 66 Cypress (fossil) in N. C, Quaternary 92 Dog-tooth Spar 62 Domestic Life of the Romans 7 Eocene Deposits in Eastern N. C 79 Flora of Angola Bay 6 Geodesy, History and Objects of .. 7 Geology of the Region about Tampa Bay, Fla. 86 Gifts to the Library 96 Heptyl-benzol, attempts to form 77 Ilex Cassine, Analysis of leaves of 39 Jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi — 6 Kaohn, Analysis of . 93 Latitude of Chapel Hill - 32 Liquefaction of Gases 6 Luminiferous Ether, Theory of 6 Manufacture of Acid Phosphate . . •. . - 33 Mercurous Hypophosphite — 78 Meterological Record at Chapel Hill, 1880 — 1884 48 Meteorology, Use of Balloons in .... ... 6 Obituary notice of Dr. W. C. Kerr 8 lOO INDEX. PAGE. Observations of Thunder-storms by Balloons . . 6 Occurrence of Citric and Malic Acids in Pea-nuts.. _ 47 Pea-nuls, Citric and Malic Acids in __. . 47 Peculiar Animal and Plant Life in Geology .... ... 6 Petrified Human Body --. 59 Plant Transpiration 63 Progress in Astronomy . 6 Progress in Engineering 6 Report of Vice-President 3 Report of Secretary 5 Report of Treasurer . . 7 Report on the meetings of the British and American Associations 6 Resolutions with regard to the death of Dr. Kerr . 96 Red Hematite, Analysis of 95 Reactions of Phosphorus .. 57 Roll of Members - . 97 Saliva, Ammonia in , 85 Salt-making Deposit . . 60 Skefch of Botanical Work of Dr. Curtis . 9 Solubility of Barium Chromate . . 90 Solutions (40) of Pons Asinorum . . 6 Specular Iron Ore, Analysis of . . 95 Spiegel-eisen, Analysis of 46 Sugar in Diabetes, Determination of 6g Tampa Bay, Geology of 86 Transpiration of Plants 63 Total Phosphoric Acid, Determination of 41 3 2044 072 223 175 Date Due